Chương 82: Book 2 Chapter 34 - Looking For Trouble

Pointing at her pack, Kiara said, "I'd love to stay! In fact, I brought some food with me as well. I appreciate you guys offering to feed me when I've come to visit previously, and I figured it was high time I return the favor." Ava's face lit up.

"Is it food Helga made?!" Kiara chuckled.

"Not this time, unfortunately. Helga is busy enough as it is, without me adding more to her plate, so to speak. I made these ones myself!" Ava couldn't hide her disappointment, but it seemed less aimed at Kiara's efforts and more at the fact that she wouldn't get to eat more of Helga's cooking. Seeing this, Kiara added, "Of course, if you all ever want to make the trip out to Easton, I'm sure Helga would love to see you again and whip up something fantastic.

I'd send a carriage to pick you all up if you ever want to come visit." Ava looked at her parents excitedly, her earlier hard feelings towards Kiara overshadowed by the prospect of a carriage ride to Easton followed by Helga's cooking. Her parents, on the other hand, looked slightly overwhelmed at the proffered generosity, and hurried to deflect.

"Oh, what a generous offer, but we really couldn't."

"We'd hate to impose…"

"With the harvest, and everything going on…" Kiara let them turn her down gracefully, then made her way over to her pack.

"It's sandwiches," she said, pulling one out.

"Nothing fancy, but it's easy to pack. I also brought some dried fruit." Ron smiled as he accepted one of the sandwiches.

"Thank you, Lady Yountal, you really didn't have to."

"Sure I did," she replied.

"With how often I stop by, it wouldn't be right for me to eat you out of house and home every time. I just appreciate you letting me come by to visit from time to time." Gentry smiled gently.

"You are welcome any time, dear. I know it must be hard being so far away from your own family." Kiara paused at the comment, then handed her a sandwich to avoid having to formulate a response. She was sure that the World Engine was keeping a shaky finger on the 'choke Kiara' button with the direction this conversation was headed. She handed Ava a sandwich, then gave a second, smaller one to Gentry for Gabe, which she had cut into small triangles, just the way he liked it.

Gentry's face turned confused as she unwrapped the sandwich and saw the triangles, then shrugged and extended one to Gabe.

"Gabe, sweetie, come here. Mama's gonna rinse your hands, then it's time for some food." Ron pulled a clean bucket of water from the well, filling a glass for each of them. As he took his first bite of the sandwich, he hummed in delight.

"Mmm! Ham and cheese, with the cheese cut thick." He turned to Kiara, talking around the mouthful of food.

"You know, my oldest, Kiara, used to make sandwiches just like this before…" He trailed off, glancing first toward Gentry, then toward Ava, who was watching him intently.

"Well, anyway… the sandwich is delicious, thank you." They talked while they ate, the formality slipping towards familiarity over the course of the meal. It made Kiara's heart happy. The more they talked, the more she wanted these types of moments to be more regular in her life. She made two resolutions at that moment. First off, with friends and family, including her estate staff, she was going to start insisting that people call her Shian now, instead of Lady Yountal.

The original reasoning behind maintaining the 'lady' persona was to help set up House Yountal in a way that allowed her to build a working relationship with Lord Grivalt in order to rescue her family. Now that they were safe, she didn't need to maintain that image any longer. If strangers and people in public wanted to refer to her by that title, she wouldn't stop them, but she wanted to encourage closer, less formal relationships with those closest to her.

Secondly, she wanted her family to move to Easton to be closer to her. They had refused at first, wanting to return to their farm and the life they were used to, but there was no harm in extending another offer to them. Maybe now that they were more comfortable with her from her regular visits they would feel less resistance to the idea? She found a natural lull in the conversation, then broached the subject.

"You know, if you guys ever wanted to return to Easton, you would be welcome at my estate. And not just for a visit, I mean." She paused, glancing from her mother to her father, then to Ava. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. She could tell from their hesitation that they weren't ready to accept anything quite yet, and they needed to discuss it as a family, at the very least.

"You don't have to give me an answer right now," she added quickly.

"Just… think about it. We're expanding our businesses to new industries and cities, and we need people we can trust helping us out. Even if you decide it's not for you, just know that the offer comes from the heart. I… Well, I'd love to have you guys there," she finished lamely. She'd only give herself a six out of ten on her sales effort there. Oh well, at least the offer was out there. Ron nodded once.

"Thank you, Lady Yountal, we'll have to discuss that as a family before giving you any kind of response." They hadn't turned her down outright! That was nice. Time to cash in on her other resolution.

