"I already told you, I ain't know nothing." The Bandit was tied tightly to the side of a house.

He absolutely refused to answer anything, even after being asked repeatedly for the last five minutes.

There was only one option left. A bet had to be made.

Louis smirked, "Alright, then. How about we make a bet."

Over to the side, Cruz watched, lowering her head in embarrassment, murmuring.

"Oh no..not this again."

She knew exactly what Louis was going to do. And she knew that he was going to win.

The Bandit was all or it, he happened to enjoy a little gamble from time to time.

"A bet? Hah, I'm in. let's hear the details."

"If I can guess the color of your underwear, you'll tell me everything. If I'm wrong, I'll let you go like nothing ever happened?" Louis pointed down at him, waiting for a response.

It took a moment to sink in, but the eventually Bandit spoke.

"Aye.... I have no clue why you're interested in a man's underwear...but I'm all for it. Go on. Guess."

Louis snapped his fingers loudly, then spoke with confidence. Almost like a great magician that casting a spell.

Snap!

"Abrakadabra! BEHOLD, my MAGIC TRICK!! You are wearing…..." He froze for a moment as a sweat tricked down the side of his face, "....No underwear??....Oh." Louis scratched the back of his head, awkwardly with a chuckle, "Lol. I...didn't expect that, honestly."

The bandit's jaw dropped in utter shock.

"WHAT?!! How the hell did you guess that?!"

"Well...It was just a hunch." Louis stated.

"Hella accurate for just a hunch! Seriously! What the hell, man!"

Louis took a seat, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm just a really good at guessing. Now, give me my info. Did anyone, by chance, tell you that valuables would be here?"

The entire day, there was always something getting in Louis's way. It almost felt like someone was trying to stop the from reaching the Vangray mansion.

This was Louis's hunch.

Having lost, the bandit sighed and began to unfold the info.

"All I know is that some sketchy guy called 'Faust' told us that there were some goods here. We were running low on valuables so we came to raid the place. Guess there was nothing after all."

Cruz immediately butted in at hearing Faust's name.

"Did you just say Faust?!! He told you to come here?!!"

"Uhh, yeah. He did. Why?" the bandit replied.

"That BASTARD told me where to find valuables too. But NOOOO, I ended up being captured by this Former Royal Knight! And on top of THAT, there weren't any GOODS at ALL."

Cruz crossed her arms, angry the man in question. She just couldn't believe that she was deceived to harshly. 'Was i just a tool for him?'

Louis remembered one of the bandits threatening a kid, and asking for goods. But, the village ended up not having anything valuable.

'Faust. He told both parties of bandits where to find supposed goods. In places where there were nothing of value. And, I just so happened to be in the middle of it all.'

Was it coincidence?

No, the timing was just too perfect for that to be the case.

'I'll give him credit. He's smart, using tools instead of revealing himself...'

Whoever 'Faust' was, his motives were not clear. But he was definitely up to something bad.

Louis shook his head, directing a few words at Cruz, "See. I told you that you're source wasn't so trustworthy."

"I know. I really should've listened. But how was I supposed to know you weren't pulling stuff out of your ass?!" Cruz asked.

"I dunno. Still, attacking knights isn't a good idea either way."

Walking over, came an older man. One of the village elders.

"Sir, Knight. Earlier, you did an incredibly good deed, saving our village from the bandits. Though, some of us did lose our home due to the fires."

"I'm sorry about that. Maybe If I was faster I could've prevented that." Louis replied.

Though his hunches predicted a lot of events, they couldn't quite predict every single thing.

Because of everything the bandits did, homes and materials were destroyed.

Even the crops in field ween't untouched. Most of them had been burnt.

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Yet, no villagers lost their lives; this was fortunate. Given the circumstances, it could have been a lot worse.

The elder gazed at the aftermath caused by the bandits.

"I don't know if we'd still be alive if you hadn't shown up. I would like to reward you, but we're low on supplies now. But if there's anything I might be able to help with, please let me know."

Louis didn't need much of a reward in terms of something valuable.

But seeing that the animals ween't bothered by the attack, Louis made his request.

"Actually, I could use a few horses, if you don't mind. You see, me and some other knights got stranded."

"A couple horses? Sure. I can do that for you."

"Thanks, i appreciate it. If possible, I'd like them right away."

Louis didn't wanna keep the other knights waiting. It was already night, thousands of stars filled the sky.

"Are you sure you two don't want to stay the night? You never know what might be roaming." The elder asked.

"I'll be alright. I do have the other knights waiting."

"I suppose it was dumb of me to worry. You did just single handedly deal with the bandits. I'll go get the horses, wait here." The old man walked off.

Everything was going good. Now that horses were on the way, the only thing left to do was repair the carriages.

"What are we going to do with that bandit you left alive?" Cruz asked.

They could't just leave him tied up here. Something to be done.

