After he donned his green cap, I reached for my shortsword and was just about to draw it, but I managed to stop myself just in time. I placed a lot of trust in Flora’s keen senses and there was still no signal from her. Also, as Flora said earlier, there were no carriages in sight. Does it really make sense that this is the one I was looking for? Would they just be setting up camp here like this?

  A few of the guards twitched at my sudden movement, but upon seeing my hand freeze and the continued casualness of their leader, they relaxed, and just continued to observe. I did the same. The man who was likely their leader looked to be somewhere between his mid to late thirties. Peeking out from his cap was shaggy, dark blonde hair. He had a very relaxed expression and his somewhat hazy blue eyes and slanted smile seemed to suggest that he was yet to fully sober up. As if to confirm my suspicions, he suddenly let out a hiccup.

  He lazily motioned to someone else in the camp, who promptly walked over with a bucket of water. He handed it over to the green-capped man, who seemed to struggle slightly to lift it up over his head. Then, he put the bucket back down and called the other person over again. He handed him his cap, and before he walked away, the now capless man lifted the bucket up again and flipped the bucket over head, splashing water over his head and shoulders. Almost entranced, I continued to watch the unusual scene as the green-capped man blew out a long stream of air that suddenly turned into a high-pitched whistle. I instinctively thought that might have been a secret signal, but nobody at the camp made any sudden movements. He shook his head from side to side, letting out a short laugh when he was finished, also motioning for the return of his cap.

  “Sorry, you must have been bored waiting on me, huh?” The green-capped man spoke clearly, both his tone and demeanour now very confident, in spite of his drenched face. “It might mean nothing to you, but I shall still introduce myself. My name is Timber Gain, and I am the leader of this merry band.” He casually stepped closer towards me and held out one hand. After scanning around me again, I decided to step forward as well and shake his hand.

  “My name is Braith.”

  “Braith? Well, I don’t think that’s a name I’ve ever heard before.”

  “Yeah, I get that a lot.”

  “Ah, sorry if I hit a sore spot for you.” I’ve heard that before as well, but I decided to not comment aloud. Timber looked around the campsite and noticed that there were still a few archers pointing their arrows at me. He motioned to them, and they lowered their bows. “I hope you and your companions didn’t feel too uncomfortable.” I looked him up and down again, wondering what this man was up to.

  “I wasn’t concerned.”

  “Oh, is that so? Well, you do seem to be a well-traveled man.” I did not respond. “Are you a mercenary?”

  “No,” I replied curtly.

  “I don’t suppose either of your companions are mercenaries?” He asked with a slight laugh.

  “They are not.”

  “Right, I see, I see. Well, that means, if you want to cross through here, that’ll be nineteen silvers then. Of course, you can exchange other valuables if you don’t have that amount in coin.” Right, what was I expecting?

  “Just to confirm, who exactly are you, Timber Gain. Are you some sort of officer or administrator?”

  “Oh, no, not at all,” Timber responded with another laugh. “No, definitely not. I shall not attempt to deceive you at all, Braith. My compatriots and I are all bandits. This is indeed an attempt to rob you of some of your possessions.” As if waiting for the explicit confirmation, Tasha finally spoke up from behind.

  “Bandits! How dare you attempt to rob us!” She dismounted from her horse and unsheathed her sword. The archers in the back raised their bows again. I reached for my sword as well. Well, this man was a strange one, but if these are bandits we are dealing with, there was only way this was going to end.

  “Ah, hold on just a minute! I am not finished yet!” Tasha continued moving towards us, but the archers in the back lowered their bows again. Do they all place that much faith in their leader, or are they just underestimating us far too much? “Yes, if you wish to pass through here, we will demand a toll. But, there are other alternatives.” Out of a feeling of obligation to minimally reciprocate Timber’s sunny disposition, I decided to hear him out.

  “Tasha, just hold on a minute. Let’s see what this bandit has to say first.” Tasha looked at me a bit incredulously, but seeing that the other bandits were not in attacking positions, she decided to stay put for now.

  “Thank you, Braith. Now, as I was saying, one option is to pay us nineteen silver for you all to pass through here with your horses.” I stared at him coldly while Tasha sneered at his words. “Or you could also choose to not pay the toll and go back the way you came.” Neither my expression nor Tasha’s changed. “Another option, and this is one I would strongly recommend against, but you could attempt to pass through here without paying by fighting through all of us here.” Tasha started approaching us again.

  “The choice is obvious! Dad, let’s just fight them all!” With the options before me, that was also certainly the most attractive. But, just to be safe, I glanced over towards Flora. She was still on her horse, but she still had her bow out and it seemed clear to me that she was also up for that option. Out of a minimum level of courtesy, I was going to declare our choice, but Timber quickly spoke up.

