Ning stood outside a carriage with Sophie, and along with them were a few more people from the gang. From the group, he only recognized Frank, the guy he had defeated yesterday.
Frank seemed to hold some sort of grudge against him and continuously gave a sneering look at him whenever their eyes met. Ning tried to ignore it as much as possible and gave no attention to the man.
There were multiple carriages in a line that were all going toward Grandfort city. Since Clara was going to be with them, he looked around for her to come.
Time passed and it was about time for everyone to start getting on the carriage. However, Clara simply didn't come at all.
"Did you see the boss get into any carriage?" Ning asked Sophie softly.
The girl frowned as she turned to Ning. "How the hell am I supposed to know that when I don't even know what he looks like? For all I know, it could be one of these 4," she said, gesturing to the 6 people in front of her which consisted of 4 men and 2 women.
They were all from the same gang but there was somehow a divine between them. Not everyone knew everyone, so they didn't talk with each other just as much either.
"Let's go, the carriage is leaving," someone said and everyone walked into the carriage.
Ning sat on his seat and looked outside the window, wondering if Clara even got here at all. Should he stop the carriage for a little longer so she could get here in time?
However, he remembered her capabilities as a Shadow Essence user. There was absolutely no way he could've known that she had come here if she wanted to hide.
Since even the other bosses from the various gangs were unable to locate her while she was in the room, Ning didn't bother worrying about whether she got in or not.
The carriage moved on and the journey to Grandfort city began.
The Grandfort city was located southeast of where they were, right by the border of the Crowler Empire and the Frolane Empire.
It was a large hub for the import and export of various goods to and from the two empires, thus making it one of the busiest cities of the Empire. At the same time, due to its geographical location of being on a plateau in the Jerlean Mountain range, it was also a fortress that was made to fend off invading armies in the past.
"How long does it usually take to get to Grandfort city?" Ning asked.
"Well… we will reach around noon tomorrow I believe," the blue-haired girl said.
"Really? The map didn't show that much of a distance between us and them," Ning said.
"It's less about the distance and more about the path leading there. Since we have to go to the mountaintop, the road leading there is long and winding to compensate for the steep incline once we pass the large forest."
"It's actually very quickly when going downhill, but when going uphill, the horses will have to rest multiple times, making the trip take longer than needed," Sophie explained.
"I see," Ning said. "Then I should probably just go to sleep now since there is nothing else to do."
Sophie knocked him on the head hard enough to hurt a bit.
"What was that for?" Ning asked angrily.
"Sleep?" Sophie asked with her hands on her hip. "Did you forget what we are here for?"
"Uhh…"
"We're on a mission," Sophie answered her own question. "We are not here to slack off, but to be on the guard for anyone that might come and attack the boss. You can't go to sleep just because you want to."
"Geez, you don't have to hit me just to tell me that," Ning said as he rubbed his head.
"I'm just teaching you. I'm not hitting because I like it," she said.
Ning shook his head and slumped back in his seat with nothing else to do. He swayed with the carriage, looking at the vast grassland that turned to the forest not long after.
They also passed a massive river that followed them for the longest time before entering another forest.
As he watched the various scenarios, he noticed people fidgeting a bit. He didn't immediately turn around and instead looked at them using his Energy vision.
Frank and two other people rocked their legs or clasped their hands or moved their hair as they sneaked a glance out of the carriage.
'What's wrong with them?' he wondered. As he thought that, he heard a distinct rustle that only came from something moving in the forest haphazardly.
He was surprised he could hear it all with all the noise, but he did and he looked in the direction of the noise.
They tried to hide, but Ning saw the dark figures that moved in the shadows of the forest. His vision was just that good. He saw the figures holding different types of weapons.
Ning looked toward Sophie and it seemed that she had noticed it too. As his eyes glanced over the rest, almost all of them had noticed it.
"Be alert," Sophie said. "Bandits ahead."
Just as she said that the wild group of bandits jumped out of the forest with various weapons in hand.
"Stop the carriage!" one of them shouted and the entire group of carriages came to a halt.
The bandits started gathering around the carriages while Ning and the rest quickly walked out to fight them.
"Everyone, you better not think of doing anything stupid," the leader of the bandit said. "We are only here to steal your valuables, not your life. Don't try to protect one at the cost of another."
Ning looked around with a frown on his face. There were 8 of them along with 5 more guards that the carriage had paid for.
However, the bandits amounted to over 30 easily. If they had to fight, they had to be very careful not to get overwhelmed by them.
