Chapter 179 Unavoidable Punishment (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to all)

As for the prisoners, the Cavalry Captain asked Shaoke how to deal with them. Faced with the disarmed bandits kneeling in the snow and the wounded groaning on the ground, Shaoke quickly made a decision. "Let them run alongside us all the way to the imperial capital. If anyone can keep up, I think their lives can be spared." After saying this, he returned to the carriage to meditate and recover the mana expended from his recent spellcasting. Although the expenditure wasn't significant for him now, it was still necessary.

The Cavalry Captain strictly carried out Shaoke's orders. He couldn't have cared less if this tarnished the military's image, because during the escort mission, his orders were to obey any correct command from the mage. Yes, correct commands—he didn't consider the mage's orders wrong, at least not for now.

The bandits who had unleashed their Aura were either killed or had fled, so the cavalrymen had no qualms about borrowing ropes from the merchants. Of course, the mage refused the required payment, as he had just protected their safety. He even insisted the merchants hand over a portion of their gold coins, which were strictly distributed to each cavalryman according to regulations.

The merchants didn't utter a word of protest about the military's domineering behavior. They quickly gathered the required money and ropes as requested and helped the soldiers tie the bandits behind their mounts, completing the task swiftly. Afterward, they prepared plenty of fine food and sent it over to the cavalrymen and the mage. This time, the cavalrymen offered no refusal. After quickly inspecting the food, they enjoyed it without a second thought.

Under Shaoke's orders, the cavalrymen did not continue traveling with the merchants. Instead, they spurred their mounts onward once again toward the imperial capital.

Shaoke leaned inside the carriage, quietly flipping through his spellbook, occasionally taking out a pen and jotting something down on the small writing desk. As for the bandits forced to run alongside the cavalrymen, after nearly half a day of high-intensity running tethered by ropes, they could no longer keep up. They collapsed one by one, to be dragged along by the cavalry ahead.

Although their speed had slightly decreased from dragging the prisoners, Shaoke still ordered the Cavalry Captain to abandon the idea of releasing them. "It's not my intention for them to die. When we reach the next city, we can hand these bandits over to the military there and have them assigned to the labor corps. You see? The roads are terrible as it is. I can't even read peacefully in the carriage." After quickly explaining his reasons to the Cavalry Captain, Shaoke ignored the other's surprise and retreated into the carriage to continue his studies.

Faced with Shaoke's correct and well-intentioned order, the Cavalry Captain promptly shared the good news with the bandits lying on the ground, being dragged along by the cavalrymen. He reiterated that this was the Honorable Mage's leniency and that they should be grateful to the mage in the carriage. Of course, the bandits didn't respond to the Cavalry Captain's words; only a few groaned in pain on the ground. However, the Cavalry Captain easily interpreted those groans as agreement and excitedly urged his men to pick up the pace, hoping to deliver these pitiful bandits to the labor corps as soon as possible.

After several days of travel, the bandits being dragged along the ground by ropes had all disappeared. At the time, the Cavalry Captain reported to Shaoke as follows: "Honorable Mage, those bandits have already sensed the terrible condition of the roads ahead and have voluntarily stayed behind to repair them." He then added, "Of course, they are working very diligently. I believe future travelers will surely thank us for this good measure!"

Shaoke didn't pay much attention to the Cavalry Captain's words. The interruption of his meditation irritated him. Thus, the Cavalry Captain was quickly dismissed from the carriage to return to his duties. In truth, Shaoke had already forgotten about the bandits' earlier attack.

After several days of snowstorms subsided, the already bad road was once again blanketed with a thick layer of snow. If no large caravans had passed through, the road conditions might have been manageable. However, if large caravans had traveled this way, Shaoke and his group's progress would be further slowed, as the four-wheeled carriage the mage rode in couldn't move quickly through the thick mud.

After the snowstorm stopped, Shaoke stood beside the driver, leisurely observing the surroundings. As they approached a small city, Shaoke quickly noticed a thin black line ahead. At that moment, a scout from the cavalry brought new information: "Honorable Mage, the road ahead is under repair. We should change our route not far ahead, or we'll be delayed there."

