Chapter 92
The policy was set to take turns standing guard.
The boys were first.
Talleon and Gavinu prepared to leave the hut.
“There are a few things I need to tell you.”
I called them over.
The boys t my gaze with stiff faces.
“Please tell us.”
“Even if an enemy appears, you mustn't pursue them. You have to move in a defensive manner.”
“Yes.”
“If you think things are getting even a little difficult, wake the others. Overconfidence is forbidden.”
“Understood.”
“Then, good luck.”
The boys stepped out.
I didn't intend to leave it entirely to them.
If the raiders were going to attack, it’d be right after everyone fell asleep.
When I returned to the hut, everyone except Adela and Leo had fallen asleep.
“Rest when you can rest. Conserving strength is an important task.”
“Okay.”
Adela said.
She closed her eyes as if trying to force herself to sleep.
Next, I checked on Leo.
He was casting his gaze out the window.
“Are you worried?”
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn't.”
“I told them to let us know if a problem arises.”
“I don't think those kids will make a mistake. It’s just that sotis you can't prevent things from happening even if you don't make a mistake. That’s the point I’m concerned about.”
I laughed lightly.
Compared to when we first t, the depth of his thoughts had changed.
It was sothing Leo had learned in his own way while hunting rats in Vilne.
“Everyone’s growing up well.”
“Those kids?”
“They aren't the only ones I’m looking after.”
“Were you talking about ? You only ever put to work and never taught anything.”
“How could a crow know the mind of a stork?”
“……Hmm.”
“Go to sleep quickly, you’re wasting ti.”
Leo stepped away from the window and returned to his spot.
Then he closed his eyes.
After a few minutes, his breathing changed.
Now everyone was asleep.
I rose from my spot again so they wouldn't wake and headed for the back door.
A trap doesn't necessarily need to use tools.
An ambush where a person is hidden was also a fine trap.
“No sleep for tonight huh.”
I told [Patience] that I was counting on it.
Naturally, the bastard looked quite excited.
* * *
“Aren't you tired?”
Gavinu asked Talleon.
The boys were on the first guard shift tonight.
“I’m not tired, but my butt hurts.”
“Endure it even if it hurts. When else would apprentices like us get to ride horses if not for tis like this?”
“I guess that’s true.”
Gavinu turned his gaze and checked the horses.
Since there was no place to hide them, they were tied to the posts near the hut.
The horses were standing quietly in their places.
“I’m worried because the location is exposed.”
“Didn't Sir Joshua say he’d do sothing with a magic circle?”
“He told us not to be complacent. He said we could be discovered in an open place like this.”
“That’s unsettling.”
Talleon, who was talking, rose from his seat.
A single zombie approached this way through the thicket.
“I’ll do it.”
“Okay.”
He drew his sword and approached slowly.
The zombie turned its gaze toward him.
“Groaaar!”
He swung his sword at the thing that ca running while letting out a terrible groan.
He cut its knee.
The bastard lost its balance and fell.
Even after falling to the ground, it approached while flailing its arms.
He raised his sword once more and slashed.
He succeeded in cutting off both arms and finally stabbed its neck.
“……Phew.”
He checked to see if the movent had stopped.
“Be careful. The mont you think it’s all over is the most dangerous.”
Gavinu, who was watching nearby, advised.
Just like his advice, a zombie was a monster that you shouldn't let your guard down against until the very end.
“It’s dead.”
“Isn't that a strange expression for a human who was dead from the start?”
“Then how am I supposed to say it?”
“Wouldn't the expression that you hunted it be more appropriate?”
“It’s all the sa.”
Talleon grumbled as he returned to his spot.
When he sat down, he saw the zombie he had just hunted.
“I should’ve cleared the head away.”
“Go do it now if you want.”
“It’s a hassle.”
Gavinu chuckled.
“Just a few months ago, I think I would’ve gagged just looking at a zombie, but now I can be relaxed even with one in front of . I can't believe it.”
“Wouldn't anyone beco like this if they were under Sir Joshua?”
Gavinu thought for a mont and then nodded.
Who was their leader?
He was a man who rummaged through human corpses with his bare hands without a care.
“That man is, how should I put it, an amazing yet fearso person.”
