After the last Rank II monster fell, letting out nothing but a pitiful scream, Adam swung Repentance, and the blood on the blade spattered onto the ground, creating a small arc.
After that, a heavy silence fell, broken only by the sound of nearby tree branches and the nocturnal animals that were beginning to make noise.
The fight hadn’t lasted long; it was about three minutes—quite quick, given that they were Rank II monsters—but Adam was no longer a Novice Knight; he was now a Mid-ranking Knight.
Moreover, with the system’s help, his power was slightly greater than that of a knight of the sa rank.
After shaking the sword, he felt the stares of the rchants and the guards, who stood motionless. He hadn’t said a single word.
One of the guards looked at the bodies... then at Adam.
"W-what...?"
Adam looked at the bodies and then at the guard. Without saying a word, he waited to see what the guard would say.
Finally, one of the n—a middle-aged rchant with a neatly trimd beard—stepped forward and gave a hurried bow.
"My lord... You have saved our lives."
Adam looked at him with a calm expression.
"You were just in the way."
He turned around to go back to the carriage.
The man swallowed hard and looked at the monsters’ corpses.
"Even so... that’s not sothing just anyone could do."
Adam didn’t answer. His eyes swept over the overturned carriages, the broken crates, and the wounded guards.
A relatively large caravan. These weren’t poor rchants.
"Where are they from?"
"From the city of Malic, my lord. We were on our way to Bretan to et with the owner of the territory."
Adam raised an eyebrow slightly.
Bretan was a fairly large city, ho to several guilds of both adventurers and rcenaries, and it had a port for shipping goods to other parts of the continent.
That explained the quality of the goods.
"You’ve picked a bad ti to travel."
The rchant let out a nervous laugh.
"We didn’t think the monsters would co this far from the forest. Looks like we didn’t think that through, haha."
Adam walked slowly between the carriages, looking at the rchandise. His fingers brushed against an open crate full of goods.
"Still, they don’t seem well prepared. Where are the other guards?"
He noticed the rchant lower his head and reply:
"I had hired so rcenaries, but when they saw the group of monsters, they abandoned us... and when it cos to fighting Rank II monsters, there’s not much we can do."
"..."
That was exactly what Adam had feared when he sent the rcenaries: if they saw that the danger was too great, they would abandon everything to save their own lives. Though he didn’t bla them—if he were a rcenary, he’d probably do the sa.
That was precisely why he needed them to get through this crisis and find the elves to find a cure for his father.
Adam pushed those thoughts aside. Then he spoke in a casual tone.
"The carcasses of these monsters are valuable."
The rchants exchanged glances.
Adam continued:
"The skin. The bones. The claws. Everything can be sold for a good price."
The bearded rchant nodded quickly.
"Of course."
Adam turned his head toward the corpses.
"As their savior, it is my right to keep them."
The man didn’t hesitate.
"Of course, my lord."
Adam looked at him calmly for a mont.
"However..."
The rchant raised his head cautiously.
Adam pointed to the damaged wagons.
"They’ve lost guards, and the rcenaries they hired have deserted them. Their caravan is weakened. And there are still several days’ journey left to Bretan."
He paused briefly to let his words sink in, then continued:
"Besides, monsters aren’t the only danger; there are bandits too—and they won’t be so kind."
The rchant frowned.
Adam spoke in a calm voice.
"I’m heading to the city of Risthon. And my route goes through Bretan... I can escort you for a stretch."
The rchant looked visibly relieved.
"That would be a huge help. Especially now that we don’t have anyone to escort us."
Adam nodded slightly.
"In return, I’d like to ask you for a favor when we get to Bretan."
"A favor?"
"That’s right. Just a favor. I don’t need your money or your goods."
Adam looked at him calmly.
"What do you say?"
The rchant’s eyes sparkled with interest.
"We accept."
A faint smile appeared on Adam’s face. It was exactly what he wanted.
Traveling alone for so long was starting to bore him. At least now he’d have so company... and soone to talk to along the way.
"Well, I hope we get along."
...
Night fell slowly over the road.
The group had left the main road shortly before sunset and had settled in a clearing sheltered by a few tall trees. The wheels of the carriages rested motionless on the damp ground, while a small campfire crackled in the center of the camp.
The aroma of hot food mingled with the sll of burning wood.
The two guards were talking in hushed tones. So rchants were checking their goods one last ti before going to sleep. Others were resting.
Adam sat a short distance from the fire, leaning against a low rock. He watched the flas dance as the sky slowly darkened.
One by one, the stars began to appear.
The journey had barely begun.
Even so, that nightti stillness felt strange to him. Monts like that... were rare.
Then he heard it.
A soft sound.
The strings of an instrunt vibrated in the night like a whisper.
Adam lifted his head slightly.
A few feet from the campfire, sitting on a wooden crate, a young woman held a small stringed instrunt in her hands. Her fingers moved gently across the strings as a peaceful lody began to fill the camp.
The conversations gradually died down.
Soon, the guards stopped talking.
Music filled the night air.
Then the young woman began to sing.
Her voice was clear and soft, like the wind sweeping across the fields at dawn:
"When night shrouds the path, and the stars fall silent, walk on, traveler, without fear, for the moon knows your destiny.
If iron stains the horizon and the wind brings old songs, rember that even in the shadows, new stars are born."
The instrunt’s final notes lingered for a few more seconds before fading into the stillness of the night.
No one spoke.
Only the crackling of the campfire broke the silence.
Adam gazed at the starry sky.
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