Bucket List (4)

That night, the one on guard duty was the tall, lanky bandit.

Aside from that one kid who had tried to escape before, there hadn't been any major incident with their 'goods', thus their security was truly lax. After all, they were facing little kids. If the eight of them joined force, what could those weak kids do? Annoy them to death?

The tall man yawned, wishing that he could be relieved as soon as possible so that he could join their drinking session around the fireplace.

At that moment, a creaking sound came from behind him.

He quickly turned around. What he saw was the door to the carriage slowly swinging open, showing the vast darkness inside.

The first thing that came to mind was that the kids had somehow managed to get free from their bonds. An escape attempt! He immediately went alert, his hand reaching out to the saber hanging on his waist.

A minute passed. And then another. Somehow, nothing else had happened so far.

The tall man was puzzled. Why hadn't the kids jump out of the carriage?

His taut nerves began to loosen up. There should be a simpler explanation. Perhaps the door was starting to get faulty, hence it got pushed open by the wind. They'd used the carriage for years, after all.

"Still, I have to check..."

He brandished his blade, just in case. He scooted closer and closer toward the opening, straining his ears. The inside of the carriage was awfully silent, there wasn't any noise made by kids running about.

It assured him that the door opening was merely a coincidence.

"Hey, you kids..."

The tall man peered in, squinting his eyes to get a better view of the dark room. He could see a few shadows bundled up around the floor, which should belong to the kids. He secretly heaved a sigh.

See, everything was normal. He was overthinki-

"Now."

A cold voice rang in the darkness.

Before the tall man could react, he felt his legs suddenly pulled by the darkness.

The world spun around as he fell to his back, his head crashing into the hard wood with a loud bang.

The kids combined their strength to pull the man inside. And then, Norman and the eleven-years-old boy began to stomp their feet on the man's head. Partly to knock him unconscious, partly to vent their frustration.

As for Sasha, he had taken the man's saber. The sharp blade gave off a cold glint when a beam of light shone upon it.

When they saw that scene, the kids started to tremble, even though they didn't know the exact reason. Their innate instinct was simply telling them that this boy and a blade was a dangerous combination.

"Proceed with the plan."

Hearing his words, the kids shoved their anxiety away and ran out into the forest. Sasha waited until only he and Norman were left in the carriage.

"Wake him up."

Norman nodded. Since his hands were busy carrying Filia behind him, he used his foot instead. He landed a splendid kick on the man's cheek, making him roll a few times on the ground.

"Buh-waa?!?"

The pain forced the man awake. To his horror, he was greeted with the sight of an empty carriage. Only two kids were left, and one of them was even holding his saber.

Not good. Definitely not good!

"Help! The kids escaped! Help! H-"

"Thanks for your effort."

Sasha lunged forward, striking the man's face with the saber's pommel. A sick, crunching noise could be heard as hard material met soft bones in high velocity.

"Hah, serves you right!"

Norman added a few more kicks, turning the man's face more pitiful. He only stopped when Sasha patted his shoulder.

"Alright, that's enough. Let's join the others."

---

As per the plan, the eleven-years-old boy had left first to help organize the younger ones. He was barely finished when he noticed Sasha and Norman approaching him.

"Yo, chief, it's all done."

Sasha froze a bit upon hearing that, but he quickly regained his bearing.

Standing behind the boy was the three youngest kids in the group, two girls and one boy. They were looking at Sasha with teary eyes. Seeing that, Sasha calmly approached them before giving them each a round of head pats.

"You'll be fine. Believe in yourself. You're strong."

His voice had a warm tinge in it, like an elder coaxing a child. While it sounded weird coming from a kid his age, the effect was still somewhat apparent. The three children had gradually relaxed somehow.

Actually, being scared is fine. If they were too calm, it would be suspicious.

"Let's do our part as well."

Sasha proceeded to climb onto his designated position on a tree. Norman followed suit right behind him. In the past, the two had used this location as well. While it shouldn't matter whether he tweaked this detail or not, he still chose to go as close as possible, just in case.

The eleven-years-old boy joined them as well. Three kids on each tree, that was the setup that Sasha had explained to them. As for who was supposed to be where, his explanation had something to do about distributing the total weights and such, but in reality he just matched it with his memory.

"Come to think of it, we haven't introduced each other yet," the boy said while scratching the back of his head. "I'm Gaunt. Nice to meet you."

""Gaunt.""

Both Sasha and Norman squinted at him.

"...It's better than my brother, okay? At least I wasn't named Plague."

""Plague.""

Sasha had a sudden urge to punch this boy's parents.

This was actually the first time for Sasha to hear the boy's name. Back then, they were in a constant rush because their were forced to improvise their plan on the go. He hadn't even asked for Norman's name during the entire fiasco. They only managed to get closer because they lived in the same village, while Gaunt and the rest of the kids went back to their respective homeland.

"Okay, your family's horrible naming sense aside, let's continue. I'm Norman. This girl on my back is Filia."

"Sasha."

Norman once again shone a questioning gaze at Sasha.

"You... I'm so sure that you'd called my name earlier in the carriage. I swear we haven't met before. How'd you know about it?"

Several excuses flashed in Sasha's mind, but somehow, the one his jumbled-up brain chose was the same as usual.

Blinking a few more times, he softly whispered.

"...Intuition...?"

Norman: "...If I ask you what you'd had for breakfast, are you going to say intuition as well?"

"..."

Sasha slowly nodded. Norman audibly facepalmed.

