Bandit Siege

Ye Wei'an was awakened by a headache.

My consciousness was hazy, as if I were trapped in thick mud.

After struggling to regain consciousness, the first thing he felt was a sharp pain in the back of his head, followed by a soft and warm touch.

As the view gradually cleared, the first thing that came into view was the canopy decorated with dark patterns.

The air was filled with the scents of wood and leather, as well as a faint, pleasant fragrance.

As his vision gradually cleared, he forced himself to turn his head and met a pair of anxious, light brown eyes.

She was a very young girl, about sixteen or seventeen years old, but already a beauty: her jet-black hair was tied under a maid's headscarf, revealing her smooth forehead and a pair of doe-like, moist brown eyes. At the position of her ears, a slightly longer point than normal was visible through her fine hair, indicating that she was not a pure human.

The girl bit her lower lip, her brows furrowed, and gently pressed one hand against his forehead.

"Young Master, you're awake? How are you feeling?" Seeing him open his eyes, the young woman visibly relaxed. "The carriage stopped too suddenly, and you bumped into the side..."

Ye Wei'an opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say, so he could only mumble a "hmm".

He then realized that he was resting his head on the girl's lap.

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable being so close to a strange girl, Ye Wei'an instinctively tried to get up.

"Don't rush!" The girl quickly supported his arm and helped him lean into the thick, soft down cushion.

Ye Wei'an then had the opportunity to see the interior of the carriage:

The carriage was quite spacious, with dark velvet lining the interior walls, soft and comfortable seats, and even a small dark wood-grain table fixed in the corner with a plate of washed fruit on it.

Even from a modern perspective, the interior of this car is far too luxurious; it's clearly not something the average person can afford.

Just as Ye Weian was trying to figure out the situation, a muffled sound came from across the carriage:

It sounded like shouts of killing, the clanging of metal, and... screams?

Something's not right outside.

Ye Wei'an's heart tightened, and he subconsciously reached out and lifted the heavy curtains beside him.

The sight outside made him hold his breath.

The carriage was stopped in the middle of a forest road. What should have been a peaceful avenue had now been transformed into a bloody battlefield.

The two sides in the battle were a motley crew, wearing haphazardly pieced-together armor and wielding rusted swords or rough wooden clubs, while a few hunters on the periphery were firing arrows from the shadows, looking every bit like bandits.

The group that was being attacked was a small squad of guards, who looked like they were on their side.

Compared to their opponents, the guards were much more disciplined: they wore uniform studded leather armor, stood back to back of the carriage in a tight circle, covering each other and cooperating seamlessly, desperately trying to stop the bandits from getting close to the carriage.

Unfortunately, all of this cannot make up for the disadvantage in numbers.

As far as Ye Wei'an could see, some of the guards had already fallen into pools of blood.

But the outcome wasn't decided by them, but by the duel between their leaders.

In the center of the battle, a knight clad in plate armor is fiercely battling a burly man with a bare upper body.

The knight, sword in one hand and shield in the other, not only had to fend off the burly man's fierce attacks but also had to constantly cover for any gaps in his guards' defenses. He appeared to be struggling and in a rather disheveled state. Fortunately, his martial arts skills were superb, and his plate armor was sturdy enough to barely maintain the line of defense.

But in Ye Wei'an's view, the defense line was about to be breached.

"Knock!"

He was watching intently when suddenly a stray arrow became embedded in the outer wall of the carriage.

Seeing the trembling tail feathers, Ye Wei'an abruptly pulled his head back, his heart pounding.

"Young master, don't look outside! It's too dangerous!" The maid quickly pulled up the heavy curtains and comforted him, "It's alright... Knight Kane is very powerful. With him here, he will definitely be able to drive away these bandits."

Seeing that Ye Wei'an was still in a daze, the maid picked up an apple from the small table. "Are you frightened? Would you like something to eat to calm your nerves?"

As she spoke, she took out a small silver knife and began to peel the skin.

"I...I'm fine, Ellen," Ye Wei'an blurted out.

Then, he froze.

Who is Ellen...?

Is that the name of the maid in front of me?

But how did I know the maid's name?

Just as he was wondering about it, another memory entered his mind:

That was... myself when I was a child.

A man claiming to be his father brought a group of little girls to his younger self, asking him to choose one as his personal maid. After much deliberation, he finally chose a young half-elf girl, Ellen Radiance—Radiance being her surname as a descendant of the Sun Elves, and "Ellen" being the name he personally gave her.

No... wait, I come from a white-collar family, so where would I get a personal maid?

Where did these memories come from?

Ye Wei'an became more and more confused as he thought about it, and suddenly his head started to hurt again. At the same time, more memories flooded into his mind.

Only then did he understand everything.

I am no longer on Earth, or even in my original world.

This is the Forgotten Realms continent of the world of Aber Toril, the Kingdom of Cormir.

The person he traveled through time to was also named Ye Weian.

However, this Ye Wei'an does not have the surname Ye. His full name is Ye Wei'an Xia Xing, the son of Baron Harandil Xia Xing—to be precise, an unacknowledged illegitimate child.

His mother's surname was Ye, and she came from the distant eastern country of "Shoulong." She was said to be the daughter of a merchant. During a trade, she was captured by pirates, enslaved, and eventually bought by a baron to become his maid.

She died during childbirth, leaving him only the name Iovianus Xia Xing.

Despite being of mixed race, Ye Wei'an Xia Xing has a completely Eastern appearance, exactly like Ye Wei'an when he was young.

