The Next Course of Action

"Jia Ruo, have you caught the inside man?"

Lyle came into the living room from the back courtyard and continued speaking to Jia Ruo, who stood in the entryway.

"I've been watching the back door the whole time. Nothing unusual. How did it go?"

"He's the one."

Jia Ruo pointed at the male servant bound on the floor.

"Neeko has finished reading his memories. There's no doubt about it."

Neeko chimed in.

"Good. Did you find anything else of value?"

Lyle made no attempt to avoid discussing their next move in front of the butler and the young lady.

"From his memories, Neeko saw where the bandits are holed up in Urda. There are thirty or forty of them, but they're just a rabble. Wait..."

Neeko seemed to have noticed something else.

"There's another person outside the house, sent by the bandits to keep watch!"

"What do we do?"

The butler panicked.

"It's too late to go looking for this watcher now. He must have noticed we got involved. So there's only one option left: we have to break into the bandits' hideout before the watcher can get back and rescue Lady Lesthara."

Lyle seemed to have anticipated this kind of situation.

"We'll head to Urda right now. I'll also send people to search the city for the watcher and delay him from getting back to report for as long as possible. We've only just arrived, so he won't have had time to leave the city."

"Good. We'll do it your way." Jia Ruo nodded.

With Lyle there to take charge, all Jia Ruo needed to do was offer a few suggestions.

Compared to Lyle, Jia Ruo felt more like the muscle: if they were dealing with only thirty or forty rabble, he could handle them easily. The difficult part was making sure Lady Lesthara stayed safe.

As he thought this over, Jia Ruo, Lyle, and Neeko climbed into the carriage.

At Lyle's instruction, the coachman set the horses in motion, preparing to head straight for the eastern gate.

"Miss, Butler, don't worry. I'll bring Lady Lesthara back safe and sound."

Jia Ruo leaned his head out the carriage window and called to the two servants standing at the mansion entrance.

The beautiful young lady seemed to have lost her voice, but not her hearing.

Hearing Jia Ruo's words, she unclasped her hands from where they had been tightly held against her chest and waved to him.

I hope Mother comes back safely.

That was what she thought.

Her hands clenched together again.

She was praying for Lady Lesthara.

In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the carriage reached Placidium's eastern gate.

At the head of the imposing drawbridge, Lyle got out and showed the guarding Warrior Monks the Hall of Tranquility's insignia. He gave them some instructions.

Jia Ruo didn't have an insignia like that. Master Percy had told him that, though he recognized Jia Ruo's strength, Jia Ruo would have to prove he had enough wisdom and experience before being issued an insignia that could command Placidium's guard Warrior Monks.

In other words, he was still a rookie and didn't have that authority yet.

Once they were out of Placidium, the coachman cracked his whip, urging the two powerful horses to gallop at full speed.

The carriage was clearly expensive. Even racing along at full speed, the three inside barely felt a bump.

Percy took out a map and found the small town of Urda.

He had Neeko mark the bandits' hideout on it, then discussed the details of their next move with Jia Ruo.

By dusk, they were nearing Urda.

Though the two horses pulling the carriage were fine breeds with plenty of stamina, foam was now spilling from their nostrils and mouths. As soon as they stopped, they staggered, nearly collapsing.

They had clearly reached their limit.

Jia Ruo, Neeko, and Lyle got out of the carriage. Since they already knew where the bandits' hideout was, there was no need to go into Urda.

They followed the mountain path, with Neeko leading the way and using the map for reference.

When they crossed a ridge, they spotted flickering lights up ahead.

A campfire burned at the foot of the mountain, surrounded by several tents.

In its glow, several figures moved between the tents.

This had to be the bandits' camp.

"What do we do now, Lyle?" Jia Ruo asked quietly from behind a clump of bushes.

"Grab someone and have Neeko find out where Lady Lesthara is being held. That way, when we make our move, we can protect her first and avoid having our hands tied."

"Good. Let's do that," Jia Ruo said.

Lyle then quietly made his way down.

Jia Ruo was faster and stronger, but Lyle had once been a battle-hardened scout. This sort of thing called for experience.

Lyle hid behind a tree near the camp and watched patiently.