Upon receiving the scout's report, Shaoke left the decision-making to the Cavalry Captain. "I'm not good at this, so you decide." He calmly added, "I won't refuse whatever choice you make."

Seeing the mage's expression of trust, the Cavalry Captain hesitated briefly before ordering the team to continue on the original path. "Honorable Mage, we can pass through alongside the crowd. We're not familiar with the road conditions and environment elsewhere, and I'm worried that taking a detour will slow our progress."

Faced with the Cavalry Captain's choice, Shaoke made no objection. He simply nodded slightly before returning to the carriage to rest. During this period, to write some materials, he had to work at night when the carriage was stable, forcing him to take short rests during the day. Fortunately, he could recover his expended energy through meditation, preventing any unexpected delays for the caravan.

Thousands of people, under the watch of soldiers, quickly cleared the snow from the road and used soil blocks brought by their companions to fill it in. The arrival of the cavalry soon caught the attention of the local commander. After repeatedly inspecting the documents handed over by the Cavalry Captain, he asked doubtfully, "Are you really from the Bloody Fortress? Why haven't I heard of this name?" He then checked the documents once more.

"If you knew everything, you wouldn't be here overseeing these people repairing roads," the Cavalry Captain retorted, retrieving the documents and carefully folding them into a small box on his chest. "I hope the name you saw won't be shared with others. Otherwise, your direct superior will certainly ensure you no longer enjoy the pleasure of sunlight."

The commander quickly ordered his road repair crew to make way for the team to pass through swiftly. As for whether they were truly from the Bloody Fortress, that wasn't his concern. After all, he didn't have even the lowest-ranking mage stationed there, so he couldn't verify the authenticity of any documents. Of course, upon reaching the next city, someone there would thoroughly inspect the team's credentials.

After resting in the small town ahead and replenishing their supplies, the team continued their journey. Mud submerged nearly half of the wheels, and the cold wind cut into their faces like knives. Fortunately, as the weather grew colder, the mud on the ground gradually hardened. Although the ride became much bumpier, the cavalrymen no longer needed to drag the carriage with ropes. However, during this leg of the journey, the cavalryman whose mount had been injured lost his steed.

Although the medicine had stopped the bleeding and healed the mount's leg, the long journey and poor road conditions caused the old injury to flare up, rendering it unable to run quickly anymore.

That night, after the cavalryman personally hunted down his mount and cooked it into a stew for everyone, Shaoke and the Cavalry Captain almost simultaneously noticed that the surroundings had become strangely unsettling.

"Alert!" the Cavalry Captain shouted, drawing his saber and taking up the military-issued steel arm shield, loudly warning his companions.

Shaoke also quickly discarded his silver wine cup, grabbed the staff placed nearby, and slung it over his shoulder. 'Dispel Darkness,' a very practical Zero-level Spell, was cast by Shaoke on himself. At the same time, he released a powerful mental probe to survey the surroundings.

This probe surprised Shaoke. He discovered that nearly a thousand meters away, many warriors had loosely surrounded their team. The Low-order Warriors moved cautiously, not alerting the vigilant mounts. However, the ambushers hadn't anticipated being detected in advance by the mage and the Cavalry Captain in the team.

Shaoke's probe not only detected hundreds of Low-order Warriors but also sensed two individuals with magical fluctuations. "Mages, two mages have joined this fight," Shaoke frowned slightly and quickly relayed his findings to the Cavalry Captain, who was preparing for battle. He added hastily, "Don't worry, I can handle them. They're just two Third Tier Mages." With that, he didn't wait for the enemies to advance further and instead began quickly preparing a Spell to strike first.

The mages accompanying the Low-order Warriors as they closed in soon sensed Shaoke's unrestrained mental probe. This discovery forced them to launch their attack ahead of schedule.

"Kill..." Under the Cavalry Captain's command, the cavalrymen quickly found their horses and, led by their captain, charged fiercely in one direction. Shaoke also stood atop the carriage, beginning to prepare his spells for the attack.