Chapter 49: Chapter 49
Darius sighed and rubbed his hair. There was no need to continue here then. He had come here initially to farm a bit more experience and raise his level by a little, but he had thoroughly lost his appetite for further fights after being hit with this revelation.
Darius estimated that his current level threshold might be 5 levels based on the level of the Plains Lion, so he would keep his eyes out for a level 6 enemy to test the validity of his theory.
For now, he took out a House Portal scroll and used it to return to the homestead. When in his room, he rummaged through the closet and found a nice blue cloak that could cover his entire body.
Darius immediately wore it and made sure his features were undetectable this way. Of course, there was nothing he could do about his height, but he decided that it shouldn't be much of an issue for what he was about to do next.
Darius raised his head and his hazel pupils suddenly became serpentine slits that would chill the heart of an onlooker, but such an onlooker would be rendered confused as they saw that his eyes returned to normal the next instant.
Was it a trick of the light or an illusion of sorts?
Whatever it was, Darius smiled widely as he blinked away. It was time to begin phase 3 of the plan.
......
35 kilometers southwest, there was a mountainous ridge that overlooked a small valley. The valley was a known merchant pathway and was even used by smugglers sometimes when coming to and from one of the nearby towns.
Above this mountainous ridge, there were 21 men dressed in a mishmash of hide and leather armor that was in poor quality and smelled worse than dead animals.
They all wielded either rusty swords, axes, or greatswords that had splotches of blood all over their edges. The men were currently laughing and feasting as they sat around their campfire.
Next to them was a mess of 7 caravans laden with goods ranging from jewelry to foodstuffs. Besides the caravans were a few people, male and female, tied up in a circle as they could only watch the men around the fire eat heartily while they starved, lucky to still be alive.
The men around the fire were the Diato Bandits, one of the three biggest groups that hung around Poleria's Homestead. They focused on raiding merchant caravans that occasionally passed through these valleys in order to make a profit.
They only got a good haul like this every other month since most caravans that passed here were well defended. In fact, this one had been too. Less than an hour ago there had been more than 50 bandits alive, now slightly less than half.
However, the guards of the merchant group had perished first and they could always recruit more cutthroats from the smaller, struggling bandit groups around.
They also kept captives for ransom, which was why they had killed anyone that looked common and reserved those who looked important as hostages. Right now, they held 7 hostages, 3 females and 4 males, all of them wearing fine attires that showed status and a good background.
They fearfully watched the Diato Bandits revel in their heist, which was technically an insult to them, but what could they do? The females especially were subdued as they had heard the stories about what bandits would usually do to captive women, and tried to make themselves as invisible as possible.
While the bandits reveled in their joy, they did not notice a cloaked figure suddenly appear near their camp. This cloaked figure sat down to recover his mana as he listened in on the conversation the bandits were having.
He spent his time assessing the location in total as well as 28 people. He quickly ignored the hostages as Darius had no interest in them. Taking any of them under his brand would be even more problematic than the villagers of Poleria's Homestead due to their backgrounds.
Once Darius' mana climbed above 250 points, he blinked into the midst of the bandits. It took the group a whole 10 seconds to even notice he was there as their chatter abruptly died down, replaced by shock, confusion, and awe.
Darius sat there quietly, a cloaked figure that one could not tell the features of. The only thing one could barely make out were hazel colored eyes that roved the group lightly and callously.
"The Diato Bandit Group. Led by Diato, ex-mercenary under the guild and his two vices, Kevin, dishonorably discharged footsoldier and Jorge, wanted thief and fledgling assassin."
Darius looked around. "Supposedly made up of more than 50 men, but seeing your current numbers, this must have been quite a battle. Less than half remaining means that your group must've faced at least 20 opposing guards with one of them at the Journeyman stage."
Darius's eyes then landed on the trio he had named, the leaders of this group. "With your three leaders at the pinnacle of the Amateur stage, they likely had to team up to handle the Journeyman guard, while the rest struggled to deal with their better-trained opposition."
Darius's eyes landed on the lovely ruby dagger by the side of Diato. "The thing that saved the day must have been the two vices creating a distraction while your leader used his Cursed Dagger to inflict a curse upon your foe."
The more Darius spoke, the more the bandits around the fire felt chills in their hearts. From his appearance to his sudden monologue, everything was eerie as hell. It was as if he had been there with them as they raised the caravans… for his assessments had been completely on point!
Eventually, Diato spoke in a heavy voice that tried to cover his fear. "And who are you? What do you want?"
Darius smiled but none of them could see it, obviously. Instead, he raised a single finger, making the sign for 'one' as he said: "As for me, I am nobody of interest. As for what I want from you…"
Darius' upraised finger suddenly doubled as he added his middle finger, but caught between the two digits was a Gold Ando Coin that shimmered in the light of the campfire.
"Attack the Poleria Homestead and slaughter everyone there."
Chapter 50: Chapter 50
Darius' words practically shocked them out of their stupor. From his appearance to his words, over to his actions of pulling out a gold coin, and finally his command, they had been easily overwhelmed then caught in his pace.
