Chương 328: 324. Numbers

"No villager has returned yet," Duvas said, "but it shouldn't be long now." Ki vamus nodded.

"Then send a servant to fetch a few village elders and send them to all three gates so they can recognize and confirm each person before they enter inside. It's not very likely that a bandit could be posing as one of them, but I don't want to take that risk anyway."

"That's a really good idea!" The majordomo praised, as he got up from the chair.

"I'll send someone immediately since the villagers will start returning soon."

"Wait, where is Gorsazo? If the villagers hadn't returned yet for the evening classes, why haven't I seen him since the morning?" Duvas chuckled.

"He has been teaching the kids in the longhouse blocks. Usually they are out gathering sawdust during the day, but with the kids being prevented from leaving the walls, they were being restless so Madam Helga had suggested Gorsazo to use the opportunity to make them learn something, which would also keep them occupied."

"That was nice thinking," Kivamus nodded, "but I don't think kids or children would want to study at this time. They may be young, but they still recognize the dangers of a bandit raid. I don't think they could focus well enough to study right now."

"Oh, he isn't going to teach them about the alphabet or how to write words," the majordomo clarified.

"Gorsazo said that he's going to try some fun activities with the kids to give a more practical lesson today while still making them learn a little. One of his ideas was making some of them play a game of tag, while the others counted how many times each kid has been tagged. It will keep them busy and prevent them from thinking about the raid, while also getting some counting practice. He had mentioned a few other such learning games as well. Don't worry, he knows what he's doing." Kivamus grinned.

Gorsazo wasn't appointed as a teacher of a Duke's son for no reason.

"Go on then." Once Duvas had exited the hall, Kivamus looked at the others.

"Feroy, you have already rested and you don't have to go out to the hills for scouting tonight, so talk with all the watchtower guards when they return from duty and gather every fact they have observed about the bandits during the day. Once you've met with each of them, return here so we can discuss what our options are." He looked at the guard captain next.

"It was a good idea to give an extra meal to all the guards even in the afternoon, since they are the ones who will need that energy to fight the bandits. For now, your task is to make sure all the guards are well-fed and rested, and every one of them is ready to respond to a raid tonight. If Feroy is right, it might happen sometime around midnight, or a little later. In fact, if any guard has been pulling double duty, tell them to rest for a few hours, and send some other volunteer to duty for their shift.

It doesn't matter right now that everyone has to pull duty in a proper sequence. We have to manage it in a way so that no guard is feeling too tired when the bandits attack." Hudan nodded.

"Don't worry about it, milord. I had managed this during the previous raids when we didn't have enough men. Even though 10 guards are out hunting right now, we still have enough men for me to rotate the watch shifts properly, although the senior guards are also helping out in organizing everything. Kerel and Tesyb are overseeing all the swordsmen's shifts, while Hyola is doing the same for the crossbow women.

Yufim is making sure the archers are ready whenever they are needed - including the few servants who have been practicing with bows - while Calubo and Levalo, who have closely experienced life with bandits and Zoricus' men - who are hardly better than bandits - have been talking to see if they can figure out the bandits' strategy. Of course, I am meeting with all of them every hour, on the hour, to see if there are any problems." Kivamus gave a nod.

"Go on then. We'll meet around dinner time when we have more information."

Kivamus had just finished eating a soup made of Rizako mushrooms and some freshly cut veggies grown in the vegetable patches in the manor, coupled with newly baked bread. Once Madam Helga and Syryne had cleared the table - apart from a covered bowl and some bread left for Feroy - and the kids had been taken to their rooms to sleep, Kivamus and others moved to the chairs near the fireplace, although it had been kept extinguished since past few days.

However, a couple of braziers were still burning nearby to provide sufficient light inside. Duvas was sitting next to him on the right, while Gorsazo had taken a seat ahead of the majordomo. Hudan was sitting on the left, while the next seat had been kept empty for the former mercenary who still hadn't returned. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

There was a handmade sketch of Tiranat spread on the small table in front of them which Kivamus had drawn himself based on his observations around the village. It was only a primitive sketch drawn on one of the newer and improved sheets of paper manufactured here, but it would still help in deciding how to deal with the attack, whenever it started. That is when the outer door opened and Feroy walked inside.

