Reconnaissance

The two were quick to act and the very next day they gathered their parties, except for Glenn, and informed the knights of their intentions. Knight Captain Anthony had offered to join them, but the duo refused.

After a bit of back-and-forth, he finally gave in, but only if the two would take a knight with them that had a good understanding of both the bandits and the layout of their hideouts.

With the two parties and the addition of the knight, they made their way to the closest spot on the map where bandit activity had been concentrated. Several roads passed through this area, and the missions had been posted by caravans that had been robbed.

The first trick the group did was to pretend to be a traveling merchant caravan that was leaving the city. They even hid their weapons inside the caravan except for a few people who were acting as guards. However, even after a few hours of this charade, they hadn’t encountered a single bandit.

The group gave up and this time focused more on trying to locate the bandit hideout. This time the one who took center stage was the knight that had been accompanying them this entire time.

According to him, the bandits like to set up their hideouts in areas that contained specific conditions. He studied the map and then marked several locations that fell under the ideal places for the bandits to set up their hideout.

There were three locations in total, and fortunately the group had struck gold. It was the second location that they had checked that they finally found the hatch leading to an underground tunnel. Blair and Mateo both gave the man a thumbs up while Blair scanned the inside of the tunnel.

“You knights really have studied the habits of the bandits, to find their hideout from a map is insane.”

“Actually, the more impressive ones were the two of you to find their area of activity by looking at the missions posted at the mercenary guild. There are far too many places that meet their requirements, the fact that I was able to narrow it down to just three possible spots was due to the groundwork you laid out.”

“I’m sure the knights would have been able to do the same thing.”

“I’m not so sure of that, we knights don’t really work or get along with the mercenaries. Who’s to say whether we would ever have used their resources?”

Mateo couldn’t help but take note of this particular news. He found it interesting that even at this junction, the humans of the kingdom still couldn’t stand in as a unified front. He then looked down at the hatch the group was surrounding.

“Blair, is our focus reconnaissance or are we an execution squad?”

“You took down a hideout before, do you think the 12 of us can handle it?”

“While we are lacking in quantity, we are making up for it in quality. I mean we currently have two Knight Captains and an Archwizard.”

“We also have three Shield Knights to lead the way if need be.”

Mateo glanced over at two particularly stout male classmates that had been assigned to Blair’s party. Like Kyle they wore heavy armor with a large shield strapped to their backs. Along with those two, Patrick and Alexander, her party also included an Archer, a Spear Knight, and a Healer.

Honestly, the balance of the party was solid. While they were short one member–Glenn–Blair, being an Archwizard, more than compensated for his absence.

Before the duo could make up their mind the Knight, Roger, spoke up.

“Actually, I think it would be best if I scouted the base first. Not all of their hideouts are equal in force. Their Bandit Captains travel between the different hideouts and are never in a fixed location. There were even times when three or more of them were together.”

The two frowned before giving the man a nod. They watched as he blended into the shadows and made his way in. The group felt antsy as they awaited his return. It was about twenty minutes later that he returned with a perplexed look on his face. Seeing his expression, Blair was the first to address her concern.

“What’s the matter? Were their Bandit Captains inside? Do we need to flee?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s the opposite actually. The base is pretty much bare except for a few guards.”

“Isn’t that a good thing then?”

“You don’t understand, we’ve never encountered a hideout this barren before. I didn’t even see any Intermediate-Level Bandits inside, I don’t think the Branch Leader is inside either. It makes no sense; they never leave.”

This time Mateo spoke up and gave his own thoughts on the matter.

“Could it be that the Branch Leader himself is leading a raid?”

“I guess that’s a possibility.”

“Should we attack?”

“While now would be the best opportunity, I think we should report this first and then leave a sentry to keep watch. It is best to observe when such unusual situations arise.”

The two party leaders discussed the matter but in the end they agreed with Roger. His expertise on the matter of bandits was what made them give authority over the decision.

For the next few days Mateo and his party kept watch while Blair, her party, and Roger returned to Defy. Fortunately, this particular location was the closest to the city of the different areas with increased activity.

The days went by without anything happening. Strangely enough, there had been no bandits that had either entered or exited the hideout. By the time they returned with a few scouts in tow, Mateo and his party were thoroughly bored out of their minds from keeping watch.

Mateo looked at the new additions with a raised eyebrow.

“Aren’t there a bit too many?”

Mateo’s words rang true as behind them stood fifteen new additions.

“Only three of them are setting up watch here, the rest are for the other hideouts.”

“You think the situation might be the same?”

“Who’s to say? I only know the return trip would be a hassle.”

“Fair enough.”

After leaving the three scouts the two parties, Roger, and now twelve additional scouts, made their way towards the second location that had been marked on the map. They first attempted the caravan trick again, but were met with similar results.

Again Roger looked over the map and marked potential hideout locations, but this time he had the aid of the twelve scouts. With the growth in the size of the group, Blair, Mateo, and Roger decided to split up with Mateo and Blair bringing along three scouts each.

A few hours later Mateo saw the signal stone light up. Looking at the color he was able to figure out it was the fourth location that the bandit hideout had been observed. As the group arrived at the position they found Roger’s group already lying in wait. About twenty minutes later Blair and her cohorts also arrived.

After another five minutes passed when Roger finally made his appearance from the entrance of the bandit hideout. The two party leaders already knew the situation was abnormal from his expression.

“It’s the same.”

He pointed out three of the scouts and had them keep watch while the group once again set out for the next location. Nearly three weeks later, the group had just finished assigning the last three scouts to the final bandit hideout they were able to discover from the clues they discovered at the mercenaries guild.

After the third hideout had been discovered and the situation inside was the same as the first two, Blair had sent the archer of her party, Olivia, to report to Anthony. While Roger had detailed his discovery about the scarcity of bandits inside the first hideout when he returned to get the scouts, the repeated discovery required an additional report. They had decided on Olivia since Mateo was here.

“All five of them, barely any bandits. This makes no sense. Seeing how there are guards inside, they haven’t abandoned them either. So where are the bandits? Where are the Branch Leaders?”

Roger was pacing back and forth as he grabbed fistfuls of his hair. The other two looked on at his antics but did not find them amusing. Missing enemies was always a scare, no matter which world you were in.

Finally the group could only make their way back to the city to once again report their findings. With the current hideout being near the border of the Count’s territory, they took a full five days to reach the vicinity of the city. However, once they reached an open clearing where the city would finally be visible, all of them were left stunned.

In front of them, surrounding Defy, was a wave of bandits laying siege.