Chapter 58: The Wolfclaw Bandits
Silence fell for a moment as the knight in the lead — a Boundless at D-rank — stared at the bandit leader: a muscular man radiating an overwhelmingly strong presence.
He furrowed his brow in anger and cursed internally,
’Damn it, he’s strong. He’s at the same rank as me, but I’m sensing a much greater threat from him.’
His gaze then shifted to the imposing woman beside the bandit leader, and he let out a frustrated sigh.
’That woman’s no pushover either. If we fight them, we’re not getting out unscathed. Damn it! If only I were allowed to raise the Baron’s banner, they wouldn’t have dared to attack us in the first place.’
Inside the white carriage sat the true Arvan. Unfortunately, due to his punishment, he was forbidden from bearing his family’s crest. All noble families — except for the baronies — had unique heraldic emblems, often symbolizing their strength, domain, or history. House Ravenshade’s crest, for instance, was a raven. The Ironhart family, which ruled over the Ironlands Duchy, bore a flaming sword.
The reason baronial families had no crests was simple: they were weak, and more importantly, far too numerous.
A noble crest signified identity and rank. For that reason, bandits and highwaymen typically avoided attacking caravans flying noble banners. Only lunatics would challenge such targets. But this particular caravan bore no insignia, so the bandits assumed it was merely a wealthy merchant convoy, despite a few contradictions, like the strength of its escorts.
After analyzing the situation in his head, the knight commander raised his hand and closed his fist. At that signal, all those around him moved into a defensive formation. The two official mages and the healer stood at the rear by the carriage doors. The sniper took position where the driver should have been, notching three arrows into his bow. The shieldbearer stood at the front, and behind him, ten E-rank knights formed a protective circle around the carriage. Even the servants some of whom were also E-rank picked up weapons, prepared to defend themselves.
The first to act was the healer. He quickly cast a wide-range buff and barrier spell, increasing the strength of everyone around him by roughly ten percent.
The bandits mirrored the preparation. They adjusted their stances and assumed a simple attack formation, with shieldbearers up front to guard the archers behind. Meanwhile, the bandit leader Thorne and his companion Thalia, who was also his sister, remained motionless, observing the situation with cold eyes.