Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: My Defeat, What a Fresh Idea
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A brief silence fell over the forest.
Allen let out a short breath before speaking.
“Talking crows? You mean the Crow Knight Order, right? I know they communicate through crow messengers.”
“I was thinking of the Crow Knight Order too.”
Chess nodded and chimed in.
“But why are you suddenly asking about that?”
Freddy shot me an anxious glance.
He seemed to have a bad feeling since I, who knew nothing about the Crow Knight Order, had asked such a question.
I stirred the campfire with a stick and replied calmly.
“I saw one of those crows earlier. It was amazing—it spoke human words.”
“What?!”
The three of them jumped up in unison, like one person, and blurted out different questions.
“When?!”
“Where did you see it?!”
“What did it say?!”
I gestured for the flailing bunch to sit and kindly answered.
“Right after I killed Palcherato, right there on the spot. It said it’d kill me if I didn’t hand over the national seal. You guys seem to know them, so they must be pretty famous.”
Stunned into silence for a moment, the guys jumped back up and fidgeted like puppies desperate to poop.
“Then we can’t just sit here!”
Allen, pale as a ghost, pointed at the pile of bones from the feast.
It was infuriating that the one who’d eaten the most was saying that.
But uncharacteristically patient, I said,
“We’ll run into them soon enough, so no need to rush.”
They’d be hot on our trail without us even prompting them.
A confrontation was inevitable.
So I’d just wipe them out then.
“That’s why I’m saying we need to avoid that situation!”
“How?”
When I asked, Allen, eyes darting wildly, looked back and forth between Chess and Freddy.
Naturally, their faces held no answers.
I spoke.
“No need to overthink it. Are we handing over the national seal to them?”
“No.”
They shook their heads in unison, staring at me lined up like baby sparrows.
“Then can we cross the border without running into them?”
“……No.”
Their shoulders slumped simultaneously.
Now they got it.
They’d said it would take two weeks on horseback to reach the border.
Dodging guys with bloodshot eyes hunting for the national seal wouldn’t be easy.
“So quit panicking and sit down.”
“But what do we do now? We’ll lose the seal and probably all die.”
Allen asked without thinking.
This guy.
They knew the terrain and situation better than I did, yet they were relying on me.
I considered smacking his head but held back.
Maybe age had increased my patience.
“I’ll handle them, so you just guide the way.”
“Shouldn’t we at least make a plan?”
“I don’t need that crap, so don’t bother me—talk among yourselves.”
I waved them off.
“What? No plan? The Crow Knight Order is on a whole different level from those Palcherato goons. And you don’t even know anything.”
Allen stuck out his lips, venting his dissatisfaction.
Some guys just don’t get it unless you spell it out.
I’d meant to let it slide, but now he’d asked for it.
I asked,
“So you’re saying we need to make some plan?”
“Of course!”
Allen nodded boldly.
I pointed to the spot next to me.
“Fine. Come sit here, and I’ll explain the plan.”
Allen hesitated before cautiously sitting beside me.
Big guy, but scaredy-cat.
I looked at him and continued kindly.
“Alright, now I’m going to smack your head. Try blocking it.”
He tilted his head at my out-of-nowhere remark.
Didn’t get it, huh.
I smacked Allen’s head without mercy.
Thwack!
“Argh!”
Clutching his head with both hands, Allen rolled on the ground with a scream.
“Drama queen.”
“Ow, it hurts like hell! Why’d you hit me out of nowhere?!”
The guy, face twisted in pain, scrambled away from me.
From that distance, he glared warily.
Like a herbivore eyeing a predator.
Feeling refreshed, I got to the point.
“What plan did I make to hit you?”
“……None.”
“But think the other way around. How would you hit me?”
“You’d let me?”
He asked innocently.
Should I smack him again?
Fist clenched, I patiently continued.
“There’s no way you could hit me, but if you really want to, you’d need a meticulous, elaborate plan to bridge our gap. Get it now?”
A gentle breeze rustled my hair.
“Plans are for the weak.”
An eye-level explanation.
But their expressions remained the same.
Even spoon-fed, they spat it out.
Quiet Freddy spoke up.
“I get what you mean, but we can’t ignore what-ifs.”
“What-ifs?”
It’d been so long since I’d considered possibilities that even guessing was a hassle.
Freddy gauged my mood and carefully opened his mouth.
“In case you lose, Sir Genes.”
“Oh, that could happen.”
I slapped my knee at his opinion.
As fresh as the live fish I’d just caught.
Me, defeated.
When was the last time I lost?
So long ago I could barely remember.
Excluding my beggar days, I’d never lost to anyone but Master.
