Chapter 35: The carriage (1/2)

Ed rushed to the carriage, without using any skills, however. He had to act as if he was a weakling for their plan to work. After Ed got close enough he shouted at the group.

”Lady, I'm here to assist. You bandits should leave at this instant!” He tried to sound like a scrub that was acting tough. If by any chance they found out Raikou was his partner they might insist on fighting him. Ed wouldn't be able to guarantee the safety of the girl in that case.

”Get away you brat before you get hurt, this is none of your business. But before, leave all your valuables here!” The bandit who spoke was so greedy that he eyes Ed's equipment. However, it was logical since Ed seemed weak.

No one found it weird that a lone man is traveling in a place where it was common for monsters to appear. No one other than the girl who spoke ”I will be grateful for your assistance Mister” Ed thought that the girl was either desperate or she could feel he was planning something but decided to help her anyway.

Now that Ed had come the bandits had to be split into two groups. One went toward Ed and was the smaller group, the second had most of the bandits and they targeted the young lady.

Ed was parrying most of their attacks while keeping notice of the girl, she was doing okay not getting injured but it was only a matter of time. Ed used this chance and entered the attack range of one of the bandits, the latter cut him on his arm. It was only a shallow wound but it would serve its purpose.

”Argh!” Ed screamed and acted as if he was in extreme pain. He put pressure on the wound to make blood flow more. Soon enough the group of people heard a growl that terrified them, it seemed distant yet close. A few seconds later, Raikou appeared in front of the bandits and roared. This caused most of the people to become stiff from terror. Others wondered why such a powerful monster came just now.

”It must be attracted to my blood!” Ed played the fool's part quite well. Raikou was also quite a good actor as he was acting in a way that made it seem like he wanted to eat everyone present. That or he really wanted to eat them. 'It can't be, he enjoys human food more than humans, I think'

Raikou started acting berserk and targeted mainly the bandits; they couldn't risk their lives in such a way so they escaped while Raikou started chasing them. After a while, Ed got close and started talking with the girl.

”Are you okay? We should leave while the monster and the bandits are distracted.” The girl was genuinely worried about Ed since he risked his life to help her.

”You're right we should. Let's use your carriage is that okay?”

”I don't mind but the driver ran away earlier with the mercenaries” The girl looked shaken when she had remembered what happened earlier.

”It's okay I can drive it” Ed finally found the chance to use the driver skill. He couldn't use it with Raikou since he was not a mount.

”What about your arm?” The girl looked at his wound and doubted if he could drive in such a condition.

”It's okay, it's not a serious injury” Ed moved to the driver's seat and noticed that the horses looked scared. Apparently, Raikou's aura also affected them. He waited for a while, doing his best to calm them down while bandaging his arm, and moved the carriage.

”By the way miss, what's your name? Mine is Ed” Ed tried to make small talk while driving.

”I'm called Emilia. Nice to make your acquaintance mister Ed” Emilia answered in a professional way.