  “And for the final option, we could resolve this with a duel. Braith, you seem to be a strong fighter. Would you also say so?”

  “Of course he’s strong. You bandits wouldn’t stand a chance against him!” Tasha responded on my behalf. I felt the need to add nothing more to it.

  “In that case, in order to avoid the risk of either side getting unnecessarily injured, we can have a one-on-one duel.”

  “Between who?” I asked.

  “Well, me and you, of course. Ahem, unless you would rather send out one of your companions to fight for your side, instead.” These words further incensed Tasha, and she came right up to us. She pointed her sword at Timber. The archers were about to raise their bows again, but Timber waved them off. How is this man still acting so confidently? Even if he didn’t think either of us were Battle-Hardened, does he really think neither of us can kill him from this distance? Or, does he just believe we wouldn’t do that? Ah, I guess he has us there. Tasha certainly wouldn’t just do that, and I also wouldn’t want to do something like that in front of her.

  “Is there any merit to me accepting this duel?” I asked, not bothering to tell Tasha to stand down or sheathe her sword.

  “Well, if you win, you can pass without having to pay the toll.”

  “That would be the case if we just defeat you all, anyways,” I responded.

  “Even if you have a lot of confidence in your strength, do you really want to risk injuries from having to take on so many bandits all at once?”

  “Why should I believe the other bandits wouldn’t simply attack during the duel?”

  “I give you my word that they will not. And, of course, that extends to them not attacking you after the duel as well.”

  “Why should I put any faith in your words?”

  “Braith, you should know by now that I am not aiming to deceive you. Have I not been forthright with you?”

  “Even if so, people can change on a dime.” Timber seemed confused by my words. Perhaps this was not a commonly used expression here. “This could all just be an act, for all I know.” I was just about 100% there to telling everyone else to start fighting. I had confidence that Flora could easily support us from the back, and there is no chance at all that human bandits could hope to injure either me or Tasha. Even if they happened to be Battle-Hardened or Farseer, it wouldn’t make a significant difference unless they were exceptionally skilled or talented. The men who attacked Brennan’s palace with Tarras were a cut above the typical Battle-Hardened, but even if we had to fight twenty of them, I still wasn’t concerned.

  “So, you would truly rather just have one great fight, instead?” Timber asked, correctly reading my thoughts.

  “If you are so concerned about injuries, perhaps you all should just get out of our way.” It was not a particularly subtle threat.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Alright, how about something else? Let’s make a wager, instead. We will have a one-on-one duel, and if you win, not only can you pass through without paying, but we will also give you any one thing that we can give to you. If I win, you can still pass through, but you will have to pay double the toll. How does that sound?” Personally, it sounded like a shitty deal to me. If I really wanted something from them, couldn’t I just take it from them after beating them down?

  “What do you have?” Tasha asked, Timber managing to entice her somehow.

  “We possess a great variety of valuable items. Many of which I am sure would be very useful to travelers such as yourselves.” Tasha’s brief curiosity was just about to turn back a thirst for a battle, so Timber quickly continued, “Allow me to show you what you could win.” He turned around and started to walk back towards the campsite.

  “You know, Tasha, we can just take what we want after fighting them all, anyways,” I said, wanting to make sure we were on the same page on this matter as we followed him.

  “We’re not bandits, dad,” she responded.

  “The things they have don’t truly belong to them, anyways. They’re stolen goods.” As Tasha started to mull that over, Timber spoke up again as he neared the wagon he came out from behind earlier.

  “Although we are bandits, we do possess a great many things that we acquired fairly.”

  “And why should we believe that?” I responded. “Besides, is there any reason for us to think you haven’t done more than just robbery?” I admit I was a bit caught up in Timber’s pace earlier, but when you think about it, even if these people were not my targets of revenge, I should not just let these bandits go no matter what.

  “I give you my word that I have never killed another in cold blood,” Timber said as he pulled back the covering of the wagon, his voice and tone suddenly very serious. Inside the wagon were a variety of different weapons, as well as several different types of boxes. “These weapons are each of masterwork quality and these boxes contain rare or precious luxury items.” His voice was now back to the friendly tone from earlier. However, what I took special note to was what he said about the weapons.

  “Masterwork quality? All of them?” There were different swords in their sheaths, in addition to various polearms and even a shield. I could see what looked to be the outline of an egg on the shield, which should be the symbol shared between the Human clans and nations. However, how could these bandits have so many masterwork items?

  “I assure you, none of these are forgeries.” Again, why should I believe that?

  “If they are all real, then why do you have them all in this wagon? Why don’t the rest of you have them personally equipped?”

  “Would you believe that these are just the leftovers and the rest of my men are already using masterwork weapons?” I was just about to say I didn’t believe it. “Well, that’s not the reason. It’s because using masterwork weapons have their own issues, with one of these problems being that not everyone can have one. Also, not everyone can use one properly.”

