Chapter 90
Joshua gathered his companions and explained the plan.
He intended to take revenge on the knights of the Norton family tonight as scheduled.
“Are you, are you really planning to go through with that?”
Gavinu asked back.
His face showed disbelief.
“Speak if you have any doubts.”
“It is not that I am worried the plan will go wrong. I am just concerned that this action might be different from your usual path, Sir Joshua.”
“In what way?”
“In Triden Village or Dormitory 2, it was an exploration to obtain items without owners, but this ti it is extortion. If we take from them, the people we robbed will beco our enemies. Furthermore, the opponent is the Norton family.”
Joshua nodded.
The boy’s point was quite valid.
To survive in this world, not making enemies was an important thing.
“Don't worry. This is a fight between and Balderk. It has nothing to do with the Count.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, and Balderk made a mistake.”
“A mistake? What is it?”
“My personality.”
Gavinu tilted his head as if he did not understand.
“I don't care if they are nobles or royalty. If they give an excuse, I will gladly use it.”
This world sent an assassin nad Balderk to him as if it were a trial.
A clueless beginner would have been victimized.
An experienced player would have ended it at a point where they did not suffer a loss.
And an expert knew how to use even bad luck.
“Do I look like the kind of person who would tremble before the halo of a family?”
“No, not at all.”
Gavinu was the one who answered, but everyone around was swallowing dry saliva.
Everyone had seen it at least once.
The kind of attitude Joshua showed in front of the Knight Captain.
“Balderk monitored us. Of course, we did not suffer any damage. But that does not an we should just let it go. If you have been targeted, pay them back. Pay them back double.”
“……I, I will keep that in mind.”
“Do you have any more doubts?”
“No, none.”
After finishing his conversation with the boy, Joshua turned his gaze toward the two mages.
They were Adela and Tania.
“It is your turn now.”
“Leave it to us!”
“Phew, I hope it goes well.”
* * *
Balderk gathered the knights and received the report on the results of the surveillance.
There were no suspicions.
Continuing the surveillance like this would only have been a waste of stamina.
“What did you intend to do if the kids knew who that elf was?”
“I intended to eliminate them, if only for the sake of the Countess’s honor.”
Strategic marriages were common for nobles.
Because it was a marriage without heart, it was also common to have a lover like the current Count.
These issues were easy to get caught up in gossip.
Political enemies were skilled at using this as a pretext to pressure their opponents.
Consequently, the one who suffered most was always the noble’s spouse.
She would be branded as an incompetent woman who could not stop her husband’s infidelity and be pointed at by the world.
Balderk could not stand that alone.
“Even though there are young ladies from other families?”
“Are there only one or two people in this world who die without a sound? Furthermore, the outside is crawling with monsters. Even if they die, no one will know.”
“Hehe, how heartless.”
The subordinate laughed while clicking his tongue.
Balderk was a second cousin to the Countess.
Since he was not the eldest son and could not inherit the family, she had entrusted him with the position of managing the private soldiers.
He was, in a sense, indebted to the Countess.
He was a person of the Norton family.
But he was a person who worked for the Countess, not the Count.
That was who Balderk was.
“The sentries are on duty, I assu.”
“Of course. We cannot leave the horses to a stableman. The other bastards are taking turns looking after them.”
“I plan to leave the day after tomorrow. If you have things left to organize, finish them in the anti.”
“Understood.”
The report ended, but the subordinate did not leave.
He fell into thought like soone who had sothing left to say.
“Is there sothing you want to say?”
“There is one thing that bothers .”
“Speak.”
“According to the other bastards, there is a possibility the surveillance was discovered. Especially those two boys, Joshua and Leonard, must have noticed.”
“So?”
“What do you plan to do if they ask for an explanation?”
Balderk snorted.
A look of derision was on his face.
“They are just students. Even if they are displeased, what can they do?”
“They are not just students. They are students who took down a variant.”
“I admit their ability is outstanding, but they will not have the guts to make an enemy of the Norton family. If Joshua cos to and demands an explanation, I will persuade him well and send him back, so don't worry.”
The subordinate was still anxious, but he spared his words beyond that.
Even in his own mind.
It was hard to imagine the boy committing sothing.
“I will head down now.”
After he disappeared, Balderk was alone in the room.
He took a comfortable posture, tilting the chair halfway.
It was dawn.
It was hard to bear the sleepiness that was gradually crowding in.
