Merchants and Bandits

Quinna was a descendant of a noble in the Wind Wolf Kingdom who had her family name taken away. Such a situation was not uncommon.

There was a specific rule in the Wind Wolf Kingdom's code of nobility. If a noble lost their territory and did not gain a new one within three generations, that noble would lose the honor of being a noble. The person would be deprived of all noble rights and become an ordinary person without a surname.

In other words, even if one worked hard to become a noble, if they or their descendants did not obtain a territory within three generations, the hard-earned surname would be stripped.

This ensured that the special privileges of nobles would be adequately maintained. Otherwise, more and more people would obtain a surname over time, and at that time, the nobles would be worthless.

Getting back to the main point, Quinna's family had already been stripped of their surname in her father's generation and had fallen from being noble to an ordinary person. Fortunately, the family's connections back then were still there. Even if they were no longer nobles, Quinna's family could still have a firm foothold in the capital and established the Magilla Chamber of Commerce through the usage of money.

Although the Magilla Chamber of Commerce could not compare to other larger chambers of commerce, it was enough for Quinna's family to live a luxurious life in the capital, comparable to that of the nobles.

However, Quinna was a woman who did not want to be lonely. She did not want to be dressed up like those women in the capital, competing with each other and becoming a bargaining chip for the family and personal benefits.

Therefore, Quinna walked out of the capital and alone came to the western region. Relying on her outstanding ability, she became the spokesperson and manager of the Magilla Chamber of Commerce in the western region. Her business was doing well, and the main pillar industry was Bluestone city's lapis lazuli trading.

…

This was another smooth shipment of lapis lazuli. Quinna personally led people to transport more than ten vehicles filled with lapis lazuli to Viscount Mist's territory in the southwest of Viscount Bluestone's territory. Then, she purchased a few goods carriages and was prepared to transport them back to Viscount Bluestone's territory to earn the price difference.

Before returning, Quinna received a letter from her trusted aide in Bluestone City, saying that there was a change happening there. Recently, the patrol team on the outskirts of Bluestone City have stopped patrolling the roads. Quinna was told to be careful on her return journey and watch out for bandits that might appear on the road.

Quinna did not pay much attention to this because Bluestone City was still fine when she came out. What could happen in the ten days of her being away? Besides, weren't all the bandits in Viscount Bluestone's territory already eliminated?

Old Viscount Bluestone was a sensible person. He knew how vital the circulation of merchants was to the development of Bluestone City, so he spared no effort in cleaning up the bandits! Usually, there would be patrols on the main road because it was very safe. This was also one of the reasons why Quinna led the Chamber of Commerce to settle down in Bluestone City. During the initial accumulation period, it could save a considerable expense by not hiring guards.

Quinna set off on her return journey according to the scheduled time. The two territories were adjacent, and a road connected them. The convoy spent a day leaving Viscount Mist's territory. Nothing happened on the road except for the dusky sky and the constant drizzle.

However, when the convoy was less than a day away from Bluestone City, the bandits appeared three days later.

…

It was already late. The people and horses were tired. After Quinna brought her people to stop, she ordered them to set up camp.

Soon, a standard merchant camp was established. The oxen and horses pulling the carriages were untied and ran to the side to eat grass. The carriages they pulled formed a wall. Quinna and the others were resting inside it.

After dinner, other than the necessary sentry staff standing guard on the roof of the carriages, the people who had been running for the whole day had fallen asleep. The sentry staff was also exhausted because they had been through this road dozens of times yet had not encountered a single bandit attack. They let down their guard. They only remained standing because they were afraid of being punished by Quinna and losing the chance to provide for their family.

However, accidents always occur without warning.

Whoosh!

An arrow shot out from the darkness, straight to the feet of a sentry.

"D*amn it!" someone shouted.

The sentry staff was instantly awakened. He lowered his head to look at the arrow by his feet and then understood something. He raised his head and shouted,

"Enemies!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! 

His shouts stopped abruptly because a few more arrows pierced through the air. One of the arrows nailed the sentry staff's neck. He instantly clutched his neck and fell off the roof.

Bang!

Such a movement attracted the attention of the other sentry.

"Enemy attack!"

A sharp voice cut through the sky, followed by a roar from the darkness outside.

"Charge!"

A group of ragged beggars rushed out from the dark forest with all kinds of weapons. They had wooden sticks, kitchen knives, stones, rusty swords, homemade crude bows, and arrows.

The leader was a strong man with a relatively intact machete in his hand. He shouted.

"Brothers, there is an endless amount of money ahead. Charge!"

The ragtag group rushed to the front of the carriage and began to climb with their bare hands, trying to rush in to plunder the money.

"Ah!"

Just as the first bandit climbed onto the roof of the car, the people in the camp finally came over. One of them picked up a big rock and smashed the bandit down. This was much more accurate than the arrows of the bandits.

The screams of the attacked bandit shocked the others. They stopped climbing and turned around to run—such a motley crew.

"Get back!"

The bandits' leader, who had been hiding in the back, shouted. He chopped down a fleeing bandit, sending shockwaves to all other bandits.

