(MC POV)
We resumed our journey early the next morning since there was quite a bit of ground to cover today.
I did check on the manager from yesterday to see if anything happened to him but he seemed normal enough. He even saw us off with a smile on his face though even I could tell the smile was clearly strained.
Well, it's probably because he actually doesn't like us but whatever, we did make him slap himself in front of his coworkers so there's no way he would have a good impression of us.
I'll make a note not to stay here on our return trip, maybe we'll just pass by here and spend the night over on our side of the border instead.
"Please watch your step, Master," Alpha cautioned me as I boarded the carriage, the wolf girl practically glowing like the other girls who spent the night in my room yesterday.
I sure hope the next few places we stay at wouldn't need me to room together with them again, last night was quite intense even if I do say so myself.
'Ara? If Master wills it, this country can be completely removed from existence right?'
I'm not even going to comment on that.
With everyone prepared, we set out from the town towards the capital city of Sun.
Aaaaand not an hour away from the town…
"Stop right there! Hand over your valuables if you want to live!"
Are you serious? Why are we getting robbed by bandits all the time? Whoever heard of a Royal ambassador being robbed twice on their trip to their destination? Did the other envoys get robbed this many times too?
It's almost as if there's something out there that's making this happen on purpose… I don't think any of the gods are doing this right? Nah, can't be.
Do I really need to use my future sight to see how many more times we're going to meet bandits?
'Ufufu~ Master can always just End them if they are a bother. No one will miss them after all.'
I should really just spank you one of these days.
I moved to look outside the carriage, finding a dozen or so shabbily dressed men waving their half rusted weapons around.
These are probably some exploited peasants who had to resort to banditry to survive.
Cool motive, still annoying.
I turned to look at Alpha, "Will these guys be a problem?"
"Not at all, Master. If they were, we wouldn't be here to escort you," She replied confidently.
"Umu… I'll leave them to you then."
I shut the window and the sound of battle broke out outside coupled with several men screaming. I tuned out the noise and continued playing with Cai Hong.
About five minutes passed and our carriage was moving again. I didn't even bother checking how the fight went since there was no way a few peasants like them could win against any of the four, even if they were outnumbered. Gamma could literally just charge them down herself.
We stopped at the roadside at around midday for lunch, the road was relatively open with a few sparse trees around so we could see anyone approaching us from a distance.
That's how we spotted another carriage moving towards us from the direction of where we are heading to.
Thinking it was another group of travellers, we paid them no mind and continued with our lunch time preparations.
But when the wagon got closer, armed men jumped out from the back of the vehicle and quickly surrounded our campsite.
"Bring out your valuables right now!" One of them shouted.
Two times in one day?! Are you sure no one's messing with us?!
How can a country that focuses on trade have this many bandits around? Or is this one of their trades too? First they rob foreigners then they sell back the stolen stuff?
That… Actually sounds quite possible now that I think about it so I can't rule out that possibility…
Eris stood up and drew her sword, "Master, could we handle this?"
Eh… I suppose Eris and her other personalities should be able to deal with them so I nodded a go ahead. Even if she had trouble, I would be here to give her support, that's assuming my protection inscriptions on her could even be breached by this group of bandits in the first place.
As expected, my swordswoman subdued the entire group in the blink of an eye, all of them knocked out with the flat of her blade before being tied up securely.
I decided to do a reversal on them and had these bandits surrender their money before letting them go.
Would letting them go make them come back with an even bigger group? Possibly, but that just means I get to rob them even more don't I? Especially since this is a country of money, it wouldn't hurt to have some extra. So I see no downsides.
I'd like to refrain from creating more gold out of thin air to avoid crashing the economy if I could help it.
Soon enough, we were on the road again and… Lo and behold, just as I expected it would happen, it did. The same group of bandits were waiting up ahead with even more people this time. They even brought two wagons to block off the front and back of the road when we sprung their trap.
This time, Manami stood up, "Ufufufu~ Such troublesome insects to not just disturb Master once but twice… Could I handle this, Master?"
I nodded a go ahead and she stepped outside the carriage.
A few minutes later, she returned again carrying several bags filled with gold. No prizes to guessing where that came from.
I noticed the outside of the carriage seem to be glowing a bit like there was a fire but the carriage moved off before I could confirm what exactly happened to those bandits.
Nothing happened for the rest of the day thankfully and we managed to find a good spot to set up camp for the night in the clearing of a forest.
Just as we were finishing dinner however, the bushes rustled and twenty or so men emerged from the darkness, all of them armed to the teeth.
Ok, now this is just ridiculous…
Omniscience, is all of these robberies actually arranged by someone?
…
Yes huh… Who?
Some rich merchant trader in the next town over? But why? It's not like we met him or anything?
…
He does it to all foreign travellers along this road huh… So that he can profit off the foreign goods. Since he received news that a foreign ambassador was coming, he thought we would have lots of gifts to present to the king of Sun so we were the perfect target.
Not sure what made him think this was even a good idea since I don't know how he would deal with the stolen goods after he gets them.
Oh well, maybe I'll go pay that merchant a visit when we get to the city. In the meantime… It seems like Lian Li wants to be the one to deal with them this time.
Well, knock yourself out girl, I'll just continue patting Cai Hong's head here.
*
(Iris POV)
Slowly… Slowly…
Ever so slowly…
I can see it changing, your perception is returning.
Soon, soon, the day would come.
And you can be perfect once more~
Ufufufufu~
