****
The next day, the party left the village with the farewell of the villagers led by Lupin and moved along the road that led to the east.
There was also a way to head north right away, but it was a common opinion that it would be better to turn the direction around a suitable location, as the roads would be well paved as they headed to the center of the kingdom.
Ruon sat quietly on the back of the swaying Caliban and looked at the scenery passing by his side.
Trees, grass, valleys, and small villages with chimneys that puff out white smoke. All of those things had a faint blue hue as if they had been dipped in cold water and taken out.
Since some time, a faint breath came out of his mouth in the early morning or late evening. Winter was coming.
As the weather got colder, the scenery of the villages that the party passed through changed little by little. The men prepared a lot of firewood for the coming winter, and the women spent time sewing fur clothes.
They all seemed to hope that this winter would pass without any trouble. They had no idea that the barbarians who grew up with the fierce north wind were on the verge of breaking the border.
But there was no reason to bring up such a fact and panic the innocent villagers, so they all kept their mouths shut.
The journey continued like that.
And about a week later, the party was in a situation where they reached a fork in the road that split into four.
“Geez, this is ridiculous. There’s no proper signpost near this fork… Wait a minute, everyone. I’ll look for a map.”
Saying that, Strabo put his hand into the bag hanging on Toby’s saddle. He soon took out a rolled-up map and spread it on the ground and pushed his face close.
Kyle snorted and muttered under his nose.
“It’s surprising that there’s no one who knows the geography around here.”
Tarwen, who had been feeding Swen potatoes piled up on his palm, answered.
“It’s because this land is too wide. It’s not strange that most people think of burying their bones in their hometown where they were born.”
The former woodcutter, who had lived in a small village near Relyjan until he met Ruon, scratched his head as if he had lost his words.
Then Strabo, who was pointing at the map with his thick fingers, shouted.
“I don’t know about the other roads, but if you follow the second road on the right, there’s a city called Malum. Anyone know?”
The party looked at each other with puzzled faces, and Ruon laughed behind them.
They’re all newbies.
In this world where GPS does not exist, the only way to find the way was to rely on experience or maps. It was ironic that the latter was often vague.
Of course, he understood. It was impossible to cram all the terrain and features into a map that was only 60 centimeters long.
Maybe if it was dozens of times bigger.
“Do we need to worry? If it’s not marked on the map, it’ll be hard to find even one village even if you wash your eyes and look for it.”
Saying that, Ruon took the lead along the second road on the right. The others followed him as if it was natural.
***
The party arrived at Malum when the sun was setting and the sun was bending over the mountains.
It was too small to call it a city, and too big to call it a village. The place had a gate-like thing that looked like a city. As they approached, a soldier with a sour face greeted them.
“…What’s the matter here?”
“We came along the road.”
A strange question and an obvious answer came back.
The soldier, who swallowed his nose, began to look at the faces of the party with a slightly nervous expression. He saw Ruon and Kyle, who had the best armed state among them, and said.
“It’s good for your health not to cause any trouble. Do you understand?”
“Look at what you’re doing.”
“…Kyle.”
As the soldier scratched his nerves and Kyle snapped back angrily, Igor quickly hit his side and stepped forward.
“There won’t be any trouble. I promise.”
The soldier spat on the ground as if to show off and nodded his head back.
“Go ahead.”
Kyle glared back as he passed the gate.
“What’s wrong with that kid?”
Strabo shrugged his shoulders.
“There are always such guys wherever you go. They’re the stupid kids who try to use their rat-sized authority as much as possible.”
The dwarf’s ridiculous expression, which described the rat droppings with his own fingernails, made everyone laugh softly.
Then Tarwen looked around and said. Swen, who was sitting on her shoulder, followed her words.
“The atmosphere is gloomy. What’s wrong with everyone?”
“Gloomy-gloomy-”
“Swen, be quiet in the village. People will be surprised.”
In the strangely subdued atmosphere, the party entered the signless inn.
“Welcome.”
“Welcome.”
A bearded man and a woman with a slightly handsome face greeted them. At first, they thought they were the owner and a female employee, but seeing the man naturally wrap his arm around the woman’s waist, they seemed to be a couple.
