The Weight of a Life's Price
On a hill overlooking the panoramic view of Verden, four panting horses came to a halt.
Before the dust kicked up by their hooves could even settle, Ella raised her staff and pointed it toward the empty air.
"Hmm..."
Ella's eyes flashed.
The magic circle drawn in the air spun like a compass before stopping, pointing not toward Verden, but in an entirely different direction.
"They're on the move."
Ella lowered her staff and looked back at Kyle.
"They've left Verden. And at a remarkably fast pace."
Kyle's brow furrowed.
"Their heading?"
"They're heading toward Rosen, the next city. It looks like they slipped away just before we arrived."
At those words, Luna tilted her head.
"Isn't the timing a bit too perfect? Could they have noticed your detection magic?"
"Impossible. To sense an Aura Detect spell from this distance, you'd have to be an Archmage."
Ella shook her head, confident in her magical prowess, but the situation was clear.
The targets had moved exactly when their pursuers were closing in.
"If not that..."
Sera spoke up cautiously.
"Then either Leon has another magic item besides that shield... or there's a powerful figure by her side capable of noticing the detection magic."
"A powerful figure, huh..."
Kyle glared at the road leading out of Verden with cold, lifeless eyes.
Perhaps that kidnapper had brought along an ally.
Or maybe a third party had intervened. But no variable could bend Kyle's obsession.
"It doesn't matter."
Kyle yanked the reins violently.
"Whether they're a mage, a swordsman, or a demon. Nothing remains uncut before my blade."
He barked a short order to his companions.
"Pick up the pace. Don't even give them room to breathe."
"Understood!"
The four horses galloped again, kicking up a storm of dust.
"Hyah! Hyah!"
Meanwhile, on the highway outside Verden.
Two horses were running, cutting through the wind.
Elena and Leon, having abandoned Dean, were riding relentlessly away from the city.
After riding in silence for a long while, Elena slowed down slightly and spoke to Leon.
"Hey, you."
"Y-Yes?"
"I don't think you've told me the whole story yet."
Elena's sharp gaze pierced Leon.
"This whole 'Leon's younger sister' story is highly suspicious, and Kyle's obsession with you doesn't add up either. Just to kidnap you and make you his plaything? A high-ranking adventurer of that caliber wouldn't mobilize like this over a single woman."
She was a veteran mercenary who had survived countless battlefields. She instinctively sensed the clumsy holes in Leon's hastily fabricated lie.
Leon tightened her grip on the reins. Cold sweat trickled down her back.
She's definitely no ordinary woman. A half-baked excuse won't work on her.
She couldn't reveal everything right now. Unlike the foolish Dean, if Elena found out she used to be a man, she might hand her over to Kyle out of pure amusement.
Leon made up her mind and looked straight at Elena.
"Lady Elena, it's difficult for me to tell you right now. But..."
She proposed with a solemn expression.
"Please just get me safely to the Capital. Once we arrive, I'll tell you everything—my true identity, and the real reason Kyle is chasing me. And I will make sure you are handsomely rewarded."
"A reward, huh..."
Elena smirks, amused.
"You do know my fee is quite steep, right?"
"I don't care how much it is. I'll pay you back even if it means giving you everything I have."
At Leon's desperate reply, Elena fell silent for a moment, then threw her head back and laughed heartily.
"Hahaha! What a spunky little sister!"
Her laugh was boisterous, but the meaning behind it was chilling.
"Fine, I'll trust you for now. But keep this in mind. My fee isn't always settled with just money."
Elena continued with a meaningful smile.
"Years ago, a certain Margrave hired me for a territory war. He was desperate. If he lost, his entire house would be annihilated."
"..."
"I executed the contract perfectly. I took the enemy commander's head and won him the war. But do you know what that noble bastard said after it was all over?"
Elena's eyes flashed coldly.
"He claimed his treasury was empty from feeding his people, so he couldn't pay me right away. He kept dragging his feet, saying he'd pay me later."
"So... what did you do?"
Leon gulped and asked.
Elena replied casually, "What else? A contract is a contract."
She made a throat-slitting gesture with her finger.
"Since he couldn't pay the fee, I took his head instead. Nice and clean."
"...!"
"I had to dodge bounty hunters for a bit because of that, but who cares? Reputation is everything in this business."
Elena sped up again and winked at Leon.
"So you'd better be careful too. If we reach the Capital and you have nothing to give me, or if you lie to me again... that pretty neck of yours might be added to my collection."
"Hyah!"
Elena spurred her horse and surged ahead.
Leon stared blankly at her retreating back.
A shiver ran down her spine. That woman was not one to joke.
Did I run from a wolf only to end up traveling with a lion?
But there was no choice. For now, she had to borrow the strength of this dangerous lion to escape the mad wolf chasing them. Leon bit her lip and followed Elena.
Perhaps because they had been riding without rest, the horses' movements slowed down noticeably, panting heavily. White foam formed around their mouths, and their swollen muscles twitched as if cramping. No matter how excellent the steed, there was a limit to running at full speed without rest.
"Tsk, is this as far as they go?"
Elena clicked her tongue and loosened the reins. She patted the horse's rump and glanced back. Although nothing was visible to the naked eye yet, her instincts, honed through countless life-or-death situations, were screaming.
The pursuers were right on their heels.
"There are no villages nearby to swap horses... at this rate, we'll be caught red-handed."
She muttered, adjusting her scabbard.
"Can't be helped. Looks like we'll have to fight here."