"You can just call me Shian," she said with a smile.

"Lady Yountal is so formal. I'm going to try and get my staff back at the estate to just call me Shian too, I much prefer it." Ron bowed his head, but didn't reply verbally. Perhaps they felt too uncomfortable still to call her Shian. Hopefully they'd get used to it with time.

"Will you be staying for the village market this afternoon?" Gentry asked after a moment of silence. Kiara scratched the back of her head.

"I will probably drop in, but I have an errand I need to run first." She wanted to go find that bandit camp.

"Before I leave though, I brought a little surprise." She pulled the candy out of her pack.

"Dessert!" Ava let out a small gasp of excitement, and Gabe turned his full attention to the candy in her hands. He had finished eating already, and was busy rubbing the remnants of his small sandwich in the dirt. Now, he stood up and hurried over to Kiara.

"Wait!" Gentry said, grabbing him around the waist as he ran by.

"Let me rinse your hands one more time, you little monster." Kiara handed some out for everyone to try, leaving the extras in Gentry's capable hands to ration out. She didn't want to be that person that pumped a three year old full of sugar then ran off, leaving the parents to deal with the fallout. She stayed for a while longer, chatting amiably with them while they worked through a hefty portion of the candy she had brought.

Then she politely excused herself to go see to her 'errand' before the village market commenced. The encounters Edith had mentioned all happened on the north east end of town, so Kiara figured she should start looking there. She waved to the few people in town that she passed, then began jogging once she was at the outskirts. Of course, jogging for her was triple the speed of most people's sprinting, so she covered ground quickly.

She worked in a kind of half-circle spiral pattern, looping in an arc away from the village then back toward it, then reversing direction once she reached town, doing a larger arc with each iteration. Each half circle only needed to allow her to see an area she hadn't seen yet, so they quickly became large arcs, covering a lot of ground. Before long, she was arcing a few miles away from the village with each pass, until she spotted a small camp in the distance.

Once she saw it, she went straight for it, abandoning the pattern she had been using up to that point. There was no reason for anyone to be camping out here, so the chances of this being the bandit camp were fairly high. The camp was situated in the foothills of the nearby mountains, about halfway between Kiara's village and the village to the north. The camp was out in the wilderness, away from any roads, which was somewhat odd for a bandit group.

Travel between the two villages was non-existent, so no roads connected the two directly. Honestly, both villages only had a single road, the one that connected them to the main road leading to Easton. As she drew near, she began to make out the details of the camp. Ten or fifteen small tents were erected around a central fireplace. The ground had been cleared, and severed tree trunk logs had been brought in for seating.

She could have mistaken it for an innocent campsite, if not for the odd location and the blatant mistreatment happening before her eyes. A man and two women were huddled around the campfire, cooking lunch. They wore chains, and their clothes were dirty and tattered. Fifteen armed bandits lounged around, waiting for the food to be ready, cursing and throwing things at the three slaves preparing the food. Kiara slowed as she approached, eventually walking into the center of the camp.

No one was paying much attention, and they didn't notice her coming until she walked right in.

"Oh hey! Lookie here, boys," one of the men called out when he saw her. Most of the bandits were men, only two of them were women. A raw, predatory hunger filled their eyes when they saw Kiara.

"Woo hoo! She even dressed up nice for us!" one of the women called out, circling behind Kiara to cut off her escape. The three slaves by the fire gave Kiara a single, pitying glance, before returning their gazes to the ground or the fire.

"Well, young miss, what brings you all the way out here?" one of the bandits asked her, an evil smile on his face. Kiara glanced around at the fifteen bandits, who had all stood by now to form a loose circle around her.

"Are you the bandits who've been harassing the nearby villages?" she asked. Laughter erupted around the circle.

"We aren't bandits, miss," one of the men said.

"We own this area. The villages work for us, and we take what sustenance we need to keep up our energy. We protect the villages, it's only right they pay us something in return." Kiara pointed to the three slaves by the fire.

"Is that how you protect the villages?" The man spit toward the three.

"Cowards. Those three tried to attack Delton from behind in the village up north. That's what happens when someone tries to challenge our authority around here."

"Hmm," she mused.

"Well, I have the information I need. I'm here to arrest you all. Anyone who wants to live will throw down their weapons, form an orderly line, and walk calmly to Easton, where I will turn you in to the city guard." She motioned to the three by the fire.

"You three are free to go, return to your village."