10 Chapter 10

Cecil gaped in astonishment. His world froze for a moment.

'Me? Why? I don't even want to become king! I'll just squeeze my way out of this like normal-.'

"Funny joke! Man, that was absolutely hilarious! I might have actually believed you for a second if this wasn't just among the nobles, and you can clearly see that I am NOT, in fact, a noble. Haha!" Cecil forced out a laugh, slapping the seat of the carriage with his hand. He quickly retracted it though once he noticed the grime getting on the soft cushion.

"We are not joking," Travis corrected, leaning back into his seat.

"Mhm! As it will turn out, one of the contestants will suddenly 'fall sick' the day before the competition. Now, there is nothing in the rules about this, so the family gets to decide what to do. They definitely don't want to back out because they'd lose power and respect, so they'll be desperately begging their oldest child to attend instead. However, the oldest child will adamantly refuse, using the excuse of preparing to take over the family business. Then, we'll present you!" Darius explained quickly.

"The family will refuse at first," Travis continued with a sigh, "but you will convince them, and they will allow you to attend in the place of the younger brother. There."

"Is that it? That made no sense." Cecil said bluntly, deciding to sprawl out on his side of the seat in an attempt to make them kick him out. He had an idea of what they were talking about though, and he did not want to be involved.

'Please, I was to leave.' His hopes went crashing down soon after.

"Oh? I thought it was pretty clear though... all right, fine! Basically, we are going to take Travis's little brother out of the running, and you will replace him!" Darius explained.

"Not poison or anything you're thinking right now," Travis added after seeing the look on Cecil's face. "We were thinking about throwing a party for him the day prior and give him a lot of cake and other sweets. He won't feel well enough for the competition, and if we present you instead of him, then he has no chance of taking his spot back."

"I see..." Cecil responded hesitantly as he regarded the two individuals with newfound caution and respect. 'Ruthless. I thought Travis was the more sane one, but I wonder if it is actually the opposite.'

"And does this Theodore know about this plan?" Cecil ventured.

"Nope, not a single clue. If we told him, then he would never have agreed. No, we will have to take him out ourselves." Travis shook his head as he explained.

Cecil was finding this plan more and more bizarre by the minute.

"Sir Travis! The road up ahead is blocked by a large group of people! They seem to be bandits!" The driver interrupted. Travis and Darius both looked out the window at the same time.

There, in front of the road, was about 30 bandits. With no guards on their side, they seemed to be at a disadvantage, Cecil reasoned. The person who seemed to be the leader stomped forwards.

"Step off and let us search your carriage! You are hopelessly outnumbered though, so if you refuse, then prepare to die!" The bandit leader demanded.

"Stay in here, we'll go take care of them." Darius instructed before hopping off of the carriage with Travis. They instantly found themselves the target of about 40 weapons.

'Some are hiding, and some are out on the road.' Cecil realized, narrowing his eyes as he peeked out of the carriage.

"When I say everyone, I mean everyone! Including that driver! Well? Tell him to get off!" The bandit leader ordered.

"Marcus, stay there and duck down." Travis ordered and kicked the bandit who was attempting to bind his hands. In the lower regions. Ignoring his sudden howl of pain, Travis spun around and kicked another bandit into the ground, lightly stepping over his body to steal the iron sword he was holding.

In that same time, Darius kicked a bandit in the knees, shattering his kneecaps. When he collapsed in pain, Darius reached over and plucked the spear out of his hands.

Nobody moved for a moment. Then, upon realizing what had happened, the other bandits exploded into a frenzy like hungry sharks attracted to blood. They all simultaneously charged to the two, unfamiliar males with outraged yells.

Travis assessed the situation and swiftly motioned for Darius to follow him before running into the crowd, crouching low as he weaved between them. In that second of confusion of which hey lost their target, the bandits seemed confused for a moment ('Hey! That is my move!' Cecil complained.). That confusion was quickly dispelled when they were stabbed in the foot by Darius as he chased after Travis.

They did this a couple more times with Travis deciding the route and Darius following him while stabbing people left and right.

The bandits could do little more than stand helplessly as they searched for their targets. However, the bandits soon broke out into a fight of their own when one bandit mistook another bandit as one of the targets and attacked him. Not long after, all the bandits were caught up in a furious disagreement, leaving plenty of time for Travis and Darius to sneak out from there.

Cecil, who had watched the entire scene from the safety of the truck, watched in awe as even the bandit leader was dragged into the argument. Apparently, the bandit leader was wearing a dark cloak similar to Travis's hood, and a bandit attacked him.

Travis and Darius quietly made their way back inside the carriage and instructed the driver to go, even if he had to run over a few bandits to get out. Luckily, the driver didn't protest and did as instructed.

Cecil grimaced as the group of original blockers (whose numbers dwindled after joining the search) were ran over by the carriage.

After the carriage was far enough away from the bandits, Travis and Darius relaxed again.

"And that's that. Thank you for the idea, Cecil. Without your demonstration at the inn, I would have never though about using a crowd to escape. Now, where were we?"