Chapter 249
Chapter 249
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 249
Chapter Title: 71. Virtues of the Crown Prince (5)
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Hansen hurried his steps.
Winter was fast approaching, and the sun was setting much earlier than before.
If he dawdled any longer, he'd end up camping in the open plains.
That was the last thing Hansen wanted.
The atmosphere lately had been anything but normal.
It hadn't been long since he'd heard tales of several villages in the central region turning into ruins overnight.
Rumors claimed it wasn't the work of humans—there were too many suspicious details for that.
"Ugh. Don't think about it."
Just recalling the central region's rumors gave him chills for no reason. Amid the scattered rock piles everywhere, it felt like something could lunge out at any moment.
He tried to reassure himself.
This was the eastern region, far from the center.
But once the terrifying thought took hold, he couldn't shake it off.
Hansen tightened his bundle and quickened his pace. The darker it got, the faster he walked.
Perhaps his diligence paid off.
"A village!"
Spotting lights in the distance, Hansen cheered.
Fresh energy surged through his weary body, drained from walking all day.
He practically sprinted toward the lights.
"Halt!"
Waiting for him at the village entrance were elderly men and women clutching crude wooden spears.
Without a hint of panic, Hansen flashed a friendly smile and casually opened his bundle.
"I'm no suspicious character—just a traveling peddler selling odds and ends."
The women lowered their spears upon seeing the jewelry and trinkets inside. The elders, however, kept their wary expressions, spears still aimed.
Hansen sighed inwardly.
This wasn't his first time. And he knew exactly how to handle it.
"That damned emperor. May Burgundy rot in hell."
No sooner had he spoken than the elders lowered their spears.
"Not an imperial."
"Yeah, imperials wouldn't curse their emperor even in death."
Hansen chuckled to himself.
Given how the kingdom had suffered from imperial spies, their caution made sense. Still, he wondered if such a childish ploy would really expose a real spy.
Not that these simple folk had any better way to spot one.
"As you can see, I'm a kingdom native."
Hiding his true thoughts, Hansen bowed politely to the elders with his amiable face.
"You're lucky we didn't skewer you! Folks in our village might not know much, but we grind our teeth at imperials. Every able-bodied man left for the south to bash imperial skulls—that says it all."
"We'd have gone too if they'd let us. But they won't take old men anymore."
"Oh come on, you're still spry as ever."
The elders burst into laughter at Hansen's smooth words.
"Save the flattery. I'm ancient. But you, peddling at a time like this?"
"Youth makes 'em fearless. Young folks don't know fear."
"Fearless? He came running like a scared pup. Even the young fear the night."
As the elders bantered, the women approached.
"Looking for a place to rest? We've got spots in the village."
"Meal? Hot mulled wine? Ours is only half water, unlike other places."
They kept glancing at his bundle, clearly eager for its contents.
Hansen followed the women deeper into the village.
Whether these rural women could afford anything was doubtful, but he had to try setting up shop.
Worst case, let them browse the jewelry and score a free meal.
But before he could unpack or warm up with their wine, chaos erupted.
Dong-dong-dong!
A frantic bell tolled across the village.
The quiet hamlet turned uproarious in an instant.
The women, who'd been eyeing his bundle, jumped up and rushed outside.
Sensing the tension, Hansen followed like a moth to flame.
He regretted it immediately.
Then he wouldn't have witnessed the nightmare-inducing sight.
Fires blazed everywhere, and beyond the fences, crimson glows flickered ominously.
"W-Wolves?"
"Not wolves! When's the last time wolves came around here? And what wolf has eyes glowing that blood-red?"
The elder from the entrance bellowed.
"Then what the hell are they?!"
Hansen pointed beyond the fence.
Eerie red lights filled the darkness—at least a hundred, by rough count.
"How should I know? Time to find out!"
The elder gestured to the clustered women.
"Light the beacon! If we're lucky, other villages will spot it!"
The women nodded and set fire to the woodpile in the village center.
Whoosh.
Flames roared up instantly, so fierce it seemed they might spread everywhere.
But fire was the least of their worries.
It was the unidentified things encircling the village.
Only a fool would think they came in peace.
Those crimson glares brimmed with nothing but murderous intent.
And to Hansen, it seemed those owners would overrun the village long before the beacon fire could spread.
"Everyone, stick to the drills!"
"Save it for imperials? Hell, we'll use it now!"
Elders and women toppled carts at entrances and fences, setting them ablaze. Flames surged across the village.
"Don't panic!"
"Whatever they are, spear 'em and they bleed and die like anything else!"
The elders shouted in shrill voices. The women gripped spears and pitchforks, glaring beyond the fences, urging each other on.
Hansen watched in a daze.
No young men anywhere. The tales of them all leaving to fight imperials rang true.
He glanced beyond the fence again.
And realized.
Whatever they were, frail elders and women couldn't stop them. The village would become ruins—like those central hamlets reduced to ashes.
"Goddamn royals."
Hansen muttered a curse.
It was all the royals' fault.
What grand cause justified this? They could live luxuriously in hiding forever—why stir trouble?
If the royals hadn't meddled, the village wouldn't be left defenseless with only elders and women.
Some said the queen died protecting the capital's citizens, but Hansen didn't buy it.
A highborn queen sacrificing for lowly commoners? More like she fled, got caught, and they prettied it up.
Even if true, it wasn't impressive.
The royals made the mess; one cleaning it up wasn't tragic. If anything, the poor souls dragged into war were the pity.
Now, he might join them.
"We have to run! There's too many—even a glance shows that. What can elders and women do?!"
The women shook their heads at Hansen's plea.