He closed his eyes with the intention of shaking off the fatigue.
It was peaceful.
But sothing that broke that peace awakened him.
It was the sll.
A burning sll, like a rotting old tree being consud, stung the tip of his nose.
“……What the?”
Just then, he felt soone striding up the stairs.
The door swung wide open.
Cold sweat flowed from the subordinate’s forehead.
“Sir Balderk, it is a fire!”
“……A fire, you say?”
“That is right. It is dangerous if we don't escape right now.”
“What about the way down?”
“It looks like it will be difficult.”
“I will jump out the window.”
Balderk equipped his gear and threw himself out the open window.
He fell from the height of the third floor, but his solid body suffered no impact.
He turned his body.
The fire had started from below and was in the middle of engulfing the entire building.
He gestured to the subordinate who followed him down.
“Damn it! We have to put out the fire. Call all the scattered team mbers together. If we cannot put it out in ti, there will be trouble.”
It was dawn.
The flas in the middle of the night were visible even from a distant place.
If left like this, zombies would flock.
“But where do we get enough water to suppress a fla like that?”
“Just bring them for now!”
“A-Alright.”
After the subordinate left, he looked around.
The sleeping rcenaries woke up and ca outside.
They looked at this situation with great anxiety.
‘It is strange. How co I don’t see them?’
Balderk felt a sense of incongruity.
The guild people, who were the owners of this village, were not visible.
They were the ones who would have been most flustered by the fire right now.
Yet not a single one was visible.
“It is strange. Do the flas look like they are gradually getting weaker?”
One rcenary who was watching said.
“Yeah? I feel like they are shrinking too.”
Balderk examined the building once more.
The rcenary’s words were not an illusion.
Soone was using mana to suppress the flas.
Splash! As the flas weakened, ice shot up from the ground.
The flas that were a source of worry cooled down in an instant, and only white ash fluttered about.
Sothing was bizarre.
The timing of the fire starting and being put out looked like soone had planned it.
“Oh no!”
Balderk ran.
The place he headed for was the field where the horses had been tied up.
Arriving in a hurry, the horses were not visible as he had expected.
His face turned bright red.
“……Hmm?”
Soone was looking this way in the distance.
They were mounted on horses.
He could not recognize the face of the person mounted since he had pulled over a cloak.
But he could tell that the horse he was riding was theirs.
“It is you. The one who started the fire and stole the horses!”
He drew his sword and loaded it with aura.
Swinging it forward, he sent out a powerful slash.
The one mounted on the horse reached out his hand.
A shield created by a cluster of light gathering together bounced the slash away.
He doubted his eyes.
Even though the distance was considerable, it was an attack loaded with aura.
He had never seen a mage who blocked that so easily.
“Sir Balderk.”
The voice was not unfamiliar.
He recognized whose voice it was in an instant.
“Joshua! It is you.”
“I am the benefactor who solved the Count’s commission. But the actions you have shown for the past few days were quite botherso. I clearly told you I did not know who that elf was. Yet you attached a tail.”
Balderk bit his lip to the point that blood ca out.
“It is a necessary action for .”
“Yes, I respect your intent. And I am just paying you back.”
“What?”
“Even if I did not kill you, the intent to kill alone was enough justification for revenge.”
Joshua answered mockingly.
Attempted murder was strictly a cri.
If he had not withdrawn his suspicion and committed the deed.
Soone on our side could have died.
“So you stole the horses? Do you think I will just let you go? I will pursue you anywhere you go.”
“No matter how fast your feet are, you cannot chase a horse. And I am warning you, you had better not follow.”
Balderk swallowed dry saliva.
The boy’s eyes revealed inside the cloak flashed sharply.
He felt a sense of intimidation.
It was his first ti feeling this way toward a student of the Academy.
“If I confirm you are following, I will send a letter to the Count. In that letter, I will write this: ‘Sir Balderk threatened . So, I fled the village as if escaping.’”
He could not help but hesitate.
The fact that he had trailed the boy had already been caught by several guild mbers.
If the Guild Master helped the boy and testified, his head would have been on the line.
“I will take the two horses as a bonus. The bonus is so big that it is burdenso.”
“Will the Count forgive you if you steal the horses?”
“Shall we make a bet?”
“What?”
“Between you, who tried to harm a benefactor, and , who stole the horses to pay it back. We will see whose side the Count takes.”
Balderk’s body went rigid.
