Legend of Ransera

It was of course not an enjoyable experience.

While Shuai did enjoy testing his own martial prowess in a fight there were some which were completely unacceptable by society like a random bar brawl and, those which were not only accepted but welcome and lauded by society like a good blood boiling scrap in the arena. With the same measure of violence as the latter, the sport of hunting dangerous individuals which threatened that very same society like crooks and bandits too was looked highly upon no matter the reason, whether it be for bounty or for glory- which was what Shuai assumed they would be running into in this new 'charitable act' he accidentally volunteered himself for. Although the nobility itself did not partake in these common fights with a view they were lesser job better handed off to sellswords they could just pay off for their goals, a noble failing to honor his own word was looked down upon just the same- there was no way Shuai was going to get out of it without maintaining his own dignity so the better thing to do would be to just go with it. His own father was not one to discourage it either since it was for 'the greater good' and simply told Shuai in the flippant way only a father could to "don't die. And try to come back before your mother gets worried because she'll have it over me for weeks."

That said it was not like Shuai truly was incapable for an escort mission like the stereotypical noble. It was just he would rather not have people knowing the full extent of what he was capable of because knowing would eventually become expecting. The same reason for why he agreed; while he was distracted with completing his charitable tasks, Jae-Seong's demeanor and tone at the time reminded him of the very specific situations he would simply say yes to some merc work because such a thing was expected of him and also because he sort of enjoys it. However those situations were completely different from his public face which only went right for wars and duels, a far cry from Jae-Seong who freely told of his stories from back when he was a roaming mercenary. 'That was really misleading wasn't it? Of course I'd think he was one of the boys calling me out for some fun'" Shuai thought to himself as he remembered back on what should have been idle conversation that he never thought twice on going: yes, why not? Of course! Sure, just to be polite about it. No wonder the more socially savvy of his bodyguards had a good laugh about it, before grilling him on protocol he should have observed.

There was only some key things Shuai seemed wary of, and it was not because he was looking for reasons to get out of it- why did those family members not make the journey with them, when did they actually leave Zaichaer and when was their last communications between one another. Also how much fucking luggage were they bringing along because that might make a difference in their own escort plans, somewhat. Of course Shuai did not ask the family that- that would at best be considered rude towards the refugees and if word of a noble being suspicious of the people they are meant to help spreads, the discontent throughout the refugees already may be elevated. He waited until they left before calling over one of his bodyguards and communicating these concerns to him while, just being loud enough so that Jae-Seong would be able to hear it too without straining himself. Shuai could catch a glimpse of Skammak grinning at the act being played out but it was only until later when they have split from the Jae-Seong that his bodyguard would praise him for actually bring able to make use of the usual noble tricks.

"I'm serious. Find it out if you can" was part of the conversation they had later on in the evening which was returned with a "if I can. Do I look like I know anyone from that twisted city?"

The two same bodyguards, Skammak and Ruborudean accompanied Shuai again two days later. He really did not need to have anyone else. The only thing different with Shuai and his bodyguards from when the nobles met in the relief effort for the refugees was that Shuai looked more prepared for getting into a fight, his bodyguards equipped to do the same. There was nothing else. While it may be taking things for granted Shuai assumed that the Novalys would have better resources and desire to prepare Jae-Seong that the Chisuo and Shuai himself only needed to do the minimum. Food. Drinks. An extra mount. Oh and some papers in a bag somewhere with some additional information on the family members they had to find. At least those refugees were consistent in that one more interview Shuai had Skammak do the next day after they had split from Jae-Seong.

"I guess we'll just be following the main road to Zaichaer? Or has there been any changes to it lately? Its not the sort of place I ever had any interest in going to so I've never followed any of the developments there. And I guess we should meet the family in a few days? I'm sure Novalys would have better means to know the conditions of the roads there so me and the boys here will just follow your lead."

It was impressive, Jae-Seong's naivety that is as Shuai thought. He would have thought someone who operated as a mercenary would be able to scrutinize those requests with a lot more care. Surely gold, or in this instance the chance to help, was important but even more important was one's own life. "You don't think its too suspicious that they asked two random nobles just because we said we want to do more, instead of actual proper people like the guards to help, especially when there might be circumstances to force them to split?" Hopefully that query would be enough to to impress the idea that it is a lot more important to get more information at this point- for all Shuai knew this could be a set up to get some ransom by some more unscrupulous individuals; just because they were old or infirm their capacity for wicked deeds were not diminished any less. Nonetheless, Shuai was confident he would be able to escape any such attempts. After all, he did survive the war unscathed.

Which was why it was just as easy to go along for the ride. While at the moment no one would be able to confirm either Shuai's suspicions nor Jae-Seong's own accounts of the event in question, one thing was certainly proven by Jae-Seong. it was cold. Fortunately his bodyguards had prepared him well and Shuai himself only had to follow on from behind as he engaged in idle conversation to pass the time in the uneventful days- keeping in mind to pay proper attention to the conversation if something odd pops up because he did not want to get suckered into yet another adventure with no enjoyment for him to be had. Sometimes when passing by the other travelers, Shuai would instruct one of his bodyguards to just ask them a little about the road ahead and if they had run into the people they were searching for. Would this be an issue? Hardly. Ruborudean would easily catch up. After all, he was built for such a purpose.

