33 Risen#re

Lirian soon found the cave made by the two bandits, it wasn't anything special, but it was well hidden, Lirian was pretty sure that he had come past this area the night before and as he looked at the map in his head that the system was putting together he discovered that he was correct.

Lirian removed the vines and branches that blocked the cave and stepped into it, it wasn't very big, just large to hold maybe three people, and it didn't hold much either, there were a few coin purse's which held a total of 280 copper pieces and 4 silver pieces it was the fortune they had saved up over 9 years of robbing.

This wasn't their complete fortune, but it was all that they collected on this road, the two of them had several different dens built on the surrounding roads, but this was one of their more prosperous dens.

Other than the coins there a few old swords and daggers and some leather straps, which was what Lirian had mainly come for, just a few days away from here was a village, it was from there that those two low life's came from, and too everyone's knowledge they were caravan guards.

If Lirian walked in with their swords, it was possible that someone would recognise the swords, and Lirian had already determined that he needed to go there because in Molb's memories there was a cultivator in the village.

It was just one man who used to be an adventurer and while doing a job in these parts he somehow came to their village and ended up marrying the most beautiful girl in the village she used to be a simple barmaid that all the men liked, but that adventurer made her his own and settled down there.

As Lirian strapped the weapons in place all over his body, he began to contemplate his plan of action.

The first thing Lirian needed to do was change his look a little, his silver hair while beautiful was unfortunately a dead give away while he walked amongst humans, so he needed to dye his hair, to appear a little less remarkable.

Lirian only needed it to work temporally, once he activated his Body of Nirvana esper technique, he'd be able to change his appearance slightly to look less famine and change his hair colour.

But to start cultivating Lirian first needed a way to separate the toxin from the world breath, Lirian already had a few spells in mind, but due to his lack of a cultivation spells were of limits unless he collected specific materials that could enable the spell.

But that would require time and resources that Lirian did not currently possess.

Lirian suddenly had a flash of insight as he thought about how the bandits obtained the weapons he was holding.

It would take about fifteen minutes for Lirian to reach the road from the cave and the road had carriages that frequently used it, the road led to a big town called Proge, so it did get plenty of visitors but these two bandits were weak to say the least so they only ever dared to challenge lone stragglers.

For Lirian however, taking on large groups was no problem, he had to walk for two days before the split appeared in the road to take him to the village, and he was in dire need of some cosmetics.

Since it was a road that went to an official town, it definitely had nobles, and where there are nobles, they undoubtedly have cosmetics, Lirian really hoped to find some hair dye and make-up to change his appearance a bit.

With that in mind Lirian started to hope to find a few caravans or better nobles on his way, if it were nobles the odds of finding cosmetics would be much greater.

---

The night had come over the world, calling all people to a stop, it was time for them to take a load off their backs and rest for the night.

It was the same where anyone went even on the long road to Proge, it was no different, it was still the first hours after the sun went down and a big fire had been lit, with dozens of people gathering around it to eat and some even begun to dance.

"Mal is your father not coming to join us," a woman dressed in a yellow corset asked a young adolescent boy curiously, while casting her gaze over to the largest of the tents.

The man in question was a rather well-known merchant in these parts everyone simply called him Mr. Quibb, he had a knack for being a merchant and was usually pretty good company to keep, but his actions since two weeks ago when they left a village they were trading their good to, he had been acting rather suspicious.

Take for instance the fact that he insisted on taking his cart into the tent every night for the past two weeks, he was acting like he was carrying a cart of gold not allowing it to slip out of his sight for a second.

Had Mr Quibb acted normal no one would have become suspicious, but now even the guards were eyeing that cart, it's always a bad sign when you arouse the interest of the people that are supposed to be protecting you, and that in turn made the rest of the caravan very nervous.

Young Mal had come out for the first time with his father to learn of the ways of trading, but even he could tell that something wasn't right with his father, "My father is wary of his troubles, please forgive him Miss Hela," Mal said apologetically to the lovely lady while blushing a little and grabbed a bowl of soup to take for his father.

Mal could hear some of the man laughed at him for getting embarrassed as he made for his fathers' tent, he couldn't help it, woman always made him nervous and beautiful woman all the more.

As Mal stepped inside he saw his father get up abruptly turning his head from the cart, and as Mal felt his fathers gaze he could tell that his father was getting worse.

In the past few days it seemed like his father was suspicious of everyone, and now that same gaze was being directed at him, "Father is everything alright?" he asked cautiously and brought the bowl of hot soup to his father.

Mr Quibb's face softened slightly as he took the food and hurriedly ate it, the food seemed to help at least it looked like it did to Mal.

As soon as Mr Quibb finished eating he looked to his son and sighed sadly but his gaze had returned to the cart.

It was full of furs, almost a hundred furs, in total it would catch a good price, maybe thirty gold, of which ten would be profit, and enough to fund another two trips from Riverfall to Proge and back.

"I made a mistake son, a very big one," Mr Quibb said "A while back I met some adventurers, they had some stuff, but they didn't want to go through the trouble of carrying it around to sell it, so I offered them a deal,"

"I thought that I could do what even a group of adventures were hesitant to do," he said wistfully, "And now all I can think about is the consequences of my failure, if I fail in selling the goods, we'll lose the estate," Mr Quibb said in a hushed whisper.

"Father!" Mal cried in shock, "Is someone threatening us, we can take it up to the lord, even its some adventurers they still have to obey the laws," he said to reassure his father.

"No, no son it's no black mail, I made the deal and used the title deed to the estate as my leverage for the goods," Mr Quibb explained in a whisper, but his eyes never left the cart.

Mal suddenly looked to the cart wondering what could be so valuable in it, he sat in the cart most of the time, but there was nothing so valuable that it could come close to the estate, the estate was worth almost 400 gold, and his father was still working to pay it off.

As not even half of it been paid for yet, to say that this a gamble was an understatement, his father wasn't just wagering with the estate he was practically wagering with his life if things fell through, the lord would be sure to turn him not just his father but also him and his mother into slaves, to work of the debt.

But try as he might he couldn't find anything of such value on the cart, a ripping sound was suddenly heard and as Mal turned he saw that one of the guards was coming through the tent right behind him and he was caught by the guards grip.

"Do tell us what's in the cart, that's so valuable or I'll gut the boy," the head guard suddenly said as he stepped in through the slit, his presence made Mr Quibb completely despair because that was the one person who he could not fight against, because he was a cultivator.

"Triston, we've worked together for years, please let the boy go, and I'll triple the pay for your guards, and I'll give you ten times your normal fee, I also promise not to report your break of contract to the guild," Mr Quibb was quick to realise the situation, so he instead of pointless threats, he threw out his best offer, hoping that it would make a difference.

They were listening the entire time, and since it was worth enough to make him leverage his estate it was definitely worth enough for them to kill their employer and settle down somewhere without any worries for coin.

"Sorry Mr Quibb but I got to do what's best for me," the cultivator called Triston said and turned to one of the guards that entered with him, "The cart has a false bottom, pop it open," he ordered.