Guardian: Derek Walker 26
“Walker!”
Rita called out to him desperately. Walker, who appeared to have been subdued by Vargo, looked at her and shouted vigorously.
“I’m fine!”
In reality, it was Vargo who had been overpowered, but to everyone else, it looked completely the opposite.
Walker whispered something more into Vargo’s ear. After hearing him, Vargo groaned and began his next move.
He hoisted Walker onto his shoulder. The pain radiating from his chest was growing stronger, threatening to make him lose consciousness, but he summoned superhuman endurance to stay alert. If he didn’t follow this man’s words, he was certain he’d black out for good.
Vargo bellowed in a rough voice.
“I’m taking this human with me! If any of you so much as twitch, I’ll kill him on the spot. Especially you, female!”
Vargo’s gaze fixed on Luna. When their brown eyes met, he froze solid. The killing intent in her stare felt like it was eating away at his body. It was a different kind from the pudgy man toying with him—a far deadlier sort.
Vargo barely managed to turn and bolt in the opposite direction. The other orcs chased after him.
“Chweeek! Boss! Why are you running? There are still humans left to kill!”
“Damn it! Shut up and follow me! Unless you wanna die!”
Vargo, uncharacteristically snapping at his subordinate orcs, fled the village. He ran and ran until the humans were mere specks in the distance. As they shrank to dots on his shoulder, the hoisted Walker let out a yawn.
“You lot. Now that I think about it, where exactly did you sneak in from?”
“There’s an unrepaired section of the outer wall in that corner over there.”
Vargo led his kin toward the hole in the village wall. Hidden among the dense bloom trees, there was a massive gap big enough for orcs to pass through. At that size, it was less a hole and more an open gate.
The dull-witted orcs never exploited such gaps, which was why the villagers knew about it but hadn’t bothered fixing it.
Walker and the orc pack slipped out through the hole. The other orcs glared furiously at Walker.
“Chweeek! Boss! Why’d you bring this human along!?”
“Fuck. You’re so goddamn noisy.”
Walker fired a Darkness Arrow at the orc. The pitch-black arrow mercilessly hurtled toward the noisy orc’s head. The orc’s skull burst like a tomato.
“Y-You human! Didn’t you say you wouldn’t kill us if we did as you said!?”
“This fucker was asking for it! If you wanna live, tell your little minions to shut their traps properly.”
“G-Got it! Everyone, listen up! No talking until I say so!”
“““Chweeek….”””
Even the dim-witted orcs realized the human their boss had captured wasn’t just any prisoner. To orcs, might made right—and Walker had preached that logic by brutally executing one right in front of them.
“By the way, human. What the hell are you even doing this for? I can’t wrap my head around your motives at all.”
Vargo voiced his burning curiosity. To him, this fat man’s orders were downright bizarre. He couldn’t fathom what gain there was in all this.
“Heh heh. Why? To score with the female, obviously.”
“To score with the female?”
“Yeah. Just do what I say. And keep it in your thick skull: any funny ideas, and you’re straight to hell.”
Walker said it with a sleazy grin.
Derek Walker had been kidnapped. The village went into full emergency mode.
“Damn it! How the hell did those orcs get into the village?”
“Looks like they slipped through a hole in the outer wall. Who’d have thought orcs would use a back path like that… It’s unprecedented.”
“Orcs using their brains… We got properly blindsided.”
The villagers gathered for an emergency meeting. Led by the youth squad leader Drobin, they pooled their heads to figure out how to resolve the crisis.
Gathered in the meeting hall, the villagers voiced various opinions. Truth be told, most of it was worry over the situation rather than actual ideas.
“Damn! From what I hear, didn’t that White Squad get beaten back by the orcs? While we were fighting tooth and nail against hundreds of them, those bastards couldn’t even hold a single village?”
“Where the hell is that White Squad now!?”
“This isn’t the time to point fingers. We need to worry about Walker’s survival first, right?”
“If the orcs took him, he’s probably dead nine times out of ten. Horrible, but…”
“But if they’re smart orcs, maybe they kept him alive?”
“Alive? For what? Hate to say it, but I doubt orcs would spare juicy prey like Walker.”
Despite collective wisdom, no solutions emerged. They couldn’t even confirm if he was alive or dead.