Though the bodyguard would not find out anything other than the usual, the roads were cold, people were hungry, some of the inns were way too crowded and, where the fuck are the patrols to prepare the group for the bandits they eventually encountered, that by no means was going to stop Shuai from having some fun. At the very least the brief scrap would warm him up enough. How unfortunate they were that far away for the group to take advantage of. Nonetheless at least there was a plan. "You charge at them, from the side might I remind you, you might be built like a tank and the bandits don't look like much but we don't want you getting swarmed" he told Ruborudean and as for Skammak, "you sneak up on the other side. You know how. Either get the stragglers or stop their escape." Well, with the assumption the ones being attacked were from Zaichaer they were going to be scared of the group either way so Shuai had no qualms on making the rush for it.

And that was what he did. Stepping up unto his halberd, Shuai simply held his shield right out in front of him and burst his weapon at top speed. 'Crunch!' went one of the bandits he collided with which before the other could knew what was happening had already been thrown foward and got slammed into a tree never to stand up again. Shuai himself could feel his arm giving way as he did, no matter how well trained he was there was no way he could deal with the blow either. Not that he was going to stick around for the rest of the bandits to get on him as he continued with his hit and run, straight and up out of reach so he could recover with Ruborudean following close behind with another 'stab!' and 'crunch!' in his own hit and run to run through the bandits. Shuai was quite surprised it took the horse man that long but more likely than not the bodyguard might have wanted to give his hiis lord the chance to get first blood.

Five more to go. At least from what Shuai could see as he hovered from up top.

Surrender? Shuai did not know the meaning of the word- or that is what he would tell people in his retelling of this story so he could increase his notoriety. Maybe if everyone believed him to be a bloodlusted battle junkie they would avoid bringing him out for altruistic missions where violence was expected. The two bandits, immediately split up as they made a rush for the treeline. The moment they crossed that, they would surely be lost. Pursuit would be too troublesome and not even Shuai in the sky would be able to keep track of them. It would maybe be a few seconds until they did but Shuai only needed one. It was a simple yet elegant use of elementalism. The novels of heroes past called it the legendary voice transmission technique! Anyone who thought Shuai would not learn something like that even if there were no combat applications did not know him at all.

A deep breath accumulating in his core. His aether going along with the flow. The wind got charged with it at his request, the elements of air tickled by the prospect. A demand with no wiggle room for the bandits. Shuai obviously regarded the elements with more respect than some bandits who have already forfeited their lives through their misdeeds but he knew the reasons he had to keep them alive. Well at least one. Hopefully they heeded him. "On the ground! Drop your weapons!" It would be loud as it would reach directly into their ears and echo inside their heads no matter how thick their skulls. To the others like his companions and the ones being attacked by the bandits, who knew what Shuai looked like. They would not even be able to hear what he said unless they tried really hard and might only catch it as a faint whisper so he could even look as stupid as... some noble enjoying the scenery in a trip he took in a whim- which is what Shuai could be described as.

While he was not following Shuai's instructions to the letter, one did drop his weapons if only to cover his ears and yell before he crumpled unto the ground in a curled up ball. The other seemed to be made of tougher stuff as he continued to run. If that bandit was he, perhaps Shuai would have done the same because he was already so close to the tree line. A few more steps and he would have already escaped. Too bad for him it was still a few more steps too much. Less of foresight and more of the basics one would find in texts on tactics, Skammak was just in the right spot to intercept the bandit. From the tree one arm blocked the bandit off at the chest and another arm dug deep into the man's stomach, then the arms of the pairs wrapped round the bandit to make him unable to escape as he yelled and yelled various profanities. Shuai was not impressed. If one were to accompany mercenaries and soldiers enough times, there were much worse words which could be used.

Shuai himself leisurely landed himself on the ground beside the bandit which was still squirming on the ground. Tapping the man on the shoulder to get his attention, once they were face to face he dragged the bandit by the collar to lift him back up on his feet so they could speak on the level. "Hi, its me." Ah his ears were still ringing. He brought himself right to the bandit's ear so the man would not have any excuse for not listening to him, "hi, its me. Now how comfortable you are depends on how cooperative you are. Are you going to cooperate?" Actually, how many times was he going to have to repeat this? He gestured for Skammak to bring the other bandit along with him so he could group them all together, the other bandit did not even seem to be a little bit out of breath as he was still screaming all his profanities.

"Your first job to prove yourself, shut your friend up so we can get have a little talk. We have questions. You all will answer them." While Shuai's tone so far may be mistaken as him trying to be amicable, he still meant business and had no time to suffer in the cold just to accommodate some bandits.