Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: I Thoroughly Protect What's Mine. (4)
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But that didn't make sense either. Abel had no reason to abandon his luxurious home where everything he needed was provided.
"No, and what clever plan could the young master possibly have? He doesn't even have a way to make money."
A young master ignorant of the world would always have a short-lived runaway stint. By now, he should have squandered all the money he took and come limping back to the territory penniless.
Yet Abel was gnawing away at Yonas's nerves far longer than expected.
"Damn it, if only it weren't for that seal."
If that hadn't fallen into Abel's hands, Yonas wouldn't have to struggle like this tracking him down.
Whether this foolish young master ran away or not, starved somewhere or whatever—it wouldn't have been Yonas's problem.
"Hoo..."
The line in front of him was steadily shrinking. Yonas sighed deeply, as if the ground might cave in, and shuffled forward.
"Please show your identification."
A weary-looking guard greeted Yonas.
"..."
The guard scanned Yonas's appearance once and subtly stepped back. It was because of the unpleasant smell wafting from Yonas, who hadn't bathed in a long time.
'Damn it. I look like a mess.'
Yonas swallowed a curse and pulled out his identification from his pocket.
"Yonas Klein. Affiliated with the Ovest Knight Order."
The guard straightened up immediately upon checking the details. His gaze toward Yonas did a complete 180.
"Welcome, Knight."
The knight order guarding the border at the western territory's edge, where monsters poured out endlessly. The direct knight order of the empire's strongest swordsman, Diego Kindriel.
To a mere guard, the name Ovest was an incredibly distant and lofty existence.
"Welcome to Dabanti Territory."
The guard's fatigued face lit up with sparkling eyes. He looked at Yonas with an expression full of admiration and respect.
"Yes, thank you for your service."
Yonas replied in a voice even more exhausted than the guard's.
"Just one thing I'd like to ask."
"Yes, go ahead."
"I'm looking for someone. I believe he passed through this gate."
"What's the name?"
Yonas answered without much expectation—or trying not to have any.
"Abel Ovest Kindriel."
The guard's face changed drastically.
Seeing this, Yonas felt his heart sink. He pressed the guard urgently.
"Did he pass through? When?"
"Uh, well. I'm not entirely sure. I heard it from the guy who was on duty yesterday."
In his haste, Yonas stepped right up to him.
"Who was that?"
"Eek, hold on."
The guard raised both palms to stop Yonas. Yonas's imposing build alone exuded a threatening aura as he approached.
"I asked who it was."
Yonas's voice dropped to an extreme low. A guard checking IDs in another line craned his neck.
"Hey, what's going on?"
"Uh, well..."
"The one on duty yesterday!"
Yonas cut off the guard and shouted.
"Who was it?"
His voice was filled with desperate, intense fury.
"D-Did you call for me...?"
Amid the commotion, a guard who had been eating had to set down his fork and come over.
"Did the young master Abel pass through here?"
At Yonas's ominous tone, the guard's shoulders hunched.
"Yes, that's right."
"When exactly?"
"Uh... It was around yesterday morning, I think."
Yesterday morning. About a day ago.
Abel wasn't just running away as Yonas had hopefully imagined. He was heading to the capital with clear intent.
And faster than that.
"Damn it!"
Yonas spat out his habitual curse. The surrounding guards flinched at his savage momentum.
"Is there a problem? Something wrong with the young master?"
The guard seemed worried that this might backfire on him.
"Should I report to the captain? Do you need cooperation?"
"No, no. It's nothing. No need for that."
Yonas shook his head irritably.
He couldn't reveal what Abel had done now. That would expose how Yonas had let the lord's seal get taken by Abel.
He had to pursue Abel secretly and cautiously. Without letting anyone else know.
'Calm down, stay calm.'
Yonas tried to settle his pounding heart. It wasn't easy, having finally grasped a lead after days of fruitless pursuit.
'Get a grip, Yonas. You can't miss this chance.'
He needed to think calmly and rationally. To make up for all the accumulated failures so far.
First priority: catch up to Abel before he reached the capital.
'I need to move fast.'
His foggy mind, clouded like overcast skies these past few days, finally cleared. Yonas regained the sharp clarity from his knight order days.
"I have a few questions."
He began his systematic questioning in an extremely composed tone.
"How did the young master seem when he passed through?"
"Uh, at that time?"
Relieved that no scolding was coming his way, the guard spoke with some ease.
"Well, he stood out from afar. He was riding an incredibly rare and expensive-looking high-bred horse."
"An expensive-looking horse?"
