Emperor's Reckoning

The forest at night was a dark and mysterious place, shrouded in shadows and mystery. The tall trees loomed overhead, their branches reaching up to the starry sky, casting twisted and gnarled shadows on the forest floor. The leaves rustled softly in the gentle breeze, creating a symphony of whispers that seemed to tell secrets of the forest's past. The moon was hidden behind a veil of clouds, casting the forest in an eerie, ghostly light. The forest was alive with the sounds of crickets chirping, owls hooting, and the occasional rustle of leaves underfoot. The air was thick with the scent of pine and moss, and the forest seemed to pulse with a sense of watchfulness. This was a place where anything could happen, where danger and wonder lurked behind every tree.

On the main path of the said forest was the brave caravan coached by none other than the proud three students from Class Six of Nirvana School.

"Damn, this forest is really... eerie, don't you think?" asked Reinhard. "Without the moon, we might hardly see the road ahead."

"That's why nobody wants to traverse this path in the night," said Noah, "Well, apparently, nobody except for us."

Noah furrowed his brows as he found his friend, Rayus, contemplating something. "What are you thinking?"

"I don't know, something just feels off," said Rayus.

"Oi, oi, oi, don't start anything in the dark, Rayus, we are in the middle of a forest here in case you didn't know," said Reinhard as he clenched the reign in his hand.

"What's this, are you afraid of ghost stories?" Noah raised his brows with a smirk. "I never thought the hot-blooded guy in our group is actually afraid of ghosts!"

"No! I'm not, it's just that, it's a bad omen," said Reinhard.

"Yeah sure," Noah nodded sarcastically before averting his glance back at Rayus, "What feels off?"

"The whole thing," said Rayus. "Don't you find it odd that we somehow got a caravan and got to deliver expensive artifacts out of the blue?"

Noah frowned before crossing his arms. He contemplated whilst looking at the empty road ahead. "That's true, why do they trust us with this so easily."

"Didn't Teacher Lyon mention a test?" asked Reinhard. "If we cannot do this, then we would only hinder their advancement in subduing the Burgeon Swan. At least, that's what I think they think."

"That's plausible," Noah nodded. "However, this is quite a steep price for testing the trust of losers like us."

"We are not losers, Noah!" said Reinhard.

Noah looked at Reinhard's eyes sharper than daggers before the latter turned back on the road and said, "No longer, we're not going to be the clowns again."

"Reinhard," muttered Noah.

"Hm?" Rayus's ears twitched. "Stay vigilant, we got company."

"Huh?"

"Shh," Rayus hushed before the other two heard unusual rustles between the branches and steps underfoot.

Gallops of horses were soon heard before laughter surrounded the traveling caravan. From both sides, two figures were seen smirking at the three students coaching the vehicle.

"Well, well, well," the one on the left said, "What are you three doing here in the night? Pretty suspicious to me."

"Yes, yes, yes, why don't you stop by and let us inspect a little?" asked the one from the right.

"And who are you two?" asked Noah.

"Stop by and we will tell you," said the one on the right before he revealed a blade under his cloak.

"I told you it was a bad omen," said Reinhard.

"Hahaha!" Both of the bandits laughed before one of them said, "There is no use in tiring your horse, you can't outrun us."

"Are you from the Burgeon Swan?" asked Rayus.

"Hahaha! Stop now and find out," one of the bandits smirked.

"That would be an idiot move now, would it?"

The two bandits raised their brows as the voice didn't come from any of the three students.

"Teacher!" Reinhard shouted, "What should I do?!"

"Keep going," said Lyon.

"Tch! Brat, you don't know how precious life is it seems!" said one of the bandits before reducing his speed and was parallel with the caravan., "And you, the one inside the caravan, so you're the teacher huh, perhaps I have to make an example out of you right in front of your dear students!"

"Yes, but it won't be a bad one," Lyon smirked.

"You—?!" His pupils did not manage to shrink accordingly before a blade that zipped through the cloth cover of the caravan pierced through his head. The hidden attack instantly banished his life before he lost control of the horse he was riding.

