Approximately a month before Milo and Helena were traversing this beaten up road, the sun was barely transforming into his twin-drop form and the days were still relatively cool, the multiple bandit groups prowling the hills and forests were idle as per usual.
Well, calling them bandits was no longer very accurate, their camps resembled settlements ready to become villages and maybe even small-sized towns in the future, their criminal acts were closer to a small toll to pay for passage, they had their own crops and livestocks.
Having begun to exploit the natural resources of the nearby mountains and woods, it was likely that the former bandit groups would soon disappear altogether, nevertheless, despite their dwelling places being filled with non-combat-ables, women and children, the men that used to rob entire caravans were still here and well.