Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Crow Knight Order (1)
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My mouth tasted bitter.
As the crown prince responsible for this situation, I had lived freely, forgetting everything through death.
But the pain of it all was borne entirely by the innocent people who had done nothing wrong.
Pffft!
Red blood splattered against the pristine white wall.
The blood, which had gathered in droplets, trickled down like tears.
In my hand was the knife I had been using to cut my steak. Parfe clutched his throat, which was split open and gushing blood, and stared at me.
His eyes trembled faintly.
As if he couldn't believe his own death, he collapsed with his eyes wide open.
“……!”
The waitress covered her mouth at the sight, her eyes bulging wide.
She looked up at me with fearful eyes.
“You know nothing of this situation. So if anyone asks, tell them I said to come out. And if they ask what I look like, describe me exactly as I am.”
“N-no, sir. You saved me.”
She expressed her will to me with a face more resolute than expected. I cut her off sharply.
“No need for that. Plenty of people have already seen me anyway, so nothing changes if you tell the truth. Go on, leave.”
I planned to move a little after sending her away. That way, she wouldn't face any suspicion.
“Thank you for saving me.”
The waitress bowed deeply and left the room.
I stared blankly at the spot where she had been for a while.
……Why is this?
Because of the plight of a waitress I had no prior connection with.
Because of the injustice hanging over her life.
A pang stabbed at one side of my chest.
Like being pricked repeatedly with a needle.
It wasn't simple pity.
Unjust things overflowed in the Central Plains as well.
That made this difference all the easier to distinguish.
For some reason.
I seemed to see her not as a mere waitress, but as one of the people I should have protected.
* * *
“Aren’t we gonna get beat for no reason like this?”
Freddy anxiously glanced around, looking over his shoulder.
“Yeah, we’re just asking for trouble.”
Ches felt the same unease.
But unlike them, Allen was packing their belongings with a confident expression.
“Have you guys still not figured out Lord Jenes’s personality after these past few days? Do you really think someone with that temper would come back quietly without causing a scene?”
“…….”
The two couldn’t easily respond.
They hadn’t known Jenes long, but based on his personality so far, they could predict exactly what would happen next.
That’s why they were packing up now, ready to leave the moment Jenes returned.
“Yeah, let’s pack anyway. Better than rushing at the last minute.”
Freddy agreed with Allen and started gathering the things they’d bought yesterday.
They were convinced Jenes would cause trouble and come back.
And shortly after, having even bridled the horses to complete their preparations, they stepped out of the inn and stared endlessly down the road where Jenes would return.
With everything ready to leave immediately, their minds felt at ease.
“When do you think he’ll show?”
“Yeah. That boss guy earlier didn’t seem ordinary.”
“He looked sharp, like he wouldn’t do anything to get hit.”
Allen shook his head, refuting Freddy and Ches’s chatter.
“What are you talking about? So I’ve just been getting hit all this time for being clueless?”
Freddy and Ches opted for silent affirmation.
Allen did have a knack for provoking Jenes’s already foul temper.
Though he didn’t admit it.
Allen covered his mouth with one hand, glancing around to make sure no one was watching, and continued.
“I bet that boss is getting a thorough beating right now. Honestly, isn’t Lord Jenes’s personality a bit prickly? Who could put up with that stubborn, self-centered attitude?”
Whack!
“Argh!”
Allen screamed from the sudden pain at the back of his head and whipped around.
“Ugh. L-Lord Jenes.”
Jenes stood there solidly in front of him, clutching his head.
The sight of that face made the eyeball-popping pain vanish instantly.
“You just can’t help picking fights. Why are you all out here?”
“Haha. Well, we were gonna leave right when you got back, Lord Jenes.”
Allen, who had been cracking pumpkin seeds, scratched his head awkwardly and grinned sheepishly.
“Good job. You all head out of the city immediately.”
“Yes? So you did cause trouble?”
“What, am I a kid? Trouble? I just gave him a scolding.”
“What happened, sir?”
Jenes answered Freddy’s question calmly.
“I killed the boss.”
The three gaped open-mouthed in unison.
Jenes continued indifferently.
“Our next stop was Pallain City, right?”
“Yes.”
“Go on ahead.”
“What about you, Lord Jenes?”
Ches asked with concern.
“I have to handle the aftermath.”
“We can shake them off easily using the forest. Come with us.”
“That works for the locals here. But there are others chasing us too, aren’t there?”
“Yes? You don’t mean!”
Ches’s eyes widened as he grasped Jenes’s meaning.
