In the dark of the night, the [Sniffer’s] claws on the wagon stood out. Kaden wrapped them both in [Stealth Aura] and waited, laying out his plan for Trella. *If I can bind it, I’ll made it hold while you [Backstab].*

A risky plan, but one that would get them serious damage on the [Sniffer] before it had a chance to fight back.

Trella held her position. Hunted by Demons meant they would spawn near her, not that they would attack, but another could spawn.

A ropey figure built like a [Storm Ape] dropped down from the log-wagon and took a deep breath through a nose with a trunk like a [Quillophant]. It looked right where Trella had been standing a moment before.

[Sniffer - Demonic Hunter]

Sniffers are the hunters of every Hell, seeking those Hunted by Demons. Their goal is to mark the hunted so that others can follow the trail and finish what the sniffer starts. They are not affected by [Blind] or [Deaf] status effects, and will use their demonic portal abilities to unleash minions.

With every step, the [Sniffer] winced. The Charm of Veela burned, it, but the lure of close prey drove it forward.

[Binding Mark] has activated. Binding process is underway. To reduce binding time, increase your will or reduce target health.

Kaden drew the [Levicon Blade] and readied himself.

[Backstab!] Trella had [Shadow Stepped] to appear behind it. The [Sniffer] squealed in pain and twisted, rotating its spine in a way that would have killed anything but a demon.

Kaden leaped on its back, slicing at the nose with the Levicon Blade, which sheared the trunk from the [Sniffer]. He activated [Mana Drain] and ripped mana as fast as he could, powering [Split Second] and letting Trella ignore the cooldowns on her abilites.

Only a fool attacked a [Shadow Blade] at night.

[Shadow Chains] errupted from the night, sawing into the demon, which screeched—and locked onto Trella. It threw back its head and gave a call. An empty, weak call that sank into the grasslands.

“No Mana.” Kaden attacked it with Remembrance. “No regen. No backup.”

Trella’s Deceptions tag-teamed the [Sniffer], one sacrificing itself so the other could stab deep into the demon’s throat.

Kaden’s skin burned as Trella drew EverCut and attacked.

Binding process is complete.

You have bound an Entity (Sniffer).

It stopped struggling, falling to its knees at his command. [Shadow Chains] formed over it and sliced deep. The demon fell lifeless, and its flesh evaporated, leaving a demon core the size of a lemon.

Kaden put it into Inventory. “We’ll need to be careful and make sure it doesn’t regenerate.”

“I don’t think I’ll be getting back to sleep,” Trella said.

“Me either.” Kaden carried hot meals in Inventory for this very moment. Not ‘just attacked by a demonic sniffer’ but that, too, was on the list. “Sausage and potatoes? Or pancakes and bacon?”

“Both?” They sat together under the wagon and ate quickly. The sky was a dark blue instead of black, and Kaden was eager to get moving.

By sunrise they had reached the low rolling hills, and the scent of wood smoke said they weren’t alone. Trella had engaged stealth and sat atop the wagon. But no one attacked as they rolled further into the hills. Near noon, Kaden spotted dust in the distance, and picked up his pace, trotting toward what looked like a barricade with a hundred foot tree-wagon rolling behind him.

It was, in fact, a barricade, heavy logs with spikes lashed together with metal and guarded by five [swordsman] and six [spearmen], along with a couple archers, none of them over level ten.

Kaden let the wagon slow as he approached. “Hey there. I’m Kaden Birch. Who’s in charge of this town?”

The spearmen, who had leveled their spears at Kaden, stopped. “Town?”

Kaden pointed to the ramshackle wooden houses. “Village. Who’s mayor? I’m on a Quest. I have to bring back thirty [Bandit] eyeballs for a witch. I figure the mayor will know where the bandits are.”

One swordsman drew his sword, and another, and another, and then the first to draw spoke. “This road is our property. You can’t pass without paying a toll. It’s money, or your life.”

“That sounds a lot like what a [Bandit] would say. Or [Mayor]. There’s a lot of similarities. Your village guards here seem decently trained.”

Trella appeared behind them. “Excuse me, Mr. Mayor. But we’re really focused on collecting those [Bandit] eyeballs. You know of bandits who have eyeballs they’re not using?”

The swordsmen pivoted as one, proof that someone—probably their leader—had a tactics skill.

Trella’s Deceptions rose and walked in different directions, inspecting the men.

“They’ve got eyeballs!” Trella called to him. “The only question is, are they [Bandits]?”

The [Archers] were each targeting a Deception. The [Spearmen] weren’t used to having to point spears in different directions, and the tension would choke a [Mulick].

Kaden was patient. “Do you have a guild hall in your village? I’d like to report to the Guildmaster.”