On Duvas' gesture, he picked up his bowl of soup and bread, and carried it to the smaller table in front of the armchair where he took a seat and promptly tore into his bread.

"What did you find out?" Kivamus asked.

"Gimme a moment first!" the ex-mercenary glared with his mouth still full.

"Haven't eaten anythin' since the mornin'!" Kivamus chuckled and allowed him a few minutes to eat, which was all the ex-mercenary needed to clean up his bowl. Once he had taken a big gulp of water directly from the wooden jug, Feroy wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve.

"The news wasn't urgent, or I'd have spoken earlier. It didn't seem like the bandits were going to attack immediately, but there certainly is a big group of 'em gathered outside, that's for sure." Kivamus exhaled.

"So it's really happening..."

"What are they doing?" Duvas asked.

"Well, the crossbow women had been seeing movement in the forest throughout the day, but the bandits were just roaming around between the trees at the time, so it was hard to take an exact count of them." Feroy continued, "By the time all the villagers had returned inside, the bandits had started to gather in groups, and around an hour ago they had formed into three different groups. Each group is sitting some distance away from each of our gates." Kivamus frowned.

"They are just sitting there for now? How big are these groups?"

"Around 10 men in each..." Feroy answered with a grimace, "if not even more." Everyone stared at Feroy in disbelief.

"That's thirty men at least!" Gorsazo exclaimed. The ex-mercenary nodded with a grim face.

"I know... It's hard to get an exact count from here, especially since it's already dark and it's a moonless night. But from what the watchtower guards saw at last light, there were around ten men in front of each gate. They're keeping just far enough away from crossbow range - probably something Nokozal warned them about. The women even tried shooting a few bolts when the bandits wandered closer earlier, and one of them took a minor hit on his arm.

But after that, they learned their lesson and are staying well out of range now." Kivamus leaned forward. They had cleared around 500 metres of ground ahead of the village walls till the forest surrounding the barony. However, Yufim's warbow - which was technically a longbow - had a maximum range between 250 to 300 metres, and even higher if shooting from the height of a watchtower. That was easily more than double the effective range of a crossbow.

"Hasn't Yufim tried to shoot too? His warbow has a much better range than a crossbow."

"Of course he did," Feroy shook his head.

"But the bastards are staying outside even his reach. He tried it a few times from a watchtower, but he said it's hard to shoot anything accurately at that distance - even in broad daylight. Anyway, the bandits must have brought an archer with them too, and he must have told them how far an archer can shoot from our side. So they are staying just outside that range."

"Damn it!" Kivamus muttered. Hudan clenched his fists.

"We've barely got twenty swordsmen left in the village right now. As much as I'd like to, we simply can't march out and face thirty armed bandits head-on!"

"I know..." Kivamus sighed.

"That's why we have to look for a good opportunity, or wait for them to come closer." Gorsazo frowned, rubbing his jaw.

"How does Torhan have that many men anyway? He couldn't have left his compound and all those slaves completely unguarded."

"Of course not," Feroy grunted.

"After our ambush, we expected no more than twenty of his bandits left alive. But it's not like Joric had taken an exact count when he was at that bastard's compound. Some of the bandits could have been out hunting or escorting their clay wagons while he was there. Torhan might also have recruited more men since then - maybe even pressed a few slaves into service. From what Joric saw, he's the kind to terrify them into obedience.

Anyway, the slaves know he's got ties to Baron Farodas - which means no chance of mercy if they run. My guess is, he's dragged nearly all his strength here, with only a few men to keep the slaves in line."

"That's out of our hands anyway," Kivamus exhaled, "but let's make sure every guard is alert. If they mean to strike in the night, we'll be ready for 'em." Hudan rose without another word, Feroy following close behind him as they left the hall to see to the guards. The door thudded shut behind them, leaving the hall quieter than before. For a moment, no one spoke.

Kivamus stared into the dim fireless hearth, wondering if even the newly made watchtowers and crossbows would be enough against that many bandits, with Torhan's cunning brain leading them. Beside him, Duvas tilted his head back, eyes fixed on the rafters, lips moving in a silent prayer to the goddess. They needed all the help they could get this time, even if it came in the form of divine intervention...