Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Making an Impression (4)
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“Here, there's plenty of food. Everyone, fill your stomachs first.”
“The injured need to be moved, so those who are able, please help out!”
Three or four mercenaries bustled about among the twenty or so refugees, who were mostly women, children, and the elderly.
A few of the refugees stood up to help the mercenaries.
But the vast majority of them didn't move an inch.
They simply sat there, stunned, their unfocused eyes staring into the void.
“Hic… sob…”
“Mister, have you seen my mom and dad?”
A woman sobbing quietly.
A child, on the verge of tears, searching for their parents.
The injured and the elderly, limp and gasping for breath.
Not a single face showed joy at having survived.
It was only natural.
Considering the price they must have paid to get here, it would have been stranger if they were happy.
“The able-bodied men stayed behind to buy them time.”
As I looked at the group of refugees, with not a single man in sight, Bok’s voice reached me.
“Ah…”
A pained groan escaped my lips.
The tragedy the refugees had endured played out in my mind as if I had seen it myself.
Men, grabbing whatever piece of metal they could find, standing against the bandits to save their families.
The people who had to leave them behind and embark on an unwilling escape.
It was a scene I had seen to the point of exhaustion in my past life.
“The bandits are keeping their distance. They don't seem like they'll attack right away, but they don't look like they're retreating either.”
Bok’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.
“What about the other mercenaries?”
“They're on standby, ready to fight at any moment. But if a battle does start, it won't be easy.”
Bok said, glancing at the refugees.
“The palisade is low, and our numbers are severely lacking. This camp wasn't built with this kind of situation in mind.”
His voice was low, lest anyone overhear.
“For us to protect all of them right now is…”
“Impossible.”
I finished the sentence he couldn't bring himself to say.
My own voice was so devoid of emotion that it sent a chill down my spine.
“…Yes.”
Bok flinched, looked at me, and after parting his lips a few times, he lowered his head helplessly.
“Besides, the more I think about it, the stranger it is.”
He spoke again after a long moment.
He said it was strange that this chaos had erupted just a day after the Daegongja had left the camp with the knights.
It was too much of a coincidence, he said.
“The nearest village is half a day away. Even if the men desperately bought them time, it makes no sense for a group including slow-footed elderly and children to have made it here safely.”
The bandits had retreated as if on cue the moment the refugees entered the camp, like a sheepdog herding a flock into a pen.
“They were driven here on purpose. To tie our hands.”
Bok listed countless other pieces of circumstantial evidence.
His tone was desperate, as if making an excuse.
But his expression looked as though it were being crushed by a great boulder.
He seemed disgusted with himself for treating the refugees like baggage.
I suddenly wondered.
Were mercenaries of this era always so soft, or were Bok and the Forsaken Dogs mercenary group particularly weak-willed?
I couldn't know.
The only thing that was certain was that the mental burden Bok was feeling was not originally his to bear.
The choice, and the responsibility that came with it, all fell to the commander.
“If the situation worsens, we will abandon the camp.”
These were all things I had to carry.
“So go and tell them. We'll be abandoning anything that might slow us down, so they should travel light and be on standby.”
A man as quick-witted as him would understand what I meant by ‘anything that might slow us down.’
“…Yes.”
Nodding with a heavy face, Bok left as if fleeing the scene.
“Phew. Thank you. You saved us.”
“I was in such a daze earlier.”
In the meantime, a few refugees who had composed themselves grabbed the mercenaries and thanked them profusely.
Completely unaware of the conversation that had just taken place.
Watching them, I repeated to myself.
This isn't the first time I’ve had to do something like this.
The long, long Great War.
A terrible era where even the proudest knights had to fall from grace.
A time when one had to be ruthless to survive.
This was just one more choice added to the countless others I had made back then.
“Um…”
As I was lost in thought, a young voice broke through.
When I came to my senses, a little girl was tugging at my sleeve.
It was the same child who had been asking the mercenaries about her parents.
“Here…”
The child suddenly held out a piece of bread.
“…?”
“Auntie Maria said so. She said the people here helped us. She said I had to be sure to thank you. But the other misters are too scary. So I came to you.”
It took a moment to fully comprehend the child’s jumbled words.
