Chương 412: 407. Departure - I

"Yeah," Kivamus nodded, "but others can do that as well in the future. Duvas has told me that Kigeir—one of the village merchants—has a son who's working as a laborer these days. I'm sure he can be motivated to lead a regular caravan to Kirnos in the future. The kid must've already learned all the negotiating tricks of merchants from his father." He paused.

"We still needed to send someone to bring Joric's family from there while you were out, so we had to send Levalas as a merchant this time." Feroy nodded.

"He'll do just fine, although I'm sure he'll be cursing that he can't even use a dagger to force those people to come back with him. That would have suited him more." Kivamus laughed.

"It'll help him grow his skills. You can't always force someone at swordpoint to follow your orders, but I'm sure we'll probably have to use his real talents too in the future, although I hope it's not too soon."

"True that," Duvas agreed. Feroy yawned loudly.

"I should take a nap now. I've barely slept in the last few days."

"That's a good idea," Kivamus nodded.

"Our guards have already trained well for the counter raid, and we're also thinking of sending them west tomorrow or the day after, depending on when you're ready."

"Oh, I'll be just fine to leave by the morning," Feroy snorted.

"Tell the guards to get ready, and we'll leave before dawn if the rain stops by then." Kivamus looked at the captain, who nodded.

"Nearly all the preparations are done," Hudan said, "and I've already selected the guards who'll come with us. The scouts have been out for nearly a week now, so they'll have found Torhan's clay compound and its weaknesses by now. Madam Nerida has also made enough hardtack and bread for us to take west. We've also taken a good amount of meat jerky from the smokehouse, so we won't have to waste time stopping anywhere to cook."

"But what about when you're returning here along with all those slaves?" Duvas asked.

"Wouldn't it be difficult to feed them?"

"My target is to meet with Levalas's wagons on our return journey," Hudan explained.

"He'll be bringing a good amount of smoked fish from there, which'll be more than enough to feed the slaves till we return here. If our timings don't match up, we can always hunt in the forest. We'll certainly have enough guards available for that."

"When's Levalas due to return?" Feroy asked.

"There's no fixed timeline," Hudan said.

"His target is to sell the shop of Joric's family at a good price and bring them back, however long it takes. But I think he should be done in 4 or 5 days."

"That's perfect," Feroy said.

"Two to three days for us to reach Kirnos, find that compound and meet up with the scouts. Another day to make final preparations, then one more day to find a good time to attack and kill those bandits, then we can return openly through the western road the next day. That'll match up perfectly with Levalas's return. We can even keep one of the medics near the road to hold him back if needed, but that's for later." He stood up and stretched his hands above his head.

"What's there to eat tonight?" Kivamus jerked his head towards the kitchen of the manor house.

"Madam Helga is making the usual for us, but it'll take a couple hours. If you're too hungry, you can go to the servants' hall. There's always something ready to eat there with so many people living in that place." Feroy nodded.

"Then I'll take a look there. I just need something to fill my stomach and then I'll go take a nap." He looked at the captain.

"Take care of the other preparations, will ya?"

"Just go get some rest, man," Hudan snorted.

"Leave everything else to me." With that, the former mercenary left the manor hall. Hudan also followed him to talk with the guards about leaving tomorrow, while Duvas went to arrange some food for the nearly arrived liberated slaves. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Kivamus stood up and watched the drizzle through the window again. Finally, the time for revenge was here. He just hoped it would leave Tiranat in a better place than now.

~ Tesyb ~ It was around an hour before dawn, and Tesyb was standing near the gates of the manor with other guards. The rainfall had stopped for the moment, although the clouds gathered above hinted that it wouldn't be so for long. The sky was still dark, although the first rays of the sun would start to peek soon above the Arakin Mountains in the east. A pair of burning torches were fixed in iron stands near the gates, and provided the majority of the light for the moment.

