The group had been camping and traveling north from Malmu for several days.
As they marched on as usual today, braving the suddenly cold wind, Kyle squinted his eyes and muttered.
“…What is that?”
Coleman, who had been handing carrots to Ruon and Caliban as a sign of goodwill, while watching a gray rabbit disappear into a burrow in the distance, turned his head at the same time.
“Huh?”
Something was hanging from a large tree that looked miserable without any leaves. And there was a lot of it.
Ruon, who had the best eyesight among the group, realized that they were corpses that had been executed and furrowed his brows. Kyle and Coleman also couldn’t close their mouths at the horrific sight.
The corpses, whose necks were tied with ropes, regardless of their age or gender, were covered with large and small wounds all over their bodies, as if they had been tortured cruelly when they were alive.
Ruon spotted a signpost next to the tree. He walked over to it and scanned the words carved into the wooden piece.
<The village chief of Black Rock Village, Herelon, and twenty-three others have committed the crimes of hiding, destroying evidence, aiding escape, inciting and conspiring with the vicious barbarians. Therefore, they are severely punished by execution.>
What the hell.
Ruon let out a hollow laugh.
The crimes listed were too outrageous to believe that they were committed by ordinary villagers.
Besides, treason? Did these village folks have some crazy idea of taking over the kingdom? Moreover, among the dead, there were even old men who looked at least eighty.
Colin also clicked his tongue.
“I don’t like barbarians, but this seems a bit forced, don’t you think?”
Kyle also shook his head and added.
“This is not really an execution. They just killed them and hung them up, right? Look at this person. He has a hole in his chest, for crying out loud.”
Just then, an old man who was pulling a cart on the other side of the road saw the group and shouted in surprise.
“Get away from there. Right now!”
He ran over to them and looked around nervously before opening his mouth.
“If the earl hears you talking nonsense here, you’ll all be beheaded.”
The old man was flustered by the indifferent reaction of the three sullen men.
“Didn’t you hear me? You’re in big trouble.”
Coleman, who was picking off the lint on his leather armor with his nails, asked.
“What did we do to deserve beheading?”
The old man, who belatedly noticed the unusual size and armament of the group, answered in a trembling voice.
“Do you really think these people hanging here died because they committed all these crimes?”
His eyes were very gloomy and shaky at the same time, so the group tried not to scare him.
Ruon, who had been silent, spoke calmly.
“Thank you for your concern. We’ll be on our way soon, so don’t worry too much.”
The old man’s face, which had been shriveled like a rat, relaxed a little.
“Thank you for saying that.”
Then, Kyle, who had been carefully observing the changing color of the sky, turned his head.
“The sun is setting faster than I thought… Excuse me, sir, is there a place nearby where we can rest?”
The old man sighed and glanced at the corpses hanging from the tree.
“There used to be, but now all the villagers are hanging here.”
At that, Kyle rummaged through his pocket and took out four silver coins and handed them to the old man.
“Then, can we stay at your house for just one night? I think we’ll freeze to death if we camp out today.”
The old man blinked his eyes in surprise at the considerable amount of silver piled up on Kyle’s palm. It was a profitable deal to rent a room for a day and get five silver coins.
It was also a small gesture of kindness from Kyle for the old man who might be reluctant to let the unusual group into his house.
“Th-this…”
The old man looked back and forth between the silver and the group’s faces, and his wrinkled hand folded over Kyle’s palm.
“Follow me.”
After finishing his words, the old man led the way with his cart, and Kyle shrugged his shoulders.
“How about that? This amazing negotiation skill.”
Coleman scratched his nose and said.
“Brother, couldn’t you have taken one out? Four silver coins would have been enough to show your sincerity.”
“Eheh, you don’t know anything. Ruon looks the most ferocious, so three silver coins. One each for me and Coleman.”
“Oh…”
What a mess.
Ruon, who was watching Kyle’s miraculous logic and Coleman’s admiration, unknowingly closed his eyes tightly.
Whether they knew it or not, the two men who had become close in the past few days followed the old man, chatting about this and that.
***
The dinner was nothing but boiled potatoes and mulligan soup, but the warmth was enough for the group, who emptied their bowls without a word.
“I’m sorry I didn’t have much to offer. You must not have filled your stomachs with those bodies.”
Possible continuation.
Kyle smiled kindly at the old man’s apologetic words.
“No, it was delicious.”
Coleman, who had been looking at the stuffed deer head above the fireplace, asked.
“Sir, were you a hunter?”
“I used to be. But now I can barely walk, let alone run, so I’m living on as a herbalist.”
“My father was a hunter too…”
As Coleman rambled on about his father who died hunting a bear, Ruon lightly brushed off the burrs stuck to his pants and threw them into the fireplace.
At that moment, he felt a very faint movement and quickly turned his head to look at the window. He saw someone duck down a second too late.
Ruon casually turned his head back and looked at the old man.
“Why were those people hanging from the trees? Did they do something to offend the baron?”
At that, the old man’s wrinkles deepened.
“…If they had any sin, it was only protecting their neighbors who had been with them for a long time.”
At his vague words, the attention of the group focused on him and he coughed a few times before opening his mouth.
