CH 89

As soon as Carlton knocked down the last goblin, he hurried over to Luisen. Looking the young lord all over, he carefully checked for any injuries. This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, so Luisen calmly raised his right hand. “I’ve just scraped my palm here, otherwise I’m fine. I’m not injured.”

The young lord had abrased his palm against the surface of the wooden stick while pushing the monster back. “I’ve only had to push back one goblin. You should worry more about yourself.”

His companion had to deal with three knights who wielded their broadswords as if their blades were made out of paper. Luisen also looked over Carlton, and, to his surprise, the mercenary did not suffer a single bruise. At this point, couldn’t he be called a monster?

Just as the young lord thought that, Carlton looked fondly at the scratch on Luisen’s palm. “Still, you did well.”

“Huh? What?”

“You defeated a goblin by yourself. Although, the end of all that hassle was a bit regretful. You did a good job of avoiding boxing yourself against the wall and calmly chose your weapon–a long wooden stick.”

“It’s just a goblin…”

“When we first met, didn’t you almost die by a Goblin’s hand?”

“Ah, I suppose you are right.”

When he first met Carlton, Luisen completely panicked at the Goblin’s appearance and nearly died. If one considers that event, responding calmly and winning a power struggle against a goblin was a huge achievement by Luisen’s standards. If Ruger hadn’t called out to him, he could have shut down the monster’s breathing.

‘Come to think of it, I, Luisen Anies, have matured a lot.’ Luisen raised his palm to the mercenary while praising himself, “I simply used what I learned from you, again.”

""

Carlton chuckled deeply before grabbing the hand, clasping the young lord’s fingers firmly.

“I gave you my hand for a high five–what’s this sudden hand-holding?” Luisen grumbled, but he didn’t hate this sudden contact. As the two were about to fall into their own world, Luisen felt an insistent gaze. Looking to the side, he saw Morrison viewing them with a pleased expression.

‘Why…is he looking at us like that…?’

“You two make such a good sight.” Morrison sighed.

“…Are you a pervert?” Carlton shot back.

“What do you mean pervert? I just appreciate a good love story.”

“…You certainly look like you do.”

Anyway, with Morrison watching, the desire to do more disappeared. Luisen let go of the mercenary’s hand with a sour expression, took out his handkerchief, and wiped off the goblin blood that splattered onto him.

Carlton glared at Morrison, frustration evident in the lines of his face. “What were you doing for you to be so late? I didn’t think you could sleep through this pandemonium.”

“Of course not! I was fighting my own battles.” Morrison said, as if he were wronged. “After you two left, I was lying down by myself. Suddenly, I felt very uncomfortable, so I thought I should look around.”

Carlton had exited first, and Luisen followed. It wasn’t something special; the two enjoyed a secret nightly meeting almost every day. So, it was obvious what the inquisitor would witness if he were to follow him out the door. Instead, Morrison tactfully slipped out through a window on the back wall.

“What?! You knew?!” Luisen’s face flared red–his secret meetings were uncovered!

“I was right there when you two moved out; of course I’d know. I don’t particularly mind, so please don’t worry. Anyway, as I walked around, I happened upon a strange man.”

The man had apparently stood next to a direwolf; he looked down at the village from atop the nearby hill, and the aura surrounding him felt ominous and mysterious. Morrison had a hunch that the man was a demon worshiper and approached in secret. The demon worshiper failed to respond properly to the sudden surprise attack.

“Direwolf? Is that the man who attacked the refugee village?”

“I don’t think he came there to fight–it was almost like he was there to observe. There were only a couple of direwolves. I had almost captured him, but…”

“You lost him?”

“Yes. I had to capture him alive in order to interrogate him. However, at that moment, that man ordered a direwolf to bite him and drag him away.” Morrison clicked his tongue, as if he regretted not overpowering the man.

Morrison’s face, as he recalled his fight with the demon worshiper, reminded Luisen of that inhumane expression he saw at the docks. That must be Morrison’s true self as a heretic inquisitor. Once again, the young lord thought it was truly fortunate that Morrison and his misunderstanding was quickly and easily resolved.

“These direwolves are incredibly fast; I couldn’t chase after them with just my two feet, so I came back to town to acquire a horse. However, there were demon worshippers here, too.” There was another battle happening in the village. Morrison was elated to have another capture target, but he had to help the young lord first, as the young lord was already in conflict with Ruger. “I am fortunate to have followed my Duke. I met two people–people who I saw neither hide nor hair of earlier–all at once! My sixth sense wasn’t incorrect.”

Morrison seemed pleased to have encountered the worshippers, even though the villains had escaped. “Those bastards… they’ll probably attack the Duke again, yes? Next time, I won’t clumsily target the ankle. I’ll target the spine…”

“Stop talking so viciously in front of my Duke.” Carlton protested, covering Luisen’s ears. Luisen nodded as well–‘Don’t say such cruel things so nonchalantly.’

Morrison shrugged his shoulders. “By the way, that man with the red hair…he’s Ruger, right?” The inquisitor had only heard stories about the man; he had never seen the attendant in person.