Trella [Shadow Stepped], appearing on the hill. “Good news! These trees are very strong. And as you can see, we’ve got plenty of rope. But depending on how reasonable the tax is, maybe we’ll just pay.”

A quiet conversation passed between the men, then one took off running toward the houses.

Trella made no effort to disguise her contempt as she strolled back to the tree-wagon. She spoke loudly. “Between you and me, I think they’re [Bandits] pretending to be villagers.”

“We can’t kill villagers. Their eyes aren’t any good for the Quest,” Kaden said, leaning against the wagon. “Why don’t we just see what they say? Oh, I have a better idea! Let’s go see the village!”

“You! Stay with the wagon!” One of the [Spearmen] pointed with his spear in case Kaden had forgotten where the hundred foot long, fifteen foot tall wagon was. “Stay there until the chief—the mayor—gets back.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The mayor was coming, and bringing with him the whole bandit troupe—or village. It was hard to be sure. Men and women, and not a few teens barely old enough to hold the weapons they carried formed a ring around the wagon. The Mayor pointed his sword. “Three hundred silver or you life is forfeit.”

Before Kaden could move, Trella was standing between the Mayor and the woman to his right, an arm around each. “You are doing this all wrong. The barricades need to be around your quaint little village, not across the road. Now, I’m going to hand you some silver. You’re going to count it. And afterwards, we’re going to decide how this goes.”

Kaden drew a pouch of silver he used for city purchases and tossed it to the Mayor. ”This is to fund your village wall, right?”

The bandits looked more at loss with every moment. Sometimes, it was right to take a risk. Kaden headed toward the chief. “Walk with me, why don’t you? Show my your village. I’ve got more points in Strength than your entire militia, and I had a hard night. My lover and I were attacked by a demon Sniffer. That’s a demon that comes to hunt from hell. We killed it, but we’re tired. Maybe we could rest here? Mayor?”

The man mumbled an answer Kaden took as ‘We’d love to have you and the lovely [Shadow Blade].’

Calling it a village was an insult to villages everywhere. Twelve houses dis-organized in a rough square stood without even a log wall.

“You grow food here?” Trella said. “There’s always good market for food. Tell me about food, I’ve always wanted to know how it was grown, Mr. Mayor. What is your village called?”

“Deshun a Noduska Bahon De,” Kaden said. “Deshun for short. He was just telling me. They guard the road to protect it from bandits. That’s entirely different than robbing people who pass down the road, isn’t it, Mr. Mayor?”

“You! Give me all your money!” One of the archers had drawn her bow and trained it on Kaden. “This isn’t a village and we aren’t some stupid guard. This is—”

Trella errupted from the shadows behind the Archer and clamped a gloved hand over the woman’s mouth. “Shhh. Shhhhhh. You’re about to ruin everything. The [Beast Master] you’re aiming at killed a hundred people in Omnor. A hundred to one. They thought he was trapped in room with them. Turned out, they were trapped in a room with him.”

Trella took the bow and examined it. “This is garbage. If you shot me with this, I’d be offended you didn’t respect me enough to use a good weapon.”

Kaden turned his attention back to the nervous man beside him. “It wasn’t just me. I have a three headed triterror who’s mutated from a hydra. She eats people and then kills them. Anyway, you were showing me Deshun. What do you produce out here, Mr. Mayor?”

“When we first came, we sifted the river for mana stones.” It was the first time the ‘Mayor’ had spoken of his own accord. “Now, the cavern the river flows from is too dangerous to enter.”

“Sounds a lot like a Dungeon to me.” Trella spoke from just behind him. “You know who have coins to spend and love dungeons? Or just caverns filled with monsters? Adventurers. Is that your inn? You have to have an inn.” She pointed to an obviously abandoned house. “It needs more inn. And beer. You can’t have adventurers without beer and an inn.”

“We don’t have adventurers,” one of the women said. “We don’t have beer, and if you think that’s an inn…” she trailed off as Trella’s Deception emerged and headed into the building.

“Looks like an inn to me,” Trella said. “Who’s the innkeeper? You need to be able to pour beer from a barrel and lie about cleaning the sheets. One of you is an inkeeper. I just have this feeling. You.” She pointed to the woman who had spoken. “Come with me, show me your inn.”

Kaden looked to the other bandits. “You, you, you. Come with me.”

He set off toward a copse of trees. Fangwood’s trees were tall and thick and perfect. No way was he using them to make a barrier. As he worked, he chatted with the possibly-reformed bandits. “So, what brings nice men like you to the middle of nowhere?”

With every blow, Remembrance brought down a tree. Kaden shouldered one and began dragging it back, while the three men with him took the other end. “You’re going to need walls but not huge ones. This is a village, the night spawns will approach but mostly go away when they can’t get in. All we need is a nice pole wall.”