  “Properly?” I asked.

  “Well, maybe properly isn’t the right word. Not everyone can use one as well as they should, and that’s just wasteful.” I still wasn’t completely sure what Timber meant. “Hmmm, it seems you aren’t all too interested in these.” Timber seemed to have slightly misread my thoughts this time. “I am guessing you already consider yourself well-equipped. Well, perhaps some luxury goods may interest you, instead? Something like a gift for your daughter?” Tasha looked at Timber disdainfully, as if truly insulted by the suggestion for whatever reason. “Are you doubting that I would have anything you’d like? These items are the sort of things merchants would sell at a high price.” Timber then picked up a small velvet box. “This is something we got very recently.” He opened the box and revealed a pair of sapphire earrings. I looked over at Tasha and saw that she didn’t seem the least bit tempted. I can’t claim to be an expert of jewellery, but I didn’t care for the earrings either, and, strangely enough, it was the velvet box that seemed more interesting.

  “If you are done with your pitch and joking around, perhaps we can just fight it out now? As a courtesy to you, I can give you a moment to equip yourself with one of these weapons,” I said with utmost confidence in the end result.

  “And by fight it out now, do you mean you still do not wish to duel me one-on-one?” Why is this guy so obsessed about dueling? If we’re so confident that we can take on all of them at once, why does he think he would stand a better chance in a duel against me? Do I look like I’m actually the weakest in our group? “I must admit, I didn’t think you would be so intimidated by me. I suppose I do exude quite the powerful aura, after all.” Who would fall for such a cheap attempt at provocation?

  “Ha, as if! Even Flora could probably fight you one on one.” That’s a bit mean to Flora, don’t you think? “Pick up any weapon you want and I’ll still easily beat you,” Tasha declared.

  “Oh, I would be more than happy to do so if you wish to duel me. What do you say, Braith, shall you have your daughter fight against me, instead?” It wasn’t a mocking tone, but I felt disrespected all the same.

  “I don’t know why you are so obsessed about trying to duel one of us, but since you’re all bandits, we are still going to take you all down.”

  “Well, if the end result will be the same no matter what, why don’t you humour us with a duel first? I don’t know if you are familiar with war, but sending out a knight or some other fighter from each side is occasionally done before the start of a battle.” I thought I might have been vaguely aware of such a thing being a custom, but I didn’t see any reason to follow it. Tasha, however, had different thoughts.

  “Hmph, although you are all bandits, we can follow through with this duel. Not that there is any chance we will lose, of course.” I believed Tasha had all the necessary strength and chivalry to be an outstanding knight in the future. And, although this is just her role playing for the moment, with the continued absence of any sense of danger, maybe I should play along with that. Despite them claiming to be bandits, these guys have been the least aggressive attackers we’ve encountered thus far. “Dad, show them!” Wait, me? “If they send out their leader, we should send out ours as well.”

  “Didn’t you want to show off, Tasha?” I asked.

  “I don’t mind whichever one of you fights me. Although, I would advise you to send out your strongest,” Timber spoke up before Tasha. Tasha looked at me expectantly. I stared at Timber for a moment, sizing him up. From what I could tell, he just looked like a normal human. Although, as the leader of this group of bandits, I assume he must have some decent fighting abilities. Also, the way he continually insisted on having a duel made me think that this was a trap somehow.

  “If you want to have a duel with me, you are going to need to wager more than a single item.”

  “Well…we could wager for more than that, but you would need to stake more on your side as well, then.” My earlier statement was intended to probe more into Timber’s intention. If he had readily agreed, it meant that this was more likely to just be some sort of trap. From this sort of response, though, it seemed as if Timber considered the possibility of losing. Was this really just a duel? I stared at him more intently. Was he secretly a powerful Battle-Hardened or Farseer? That could explain how he could walk about so confidently while unarmed. “There will be no tricks, Braith. It will really be a one-on-one duel between me and you, only using the equipment and abilities we each personally possess.”

  “What are the rules for the duel?” This was not me implicitly agreeing. I was trying to figure out if this was still a trap.

  “The two of us will fight in this clearing. The duel will end when one surrenders to the other. It will just be the two of us fighting, nobody else will intervene. If there is any intervention, there will be an immediate loss for the intervening side.”

  “What counts as intervention?” I asked.

  “Obviously, if anyone other than the two of us attacks anyone else.”

  “What counts as an attack?” Timber seemed a bit surprised by my question.

  “Braith, I really am not trying to trick you there. This rule is to prevent anyone from my side fighting anyone from your side during the duel. If you think that I would attempt to unfairly gain a victory by claiming one of your companions attacked us when they did not, I won’t. In fact, I will declare now that if either of your companions does attack, I will not argue that to be an intervention, on the condition that my men are allowed to defend themselves.” Oh, is this the trick? “But, of course, I trust that neither of them will do such a thing.”