"Oh him? We'll just feed him to some monsters." Louis replied.

At hearing this, the bandit squirmed, trying to free himself from the ropes.

"Wait what?! Yall are just going to feed me to some beasts??"

Louis sighed, "Relax. I was joking. But, now that I think about it, what am I going to do with you?"

He leaned close, staring into the Bandit's very soul, "If I do for some reason let you go, you won't come back to do anything bad to the village. Will you?"

"N-No, I won't. I swear it on mah life."

From the sheer terror in his eyes, he was telling the truth, and nothing but the truth.

"Well that settles it. You're free to run off as soon as I let you go."

Louis cut the ropes, letting the bandit sprint off into the distance.

"Aha! I'm free!"

It was one less problem on their hands. But, Cruz didn't enjoy the idea of letting him go.

"Is that really a good idea? What if he's lying and does come back?"

"It'll be alright.. Spotting a liar is--"

"--One of your abilities. I know." Cruz breathed

The old man came back, holding leads, attached to 2 separate hoses.

"Here. They're not the fastest, but they'll get the job done."

The old man placed the rope into Louis' hands.

"Thank you. This helps a lot."

"It's the least we can do." the old man replied.

Louis hopped onto the horses back, it was time to go.

"Do I get to ride one?" Cruz asked.

"Nope. You can just get in back of me. I can't have you running off with a free horse." Louis replied.

"Fine." Cruz pouted, before sitting behind Louis on the horse.

The old man wished them farewell, "Take care. Sir, Knight."

"You too." Louis replied.

He softly kicked the horse's sides, letting it know it was time to get going.

As him and Cruz disappeared into the distance, the old man waved them goodbye.

_________

In only 15 minutes, they were back at the carriages.

"I'm sorry I took so long." said Louis as he hopped off the horse.

"It's no problem. We've been holding out just fine." the knight replied.

Louis decided to mention the encounter with Jack.

"We ended up having an encounter with that canceler you told me about."

"You did?! Did You survive?" The knight asked.

After a couple moments of silence, he realized the stupidity of his question and admitted, "Never mind. That was a pretty dumb question of me to ask."

Louis shrugged, "Actually. I didn't survive. He ended up killed me."

Technically. Though Louis was clearly alive and well, he was killed once.

"Wait Whaaat?!! THEN, am I talking to a GHOST???!"

Louis shook his head, "No. I'm still alive. Resurrection is one of my abilities."

"So.... you're a ZOMBIE????!!!!" The knight asked in amazement.

Clearing his throat, the knight went back to being serious, "All jokes aside. I'm glad you're fine. I'll take the horses off of your hands. If you can, repair the carriages, please."

"Got it." Louis replied.

As he went over to the carriages, he saw just how bad the damage was.

The one he had ridden in, had chunks of wood torn off of it and the wheels were even missing.

The second carriage only had small craters and 1 missing wheel. This way something that could be fixed easily be Louis's repair magic.

Aiming his palms at the carriages, he began chanting.

"Nature Hear My Call, Repair The Objects In My Sight with a sturdy, wooden material."

The carriages slightly hovered above the ground, surrounded by a blue light. Anyone who hadn't seen this advanced magic before would think that they were witnessing a miracle. Slowly, wheels appeared, replacing the missing ones. Every inch of damage was gone.

Tmp!

The carriages gently landed back on the path.

It was all done. They could now head back on the road.

Louis looked at the knights and gave the news.

"Start rounding up the bandits and put them in carriages.. We can get going right away."

"We're on it!"

In mere minutes, all the bandits were placed in the carriage behind, along with a few knights to watch them.

However, Cruz alongside Louis in the lead carriage.

Back on their original path, it would take a few hours to each the mansion.

Cruz shifted her gaze onto Louis, apologizing.

"Hey. About attacking you earlier. I want you to know I'm sorry. Even after I did all that and caused most of your knights to die, you still protected me from Jack."

She felt bad about. She truly did.

"I only did my job. Nothing more." Louis replied, looking out into the starry sky.

"I know…"

Soon, Cruz would have to face her crimes. She pondered this. Being in a cell was the last thing she wanted, but she understood that it was her own fault. Nobody forced he to live this life. As much as she wanted someone to blame, she couldn't point her finger at anyone.

'I guess...I'll live the rest of my life off in a prison.'

Or so she assumed, but there was still hope.

Louis "When you get down to the jail, try not to worry too much. You will have to do some time, but because you're still young, they may work something out with you."

Cruz's crimes were great, and she could potentially face life in prisoner. Worst case, she could even be executed. However, the kingdom usually made certain deals with younger prisoners.

In exchange for being freed from their sentence, they'd be freed to sever in the military. Their assigned task will depend on what they have an affinity for.

Softly resting her sight on the crescent moon, Cruz murmured.

"I will keep that in mind."