Chapter 253

The bandit leader had been on his way to find a place to rest after putting the slaves together. They were a method for him to make a living on the continent. No feelings of guilt were in his heart as it was nothing more then his means to survive. Lives were nothing more then something he could gather and use at his disposal. As his eyes met with Vorbuk's group the bandit leader halted his horse. His men behind him stopping with their leader's action as they remained behind him.

"You're in front of his majesty; King Vorbuk, his majesty; King Micah, and his royal highness Prince Leo," Duke Heket's cold voice cut through the air past everyone directed at the bandits on horse, it was like a cold blade slicing the silence without a hint of emotion, "how impertinent of you."

Vorbuk listened to Duke Heket's words with a chill down his spine. There was something about the way the duke's voice sounded that made him feel cold. He did not want to turn human right away because it would drag his royal name into the situation. However the duke had openly declared who he was in front of the bandits without hesitation. It was like the duke was directly throwing Vorbuk under a bus. Since his name was brought up it meant he had no other choice.

"Oh?" The bandit leader sucked in a sharp breath as he heard the declaration of who was in front of him from the duke's mouth. It meant there would be no turning around for him and his group. They had stumbled upon them simply because the location had been downwind. As a werewolf himself he had not caught scent of them until they were already riding up on them. At first he had thought maybe he had found some commoners outside the city. Thought of coming across such high ranked nobles had not been within his expectation. His mind was tired as he thought of how difficult his work had been before coming out here and meeting them.

"What do you think we should do?" Prince Leo whispered the question down to the wolf beside him.

The wolf growled lowly as he thought about it before answering, "Deal with them, obviously, without burning down the entire place."

"Tch." Bredret clicked his tongue at Vorbuk's words.

That crazy- Vorbuk stopped himself from thinking further about Bredret's personality being terrible.

"Aha, haha!" The bandit leader began to laugh as he looked at them all with flushed faces from drinking so heavily during the festival, it was clear that they were all intoxicated, a question suddenly coming from him with a strange expression as if he could not believe what he saw in front of him, "What kind of royalty wanders around the forest so late in such a condition?"

Bredret cracked his knuckles as he began to stomp over towards the bandits, for some reason Vorbuk felt as if Bredret looked insulted by those words, "I'll be back."

King Micah and Duke Heket were not from the kingdom of Theapan. Therefore they remained standing behind Vorbuk. If they were to interfere too far it could affect the way they work together in the future. It was not a good thing for a king of a neighboring kingdom to get too deeply involved in dealing with internal problems of Theapan. The wolf had no intention of pulling them too deeply into his matters either. It was a mutual understanding that they each understood without voicing it outright. No king would look kindly on outsiders taking charge of their internal affairs without proper reason to be involved.

"Should I go with him?" Prince Leo asked Vorbuk as he glanced down at the wolf.

"I don't think that will be needed." King Micah was the one who spoke up before Vorbuk had the chance to respond to him. As if right on cue they could hear the sounds of Bredret fighting the bandits on his own. The temperature quickly rising from the heat of his flames.

BOOOOOMMM! BANG! BOOMMMM!

Gusts of wind swept past them as they listened to small explosions caused by the dragon's fire magic. Dust and dirt scattered about the wind. A single wagon wheel that exploded off the side of a cart was seen rolling right by them.

This is probably why the voice did not mention a quest to deal with the bandits. Vorbuk sighed as he thought about it. There would be no reason for a quest to be offered to him if it was something too easily dealt with. He did not need to use everyone to deal with those bandits. Those bandits were just average criminals that Bredret could handle on his own without aid. If he wanted to gain more help in growth from the system's voice that spoke to him he would never find it with something that was too easily dealt with by others around him.

"You know," Duke Heket seemed deep in contemplation over something as he spoke, "those bandits probably have liquor and food as well with them in those carts.."

"Ah!" Prince Leo suddenly thought of something and began to walk off towards where Bredret was dealing with the bandits. He was not killing the bandits. Bredret might have been a stubborn dragon but he would never go overboard to cause problems for the others intentionally. The dragon knew it was best to leave the bandits alive so the guards could deal with them later. His fire magic was only being used in order to knock them out and tie them up until they could be handed over to the guards.

"What is he doing?" Duke Heket asked after seeing the prince rush over so quickly to the bandit's carts.

"Maybe you inspired him to find a drink before Bredret sniffs it all out?" King Micah responded jokingly as he felt Prince Leo was not the sort to divert from the real problem for a drink. If it was the dragon, Bredret, Micah felt it would be a different story. In the current state that Bredret was in it was difficult to understand what that dragon was thinking.

Vorbuk listened to them for a moment before rushing over to Prince Leo. He did not want to be left alone with those two. It was also best for him to remain beside the prince so that his presence was still known during the situation.

Since it was a matter regarding Theapan it would be wrong of him to allow Prince Leo to get involved without him by his side. It did not matter if he wanted to be involved or not. The prince could not act on his own without the wolf. The wolf could also not act without the prince because he was not capable of doing everything in human form. He needed the prince to be his voice during times like right now when his mana use was limited.

Vorbuk watched as the prince avoided the bandits that were fighting with Bredret and followed him closely from behind. Keeping themselves unnoticed as they made their way along the bandit's carts.

Once they made it to one of them holding the slaves captive the prince carefully hushed them with a finger to his lips. He did not want to draw attention to them while Bredret was dealing with the bandits. Carefully Prince Leo began to remove the shackles from the slaves one by one as they climbed down from the cart. As one cart was one he proceeded to the next. The wolf at his side keeping watch so nobody could sneak up on him.