72: Robbers

"Where did this hyena come from? Pay the toll!" The man's hoarse voice ahead carried an accent, and his rotten teeth made him a bitinarticulate.

His cloak was pulled low, half his face hidden in shadow.

The Dragon King had already warned me via mind link from the air; there were four more hidden in the dense forest behind him.

Randall took off his greatshield, tapping the shield's surface with his heavy sword, producing a resounding "clang..." A shower of ice shards fell from both the greatshield and the heavy sword.

"Maggot in league with Goblins! Come and die!" The Holy Knight's provocation was imbued with the divine power of "Defensive Challenge."

Defensive Challenge:

A unique skill of the Holy Knight (Oath of the Crown).

The Holy Knight issues a challenge, forcing other creatures to fight him.

You can choose any number of creatures you can see within 30 feet. Each of them must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw.

If they fail the saving throw, that creature cannot willingly move more than 30 feet away from you.

This effect ends if you become incapacitated or die, or if the creature moves more than 30 feet away from you.

...

The man flung his cloak back, drew the longsword from his waist, and charged straight at the Holy Knight.

The snowdrifts behind the roadside trees exploded, and four camouflaged Goblin archers burst out of the snow.

Their crimson eyes glared at the Holy Knight, and rusty arrows were nocked on their composite bowstrings.

Under the influence of the Holy Knight's feat, "Defensive Challenge," all five enemies aimed their weapons at Randall.

Their fragile longswords and arrows shattered against Randall's greatshield.

While John and George guarded me, I had already fired two arrows simultaneously, striking two Goblins in the throat.

At the same time, the Dragon King, who flew in with great speed, and the Black Little Leopard, who appeared from the void, each bit off a Goblin's neck.

Randall backhanded his sword, decapitating the cloaked man, while simultaneously dodging the spurting blood.

Because of my previous experience sharing visual spells with Randall, the wonderful sensation of differing dual vision often echoed in my mind.

It was an indescribable experience, as if I simultaneously possessed two pairs of eyes, seeing two entirely different worlds.

In the left eye's field of vision, the snowflakes seemed to fall slower, each one clearly visible, spinning and dancing in the air before gently landing on the ground.

The right eye's field of vision, however, captured more details of distant objects; the outlines of mountains and the branches of trees appeared exceptionally clear under the morning light.

This visual difference sparked my curiosity, and yesterday I began to ponder: what would be the effect if this difference could be applied to combat?

So, I just took out two arrows, deciding to try the dual-arrow technique on the useless Goblins.

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and let my mind settle, then slowly opened them, locking onto one Goblin with my left eye and another with my right.

I adjusted my breathing, feeling the power surging within my body, held the shortbow horizontally, and then sharply drew the string. The two arrows left the string almost simultaneously.

The left arrow streaked through the nearby air like a meteor, while the right arrow, with a whistling sound, traversed a greater distance, both piercing the throats of the two Goblins, their fletchings still trembling slightly.

I was stunned, not expecting this attempt to be so successful.

My companions in the team also cast surprised and approving glances, and even Randall hadn't expected my archery to improve so rapidly.

A brief battle had just concluded, with several fallen bodies scattered on the snowy ground by the roadside, surrounded by mottled bloodstains and scattered weapons, the air thick with the smell of blood.

As a penniless lord burdened with the development of an entire territory, I, adhering to the simple philosophy of "every little bit helps," began to search for potential spoils of war on this battlefield.

Over a year of jungle life had long since worn away my fear of blood.

My eyes gleamed with a covetous light as I moved nimbly among the corpses, like an explorer searching for treasure in a pile of riches.

I first approached the cloaked enemy, carefully turning over his body, afraid of missing any potential value.

He had an item in each hand emitting faint magical fluctuations.

Weapon Master's Gauntlets: Master's Legacy

These are items that novice warriors dream of. This item once belonged to the royalty of Slrakai. Infused with the prince's astonishing combat skills, these gauntlets allow their owner to master various melee weapons. However, most previous wearers met a bloody end, as these gauntlets only grant combat experience, not the wisdom to avoid conflict.

Data:

Equipment Abilities:

- Level 0 Hit Bonus: +1

- Damage: +2

Weight: 1

...

Ring of Protection +1: "Prince's Ring"

These rings were crafted to protect the children of Cast Devas, and no one knows who the craftsman was.

Historical records show that these rings circulated within this family for at least thirteen generations before all disappearing at once. It is said that this is likely related to a dispute between the original creator's family and the royal family.

Data:

Equipment Abilities:

- Defense Rating: +1

- Saving Throw: +1

Weight: 0

...

I don't know this person's background, to possess two magical items from the royal family.

His pouch also contained a good number of gold and silver coins.

His leather armor also had some value.

Leather Scale Mail

Leather scale mail differs greatly from ordinary leather armor.

Ordinary leather armor consists of hardened plates, while leather scale mail has very soft leather sections adorned with hundreds of metal rings.

The tightly connected rings can easily block slashing and piercing attacks.

The soft leather sections are used to maintain the connection of the rings.

Data:

Defense Rating: 7 (5 against slashing attacks, 6 against piercing and ranged attacks)

Requirement: Strength 6

Weight: 25

...

I had John and George help me strip off this leather scale mail.

Next, I collected several Goblin shortbows from the other corpses.

Not far away, I also found several scattered bundles of arrows.

Some were ordinary iron arrows, rusty.

Others were more exquisitely feathered +1 magic arrows, providing +1 damage.

These were undoubtedly strategic supplies that the Goblins hadn't had time to use in the recent battle.

I picked them up one by one and put them into my system space, considering how useful these arrows would be in future battles.

There were also some gold coins on the Goblin corpses.

Additionally, there were four pieces of smelly Goblin leather armor.

Although they looked worn and tattered now, I guessed that once cleaned, these leather armors could fetch a few gold coins in some corner of the market. For a penniless lord like me, every bit of income was precious.

So I ordered John and George to strip off these pieces of Goblin leather armor as well.

Thus, I scoured the battlefield. Although the haul wasn't abundant, for a novice lord like me, it was already a considerable fortune.

I allocated the "Weapon Master's Gauntlets: Master's Legacy" to Randall, further enhancing the Holy Knight's combat effectiveness.

I allocated the "Leather Scale Mail" to John and the "Ring of Protection +1: "Prince's Ring"" to George, strengthening their defensive capabilities.

After distributing a Goblin shortbow to each person, I nodded with satisfaction and led the team forward.