13 Meeting with the three knight apprentices

After honoring the dead Raymond and his guild members started walking towards the nearest town to gather information. As they were walking they noticed a group of youths wearing gambesons heading the opposite direction. The moment they got near Raymond heard them talking to each other.

"Shouldn't we prepare a bit more before we Raid the bandits' hideout." The timid looking one spoke.

"Daniel, are you going to keep on doing this? We're already halfway there, if you want to back out then you could go back to town and wait for us there." A mean-looking youth responded to the timid one.

"But-" Hearing their conversation Raymond's gamer's instincts kicked in. Well it was not necessarily gamer's instincts even a normal person could guess that the three youths were heading to the place he wanted to go to.

'How convenient, it's like this world is helping me do what I need to do. I might actually be the protagonist of this world.'

'The host is becoming delusional again. Do you want another free massage (electrocution)?'

'I can dream can't I?' While answering the system, Raymond approached the three knight apprentices.

"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear that you three are going to bandit hideout." The three knight apprentices looked at the man that suddenly talked to them. He was wearing some leather armor, it looked pretty good and the sword on his waist seemed even better than theirs. He didn't look like someone interested in robbing them, but once could never know.

"What do you want?" The three were now wary of Raymond. It was even possible that Raymond was part of the bandits that they were about to attack. The three held onto the hilts of their swords. Seeing this Brom clenched his fist and took a stance, Roselia was also getting ready for the conflict. The tension was escalating as Raymond sighed.

"We aren't your enemies, we just want to join you on your way to the hideout."

"Why?" Lux asked Raymond without dropping his guard.

"We want to eliminate the bandits as well. You see we're sorta like a mercenary group." Hearing what Raymond said Lux and his group looked at the two behind Raymond. One of them was a scowling boy wearing a weird outfit while clenching his fist. The other looked like a priestess of some random religion. She looked beautiful but she did not really look like someone who knew how to fight. They no longer look like bandits, but they didn't look like a mercenary group either.

"Are you sure your mercenaries? If you are, how about showing me your emblems?"

"Emblems?"

"You're obviously not mercenaries... You don't even know what emblems are." Lux shrugged his shoulders as he answered.

"Let's stop wasting time talking to these guys." Rei sounded a bit irritated as he spoke to Lux.

"Okay, we might not be proper mercenaries but we're strong enough to help you guys." Lux once again looked at Raymond's group. Aside from Raymond who looked decently armed, the other two didn't look like they could keep up.

"I don't think you understand what we're about to face. This isn't just one or two bandits, it's a large group and they're pretty famous in this region. We don't have the leeway to protect you guys."

The moment Lux said that Raymond activated the swordsman skill [quick draw]. Raymond's sword was now beside Lux's neck. The five people present couldn't even see Raymond draw out his sword. They only noticed it when it was already at Lux's neck. Seeing this only increased Brom and Roselia's reverence to their Guild Master.

On the other hand, Lux's group were shocked by the sudden development. Even some of the instructors in the academy weren't that fast, in fact, it was possible that was the fastest sword draw they have ever seen.

"We can handle ourselves just fine. So are you willing to bring us along?" Raymond sheathed his sword and asked.

"... Just a minute, I need to talk with my companions." Lux, Rei, and Daniel walked a bit further away so that Raymond can't hear them before starting their conversation.

"So what do you guys think?" Lux asked the other two.

"They might seem a bit suspicious, but they aren't here to harm us. Seeing as that one guy could've killed us all and take all of our stuff. Even if the other two prove to be useless in a fight, that one guy alone could handle it."

"Yeah, I'll also feel safer with a person like that in our group."

"Then it's decided." Lux went back to Raymond and told him that they could join his group to the bandit hideout.