Ye Wei'an strongly suspected that he was himself in this world—or that he was his reincarnation, only to have his memories of his past life awakened today.

But no matter what, this means that he can't go home for the time being.

Since that's the case, then I'll just have to live on as Ye Wei'an Xia Xing for now.

As an illegitimate child, Ye Wei'an certainly has nothing to do with the title and family property.

Perhaps out of a lingering affection for his mother, or perhaps because he had always seemed smarter than his peers, his adoptive father sent him to the War Mage Academy in the capital city of Susar when he was twelve, hoping that he would become a noble mage.

Ye Wei'an failed to live up to these expectations; after four years, he hadn't even learned a single first-level spell.

Until two weeks ago, an urgent letter arrived at the college—the Baron was critically ill.

He had to abruptly interrupt his studies, and accompanied by his personal maid, Eileen, and a small squad of family guards, he embarked on his journey back to the family territory. Just as they were about to reach the family territory, they were attacked by this sudden attack...

boom!

A loud bang interrupted his recollection.

The carriage door was suddenly cleaved in two. Through the gap, a burly man covered in blood blocked the entrance. He wore tattered leather armor and held a long knife with a rolled blade in his hand, clearly one of the bandits.

The man's bloodshot eyes swept across the carriage and immediately locked onto Ye Weian, a cruel smile spreading across his face.

"Haha, there really is a noble lad hiding here... Boss, the bounty is mine!"

As expected... that's what it means.

Ye Weian discovered the key point.

These robbers didn't just rob randomly; they came prepared!

There's something wrong here!

But the bandit didn't give Ye Wei'an any time to think. He roared and his burly body squeezed into the carriage, his long knife aimed straight at Ye Wei'an's heart!

Ye Wei'an tried to dodge, but there was only the carriage wall behind him. He could only reach out his hands and grab the other man's wrists tightly before the knife tip touched his body.

The cool metallic touch pressed against his fingertips. The tip of the knife hovered less than an inch from his chest, trembling slightly.

"Is this all the strength a little brat from a noble family has?" The bandit grinned and increased his strength. The absolute difference in strength immediately became apparent. Ye Wei'an felt as if his fingers were about to break, but even with all his might, the deadly tip of the knife was still pressing closer and closer to his chest.

Am I going to die?

Having just transmigrated, am I about to die inexplicably at the hands of a bandit?

Just then, a scream rang out.

"ah--!"

It's Ellen.

The robbers' attention was completely drawn to Ye Weian and the bounty, and they didn't notice her huddled in the corner at all.

Ellen, who had been cowering and trembling, suddenly found courage from somewhere and grabbed a silver knife, stabbing wildly forward!

puff.

The knife plunged deep into the robber's right side ribs, all the way down to the hilt.

The robber's forward charge abruptly froze. The savage grin on his face vanished, and he slowly lowered his head, looking in bewilderment at the blood seeping from his ribs, his grip on the knife loosening slightly.

It's now!

Ye Wei'an forcefully pushed the blade away, and at the same time bent his knee and slammed it hard into the opponent's unprotected lower abdomen.

"Ugh!"

The robber let out a short, muffled groan, clutching his stomach and curling up like a boiled shrimp.

But Ye Wei'an wasn't satisfied. He picked up the robber's knife, gritted his teeth, and stabbed the robber in the chest several times until blood splattered everywhere.

The carriage fell silent, save for the distant shouts of battle outside and the heavy, terrified breathing of the two men.

Ellen stood frozen in place, her hand still in the thrusting position, her face deathly pale, her whole body trembling violently, her eyes staring blankly at the pool of blood on the ground.

Ye Wei'an collapsed onto the soft cushion, his heart pounding. The brief struggle had drained all his strength.

Good fortune never comes in pairs, but misfortunes never come singly.

Before they could catch their breath, another bandit broke through the guards' defenses, brandishing a blood-stained axe and grinning as he charged toward the carriage.

The previous robber died purely because he was careless and overlooked Ellen, who was hiding nearby, and thus fell into the hands of the two of them.

With his corpse as a lesson, the bandits will surely be on their guard, and they can only wait to die.

"What do I do? What do I do…!" Ye Wei'an panicked for a moment, then suddenly thought of something: "This young nobleman has studied magic, hasn't he? Even a zero-level spell would be helpful, is there anything we can use?"

He hurriedly searched through his newly acquired memories, but the more he searched, the more disappointed he became:

"What? What? What have you learned in the past four years?!"

[Light Spell]?

Am I supposed to blind them with light?

[Secondary illusion]?

Am I going to create some kind of illusion to scare the robbers to death?

[Magic trick]?

Should we change the color of their axe? Or make it stink to death?

"Can't you learn some lethal magic?"

Just as he was truly pondering what illusion he could use to scare away the robbers—

A cold, impersonal notification tone suddenly rang in his mind:

[Defeat a Lv.1 bandit and gain 25 experience points.]

[When you gain experience for the first time, you can choose a profession.]

Ye Wei'an was taken aback.

Experience points? What does that mean?

Before he could figure it out, everything around him suddenly changed.

Eileen's trembling eyelashes, the dust floating outside the window, the bloodstains spreading on the ground, the robbers rushing in from outside the door... all of these were frozen in time as if a movie had been paused, and the colors faded away, turning the world into a gray-white of varying shades.

No, not everything has stopped.

His mind is still active, and he can still "see" all of this.

Then, a familiar interface unfolded in his field of vision.