The Herb King

Among the three captured bandits, a middle-aged man with sharp eyes and average facial features laughed as he fearlessly stared at Samira. His eyes roamed around her body with undisguised lust and depravity. He could tell that this woman came from a noble family just based on her stature and bearing. It was a pity that he had strong guards or he would have enjoyed her body thoroughly.

When she saw the naked desire in the bandit's eyes, Samira's expression turned colder. A hint of disgust flashed in her gaze.

"How dare you look at Miss Samira with those lecherous eyes?!" The blonde-haired Skylar slapped the bandit.

Pah!

A crisp slapping sound echoed and the middle-aged bandit immediately fell to the ground face first.

Skylar glanced at the fallen bandit with overflowing killing intent. "Miss Samira, I think this bandit was the one who spied on us. Although his fighting ability is terrible, his movement skill is even better than our guards. Perhaps he disguised himself as one of Barden City's soldiers and entered the camp to gather information about our army and he happened to pass by our tent." She was the one who fought the bandit earlier and this middle-aged man exhibited a skillful talent in his movements and evasion.

The faces of Samira and Kathlyn abruptly turned dark upon hearing this.

Meanwhile, Leric who was listening at the sidelines revealed a look of surprise. 'How did this young maid come up with such an outrageous conclusion?' He thought to himself, but he felt that it was better this way so that they would punish someone else for the mistake he made. At least his image as a kind-hearted and gentlemanly Alchemist would not be tarnished.

"Are you sure?" Samira's voice wasn't loud, but everyone could sense the anger in her tone. Although it was quite absurd that a Level 1 Esper was able to peep at them and escape without being captured, her raging fury clouded her sense of reason.

In truth, Skylar also felt that this bandit might not be the person who peeped at them. However, the lust he showed earlier towards their young miss angered her. "I'm not sure, but I think it's him." She said.

The middle-aged bandit raised his head. His right cheek was now swollen because of Skylar's slap. He spat out a mixture of phlegm and blood, then grinned at the group. "So what if it's me?! Just kill me! If we had captured you bitches, we would have toyed with your bodies by now! Hahaha!"

The faces of the three ladies warped with fury and disgust when they heard his depraved laughter. Even their guards who usually wear stoic expressions were now glaring at the bandit as if they wanted to tear his body apart.

Pak!

"Shut your damn mouth!" Skylar kicked the face of the bandit, sending the man rolling on the ground.

The other two bandits watched the scene with fear. They regretted listening to the words of the middle-aged man earlier.

Their mission was only to observe the movement of the Reynolds Family's young miss, but the middle-aged man talked them into capturing her instead. Initially, they thought that this was a good plan since they had more men with them and there were three Level 1 Espers in their group. Who knew that the guards protecting this young miss were actually the elites of the Reynolds Family?

"Please spare us! It was all part of that guy's plan! He told us to capture the young miss of the Reynolds Household!"

"That's right! He started it! He was the one who told us about this!"

The two bandits pleaded with faces filled with tears.

However, how could the ladies let go of them?

"Tell us who you are then we can talk about it." Samira stepped forward and glanced at the two bandits with a cold look. She didn't trust them even a tiny bit. These men were the absolute trashes of the Leone Empire and people like them must be killed to remove the tumor of the empire!

The two bandits glanced at each other with uncertainty. They were afraid of the Reynolds Household, but they were also afraid of the Northern Viper Group's boss.

Just as they were hesitating, the middle-aged bandit who was kicked by Skylar suddenly shouted at them. "You bunch of cowards! Don't even think about betraying the boss! The two of you won't see tomorrow's sun if you utter even a single w-"

Skylar punched the bandit, preventing him from speaking any further. "Did I allow you to speak?!"

Looking at their fallen comrade and the guards that surrounded them, the two bandits no longer hesitated. "We are from the Northern Viper Group. We were sent here by Boss Gustavo to monitor the movements of Miss Samira. Some scouting parties were also sent to monitor the movements of Barden City's soldiers as well as the Flame Tiger Army of General Gavin."

Leric already expected them to be scouts from the Northern Viper Group so he wasn't surprised by this. However, he was curious about why the top leader of the bandit group was interested in the Reynolds Family's young miss.

When the ladies and the guards heard that they were from the Northern Viper Group, their faces abruptly fell. This group was a heinous organization that was involved in many shady operations throughout the whole Leone Empire. Their power was comparable to a large noble household and even the Reynolds Family was wary of them. There were some rumors that a few noble families were supporting them in secret, but this matter was yet to be investigated.

"Kill them!" Samira spat out in a cold voice.

The two bandits were terrified when they heard this and they immediately prostrated on the ground. "T-This… Miss Samira, you promised that you would spare our lives if we tell you everything we know! Please spare us!"

"Since when did I promise something like that? I only told you that we can talk about it. I never promised anything." She smirked at the two bandits before giving a signal to the guards.

Ahhhhh!!

Ahhhhh!!

The forest was suddenly filled with miserable shrieks, making the birds fly in all directions.