"Continue to charge. I'll give ten gold coins to the first person who charges in."

10 gold coins! That was unimaginable wealth to these people who usually didn't even have enough to eat. If they had this kind of money, they would never go hungry again!

As the saying goes, wealth moved people's hearts. The bandits, originally a motley crew, were now filled with excitement. Every one of them appeared to have been injected with stimulants. Throwing away their fear, they turned around and charged again.

However, with this delay, the people of the convoy had already stood on the roof of the carriages. With ordinary weapons in their hands, they fought with the bandits who were charging at them again.

"Kill!"

"Get out of here!"

Bang!

"Ah!"

The battle was quite intense. Although the convoy people were also ordinary people, they were strong! Their individual combat strength was much stronger than that of the motley crew.

Although they did not have the advantage in numbers, the convoy had the advantage of higher terrain. They fought back and forth with the bandits. For a long time, the battle resulted in a draw.

The gray-haired Quinna, wearing a simple gray skirt, walked out of the only small tent in the camp. Her eyes were full of vitality, and she scanned the surroundings and quickly understood the convoy's situation.

"Men, move to the other side."

After understanding the situation, Quinna narrowed her eyes and thought for a moment, then summoned a subordinate.

"Tell the bandits that if they stop and leave, I will give each of them a Wind Wolf gold coin."

…

"Listen to me, bandits. You are only here for the money. Our boss said that if you stop and leave, we will give each of you one Wind Wolf gold coin."

The loud voices in convoy shouted. The bandits who heard the voice instantly stopped and looked at each other. They were moved. Their boss said that only the first person charged would get a reward. If so, wouldn't all the other bandits who risked their lives end up empty-handed?

"Trash! A bunch of trash!"

The bandit leader was so anxious that he stomped his feet and roared angrily.

"Are you stupid? Do you believe the words of the merchants? They are bloodsucking flies! Yes, they will give us money to coax us in leaving. But, they will bring the patrol team to catch us when tomorrow comes. When that happens, they will recoup their money! We might as well kill them all now, and no one will know about this!"

"That makes sense!"

"We can't trust the merchants. They are more terrifying than the nobles. They will only squeeze us dry!"

"Charge! Kill!"

The bandits were convinced by their leader and started fighting again.

Quinna frowned. Just as she was about to raise the price, a few arrows flew in from the darkness outside and nailed the walls of the carriage accurately. The flame on the arrows ignited the wooden carriage.

The fire gradually grew bigger. The people in the carriage could not stand the heat and retreated one after another. They held their weapons and formed a circle with Quinna at the center.

"I'm the first!"

"No, I'm the first!"

The bandits took the opportunity to rush in, and then they started to argue about who was the first. At this time, the leader of the bandits spoke again.

"Brothers, listen up. As long as you catch that beautiful woman, I'll give you five silver coins each."

"Okay!"

Although five silver coins weren't as many as ten gold coins, it was still a considerable sum in the eyes of these people. Except for a few people who had rushed in earlier and were still arguing, the others rushed toward the group of people in convoy, and the battle broke out again!

…

"What a motley crew!"

Three people stood in the dark forest opposite the convoy's resting place. The leader had white powder on his face, gray hair, and blue eyes. He wore luxurious silk clothes, and a slender sword hung at his waist.

The two people behind him were middle-aged men. One wore a cold expression and was dressed in black. He held a bow and arrow in his hand, while the other looked simple and honest. However, his actions indicated that he specialized in flattery.

Looking at the burning campsite, the gray-haired man could not help but frown and curse. The cold-faced man behind him did not have any reaction. However, the other man bowed and said,

"Lord Karan, this is very normal. After all, they are all beggars in Bluestone City. It is excellent that they can perform this attack after being given two full meals."

"Hmph!"

The gray-haired man, Karan, glanced at the middle-aged man. This man was none other than Quinna's trusted aides in Bluestone City. He had some brains, but he could not be of much use. The only thing he contributed was to be on close terms with Quinna. He knew that Quinna would not care about what was said in the letter and would return according to her original plan.

That was why tonight's bandit attack happened.

Karan was Quinna's half-brother. He planned all of this for no other reason than to seize everything that Kuna had gained from her operation in the western region. His father approved this plan that Quinna couldn't be kept in the family any longer.

It was all about benefits. Quinna herself created everything in the western region of the Magilla Chamber of Commerce. The people sent by the family to take over were all isolated by her. The family couldn't get any benefits at all.

…

"It's time to end this."

Seeing the beggars dressed as bandits charging into the convoy, Karan glanced at the middle-aged man again and slowly gripped the hilt of his sword with his right hand. This person was no longer of any use to him. It was time to kill.

The cold-faced man in black saw through his master's intentions and silently blocked the middle-aged man's path of retreat.

However, right at this moment, the grass beside the three of them shook. A man dressed in black, covering the wound on his broken arm, ran over and pounced in front of Karan. He struggled to get up. His face was pale, and his eyes were filled with terror as he shouted.

"Master, this is not good. A Bronze-level adventurer is coming from the west."

..