The Count lost his reason whenever it ca to matters related to the elf Cloren.
It was obvious whose side he would take.
“You, you knew. Who that variant was.”
“Maybe.”
He felt utterly despondent.
He had seen through not only Cloren’s identity but also the Count’s tendencies.
A chill ran down his spine.
At so point.
The fear beca greater than the resentnt toward the boy.
“I will pray that you make a wise choice this ti.”
The boy moved further away.
Balderk had no choice but to put down his sword and watch his retreating back.
* * *
[You have completed the hidden quest – ‘Balderk’s Pursuit’.]
[You obtained 30 coins.]
[Currently held coins: 250]
Joshua turned his head and looked at the forest path he had passed.
No sound could be heard.
Balderk had given up on chasing.
“I don't know if it is okay to finish it like this.”
Leo asked in a worried voice.
“I am not being hostile toward the Norton family. I have just picked a fight with the man nad Balderk.”
“What if that man tells the people above?”
“Don't worry. That will not happen.”
Leo shrugged his shoulders.
Doubts remained, but he had no desire to argue with Joshua.
He changed the subject quickly.
“How long will it take to Saint Stalia?”
“Since we have got horses, fifteen days is enough.”
“Fifteen days…… so it is camping all the way until then.”
He looked around.
Since the ti they escaped Villen’s night, they had to find a place to camp right away.
“Do you know a place nearby?”
“If you go off the road, there is a river.”
“I have no experience driving a horse through the bushes.”
“Then we have no choice but to get off and walk.”
Joshua got off his horse.
Leonard, Adela, and Talleon, who had been driving horses after him, got off in turn.
“Argh, my butt.”
Talleon, who was unfamiliar with riding, let out a scream as he got off the saddle.
Leo gestured for him to be quiet.
“Be especially careful so the horse does not cry out.”
They walked the forest path.
He felt the presence of sothing approaching right beside him.
It was a zombie.
Gavinu drew his sword, ran forward, and cut its neck.
The boy kicked the thing, of which only the torso remained, with all his might.
The companions stared at that scene blankly.
“There might be a few more still.”
Joshua spoke and warned them.
Everyone looked around.
The groaning of the zombies gradually grew louder.
“We are done for escaping, aren't we?”
Leo confird the plan.
“Since you said you have no confidence in driving on a forest path.”
“Damn, I should not have told you anything.”
Leo entrusted the reins he was holding to another and drew his sword.
He commanded the boys.
They struck down the zombies that were approaching one by one.
However, despite their efforts, the number did not seem to decrease.
“Serena.”
Joshua called her.
She understood her role.
She activated detection magic and pointed with her hand to the side with fewer zombies.
“Leo.”
“You an I should open the way over there. You two, follow while maintaining formation.”
The boys nodded and followed Leo.
He examined their movents.
Their breathing matched so well now that it could have been called perfect.
“Phew.”
Leo exhaled a sigh.
They had succeeded in shaking off the zombies.
“This should be enough, shouldn't it?”
He turned his head and his eyes shone as if asking for praise.
“It is not bad.”
Leo showed a look of disappointnt.
“You know, if I have worked this hard, would it not hurt you to say a single word of praise?”
“Opening the way was your role as a knight.”
“I know that, but.”
Joshua took out three boiled eggs from his backpack and threw them to the boys.
“Desire a visible reward rather than lip service.”
“I feel like I am gradually becoming a puppy at this point.”
“Then you must be a very, very happy puppy.”
“Why?”
“In today's world, where is a master who gives you a place to sleep and feeds you? Everyone is busy throwing them away. Or eating them.”
His body trembled.
His words sohow pierced his heart like a dagger.
“Don't worry, you are doing well now.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
A sigh of relief flowed out.
When he talked to him, ten hearts were not enough.
“I suppose it’s around 60 points?”
“What's with that incredibly stingy score.”
“Since I said it was 50 points last ti, it has definitely gone up. I think this is an achievent you should be happy about.”
“……Is it?”
“Yes. If you want, there is a way to get one more point, shall I tell you?”
“What is it?”
“Open the way until a river cos out.”
“You're telling to do it again when I just broke the path?”
The hand that was holding the sword trembled.
The throbbing in his chest had not subsided either.
Nevertheless, he moved his feet.
He thought that at so point, being recognized by him was extrely enjoyable.
“Damn it, I’ll get a perfect score for sure.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
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