CH 86

Chapter 86

Part 8: The villains are always after us.

The day after departing, Morrison chased Luisen and Carlton and forcibly joined their party.

According to Morrison, the church will send another inquisitor to the South to launch a full-fledged investigation; as soon as they find any new information, they promised to send that information to Luisen through Morrison. He promised that the church would protect the young lord, as long as he continued to be targeted by the demon worshippers. That was good news for the young lord. To be frank, he felt somewhat depressed about his next moves after they entered the royal castle.

The newly formed group, now accompanied by the inquisitor, headed for the capital. They passed the route most often used by those who crossed the river–just as the young lord had done. That path was the shortest way to the capital.

At first, Luisen was worried that his identity would be discovered, so they were originally going to make a huge detour through a deserted forest road. Instead of the relatively close east gate, he had thought about making a twisted path towards the south gate or even the far west gate. However, their plans changed as soon as Morrison joined their party. Now, they had learned of the enemy’s identity and that the enemy would be following Luisen; those men knew that the young lord was heading towards the capital. A detour wouldn’t help them avoid a confrontation.

Like that, a few days passed. They moved during the day; during the night, they emulated the homeless by searching for a suitable place to sleep. At first, Luisen was worried that Morrison and Carlton couldn’t escort him to the capital without fighting each other. He didn’t know Morrison’s real personality, and heretic inquisitors were known to be fanatics. The man was like a ticking time bomb.

Fortunately, excluding the pagan infidels, Morrison was a kind and caring man toward others. He was a consistently kind person–just like when Luisen first met him. So, the man didn’t cause any trouble. When Carlton concluded that they’d need Morrison’s help, the mercenary was no longer cranky. The two did not become close, but they worked together without much difficulty.

The three men guided their horses down the road.

“I thought I’d be able to immediately catch sight of one of those men if I followed the Duke, but there’s no hint of their presence,” Morrison said, regretfully. He secretly expected–anticipated–a demon worshiper’s appearance, but no one popped up.

‘Honestly, does he think that those guys just pop up wherever I go?’ Luisen thought about scolding Morrison, but the young lord kept his mouth shut in annoyance. He simply watched the scenery pass by silently, leaning into Carlton’s arms; drowsiness soon fell over him. He was nervous about riding a horse, but, as he got used to it, he was exhausted from merely sitting still. So, he began to fall asleep.

“You should just go to sleep.”

“Mhmm.” There was nothing more dangerous than falling asleep on a horse, but… Carlton was there. Luisen couldn’t resist the temptation of sleep and leaned his head onto the mercenary’s shoulder.

Carlton embraced Luisen tightly with his left arm so that the young lord would not shake around. In contrast to the chilly early winter air, the mercenary’s body temperature was warm, and the young lord quickly fell asleep. The mercenary’s subtle scent also comforted his mind.

Carlton drove his horse more carefully, so that Luisen wouldn’t wake up–it was a pity that the young lord’s sleeping face was hidden by the hood. Luisen’s sleeping face always had a solemn yet elegant aura–like a snowy winter’s night. Very aesthetically pleasing.

“It seems he must have been incredibly tired,” Morrison said as he saw that the young lord was now asleep.

“It’s inevitable. After leaving the ship, we were homeless.” Carlton felt sorry for Luisen. A man who should have never known hardship in his life was now falling asleep on a trotting horse, tired from wandering. Even though the young lord must have been exhausted, he didn’t show any signs of complaining. The mercenary’s heart felt simultaneously warm and stiff.

‘He could stand to be a little bit more childish with me, at least.’

It was regretful, but Luisen’s poise held out–that’s the man’s charm, though. “Let’s find an inn and rest early tonight.”

“That’s what I was thinking. There was a small village marked on the map. Let’s go there.”

When all that needed to be said was finished, silence fell between the two. Usually, the conversation was maintained through the young lord as a mediator. Without Luisen, there was nothing more to say between the two of them–other than about the schedule and their future plans, that is.

Carlton placed Morrison out of his mind and focused more on the young lord in his arms. The warm weight against his body; the pleasant scent that wafted off man’s skin. The comforting feeling, body temperature, and his breaths. Every small thing was pleasing. It wasn’t long ago that the noble would scurry away from him like a squirrel; now, when he thought about how the young lord trusted him to the point where Luisen was willing to be vulnerable while falling asleep… This felt so refreshingly unfamiliar yet joyful.

As he luxuriated in his happiness, Carlton could feel a gaze from the side. Morrison was staring at him. Sometimes, the inquisitor looked at people without blinking, and Carlton found it a little creepy.

“What are you looking at?” Carlton said pointedly.

“Sir Carlton is quite pure despite his outward appearances.”

“What?”

“No–nothing. I hope that you’ll stay so beautifully in love for a long, long while.”

