Chapter 173 – An Adventure
Max, Ethan, Anlesa, Lavender, and Mary. Two were being escorted, and three were doing the escorting, all the way to the far south, where the country of Eletscoep stood.
[This is so exciting…] Eva was nearly ready to jump up and down with joy.
[Excited to go back to your old home?] Syrus commented. It was almost the opposite reaction to Luna’s when they discussed the idea of going back to hers.
[No… honestly that part gives me nerves…] Eva muttered, [I still want to return, but the travel sounds fun. This would be our first proper long-distance adventure.]
Despite all the pain they recently went through, Eva wanted to find some enjoyment out of their most recent adventure.
[Besides your family, did you even know anyone else?] (Syrus)
[Rude…] Eva wanted to pout, but she held back from changing their facial expressions.
It was their turn to drive the carriage, and Lavender was sleeping with her spear and shield in case something happened. She was tired since she drove the cart through the night. They weren’t on the safest of roads for that portion of the trip, so they decided to minimise risk.
The horse got to rest in the morning as well, and it wouldn’t be long until they reached another point on their journey where they were going to stop the cart and rest the animals.
In the back of the carriage, Max and Ethan were talking. It took a little bit, but the pup was the real icebreaker.
[Good to see children having fun.] (Syrus)
Cobalt was sitting cozily between the two boys, while Mary was sitting on the other side of the carriage. She was initially worried about the idea of Max being next to a wolf, but Cobalt had a way with words.
“Woo!”
[The momma bear is watching over the little ones again.] Luna joked, as the one moving their head and twitching their eyes, as the sounds weren’t either Luna or Eva.
[As Eva said, 'rude', there's nothing wrong with making sure the passengers are nice, safe, and are enjoying the trip.] (Syus)
Luna decided to poke Syrus a little more. [Well, we went back to where I grew up, now Lilly’s. Who is to say that we won’t be going to where you grew up next, Syrus?]
[Ha ha, very funny. That is on a completely different continent; I would be deeply concerned if that ended up as our next destination.] (Syrus)
[It would be nice to see where Syrus grew up.] Said Eva.
Despite Syrus’s effort not to spill anything besides what was necessary about her previous life. Facts did make it out. From the rare instances of when she actually spoke about the topic to the more common explanation of comparing a situation or activity they were doing to something in her past life, mostly about her mercenary days.
[You don’t; it is not that interesting a place.] (Syrus)
[I would take ‘not interesting’ over corrupted churches.] (Luna)
[Thanks…?] (Syrus)
Overall, it sounded like a nice place despite how Syrus chose to bury the past. Unlike Luna, who initially tried to distance herself from her past because she hated it, for Syrus it was just a matter of personal belief that some things should be left and forgotten, especially if that thing was a previous life.
Though both Luna and Eva were curious about another reason.
They wanted to know what happened to Syrus' home, where she came from, and was there still anything left…
They didn't want to know Syrus's past to learn about who Syrus was. Both clearly knew who and what Syrus was and how she was. Perhaps it was still from a selfish angle that for these two whose past was so impactful for them, wanting to find closure for Syrus was simply a given despite her own words on that matter.
Though Syrus felt that her past was slowly coming to haunt her.
Mistakes and failures.
Ethan walked towards Syrus. “Hey, Syrus.”
“Yes, Ethan?”
“What time did you say we would be stopping?”
“About an hour, give or take.” Syrus didn’t personally know these roads, but she trusted Lavender and the maps she read to be accurate.
“Good.” Ethan let out a small cough as his eyes darted back to Cobalt and Max. “People seem to be getting hungry.”
Eventually, Lavender woke up slowly and checked on the situation when she did. Anlesa was happy to inform her nothing had happened yet anyway.
Once they reached their spot to stop, Syrus was hesitant to completely park the carriage.
[I hear people moving towards the carriage.] Syrus’s hearing could detect a small number of people coming from various directions.
[Sigh? More bandits.] Luna didn’t have much hope for them to be nice traders. They had entered territories where law and order were less controlled, if those words even matter here, but at the same time, there wasn’t much in these parts for people like bandits to even steal.