“That’s correct.”

“Wasn’t that man a bit odd?”

“He’s completely odd.” Luisen said, bluntly. “He kept saying such strange things. He’s not usually one to speak such nonsense. He didn’t even seem to know what he was spouting.”

“Still, he saved my Duke from the goblins, didn’t he?”

At Morrison’s words, both Carlton and Luisen’s brows wrinkled simultaneously.

Luisen spoke, “Supposedly, he’s been ordered to take me alive. That’s what he said, at least. Why the sudden interest in Ruger?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing, but I just have a strange feeling.”

There seemed to be more to the topic, but Morrison wouldn’t say. The three of them cleaned up their surroundings and prepared to leave the village. After all, other monsters or beasts may be lured here by the scent of blood, or Ruger and his gang may come back with reinforcements.

The three recovered the remains of the barony’s knights and took their identification cards. In place of a funeral, they simply cremated the corpses and prayed.

***

Without space for proper rest, the three people set off on the road again. The dark, almost-dawn sky was filled with twinkling stars, but all three were not in the mood to enjoy this beautiful scenery. They were busy discussing what to do in the future.

Until now, they had felt no threat due to Luisen’s disguise as a pilgrim, which kept the Duke of Anies’s whereabouts unknown. However, now his location was discovered and his identity was revealed; those bastards would be like tigers, waiting with eyes wide for an opportunity to steal and kidnap the young lord away. 1

“I thought we would encounter them at least once before entering the capital, but I didn’t expect it to be like this.” Luisen sighed deeply.

""

He had thought they’d meet Ruger just before passing through the capital city gate–that the attendant would lie in wait there. They had planned how to respond to that situation. However, they didn’t know the demon worshippers would come after the pilgrim while bearing a grudge. The group needed to revise their future plans since they were discovered earlier than expected.

“However, nothing can be helped, right now, right?” That was Morrison’s argument. This trick had already been tried once–disguising yourself as another person would be uncovered quickly.  Even if they quickened their pace, the human body would prove to be the rate-limiting factor. It would be dangerous to try and protect Luisen when they had no idea how many demon worshippers existed. Nor could they claim that Carlton was some unrelated mercenary. “Wouldn’t it be better to reveal your identity and move quickly?”

“That’s a bit… Wouldn’t that make the situation more difficult?” Luisen said. Currently, in the eastern part of this kingdom, even knights became robbers. The hyena-like rascals who would want to capture the Duke of Anies would rather slow down the group’s steps, providing openings to Ruger’s gangs.

“Then, why don’t we find someone who can protect the Duke after he reveals his identity?”

“Who?”

“The Great Lord of the East. According to the information I received, the Eastern Great Lord should be leading his knights around this area.”

“Nngh… I don’t particularly like that lord…” 2 Luisen’s brows furrowed.

The Eastern Great Lord, the Duke of Assylus, was in his sixties, old enough to be Luisen’s grandfather. He was an authoritarian man who was well aware of his own privileges; a man that took pride in his birth status. The man was an inconvenience for Luisen because he had always nagged the young lord, who had lived like trash.

Most of all, before regression, when the wandering Luisen had visited him, Luisen was kicked out without being able to meet the Duke of Assylus. The same was true of all the other nobles. Therefore, the young lord decided to head to the capital with only Carlton for help. Furthermore, the lack of knowledge about who the shadow beneficiary of the demon worshippers was added to his decision.

“Is the Eastern Great Lord trustworthy? What if he’s behind the demon worshippers?”

“I’ve met him before–he’s a very religious man who would have nothing to do with heresy.” Since Morrison, an inquisitor, was the one to say that, the great lord’s credibility was made even stronger.

“You all won’t be treated well by that old man,” Luisen said.

Especially Carlton.

“It matters not how he treats us–it’ll be safer with his knights. Ruger and his demon worshippers can’t easily confront us that way. However, the issue is that the Great Lord’s exact location isn’t clear.”

“It would be different if we were far away from them, but isn’t it a relief that we’re in the same area? I don’t think we’ll have to stray too far from our original path. I can make efforts to quickly find a more detailed description of the man’s location.”

Morrison and Carlton were both optimistic about this plan. ‘Ugh,’ Luisen groaned. Things were completely different from before the regression, so he supposed it would be fine to ask the Easter Great Lord for help. He’s not a member of the demon worshipers, after all.

However, his heart still pounded from the betrayal and contempt he received at that time. But, since Morrison and Carlton would be the ones to fight in any situation, Luisen needed to respect their opinions. “Alright. Then, when we meet them on our way… I’ll attempt to negotiate.”

The young lord grudgingly gave his permission, and a new destination had been set.

***

Meanwhile, two escaped demon worshippers and Ruger reunited in a rocky cave a little ways away.

Footnotes

호시탐탐 is an acronym: definition – a tiger stares at its prey with its eyes wide open, quietly looking for an opportunity to steal someone else’s property. This phrase comes from an old Chinese novel. 양반 can mean man, but, in this scenario, it does the double work of pointing out that this lord isn’t a mere commoner.