Chapter 77
We arrived at a small village nad Vancouver. When the villagers and the village chief heard that I, the youngest son of the Winterbell Ducal Family, had co, they welcod us with great enthusiasm.
“It is an honor to et you, Young Master. My na is Adam Smith, the village chief of this village. It may be a humble place, but I would be grateful if you would use it as comfortably as your own ho during your stay.”
“I appreciate the hospitality, but we will only be staying briefly, so there is no need to trouble yourself.”
“Understood. If there is anything you require, please call for at any ti.”
“I shall.”
The village chief, wearing a kind smile, bowed politely and then left. We rented out the entire inn. Given our numbers, it could not be helped.
Instead, I paid double the usual amount. The innkeeper repeatedly refused, insisting it was unnecessary, but I used my authority to force the paynt through. The horses, exhausted after a long journey, were sent to the stables. The village was so small that just housing the horses we brought filled the stable completely.
“Each of you rest as you see fit. Those who wish to drink may do so. However, it goes without saying that you will drink in moderation. And if anyone causes trouble and catches my eye…… I will not forgive them.”
“Yes, Young Master!”
It was certain that the rcenaries had accumulated considerable fatigue from the bandits’ ambush. As n who had lived rough and free lives, I was well aware of how unruly they could be.
They had likely been quite restrained while living in the Annex to beco my knights. At tis like this, it was best to let them vent their desires freely.
‘Yes. Tis like this are when you should really let loose.’
Like fish that had found water, the rcenary mbers began pouring drink after drink down their throats. Most of them were notorious heavy drinkers and exceptionally good at having fun, so the inn beca uproarious in no ti.
“Hey, you bastards! You heard the Young Master, right? Drink in moderation, moderation! Any bastards who lose control, turn into pigs or dogs, and screw up—just know you’ll die by my hands first, got it?”
Camille initially tried to maintain discipline. As the captain of the rcenary group, she was probably the most conscious of appearances.
But as ti passed, Camille too beca swept up in the atmosphere. Holding a massive beer barrel, she drank straight from it. Known among the mbers as the greatest drinker of them all, she emptied the barrel in no ti.
“Uahahaha! Bring more alcohol! More! Days like this are for drinking and having fun! But no mistakes! Which ans, as long as you don’t screw up, everything’s allowed! Let’s drink till we drop! Anyone who wants to challenge in a drinking contest, co at !”
“Kahahahaha! The captain’s nicely drunk! Nico, why don’t you have a drinking match with the captain? You’re no ordinary drinker yourself. I’ve never seen anyone drink as well as you in my life. It’s about ti you two finally settle all those drinking bets!”
“Hehehehe. Nico! Be a man and step up! Let’s settle it once and for all. Who’s the strongest drinker in our rcenary group!”
The excited mbers began egging the two of them on.
“Nico! Crush the captain’s pride! You’re confident, aren’t you? Even if you’re not the best in a fight, when it cos to alcohol, you’re number one in the world!”
“That’s right, you bastard! You’re not scared to challenge her, are you? If I were you, I’d bet my entire fortune right now—on myself to win!”
In the end, Nico accepted the bet, and the drinking contest between Captain Camille and rcenary Nico began. The atmosphere grew increasingly heated, and the mbers each started singing at the top of their lungs.
Watching that scene with satisfaction, I left the inn. I intended to take a look around the village.
“Young Master.”
“Cecil?”
Cecil called out from behind. She must have followed after seeing head out.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m just going to look around the village.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“Sure. But what about Attica?”
“She’s sleeping upstairs.”
I nodded. After returning to her true form and exerting her power, Akita must have accumulated a great deal of fatigue as well. The journey with Attica had been a great source of healing for too.
There was much I felt sorry for toward that child, and now that I had been given another chance, I wanted to do my best to make her happy.
‘For that, I’ll have to beco stronger.’
Walking beside , Cecil asked,
“You’re thinking about Attica, aren’t you?”
Startled, I asked,
“Oh? How did you know?”
Cecil gave a faint smile.
“Young Master, everything you think shows on your face.”
“Really? It shows?”
“Yes.”
No matter how much I thought about it, that didn’t seem right…….
“Cecil. Isn’t it just you who can tell?”
Cecil looked at with an enchanting expression.
“Oh my, how did you know? I’m the only one who can tell. Because it’s . Because I’m the one bound to you by a connection that has continued since our previous life, I can tell what you’re thinking, what expression you’re making, what emotions you’re feeling—everything. Hehe. Do you understand?”
“Ryeong.”
“……It’s Cecil.”
“I just felt like calling you that right now.”
“You’re as willful as ever. Van.”
We walked through the village together, talking about the past. Though we had t the worst kind of deaths, the mories we shared had not disappeared.
When I recalled the faces of those two bastards, a vicious fury surged within , but when I thought of the mories with the other companions, I found myself smiling just from rembering them.