‘Long, long while? Is he making fun of me?’ Carlton’s expression twisted with annoyance. However, there was a little noise out front. Carlton and Morrison placed their hands on their sword hilts, ready to fight at any time.

A fairly wide stream flowed across the field; the current was strong and deep, so there was a bridge built to help travelers cross the stream. The bridge was sturdy and made out of stone, so even wagons could pass. There was a group of people–they appeared to be travellers–gathered near the foot of the bridge. Three men in plate armor sat in the way.

“What’s going on?”

“Let’s go and find out.”

As they approached closer, they could quickly see why the people had gathered.

“I am a knight who serves Viscount Boton. This bridge was built by the grace of the Viscount, so you cannot pass unless you pay the toll!” The men standing on the bridge shouted.

‘So, the knights that were absent when monsters popped out or robbers attacked were stationed here, huh?’ Carlton snorted.

“Hey what is this… Is that a highwayman?” 1 The uproar woke Luisen up; the young noble yawned, completely relaxed. Because they ran into bandits at least once a day on the way here, he was no longer surprised at their appearance.

Public security north of the river was completely different from the South. Any form of stable security was completely destroyed during the main stage of the civil war. If one walks through the forest path, there will inevitably be monsters; if one walks on the road, highwaymen will appear. It was common for mercenaries to switch careers and become bandits after a war. Those who have lost their livelihoods often turned to thievery as well.

Because of this, the road had been blocked by bandits or monsters more than once. The average traveler would often choose to turn back or was left helpless, but Luisen’s party did not avoid them. Nor did they suffer defeat.

A villain who dreams of the world’s destruction is chasing from behind; they couldn’t waste their time on some petty highwaymen. A blocked road can be opened through force. If a monster proved to be a roadblock, then the monster must die; if a robber blocks the road, then they can just kill the robber. Carlton and Morrison always jumped into the fray brilliantly.

“You’re just going to pass them, right? We don’t really have any place to go back to.” Luisen looked around; he could see no other bridges.

“Of course. What great timing–I’ve been feeling a bit annoyed.” Carlton dismounted his horse and strode forth to the bridge, alone. Luisen got off the horse, thinking he’d give his buttocks some rest while Carlton fought.

Just at that moment, a nearby merchant urgently spoke, “Excuse me. He’s a part of your party right? Hurry and stop him! The men who took over the bridge are incredibly vicious.”

“It’s alright. They’re only some robbers.”

“No! They’re not ordinary robbers! If you confront them now, you’ll needlessly court trouble later on. Besides, they won’t let you pass peacefully even if you pay the toll!”

“You can’t pass through even if you pay the toll?”

“Yes! As soon as you walk past them, they’ll throw you into the stream and ask you to cross through them again. Then, at that point, they’ll ask you to pay the toll again. They’re so villainous, but… We can’t do anything about those knights!”

“So that’s why you all were hovering about this bridge.” Luisen was convinced, yet he didn’t feel too much tension. Then, something the merchant said attracted his interest, “But, are those people really knights? After all, just wearing plate armor doesn’t make one a knight.”

“They’re truly knights. A man named Viscount Boton employs them.”

‘True knights…huh.’ Not everyone could become a knight. One had to come from a wealthy household, and they had to be highborn–at least more than a mere commoner. As a child, they must be the squire of another knight, and they must go through a long training period.

“Why are knights taking money from passersby?” Luisen asked.

It’s a knight’s job to defeat robbers but, instead, these knights are doing the robbing?

“Why, don’t you know that Viscount Boton abandoned his estate and ran away a few months ago? He was terrified, muttering about the ‘aristocrat butcher’ or something like that.”

“Ah.”

So there was another fool like him–or at least like him before he had regressed.

“Since the lord ran away, leaving behind the denizens of his estate as a shield, the knights have abandoned all morality and declared they’d find their own way,” the merchant continued.

Luisen felt complicated as he looked at the knights. So this was what happened when a lord abandoned their territory; long-established tradition and all systems collapsed. The sword meant to protect peasants were then directed at innocents. “By the way, you seem to know the situation well.”

“Our feet have been tied here for three days now… Rather than just lounging about, I looked into background matters instead.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to search for another bridge or to turn around?”

“…There’s no other bridge except for this one… They’ve all been broken.”

“I see. Then, I think you’ll be able to cross today. Please wait a little longer.” Luisen drank some water and took out a bag of peeled walnuts. He may as well eat while watching.

“Honestly, I’ve said that those men are real knights! How could one mercenary deal with three knights?! They’re not going to cut him some slack, so hurry up and stop him!”

“It’s alright. That friend will take care of everything.”

“Give me a walnut as well,” Morrison said, stretching his hand out. Luisen gave Morrison some walnuts and, while he was at it, shared a few with the merchant as well.

Footnotes

a robber that mostly steals from travelers.