Chapter 20. Newlyweds (4)
Chapter 20. Newlyweds (4)
Was it the hunter who took Hans in?
That's a possibility.
Or maybe Hans killed the hunter and took over this cabin and that beautiful woman.
Yannick kept his expression in check.
He fiddled with the longsword for a moment.
Then handed it back to the soldier.
"You're just gonna leave it like that? It's a fine sword."
The soldier tilted his head and asked.
"Don't touch something that has an owner."
A firm command.
The soldier gave a slight bow, then shoved the sword under the bed.
After warming up their bodies just enough.
Yannick stood up first.
He glanced sideways at Helen.
She was pretending to be calm.
But her eyelids were trembling faintly.
"Let's head back."
"Yes, Sir Yannick."
"Understood, milord."
Yannick and the other four men left the cabin without a fuss.
Yannick looked around the cabin's surroundings.
Nothing suspicious caught his eye.
But Hans could be hiding somewhere nearby.
Yannick's group soon disappeared.
Bruno glared at their retreating backs with fierce eyes for a long while.
"You join in when I shout."
The soldiers nodded at Yannick's order.
The dog was the problem.
Salutz.
A breed famous for its sensitive temperament.
It senses you the moment you get close.
And growls like a ghost.
So if all five rushed in together, they'd get spotted for sure.
He had to go alone.
Hide behind a tree.
And confirm if Hans really lives in the cabin.
Yannick looked down at his own body.
He was in light armor.
It looked amateurish at a glance.
But this armor actually had magic enchanted on it.
Lightning resistance magic.
It had about a month left before it expired.
But during that time, it blocked all lightning-type magic effects.
Of course, it wasn't immune to every lightning spell out there.
But it could perfectly block something like a D-rank Stun.
Hans's magic level wasn't high.
If it had been.
Yannick would've been found as a corpse in the underground jail.
At best, a few insignificant lightning spells—that was probably all.
Even so.
Yannick never let his guard down.
That's why he brought a holy relic too.
A pendant blessed by the head priest himself.
The pendant's top had a lid.
He cracked it open slightly.
Revealing the face of a bald man.
The guardian saint of Baron Kargon's territory, Saint Jacquelin.
"Jacquelin-ssi-yeo..."
Yannick prayed, stroking the image of the bald man with his finger.
He'd brought this precious holy relic just in case Hans had contracted with a demon.
Now it was time to go monitor the cabin.
Without getting caught by the Salutz.
He erased his presence with Aura.
As proof, his footsteps made no sound even on fallen leaves.
He soon reached a spot where the cabin came into view.
Hiding behind a thick tree.
He peeked out just his head.
And took in the cabin.
"Heh heh.."
Just as he thought.
There was Hans, that bastard, chatting and laughing with the woman.
The Salutz sat beside him.
Staring this way with fierce eyes.
But he wouldn't get caught.
He'd erased his presence perfectly.
It consumed a lot of Aura.
But it wouldn't be a problem.
Since Hans's lightning magic would be nullified by this armor.
With the Aura he had left.
He could easily slice up a ragtag rookie mage like that.
He had to capture him alive if possible.
That was the only way to regain Baron Kargon's trust.
Yannick channeled Aura into his legs.
His thighs twitched, brimming with superhuman strength.
"Urraaah!"
With a roar.
He kicked off the ground with tremendous leg power.
And charged straight at Hans.
He'd cut off one arm.
That should break his will to resist.
What about the woman?
Well, as long as he captured Hans, it didn't matter what happened to her.
Tossing her to the starving soldiers didn't sound bad.
A smile spread across Yannick's lips.
The kind of grin only someone certain of victory could wear.
The distance closed in an instant.
He covered about 50 meters in nearly 2 seconds.
On Hans's face.
An expression of shock appeared.
He reflexively gripped his staff.
A vivid fireball formed at its tip.
"...?!"
Yannick was shocked.
Fire-element magic?
Mages who could use two or more elements were rare.
No, "rare" didn't even cover it.
Maybe two or three per country, if that.
Even Yannick, who'd wandered countless battlefields.
Had barely encountered any.
So how the hell could a backwater bumpkin like Hans use fire magic too?
His soul, eroded by chaos.
His Aura scattered in the blink of an eye.
"Fire Ball!"
The fireball flew at him.
Devouring oxygen with blazing intensity.
Shot toward Yannick with ferocious momentum.
He tried to roll aside.
But the sudden collapse of his Aura.
Made his legs refuse to obey.
For now, he blocked the fireball with the lightweight shield at his waist.
Kwang!
With a massive boom, the fireball slammed into the shield.
Now the fight was back to square one.
Yannick smirked confidently.
And tried to thrust his sword forward.
But it didn't go as planned.
"What the.."
The fireball he'd thought extinguished on the shield started moving like it was alive.
Slime-like movements.
It climbed over the shield.
Covering his gauntlets and armor.
"Uwaaaagh!"
Even a knight couldn't endure the pain of burns.
Yannick quickly tossed the shield away.