The early summer weather was mild, and it seemed like a pleasant time to be outside. Well, it was pleasant for Tiranati guards, but certainly not going to be so for those bastards living in that compound who had attacked the village earlier. This was the very first time Tesyb and the other guards would be going out of Tiranat on such a counter-raid, and he couldn't be prouder of his village for that.

They had come a very long way from those desperate times last autumn when Torhan's men had stolen everything of value from the village and burned half of it when leaving. But now, it was time for revenge, and today they were going west to find and kill that bastard right in his own home! Hah! How the times had changed.

Not even a year had passed since then, but now Tiranat was in a position to go out and punish those who attacked them, while still maintaining enough guards in the village to keep it safe from both beasts and bandits. Thirty guards—mostly swordsmen—would be going west today, including himself, as well as Joric who was coming with them to convince the slaves at the compound to follow them back to Tiranat after they had killed the bandits. That was apart from the four scouts who had left a week ago.

The initial plan was for them to be accompanied by a pair of Nodors to carry their supplies—mainly food, as well as the heavy shields and spears—but Feroy had denied it the moment he found that out. He said it would make the group even slower than it was already going to be with its large size, and would leave easy traces for any other bandits or their scouts to flank them. That meant both the Nodors had been sent back to their pens, and the supplies had been redistributed amongst the guards.

Now everyone was carrying their own weapons and shields, as well as a small satchel that carried enough food, as well as a pair of waterskins. They all had a straw hat hanging on their backs, for when the rain started again. Thankfully, because of the same rains, it wouldn't be that difficult to get drinkable water even without access to a well or river.

It still wasn't going to be an easy hike, especially while carrying all those supplies and weapons, but Hudan had said that this was only a start, and they should get used to such expeditions. Tesyb didn't know what that meant, but it could only be good for Tiranat. Another thing which was unexpected was that more than half of the guards had been given crossbows, while still ensuring that there were enough crossbows remaining here that the village's own defenses wouldn't get too weak in the meantime.

It seemed the carpenter had been busy the last few days making more and more of those light but effective weapons. Now 18 of the guards had a crossbow hanging on their sides, along with a quiver of bolts tied on their backs next to their shields. That was apart from their swords, a dagger or two, as well as a spear, and of course their food satchels.

It made Tesyb feel like he was a draft animal like a Nodor—but one which walked on two legs—but he remembered Feroy's lessons from some time in the past where he had said that in case one of them got lost or was surrounded by enemies while away from Tiranat, what supplies and weapons they were carrying on themselves will be the things saving their lives. That these supplies were their best friends when away from familiar places like the village.

Tesyb also believed in it by now, not that they were given any option to reduce their supplies anyway. Another new thing with this group was that for the very first time a medic —which was a new term for the guards—was included with them. Nurobo—the designated medic—as well as two other swordsmen who were the fat archer's apprentices were also included in the group.

Tesyb chuckled, knowing that the medic wouldn't appreciate him being called fat anymore, but compared to the other guards, especially the swordsmen, yeah, Nurobo was still kinda fat. The medics were not carrying the usual spears and shields like the others—apart from a sword for each of the two apprentices, and a dagger for Nurobo. They had been given enough of what was called medical supplies to make sure any injured or wounded guard would remain alive.

All the medics were carrying a few splints, a small jar of losuvil powder, some clean bandages, some very sharp knives—in case they needed to cut open a wound to remove anything stuck inside, needles and thread to sew a wound, some honey which acted as something called an antiseptic, some special iron for burning and closing a wound, as well as a saw, in case someone needed an amputation.

That was the list he had heard Nurobo confirming from the other two apprentice medics, although they might have taken other things which he had missed. Tesyb certainly hoped that none of these medical supplies would be needed, but he couldn't count on hope and wishes to save his friends' and allies' lives. Nearly all of the manor residents had come out to see them off as everyone made final checks on their equipment and supplies.

Kerel, the other leader of the guards, was going to stay back and lead the guards until Hudan and Feroy returned.