The first to snap out of it was, of course, Diato. The rugged bandit was about the size of a bear, with burly arms, each half the size of Darius' torso. Darius had seen from his character panel that he was a hybrid. Part-beast, specifically of the Ursas.
He had a shaggy mane of brown hair that went down all the way to the small of his back. His face was rough and the farthest thing from handsome, yet he wasn't yet ugly.
He simply had hard features like a block nose, a distinctive jawline, slightly thick lips, and small yellowish eyes. He also had a messy stubble that didn't help with his appearance.
He was the only member of the group who had a complete set of leather armor covering his body, with many daggers strapped to his waist, legs, and torso. Darius wasn't surprised as his class was a Bandolier.
Beside him was Kevin who was tall and very unassuming, partly shaved brown hair, a long nose, wide eyes, and thin lips. He wore a steel breastplate he must have managed to steal from the army since it still had the sigil, as well as cotton pants and boots.
Surprisingly, he was also a spearman like Derek.
Finally, there was Jorge the thief. He also wore a cloak that covered most of his features like Darius. Darius couldn't see much of him except his arms, but Darius was intrigued to discover that Jorge had to be a female.
He could see a slight protrusion on the fellow's upper garment that resembled nylon, and the harem pants that were quite baggy also tried to mislead Darius.
Although the Analyze panel didn't show someone's gender, Darius was clued in by Jorge's real name, which happened to be Georgina Esta De L'Orion. A noble name for sure, so the question was how did she end up working with bandits?
As such, his eyes laid on Jorge more than the others. But he still idly negotiated with Diato on the task he issued to his group, which the leaders were slightly reluctant to take.
"We's doing jus fine thanks. Attacking that fellow Shank's homestead ain't wise. He's ex-knight, honorably discharged too. If we so much as touch a grass on his land, he could get a whole army regiment here within weeks!" Diato made a list of excuses in a rough accent.
Darius was amused to note that it wasn't there before, meaning that it had likely been shocked out of his system.
"Don't forget that he is in good favor with the Equality Faction of the nobles, boss! Many there support his homestead in the shadows and use it as a forward base to expand the frontier of the kingdom!" Kevin added while bitting off a large chunk of his held meat.
"And the one thing no sensible bandit ever does, is to harm a noble's interests or the army's. If you understand, please take your gold coin and leave before the hands of some of our boys get itchy." Jorge warned coldly, her voice coming out very deep.
'No wonder none have suspected her.'
Darius twirled the gold coin in his hands lazily and saw every eye around the campfire following its movement like they were charmed snakes. Even those who were tied up by the side were gazing at it with reverence and desire.
It couldn't be helped, a Gold Ando Coin had too much power in the Andrato Kingdom. Right now, Darius flourishing this coin told the bandit group five things.
The first was obviously that Darius had to be a noble. Only nobles or high-class existences could even get their hands on a single gold coin, and they mostly kept it for identity and status purposes.
The second was that Darius must enjoy a huge backing. The kind of person who would pay a lowly bandit group like them a whole gold coin instead of bronze - or even if they were generous, silver - probably had a wealth of gold coins to the point they did not value them.
The third was that Darius was giving them a warning. Just as they had monologued that attacking a noble was the last thing they would do, Darius was reminding them that even if they could pierce through his mystery and kill him, they would suffer untold wrath.
The fourth was that Shanks was not as loved as they thought. There had to be at least one noble family or perhaps even a faction that wanted to see him dead at all costs, even using a gold coin to pay for it.
To compare, that's like paying a common dark web assassin 10 billion dollars to kill a retired army commander living in the south.
The fifth tied into the fourth, in that by taking out such a heavy amount, Darius was basically telling them that he would not take no for answer. Removing a gold coin would tell anyone the first four points, and the third contained a secret.
So the group remained quiet as they stared at the gold coin. Despite refusing at first, Darius did not speak and continued to hold up the coin while the three leaders shared uncertain looks and whispered among themselves.
They were at a crossroads, where one wrong choice could see them all dead.
Kill or refuse Darius, no matter the outcome they would end up offending the noble family/faction behind him and die.
Kill Shanks, they would offend the noble faction behind him and die.
However, there was one out, and that was the almighty gold coin. It could grant them amnesty if they played their cards right and handled the job with extreme prudence and care, much more than what they used for their various raids.
Darius smiled when he saw the light flash in the three leaders' eyes and he flicked the coin over to Diato. The burly man caught the coin deftly and stared at Darius silently before nodding, Kevin and Jorge nodding as well.
Darius gazed at the captives beside the caravan boredly before blinking away. The captives, who thought Darius would negotiate for the freedom as a fellow noble, were left ashen.
Seeing this, Kevin turned to Diato. "What to do about the hostages, boss? They heard everything."
Diato turned and gazed at them coldly, before smiling brutally. "Use 'em well, then kill 'em. We's movin out in 3 days. Jorge, send news that we's recruitin' again. This time, no requirements. Whoever can clutch a stick is welcome to join us."
The rest of the gang laughed darkly as they rose and headed over to the 7 captives, each one picking a target that suited their fancy... and not always of the opposite sex.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
6 Power
stone 
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