Chapter 167
“Damn it! Follow me! It’s dangerous here!”
Taran responded first to Theobalt’s shout.
“Where should we go?”
“This way for now!”
I wondered if that guy would have any decent plan, but Theobalt took us to an unexpected place. There was a space under the platform. The ground was dry, suggesting it had been built before the snow fell. The height made it difficult to stand up straight, but it provided sufficient protection from arrows.
By the time my eyes adjusted to the darkness and I could faintly distinguish shapes:
“Young master, come this way.”
Taran took off his outer garment and spread it on the ground.
“You don’t need to look after me in a situation like this. Take care of yourself. I would have praised you even if you had escaped alone.”
Theobalt’s expression, which had been looking at Taran as if he were an exemplary attendant, changed strangely.
“Don’t say that. You know what you mean to me, young master.”
“Not getting hit by arrows was just good luck.”
“I wouldn’t have minded getting hit. Because if it wasn’t me, it would have meant you were injured.”
I was momentarily speechless. Why would he try to protect me without even checking his own body?
“…”
Taran smiled faintly. His fingers on the ground were trembling. Pretending to be strong while afraid.
“Shh. It’s getting quiet outside.”
Theobalt lowered his voice. Taran and I also held our breath.
There were some suppressed sobs, but it was quieter compared to before. The camp seemed to have been taken over by the attackers. …The knights who were protecting us had probably all lost their lives.
Kuwoong-!
“…!”
At the sudden loud noise, Taran quickly covered his mouth with both hands. No sound escaped, but beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead, indicating how startled he was.
‘That was the sound of an ogre falling.’
How many had been taken down? Luwen’s beautiful sword energy flashed before my eyes.
Thump, thump, thump.
“…”
At that moment, as if telling us not to get distracted, someone walked on the platform above. Perhaps because it was an enclosed space, the echoing sound was particularly loud. We were all tense, just staring at each other’s eyes.
“Aaagh!”
A sword pierced through the ceiling and impaled Theobalt’s shoulder. As Theobalt, who had screamed in pain, showed a belated expression of dismay, Taran covered me with his body.
‘They knew we were hiding here from the start.’
Otherwise, there would be no need to stab the platform with a sword. It seemed someone had witnessed us hiding under the platform.
Blood splattered as the sword was pulled out. Theobalt reflexively grabbed his shoulder. Blood flowed through his fingers.
“The three of you, please come out.”
It was a surprisingly polite request. But their swords would not be so courteous.
‘They even know our exact number.’
There was no point in hiding anymore. I pricked up my ears to gather as much information as possible from outside. I could still hear intermittent groans and sobs from people.
‘I can’t tell the extent of the injuries, but they haven’t killed everyone. They don’t seem to intend a massacre.’
After stalling for just a brief moment, a sword pierced through the ceiling again. This time it stabbed at empty air, but the next might not miss.
“Let’s go out.”
“I’ll go first.”
Taran took the lead. Seeing his resolute expression that suggested he wouldn’t yield the front position, I let him go first. If we argued and wasted time, they might stab again.
Following behind, I turned my head to check on Theobalt. Every time he used his injured shoulder arm to support himself on the ground, he let out a suppressed groan.
‘He needs to stop the bleeding…’
But there was nothing I could do right now, so I decided to assess the situation once we got outside.
‘I’m not certain the messenger arrived safely.’
Just then, the sound of another ogre falling was heard. Even if the messenger had died on the way, everyone would return once they finished dealing with the ogre group.
‘I just need to hold out until then.’
If we behave obediently as instructed, they might not kill us.
Taran, me, then Theobalt. As we emerged from under the platform one by one, assassins were pointing their swords at us. Fortunately, they didn’t seem about to swing them immediately.
While helping Theobalt with his injured shoulder, I examined the assassins. They wore black clothes with no distinguishing features and masks that revealed only their eyes.
They took us to the back of the platform. There were quite a number of people huddled together, but several had lost their lives.
‘So the knights are all dead.’
I turned my head to look toward where the ogre group was. Their numbers had considerably decreased in the meantime. Now only about five or six remained.
‘That’s fast.’
At this rate, Luwen would arrive soon. Not just him alone, but all the guards who went with the deputy minister would return. It would be more than enough force to subdue the assassins.
‘But I’m concerned that they are guards.’
I examined the appearance of the remaining people. Since I couldn’t distinguish faces, I checked the attire of both the living and the dead.
‘Most of the dead are attendants or workers.’
There were some in luxurious clothes, but their bodies were closer to the forest. They must have been killed while trying to escape. Most of the other dead people were dressed shabbily.
‘Can they really fight properly?’
Only then did I begin to understand why the assassins had attacked the camp. Normally, assassination requires eliminating all witnesses. Yet they had taken hostages. This meant they judged it would be difficult to deal with the guards if they killed us.
‘Was sending the ogre group to the camp meant to disperse our forces from the beginning?’
But suddenly something felt off. These people knew that the Second Prince was participating in the hunting banquet. Wouldn’t they also know that Cromwell was participating too?
If they had obtained the list of attendees for the hunting banquet in advance, they wouldn’t have attempted assassination now. Even a child would know that the probability of failure was high. No matter how cornered they were because of the slave auction, they wouldn’t stubbornly push through with something that was bound to fail.
‘Could they have another objective?’
But I couldn’t guess what it might be, and I was turning this strange uneasiness over in my mind.
“Young Lord Vinter.”
One of the attackers stood in front of me and called me by name accurately. I turned my gaze to look at him.
“Please come this way.”
“No!”
Taran hurriedly pulled me back, but this time I didn’t allow myself to be dragged away. I stood firm, putting strength in my legs, and shook my head at Taran.
Most of the dead were attendants and workers. They would show no mercy to Taran.
“Stay put. That’s an order.”
“But young master…”
“Listen to me.”
The assassin had a sword in his hand. There was no time for gentle persuasion. As I detached from Taran and stepped forward, the assassin twisted his body to make way. I moved as he guided me.
‘The ogres… only one left.’
I wanted to see Luwen. Unfortunately, not even a trace of sword energy was visible.
“Stop here.”
I did as I was told for now. Luwen would come if I waited just a little longer. How long would it take for him to return after the last ogre fell? I tried to estimate the time it took for the first ogre to fall after Luwen left.
‘I should push them away and escape when Luwen arrives.’
Then he would surely catch me. It was something of a gamble, but Luwen would be able to use his full strength once I was safe.
“Time’s up.”
“…What?”
Just as I wondered if there was a separate intention, the assassin made an abrupt statement and immediately raised his arm. Sunlight reflected off the well-honed blade.
Whoosh-!
As I saw the sword being swung quickly, I hurriedly twisted my body. The blade narrowly missed me.
‘Time’s up? Were they waiting for something?’
How strange. If they wanted to kill me, they could have done so earlier. Yet they kept me alive until now, stalling by moving me around and unnecessarily engaging in conversation. The reason…
“Kuh, kuhak!”
As I was preparing for the next attack, the assassin who tried to kill me instead coughed up blood and then slumped to his knees. His body slowly fell forward. There was a dagger embedded in the nape of his neck.
“Protect the young lord!”
An assassin who appeared to have thrown the dagger shouted. As if that word was a signal flare, the situation suddenly changed. Fighting broke out among people wearing the same attire.
Even amid the confusion, there were those who swung their swords at me. I quickly rolled on the ground and picked up a fallen sword. While I couldn’t last long, a moment would be enough.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
