A Morning Ambush

Over the course of the night, we dug a large ditch that stretches 15 metres long,15 wide, and 20 metres deep. At first, it was a bit difficult, for Lia anyway. I just transformed and took a bite out of the earth. After we finished its creation, I used my Element Creation & Manipulation to craft iron walls to line the walls of the ditch then place another iron plate to cover it up, afterwards we placed the dirt and stone back on top to cover it up. I tried my best to line it all back up the way it was previously, but these roads are actually pretty difficult for me to replicate. Since I don't have the ability to manipulate the Element of Earth, the best I could do was flatten out the dirt and stone with my full body. All things considered, I think I was able to replicate the appearance of the road to a degree, but there is a clear difference when I walk over the actual road and the part that covers the ditch. But I think it should be fine so long as no one is paying special attention to it.

And now we just have to wait. So far the only people who have walked by are adventurers, but from atop the hill we are sitting on, I finally see the carriage of the Marchio that wanted us out of the inn. As soon as the carriage rides over the centre of the ditch, using my Metal Manipulation I remove the iron cover, causing the carriage and everyone within it, horse included, falling down. I see a System notification that the horse died on impact as well as some of the servants. I didn't actually expect to get experience from this little endeavour, so this is a nice surprise. But unfortunately, the noble duo along with a couple of the more robust guards and servants lived through the initial fall, although they're all injured.

Walking over to look into the ditch, we find the bloodied survivors crawling out from beneath the wreckage. Turing to Lia, I ask, "Do you want to finish them or should I?"

"I want to keep shooting things with my gun, but I'm worried over the amount of ammo we have left."

"That train of thought is a little dangerous, but I'll let it slide. And you don't need to worry about ammo. I've pretty much finished analysing it and can recreate the ammo you've been using with my Metal Creation."

"Alright, then I'll shoot the couple and you can handle their attendants."

Noticing us from below, Marchio Marullinus yells out, "I remember you two! Those damn foreigners that we got kicked out from the inn! How dare you do this to proud nobles like us! I'll have your head for this!"

"Sure you will, but unfortunately for you, we have the high ground and your life ends here!" I yell out as Lia takes aim and shoots them dead.

Making sure to follow up, I create a fire from the wreckage left behind by the carriage and cover the ditch back up, burning all the oxygen within. And after a couple of moments, I find that every one of them has died.

"I'm a little dissatisfied," Lia says.

"And why's that? Was this too easy or did we not torture them enough?"

"No, it not that. I needed more than a single shot to kill them, I'm just a little dissatisfied that I missed a few times."

"For someone who has been exclusively using magic up until now and hasn't touched a bow, let alone a gun, I think you did fine. It's not like you needed to reload, even though you did you up the entire load. But since the handgun you have is a revolver, this is still an accomplishment as far as I'm concerned since it only holds six rounds at a time."

"I guess you're right. What now, should we check the Guild again for an escort quest or just pass right through the city and keep walking?"

"Let's head to the Guild and if there isn't an escort quest let's wait for another day before setting out on foot," I say turning back to the city.

"Uhh... shouldn't we at least cover up the metal plate? Are we really just going to leave it there for everyone to see?"

"I guess I can cover it up a bit," I say as I pick up some dirt and rocks from the side of the road and toss them onto the metal plate, "there I covered it a bit, now let's head back before people see us here."

"What am I even supposed to say about that. In what world is this considered covering it up..."

Ignoring Lia doubt over my superb disguising skills, we head back to the Adventurers Guild to find that there is no escort quest... again.