“I know what you an.”
The boys ford a bond while talking about Joshua.
The darkness deepened.
They had to do sothing to shake off the gloomy atmosphere.
Keeping their mouths busy was the best option the boys had.
“How much ti is left?”
Gavinu checked the ti with a watch he had picked up sowhere.
“Thirty minutes left.”
“Who were we supposed to wake up?”
“Senior Adela and Senior Serena.”
Talleon nodded.
Silence returned once again.
Whenever the drowsiness beca hard to bear, they endured it by pinching their knees.
“……Yaaaawn.”
He let out a long yawn.
Through his narrowly opened eyes, he saw the thicket squirming.
“Gavinu, did you see that?”
“What?”
“I think sothing moved in the thicket on the opposite side.”
Gavinu scowled.
“Are you sure you didn't just see things because you’re sleepy?”
“……I can't be certain.”
“If it was a zombie, it would’ve rushed us imdiately.”
His heart pounded.
If it wasn't a zombie, it could’ve been an animal passing by.
It could’ve just been the wind blowing.
But if it was none of those.
Only one answer remained.
“What should we do?”
“We have to follow the rules. He told us to wake Sir Joshua or the Captain if we felt sothing strange.”
“What if it’s nothing?”
“That’s not for us to judge.”
Gavinu rose from his seat.
It was right as he turned around to enter the hut.
Soone was fiddling with the post where the horses were tied.
“Who’s there!”
It was a person.
He seed surprised for a mont, but then he focused on what he was doing.
The loosened rope looked like it would co undone at any second.
The number was one person.
There were four horses in total.
He didn't think he could escape with them all by himself.
“He’s planning to wake the horses and startle them.”
Gavinu worked his brain desperately.
It’d be too late if he went into the hut.
But it was also reckless to run at the enemy alone.
He had to think.
What would the leader have done?
He would’ve acted while taking a certain amount of risk.
“Raiders!!”
He shouted until his throat split.
Hearing the sound, soone ran out of the hut.
It was Leonard.
He lunged at the enemy near the horses without hesitation.
Clang!
Sparks flew as sword t sword.
Then, one by one, the companions ca out and scanned the surroundings.
“Kgh!”
One person was forgotten.
When he turned around, a rope was caught around Talleon’s neck.
He checked the direction the rope was connected to.
It was the forest.
Talleon tried to cut the rope with his sword.
However, the pulling force was strong, and he failed to cut it.
Eventually, his friend’s figure disappeared into the thicket.
* * *
Talleon opened his eyes.
The pain around his neck was severe.
He tried to use force to check with his hands, but it didn't go as he wanted.
His arms were pulled back and tied with sothing like a rope.
“Fuck, the plan’s a ss.”
“You said it’d be no problem because they’re students!”
“Shut up. More importantly, Bennett was caught.”
“Forget about that guy.”
The surroundings were noisy.
When he opened his eyes slightly, he saw human legs.
They were gathered in one place and sorting out the situation.
“I was planning to steal the horses and run, but I couldn't even bring one!”
“It’s too much to go back. They’re all awake.”
“What are you going to do with this kid?”
He shut his eyes quickly.
He knew the person they were talking about was him.
“How about getting horses as a ransom?”
“I think that’s not a bad idea. Since they’re still young kids, it’ll work well.”
“What if we get countered instead?”
“Are you scared?”
“That apprentice knight who fought Bennett was no ordinary bastard. He had aura wrapped around his sword.”
“Aura?!”
“If the others are at the sa level, we have to avoid a collision.”
The n couldn't easily finish their discussion.
He had to think during this gap.
A way to let his companions know where he was.
Or a way to escape from them.
“Hey, look at this.”
“What is it?”
“It’s the sword this kid used, it’s a quite famous blade. It’s not sothing a student would use. This is sothing only knights use.”
They examined his sword.
His body flinched unknowingly.
It was the item Joshua had given him as a gift at Line Tower.
He didn't want to lose that sword of all things.
“Where did he get sothing like this?”
“If you don't know, you just have to ask.”
Tap, tap.
He heard the sound of soone approaching.
The footsteps stopped right in front of him.
And a mont later, a strong impact was delivered to his left cheek.
“Kh-ack!”