He was about to say something else when a loud gasp came from below.

The three children on the ground were huddle up together as four hulking shadows approached them. While their exact features couldn't be seen properly within the darkness of the forest, the red bandanas on their head revealed their identity.

The four bandits began to spread out. In their eyes, the children were no different than trapped rats. After they managed to round up these three, finding the rest wouldn't be too hard.

Children wouldn't be able to stand tall against torture, after all.

Seeing that the three children didn't attempt to flee, but instead staring at them with pitiful, glassy eyes, the bandits grew even more excited. They closed the distance in the blink of an eye, and reached out their hands to grab the kids.

One of the girl screamed, but the bandits paid her no heed.

"Now."

Suddenly, shadows began to fall from the sky. By the time that the bandits took notice, the shadows had almost reached the top of their heads.

"Yaaaah!"

Norman was carrying Filia on his back, and thus the two's weight combined was greater than the rest of the children. When his feet crashed down on the bandit's face, he'd managed to slam the bandit's head right into the dirt ground, creating a sizable crater from the impact.

The same thing were happening with the other bandits, except that in their case, their breath were merely pushed out of their lungs as the children landed on their stomach. Nevertheless, the horrible experience still left their eyes spinning.

Before they could recover, Sasha knocked them unconscious with the saber's pommel, just like what he'd done to the tall one.

The kids sat there in awe, their mouth wide agape. The four bandana-wearing bandits, who they'd feared greatly, had been taken down with their own strength. In their heart, a sense of accomplishment was bubbling up uncontrollably.

"Haha, you rock, mate!"

Norman slapped Sasha's back, causing the latter to stumble a few steps forward. He gave Norman a bitter smile.

Actually, the one who had the idea to hit them from above was Norman.

It wasn't this easy back then. When they had sneaked out of the carriage, they were caught by the tall man. Before he was incapacitated, the tall man had yelled for backup, forcing the kids to scramble into the forest.

Sasha had insisted to face the four bandits in a direct battle, having a false confidence instilled by the saber he'd taken from the tall man. It had almost resulted in his defeat if not for Norman's quick thinking. He had commandeered the kids to climb up and then crash down into the bandits while they were still occupied with subduing Sasha.

This ability to create an effective plan on the spot was the reason why Norman could rise as a respected general in the future.

"Norman, Gaunt, take these."

Sasha has confiscated the weapons that the bandits had brought. He threw a short sword at Norman, while Gaunt was given a knife.

The two kids had a confused expression in their face.

"There's three more left," Sasha reminded them. There were still two burly bandits, as well as their leader, the man with a scar.

Norman and Gaunt quickly realized what he had meant.

"Please take care of her," Norman put Filia on the ground, asking the other kids to keep her safe. There was no way that he could fight while carrying her.

After the four bandits, the leader and the two burly men would come to check them out. It was the hardest part of this fight. While the rest of the bandits were mere street thugs, this leader was an experienced veteran. He wouldn't fall to the kind of scheming that a kid could make.

In other words, there was no other way but fighting him straight on.

Sasha had barely managed to win him in the past, while Norman and Gaunt had kept the two burly men by the side. Back then, it was walking across a thin rope. Could he did it again in this life?

"I could only try."

His grasp on the saber tightened up as he waited for the incoming adversaries...

---

At that moment, in the bandits' camp ground.

It hadn't been long since the four bandana-wearing bandits had left to capture the fleeing kids. The leader wasn't too worried about their situation, but he was still miffed that the kids had managed to escape.

When Gaunt had attempted his escape before, it was just one kid. Not a big deal. But now? All sixteen kids that they'd caught had went missing. If they decided to spread out instead of running away together, a few would be bound to succeed. Just the thought of losing some of his goods turned his mood sour.

He was about to pour the beer down his throat when he noticed a movement in the forest.

The bushes began to part. A youth in white shirt emerged from within. The light from the pit fire illuminated the youth's face, revealing a cold gaze that seemed to be penetrating into the bone.

The leader raised his eyebrow. This youth had a blazing red hair, which he felt familiar. That's right, it was similar to that little kid his henchmen had caught recently...

"Hey, kid, you better get away from this place..."

One of the burly men reproached him, but his words fell short upon noticing people dressed in armor coming out from the bushes behind the youth.

...The village guards? No, they were even more well-equipped than the guards. They looked like soldiers from a noble's private army!

The leader was an experienced man. He could tell that these armored men were led here by this youth. Not just that, they were clearly treating this youth with respect.

"Young master, we're just some lowly adventurers. Is there anything that you need from us?" the leader spoke up, trying to maintain an amiable tone.

This wasn't a normal person. This wasn't someone that he could carelessly offend. It would be best to just act humble and lay low until this storm passed.

The youth stroked his chin, seemingly in deep thought.

"I do need something from you," he said. "Return back the children. If you do so, I could at least guarantee your life... for now."

Silence befell the camp ground. Only the occasional crackle of the burning flame could be heard.

And then,

"Dans! Lorris!"

Clutching his sword, the leader made a quick decision here and there. He closed the distance between him and the youth in a single step, while the two burly men rushed by his sides, swinging their battle axes in order to stop the soldiers from helping the youth.

The idea was simple: since the youth was the one who controlled these people, the problem would be solved if he could take him hostage.

Sadly, this line of thoughts would dig his own grave.

"You're the one who've chosen this path. Don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Sporting a chilling grin, the youth pulled out his own sword, and then fearlessly struck back at the bandit's leader.