“There was a northerner named Oten living in Black Rock Village. Yeah, a barbarian.”
At the word barbarian, Coleman flinched and crossed his arms. The old man noticed his unnatural movement and shook his head.
“Don’t be so uncomfortable. It’s true that Oten’s hometown was beyond the mountains, but he left there ten years ago and settled in Black Rock Village.”
His eyes moistened as he reminisced about the past.
“He met a loving wife and started a family and lived well without envy. He was a diligent young man. No one ever picked a fight or discriminated against him because of his origin. He was a warrior who skillfully hunted down the monsters that plagued the village. Who would dare to do that?”
The group listened quietly, curious about what would follow.
“Then, a recent incident happened. The baron who succeeded my father who died of illness said he would inspect the territory he would rule and touched a woman he fancied, but he ended up killing her.”
Kyle asked with a wary expression.
“Could it be that she was Oten’s wife?”
“…You’re right.”
The story continued.
Oten, who had returned from cutting wood in the mountain, went mad at the sight before his eyes and swung his axe, killing not only six of the baron’s men, but also leaving a scar on the baron’s face.
But in the end, he was subdued and brutally killed, and the baron, who was still angry, slaughtered the villagers and hung them from the trees, claiming that they were infested with barbarians.
“You probably didn’t see it, but right now, Oten’s head is skewered on a pole at the entrance of the village. It’s horrible.”
Kyle and Coleman’s faces hardened at the outcome of the incident.
Then Ruon spoke.
“I heard you. How about we let the child outside in now? It’s very cold.”
He said that and pointed to the window with his thumb. Sure enough, someone startled and bowed their head, but this time, everyone could see clearly.
The old man exclaimed in surprise.
“Good heavens, Adley!”
He ran outside and came back with a little girl in his arms.
“What’s going on?”
The group blinked their eyes, not knowing what was going on, and the old man hugged the girl tightly and set her down in front of the fireplace.
“Didn’t I tell you it was dangerous to come out of the barn?”
“Hehe, I’m hungry. Grandpa.”
The child smiled innocently, her cheeks red. She looked about seven years old.
The child, who had a coppery skin and bright black eyes, waved her hand at the group watching her.
“Hi, hello.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Ruon poked the child’s cheek with his index finger and then spoke to the old man who was still holding her.
“Don’t worry, the baron won’t bother you.”
The old man’s eyes fluttered at his calm voice. He soon calmed himself and said.
“Is that true?”
Ruon nodded silently and rummaged through his backpack and handed the child a few pieces of dried meat.
The girl exclaimed and bit off pieces of the meat while sitting.
Coleman muttered as he looked down at the girl.
“This child has barbarian blood mixed in her.”
The old man staggered to his feet and slumped into a chair. His face looked ten years older as he murmured.
“The woman who angered the baron was my daughter. She had the prettiest smile in the world.”
He chuckled weakly and stroked the girl’s hair.
“She left Adley with me once a week. The old man must have cared for me so I wouldn’t be lonely. What’s so pretty about an old man living in the mountains…”
Soon, tears streamed down his wrinkled eyes. Then the girl, Adley, wiped her grandfather’s face with her fern-like hand.
“Don’t cry.”
“Yeah, don’t cry.”
The old man forced a smile and continued.
“The count somehow found out and was looking for Adley. He seemed determined to kill this bastard and ease his anger. That’s why he wanted to take this child and get out of here. He stopped by the village one last time, hoping to find his daughter and son-in-law’s belongings.”
Kyle recalled the old man who came with a carriage from the direction of the village and shook his head.
“We’ll leave tomorrow. So please turn a blind eye for just one day.”
The group nodded their heads in response to the earnest plea.
Coleman clenched his teeth as he watched the old man patting the shoulder of the child who had fallen asleep from exhaustion.
“Damn it, this is why I joined the war. Hoping to earn some merit and get a title. This damn world is too stingy to live in. There are always lunatics everywhere. Most of them are nobles. Bastards.”
Kyle muttered quietly.
“Coleman, the kid can hear you.”
So Coleman whispered back.
The bastard baron.
That’s when it happened.
Kyle clenched his teeth and muttered under his breath.
“Coleman, the kid can hear you.”
Coleman hissed back in a low voice.
“The bastard baron. He deserves to rot in hell.”
Suddenly, a loud bang echoed through the hall. They turned around and saw a cloud of smoke and debris. Someone had blown up the door.
Heeeyyy-!
The sound of Caliban’s nervous howl, tied to the fence, reached his ears.
At the same time, the crimson light of the flickering torches poured into the window.
Bang bang bang!
“Open the door, we know you’re in there!”
“Two!”
He pushed the lock and released the latch, then grabbed the doorknob.
“One!”
He flung the door open with explosive force.
Bang!
The man who was hit in the face by the sudden opening of the door staggered and fell on his butt. He spewed out bright red blood from his broken nose and screamed in pain.
“Ugh, you bastard. Who are you! Do you want to d-die-ack”
The man who was spitting blood was overwhelmed by the cold eyes looking down at him and could not finish his words. A gulp sound escaped from his stiffened mouth.
Ruon ignored him and shifted his gaze to the dozens of men who surrounded the shack.
He said.
“Shall we?”