I sincerely praised him.
“Really, what a fresh idea.”
“……So anyway.”
Flustered by my unexpected reaction despite the praise, Freddy continued.
“What if one of us assists you, Sir Genes, and the other two take a different route? It’d split their forces a bit, raising your chances of crossing the border, right?”
“You two would be decoys?”
“We’re prepared for that.”
His eyes turned resolute, voice firm.
The guy who’d fled from Palcherato’s soldiers, unable to fight them, volunteering as bait meant he was ready to die.
No skill, but gutsy.
I tossed a branch from the ground into the fire.
“Cut the nonsense and guide the way. I’m saving you, yet you’re itching to die. Why not hold a funeral instead?”
“Huh?”
He blinked dumbly.
I pointed at Allen, still glaring warily from afar.
“Need a smack like him to snap out of it?”
“B-but we don’t even know their strength.”
“Quit worrying. I won’t die, at least.”
“…….”
“Even if they bring an army, I won’t die. So you lot, who’d die anywhere else, stick by me. That’s your best shot at surviving.”
Uncharacteristically, I looked out for them.
They’d chosen the independence army in a world where betraying your country meant living better.
Didn’t want to let them die.
Yet they stared at me blankly.
Didn’t get it, huh.
“What? Wanna die now?”
“N-no.”
They finally behaved when I raised my fist.
Indeed, one fist beats a hundred words in persuasion.
* * *
“Pathetic bastard.”
Couldn’t even retrieve the national seal from some bumpkin and caused this mess.
Crow Knight Order 3rd Squad Leader Russell coldly gazed down at Palcherato’s corpse.
He’d been picked for this mission because he had a villa near the village.
But things had gone sideways unexpectedly.
A pile of rocks from the collapsed cliff.
In front, knights in black armor examined the remaining traces.
Wild beasts had torn into the bodies, but enough clues remained to infer what happened.
“Hmm.”
Piecing together the surroundings, Russell let out a short groan.
He’d seen only one young man via the crow messenger, but he’d assumed a group battle here.
Now, it seemed highly likely there was just one enemy.
Meaning that young man had cut them down alone.
The initial clash looked like two knights against him, then traces of one versus many.
The sword marks on their bodies were cleanly severed, like by a legendary blade.
Facing numbers should dull stamina and swing precision, roughening cuts, yet every one was flawlessly smooth.
Footprints showed no prolonged fight either.
They’d been massacred before overwhelming might.
‘At least Expert mid-level or higher.’
Russell roughly gauged the foe’s strength.
Hard to believe, but likely superior to him.
Lost in thought, knights lined up before him.
Heavily armored in pitch black, they exuded immense pressure just standing there.
“Pursue at max speed. Not as easy as thought. Reinforcements would complicate things.”
“Yes, sir.”
An unexpected powerhouse lay ahead.
Skilled knights all, they knew what these traces meant.
But that was it.
Strength was just individual prowess.
So even knowing the enemy’s power, none imagined defeat.
Not until it became reality.
* * *
Vast plains stretched out, distant high walls visible.
The noon sun hung over the city.
We’d arrived after two days on foot.
Stopping far from the massive gate, I turned to look at the guys, slower than earthworms.
Tiny dots in the distance.
The open wilderness let me see them; shorter sightlines, and they’d be invisible.
Unable to use lightness skill, they couldn’t keep up with my casual pace, ending up like that.
“Huff…… huff…… huff……!”
It took ages, but the three reached me and collapsed, chests heaving like they’d keel over any second.
I shook my head at the pitiful sight.
“So damn slow. Tsk tsk.”
“You’re the fast one, huff huff, ever think that, he huff?”
It was Allen.
Tough hide—he always had the most backtalk.
“Listening to you’ll kill me first. Looks like they’re checking IDs up ahead. Got a way through?”
“Huff huff, we have huff huff, IDs.”
Chess, crawling on the ground, said.
Making a huge fuss over this little run.
“Wheeze! Do you have ID, Sir Genes? Haaah!”
Freddy inhaled deeply, rattled off words, then exhaled heavily.
“I don’t need to worry. Fooled their eyes is easier than beheading you lot.”
“……Why such brutal analogies.”
“Easier to understand.”
Ignoring their grumbling while clutching throats, I walked on.
“Go slower!”
Their short cries echoed behind, but I brushed them off.
Better to go ahead and wait than travel with them—I’d burst a vein, or they’d die by my hand first.
Clueless, they begged to come along.
Suicidal bunch either way.
Light steps closed the gap to the gate, guards checking entrants coming into view.
I scowled at them.
What the hell are those bastards?