"We have kids. Some can't even walk, others just weaned. How far could we get carrying those bundles?"
The elders chimed in.
"It's all plains out there. Whatever they are, they don't look slower than us."
"Run? Where to? This village is our whole lives."
Hansen edged backward stealthily.
No reason for an outsider like him to die here. Hide, wait for an opening, slip away.
Step by step.
He met villagers' eyes several times retreating. None blamed him—they just looked away as if unseen.
"Poor timing, showing up now."
"Slip out when you can. Can't sleep thinking an outsider died here."
Some elders outright said he bore no blame for their misfortune.
"Sleep? We're all dead tonight."
"Shut it! We old folks don't matter, but the women and kids must live!"
Hansen gritted his teeth. Guilt gnawed, but survival came first.
That was the plan.
"Damn it!"
Before he knew it, he stood amid villagers, clutching a crude wooden spear.
"Why didn't I just go...?"
"Don't say it. I don't get myself either."
"What a change from earlier."
"At least we've got one able body now."
As the unmasked peddler bantered, the elders laughed heartily.
"Just hold out a bit. The beacon's lit—lord's soldiers will come. Till then..."
"Quit dreaming! Why would lord's men come? Don't you know nobles? They don't blink if we die by thousands! Yeah, they'll come—after we're corpses, to burn 'em!"
Hansen bellowed pointlessly.
Excusing himself inwardly.
If elders and even hunched women fought, how could a strapping man like him flee without nightmares later?
He mustered nonexistent courage.
"Damn royals. Damn nobles."
He cursed them nonstop inside.
Without the war, young men wouldn't have left; he wouldn't be here spear in hand with strangers.
Venting eased his fear a touch.
"If I die, I'll take one down."
A sliver of courage sparked.
Grrrrraaawr!
But the beasts' howls beyond the fence vaporized his forced bravery.
Crunch.
Before the roar ended, the makeshift barricade shattered.
Burning wood shards flew; embers scattered.
Through the flying flames emerged the crimson-eyed owners.
Elongated muzzles with slit grins, hulking bodies neither man nor beast, covered in coarse fur. Heads three times a grown man's size.
Grrrrowl.
The dog-headed beastmen bared yellow fangs, ripping their mouths wide.
The grotesquery froze Hansen solid.
"Quit shaking—you're dying anyway!"
"We'll shield the young ones!"
Elders advanced boldly, frail frames trembling pitifully.
Gruk.
The dog-heads grinned wider at them.
"You bastards! Not one passes till I drop!"
One elder shook his spear threateningly.
Then the beasts charged.
Hansen barely registered it.
When he snapped to, frontline elders were headless corpses.
Thud, roll.
A wide-eyed head bounced across the ground.
Crunch.
A beast stomped it flat.
Hansen blanked out.
Should've run.
Thinking that, he watched beasts tear into headless torsos ravenously.
For a fleeting moment, he hoped they'd sate on the elders.
Vain hope.
Ptoo.
Chewing in unison, the beasts spat out the flesh.
Hansen stared blankly, then realized.
Gnarled old flesh didn't suit their tastes. Tender women's meat would tempt them more.
Ridiculous thought, even to him.
Terror must've addled his brain.
Otherwise, he'd have ditched the spear and fled by now.
"C-Come on, you dog-heads!"
Sane, he wouldn't provoke them.
Instant regret.
No need to draw their eyes first.
Yet his mouth kept running.
"Dogs should gnaw bones! Crawl back where you came from!"
He wanted to stop, but couldn't.
"Come on! I'll beat you like stray mutts!"
Suddenly, the beasts fell silent.
"Th-They understand speech."
Challenged glares paled him white.
"Y-You're smart ones."
Blabbering senselessly.
"Y-You should stop talking now."
Even watching women tried reining him in.
Too late.
One beast cracked its jaw and stepped forward—the smallest.
Still twice Hansen's height.
It growled low, lunging without hesitation.
"U-Uwaaaah!"
Hansen squeezed eyes shut, thrusting his spear.
Crunch.
A sickening sound.
He peeked cautiously.
Spear tip embedded in the beast's fur-matted chest.
He looked up slowly.
The beast's ferocious head loomed.
Something was off.
Bloodshot eyes bulged; jaws worked oddly.
Then eyes rolled back, vomiting blood.
Dazed Hansen turned to the women, cheering victoriously.
"S-Saw that? I k-killed a m-monster!"
Forgetting the peril, a chill hit him.
Their eyes fixed behind him.
"N-No way..."
Maybe it wasn't dead. He turned creakily.
Lurch.
The beast heaved, torso bending to engulf him.
"U-Uwaaaah!"
Hansen screamed, falling butt-first.
"S-Save me!"
Thrashing wildly, eyes clenched.
After an eternity, no pain came. He opened his eyes.
"Huh?"
A knight in silver armor gazed down, bloodied sword lowered.
The knight offered a hand.
Hansen grabbed it instinctively.
Yank.
He shot up effortlessly; the massive beast carcass rolled aside limply.
Only then did Hansen see the deep gash across its back.
Bone-deep sword mark.
He looked at the knight again.
The knight surveyed the elders' strewn corpses.
"If only we'd arrived sooner, we could have saved them."
Regret laced the clear, steadfast voice.
Sighing, the knight turned to Hansen and the women.
Clink.
Raising a hand, the knight lifted the visor.
Hansen was entranced.
The face revealed was a pinnacle of beauty beyond his wildest dreams.
"You held out well."
The lady knight praised the villagers commendably, ignoring him entirely.
"Leave the rest to us. You're safe now."