Once I crouched in front of the whip guy I could hear speaking although the sound of his voice was muffled by the dirt.

"The- There must be some kind of misunderstanding between us. How about you all let me go and I wi--" *slap*

I gave him a firm backhanded slap across his face before speaking to the guy.

"I said only answers remember? Do not make things harder than they need to be."

I warned while asking Zoe to bring the two ropes that were previously used to tie up the couple's legs. After seeing the girl come over with the ropes in her hands Kai and Luca worked together to pull the guy's arms behind his back. Once she reached us I took the rope and began tying the guy up starting with his arms before moving on to his legs. The guy tried to yank away but Kai and Luca both easily held the man in place. After we finished that, I asked Ash and Bell to bring the couple over to us as they would be useful in fact-checking this guy's words.

I then began asking my questions to the now docile man.

" *sighs* Now... Why are you out here beating this nice couple in the middle of nowhere? And please don't waste our time with some sob story it was your own decisions that led you here."

"I-..They are my property you see. I was just discip--" The captured man said before being cut off.

"YOU LIE!! You are nothing but a bandit." Screamed out the husband had gained a bit more strength after eating some of the food the twins had given him. He then grabbed the bottom of my leather top before continuing.

"Sir please believe me!! I am a merchant and this is my wife, we are no slaves! This brigand attacked us whilst we were returning to our home in Berkton."

My cousins were confused at the terms that were being thrown around. Zoe, Ash, and Bell all had perplexed looks on their faces before looking at me for an answer. While Kai and Luca whispered between each other trying to figure out what the husband meant. Their whispers were overheard by the whip guy though which caused him to become more emboldened as he laughed aloud and mocked the teens.

"HA!! How did I let myself get caught by these lowly barbarians?! Listen to me I have gold and women that you--" *slap*

I know the question he asked was rhetorical but I did say no questions. Not to mention that he just insulted the only family I have left. I mean I guess he is right in that the village we came from was "barbaric", but that was only while looking through a modern lens. He had no room to speak on was and wasn't the barbarian here.

"You know, it's not very smart to mock your captives, no matter what you might think of them. Especially when your usefulness has just reached an all-time low. But listen closely to the words of this 'barbarian'."

I walked over and pressed my foot on the back of the bandit while holding the sword at an angle to where he could see his own eyes within the blade itself. His smile dropped instantly while panic quickly spread across his face.

"You are a waste of air. Your body will not even get a grave, it will instead be eaten and shit out just like the waste you are. Only when you become your true form of feces, will there be a use for your existence."

After saying my piece to the trembling man, I brought the sword above the man's neck with both my hands and then drove it down with all the force I could generate. The uneasy feeling I had earlier was nowhere to be found as I felt justified in my actions.

The noise of metal meeting flesh was heard once again only this time it was my doing.

The sword went through the bandit's neck and stabbed into the ground, which was now soaked in his blood. The bandit died almost immediately which probably wasn't fitting for his deeds, but there was no need for me to stoop to his level.

I slid my foot up a bit on the deceased bandit's back and pulled the sword out of his body and blood flew in an arc toward an empty space near his corpse. I cleaned the sword as best as I could with the bandit's wool clothing before holstering it within the leather sheathe and tying it around my waist.

I then searched the bandit's body for anything of note and found a small leather pouch with a few coins made of gold in it, but that was all. I assumed this was the couples’, so I turned to them and went to ask if that was the case.

"I'm assuming that this belongs to you?" I asked while holding out the pouch.

The couple reacted as if I had asked them a trick question before looking at each other while communicating with their eyes. The merchant then looked back at me and answered although it was his answer sounded more like a question itself.

"Yes?" he asked shakily.

"Well take it then. I ain't a bandit after all." I said while placing the pouch in the merchant's hand while walking past him away from the bloody scene behind us. I walked a few feet away with the group in tow before stopping and continuing.

"But speaking of bandits, why is a merchant traveling through the forest with his wife and no guards?" I asked while gesturing at the forest surrounding us.

After receiving the pouch, the couple seemed to trust our group significantly more as they answered me with a bit more vigor despite their injuries.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"We were originally on the road between Berkton and Willsden before that bastard showed up and dragged us out here. The road is not long and is wide enough for a carriage to safely traverse. So with our wagon and horse, It would not have taken us long to reach our home. Plus bandits are rare around here so there has not been a need for guards. At least that was the case when I started my trade nearly five years ago."

I nodded at the man as his words made sense, but quickly followed up with another question.

"This road, can you find your way back to it? We could use a guide as we are kinda lost at the moment."

The merchant started to nod his head but paused his actions once he looked at our outfits and weapons. His face went from confusion to doubt, before settling back on confusion. He then spoke with one of his eyebrows raised.

"Sir, do not take this the wrong way, but are you all really barbarians? This clothing and weaponry have not been seen in at least a century. But also your accent is very strange. Please don't take offense to my words." said the merchant while lowering his head.