The concerning neigh caught the other bandits off guard. "What happen!?"

"He died," Lyon smirked.

"You dare!" the bandit raged before he quickly draw his saber. He ripped the cloth opened and revealed a peek of what was inside. A woman was standing with a sword that scented blood in her hand. The devastating beauty had another figure behind her, the one that kept looking down at the bandit right from the start.

"What the..." the bandit was enthralled by the sight before he snapped into reality and pulled the horse away.

"Phew!" Reinhard let out a sigh of relief as he saw no danger coming.

"You didn't end him?" asked Rayus.

"Don't worry, he will come back," said Lyon before sitting back down as the tension in the atmosphere vanished.

"But that's the point of killing him, right? So that he won't come back?" Noah asked.

"Listen to my darling," said Selena.

"Yes, madam!" all three immediately answered.

"Wow..." Lyon smiled wryly before seeing his wife resting her head against his chest and snuggled.

"I, uh, I guess I should explain why," said Lyon. "The reason is very simple, they are bandits and we killed one of the two, guess what would happen to the one fleeing away?"

"He would return and warn the others about our existence," said Rayus.

"Yes, and then what would happen?"

"They will come after us when we pass this forest again," said Noah.

"Correct," said Lyon.

"Wa-Wait, I don't understand," said Reinhard.

"What do you not understand?" asked Lyon.

"Aren't we like, endangering ourselves by doing so?" Reinhard asked.

"Yes," Lyon nodded. "We are probably endangering ourselves, but there is also a chance that they might get scared from what we did, I mean, we did kill one of them so swiftly."

"You're betting that they feared us and won't bother us?" asked Noah.

Rayus shook his head, "Knowing you, teacher, I bet that you are betting on the opposite, right?"

"Hahahaha!" Lyon's laughter made the birds in the forest scurry away.

"Teacher... are you sane?" asked Noah as his face weakened.

"Of course, the more the merrier," said Lyon.

"But for what?" asked Noah.

"If I have to take a different light seeing this," Rayus contemplated, "They might bring more people to ambush us, and then when we turned the situation around, we might gain information from them, bandits?"

"Correct again," Lyon nodded. "What we had just encountered are most likely just lackeys, fodder at best, however, if a group of fodder came, there had to be one that led them."

"You're luring their leader?!" Reinhard exclaimed. "Damn.."

Rayus sighed, "That's too extreme."

"Hahaha, you better get used to it fast, because it's only going bizarre," Lyon laughed before he muttered, "Though, I have a feeling that they might show up in front of the door without us mingling in the woods."

"By the way, how big is the forest?" asked Lyon.

"It's pretty huge," said Noah. "Generally it would take five days with a caravan like this."

"What?!" Lyon exclaimed, "I thought it would be a one-day trip at max!"

"He's joking, teacher," said Rayus.

"Hahaha!" Reinharda and Noah laughed.

"Hahaha, you brats!" Lyon laughed.

"It took two whole days," said Rayus.

"Oh..." Lyon raised his brows. "Then we need to take breaks now and then."

Lyon averted his glance toward the things inside the caravan. He soon found a box that was not like a crater. He tipped it over with his foot before reading the note on top of it. "Oh, that Refl guy gave us provisions."

"Sweet!" Reinhard said, "When should we take a break, teacher?"

"We should take a break once you feel the horse has turned sluggish," said Lyon. "After all, we have a great chance of being hunted by those bandits as we speak."

"En," Reinhard nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, the surviving bandit revealed himself out of a tree as he saw the caravan was out of his field of view. His racing breath slowly calmed down with each passing gallop that the horse of the caravan made.

"Who the fuck was that?" muttered the bandit before he hit the main road and saw the corpse of the other bandit. "Swift death."

He put his hand on his finger before blowing a whistle. His horse cantered toward him before he ride it. "I need to tell the others, ha!" he kickstarted the horse and went into the deep woods, outside the mainroad.