By mid afternoon, he’d buried split trunks around three of the four sides. Kaden joined Trella in the village ’square’ for a meal from Inventory. They spoke in code, while definitely-not-bandits-while-watched stared from houses. *It would have been easier to hang them all.*

Kaden nodded. *Since when do you do easy?*

*It would have been cheaper to hang them all. Rope is cheap. I ordered three barrels of beer, some beds, plates, that kind of stuff. Had to hire a wagon to bring it and pay extra because there’s bandits on this road.* Trella glanced around. *Technically they’re not on the road right now.*

*How much?* Kaden already had a town to resettle.

*Twenty five gold.* Trella looked up at him, watching for a reaction.

Twenty five gold. Roughly six hundred silver for a life. Probably worthwhile. It was possible that they’d be robbing travelers within days. Kaden wanted to believe better. But rather than just believe, he needed a way to ensure it.

The first thing was to make certain they didn’t have a way to go back to what they’d done. Kaden looked to the gate and tapped out a request. Trella moved with him as he activated [Moment of Speed].

Before the now-villagers could react, Kaden had lodged his shoulder under the edge of the barricade. He strained with every ounce of strength, with Trella at his side. The barricade groaned and shuddered as Kaden tore it loose from the earth, gate and all.

As ex-bandits rushed from the houses, Kaden dragged the barricade back. “You have a perfectly good gate, and since you want to let people in, it makes more sense to put it here, in front of the village.”

Trella tensed as angry men drew swords.

Kaden went back to digging, burying the new village wall and gate. “So, when you’re ready to expand, you have room for an entire row of buildings. A blacksmith, a crafter, and a healer would be my recommendation.”

Trella faced the mostly-non-bandit people. “Your first Adventurers are going to arrive tomorrow. There’s a Quest from the King himself to kill bandits and they’ll be hunting up and down the road. They’ll also be hunting your caverns, which should make it safe to go back to sifting for mana stones.”

Kaden dispatched the Falcrow and stood beside Trella, admiring the absolutely nothing. The holding was quiet. The holding was isolated. The holding wasn’t surrounded by people. A moment later, a miniature peacock glided down to rest on Kaden’s arm, and Eve spoke. “I’ve already dispatched a message to the Council at Verona. They’ll courier in an agreement. It doesn’t really matter how either side makes. Your ‘villagers’ will have a place to retreat during surges, and the Council will credit this as a minor agreement. Thank you.”

Sara’s green parrot sat on Trella’s arm, issuing instructions, which went on much longer than Eve’s had.

“Good news!” Trella said in the way that meant there was no good news, at least not for the people she was talking too. “The City of Verona has extended your beautiful village an offer. The King is financing bandit hunting patrols, and they’ve decided to send a squad of knights to help the Adventurers.”

The message sank in. It was Kaden’s turn, as an actual bird, an eagle descended to land near the new Mayor. “That is a trade agreement scroll. You agree to sell mana stones you sift in Verona. In return, you can shelter there during a Surge. All you have to do is swear before the System.”

Kaden accepted the scroll from the eagle, which watched him. *Waiting.*

“This will only take a moment.” Kaden unrolled it and read it—then took out the Levicon Blade and sliced the contract. “There was a minor error in that one.”

Thirty minutes later, another eagle landed.

This time, the scroll had Evelyn Black as the councilwoman who had arranged the agreement.

The Mayor had spent his time talking quietly with the men and women. The gaze he locked on Kaden and Trella said this wasn’t friendly, it was forced. But he took the scroll and recited the oath, then handed it back to Kaden. “You’re a monster.”

“Yes.” Kaden offered the man a handshake. “We’ll be going. You have our tax for passing. And I’ll be back by, because Deshun has a special place in my heart.”

*What the hell kind of name is that?* Trella asked.

Kaden thought a moment. “Deshun? It’s Vichorean. The translation isn’t quite right, but it means ‘The Shadow of the Bandit Hanging From a Tree.’”

“Love it. Deshun forever.” Trella followed Kaden through the gate and back to the road.

Kaden took up the ropes, Trella climbed to the top of the stack, and they began to roll. As he picked up speed, he couldn’t help noticing the trio of messenger birds, plain, brown ones who circled and headed east.

Trella hopped down to pull with him. “They’re sending messages. Either we’re going to have a lot of problems with more bandits, or we’re not going to have any.”

Three hours down the road, Trella spotted the abandoned camp. She leaped off the wagon and rolled to her feet, sprinting off to scout, then returned with a wicked grin. “Fresh ashes, and signs there have been tents. I could track them, but they’re heading west to Deshun, through the wilderness.”

Kaden shook his head. The Mercari would be delighted. Some battles were fought with the head of a hammer and the blade of an axe. And some, you won by the edge of a coin.