“Yeah, I’m going to clean up some of those crow bastards first.”
“……Can you handle them alone?”
“Stop wasting breath and go. The imperial army will swarm here soon.”
“Understood. Just in case, we’ll take the imperial seal with—”
Freddy changed his words upon seeing Jenes’s triangular glare.
“Then we’ll go ahead. Please take care.”
There was no room for choice anyway.
As Jenes said, they had no option but to leave the city.
In any situation, they would only get in the way. With all preparations done, the three mounted their horses and galloped toward the gates.
* * *
I watched them ride off into the distance.
Given their skills, the border imperial forces wouldn’t catch them easily.
How zealously would they pursue us just for killing one boss?
I turned and stepped into a narrow alley.
The gaps between buildings were tight, casting deep shadows even in broad daylight.
Looking back, I spoke to the empty air.
“Come out.”
From the opposite end of the alley, a man in plain clothes revealed himself.
He looked no different from any passerby at a glance, but he was one of the crows.
I had sensed his gaze since yesterday.
Shing.
He drew a short dagger from inside his robe.
He seemed resolved to fight to the death.
Instead of drawing my sword, I pulled the imperial seal from the leather pouch where I kept it.
A flicker of bewilderment crossed his eyes, prepared for desperate combat.
As I infused qi into the seal, a brilliant rainbow light pushed back the alley’s shadows.
“What the hell are you—”
He cut off mid-sentence, hastily adjusting his stance to catch the seal I tossed.
The seal arced through the air and landed in his arms.
He stared at me with baffled eyes, clutching it.
The tension filling the alley dissipated in an instant, like a kite with a snapped string.
“Isn’t this what you wanted? Take it.”
“……Are you toying with me?”
He naturally didn’t trust me.
I waved him off like shooing a fly.
“I just don’t want anyone tailing me. Take it and go when I say.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“What if you don’t?”
He had no answer.
After staring at me for a moment, he spun around and bolted.
Acting all coy when he was leaving anyway.
He fled without looking back, so he must have some grasp of my strength.
I watched him go impassively.
It really wasn’t like me.
Setting such a petty trap.
I had the power to crush anything.
Yet I acted this way because now there were things I had to protect.
If we got caught in the crows’ desired melee, even I couldn’t guarantee the safety of those three.
So I handed them the imperial seal.
A defensive battle means nothing without total victory.
Protecting something is that much harder for it.
* * *
Teder, a squad member of the Crow Knight Order, returned to his lodgings, mounted his horse, and rode full speed out of the city.
Since it couldn’t be publicly known, the main force was encamped in the forest, away from the city.
He had been scouting their movements.
But that guy noticed him and tossed him the imperial seal.
At first, he thought it was a trick, but he had no choice.
He couldn’t handle the guy alone.
That man was surely the one who took out Palcherato Ias and his knights.
He’d known from the sword marks on the bodies, but the guy was no ordinary foe.
Thud thud thud!
Hooves pounded the fields relentlessly.
The sun dipped low, painting the world red.
After riding hard for some time, he reached the camp.
He headed straight for his squad leader, Russell.
Teder dropped to one knee and bowed his head upon facing Russell.
Russell eyed him curiously.
“What happened?”
He could tell from the horse’s labored breathing that it was urgent.
Something unexpected had occurred.
And the unexpected was beyond imagination.
“I’ve brought the imperial seal.”
“What?”
It wasn’t something one man could handle alone. Yet here was his subordinate with the seal in hand.
Russell examined it closely.
Infusing it with mana unleashed a brilliant rainbow glow.
It was genuine.
“Tell me what happened.”
“Well—”
Russell couldn’t hide his bewilderment after hearing the full story from Teder.
It made no sense.
The seal’s significance was far from trivial.
They had moved in secrecy to avoid detection by the independence army for a reason.
The seal was a spark with enough power to ignite a small brushfire into a blaze across all Francia.
And he handed it over just like that?
What was his motive?
The doubts resolved more easily than expected.
“You’ve had a hard ride here.”
Teder’s heart sank at the unfamiliar yet familiar voice.
The words of encouragement weren’t from Russell standing before him.
Russell’s face had hardened gravely as well.
Teder rose and slowly turned toward the voice.
A young man stood there with hands clasped behind his back, exuding leisure.
Even alone in enemy territory, he seemed as relaxed as if out for a stroll.
In the creeping darkness, his skin gleamed with unusual clarity.
Teder recognized him instantly.
“I came to retrieve what I left in your care for a bit.”
He was the one who had given him the imperial seal.