Bandits Besiege

Ye Wei'an was jolted awake by a splitting headache.

His consciousness felt sluggish, as if mired in thick, heavy mud.

Struggling to clear his head, the first thing he felt was a sharp, throbbing pain at the back of his skull, followed by a sensation of something soft and warm.

As his vision gradually sharpened, the first thing he saw was a canopy decorated with dark, intricate patterns.

The air was thick with the scent of wood, leather, and a faint, lingering fragrance.

His sight finally focused, and he tilted his head with great effort, meeting a pair of anxious, light-brown eyes.

It was a very young girl, perhaps sixteen or seventeen, yet already possessing the seeds of great beauty: her jet-black hair was tucked under a maid's cap, revealing a smooth forehead and a pair of doe-like, moist brown eyes. Between the strands of her fine hair, the tips of her ears were slightly longer than a human's, marking her as not entirely of human blood.

The girl bit her lower lip, her brows furrowed, one hand pressing gently against his temple.

"Young Master, you're awake? How do you feel?" Seeing his eyes open, the young girl let out a visible sigh of relief. "The carriage stopped too suddenly just now, and you hit the side wall..."

Ye Wei'an opened his mouth, unsure of what to say, and could only manage a vague, "Mm."

Only then did he realize he was resting his head on the girl's lap.

Being in such close proximity to a stranger made Ye Wei'an feel awkward, and he instinctively tried to sit up.

"Please, don't rush!" The girl hurriedly supported his arm, helping him lean back into the thick, soft goose-down cushions.

Only then did Ye Wei'an have the chance to take in the interior of the carriage:

The cabin was quite spacious, lined with dark velvet, the seats soft and comfortable. In the corner, a small, dark-grained wooden table was fixed in place, holding a plate of washed fruit.

Even by the standards of a modern person, the interior decor was overly luxurious; it was clearly not something an ordinary person could afford.

Just as Ye Wei'an was trying to make sense of his situation, a dull, muffled sound drifted through the carriage walls:

It sounded like battle cries, the clash of metal, and... screams?

Something was wrong outside.

Ye Wei'an's heart tightened, and he instinctively reached out to pull back the heavy curtain.

The sight outside made him hold his breath.

The carriage was stopped in the middle of a forest road, a path that should have been peaceful but had now transformed into a bloody battlefield.

On one side of the conflict was a rabble of men wearing haphazardly assembled armor, wielding rusted blades or crude wooden clubs. On the outskirts, several others held hunting bows, firing cold arrows—they were clearly bandits.

Those being besieged were a small squad of guards who appeared to be his own.

Compared to their opponents, the guards were far more disciplined: they wore uniform studded leather armor, forming a tight circular formation with their backs to the carriage. They covered each other with practiced coordination, fighting desperately to keep the bandits from closing in.

Unfortunately, none of this could compensate for their disadvantage in numbers.

From what Ye Wei'an could see, some of the guards had already fallen into pools of blood.

But the deciding factor was not the rank and file, but the duel between the two leaders.

In the center of the fray, a knight encased in plate armor was locked in a fierce struggle with a shirtless, brawny man.

The knight held a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, forced not only to parry the brute's heavy strikes but also to occasionally cover for his own men. He looked strained and beleaguered, left and right. Fortunately, his martial skill was high and his plate armor sturdy, allowing him to barely hold the line.

Yet, to Ye Wei'an's eyes, the collapse of the defense was only a matter of moments.

"Thwack!"

He was watching intently when a stray arrow suddenly embedded itself into the outer wall of the carriage.

Seeing the fletching vibrate, Ye Wei'an jerked his head back, his heart pounding wildly.

"Young Master, don't look outside! It's too dangerous!" The maid hurriedly pulled the heavy curtain shut, comforting him. "It—it will be fine... Sir Cain is very strong. With him here, he will surely drive these bandits away."

Seeing Ye Wei'an still dazed, the little maid grabbed an apple from the small table. "Are you frightened? Would you like something to eat to calm your nerves?"

As she spoke, she pulled out a small silver knife and began to peel it.

"I... I'm fine, Ellen." Ye Wei'an blurted out.

Then, he froze.

Ellen... who was that?

It seemed to be the name of the maid before him?

But how did he know the little maid's name?

Just as he was wondering, another wave of memories flooded his mind:

It was... himself as a child.

A man who called himself his father had brought a group of young girls before him, telling him to choose one as his personal maid. He had picked and chosen, eventually selecting a young half-elf girl, Ellen Glowgift—Glowgift being her surname as a descendant of the Sun Elves, while "Ellen" was the name he had personally given her.

No... that's not right. I come from a white-collar family; where would I get a personal maid?

Where did these memories... come from?

The more Ye Wei'an thought, the more confused he became. Suddenly, his head began to ache again, and at the same time, a torrent of memories surged into his consciousness.

Only then did he understand everything.

He was no longer on Blue Star, nor was he even in his original world.

This is the continent of Faerûn in the world of Abeir-Toril, within the Kingdom of Cormyr.

The person whose body he had transmigrated into was also named Ye Weian.

However, this Ye Weian did not carry the surname Ye; his full name was Ye Weian Xiaxing, the son of Baron Harandir Xiaxing—or to be precise, an unacknowledged bastard.

His mother's surname was Ye, and she hailed from the distant eastern land of Shou Lung. It was said she was the daughter of a merchant who had been captured by pirates during a trade voyage, sold into slavery, and eventually purchased by the Baron to serve as a maid.

She passed away from complications during childbirth, leaving him with nothing but the name Ye Weian (Iovianus) Xiaxing.

