Chapter 367: Bread and Dagger (65)
Chapter 367: Bread and Dagger (65)
My mourning for the old knight was brief.
He was the first man I had ever killed.
No matter how long I prayed for his soul, it would never be enough, but now was not the time. I had to assume this place had already been discovered by the Yurdina army.
Hadn't Sir Alex just sent a messenger?
I had no choice but to pull myself together and leave immediately.
Still, I couldn't take my eyes off the old knight’s corpse for a long while before I finally turned away.
It was time to free the elves.
However, the remaining soldiers did not celebrate my victory.
One of them seized an elf in a fit of desperation. He began to back away, pressing a dagger against her throat.
"Aaaah! Help!"
"D-don't come any closer!"
My brow furrowed. I hadn't expected them to do something so reckless.
Was he suicidal?
Threats were meaningless now that their defeat was certain. Of course, it could unsettle me, but that was the limit of its effect.
The moment the hostage was gone, the soldier’s life would be forfeit.
Moreover, it wasn't as if he could escape the coniferous forest with a hostage. He didn't have the stamina to do it alone, and more importantly, an elf who left the forest was as good as dead.
This meant her value as a hostage was remarkably low.
Ultimately, I sighed and attempted to persuade him.
"Put the knife down... The fight is already over."
"Sir Alex was our idol!"
The soldier screamed, his voice cracking.
His desperate cry caused a stir among the other soldiers. They began to shift, gripping their weapons once more. It looked like things were about to get troublesome.
First of all, I was alone.
If a large group started rioting, even I had my limits. At this rate, some of the elves might lose their lives.
Furthermore, hadn't I just killed one of my own kind?
I didn't want to take any more lives.
Subduing them without killing was the best option, but I didn't have the luxury of meticulously worrying about the lives of those who were raving about killing elves.
I decided to listen to the soldier's grievance for a moment.
"We all lost our families to the elves... That's why we volunteered for this mission! We swore our loyalty to Sir Alex, so how can we be the only ones to survive?!"
"It’s a meaningless death."
The soldier flinched at my blunt rebuttal.
I continued to persuade him in a calm voice.
"What meaning is there in throwing your life away like that? Taking the lives of a few unfortunate elves? Is that it?"
"T-that's enough for me!"
"It isn't enough. It won't soothe that burning desire for revenge."
With those words, I took a step forward.
It was a small gesture.
Yet, that alone made the soldier’s body begin to tremble violently. The fear of death was an emotion shared by all living creatures.
In the face of that fear, there was no difference between humans and elves.
The soldier pressed the dagger even tighter against the elf's throat.
The elf let out a sharp gasp and her legs shook. It was as if the bodies of the two were resonating with each other.
It was absurd.
To be so terrified of death, yet so willing to throw one's life away in vain.
And to take another's precious life along with it.
I reached out my hand and said, "Now, let the elf go. I have no intention of harming the rest of you."
"…How can I trust that?"
"If I intended to kill you, you wouldn't be standing there alive right now."
It was an arrogant declaration, but it was also the cold reality.
I had already subdued these soldiers once before. When I threw my hand axes and shattered their weapons one by one, my intentions were as good as proven.
If I had wanted them dead, I would have killed them then.
Finding no words to refute my logic, the trembling in the soldier's hand subsided. He looked away, his face etched with agony.
The other soldiers were the same.
Loyalty to Sir Alex versus their own lives.
The fact that they were weighing the two was a testament to Sir Alex’s character.
I made one final attempt at persuasion.
"You can't just leave Sir Alex's remains like that, can you?"
That was the deciding blow.
One of the hesitating soldiers closed his eyes tight and threw down his weapon. The rest followed suit.
Swords and spears clattered to the ground like falling rain.
The only one left was the soldier threatening the elf.
I looked at the man, waiting for his move. The soldier seemed somewhat flustered by his comrades' choice, but then he gritted his teeth.
It was an ominous sign.
Red veins appeared in his bulging eyes. It meant he had fallen into a state of extreme agitation.
I hurriedly tightened my grip on my hand axe.
But my body, having just committed its first murder, refused to listen. That momentary hesitation was about to bring about a catastrophe.
A shout burst from my lips.
"No!"
Just as a scream rang out and the dagger was about to slit the elf's throat—
Thwack!
A silver needle buried itself in the back of the soldier's neck.
"Gah... cough!"
