Chapter 103
“Won’t I be disturbing your work?”
“You treated me that late at night. I should repay the favor.”
The worker patted his side and grinned. Although it didn’t seem like something worth calling a favor, I decided to accept his kindness as I needed help to alleviate my uneasiness.
“Then I’ll be in your care. Oh, including that person from earlier, if there are others who look similar, I’d appreciate it if you could tell me their assigned tents and names. There are circumstances, so I’d prefer if that person didn’t know I was looking for him. Is that possible?”
If, by any chance, Alteo was here, he’d probably resent me, so he wouldn’t have come with good intentions. Therefore, I didn’t think he’d show up willingly if he knew I was looking for him. It would be better to surprise him when I had time and confirm if it was really him.
“Of course. Leave it to me.”
The worker laughed heartily, and I smiled back at him before turning away.
Perhaps due to the spread of the changed treatment policy, there were no patients visiting the medical tent except those who clearly needed treatment even to a layman’s eyes. Thanks to this, I was able to spend a pleasant time until nightfall, but there was no sign of Marco or Luwen coming.
‘Was Luwen assigned to escort the herb team?’
I couldn’t think of any other reason. Worried that he might have been seriously injured, I occasionally visited other medical tents to ask, but Luwen wasn’t among the patients.
‘He said he might stay overnight depending on the situation… It’s probably just that, right?’
Trying to suppress my anxiety, I paced inside and outside the tent until the workers arrived. If only I had been busy, I would have been too preoccupied to worry. I sighed.
After finishing the cleanup of the medical tent, the worker who had investigated about Alteo for me approached. He informed me about a few people with similar appearances. I crammed the information the worker provided into my head, thanked him, and sent him away.
Honestly, I was more concerned about Luwen not coming than about Alteo right now. Marco would be protected by the knights, and he’d be fine with the mercenaries, but…
‘Is Luwen really assigned to the herb team?’
I was anxious because there was no way to confirm. Someone who came every day wasn’t coming, so I couldn’t calm down at all. Even when I asked the patrolling knights, they only said they didn’t know, which made it worse.
But if something had happened, the main camp couldn’t be this calm and quiet, so all I could do was reassure myself that everything was probably fine.
I sat alone on the rock where I used to have late dinners with Luwen, and only returned to the tent when it was deep into the night. It was to get even a little sleep, but of course, sleep wouldn’t come.
While I was tossing and turning in bed, I felt a presence outside the tent.
‘Could it be Luwen?’
I jumped up and went out to look, but there was no one there.
The disappointment that it wasn’t Luwen was short-lived.
‘…What’s this?’
I discovered red marks dotted on the ground leading to the medical tent. When I touched it and smelled my hand, the strong scent of blood hit me.
‘Did an injured person come?’
That was my first thought due to past experiences, but I soon shook my head. It’s the middle of the night when everyone’s asleep. They would know the medical tent is empty.
‘Of course, it can’t be Luwen either.’
If it were Luwen, he wouldn’t leave traces like this trying to hide his injury from me. The same goes for Marco, who is wary of the smell of blood. I looked around carefully, but I couldn’t sense any presence inside the medical tent.
‘If it’s Alteo…’
Instead of hastily checking inside, I carefully moved away from the tent, muffling my footsteps.
I hid in the darkness and watched, but there was no movement while the patrol knights returned to the medical area. Still, just in case, I explained the situation to them and asked for help.
“It’s definitely blood.”
While one knight approached the tent, the other hid me behind his back. Both had drawn their swords. Although they could have dismissed it, their serious response to the situation showed how faithfully they carried out their duties with a sense of responsibility.
You can tell a lot from one example. I was experiencing anew how high-level the Cromwell Knights were as I watched the situation over the knight’s shoulder.
He slightly lifts the tent entrance to peek inside. His hand gripping the sword seemed to tighten… then he laughed in relief and sheathed his sword. Then he fully opened the tent flap and entered.
A moment later, what the knight brought out from the tent was a baby wild boar.
“It’s already dead.”
Seeing an arrow stuck in the boar’s back, it seemed the mercenaries had lost it while hunting.