It seemed she was trying to say thank you.
“Eat this and be strong.”
After muttering the words shyly, the child scurried away and hid in the arms of a woman.
A small smile bloomed on the child's face as she half-buried it in the woman’s side.
“…”
Her innocent gaze was somehow unsettling, and I turned my head away.
“You…!”
A short while later, Iden came to find me.
He was furious.
“You have no pride, nothing of what an esquire should uphold…!”
I frowned at the out-of-the-blue accusation.
“I know why you're here, but can you keep it down for a moment?”
The sudden commotion had the refugees staring at us with wide eyes.
If he had come to challenge my plan for the worst-case scenario, as I suspected, now was not a good time.
“Have compassion for the weak and do not retreat before the enemy. Though we have not been knighted, we are not free from this principle! How could you!”
But the agitated fool couldn't distinguish between the time and place.
“I cannot follow you. No! I will not follow you!”
The only silver lining was that the boy, unable to contain his anger, quickly stormed off in a huff.
But that alone was enough for some of the sharper elders and women to grasp the general situation.
Glance after glance.
Their eyes, looking at me, were asking.
Are you really going to abandon us?
I remained silent.
Resignation and despair surfaced in their eyes as they lowered their heads.
No commotion arose.
* * *
*Patter-patter.*
The rain that had started late in the afternoon showed no signs of stopping even as night fell.
Far from stopping, the downpour was growing heavier, as if a hole had been torn in the sky.
“This is not good at all.”
I frowned, looking at the puddles that had formed here and there in the camp.
If it was this bad inside the camp, I didn't even need to look beyond the palisade.
The barren lands of the west, having drunk their fill of the rare rain, would have already turned into a mire.
The worst possible conditions for cavalry to move.
In effect, we couldn't expect the attack party to return.
“What about Komlat?”
“Well, we're firing signal flares at regular intervals, but as you can see, the visibility is terrible.”
Our only hope was support from Komlat, but that too was unlikely.
With visibility limited by the bad weather, signal flares were useless.
“They must not have seen the signal we sent during the day. If they had, someone would have been here by now.”
“When things go wrong, they really go wrong.”
I sighed at Bok’s words.
“Hmm.”
It was the moment of decision.
Either make a desperate stand, relying on the flimsy palisade while waiting for reinforcements that might never come.
Or escape before the enemy’s encirclement tightened.
The first option was impossible from the start.
Our forces were far too small to hold out relying on a flimsy palisade.
“We will abandon the camp and slip away quietly.”
I gathered the mercenaries.
Every second counted.
We weren’t the only ones whose vision was obscured by the bad weather.
The enemy, too, would find it difficult to properly assess our situation in this weather.
If we were to slip out, now was the perfect time.
The mercenaries, also aware of this fact, quickly dispersed.
The faces of the refugees watching us turned pale.
Those who had grasped the situation thanks to Iden’s outburst looked as though the inevitable had come.
“Everyone, get up.”
I spoke to them in a low tone.
“If you make a loud noise and attract the enemy's attention, you will be left behind. If you dawdle, you will be left behind. If you do not follow my orders, you will be left behind.”
The elderly, who had been squeezing their eyes shut, looked at me in surprise.
“Y-You're not abandoning us?”
“Not as long as you follow my orders.”
Finally catching on to the situation, the women stood up and began to soothe their whining children.
“Thank you. Thank you. Truly, thank you.”
“Thank you. Thank you.”
Watching the elders offer their repeated thanks, I shook my head.
“Don't thank me, thank the heavens.”
If the torrential rain hadn't obscured the enemy's vision, I wouldn't have even attempted such a gamble.
“Hurry! If the rain stops, what little chance we have will disappear.”
I urged them on with a deliberately gruff voice.
I grumbled quietly to myself.
It seems that by mingling with the peaceful people of this era, I've started to become like them.
That must be why I made such an irrational decision.
“Hmph. It seems my words snapped you to your senses.”
Iden's nonsense was easily ignored.
The road ahead was too rough to waste my energy on a brat who couldn't tell his ass from his elbow.
“Agh. Did I really catch lice?”
*Scratch, scratch.*
I scratched my head neurotically.
The lice from the beggars must have settled on the crown of my head.
