"I don't think this is a good idea, guys."

Julia protested when they were leaving the shadow of the gatehouse. The morning sun was still low when all of what remained of their former unit departed. Already energised by those few drinks they managed to chug down, there wasn't a single person enjoying the idea of another mission. Just when they looted enough stuff to get them easily through the coming winter… Leaving everything in the local lord goodwill, they had to go on yet another mission.

"We don't really have much choice. It's either do or die for us."

Nix engaged in the small talk. While she was great at keeping the morale up, comforting others wasn't her best side.

"Why do we need to go for such lengths? Anyone is willing to remind me?"

Suria interjected their talk, wearing an annoyed expression on her face. As one of the scouts, she wasn't allowed any drinks on the battlefield. A small lapse of attention and she would be the one getting killed instead of the enemy. Yet now she was here, riding a horse and trying to ignore the pleasant warmth of alcohol in her body.

"We need some sort of protector in the city we are in. With their help, we will be able to sell our loot. With their work, we might be able to slowly rebuild in a stable environment. There are so many reasons for accepting this task, we simply couldn't refuse!"

While her words were said with a firm tone, her sour smile didn't add much of value to her speech. Even if what she said was true, there was another part to it. Failing the mission would lead to angering their employer and potentially losing their wares. But if the only other option was to slowly die under their oppression, wasn't it the best solution?

"I feel like this mission will haunt us."

Shrugging in the response, Julia curled up when hearing an answer. Curling down, her petite, fairy-like body gathered in a small ball on top of the horse saddle.

**********

"This damn Lord tricked us!"

Scanning the horizon, Xyenna shouted. Her hand on the grip of her sword, she didn't bother to hide her anxiousness.

"There is no way we will reach anything at this rate, do something!"

"I'm doing my best now!"

Focusing on controlling the horse, Mike couldn't split his attention between the animal that was going wild from fear and the enemies rushing to backstab them. The difference between carriage and riding horse was just too great!

While just a moment ago they were nothing but small drops on the horizon, silhouettes of their pursuers were already the size of small balls. With enough attention, she could even discern the horse from the rider!

"We can't do anything but wait now. Grab the gold and pack it into a single bag. We can't drive fast on the carriage, the best way to use it is to bait them into attacking us here."

Mike suddenly slowed down, coming to the decision. The cargo he was carrying was worth just a few silvers at most, and the horse that was pulling the wagon wouldn't be able to keep up with the nimble mounts of their pursuers. There was no other way, they had to fight!

"Are you out of your mind? There are more than ten people visible, the only god knows how many of them are closing on us as we speak. How do you intend to fight them?"

Xyenna turned around rapidly and stared daggers at Mike. While she couldn't blame him for the situation, there was a limit of absurd she would willingly accept from his mouth!

"It's not like we have any other way. The wagon gives us a higher ground towards them with some cover against arrows. You can have a better foothold on it compared with attacking from the horseback. If you have any better ideas, feel free to share them!"

It's not like his proposal had other reasons behind it. With the way the whole situation played out, it was obvious that the Lord planned every single detail of this action. With his ties to Xantia surfacing due to either a report of the mess Mike made in their base of operations or Ritzy ratting him in, it was obvious that there was some conflict between his faction and Latavia. Forcing Mike to lower his guard by sharing the winnings from the bet, he put him in the worst place that former assassin would imagine for a fight!

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Sparking the conflict in the city would spell death for the entire faction. If they knew who Mike once was, they had to consider his abilities when they planned this operation. Just by putting him on the empty plain they made so that all of his might could be thrown into the trash!

While Mike was trying to figure out any other way out of trouble, Xyenna was busy moving the red goldens from small pouches into a single grain bag. Leaving a few coins in every pouch, she bound them to her belt. In case of need, she could always throw one bag away at the enemies!

"I don't think they hail from a single group."

After Xyenna finished packing the gold up, Mike took a random bag of wheat and weighed it in his hand. With over forty kilos of grains inside, he could barely hold it with one hand. Looking back to judge the distance still separating them from the pursuers, merchant stopped the horse. Cutting the ropes and raising the wooden part that connected the carriage to its mount, Mike dropped the bag on poor horse's back and slammed its ass.

Scared by the sudden pain, poor animal broke into the run. While it looked comical when a pulling horse tried to gallop, the necessary speed was there. Even if parting with trusted mount pained Mike, this action could bait some of their enemies away from them. That would also allow them to gauge whether they were chasing them to steal the money or for other reasons!

While letting the horse go could serve as great provocation, it also meant that now they stopped in place. Even this slow speed that they were travelling at made it seem that they had some chance of escape, but now there was nothing else but fight for them.

Thankfully, Mike idea paid off. Noticing his action, a small part of the pursuers changed the direction and rushed for the road. That served as proof that they didn't work together.

Just when the things were supposed to get at least slightly better, an arrow dug into the road behind them.

"Fuck! That scared me!"

Jumping away from the edge of the wagon, Xyenna looked down at the arrow. Long bolt with a slim head. It wasn't made for hunting the animals, but the other type of prey!

Falling on the cargo and hiding behind the wooden board, Mike grabbed two hunting bows from their luggage and threw one to Xyenna.

"We don't have many shots, aim for sure hits!"

While their enemy was bound to be equipped in far better weapons, they had to shoot while riding. Compared to them, merchant and his bodyguard were on far better position. Calmly drawing reading their bow's behind the cover, all they had to do was to stand up, aim at their target, shoot and hide again. The only problem lied in how far their enemies were!

Every moment could be counted by the sound of another arrow striking the carriage. By moving all of the grain bags to the sides, Mike didn't need to worry about bolts penetrating the wagon walls. While this allowed them a brief moment of rest, with every shot, their enemies were closing in.

After a few minutes, Xyenna decided to take her shoot. Emerging from behind her cover, she drew her bow, took aim and released it. As soon as the projectile separated from the bowstring, the girl jumped back to her hideout. As the arrow flew through the air, it's target tried to change the direction his horse was running at. Before the man managed to accomplish his panicked task, bolt firmly lodged itself in his throat.

"Nice shot."

While he had a lot of skills at his disposal, archery wasn't one of the abilities Mike could be proud of. Hunting the deer was different than aiming for people. The speed, the predictability, the patterns… They all made it a hard task for the merchant to adapt. Only when their enemies get into his preferred range, did he repeat Xyenna action. Without a surprise, the girl followed him in an instant.

With another two shots, only one enemy felt down from his mount. Apparently, they both aimed for the same person!

"What the hell was that!"

Feeling the burden of the looming fight in her chest, Xyenna wasn't able to keep the reins on her emotions. Wasting a precious arrow like that could only bring them closer to certain death!

"Don't sweat it. It's not like we can shot anymore. They are too close now."

Even if shorter distance meant easier shot for them, it was the case for the enemy as well. At first, the remaining six pursuers tried to surround them to have a better angle to shoot, but few arrows sent by Xyenna made them understand that this wouldn't be as easy as they imagined. Promptly giving up on the idea, they staffed their bows onto special hold in their saddles and pulled out their swords. It was the right time to start the real fight!

Seeing their action, Mike exhaled with relief. They had to be used to bullying commoners. What could they do from horseback against two fighters standing firmly on the carriage?