And shook his left hand.
Trying to put out the flames somehow.
But it was no use.
The fire, boasting a sticky texture.
Seeped under the armor.
And began roasting the old man's flesh.
The four soldiers arrived late.
They were just as panicked.
Seeing Knight Yannick flailing, engulfed in flames.
"Wh-what do we do?"
"Fuck.. wasn't he just a rookie novice mage.."
"If the knight's down, how the hell do we win?"
The soldiers started running away.
And chasing after them.
Was the hunting dog Bruno.
"Helen, let's go too! We can't let them get away!"
"Yes!"
We couldn't let them escape.
Having seen this scene.
We had no choice but to kill them all.
Bruno led the chase after the soldiers.
We followed right behind.
Helen had her bow ready.
And naturally, I gripped my staff.
A pursuit through the forest.
We had the clear advantage.
We'd become plenty familiar with this forest through all our hunting and foraging.
The soldiers seemed a bit lacking.
To have any chance of survival while fleeing, they should've scattered in all directions, but they were clumped together.
Probably due to fear.
If they didn't huddle tight.
They couldn't bear the pressure of the pursuit.
Woof woof!
Bruno barked ferociously.
Thanks to that, we could easily track the soldiers' position.
Helen suddenly stopped.
Nocked an arrow quickly and aimed ahead.
Twang!
"Kyaaaaagh!"
A soldier's scream rang out.
One had taken an arrow to the calf and tumbled down.
He wore a thick coat.
But it couldn't block a powerful arrow.
I rushed up.
And knocked him out with Stun.
We could finish him off later.
The chase continued.
One by one, they fell to arrows.
And I stunned them with magic.
Finally, all four were unconscious.
We had to finish them off.
But it felt pretty uncomfortable.
Killing wasn't new to me.
I'd killed Hunter Bruno with my own hands.
And just now, I'd burned Knight Yannick alive myself.
But that didn't make murder any easier.
Still, what had to be done, had to be done.
Half-assed mercy just breeds future trouble.
Plus, according to Helen.
These guys had tried to rape her.
Yannick had stopped them for some reason.
But eyeing another man's woman? Unforgivable.
I slit their throats one by one with my dagger.
I rummaged through their belongings too.
Surprisingly, there was a map!
A high-quality one with a large scale and detailed markings.
A few coins besides that.
And some hardtack and jerky pieces.
We left the bodies in the forest.
And returned to the cabin.
Yannick was still burning brightly.
"Fucked that up good.."
I muttered with a bitter smile.
A knight was quasi-nobility.
While I was just a serf.
If a serf killed a knight, he'd face horrific torture and execution.
Of course, that practically never happened.
Even an old knight could tear a serf apart like paper.
Anyway, I'd killed a knight.
No taking it back.
You can't revive the dead.
I'd already committed a capital crime—raping the Baron's Noblewoman—but this was an even heavier sin.
We had to run.
If Yannick didn't return.
Kargon would send even more troops.
Perfect timing, we'd gotten a map.
"Helen, it's time to leave this place."
"I know."
We started packing our things.
We dug a big pit.
And buried Yannick and the soldiers.
This should throw off Baron Kargon's pursuit.
We packed our stuff roughly.
Took bread and jerky.
And plenty of oats for the horse.
Didn't forget the sausages either.
Mostly the ones packed with lots of salt.
Salty enough to make you curse, but they kept for a long time.
Our destination was Yohvin.
No clue exactly how long it'd take.
But at least a month, for sure.
So we'd have to pass through villages and towns along the way.
Couldn't stop at Rafalen.
Wanted posters were probably already up there.
To avoid danger.
We'd stick to small villages as much as possible.
Departure at dawn tomorrow.
Gotta eat a hearty meal before we go, she said.
Helen was cooking with her sleeves rolled up.
I couldn't slack off either.
I searched the cabin and workshop one more time, thoroughly.
And finally found the hidden stash.
In a corner of the workshop.
Scooped a bit of dirt with a shovel.
Revealed a wooden plank.
Smashed it with an axe.
And underneath was a buried jar.
"Fire."
Lit a magical flame to check inside.
There were 32 silver coins.
And one gold coin.
Plus a ton of various jewels.
Hunter Bruno had been a bandit.
So these were probably stolen from victims.
Why hadn't he cashed them in?
Maybe he stashed them here to avoid getting caught fencing stolen goods.
If so, I had to be careful too.
Selling these could get me framed as a bandit.
Still, I took them for now.
"Wow.."
When I showed Helen.
A slightly sad expression crossed her face.
"Probably taken from dead people, right?"
"Yeah."
Helen composed her expression.
She grabbed my wrist and led me to the table.
"Dinner's ready. Eat up quick."
"Yeah."
The table was piled high with food.
Probably since this would be our last meal in the cabin, she'd put in extra effort.
Once dinner ended, full darkness had fallen.
Gotta wake up early, so sleep early—but.
Helen seemed to want something.
You could tell just from her flushed cheeks.