Especially with Ryeong, there had been countless episodes, so our talk of the past never seed to end. It had been a long ti since we spoke like this, and old mories ca back vividly. Even the mories I had forgotten rose to the surface, and Cecil wore a happy smile as if she had returned to that ti.
mories were both terrifying and tender.
Simply recalling them could make a person happy, and simply recalling them could make a person depressed.
Humans used mories as a driving force to create new ones.
And perhaps, as we moved forward step by step like that, the trail of those footsteps was what we called life.
‘Yes. That must be life.’
While strolling with Cecil, I looked around the entire village. The residents we encountered greeted us with remarkably kind attitudes.
However, the truth was that my leaving the inn and wandering the village at this hour was not a coincidence.
Perhaps Cecil had noticed that fact, because on the way back she asked,
“Young Master……. So why did you go out of your way to look around the village?”
“Hmm……. I’m not entirely sure yet.”
“I see. Understood.”
I didn’t know what exactly she understood, but neither she nor I asked any further. After returning to the inn, I watched the rcenary mbers drinking boisterously for a while before heading up to a room on the second floor.
Then I went to sleep.
---
Step. Step. Step. Step.
From far away, I heard the sound of soone walking. It seed they were climbing the stairs.
Step. Step. Step.
Now they were walking down the corridor.
Step. Step.
Perhaps because it was made of wood, the sound echoed particularly loudly. It seed even more pronounced in the dead of night.
At that mont, I was certain.
‘An amateur. Or soone pretending to be one—but there’s no reason for a perfectly capable person to bother doing that.’
Step. Step.
The footsteps stopped.
They ended right in front of the room where I was staying.
A mont later.
Creeeeak.
The door opened.
“……”
The man who entered, opening the door, held a dagger in his hand. He stared intently at as I lay on the bed. It seed he was checking whether I was properly asleep.
I deliberately began to snore.
“He’s fast asleep.”
Once the man was certain I was sleeping, he thrust the dagger toward my chest.
Thud!
But of course, I was not soone who would be struck by such a blind blade. I rose instantly and broke both of his arms. Before he could scream, I covered his mouth.
“Are you alone?”
“……”
“Of course you wouldn’t be alone.”
Crack!
I twisted his neck just like that, and he died instantly without even managing to scream.
“So it turned out as expected.”
The man who had attacked was a villager. Just as I had anticipated. In truth, I had not been sleeping from the beginning. From the mont I entered the room until now, I had stayed awake with my eyes open through the night.
The reason was simple.
Because I had foreseen a situation like this.
And not long after, masked n entered through the window.
“!”
“!”
“!”
The three n clearly showed signs of panic the mont they saw waiting for them. However, they quickly regained their composure and charged at to kill.
“At the very least, Sixth Star level.”
But Sixth Star was, naturally, no match for now.
‘There’s no need to bring out Behemoth.’
Without even swinging my sword, I dealt with the masked n using only my bare hands. I caught a mana-infused blade between two fingers and snapped it in half, then flicked the broken blade shard.
Whoosh!
The shard sliced through the air and embedded itself into the napes of the three n. They died with faces full of shock, as if they had seen a ghost.
“To think he’s this strong…….”
“This isn’t what we were told…….”
I removed the masks from the dead n. As expected, they were the young villagers I had seen earlier.
Suspicion was turning into certainty.
I did not stop at removing their masks. I stripped off all their clothes. There was sothing I needed to confirm.
“I see.”
Their bodies were covered in tattoos.
That’s right.
They were not villagers.
They had never been villagers from the start.
The village chief who had welcod us, the innkeeper, the young n of the village—they were none of them residents of this place.
Their true identity was a bandit group.
They were mbers of Zephyr, whom I had been searching for.
As proof, black eagle tattoos—the symbol of Zephyr—were engraved all over their bodies.
In other words, the villagers of this place were not the original residents. Zephyr had slaughtered the true villagers and seized the entire village for themselves.
‘And once again, they knew we were coming. It was a trap set from the very beginning to kill .’
From the mont we entered this village, we had fallen into their snare.
Zephyr.
These audacious bastards had intended to hunt from the start. They saw themselves not as prey, but as hunters.
Daring to target Winterbell.
Just then.
Soone else opened the door and entered.
“Are you unhard, Young Master?”
“Yes. And Cecil?”
“It’s .”
It was Cecil.
As expected of her, she had made no sound at all. It felt as though a shadow was moving through the darkness.
It seed she had co to the sa conclusion as I had.
“I am unhard as well.”
“Were you ambushed?”
“Yes. Seven masked n broke into Attica’s and my room. They were not strong, so subduing them was not difficult, but……”
I nodded.
“The Harlan rcenaries are the problem.”
“Yes.”
Assassins had infiltrated both my room and Cecil’s. That ant there was a high probability that assassins had also infiltrated the rooms of the Harlan rcenaries, who had drunk themselves into a stupor and drifted off into dreamland.
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