Despite being of mixed heritage, Ye Weian Xiaxing possessed entirely eastern features, looking exactly as Ye Weian had in his youth.

Ye Weian strongly suspected that this was his own self in this world—or perhaps he was his own reincarnation, only awakening the memories of his past life today.

But regardless, this meant that he, for the time being, could not go home.

Since that was the case, he would have to survive using the identity of Ye Weian Xiaxing.

As a bastard, the title and family inheritance were certainly of no concern to him.

Perhaps out of a lingering shred of affection for his mother, or perhaps because he had appeared more intelligent than his peers since childhood, his "father" had sent him to the Battlemage Academy in the capital, Suzar, when he was twelve, hoping he would become a noble mage.

Ye Weian failed to live up to those expectations; after four years, he hadn't even managed to learn a single 1st-level spell.

Until half a month ago, when an urgent letter was delivered to the academy: the Baron was critically ill.

He had no choice but to cut his studies short, take his personal maid Ailian, and set out for the family estate accompanied by a small squad of family guards. Just as they were about to reach their destination, they encountered this sudden ambush...

Bang!

A loud crash interrupted his recollections.

The carriage door was violently split in two. Looking through the gap, a blood-stained brute blocked the entrance. Clad in tattered leather armor and gripping a notched longsword, he was clearly one of the bandits.

The man's bloodshot eyes swept the interior of the carriage, immediately locking onto Ye Weian, and a cruel grin spread across his face.

"Haha, so there really was a little noble brat hiding in here... The boss's bounty is mine!"

So that's what he meant by... "as expected."

Ye Weian spotted the crux of the matter.

These bandits weren't just raiding at random; they had come prepared!

There was something wrong here!

But the bandit didn't give Ye Weian time to think. With a low growl, his hulking frame squeezed into the carriage, and he thrust his longsword straight at Ye Weian's heart!

Ye Weian tried to dodge, but the carriage wall was right behind him. He could only thrust his hands out, grabbing the man's wrists with all his might before the blade could touch his body.

The cold sensation of metal pressed against his fingertips. The tip of the blade hovered less than an inch from his chest, trembling slightly.

"Is this all the strength a noble brat has?" The bandit sneered and increased his pressure. The absolute difference in strength became immediately apparent; Ye Weian felt as if his fingers were about to snap, and even as he exerted every ounce of his strength, the lethal tip continued to press toward his chest.

Was he going to die?

Having just transmigrated, was he really going to die in such an inexplicable way at the hands of a bandit?

Just then, a scream rang out.

"Ah—!"

It was Ailian.

The bandit's attention had been entirely focused on Ye Weian and the bounty, and he hadn't noticed her cowering in the corner at all.

Ailian, who had been curled up and trembling, suddenly found courage from somewhere; she grabbed a small silver knife and began stabbing wildly!

Puchi.

The table knife plunged deep into the bandit's right flank, burying itself up to the hilt.

The bandit's forward momentum froze abruptly. The cruel grin on his face solidified as he slowly lowered his head, looking in confusion at the blood seeping from his side, his grip on the sword loosening slightly.

Now is the time!

Ye Weian shoved the blade away with all his might, simultaneously pulling up his knee and slamming it into the man's unprotected lower abdomen.

"Ugh-ah!"

The bandit let out a short, muffled groan, clutched his stomach, and curled into a ball like a boiled shrimp.

But Ye Weian didn't think it was enough. He picked up the bandit's sword, gritted his teeth, and thrust it into the bandit's chest several times with all his might, only stopping when blood was splattered everywhere.

The carriage fell silent, save for the distant sounds of battle outside and the two of them breathing heavily in terror.

Ailian remained frozen in place, her hand still held in a stabbing posture, her small face deathly pale, her body shaking violently as she stared blankly at the pool of blood on the floor.

Ye Weian slumped against the cushions, his heart pounding; the brief struggle had drained every ounce of his strength.

Misfortunes never come singly.

Before he could even catch his breath, another bandit broke through the guards' line, brandishing a blood-stained axe and charging toward the carriage with a sinister grin.

The previous bandit's death had been purely due to carelessness, ignoring Ailian hiding to the side, which was why he had fallen to the two of them.

With his corpse as a lesson, this bandit would certainly be on guard, and they were as good as dead.

What do I do, what do I do...! Ye Weian panicked, then suddenly thought of something: Didn't this little noble learn magic? Even if it's just a 0-level cantrip, is there anything I can use?

He hurriedly rummaged through the memories he had just acquired, but the more he searched, the more disappointed he became:

"What? What? What? What have you been learning for the past four years!?"

[Light]?

Am I supposed to use a light to dazzle the opponent?

[Minor Illusion]?

Am I supposed to conjure some illusion to scare a bandit to death?

[Prestidigitation]?

Am I supposed to change the color of their axe? Or stink them to death?

"Couldn't you have learned some lethal magic?"

Just as he was genuinely contemplating what kind of illusion might scare off a bandit—

A cold, prompt-like sound rang abruptly in his mind:

[Killed Lv.1 Bandit, gained 25 EXP.]

[First time gaining experience, you may choose a class.]

Ye Wei'an froze.

Experience points? What does this mean?

Before he could even figure it out, everything around him suddenly changed.

Ailian's trembling eyelashes, the dust floating outside the window, the blood spreading on the floor, the bandits rushing in from the door... everything froze as if a movie had been paused, the colors fading away until the world turned into shades of gray.

No, not everything had stopped.

His thoughts could still move, and he could still "see" all of this.

Then, a familiar interface unfolded within his field of vision.