Chapter 19: Darlos

“Is this the place?” Julian asked, looking at the valley before him and placing his hand on his sword hilt. He then turned to Kyle beside him.

“Yes, this is it, my lord…” Kyle replied, his face pale and body trembling. He didn’t have the comfort that Ophariel enjoyed. During the journey, this poor bandit had been dragged along by the Wraith Warriors. To prevent him from calling out, they had stuffed a piece of rag in his mouth. Poor Kyle, a bandit, was pulled and pushed through the forest, his body covered in bruises and scratches, even deprived of the right to cry out. This made Kyle miserable, thinking that even being caught by regular troops and thrown in a dungeon wouldn’t be as terrible as this.

At this moment, Kyle was already feeling regretful, but unfortunately, he had no way to turn back now.

“Very good,” Julian said with a gentle smile, lightly patting Kyle’s shoulder. He had also seen the bandit lair not far away. Compared to the previous crude strongholds, this Moon Wolf bandit group’s setup looked quite impressive. Not only did it have walls and watchtowers, but even the internal buildings seemed orderly. This showed that this Darlos was not a simple character, clearly different from those bandits who only knew how to satisfy their basic needs.

“Thank you for your hard work. I have a letter here, please deliver it to Mr. ‘Moon Wolf’… then, you’ll be free.”

“A… a letter?” Kyle looked up, staring at Julian with surprise and unease, not understanding what this young noble was up to. Was he planning to recruit the other party? But could it be that easy? In fact, Kyle knew something about Moon Wolf. He was well aware that the reason Darlos could occupy the most important position on the Golden Trade Route was not simply because he had the strength of a high-rank swordsman. After all, no matter how powerful he was, he was still just one person. If the bandits attacked him in groups and killed all his subordinates, even a high-rank swordsman would be meaningless.

But Moon Wolf Darlos wasn’t that simple. Behind him, there was vaguely the support of some powerful force. Those bandit groups that opposed Darlos were either eliminated by him or became targets of the garrison troops. Moreover, there were rumors among the bandits that Darlos was working for some noble, following that noble’s orders to instruct his subordinate bandits to plunder merchant caravans on the Golden Trade Route. Of course, these were just rumors, but in the bandits’ view, they were quite credible. After all, not just anyone could get those high-quality weapons and armor.

And now Julian’s appearance seemed to further validate Kyle’s thoughts. This young noble might also know Darlos’s true identity, so it was possible he was trying to buy him off. And the previous actions of encircling and suppressing bandits seemed more like a signal to Darlos! Yes, it must be so!

Although Kyle was unwilling to accept Julian’s order in his heart, he had no choice now. Even though it was a case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t, when he arrived at the entrance of the Moon Wolf bandit group’s stronghold, Kyle felt his legs could barely move. The only fortunate thing was that Julian not only let him wash in a nearby river but also gave him clean and tidy clothes to change into. Now Kyle looked somewhat like a noble’s servant. This also put Kyle’s mind at ease. It seemed this noble master really intended to make him his subordinate, so he became more attentive and diligent in his actions.

“Who goes there?!” At this moment, the bandits on guard duty also discovered this disheveled man. Fortunately, judging from Kyle’s appearance, he obviously didn’t pose any danger, so the bandits didn’t choose to use force immediately. This also gave Kyle a chance to catch his breath.

“I have business with your leader!” Faced with the swords and knives before him, Kyle had already thrown caution to the wind. He gritted his teeth, steeled his heart, raised his hands, and waved the letter.
“I represent my master and have something to say to him!”

Hearing this, the bandits were somewhat surprised. Although they didn’t believe this man’s words, looking at him, he did indeed have a bit of the air of a noble’s servant. Others might not know, but the people in the Moon Wolf bandit group understood very well that their leader had some unclear relationship with the nobility. In fact, many of them were originally criminals who had been sentenced to death but were quietly released and sent here. Although the bandits didn’t know who was behind this, they obviously didn’t care much about it either. As long as they could survive, that was enough.

Because of this, people were quickly dispatched to report this strange incident to Darlos.

“Someone wants to see me?” Hearing his subordinate’s words, Darlos, sitting in his chair, frowned. The scarred face of this Moon Wolf bandit group leader twisted into a frightening pattern due to this movement. As the leader of the Moon Wolf bandit group, Darlos was tall and exceptionally muscular. At this moment, he was wearing leather armor and sitting on his comfortable, soft sofa, playing with the woman in his arms. Although those two plump mounds were rubbing against his chest, for Darlos, this slave woman’s attempts to please him weren’t as effective as she imagined.
Could it be that they’ve sent someone? Thinking of this, Darlos couldn’t help but frown. He had indeed received a message from the nobles earlier, saying that recently some nobles were going to encircle and suppress the bandits on the Golden Trade Route, hoping Darlos could lay low and keep quiet for a while, not causing any trouble. Darlos had complied with their request. After all, as a partner, it was necessary to listen to the client’s suggestions and opinions. Moreover, Darlos had also received information from them that this time, those coming to suppress the bandits were not those stupid and useless local garrison troops, but one of the most elite knight orders from the royal city, the Pale Hawk.

As a high-rank swordsman, Darlos certainly knew how formidable the Pale Hawk was. He wouldn’t be like those idiot bandits, arrogantly going to provoke them. But always staying in the lair was also boring to death. And now, why did those nobles have news again? Could something have changed?

At Darlos’s signal, Kyle was quickly brought before him by the bandits. Faced with Darlos’s inquiry, Kyle shook his head, claiming ignorance, saying he was only sent to deliver the letter, and as for what it was about, one look at the letter would tell.

Although puzzled internally, Darlos still took the letter from him. It was the kind of envelope commonly used by nobles, and there seemed to be no problem with the seal. Darlos frowned, then reached out his hand and turned the letter over. A line of beautiful, elegant handwriting immediately appeared before Darlos’s eyes.
“Dear Mr. Darlos…”

Look, look.

Seeing these words, Darlos couldn’t help but smirk.

This is how people should talk. Mr., Dear… Hmm, not bad, not bad. This indeed looks like something written by an educated person… Thinking of this, Darlos glanced at the bandits and thugs around him. When would these idiots learn to speak like this, saying “sir” or “my lord” or something? All day long, it’s just “boss,” “chief,” “big brother” and the like, shouting and yelling. Isn’t it vulgar? A bunch of fools, your big brother here is an educated, civilized person. Can’t you learn to be more civilized? Look at this dog-pretending-to-be-a-cat appearance, sigh… When I get old, I must find a good place to buy an estate, live that leisurely and comfortable life of the nobles, find a few servants who can speak well to serve me, and no longer mix with these bastards!

Thinking of this, Darlos nodded with satisfaction, then opened the envelope and carefully read the contents inside.
But soon, Darlos’s expression began to darken. He gritted his teeth, making a creaking sound.

Julian’s letter was indeed elegantly worded and not lacking in manners, but even so, the true meaning hidden between the flowery words was naked and undisguised. Summed up, it was this one sentence:

Respected Mr. Darlos, I would like to borrow your life for a moment. Please come out and die. If you don’t come out, we’ll have to reluctantly come to your door to take it…

“Bastard!” After reading the last line, Darlos suddenly jumped up. Dazzling light instantly burst out from his body, and then a cold flash passed. Before Kyle could realize what had happened, his head and body had already been completely separated, becoming a ghost under Darlos’s blade.

Little brat, although I don’t know where this bastard is from, he dares to provoke me?

Holding the huge cold iron longsword, Darlos’s face was as cold as water. He casually tore up the letter, then gritted his teeth and issued an order.

“Pass down the order, everyone assemble, prepare for battle!”