The Great Crestmaster

"So… how did these bandits fight? What kind of weapons do they have?"

"Ugh," the man closed his eyes as if to remember, "they fought like bandits, chaotic and brutal. They had a few muskets, but mostly swords and spears."

This was better news than expected, honestly Aldrich had begun to think of these bandits as battle hardened and disciplined mercenaries. But it would seem that was not the case.

But that only made them more of a mystery, how could this gathering of crude bandits do something like what happened to that merchant?

Are they organized and capable or are they just amateurs with swords?

"Anything else?" Nathan asked, "like anything unusual? Something that seemed out of place, something that maybe didn't sit well with you?"

"I don't know, I didn't have time to observe anything. I was fighting for my life but other than the ambush I wouldn't say there was anything…"

Aldrich understood that, the man was in no position to look for some clues. In the heat of battle keeping yourself alive was the only thing that mattered.

"Wait!" The man exclaimed.

"What? Did you remember something?" Aldrich asked urgently.

"Aah, I don't know if this counts as something, like the kind of thing you guys expect me to say but, I remember before the ambush we found… long black feathers in the woods."

"What? What are you talking about? This is clearly not what we're looking for!" Emma snapped.

"Hey, calm down. Take it easy on the man, he probably doesn't have much else to tell us." Frank quickly talked to her.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I was just… tense." Emma apologized.

"It's fine, I was the one who told him to mention anything at all." Nathan said.

"…The feathers," the man continued, "they were long and beautiful. I remembered them because of that. It's all I can say."

"Yeah, thanks man. We appreciate the help. You can go now." Aldrich was grateful for the help and it's not like it was for free, he already payed this man a silver for this information.

"Yeah."

The man got up and prepared to leave but before he walked downstairs he stopped, "I know this is shameless of me to ask, but if you can get rid of those bastards, please save my friends… some of them were captured."

"I…" Aldrich wanted yo say that he was going to save them for sure but somehow the words got stuck in his mouth, "we will do our best. I can't promise you anything, however."

"That's fine."

Aldrich sat down and closed his eyes for a moment and then he opened them, this was not the time to be slowing down. It's not like he was powerful enough to do anything and everything, far from it, in fact.

But it was something he wished he could have said it without thinking about it. However it would be even worse if he gave the man false hope.

"Hmm, so we learned quite a few things about these bandits."

"Yeah we should get moving to Lookwood village tomorrow. Everybody prepare your equipment and if you need any help don't hesitate to ask me."

"It's a three day journey so make sure to pack enough clothes, food and some coin." Frank reminded the party.

Lockwood village was the closest settlement to the Zurn woods trade route and it was where they were instructed to meet with the Assistant from the guild.

The Assistant apparently had the precise location of the bandits hideout which—if true, gave them a tremendous advantage. It made the quests that much easier.

It seemed that the guild was trying to tell them that this was a straightforward quest where they just had to barge into the bandits hideout and just exterminate them in a frontal attack.

But first Aldrich had a other plans, he had to solve the hesitation of the party members who didn't do anything like this before.

And since the bandits were so through, then wouldn't it be better to use that against them. A frontal attack was not bad, if you had the element of surprise and experienced party members.

****

The next day.

On the imperial road, two carriages trodded to Lockwood village, the first was shared between the party members and the second only had luggage and supplies.

"Aldrich are sure that we really need a second carriage? We could have loaded the luggage here. Isn't it a waste of money?" Cole asked looking uncomfortable.

Aldrich laughed, "don't worry about it, how can we trouble the lovely ladies to stay in a cramped carriage when we can afford a second one for the luggage?"

"Aldrich is right." Helen agreed.

"That's true, you guys ought to learn a thing or two from Aldrich." Emma spoke up too.

"Yeah, I was always on board with the idea." Frank quickly explained.

"Me too, me too." Nathan said.

Cole was there sitting alone and uncomfortable under the dagger-like gazes of the two women. Aldrich prayed for him in his heart and laughed.

Of course his purpose in bringing a second carriage was not exactly that nice.

****

Two days later.

The Zurn woods were blooming with colorful trees of all kinds of fruits and nuts, the trees were tall and vibrant. All kinds of animals darted around, their shadows streaking by as fast as the wind.

The party arrived in Lockwood village and were welcomed by the Assistant in charge of the information. A woman in her thirties who had a mean look to her.

In the common room of one of inns in the village, she showed them a local map which had a clearly defined path that supposedly lead directly to the bandits hideout.

"I have been there, without a doubt this is the hideout. Around the high noon they all return to the hideout until sunset and then they return back to their respective blockades."

"Look here," she pointed at three red circles on the map, "these are the locations of their barricades."

"They communicate using horns, if anything happened in any of the blockades the others would soon converge faster than you would think. Then they would attack all together."