The hooded man in black robes walked up to the lonely table in the far corner of the tavern on which no one was paying attention and sat across from the lone man sitting at the table.
The lone man finally raised his head as he sensed someone sitting in front of him. Raising his mug of beer and chugging down a huge gulp, the man clicked his tongue, savoring the test as he spoke leaning forward.
"Did you find out?"
The hooded person nodded without saying a word and slid a paper on the table which the other man quickly pocketed. Then the hooded man said, "Around 1000 mercenaries of some unknown origin. The merchant's name is Clovis Sigrid and he runs the Sigrid Trading company. He indeed has some sort of connection to the Duke as well."
The man narrowed his eyes and fell into silence. After some moments, he drank his beer once again and said, "What about that intel we received? Is it true?"
The hooded man also narrowed his eyes and leaned forward as he said, "Yes, I have confirmed it as per the orders. They are transporting silk as well as a lot of weapons. I saw hundreds of large crates and I suspect they are transporting a lot of valuable things."
Hearing this, the man's eyes sparkled with greed and excitement as he said, "What do you think? Could it be a trap? This could be very important for us. We are running out of weapons so we must decide."
The hooded man thought and then said, "The merchant also had his two children with him. We also checked with our man in the merchant association and the Sigrid Trading Company truly exists. Now if it were a trap, then why would the merchant bring his children with him? We have been monitoring the convoy for some time and the mercenaries don't appear to be that skilled either. Apart from that, the Duke has always been straightforward in his approach."
The bearded man snickered and said, "The Duke? I hear he's not even present in the Duchy."
"Then who's handling the Duchy? I know that Duke Albaer's brother was killed or something."
The bearded man chuckled and said, "Maybe it's the Duke's woman? Or the Duke's baby boys? Haha! The White Family is not a threat."
"Perhaps," The hooded man muttered without much confidence.
"I only wonder why this foreigner merchant is bringing his children along in the dangerous journey?"
"Hmm, I heard they're heading to the capital. Perhaps it's because of the festival? Many people are migrating to attend it." The hooded man replied as he tried to think of an answer.
Once again, silence fell on the table as the bearded man with messy brown hair knocked on the table contemplating.
Suddenly, he shrugged and said, "Oh well, I will pass this information on to the boss. Good job Gillian."
The hooded man named Gillian nodded and the bearded man smiled as he brought out a small bag of coin and threw it at Gillian which Gillian catched promptly.
Finally, a smile broke out on Gillian's face as he said, "One more thing, although this is a great opportunity that the boss and the band cannot afford to miss, I think you should advise them to be cautious. I have a bad feeling about this."
The bearded man looked at Gillian with doubt and said, "You're worrying too much. We have been waiting only for an opportunity like this. It won't come again, the boss is wise. I'm sure he will make the correct choice."
"Hmph, suit yourself. If you need me, you know where to find me. But I will need extra from now on. You know I almost got caught on this job."
The bearded man scoffed and said in alarm, "You didn't cause alarm or leave any evidence, did you?"
Gillian chortled and said, "Who do you think I am? I have never failed until now."
Saying this, Gillian got up with a straight face and left the tavern without looking back in the same way that he had arrived—completely unnoticed.
Then the bearded man grinned excitedly putting the paper Gillian had given in safe-keeping and chugged down the last bit of beer in the mug with fanatical enthusiasm and also left.
***
A few more days passed since the merchant convoy hit the road and began heading toward the capital once again, leaving most of the Whitesburg Duchy behind.
The convoy was currently near the southern borders of the Duchy which was a strategic location on the main trading route called the Golden Silk Route.
This was a vital trade route that connected the eastern and northern territories to the south and the capital. It was crossed by many fiefdoms and territories that took the responsibility to protect and guard the route that went through or near their territories.
And although the merchants were required to give exclusive taxes and tolls to the nobles for their protection, there were still some locations on the route that were unguarded.
The place the convoy was going through was one such location. It was a rocky, rugged terrain in the wilderness that was miles away from any human settlement and this was also the place where bandits usually targeted the merchants traveling on the Golden Silk Route.
The 'mercenaries' numbered in thousand were all alerted and cautious as they were escorting the convoy with the utmost vigilance.
In one of the carriages, Klein and Luke, who had grown curious about the game of chess ever since he saw it in the tavern were sitting on their cushioned seats each on one side of the chessboard. Besides them, the two girls from before were also observing with interest.
Luke wore a tense expression on his face as he tried to make sense of the position of the board but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't see a way out of and it annoyed him to no end.
"Dammit! How could you think that?!" Luke yelled out in irritation and the two girls giggled.
Suddenly, Luke turned to the two girls looking at them with fury, and said, "What are you laughing at, huh?!"
Seeing this, Klein said mockingly, "Brother, stop bullying the poor girls, will you?"
Luke scoffed and said, "Hmph! Mere servants dare to laugh at me! I can swing a sword… Can you? Well? Can you, Ethan"
'Klein' narrowed his eyes hearing the last word and said solemnly, "Brother, I warmed you to not call me by that name."
'Luke' shrugged and said nonchalantly, "Oh come on! What's the point? It's about time anyways, no? I can't wait to cut open some bastards."
Hearing such strong language, the two girls curled up in fear and averted their gazes while 'Klein' sighed hopelessly and said, "It's not sure that it's time, the fish may not bite."
"Yeah? The fish is hungry and needs food. This kind of fish is especially hungry, no?"
'Klein' pointed at the chessboard with a smile and said, "You want to know how I did it? It's simple, I sacrificed some pawns to lure your pieces out. You were greedy and took my pawns but at the cost of messing up your own structure. This is how I gained an advantage."
Luke opened his mouth widely upon hearing this and muttered, "Damn, I'm stupid or what? How could I not see it?"
As the two girls heard his faint murmur, they almost laughed out loud but controlled themselves forcefully. However, Klein was not so kind and burst out into laughter.
He then said, "You see brother, this fish isn't like other fishes. It has a brain unlike yo- ah, I meant, unlike others. So.. Ah… We're only baiting them with what they want. But if they're too cautious then they might not bite after all."
Luke pretended as if he hadn't heard the snarky remark earlier and yawned with boredom as he said solemnly.
"Whatever, you promised me that I can let loose. You haven't forgotten right?"
Klein nodded casually and said in a doubtful, confused tone, "Why are you courting death for no reason? You know, if anything happened to you then father will not forgive me."
Luke chuckled disdainfully and said, "Heh as if I care what he thinks. If he cared so much… Then he wouldn't have let my father die."
Hearing this, Klein flinched in surprise as his gaze became downcast. He muttered softly, "I'm sorry…"
Luke raised his head looking at Klein and roared, "I don't require your pity! My father and I were never as close as you might think. However, he should not have died like that."
"But my father is avenging uncle's death."
Luke said nothing and became silent once again. But then he narrowed his eyes sharply and uttered, "I don't care, I will do whatever I want. Don't get in my way."
'Klein' nodded hopelessly sensing a faint blood lust coming from his brother as he saw his determined eyes.
Suddenly, sensing something, Klein's eyes widened as his expression became stern. Then three knocks sounded on the carriage's door from outside as the desolate dry breeze blew and the convoy's speed abruptly decreased.
Klein exchanged decisive glances with the two girls and the girls immediately got down on the carriage's floor and lowered their heads.
Klein then tugged at Luke's arm and said, "The fish seems to have taken the bait."
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