Unfortunately, the guy's wishes were not destined to come true.

After spending several minutes in a city filled with an atmosphere so oppressive that it seemed as if the very air was sticky, Rey and Tessa finally made it to another hole in the wall. It was exactly the same as the previous one, with one exception - now the passage was blocked by a nondescript, but rather large carriage.

Several dozen onlookers gathered near the nearest houses, which meant that the carriage had been standing here for some time. Three guards stood in front of the carriage with satisfied grins on their faces, they, in fact, did not let her pass. The fourth stood next to the two riders, arguing furiously about something. At the very least, he waved his arms at the same time like a real conductor. The coachman, with a bored look, detachedly watched what was happening.

The conversation was quite hard to hear, so when the crew was about fifty meters away, Rey ordered Tsess to stop and put on his hood. At the same moment, claws appeared on his hands, but it was quite difficult to notice this because of the panther fur in which he dipped them.

- ... verification is required. I'm sorry, gentlemen, but those are the rules. the guard said with mock disappointment. “Of course, if what’s inside the wagon is really that secret, I’m willing to try to convince my colleagues, but you must understand…”

At that moment, one of the riders tore off a heavy bag from his belt and threw it to the guard. He deftly grabbed it and without even trying to hide it, poured the contents into his palm. Seeing several dozen silver rounds, the guard clenched his fist greedily.

“I thank you for your generosity, but my comrades are very faithful to their duty. I do not want to offend you, but ... - his tongue was hung well, and coupled with remarkable arrogance, this paid off. The second rider threw him the same bag.

- Gentlemen, if you need help in choosing a place to sleep, you can not hesitate to contact me. - said the guard, after which the other three hurried to clear the road.

The riders, without giving any of them even a glance, moved forward, the carriage immediately following them. But, they could not go far, because now a huge panther blocked their path.

Noticing that the riders were slowing down, Rey asked the bewildered Tessa to dismount. She was too upset about what happened before entering the city to argue with him, so she just silently jumped to the ground.

- What a curious armor you have, traveler. Can you tell me where she might have come from? one of the horsemen spoke, stopping ten meters from Cess.

Surprisingly, the sight of the beast didn't seem to frighten them in the slightest. There could be two reasons for this: either they were so strong that they could not be afraid of the panther, or they were simply sure that the enemy would not dare to attack them. Which one was true, Rei couldn't tell no matter how hard he tried. Both riders were strongly built, and under the loose robes, the contours of the armor clearly showed through. Inwardly, the guy wondered how the guards were smart enough to stop this couple, but this did not bother him too much.

Now he was thinking about whether to contact them. The reason why he decided to block the way for the riders was not too serious and, it would seem, should not worry the guy, but for some reason he did not want to just pass by.

“The guards must have heard as well. Although, it's not surprising that they simply ignored such a thing ... ”Rei’s thoughts were interrupted by the call of the second rider:

- You've been asked a question!

Turning his head, the guy looked at the man, who had already lowered his hand to the blade attached to his belt. Quickly replaying in his head the words of the first horseman, which Rei paid no attention to at first, he realized that most likely the people in front of him already knew what kind of armor he was wearing.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"So even better. Now you don’t have to think long about what to do.”

Breaking off the spot, Cess jumped to the first rider. A cat could overcome a distance of ten meters in one jump, so the man could only realize what had happened when he crashed into the ground, flying off the saddle.

It was worth giving the soldiers their due. The second rider instantly reacted to the attack, but at the moment when he took out his sword, a gray dagger was already flying at him. Raising his hand, he barely had time to cover his head, into which, in fact, the weapon glowing with the green light of the Shot flew.

There was a metallic clang, but the dagger punched through the armor and pierced into the forearm. The rider was clearly an experienced warrior and such an injury only made him grimaced, but at the moment when he lowered his hand, he could only notice a flash of green light, and the next moment, a guy dressed in gray armor appeared in the air in front of him. The dagger in his hand, shining with the same emerald glow, was already rushing towards his neck. The warrior hoped to defend himself with a sword, but the hand did not go even half way, when the world before his eyes revolved. A second later, the severed head rolled down the dusty road.

Rey didn't stop there, grabbing his blade and stabbing it into the horse's neck, which let out a loud neigh, and after a moment fell silent, falling on its side.

Only after making sure that precious souls had escaped from both bodies did he turn his head. Cess coped faster than him and had already found a new toy. The guy did not understand why the panther liked doing this so much, but as long as it did not bother him, he was not going to deny the pet entertainment, albeit a little cruel. Right now, he was hitting the head of the coachman with a huge paw, who, it seems, in a futile attempt to escape, did not manage to take even five steps. After another poke of the cat, the man swallowed a portion of the dust from the road, but still tried to get up. Cess clearly did not like this, he again hit him on the head, causing it to crash into the ground. It was clear that the cat was restraining itself as best it could so as not to accidentally kill the poor fellow, but even so, the coachman would not have survived many such blows.

Realizing that everything is under control here, Rey glanced towards the guards. He hoped that they would do something, but all four of them, now and then looking over their shoulders, fled towards one of the gatehouses, located next to the hole in the wall. After thinking for a moment, the guy decided that enough murders for today. If these men had not identified him, he would not have killed them either, nevertheless, what they were doing was none of his business, but now ...

After waiting for the fourth soul to fly up to him, Rei extended his hand to the side. At the same moment, the dagger escaped from the body of the second rider and flew into his palm.

- Enough, Cess. he ordered the pet, taking a few steps towards the carriage.

Panther was also clearly tired of the coachman, because the man had almost stopped twitching. Stepping over the body of the poor fellow, Cess waved his tail. The bone tip entered the man's back with surprising ease, practically cutting him in half.

Nodding, Ray walked over to his body and wiped the weapon on the dead man's clothes, absorbing the coachman's soul in parallel. After that, as if he remembered something, he searched all three corpses in turn. Everyone had a small purse, which looked quite expensive. Imagine the guy's surprise when, pouring their contents into his palm, he saw an unexpected silver. No, almost four dozen coins shimmered in the midday sun with pure golden highlights.

At first, Rey was delighted with such prey, but after a few seconds, he frowned. With a quick glance at the decapitated body, he realized that perhaps he had messed with these people in vain.

“Who are you, if you carried so much money with you?”

Approaching the corpse, the guy cut open the outer clothing that covered the armor. At that moment, a step away from him, Tessa's voice rang out:

- Ray... You... - the girl didn't know what to think. Right in front of her eyes, the guy without saying a word killed three people and even their horses. Even then, she froze, not knowing what to do, and when he also shamelessly robbed the dead, Tessa was simply stunned. She came to her senses only when, as it seemed to her, Ray was going to take away the clothes of the poor fellows.

- There is a crying child in the carriage. Calm him down. Or rather her. - Having said these words, the guy continued to tear the clothes of the dead rider, not paying the slightest attention to the fact that the girl was still standing nearby. As the armor became visible, Rey could make out the strange mark that had been applied to the metal breastplate. He was unfamiliar to him, but Tessa, as soon as she saw him, cried out in a voice full of surprise:

“The symbol of the royal guard!?”