Otherwise, the top of my head couldn't possibly be this itchy.
It seemed I'd have to visit a paid bathhouse once this was all over.
Of course, that was only if I managed to escape this place safely.
* * *
*Thud-thud-thud.*
Each time a thick raindrop hit the ground, muddy water splashed up.
It was chaotic.
Rain pouring from above, rain splashing from below.
We were like a pack of drowned rats.
*Ptui, ptui, ptui.*
I spat out the dirt that had found its way into my mouth.
The gritty taste of soil refused to go away.
I wanted to rinse my mouth with clean water, but that was impossible for now.
*Crawl, crawl.*
I took a short breath and crawled along the ground.
“Damn, this rain is something else.”
“On a day like this, forget work. It's perfect for burying yourself in Anna's arms and just killing time.”
“Anyone hearing you would think Anna was your wife.”
Sloppy voices came from above me.
I stopped moving my limbs and slightly tilted my head to look up.
Two men, their heads covered by brown cloaks, were chatting idly.
Seeing their chins covered in messy beards, I held my breath for a moment.
“What? So Anna is your wife?”
“No, she's not. But she's not your wife either.”
The two men bickered over something trivial.
*Hoo.*
I took a moment to steady my breath.
“Hup.”
I leaped up and plunged my dagger into a man's throat.
“Gurgle…”
“What? Choke on your own non—!”
The other man, who had been laughing and chattering, saw me and his eyes went wide.
“What's a kid… Gak.”
Before the man could finish his words, a shadow rose up from behind him and shoved a dagger into his neck.
“That's six of them. That's the last of the ones guarding this area.”
At Garon's low voice, I waved my hand toward the rear.
*Rustle, rustle.*
Simultaneously, dozens of shadows rose from the darkness, approaching with their bodies low.
“If we're careful, we might just make it to Komlat without any major trouble… Mmph!”
I clamped a hand over Garon’s mouth as he spoke so carelessly.
*Why?*
Garon's eyes asked for the reason.
*Tweeeet!*
Just then, the sharp sound of a whistle pierced the air.
“The east has been breached!”
Amidst the deafening sound of the rain, sharp shouts erupted from all over.
“Did we do it?! Is it over?! After this is done, I'm going to see my family! I'm going to propose! You can't say stuff like that, you idiot!”
I straightened my bent back and roared.
“Hey, what's the big…”
“Forget it! Everyone, get up!”
I urged the crouching mercenaries and refugees.
“From now on, just run and don't look back!”
The moment my words ended, the mercenaries and refugees began to run.
Torches had risen in the distant darkness and were approaching.
Heading straight for us.
“Faster! I said go faster!”
I kept shouting.
But the group's pace, slowed by children and the elderly, was far too sluggish.
To make matters worse, the dim-sighted elderly and unsteady children tripped in the puddles and tumbled to the ground.
“There they are! They couldn't have gotten far!”
“Get them!”
The torches and shouts drew closer rapidly.
At this rate, the mercenaries might escape, but the refugees would definitely be caught.
I stopped running and turned around.
“Esquire…?”
Bok, who had remained at the rear to look after the refugees, stopped with me and asked.
“Give me all the arrows!”
Bok and a few other mercenaries dazedly handed over their oilskin quivers.
*Clatter.*
I immediately turned the quivers upside down, spilling out the arrows.
“Dammit.”
I pulled out Grendel's legacy, the grotesque longbow I had planned to sell for a high price someday.
For a demonic weapon, I hoped a little rain wouldn't make it malfunction like an ordinary bow.
“Esquire!”
Ignoring Bok's scream-like cry, I nocked an arrow on the string.
“Go! I can't hold them for long!”
I shooed away the mercenaries who were lingering in the precious little time we had.
I muttered quietly under my breath.
“I'm really crazy. I'm out of my mind.”
In truth, my current madness was Gunther's fault.
It was all because Gunther's reckless optimism and laid-back attitude had rubbed off on me.
So.
“Master. I'm sorry. I don't think I can keep my promise.”
I hope you won't be too hard on me for not keeping my promise.
Muttering thus, I drew the bowstring.
At that moment.
*Fwoosh!*
The top of my head flared with heat.
As if it had caught on fire.