Chapter 106: The Arrival of the Bandits (1/2)

Speaking of following and chasing someone, wouldn’t Regine know the most about such matters, being a thief and all? I immediately turned towards the blonde girl and gave her an inquiring look.

She turned towards me with a knowing look in her eyes and shook her head. However, two seconds later, she nodded instead and threw me a confused look. So are we being followed or not? Work me with here…

In the midst of my bewilderment, Ancarin stepped forward to clear up the miscommunication: “The wolves possess a keen sense of smell so they don’t need to physically follow us. Just by following our scent, they are able to track us down.”

Ah. Now that she mentioned it, that made perfect sense…damn it, does this mean we have to rush through the night? A fight was unavoidable if we waited for those bandits to arrive.

Seeing the worried looks we gave each other, the village chief immediately guessed our intention to leave and anxiously interrupted us: “If you leave now, our village will be…those bandits aren’t the sort we can reason with. You might be able to evade their pursuit if you leave now, but once they discover that you’re no longer in the village…our village will…*sob sob*…”

As the old man rambled on, his words became garbled as he began sobbing in front of us. Some of the villagers who had gotten wind of the impending danger from the village chief’s impassioned pleas, stepped forth to comfort the chief while the others pleaded with us to find another solution.

The so-called solution they wanted was probably to have us wait like sitting ducks in the village…but then, this whole mess was caused by us in the first place…expecting these innocent villagers to bear the blame for us wasn’t right.

While the chief’s wailing wasn’t particularly loud, it was the dead of night after all; even a pin dropping would sound loud let alone the chief’s grief-stricken sobbing. Soon, the villagers who had previously gone back to their homes came out once more, attracted by the chief’s wailing; which must’ve sounded terrifying the in dead of night.

As the gathered villagers whispered amongst themselves, word began to spread that our sudden arrival had brought danger along with it. The informed villagers turned to stare at us one by one with mixed emotions on their faces.

Naturally, the villagers didn’t dare to openly offend us. Thanks to our showy appearance and carriage, they had assumed that we had a powerful background. However, this didn’t stop them from worrying or throwing us a silent but pleading look. They desperately wanted to ask but kept silent out of fear of getting rejected.

“What should we do?” asked the soft-hearted Ancarin as she looked at the worried villagers. While it was technically a question, I could tell just by looking at her eyes that she wanted to help them.

I turned around to seek Regine’s opinion but was instead greeted with an expressionless silver mask that barred me from doing so.

Forget it…since this mess was created by us, we’ll be the ones who fix it..

Having made my decision, I let out a slight cough to attract their attention. As their eyes swivelled towards me simultaneously, I took a deep breath and said:

“I know that our appearance has brought trouble to this hamlet, however this wasn’t our intention. Since this matter was caused by us, we’ll be the one to end it as well, you have my solemn word on this.”

“To make up for our mistake we’ll stay here until the bandits arrive, and until this problem has been solved, we won’t leave. Please be at ease everyone, this is solely a matter between us and the bandits so we’ll be the one to end it. You won’t get dragged into this matter.”

As I said that, I tagged on another line in my head: assuming the bandits don’t blame you for this.

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With my clear assurances, the villagers were visibly relieved. At the side, the village chief busied himself with persuading them as well. Despite his embarrassing display just now, this old man still had some say in the village as he was able to send the villagers off to their homes with just a few words.

As they left, I caught snippets of their conversations about how this excellency had a wonderful voice or how they wanted to see what was underneath the mask…etc. In the end, only the old village chief stayed behind.

“This old man is eternally grateful for Your Excellency’s aid.”

“It’s nothing, we caused this problem to begin with.” I replied tersely, not wanting to continue this topic. “We’ll spend the night here, if you notice the bandits, you may contact us then.”

“Understood, I’ll be sure to pass on the instructions.” He replied while bowing respectfully.

“May I know how to address Your Excellency?”

“Mo Ke.”

Hearing my name, he let forth a deluge of praises till his face reddened from the exertion. “ So it’s Lady Mo Ke, your voice is truly exquisite, I’m sure that underneath that silver mask is an equally exquisite face…”

Me: “…”

Due to my mask, the chief was unable to see my darkened expression and continued on, not sensing the awkward mood. “From the moment I first saw you, I had a hunch: underneath that silvery mask must’ve been a goddess made flesh. If not, why else would your voice be so alluring…”