Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Diary of Defiance
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“Leave two prisoners and transport the rest to the territory.”
“Understood.”
Two heavily armored knights and five soldiers dragged the Anke troops away.
Guchi followed a soldier’s guidance into a tent. Lander, who had been at his side, was led to a different tent. He immediately sensed they were being deliberately separated.
He waited quietly inside the tent, which held only a single candle.
Sounds came from outside the tent. They seemed like screams from unbearable pain. Just as his thoughts turned toward the worst possibilities, the tent flap lifted and someone entered.
It was the knight who had commanded the soldiers. She had swapped her plate armor for a brigandine.
“The outside is a mess, so I was a little late. Did the food suit your taste?”
“Food?”
“Oh dear. It looks like my subordinate forgot.”
Unlike when she bellowed orders from horseback, she flashed a bright smile. Before long, a soldier brought food in a bowl.
“Eat up.”
“I’m fine.”
“Come on, eat. There’s no poison or anything.”
The soldier standing beside her glared at him subtly. It was as if he would force-feed him if he rejected their superior’s invitation one more time.
Guchi scooped up some porridge with a spoon. The finely shredded bread and meat were decent enough.
“I heard you’re headed to Connero.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“I’d like to know why you’re going there.”
She asked with her arms crossed and her back straight. It felt like an interrogation wrapped in a gentle atmosphere.
She had probably asked the same questions of Lander in the other tent. If their stories didn’t match, they’d be bound and hauled off on the spot.
“I assume my traveling companion already explained.”
“I want to hear it from you.”
“His wife’s hometown is around there. That’s why we were on the road to Connero.”
“Where did the two of you set out from?”
“Dun.”
“Isn’t it dangerous for just two people to go all the way to Connero? Not even on the main road, but crossing through those forest paths.”
“As I’ve said once more, we are not Anke troops. We don’t even know where that territory borders. I explained the exact same thing to that Salrat fellow, but he took us for Silder men. So I wonder—will the lady before me believe the truth even if I tell it?”
“I’m not one to be unreasonable. So just tell me the facts. I’ll listen and judge for myself.”
Guchi scratched his head and explained slowly. After hearing him out, she spoke.
“Isn’t there a contradiction in your story? You said two people are enough to protect yourselves, but what about your current situation?”
“Who could have imagined a knight order ambushing us on the road?”
“Fine, set that aside. If you were staying in Dun, there must have been carriages or merchant caravans heading to Connero. Why not join them instead of traveling alone?”
“The shortcut to Connero is easier on foot. Both of us are hardened walkers, so stamina wasn’t an issue. More than that, my friend had ridden in carriages the entire journey, so he wanted to walk this time.”
“One’s a retired soldier, the other a professional hunter. How long have you known each other?”
Guchi let out a small sigh.
“How long do I have to keep answering?”
“Until I’m convinced.”
“That’s no easy task. Let me turn the question around: do you have any proof we’re Anke men?”
“No.”
“Will you hold us on suspicion alone?”
“If necessary.”
She said it without a flicker of expression. What a disaster this was, all because of Anke and Silder—two nobles he’d never even laid eyes on.
Guchi rubbed his dry face. Fatigue came crashing over him.
“Do you think it’s unreasonable?”
“I don’t find it just. There’s no connection at all, so there’s nothing to prove.”
The knight crossed her legs. She placed her interlocked hands on her knee and tapped her fingers. He stared at the knight blankly before speaking.
“Anything else you want to ask?”
“I’m thinking. What to do with you two.”
That was when it happened. The outside grew noisy. The knight gave a look to the soldier standing behind her. The soldier stepped out of the tent and returned quickly.
“They’re resisting the possessions check fiercely. The captain ordered us not to let you get hurt, so we’re trying to talk them down for now, but they have no intention of handing it over.”
The soldier glared at Guchi as he spoke. It was obvious he found their refusal to submit to inspection highly suspicious. The knight spoke up at once.
“Your companion is being uncooperative.”
Guchi frowned.
“He would have cooperated. He just doesn’t want anyone touching his wife’s memento.”
“Can’t touch it because it’s a memento. What a convenient excuse.”
“Please don’t provoke that friend. He wants things resolved smoothly through words. That’s why he’s come quietly all this way.”
“Resolved smoothly through words? The one who wants that refuses to cooperate with the investigation. Doesn’t that just make my suspicion reasonable?”
The knight stood.
“Bring him out.”
The soldier approached while drawing his sword. He positioned himself behind Guchi with a warning against any funny business. Guchi signaled he had no intention of resisting and followed the knight out of the tent.
Soldiers had formed up around the adjacent tent. At the knight’s gesture, they stepped aside.
Lander was visible inside the opened tent flap. Sitting in a chair, he wore his usual expression.
“Why refuse the possessions check?”
The knight said. Lander slipped the diary from his hand into his bosom and replied.
“It’s a private item. Not something to show others.”
“Do you understand the situation you’re in?”
“I understand fully.”
“Then how about showing me that item? Removing suspicion definitively seems the best path for both of us.”