The soldier couldn't even let out a proper groan. He simply stumbled and collapsed sideways, his eyes wide with shock.
In the spot where he fell, only the trembling elf remained.
Naturally, it wasn't my doing.
Everyone’s gaze shifted to find the culprit. From a corner of the burning village, a shadow slithered out and revealed itself.
It was a familiar face.
A hairclip accentuating her bangs, brown hair, and skin so clear it gave her a gentle impression.
However, her deep green eyes were different.
They were a shade that sank to abyssal depths, as if rejecting others. At a glance, they looked like the eyes of a snake, or perhaps a fox hiding a scheme.
The woman, who had been walking with her hands behind her back, politely grasped the hem of her skirt.
Just like her attire, it was the etiquette of a maid.
"It has been a long time, Lord Ian."
It was Senior Neris.
At this unexpected encounter, I couldn't help but let out a faint, hollow laugh.
Why was Senior Neris here?
Hans, the soldier, opened his eyes with a groan.
The north wind bit cruelly into his skin, piercing through his armor. The only reason he wasn't freezing was likely because the surrounding area was ablaze.
Embers still lingered in the elf village. Some of those fires had probably been started by Hans himself.
It was a pathetic sight.
Burning down huts and using that warmth to avoid freezing to death.
He felt like a parasite living off the misfortune of others. Just like the elves who had raided his village long ago.
Hans's village had been destroyed by elves who were desperate for food.
He was the sole survivor. Since that day, he had lived his entire life consumed by revenge.
In the process, he had met a wonderful superior.
A knight who, despite being a commander, always fought on the frontlines alongside his soldiers.
That man was dead.
And he had died at the hands of the one humanity revered as a hero.
Hans couldn't even bring himself to cry at that hollow end. He simply stood up blankly and tried to piece together his memories.
He remembered trying to stab an elf to death, but everything after that was a blank.
It was his comrade who filled in the gaps.
A fellow soldier trudged over and looked down at Hans. Letting out a deep sigh, he held out a crude wooden shovel.
One look was enough to tell.
This clumsy craftsmanship belonged to the elves. Hans’s gaze went blank.
"We're digging graves. Help out."
"What... what happened?"
At Hans's question, his comrade patted him on the shoulder a couple of times.
As if he understood how he felt.
"What happened? We got wrecked... completely and utterly wrecked. You got hit with a needle by some lady and passed out right after that."
"Then why are we still alive?"
"Because they spared us."
It was an obvious answer, in a way.
But it was not a statement easily understood.
They were the ones who had burned the village and tried to slaughter the elves.
And yet, they were spared?
Hans tried to argue, but he quickly shut his mouth.
No matter how much he denied it, it was useless. The fact that he was still breathing was the clearest evidence.
His comrade’s low explanation continued.
"The elves wanted to kill us, but Sir Ian stopped them... He said they needed witnesses, and that nothing remains but more death if we keep killing each other. The elves seemed to barely accept it."
"So what do we do now?"
"What else? Sir Alex sent a messenger, so if we hold out, more soldiers will arrive. Until then, let's finish making Sir Alex's grave."
At that seamless explanation, Hans's head dropped.
There was nothing wrong with what he said.
In the end, his life had been saved. Even if it was due to Ian's intervention, it was by the hands of the elves he had considered the objects of his revenge.
Could there be a more hollow humiliation?
However, his comrade seemed to think differently.
His hand patted Hans's shoulder once more.
"I... well, I've been thinking about it, and I'm going to quit this business."
"…You mean you're retiring?"
"Yeah. Sir Alex is gone, after all."
A bitter smile lingered on the comrade's lips.
He continued, his eyes misty as if lost in reminiscence.
"I've gotten too much blood on my hands... At first, I thought it was for revenge, but now that I've had my life saved by those very enemies, it all feels so futile."
"The elves are all potential murderers anyway."
"And we're just murderers."
The comrade said this as he gripped the shovel handle again. He gave one last piece of advice.
"Anyway, you should think about it too. You can't live like this forever, can you? You must have a bit of money saved up... Gwaaaaakh!"
Yes, it was truly the last.
A flaming arrow pierced the comrade's temple. While Hans was dazed by the sudden ambush, the head exploded.
With a small boom, the skull shattered into pieces. Just before the spray of blood and flesh could hit him, Hans followed his instincts and threw himself onto the ground.
The sound of brain matter hitting the earth with a wet thud was horrific.
But this was only the beginning.