“Do you need it?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Then we’ll take care of this.”
How long has it been dead? Drops of blood were falling from the limp animal’s legs. The knight wrapped the carcass in his cloak to prevent blood from staining the camp and carried it away.
I sprinkled water to dilute the blood droplets on the ground for cleanup, then entered the medical tent. The floor was cleaner than expected, but one bed was a mess. There were clear traces of the wild boar’s struggle, making me sigh deeply.
‘If you’re going to hunt, at least give it a quick, painless death.’
I had heard that mercenaries often hunt nearby animals when unsatisfied with their rations, but I didn’t expect it to come back to me like this.
After finishing the cleanup, I finally removed the messy sheets and left the tent. Then I headed to the valley to rinse the blood from the sheets. Having been there once before, I wasn’t as scared as last time.
The sound of the valley stream mixing with the insect noises at the bottom of the cliff was quite atmospheric.
Yes, it was definitely a scene no different from usual.
Step, step-
But after I started down the slope, my footsteps seemed unusually loud. I was in a strangely alert state. Feeling odd, I stopped walking.
Whoosh…
A gust of wind swept through, causing the leaves to rustle noisily. The eerie chill made me keep looking around.
‘Is it because it looks like it might rain?’
Dark clouds covered the sky as if it might rain any moment.
‘Hmm, rather than standing here spreading the smell of blood, I’d better quickly rinse the blood and go back.’
Just as I was about to hurry my steps, the nearby bushes shook noticeably, and a black figure suddenly jumped out.
“…!”
I reflexively managed to dodge the charging figure. The attacker who tumbled to the ground immediately got up and lunged at me again. However, their overall movements were sluggish.
‘This person isn’t professionally trained in martial arts.’
I calmly observed my opponent. Their face was hidden by a black mask. They were about my height or slightly shorter. Their hair was brown, like Alteo’s.
‘But Alteo was skinny, while this person looks chubby. Is it not the chairman?’
No, he’s not the type to get his hands dirty even when spreading rumors. It was more reasonable to assume he had sent someone else rather than coming himself. Honestly, there’s no one else who would attack the countryside Norman.
‘Onin might dislike me, but I’m just a passing person to him. He didn’t seem stupid enough to risk his career planning something like this.’
Whoosh!
The attacker lunged at me again with arms outstretched. I threw the sheet I was holding to block their vision and buy time.
‘Can I shake this person off?’
There were two options. Either keep evading the attacker’s attacks until the knights arrive, or run to the camp and gather people.
The problem with the former was that I didn’t know where the knights were right now. If I made a mistake and got caught, it would be difficult to escape. And the problem with the latter was that the path to the camp was uphill, so there was a high chance my stamina would run out before the attacker’s.
‘Should I just subdue them instead?’
I’m not sure what they were thinking, but the attacker was unarmed. It didn’t seem like they intended to kill me, so it might not be impossible.
‘If I can quickly break one of their legs before my stamina runs out, it might be easier to shake them off.’
While the attacker was fumbling with the sheet over their head, I picked up a thick tree branch. Then, waiting for the moment they removed the sheet, I swung the branch quickly.
Crack! Thwack!
My attack aimed at the attacker’s forearm hit accurately. Along with the crisp sound, I heard the attacker’s scream.
“Agh!”
They seemed not to have expected me to attack, as they stumbled backward. But behind them was the cliff. Realizing that if I couldn’t escape, neither could they, the attacker stood awkwardly, and I could clearly read their flustered emotions.
Seeing how clumsy everything was, I became certain of my hypothesis that this person wasn’t used to this kind of thing.
‘Even a freshman from the swordsmanship department would fight better than this guy.’
I swung the branch again. Seeing the attacker’s gesture of raising both hands to block, I couldn’t help but laugh.
‘Even if you underestimate me, isn’t this too much? Sending such a pathetic guy. Ah, no. The countryside Norman couldn’t possibly fight like me.’
Reaping the benefits of grudgingly devoting myself to swordsmanship in my childhood, I swung the branch mercilessly.
Crack! Thwack!
“Agh! Aagh! W-wait, wait a moment!”
Huh? That voice sounds familiar…