“I have cooperated sufficiently. I tried to resolve this issue with words. There was no wrongdoing, but it was a situation that could invite suspicion—an action taken with understanding of your position, where suspicion was inevitable.”
“If you know that, you should show me the item all the more. Haven’t we come this far smoothly? I wish you’d trust me to the end.”
“I’m sorry, but this diary I cannot show for any reason. I hope you understand that.”
“There are rumors that Anke has a new funding source. You carried an unusually large amount of cash for a simple traveler. And you were in contact with Anke troops in the dead of night. If you keep this up, my suspicion will only grow—is that alright with you?”
“In the first place, it was your stratagem that drew the Anke troops there. Our encountering them was just a minor coincidence.”
“How did you know that?”
“The dead Salrat told me. You can ask the Anke prisoner left behind for confrontation. Something similar happened before we got here.”
At the knight’s order, a soldier headed toward the prisoner left in the camp.
“Lady Inevil. It seems that man’s words are true.”
The returning soldier said to the knight.
Guchi checked Lander’s waist. His sword had not been confiscated.
What would happen if that friend’s patience hit its limit? Curiosity and worry—two opposing thoughts—churned in his mind.
“If I insist on seeing that diary by force, what will you do?”
“My decision will not change, and I’ve given sufficient warning. If you abandon dialogue, I will have to resort to other means.”
“You’re a bold man. I don’t like men like that. But it’s a bit sad that the situation prevents us from getting along.”
The knight drew her sword. The soldiers, who had stepped back one by one, formed ranks.
Through the torches set up all around, he could see the soldiers’ faces.
No one seemed to let their guard down, even against a single foe. They were exceedingly well-trained soldiers.
He looked at Lander. He wanted to ask if he really planned to fight. He needed a firm answer to prepare.
But the soldier behind him pressed a sword to his back. He could handle the one behind him, but dealing with the others right beside was impossible.
Moreover, the knight holding her sword gave off an unsettling air. She faced Lander in a disciplined stance, her presence extraordinary.
Guchi had to swallow dryly at the valor displayed by the knight, who appeared to be in her mid-twenties.
Lander wouldn’t lose. His friend possessed wondrous skill. But whether he could save him was another question.
The distance was considerable. The moment Lander entered combat, the surrounding soldiers would press blades to throats. He’d be helplessly taken hostage—what could be done?
“Do you really intend to fight?”
The knight asked. She switched from a pressing tone to a casual one.
“I don’t want to, but it seems you desire it.”
“You must be confident in your skills.”
“That’s my only talent.”
“What about your friend beside you? If you fight, I’ll take him hostage—is it fine if I kill him?”
Lander replied to the knight’s words with a smile. Strangely, that smile put Guchi at ease.
“As long as I stand here, that’s impossible.”
“An unexpected answer. Is it arrogance? Or lack of judgment?”
“It’s simply fact.”
“You say that much, so I must verify.”
The knight thrust her sword forward. She was poised to charge and swing at any moment.
“Will you end the conversation?”
“My proposal remains unchanged. Show me the diary. If you can’t comply, I have no choice but to use force.”
“An unacceptable proposal. I wanted to resolve it with words as much as possible, but it’s a shame.”
Lander drew his sword very slowly. Soldiers raised torches to illuminate where he stood.
In the flickering firelight, Lander stood calmly—neither threatening nor careless.
For some reason, Guchi recalled the massive tree he had seen in the frontier lands.
Its branches spread wide enough to blot out the sky, inspiring reverence when gazed up at.
Lander raised his lowered sword straight. As if checking his wrist, he shook it lightly left and right—no tension whatsoever.
It was hard to believe this was a man facing dozens of enemies.
How much time passed. Lander’s sword, swaying lightly side to side, came to a stop.
“Try not to move if possible. I make mistakes now and then too.”
As Lander’s voice spread through the air and faded, his figure vanished along with it. The man who should have been in the tent evaporated in an instant.
And the ghost’s prank began.
* * *
Inevil clamped her mouth shut. The moment she realized she had lost him, her body went rigid. When the man ahead had raised his sword, she had felt an eerily profound unease.
Normally, she would not have chosen battle. Entering combat without uncovering the source of such foreboding was not the way of a commander.
But she let it happen. Curiosity had gotten the better of her.
What swordsmanship would this man wield? That impulse gripped her body.
It was an emotion she had never felt except from her master, and she could not betray that thrilling sensation.
“Form ranks!”
It was disqualifying as a commander, but as a warrior who had honed her blade, it was an exhilarating moment.
She tightened her grip on her sword. Come at me all you want—I’ll receive that sword.
As she focused and expanded her sensory range, a grating clash of steel rang out from the left.
“Agh!” A soldier’s scream followed. At the same instant, a torch went out. All the surrounding torches extinguished in a flash.
“Over here!”
“Here!”
Successive reports rang out from the soldiers on the perimeter, but their shouts ended as abruptly as they began.
She knew. A terrifyingly silent sword was subduing the soldiers.