  “Let’s just keep the simple rule of nobody else making an attack.” I could go through the effort of making a specific definition, but I honestly didn’t think it mattered if Timber tried to cheat me with that rule. This was not a courtroom. This was a fight in an open field against bandits.

  “Alright, then. As for the wager, what would you like if you win?” I was a bit surprised he asked this. Was this another ploy to make this all seem more genuine?

  “May I inspect all of your items before we begin?” I asked, half-expecting to be denied to some degree.

  “Of course.” I went up to the wagon and picked up one of the sheathed swords. I looked around me, and I didn’t see any of the bandits do anything unusual. I unsheathed it and saw the egg-like symbol again.

  “Are these all human-made?” I asked.

  “No, there are also Farseer and Battle-Hardened weapons.” To my surprise, I easily believed that, and didn’t bother to check the other weapons. I then picked up a box and opened it, revealing a pearl necklace.

  “Is this all just jewellery?”

  “Not all of it. We also have several fine outfits.” I put the box back and then saw the velvet box from earlier. I picked it up and opened it, revealing the sapphire earrings again. It didn’t seem any more enticing on closer inspection. I closed the box and was about to put it away, but then I thought I noticed something. I turned the box around in my hands. “Is there something wrong?”

  “Hmmm….” What is it about this box?

  “Is something wrong?” This time it was Tasha asking the question. I turned around and showed her the box. “Um…I don’t really want them.”

  “No, not the earrings. This box. Does it seem…familiar to you?”

  “The box?” Tasha stared intently at the box. “Maybe?” From her expression, I could see that she didn’t really seem to recognize it. However, as I turned it around in my hands once more, it suddenly dawned on me.

  I reached into my pocket for my compass. As always, I kept it in the box it was originally in. A small velvet box. I compared the two. They were not completely identical since they differed a bit in size, but it was similar enough for me to suspect the two were related. “Timber, did you get this recently?”

  “The earrings? Yes, we got them only two weeks ago.”

  “From merchants?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can you describe them for me?”

  “Unfortunately, I cannot.” I looked at him silently for a moment.

  “Why not?”

  “...I would be more than happy to tell you what I know if you manage to defeat me in the duel.” I put down the box and put away my compass.

  “Alright, let’s get this over with. I want these earrings and anything else you got from those same merchants. For my side, I will wager quadruple the toll.” I unsheathed my sword. “If you don’t like that, I can just fight you all.”

  “No, I can agree to those terms.”

  “Are you planning to fight me unarmed?”

  “Oh, of course not.” Timber walked by me, glancing at my shortsword. “Masterwork, Battle-Hardened. I see. Unfortunately, I don’t think I have one just like it.” Timber reached for one of the sheathed swords and picked it up. He unsheathed it, revealing it to be a shortsword with the brand of the Farseers. “This should do fine, though.”

  “Is that your preferred weapon, or are you trying to mock me?” Timber gave a light laugh before responding.

  “I believe this is the best weapon in this situation.” The two of us stepped away from the wagon and moved to another spot in the clearing. We stood about fifteen paces apart from each other. He smoothly slashed the sword around a few times.

  “Any other rules you suddenly want to impose?” I asked.

  “No, let’s just have a fair fight. Just count down from three when you are ready, Braith.”

  I looked around the campsite again, and I still didn’t see anything unusual. Well, nothing unusual outside of the relaxed bandits who were gathered around, most of them not even holding their weapons at the ready. I looked straight at Timber, who was now in a defensive stance. However, he looked just as relaxed as ever. At this point, I could only conclude I was being greatly underestimated. I charged up to two bolts.

  “Three.” I charged up a third bolt. “Two.” A fourth bolt. “One.” I charged up to five bolts, and charged at Timber. I attacked with superhuman speed, but to my surprise, Timber managed to just barely block my attack. However, I couldn’t let my surprise get to me. I expected him to be highly skilled, but my speed and power should win out easily. I quickly followed with another attack, which Timber also blocked, but I could see that he could only do so barely once more. I continued my quick assault, but despite how close I was to possibly breaking his stance earlier, he was suddenly blocking more cleanly. And then, suddenly, he parried my attack and countered. I barely evaded the attack, his sword almost grazing me. I instinctively backed off, creating more distance between the two of us. A bead of sweat dripped from my forehead. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was starting to worry or if it was from the rising strain of using five bolts. Neither was good.

  “Oh, impressive!” Timber said cheerily. “You really are strong!” Timber smiled at me as he deftly returned to his defensive stance.

  Was I the one who underestimated my opponent too much?