After a long while, he picked his target: a man leaning against a tent and yawning.

In this quiet corner, Lyle was confident he could subdue the man before he alerted anyone else.

He crouched and slipped out of the shadows, then crept up behind his target.

Judging the force just right, he struck the man's neck with a precise chop.

Lyle caught the unconscious man as he fell, hoisted him gently over his shoulder, then turned and vanished into the woods again.

Thump.

The unconscious man was dumped behind the bushes where Jia Ruo and Neeko were hiding.

Without needing a word, Neeko began making contact with the man's Shuoma.

"Lady Lesthara is being held in the tent farthest from us. Two bandits are guarding it."

Neeko was concise.

"Then let's move, Lyle."

"You and Neeko take the lead. I'll support you from the side and adapt as needed."

Lyle said.

"The bandits are a gang of roving outlaws. They're not worth sparing, but make sure Lady Lesthara stays safe. The diplomatic relationship between Ionia and Demacia depends on it."

Jia Ruo understood. There was more at stake here than he'd realized.

Ionia and Demacia were both enemies of Noxus.

As the saying went, the enemy of your enemy was your friend. If a Demacian noblewoman came to harm in Ionia, it would be a serious incident that neither Ionia nor Demacia could easily resolve.

In the bandits' camp, a tent suddenly collapsed as plants twisted around it.

The camp erupted into commotion. The bandits, who had never received proper training, fell into disarray.

They clearly hadn't expected to be attacked.

Their leader tried hard to restore order, but few of his men listened.

Some scrambled to help their companions trapped in the collapsed tent, while others had just crawled out of their own tents to watch.

Clearly, even as fellow bandits, they were nothing like the professional Viking Raiders of Freljord.

Indeed, Neeko was responsible for the commotion. She was drawing their attention away.

Jia Ruo emerged from the woods and headed straight for the tent where Lady Lesthara was being held.

Of course, he didn't go through the tent flap.

You Meng sliced a wide opening in the tent wall. Jia Ruo didn't slow down; he charged straight inside.

Time Warp activated.

The instant he entered the tent, Jia Ruo used the skill.

From his perspective, a middle-aged woman was tied to a chair in the middle of the tent.

She looked a little haggard, but it did nothing to conceal the extraordinary bearing of someone long accustomed to a position of authority. This had to be Lady Lesthara.

Near the entrance, two armed bandits had heard the commotion behind them. They slowly turned their heads toward Jia Ruo.

Expressions of terror appeared on their faces as if in slow motion.

These surprise tactics seemed a little excessive against bandits who were little different from ordinary people.

But Jia Ruo didn't want anything to go wrong.

He didn't use You Meng. Instead, he whipped out two swift kicks, striking the bandits in the head and knocking them unconscious on the spot. He didn't want to kill unnecessarily.

You Meng sliced through the ropes binding the woman, and Jia Ruo removed the cloth gag from her mouth.

"Lady Lesthara, right? I'm here to rescue you. Come with me," Jia Ruo said.

The woman nodded.

"Forgive me for the intrusion."

Jia Ruo lifted her onto his back and bounded into the woods in a few leaps.

Neeko and Lyle were waiting for him there.

Jia Ruo set Lady Lesthara down and asked Lyle, "What should we do about the bandits?"

"Notify the Warrior Monks guarding Urda and the nearest magistrate to come after them. Our mission is complete."

Lyle meant that to be safe, they should return to Placidium first and ensure Lady Lesthara's safety.

"I'm the nearest magistrate. Let's spare Urda's guard Warrior Monks the trouble."

Jia Ruo said.

With nothing holding him back, the bandits were no match for him.

Back in the camp, the bandits had only just realized that their hostage was missing.

Then a young man charged in, cutting them down like stalks of wheat.

Each bandit went down after taking just one punch or kick, collapsing to the ground like a heap of mud.

Before long, Jia Ruo was the only one left standing in the camp.

Neeko took much longer to tie them all up.

Lyle gave a small nod. Jia Ruo was skilled. Once the young man had enough experience, he would surely become a mainstay of the Hall of Tranquility.

"All right. Let the Warrior Monks guarding Urda know they can come collect the prisoners."

Jia Ruo dusted off his hands.