Reincarnated as the favorite of an obsessive goddess: gave me a system-Chapter 41: Silver Crows.

Four days later, Kai watched from the plaza as the soldiers sent by Gabell arrived at the village. They were experienced men, and their presence allowed everyone to depart with peace of mind. The village was protected.

"It’s time," Kai said, adjusting Valira’s saddle. The gray mare neighed as Kai gently stroked her.

Lyla approached him. "A month long journey, Kai. Promise me that if you feel your muscles failing, we will stop. I don’t care what that merchant says about the sea."

Kai smiled and caressed her cheek, calming her restless gaze. "I promise, Lyla. Besides, with this team, I doubt we’ll have to exert ourselves more than necessary against simple bandits."

The group set off, Kai led the way on Valira, Lint guided the carriage, Lyla, Roshia and Nick, the guard who was with Lint, sat in the back sharing stories, and Thorne, Allice, and Mira covered the flanks and the rear. Mira carried her compound bow covered with a cloth, but her hand never strayed far from the grip.

The first three days of the journey were peaceful. The group moved through a region of endless meadows and crystal clear rivers. However, Kai noticed something was wrong. The road, which should have been bustling with merchants, was strangely empty of wagons but filled with people on foot.

On the fourth day, the group reached a large river and encountered their first obstacle. A group of about twenty people, entire families, the elderly, and children, were sitting by the roadside. Their faces reflected extreme exhaustion and hunger. They had a couple of carts pulled by thin oxen, loaded with household belongings, pots, blankets, and farming tools.

Upon seeing Lint’s carriage and Thorne’s imposing figure, a haggard young man stood up and raised his hands in a gesture of peace. "Please, sirs!" the man pleaded. "Do you have food to share? Or at least, can we join your party? The road ahead has been taken."

Kai halted Valira and dismounted. Lint brought the carriage to a stop with a heavy sigh.

"Taken by whom?" Kai asked, approaching the man.

"The Silver Crows," the young man replied, swallowing hard. "They are mercenaries who have set up an illegal toll at the Sun Bridge. If you don’t have gold, they take your wagon. If you resist..." He pointed to a woman bandaging an old man’s wounded arm.

Kai looked back, meeting Lyla’s eyes. She was already climbing down from the carriage with an expression of deep sadness. Roshia was already searching through their supplies for bread to give to the children.

"Kai," Lint whispered, leaning toward the young man’s ear. "We cannot take these people. They will delay the trip by weeks. Terminus cannot wait."

Kai observed the children, who stared at Lint’s carriage with sunken eyes. "We aren’t going to leave them here for mercenaries to hunt down," Kai stated, his voice brooking no argument. "They will join us. Lint, distribute emergency rations among them. Thorne, help those men reinforce the wheels of their carts."

"But Kai!" Lint protested. "It’s a month’s journey! With them, it will take us six weeks!"

"Then we will arrive in six weeks. What do you think would have happened to you if I hadn’t helped you against those goblins?" Kai responded with an authoritative yet non intimidating voice. "I understand you want to arrive as soon as possible, Lint, but I don’t intend to leave anyone behind, regardless of the situation. Allice, head out. I want to know how many of these Silver Crows there are."

Allice nodded with a sharp smile, she liked it when Kai took command like that. She disappeared into the undergrowth in a blink.

The inclusion of the refugees completely changed the group’s dynamic. They were no longer a strong team moving fast, they were a caravan. Over the next two days, the pace slowed, but Kai took the opportunity to socialize with the new members. He spoke with the leader of the refugees, a carpenter named Keram.

"Why are you fleeing toward Terminus if the sea is closed?" Kai asked as they walked beside the oxen.

"Because there is almost no salt left around Athelgard, sir," Keram explained. "Without salt, we cannot cure hides or preserve meat for the winter. My village began to starve weeks ago. We would rather risk our lives here for a handful of salt than watch our children starve in their beds."

Kai nodded in silence. He began to process the socioeconomic impact that a whim of the gods could cause. It wasn’t just fear, it was the destruction of the basic supply chain.

Meanwhile, in the rear, Mira walked alongside the children. One of them, an eight year old boy named Leo, looked with fascination at Mira’s compound bow, which she had uncovered due to the mercenary threat.

"Is it magic?" the boy asked, pointing to the bronze pulleys.

Mira, who was usually reserved, smiled with a sweetness that only Kai knew. "It’s not magic, little one. It’s... science. An idea from my father. With this, I can protect you from very far away."

Kai, listening from a distance, felt a warmth in his chest upon hearing Mira call him father so naturally in front of strangers.