He was slapped.
He fell to the ground from the impact.
“Are you awake, kid?”
The man grabbed him by the collar and forced him up.
“I’ve got a lot I want to ask, and if you answer, I’ll handle you gently.”
He didn't answer.
It was closer to the fact that he couldn't.
His head was dizzy because he had just been slapped.
“You idiot, you’ll kill the kid before you even ask. Can he even talk if you hit him that hard?”
“Was I a bit too much?”
“Get lost to the side. I’ll ask him.”
A thin man stood in front of him instead of the man who hit him.
“I’m sorry, it hurt a lot, didn't it? That guy has a nasty temper, so please understand.”
He didn't show any reaction.
He clenched his teeth and endured the pain.
His head was entirely filled with the thought that he shouldn't beco a burden to his companions.
“Where did you guys co from?”
He couldn't keep his mouth shut forever.
He worked his brain in his own way.
“……West.”
“So, where in the west?”
“I don't really know.”
“You don't even know where you ca from? You expect to believe this.”
“I’m just a low level mber, so I only did what I was told.”
The man looked unsatisfied, but he let it slide for now.
“Where did you get the horses?”
“We took in ones that were abandoned.”
“Abandoned?”
Whack!
The man didn't hold back this ti and drove a fist into his abdon.
Saliva mixed with blood flowed from his mouth.
“Huff, huff.”
“I can hear your brain working from all the way over here. You seem to be ignoring us because you think we’re uneducated, but I know your horses aren't ordinary ones.”
“I don't know the details.”
his expression contorted.
He thought it was unfair.
Getting the horses was the achievent of the leader and the female students who were mages.
He didn't know the process of how they got them.
“Hmm, it seems you really don't know, so where did you get the sword?”
“From a ruined site while wandering here and there.”
“And where is that?”
“It was a place called Line Tower.”
“Hey, has anyone heard of it?”
The man turned his head and asked his companions.
Fortunately, one person raised their hand.
“From the rumors I’ve heard, there was talk that two of the knight order’s bases collapsed recently.”
“Oho, then this is true.”
He fell into thought while toying with his chin.
“Is there any more information that might be tempting?”
“I don't know.”
“Then I’ll ask from my side. How many people are there?”
Unlike the previous questions, this was the kind that was hard to dodge.
When the silence grew long, the man laughed while revealing his malice.
“Are you all students? Or is there soone else helping you? What can you do?”
The questions beca increasingly specific.
When the silence grew long, the man rose as if he had an idea.
When he looked up, the man was holding a dagger he hadn't seen until just now.
“Have you ever been tortured?”
He swallowed hard.
He wanted to avoid injuries of all things.
If he was seriously hurt, it’d interfere with his movents.
If that happened, Joshua, the leader, would think differently of him.
He might be thrown away.
The talk he had with Leo, the captain, kept coming to mind.
“It hurts like crazy you know.”
The man threatened while chuckling.
“If you don't want to get hurt, say sothing.”
The tip of the dagger touched his thigh.
If he just applied force, the tip would pierce his skin.
“I’ll talk.”
“Now we’re talking. Right, so what do you know?”
“Co a little closer.”
“What, what kind of grand secret are you going to tell .”
His face approached until it was right in front of him.
Crunch!
He threw his body and bit the man’s nose.
“Aaaaghhh!”
He pushed him away with all his might with both arms.
There was a sensation inside his mouth.
He had torn off his nose.
The face of the opponent, which was full of composure, turned into a hideous sight.
“I was planning to go for the neck, but I missed.”
“You crazy bastard!”
“My na is Talleon, I’m a person who’s resolved to keep my pride as a knight. There’s absolutely no way I’ll sell out my companions.”
“Fine, I’ll handle you just as you wished.”
It was the mont the enraged man was about to rush in.
Bang!
He was blocked by sothing and sent flying.
He blinked.
A shield made of gathered light.
It was the magic of Joshua, the leader.
“……Have you ever been tortured?”
Joshua’s voice was heard from sowhere in the forest.
He felt relieved inwardly.
He had looked ahead this far.
He always thought of the what-ifs.
Even if things deviated from the flow, he sohow reclaid that flow.
“It’s going to hurt like crazy.”
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