I patted that guy on the shoulder while chuckling before answering.

"It's fine.. We wouldn't call ourselves that but I guess that is how it always worked." I shrugged before continuing.

"We are refugees from a village west of here, deep within the forest. Have you ever heard of it?"

"No.. I can not say that I have. I think there was once a group of adventurers that passed through my hometown of Berkton and said something about a mission they had within the Wilds. But they never went into detail so I do not know." The merchant said while holding his chin.

"How long ago was this?" I asked wondering if these adventurers could be the same people who attacked the village.

"This was only a year ago so not too long, Do you have some business with them?" He asked.

I shook my head and told him that it was just curiosity. He also shook his head but then thought about my original question and quickly palmed his face.

"OH, Sorry Sir.. What is your name sir?"

"Rallo," I said succinctly.

"Sir Rallo, I will gladly guide you to the road. However, if you and your group act as my guards until we reached Berkton then I will reward you handsomely once we get there. What do you say?"

I gave the man a once-over before asking him to wait a second. I then asked my cousins what they would like to do but they all just stared at me as if I had something on my face. They were dumbfounded at how I, who had barely conversated with anyone in the village, could effortlessly talk with an "outsider" as if I had known him all along.

I tried to explain it as being a 'chosen' but none of them accepted that as an answer. I tried to come up with another excuse as I couldn't possibly tell them that I am from Earth but was now here with them luckily for me, Zoe spoke up for me after seeing me hesitate. She then said that we should go with the couple because nothing was better than the forest.

After she reminded the group of our current situation they remember the last couple of days of life in the forest before quickly nodding to her suggestion forgetting about my strangeness, at least for now. Luca still stared at me but just shook his head clearing it of the thought he was having. I then asked Kai and Luca to grab the backpacks and bring me the third before mouthing a thank you to Zoe who smiled and nodded in return.

After settling that, I called the couple over and told them that we would guard them until we reach the city. The couple was happy at our decision but seemed more excited at the possibility of returning home alive. I understood their feelings all too well. While the couple hugged and kissed each other once again, my cousins and I wore our backpacks and prepared to help the two walk as their injuries were still quite heavy although not life-threatening in any way. The merchant noticed the movement and separated from his wife. I then told Kai and Luca to help the guy and Ash and Bell to help the woman.

We then set out with me at the lead toward the direction the merchant pointed us in which happened to be east..

After walking about ten minutes, which could have been shorter if not for the injured couple, we reached the so-called 'road' that would lead us to our destination. I say it like that because it would just be a flat dirt path that was wide enough for maybe two carts to fit side by side. One decent-sized carriage would cause a traffic jam for sure, but it would be able to traverse through. The path was clearly well-traveled though as the grass was non-existent.

Once reaching the road, the merchant told us that his carriage should be up the road and point us to the north. I nodded and lead the group of us on another stretch of slow walking for maybe twenty minutes this time before we saw it.

The carriage and horse was in good shape and the horse even ate some of the grass that grew alongside the path, but the mess surrounding those two told us that everything else wasn't. There were cloth bags everywhere but nothing inside them but the couple didn't even seem to react. My cousins were more spellbound by the horse which I found to be pretty funny. I was a little shocked when I saw it as well as it was maybe the only creature that looked to be normal-sized that I have seen so far.

Once we got to the carriage the merchant asked us to wait outside for a second as he struggled to climb his way into the carriage. He searched around for something before coming out again with another bag. He then nodded at his wife before placing the bag in the front of the carriage while still nodding. I spoke as the silence was getting pretty awkward.

"Is everything alright? You don't seem to be upset at your stuff being taken." I said pretty bluntly.

"Yes.. The bags were already empty since I had already sold my wares in Willsden so all is fine. We should get moving in order to make it to the town before the gates close. They will make us pay an entrance fee otherwise." The merchant said while struggling to climb to the driver's seat of the carriage.

I helped him climb up before telling my cousins to help the wife enter the inside of the carriage before following her in. I climbed up onto the seat beside the merchant and we set off toward the north on the dirt path. The carriage ride was uncomfortable at best for me so I could only imagine what it felt like for the injured couple. I only heard the merchant grimace here and there though so I guess he could withstand the pain. As we went further along the path for about twenty more minutes, I saw that the forest was shaven down significantly being replaced by grass. The transition was almost instant as the huge trees that this world version of me was so familiar with gave way to a bushy grassland that was just as green, except for the patches of tan that were spread out here and there which had houses alongside them.

What stuck out the most to me though was what I assumed was the wall and gate the merchant mentioned earlier as well. I could only see the top third of the wall as they were many more buildings that made a sort of a town of its own outside the walls. But this still was enough to make me awe at the thing.

I had seen many things that would put this wall to shame, but it was never through my own eyes.

As we inched closer to the wall the awe left me and was instead replaced with determination.

This wall might just be a wall now, but in the future, it will play host too much, much more.