A silver locket around the bandit’s neck flashed a bright blue color. The high speed stone slamd into an invisible barrier right in front of his nose and dropped harmlessly to the dirt.
Adrian cursed under his breath as the magical shield completely blocked his attack.
"Hurry up, Claire!" Adrian shouted.
He kept firing stones using Gust, but they were useless. The raw kinetic energy of a basic wind spell just could not shatter a magical shield.
The fight dragged on and bodies kept dropping.
The rcenaries knew how to protect their vitals. They took nasty cuts but managed to stay on their feet.
The noble soldiers lacked real combat experience. They trained in safe courtyards, not bloody dungeons and due to this, they were getting slaughtered.
n collapsed into the dirt with fatal stab wounds while others bled out from severed arteries. Nobody had the luxury of helping them. It was every man for himself.
Adrian watched the massacre. Real combat experience was entirely different from swinging wooden swords at the air.
Claire finally carved a path through the bandit frontline. She completely closed the distance and lunged at the mage with her sword.
The mage panicked. He knew his locket could not stop a D rank knight’s physical strike. He jumped backward, completely abandoning his spell.
"Retreat!" the mage scread. "Retreat! Retreat!"
The bandits instantly turned and scattered into the dense woods.
But the damage was already done.
The bandits had barely lost anyone. A few of them had mild to dium injuries, but none were left dead on the road.
Their convoy had taken a lot of damage. The rcenaries had survived with moderate injuries, matching the bandits. But the soldiers paid a heavy price.
Five soldiers lay dead in the dirt. Ten more were severely injured and they were groaning and crying in pain. Only five soldiers escaped with light injuries.
Adrian walked over to Felicia and Bastian’s carriage. Bastian was standing near the wheel, looking absolutely terrified.
"You need to turn back." Adrian told Felicia. "Go back to your estate and tell your father what happened here. We do not have the manpower to travel safely anymore. What happens if there is another ambush?"
Felicia looked at her bleeding n and nodded grimly. She did not argue. "You are right, Baron Sterling. We will return ho."
She ordered her surviving guards to gather the wounded and turn the carriage around.
Adrian sent them off and watched them leave until they disappeared down the road. He then turned to his surviving rcenaries.
"We are not traveling all the way back to the Viscount’s territory." Adrian announced. "Pull the carriages back two or three kiloters. We will set up a secure camp off the main road. You all need to rest for a day or two."
The exhausted n nodded. They led the horses down the road and set up camp in a wide clearing.
Adrian did not hide in his carriage. He grabbed dical supplies and walked right into the crowd of bleeding n.
"Hold still, this will sting." Adrian told a young rcenary.
He poured an antiseptic potion over a deep gash on the man’s arm and wrapped it tightly with a linen bandage.
The rcenaries looked at him in shock. This was completely unlike any noble they had ever t. Nobles usually stayed hidden and refused to interact with hired blood. But Adrian got his hands dirty and helped apply the bandages.
When it was ti to eat, Adrian brought out large cuts of raw at. No one asked him where he got the fresh food from.
He had stored massive amounts of at inside his dungeon, and since he could link to the system interface anyti, he simply pulled it into the real world when no one was looking. He handed over enough at to feed the entire camp.
The rcenaries cheered and happily threw the at over the roaring campfire.
Aria sat on a log near the fire and took a bite of the cooked food. She chewed once and imdiately frowned.
The adventurers cooked their at the exact sa way they always did on the road. They cooked it directly over the coals by tossing the at over the red hot coal. The end result was that the at was extrely tough, burnt on the edges, and heavily salted to hide the ash flavor.
Adrian had spoiled Aria a lot ever since the divorce. He always made sure her als were tender, juicy, and packed with actual flavor.
She used to eat this exact sa tough at in her past life before her regression, but she simply could not stomach it now.
She took two small bites, put her wooden plate down in front of her, and refused to chew another piece.
"It feels like I’m chewing on leather...." Aria complained with her arms crossed.
Adrian saw her pouting and chuckled. He sat down next to her and leaned in close so the rcenaries would not hear.
"I will make you sothing special tomorrow." he whispered. "But be a good girl and do not waste food or papa will be mad at you."
He wanted to cook a massive feast right now, but he held back. He did not want to make sothing incredibly special just for himself and his daughter while the rcenaries ate their fully cooked tough at.
The rcenaries were already in a great mood. Cooking a luxury al right in front of them would only create a massive social barrier. He decided to wait until they were back on the road.
Adrian regretted his decision soon after.
Aria quietly ate all the food but refused to talk to him in any way.
Seeing her act like this, all he could do was smile wryly and look at Claire who just looked away in response as she tried to hide her smile.
’Why is no one on my side... I just wanna keep the rcenaries happy so I can recruit them into the army later...’ he thought to himself but sighed as he felt like he had ssed up his priorities for the night.
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