Everyone can be leaders (114)

"Well? Where are we headed?" Mr. Greames asked as he watched as they were gradually moving away from the main road.

"We're going towards our lair" Archivald said in a robotic voice. He had put his metal mask back on.

"By the way... Who are they Mr. Ruvan? They seem to be disciples of some kind of important sect" Mr. Greames asked as he glanced towards the unconscious disciples who were lying tied up on top of the spirit beasts.

"Do you really want to know, Mr. Greames?"

"No... I don't really care" Mr. Greames replied in a dry voice. The cold look he had just received from Ruvan had left him completely frozen.

After about twenty minutes the group finally reached what appeared to be a small rocky hill.

"Here..." Murmured Archivald as he stepped forward a couple of meters to announce his arrival.

"RICK!! MORTY!!"

"Here we are boss" Two unreliable looking guys quickly came out among the nearby bushes.

"Help us take these guys inside...."Archivald said as he pointed towards the unconscious Edmar and his group.

"Yes Boss"

"Oh! Looks like we had a good harvest Boss!!"

"And the others? Where are they?"Both guys asked when they realized that there was only their Boss next to a couple of unknown guys.

"And who are they...?"

"Everyone is dead... We came across a level four Hyena of the Sands"

"And regarding your last question... These guys are friends of mine"

"If it weren't for them, I'm afraid even I would have died too," Archivald said as he motioned for Ruvan and Mr. Greames to continue forward without worries.

"Glup"

"Hell... A level four Spiritual beast"

"What bad luck for us... Now I'm afraid our gang will be finished" Both subjects muttered heavily as they helped the beasts to climb the rocky hill.

The reason why there were only three people instead of four original was because Ruvan had killed the surviving bandit just before leaving. After all in his opinion that bandit would not be of much use to him. He was also a guy who knew too much to let it go free…

Finally after climbing a small steep trail, Ruvan and his group arrived at what appeared to be a small campsite just above the rocky hill.

Inside the camp were approximately ten other bandits who were busy with different activities. Some stood guard while others were in charge of maintaining their weapons.

'At least they seem much more disciplined than a normal bandit group' Ruvan thought to himself as he descended from Viridi's head.

"Hey... Wasn't that the snake that the boss was supposed to go out and capture with the rest?"

"I think so"

"So, what the hell is that unknown guy doing riding that snake?"

"And where the hell are the others?"Some questions began to arise among the bandits when they saw that the situation was not as they expected.

"Boss! What happened?"

"Boss!! Where is the rest?"

"Who are these two guys?"

'What do you want me to do with them?'Archivald asked through a spiritual transmission.

'Leave one alive... Preferably the most loyal of all'

'The rest you can just get rid of them...' Ruvan said in a casual voice as he took out his wine gourd.

'Understood'

'Hey... Aren't you going to appeal for the lives of your subordinates?' Ruvan asked with some curiosity.

'Maybe you didn't see what happened in the cave...? I bet you that all these bastards wouldn't hesitate to betray me if they had a good opportunity' Archivald said with an ironic laugh. That's how things worked in this place...

'Oh, I see...' Ruvan nodded understandingly. Without a doubt this place was anything but an easy place.

'Need help?'

'No thanks, I can handle this'

"SAMY!! Go to the kitchen and make me something to eat" Archivald said as he looked at a little boy who was sitting near a small campfire on the outskirts of the camp.

"Yes boss!!" The boy nodded excitedly as he got up from the ground. His unsteady gait quickly revealed that the poor boy had some sort of injury to one of his thin legs.

'Mmm it looks like Archivald doesn't have the heart of ice as he wants to appear' Murmured Ruvan with a smile.

The contemptuous looks on the part of all the bandits towards the little boy were more than evident, without a doubt his stay in this place was mainly due to Archivald.

"CORY!! "I want you to gather everyone here…NOW"

"Yes Boss" One of the bandits hurriedly nodded and quickly went to find those who were standing guard nearby. In a few minutes, a total of twelve bandits gathered in the central part of the field.

Each of them had doubtful looks as they gave Ruvan an occasional glance. Ruvan, for his part, limited himself to looking for a good place to see the whole spectacle up close. Mr. Greames was sitting next to him drinking some wine while they made small talk.

"So you told me your wife is very pretty?"

"No!! Not at all... She is very ugly, Mr. Ruvan... I'm afraid my wife is not up to your standards" Mr. Greames said nervously.

"Well...No, I'm a person with such high standards"

"..." Mr, Greames.

"Shhh"

"What happened?"

"The show is going to start" Ruvan said with a smile as he turned to see Archivald.

"Very well... Now that everyone is here" Said Archivald while checking the attendance of each of the members of his band.

"What's going on Boss?"

"What is so important that we had to stop standing guard?"The bandits quickly flooded Archivald with questions, after all his actions were completely unusual.

"Hush..."

"Now... You, like me, know that this place forces us to do everything to survive, right?"

The bandits nodded their heads in sign of understanding.

"During the last mission we had too many casualties... Approximately more than sixty percent of our band died"

"Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get out of the situation unscathed either... The reality is that I'm seriously injured too" Archivald said with a heavy tone as he let a glimpse of his blood-covered bandage.

The bandits' faces quickly changed upon hearing that their leader was injured.

"How bad is your injury, Boss?"

"Can you still fight, Boss?

The bandits flooded Archivald with questions but it was evident in his eyes that his questions were not out of concern but out of greed.

"My injury is very serious... I'm afraid I won't be able to fight for at least several months" Archivald said with a worried tone.

"And it is for that reason that I have decided to leave my position as leader of the band"

Archivald's last words were like an ice cube to the bandits throwing each other complicit glances. It was more than evident that they were plotting against Archivald, just before he dropped that last bombshell.

"WHAT?"

"Wait Boss? Who is going to be in charge now?"

"Boss! Can I nominate myself for the position of leader?"

"Hey! Why you?"

"I'M NOMINATING MYSELF FOR LEADER TOO"

The bandits quickly erupted into an argument as they fought over who would be Archivald's new successor.

"Relax friends... Everyone can be the leader of the band" Archivald said in a soft voice.

"How so?"

"That doesn't make sense"

If one were observant one would notice that the bandits no longer spoke to Archivald with the same respect as before.

"Of course he has it"

Archivald raised his hand for silence.

The crowd of bandits finally calmed down and after a few moments Archival finally spoke again: "Everyone will be able to be their own leader... BUT FROM HELL YOU BLOODY TREACHEROUS BASTARDS"

"Iron thrust position one"

"Arrrghhh" "Arghhhh" "Arghhhh" Boss wait"

"Iron thrust position twot"

"ARRRGHH" "

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING BOSS?"

"ARRGHH MY HAND"

"Iron Thrust postion third"

"…" "…" "…"

A spectacle of blood and human parts were scattered all over the camp. It was certainly a terrifying sight to watch.

"Clap" "Clap" "Clap"

"Good job" Ruvan said with a smile as he clapped from the place where he was sitting.

"Thank you"

"I guess..."

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Sorry for the lack of update guys! I had a problem with my computer and I hope to fix it next week.

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