“Walker…”
Rita clasped her hands in prayer. Beside her, the usually stoic Luna remained calm. Having heard the rough details from Walker, she knew there was no need to fret over his safety.
“Derek Walker! That arrogant merchant bastard got nabbed!?”
A boisterous voice echoed through. The owner was Pallaks.
The villagers’ faces twisted. These guys who’d fled pathetically when the orcs invaded were now brazenly showing up after the dust settled.
“Make way! This is Tarsion Territory Army White Squad Captain, Pallaks!”
The villagers parted. Pallaks strode into the meeting hall with two knights, his face smug.
His eyes locked onto Rita and Luna standing side by side. Rita did her best to ignore his gaze.
“Keh heh! Well, isn’t this a sight. Anyway, minor casualties aside, the village is safe. Mission accomplished, I’d say.”
Pallaks’s shameless, absurd words drew scornful glares. Even setting aside his squad’s utter failure in the fight, the damage wasn’t “minor” as he claimed.
Just counting the wounded moaning in the meeting hall disproved that. His own White Squad had taken heavy losses too.
“What do you want?”
Drobin stepped forward, fed up. Pallaks flashed a sleazy grin at him.
“Mission complete, so I’m here to declare withdrawal.”
“Understood. Goodbye.”
Relief, at least. These “reinforcements” hadn’t matched even Luna alone and had just been a headache for the village. Better they leave—Drobin felt lighter already.
“I’ll report every detail of what happened here to the baron. Including the villagers’ rude treatment and certain actions that could be seen as treason.”
Pallaks glanced at Luna as he spoke. Drobin bristled.
“Treason!? What the hell are you talking about?”
“Beats me. Why not ask that woman over there?”
Luna met Pallaks’s gaze and lifted her head. No matter how she looked at it, she didn’t like this man. Her hands itched.
“What did Luna do? She’s our village’s savior!”
“That woman attacked one of our White Squad knights. That’s why we took losses in the fight. If you think about it, isn’t that treason against the baron?”
Pallaks pinned the blame on Luna. The villagers’ eyes turned to her. Luna spoke calmly.
“Just as he said, I did attack one of their knights. Because that bastard tried to rape Rita here.”
Pallaks exploded at Luna’s words.
“Watch your tone! I’m a loyal servant of Baron Tarsion—not some commoner scum like you!”
“I don’t bow to beasts.”
“Insolent bitch!”
Pallaks ground his teeth. But he couldn’t draw his sword. He’d seen Luna’s power—it dwarfed his own.
“Hmph! Anyway, once my report goes up, things’ll get interesting. Allen Village… The baron sent me here because he values this place, and now treason? You dodged the orc fire, but a bigger blaze is coming.”
He turned to leave. The villagers shouted after him.
“Treason!? That’s ridiculous! Why would we rebel!?”
“Luna isn’t even from our village!”
“Captain! Captain Pallaks!”
Pallaks exited without a backward glance. His bombshell left the meeting hall in stunned silence. The villagers exchanged uneasy looks.
“This is insane! They take our taxes and now brand us traitors!? The hell!?”
“What did we even do wrong…”
“We’re not the ones at fault here!”
Suddenly, eyes turned to Luna. Sensing the ominous shift, Drobin spoke up.
“Wait, everyone, calm down—”
“Luna! If you apologize, maybe the captain will forgive us. Please! If he pins treason on us, the village is done for!”
One villager dropped to his knees, begging. Rita, beside Luna, paled.
“When you get down to it, isn’t this your doing, Luna? So take responsibility.”
Someone muttered it. Luna slowly turned toward the voice. Drobin tried to defuse, but Luna spoke first.
“My doing?”
Her voice dominated the room. Even the speaker froze under her icy aura, stammering.
“N-No… That’s not what I—”
“Walker pitied your village in its plight and had me defend it. But you’re not worth it.”
Luna turned and walked out.
“Luna!”
Drobin, Rita, and Bianca chased after her from the meeting hall. The mood inside turned frigid. Breaking the silence, someone muttered.
“What do we do now?”
It spoke for them all.
“If that White Squad captain snitches to the baron, we’re screwed, right?”
“Damn. If Rita had just let him have his way, none of this would’ve happened.”
“……Yeah, maybe.”
A chilling exchange rippled through them. The atmosphere was nothing like usual. The villagers whispered darkly, as if possessed.