"Yeah. I've seen countless horses pass through here, but never one like that. Its chocolate-colored coat gleamed so luxuriously, it was dazzling."
No such high-bred horse could be found in Ovest Territory. Abel must have acquired it along the way.
'Where'd he get the money for such an expensive horse?'
Yonas pressed the guard, feeling suspicious.
"And? Did he look uncomfortable anywhere?"
"Uh, not really. He just had that look of a noble young lord at first glance."
"..."
"Oh, usually other nobles come in carriages, so riding a horse was a bit unusual."
The guard scratched his head.
"So I asked if he was okay, and he just chuckled and said, 'I prefer this.'"
Yonas furrowed his brow.
'I heard his arm was broken. How did he ride a horse?'
According to the butler, Abel's arm should still be healing. Yonas had expected a carriage, so this was unexpected.
'And what? His attire was noble-like?'
Yonas glanced at his own state. Clothes caked in dust, shoes worn to shreds.
A far cry from when he left Ovest Territory. Hardly recognizable as from the famed Ovest Knight Order.
'How did he pass through here looking so composed?'
Even faster than him, avoiding the route Yonas had taken.
The suspicions only grew.
Above all, thinking of Abel breezily passing through while he suffered like this made rage boil inside him.
'I'm suffering because of who!'
Yonas ground his teeth audibly and tightened his backpack straps.
He had learned everything he needed. Time to pass the gate and mount up.
"Oh, right!"
The guard suddenly slapped his forehead.
"Come to think of it, Lord Abel had a message to relay."
"What? For me?"
"Yes. 'I'll be waiting in the capital.'"
The guard added innocently.
"He just said to pass it on, so I didn't know what it meant. But now I see it was for you, Sir Yonas."
Yonas stared at the guard, speechless for a moment. The rage surging inside was scorching his throat.
'I'll be waiting in the capital.'
Imagining Abel smirking as he said that, Yonas could no longer hold back.
"..."
Without a reply, Yonas mounted his horse.
"Knight, wait a—"
Ignoring the guard, he kicked the horse's flank hard.
"Hiiing!"
The horse, suddenly spurred, neighed wildly and bolted.
"Uwaaak!"
"Everyone, move!"
"Kyaa!"
"Get back!"
Chaos erupted along the central avenue of Dabanti Village. People scrambled to the sides to avoid the horse charging through at terrifying speed.
"No, that guy's..."
The guards at the gate watched the uproar with stunned faces.
"Being from the Ovest Knight Order makes him so arrogant."
"Sheesh, thinks being the strongest knight order means he owns the place, ordering people around like that. You okay?"
A murmuring guard asked the one who had been dragged from his meal. But the questioned guard just stood there blankly, no response.
"Hey, you alright?"
"Uh, yes?"
He looked dazed, as if waking from a dream late.
"Yes, yes. I'm fine."
But Yonas's face still lingered in his mind.
That final moment, just before mounting—the hideously twisted face of Yonas...
It looked just like someone heading out to kill.
"Uwaaaah!"
As Yonas tore through Dabanti Village, a single tear streamed down his cheek.
"Abel Kindrieeeel!"
He was even bellowing Abel's name wildly.
Yonas vowed again and again.
He would absolutely, no matter what!
Kick the living daylights out of that thunderbolt-headed young master's rear end.
❖ ❖ ❖
Flutter, flutter.
"Hmm~"
The sound of pages turning in the holy book mixed with humming.
The spacious round room was filled with luxurious furniture. Exquisite lamps carved by the capital's master craftsmen, a carpet made from the tanned pelt of a rare white tiger spread on the floor, and more.
"Hmm~."
Inside the room sat Saintess Rachel on a plush chair, reading her holy book.
Her hair was a light green, brimming with the vitality of spring, and her youthful face flushed with a rosy glow.
"You seem to be in a good mood."
A priest organizing the saintess's clothes against the opposite wall remarked.
"Has something good happened?"
Rachel shook her head at his question.
"Nothing like that."
"But you really look delighted."
"Really? Maybe it's just that reading the holy book has warmed my heart."
Rachel twirled her hair and beamed. Her smile gliding over cheeks soft as fresh white bread was utterly endearing.
"Ahh."
The priest unwittingly clutched his chest.
Truly, the Saintess Rachel he served was too adorable. Among all the teenage girls he had seen, none were as cute and lovely as her.
Not only that. Despite her young age, Rachel embodied the essence of the empire's one and only saintess.
Even in her free time, she read the holy book whenever she could, genuinely moved and delighted by its contents.
And she possessed the divine power that no one else in the empire could manifest.
Rachel was the ideal, perfect saintess in his eyes.