<h4>Chapter 230 - Quest (3)</h4>


    Rudra continued to fight the bandits , only enough to cripple them but not to kill , when the leader of the bandit group the level 60 chief , came out to the fight with his axe.


    While dodging his first attack , Rudra quickly realized that this guy was trouble , trying to parry him with bare hands was akin to asking for a quick death.


    Rudra immediately summoned elven sword , and started to parry the enemies attacks. Sword hit against axe , metal hit against metal as sparks flew everywhere. Rudra was fighting a intense battle as not only did he have to parry the chief at full concentration , but also dodge the other bandits iing attacks without retaliating or killing them.


    Slowly but surely , Rudra was getting frustrated , as this fighting was taking much more time than he expected. Fortunately , the chief made a mistake . He tried to m the axe to cut into Rudra''s legs however Rudra jumped , causing the axe to hit the ground .


    Rudra stomped on the chiefs hand as a result , and cut the axe''s wooden handle off . Rudra thennded a kick , square to the Bandits face.


    BAM! he was sent flying.


    The kick caused him to bleed , as blood dripped from his mouth. The chief was hurt , as he staggered to regain bnce.


    This was exactly the opening Rudra was looking for , running straight in towards the chief , Rudra jumped and hit an elbow straight to the top of his skull , the powerfull hit to the temple caused him to loose consciousness.


    The troublesome chief went down!


    Rudra then turned towards the rest of the bandits , who were sweating buckets now , most were already battered by Rudra''s bare fist attacks by now . With their chief down , they understood that they were hardly a match for the man infront of them , who was not even using his full strength to fight them.


    Rudra repeated in a deep voice " It doesn''t have to be this way , surrender , surrender and answer to your crimes , I will personally put in a good word to reduce your sentence. Live a life of honor , where you can hold your heads up high , the way you have chosen is wrong . Piging and looting from others will only make you hated and despised".


    One bandit sneered " YOU DON''T KNOW HOW WE GREW UP ADVENTURER , DO NOT TRY TO PREACH US RIGHT AND WRONG , we steal because we have no food , we pige because the merchants from whom we steal can afford so , without their family starving . We do no wrong , we provide a stable environment for the kids to grow and the women to live in peace. It is you who is disrupting the peace of our settlement adventurer , go away and WE will let this slide ".


    Rudra shook his head , as he said " If you have no food then you do hardwork and earn money , stealing to live can be pardoned once if it is the case when you are starving and dying , but it cannot be a way of life , no matter how u ce your words bandit , I will never be sympathetic to men like you who have no backbone for hardwork. If you donot want toe by choice , then you will be taken by force! ".


    Rudra sprung into fight again , and the bandits roared to fight him back at full spirits. However they again found out , how they were no match for Rudra , who was absolutely mauling them.


    Within 10 minutes all 17 banditsid on the floor , unable to move.


    Rudra removed arge piece of rope from his inventory , and started to bind the bandits .


    The women who were silent watching the fight uptill now , now began to scream and cry , at the scene , some fell on their knees and started to beg Rudra to let their husbands go , while some threw kitchen items at him.


    It was a difficult position to be in , even for Rudra , even while knowing that this is just a game , the heart-wrenching scene of the women crying for their husbands made him feel like he was the viin here.


    The elderly of the vige took up swords , as they thought about fighting Rudra too , but Rudra just nced at them and said " Please do not sir , you have done no wrong , and I donot wish to hurt you , but try fight , and you will make an enemy out of me ".


    The elders also started to cry , they were despairing at being soo useless , they knew they were no match for Rudra and that it was pointless.


    It was at this moment that a woman covered in tattoo''s came out of the biggest Hut in the settlement. By the way everyone started to bow towards her , Rudra knew she was someone important , either a shaman or the vige chiefs wife.


    She looked at Rudra and then at the fallen chief , as sadness could be seen in her eyes. She then said " adventurer , without the men , this settlement will not be able tost , we cannot fight against the wild beasts and we cannot protect the children from ve traders , you taking them will spell the doom for us all . It''s better that you kill us all here !".


    Murmurs could be heard around the vige , the other citizens had started to get agitated .... This was bad.


    Rudra trying to regain control of the situation said " Here , this is 10,000 gold ! , It is enough for your settlement tost atleast a year in food , I will personally talk to the incharge of the vige of Tknagar to take in your settlement as a part of the vige , then you can be assured about the safety of the vige , if he does not agree to take you in , I will personally take you all in at Purplehaze city. I am the mayor and I have many running employment schemes , job , food , security I assure you of all three ".


    The woman''s eyes widened in shock , she did not expect the adventurer to be soo generous , he was also the mayor of Purplehaze city , and his promise carried weight.


    The others in the settlement already started to consider Rudra''s words seriously , maybe this could be their new beginning .


    Even soo the woman had regret stered all over her face , she said " the chief is my husband , and I cannot let him go to jail . I ept your other conditions , I personally promise that we will leave the life of piging , and start fresh . Please let the men go. ".


    Rudra shook his head , " Not possible ma''am , if you do crimes you must answer for them , they won''t be executed ,munity service or jail time will be their punishment , you will see your husband again in a maximum of three years time ".


    The chieftess still had a sad look on her face , then she silently lifted her skirt , to reveal her long legs as she said " You are a man , I am sure we can discuss the terms for their release .... ".


    This was a point in the quest , where many undertaking the test failed , their resolve wavered and their primal instincts took over. However Rudra was not one of them.


    Rudra said " I''m sorry ma''am , but I am a knight , such conduct is unbing of me , I have said all that Is needed to be said , I will free the hostages and take the culprits to the local authorities now , do not try to stop me ".


    Saying soo Rudra cut the two hostages free from their binding against the tree , the two of them looked at Rudra with reverance and respect . As they thanked him for saving them.


    Rudra smiled and asked them if they needed food or water? And then about apanying them to the nearest vige . However they refused the offer and chose to be on their way.


    Rudra tried to score as many brownie points as he could , as he kept praising the honor of the knights , and the valour wether it worked or not , would be reflected in his evaluation.


    Rudra then mounted his direwolf mount , as he guided the 17 men tied to a rope , towards the vige of Tknagar.


    What was usually a 20 minute sprint on the mount , took over one and a half hour at the slow walking pace to cover , but Rudra finally reached the vige boundries.


    /// Dear readers , yesterday I had the worst economic day for the book in over 2 months , my ie is down by 40% .


    Instead of taking it lying down , I am prepared to fight back today and get back up strong, as today will be a mass release day , as many chapters as I can write , I will publish . Do support! ///