Elena's voice carried a combative anticipation rather than fear. But hearing this, Leon's mind became a tangled mess.
Leon looked at Elena's back and recalled the memories of last night.
While her encounters with Dean and other men were one-sided extractions of essence, her encounter with Elena, a woman, was closer to a synchronization. What flowed into her during their intimacy was not just pleasure. The muscle memory of swordsmanship engraved in Elena's body, the flow of mana, and countless combat experiences seeped into Leon's mind.
Furthermore, she was certain that the more they coupled, the deeper Elena's affection for her grew. Like an imprinting effect, physical union was strengthening their mental bond—or rather, Elena's obsession with her.
She's definitely strong. The rumors weren't empty.
In her memories, Elena's movements were practical and devoid of waste, and her mana control was razor-sharp. She could see why people counted her as one of the top ten mercenaries. A true specialist in slaughter, optimized for killing.
But Leon shook her head coldly.
No. There's no chance of winning.
Leon knew the strength of the Dawn's Trace party better than anyone. Before being cursed into a woman's body, he was the vanguard tanker of that party, the legendary Iron Wall.
Above all, the Kyle chasing them now was no ordinary former comrade.
He... is a demon.
When Leon was cursed into a female body in the Labyrinth, Kyle, whom he believed to be a friend, revealed his true colors. Instead of comforting the confused Leon, he subdued and violated him by force.
"Yeah, comrades. They were very useful comrades. By night, they were my playthings, and by day, they set up a sucker like you as a shield to hunt safely. Isn't it perfect?"
"You... son of a bitch! You're not even human!"
The horrific memory of that night flashed through her mind.
Luna, Sera, Ella... the female party members she believed were comrades were actually all Kyle's women, and the disgusting truth was that Leon was just a fool used to make Kyle look good.
Luna and Sera, who were chasing them now, probably believed she was kidnapped, but the sharp-witted Ella might suspect something. But what did it matter?
In the end, they were all in the palm of Kyle's hand.
Kyle was a seemingly perfect hero. With his handsome looks, noble character, and outstanding skills, the continent's gossips praised him as the hero of the next generation, and his reputation within the Adventurers' Guild was spotless.
But only after becoming a woman did Leon painfully realize the hideous, twisted hypocrisy hidden behind that mask.
Our party, though at the bottom of the list, is still one of the top ten adventurer parties on the continent. That reputation wasn't earned for nothing.
Gossips would often chatter over drinks:
"If one of the top ten mercenaries, whose job is killing people, fights one of the top ten adventurers, whose job is killing monsters, who wins?"
Most would side with the more ruthless and underhanded mercenaries. But that debate had long been settled by a past incident. One of the top ten mercenaries challenged the legend of the Adventurers' Guild, the Golden Lion, and was sliced vertically in half in just three seconds.
Of course, the Golden Lion was an anomaly, but that incident clearly demonstrated the insurmountable gap between top-tier adventurers and mercenaries.
Kyle might not be on the level of the Golden Lion, but his talent... even I never saw the limit of it. And he's not alone.
If Elena were leading her mercenary group, the story might be different. They could use numbers and formations to buy time or create variables. But right now, she was alone. If Leon were still functional as a tanker, they might have stood a chance together, but with her current body, it was impossible.
Facing Kyle's party alone? It's suicide. Elena won't last long before she's killed.
Leon wasn't belittling Elena's skill. She just knew the monstrous strength of Kyle all too well.
"Lady Elena," Leon spoke urgently.
"We can't fight. They are... much stronger than you think."
"Oh? Don't you trust me, little lady?"
Elena raised an eyebrow, displeased.
"I know you're strong, Lady Elena! But they... they are a team. And their leader, Kyle, is far stronger than the world knows. A frontal clash is hopeless."
Leon appealed sincerely. If Elena died here, her shield was gone. And above all, she didn't want to see someone die fighting for her.
"We have to run. We must lose them somehow!"
Elena read the fear and conviction in Leon's eyes.
"Tsk, that hurts my pride."
Elena clicked her tongue and gripped the reins again.
"Fine, if that's what the client wants. But we won't get far with the horses in this state. We need another way."
Just then, as they rounded a bend in the road, a massive carriage procession moving ahead came into view.
"Wait."
Elena narrowed her eyes and slowed her horse.
It was a noble's carriage adorned with luxurious decorations, surrounded by six escort knights.
Their posture on horseback, the precise intervals maintained in their formation, and their vigilant eyes scanning the surroundings...
There was no disarray in their movements. It was a distinct military discipline that can only be ingrained through thousands, if not tens of thousands, of repetitive drills.
They weren't mere sellswords; they were genuine knights.
"Those are some proper knights," Elena muttered.
She considered just passing by, but her lips curled up as she spotted the coat of arms on the flag fluttering on the side of the carriage.
"Hmm, that crest... if we play our cards right, we might get some help."
"Huh? Do you know who they are?"
At Leon's question, Elena gestured toward the flag with her chin.
A coat of arms depicting a roaring red wolf on a black background fluttered in the wind.
"A real big shot who holds immense sway in the Capital. The House of Belfort."
"The... Belfort family?"
Leon's eyes widened. The House of Belfort was a prestigious martial family that had produced the Imperial Knight Commander, the iron-blooded guardians of the northern border.
"What is such a prominent family doing here..."
"Who cares about the reason? What matters is that those high-and-mighty nobles can serve as an excellent shield for us."
With a meaningful smile, Elena spurred her tiring horse toward the carriage procession.