Ambush and a Lead

Time passed quickly as Ein wasted time browsing the almost endless list of items in the catalog. A guard came knocking on his door, telling Ein that they would be heading to the City Lord's mansion soon and to prepare.

Ein was already wearing his adventurer clothes, so he just slapped the sword on his waist and picked up his backpack before heading out. He went straight towards the wolves resting at the stable, petting them as they licked his hands in response.

"Rain, they said that it's time to assemble at the front of the inn." Melina came to the stable and told Ein.

"Got it," Ein replied as he mounted one of the wolves.

Melina quickly mounted another wolf as the two headed out. The last wolf was following silently behind the two. By the main carriage, Nayta was waiting. As the last wolf came to her side, she quickly mounted the wolf and moved into formation.

"Then, let's set off," the guard leader said as he sat beside the carriage driver.

Ein and the party set off from the inn, following an almost straight line to the lord's mansion. If nothing went wrong, then they would be reaching the gates in less than half an hour.

As Ein was leading the group, the wolf he was riding suddenly stopped in its tracks and growled angrily. Wariness was visible in its eyes. Ein surveyed the surroundings quickly and found that there was no presence anywhere near the road they were on. It was eerily void of pedestrians.

"It's an ambush!" Ein quickly shouted as he ordered the wolf to run.

The wolf ran straight around a corner and slashed its claws almost instantly. Then, a sudden cry of pain was heard from the should-be blank space the wolf slashed. A large amount of blood sprayed around, coloring a human-shaped figure red. The man slowly appeared on the spot as he fell down. The hooded cloak he was wearing got heavily damaged from the wolf's slash.

"They're invisible! Be careful!" Ein quickly announced.

The guards quickly formed a perimeter around the carriage Sophia was in. Each of the guards was carrying a shield as they covered the area. Nayta and Melina quickly moved around, following the wolves as they searched for the invisible enemies.

In just a few seconds, a dozen assailants were lying lifeless by the side of the road. The wolves were so fast that the ambushers felt like they were the ones who got ambushed.

"Sh*t! You guys, block the wolves; the rest attack the carriage!" A horrid voice echoed from somewhere nearby.

Almost at the same time as the voice was heard, several dozen blurred figures rushed towards the carriage. Just from a quick count, there were more than 50 of them.

"AUXBURN KNIGHTS! SHOW THEM HELL!" the guard captain shouted as he drew his sword and poised his shield.

In just a short moment, a chaotic brawl expanded before them. Blood splashed here and there, not just from the ambushers but also from the guard's side. As the guards were severely outnumbered, it was hard for them to fend off the attackers.

Ein, seeing the current situation, immediately changed plans. He ordered the three wolves to attack the ambushers from behind. Nayta and Melina, who were attacking with bows from the back of the wolves, were precisely aiming their shots, reducing the enemies one at a time.

Ein jumped off the wolf and turned around. He poised the sword in front of him as he surveyed the enemies before him. There were about a dozen blurred figures shuffling around, trying to hamper the wolves' movements.

"Your opponent is me!" Ein shouted as he took a large step and swung his sword horizontally.

His movements were simple but extremely fast. By the time a few of them noticed the sword swing, their upper bodies were already separated from their lower bodies. In just an instant, three of the enemies died.

Seeing the savage way their comrade died, the others stiffened for a moment in fear. "A monster!" they thought as they hesitated to get near Ein.

However, Ein, who was a veteran fighter, quickly punished the ambushers for their momentary stillness. With light footsteps, Ein slipped in between each and every one of the remaining enemies, giving each a passing but swift slash to their necks.

Flash Step!

His movement was quick enough to leave an afterimage as if there were ten of him that moved and attacked simultaneously. In an instant, fountains of blood were spraying all around Ein as the enemies fell simultaneously. Their heads rolled away as they lay down on the ground, twitching.

Ein didn't stay to marvel at his handiwork and quickly went to reinforce the guards. By then, not even half a minute had passed; however, half of the guards were already lying down dead around the carriage.

The number of enemies dwindled to less than a dozen with the help of the three wolves. The guards already had the upper hand in the battle and were about to finish the last of them.

Ein, who suddenly appeared behind the ambushers, quickly pulled out and slapped something around their necks. The contraption quickly attached itself around their necks, and they, after acting as if they had been electrocuted, fell to the ground motionless.

The last of the enemies were dispatched not long after by the guards. Ein, on the other hand, was slapping several more contraptions onto the three unmoving ambushers.

"Enslavement Shackle, Antidote Bracelet, and Circlet of Life Freeze" Ein recalled the names of the tools he used.

The tools were something he bought previously in case he found another case of assassins. The Enslavement Shackle makes it so that the one equipping the item would not be able to disobey the order of the registered owner, which was Ein in this case. The Antidote Bracelet prevents the spreading of poison within the user's body. The Circlet of Life Freeze was a tool that kept the HP of the user in a fixed state. However, the user would be in a semi-ethereal state wherein they wouldn't be able to deal any sort of damage to their surroundings, to others, or to themselves.

These items were chosen to ensure the extraction of information from the captured enemies.

"The three of you, sit down," Ein ordered as a test.

The Enslavement Shackle released a short spark as the three followed his order. They quickly pushed themselves up from the ground and sat.

"Good, now tell me who sent you. You first."

The one in the middle, who was pointed at by Ein, quickly replied. "I don't know."

The other two similarly replied when he asked them the same question.

"It won't be as easy as expected," Ein sighed in disappointment. "Then tell me how you are going to contact your employer after this attack."

"..." The three assailants were quiet for a moment.

"In the northern forest, tomorrow evening, the boss was supposed to meet the employer to report." The one in the middle spoke.

"Oh, is that so? It seems like you're close to your boss?" Ein asked.

"I am one of the boss's secret lovers and his favorite, so I know a lot more compared to others," he explained.

"... Your boss is a man, right?" Ein was slightly taken aback.

He heard somewhere that it was a common trait for bandits. Still, Ein shivered at the scene he was imagining and quickly drove it away from his head.

"I guess that's everything that I can get from you guys. You can now go to hell," Ein said as he snapped his fingers.

In an instant, the circlet wrapped around their heads fell off, followed by the Enslavement Shackle around their necks glowing in blue light. Shortly after, their heads fell from their shoulders. Just like that, the three of them died.

Ein collected the tools he used and placed them back in his backpack. After doing so, he glanced back at the guards, who were moving the dead bodies of their comrades. Of the twenty guards, only eight remained, including the guard captain.

"Milady, please leave the things here to us and quickly go," the guard captain said to Sophia, who was still inside the carriage.

"... Alright," Sophia replied after taking a deep breath. "Rain, Melina, and Nayta are to remain as my guards on the way to the City Lord's mansion. The rest of you, stay here and help the guards."

Sophia parted the curtain on the carriage's window as she scanned each and every one of the dead guard's faces.

"These people laid down their lives to protect me; I won't let their sacrifice go to waste," she solemnly declared.

"Nayta, Melina, stay with her inside the carriage," Ein whispered to the two elves. "She'll probably need some company to soothe her nerves after all that happened."

"Okay!" "We will." The two replied almost simultaneously.

And so, after leaving the majority of the servants and the guards to clean up the scene, the carriage once again departed, led by Ein and the three wolves.