[Wasn’t this meant to be a safe spot?] (Eva)
[Nothing stays safe forever, especially if it is known to be a safe area.] (Syrus)
While Syrus was slowing down to a near-complete stop, Luna quickly ran through what they could do, but then she remembered they weren’t alone.
[I would’ve liked to have spent more time training with Space teleports.,,] (Luna)
Now that they were travelling with people again, time that could be spent training hidden abilities dropped to near zero.
[The cliff-jump teleports?] Syrus mused, [While it would have been nice to practise that more, we haven’t had the time.]
Their fun internal chat couldn’t last forever.
“Come on!” A rough woman’s voice screeched at the cart. “Show us what you are packing!”
“Sigh…” Syrus shook her head, disappointed. She loudly declared, “Everyone, stay back. I got this.”
“Syrus–” Lavender was about to object.
Syrus whispered, “Lavender, stay near the back of the cart.”
Lavender paused briefly but didn’t complain, and she quietly moved towards the rear of the carriage.
“Sup.” Syrus drew her blade that was placed by her side, facing into the carriage. “Do you want to leave peacefully? Or do you need to lose a few limbs first?”
“Ha! Do you think a large sword is enough to scar us?” She waved her arms, pointing at the two men standing slightly to the left and right behind her, making a big show of it.
[Two in the bushes on the other side. Looks like they are ready to attack from the rear.] (Syrus)
[Can Lavender handle that?] (Eva)
[Physically? Yes. Even if she couldn't, her poison-based attribute should handle most things pretty easily.] (Syrus)
[Sounding pretty confident.] (Luna)
[Ever since she demonstrated, yeah, I am glad I had never seen such attributes before.] (Syrus)
Before they went on this trip, the trio who would be guarding showed each other their abilities. There was no need to show anything, but knowing what each other could bring to the table, especially for such a long trip, was important.
In Ethan’s case, he told them he was capable with a bow and hatchet, but he had minimal combat experience. He also told Lavender that Cobalt was a great tracker.
Syrus told everyone she was good at fighting and didn’t elaborate on that much further besides saying she was able to use most weapons. Based on personal experience from the two others, neither questioned that. Her potions and medical knowledge were something she let them know about and were part of the supplies she brought.
Lavender showed the two pieces of equipment she used, the spear and shield. Then, without mentioning her attribute’s name, she showed them her poisonous abilities. It was safe to say no one wanted to be hit by that, and there was a reason Cobalt was a little afraid of going near, to the dismay of the women in question. She was complaining that she should’ve patted the dog first.
“I love confidence, but not so when it is misplaced.” Syrus, in a large step, strode towards the three attackers.
Both sides had their weapons already drawn, and the bandits didn’t know what hit them as Syrus's blade sliced down the arm of one bandit with scary precision. A man they had never known, to let their guard down for, had lost his arm. That bandi fell over in panic as his heart raced, but the other two, not knowing true fear yet, chose to attack.
Flames erupted from the other male bandit as the female one closed in a gust of wind surrounding her.
With two short swords, she went to stab Syrus, but her allies' flames were shooting towards her.
Syrus didn’t move, and the woman smiled, thinking her trap had worked.
The moment the flames neared her, they were carried and accelerated by the wind and spun towards Syrus.
“Haha!” She yelled as she leapt, following the flames that had been launched in front of her for the fatal stab.
“Ergh!” A flaming hand grabbed her face, and her neck cracked as her body was flung towards the man. They smacked and fell on top of each other.
Before they could get up, Syrus' blade came down.
“Argh!”
“Aww!”
Both screamed as the blade turned them into a kebab.
The woman was still facing towards the sky. Her eyes locked on Syrus, who had no weapon in hand.
“Ha!” The woman exclaimed, “You think you are safe! We got–!”
Her words were immediately doused as Lavender walked over, pulling two individuals whose faces’ colour had been drained away.
“You were saying?” Syrus’s words became nailed into the minds of the bandits. The Crimson Lion was never to be underestimated.