On the seventh day of the journey, the sun was at its zenith when Allice appeared, without the refugees even noticing her arrival. "They are two kilometers away," Allice reported in a low voice. "The Sun Bridge is a perfect bottleneck. They have barricades on both sides. I counted at least fifteen men on the bridge and another ten hidden in the trees with crossbows. They are professionals, Kai. They wear iron armor and their weapons are well-maintained. They aren’t simple bandits."

Kai stopped the caravan in a clearing hidden behind a hill. "Thorne, stay here with the refugees and Lint. Mira, I need you to find a high position. That compound bow has an accurate range of nearly four hundred meters."

Mira nodded in surprise.

"Good. Roshia, stay near the wagons. If anyone tries to flank by the river, freeze the water. Lyla, Allice, and I will go to the front."

Lyla arched an eyebrow. "Are you going to negotiate, sweetheart?"

"I’m going to give them a chance," Kai said. "If they agree to let us all pass without charging a toll, they live. If not... well, I’ll have to try a little harder."

They walked toward the bridge. The wood and stone structures rose over a fast-flowing river. The toll was evident, a pile of stolen belongings sat at the side of the road. Upon seeing Kai, Lyla, and Allice appear, the mercenaries went on alert.

A tall man stepped forward. "Hold it right there! Passing the Sun Bridge costs thirty silver coins per person and one gold coin for every carriage."

Kai stopped ten meters from the bridge. He noticed the crossbowmen in the nearby trees, they were tense and ready to fire. "I come with a caravan of people who have nothing," Kai said, his voice projecting an authority that did not match his appearance as a young adventurer. "We are going to cross this bridge. And we are going to do it for free."

The leader of the mercenaries let out a raspy laugh, and his men joined him. "You and these two women? Look, kid, you’ve got guts, I’ll give you that. But my men are hungry, and that carriage you’ve got behind you smells of salt and supplies. Give us half the cargo and I’ll let you pass alive."

Kai sighed. From the hill nearly four hundred meters away, a projectile tore through the air with a sonic whistle. Mira’s arrow struck the wooden post holding the main barricade of the bridge directly, shattering it completely and causing the structure to collapse. The impact was so violent that the ground vibrated.

The mercenaries fell silent. They hadn’t seen the arrow, only the destructive result.

"That was the warning," Kai said, his golden eyes locking onto the leader. "The next one won’t be for the wood."

[ SYSTEM MESSAGE ]

Enemy detected.

Type: Human.

Approximate threat level: C.

Distance: 5 meters.

"Kill them!" the leader roared, losing his patience.

The crossbowmen in the trees fired, but Kai was already moving. He stepped to the side and, with a fluid motion, pulled his two daggers from his inventory. Everyone nearby was shocked to see him draw the daggers out of thin air.

For her part, Allice was terrifyingly efficient. In a blink, she was at the base of the first tree. A muffled cry was heard, and a crossbowman fell to the ground, dead before he hit the earth. Lyla extended her hand, and a gale of wind struck the front line of mercenaries on the bridge, throwing three of them directly into the river.

Kai lunged at the leader. The man was strong, a veteran of a thousand battles, and he swung his longsword in a downward slash. Kai didn’t block; he slid under the mercenary’s arm and struck him in the kidney with the pommel of his dagger. As the man doubled over in pain, Kai pressed the blade to his throat.

"I said we are going to pass," Kai whispered into the man’s ear.

The remaining mercenaries, seeing their leader captured in seconds and hearing the constant thunder of Mira’s arrows now striking the ground inches from their feet as a warning, dropped their weapons.

[ SYSTEM MESSAGE ]

All enemies have been defeated.

+100 XP

Level: 30 (250/800)

Ten minutes later, the caravan of refugees crossed the bridge under the watchful eyes of Thorne and Roshia. The mercenaries, disarmed and humiliated, were tied to the bridge posts. Keram and the other refugees looked at Kai with a mix of reverence and awe. They no longer saw him just as the young man who invited them to join, they saw him as a protector.

"Thank you, Lord Kai," Keram said, bowing his head as he passed. "We never thought someone would risk their neck for people like us."

"I am no Lord," Kai replied, though he knew that in this world, power was what defined titles. "I’m just someone going to the same place as you."

At the end of the day, they camped on the other side of the river. The atmosphere among the refugees was one of celebration, they had regained hope. However, Kai sat by his team’s campfire, his gaze lost in the flames.

"You’ve started something dangerous, Kai," Allice said, sitting beside him. "Now you are responsible for twenty two more lives. And those mercenaries surely have more camps. When they escape, and they will, they will come for us with more men."

"I know," Kai replied. "But I couldn’t leave them. If we want to be a real kingdom, we have to prove that our protection doesn’t end the moment we step outside our lands."

Lyla sat on Kai’s other side and rested her head on his shoulder. "You are doing the right thing, sweetheart."

Kai took her hand, interlacing their fingers. "I hope so. I hope so."