After a simple meal to fill their empty stomachs, the group moved around the city (which was barely more than a large village) to find their own tasks.
Igor went to pray, Tarwen went up to his room first, saying he was tired, and Strabo headed to the stable, saying he wanted to chat with Toby and Caliban.
Finally, Kyle hurried outside, saying he had to repair his armor before it was too late, leaving only Leon in the dining room.
He gulped down the strong liquor like water, and someone timidly approached him. He turned his head and saw that it was the innkeeper.
“Would you like some more?”
He was about to say he was fine, but he suddenly closed his mouth and looked at her. Then he nodded his head.
“Just one more beer, please.”
“Wait a moment, please.”
A few moments later, a glass of beer was placed on the table. He gulped down the frothy drink in one go and slammed the empty glass down with a thud.
The innkeeper, who was sitting across from him with a cushion under his butt, asked with a grin.
“How did you like the taste?”
With a dry tone, Ruon wiped the foam on his lips with the back of his hand and answered.
“It was terrible.”
“Fuck, you don’t sound like it.”
The man, who had suddenly gone berserk, spat out a thick phlegm on the floor and rubbed it with his foot.
Then he sneered and added.
“What I said is not wrong. How much do you think I can cook?”
He licked his tongue disgustingly as he looked at the woman who was trembling next to him and continued.
He brought a beautiful fairy with him. Damn it, if it weren’t for her, he would have poisoned everyone at the dinner table. But he couldn’t risk killing the fairy too, so he had to endure this annoyance… Tsk, this is why messing with half-breeds is not easy.
As Ruon sighed deeply and looked down, the man spoke with excitement.
“Feeling heavy in the head? Your hands are shaking, and your legs are weak. Soon you’ll hear hallucinations, and then you’ll spit blood and die-”
The man, who was grabbed by the large hand of the officer, couldn’t finish his sentence and opened his eyes wide. He had given him a generous dose of the drug, but he didn’t even flinch?
Ruon turned his head and looked at the woman, leaving the man writhing in pain behind him. He had ordered a separate beer for her, because of the anxiety in her eyes.
“Who is she?”
“Ye-yes?”
The woman, who belatedly understood the situation, pressed her trembling shoulders with her arms and said.
“She-she’s a deserter.”
“Can you tell me more?”
The woman looked back and forth between Ruon’s calm face and the man in his grip, and seemed to make up her mind.
“About ten days ago, dozens of soldiers suddenly showed up. They all looked exhausted and wounded. Something was fishy, but still, still… I thought they were people who fought for the country, so I treated them with sincerity. But then they suddenly turned and killed everyone in the village…”
The woman couldn’t finish her words and collapsed, sobbing. Ruon turned his head again.
“Anything to say?”
The man shook his only moving eyes up and down, as if to say yes.
And Ruon tightened his grip.
“Ah-ah-ah-”
The officer’s victim fell to the floor with a thud, gasping for air.
“Speak. If I’m convinced, I’ll spare you.”
“Hu-eh─”
The man struggled with immense bleeding and pain. He looked like he had a lot to say, but only a faint wind sound came out of his mangled lower jaw.
Soon, his fingers curled up and stiffened as the back of his head sank into the pool of blood he had made.
Ruon brushed off the blood on his palm and knelt down to face the fallen woman. He said,
“Where are the others?”
She answered in a trembling voice.
“In, in the basement···”
“I’ll be back.”
As Ruon sprang up, the woman shouted anxiously.
“Wait, wait a minute!”
She opened her mouth after a small sigh, as if to speak, and checked the warrior who stood still in his place.
“You can’t kill Mr. Colin. He’s the only one who opposed killing the villagers···”
“I don’t know who Colin is.”
“You’ll know as soon as you see him. He was beaten to near death for trying to protect the people.”
It seemed that there was one who had deserted, but had not lost his humanity.
Ruon nodded his head and went down the stairs that zigzagged. As he passed by the corridor full of oak barrels, he saw a wooden door.
A small sound came from beyond.
“Hey, what’s taking so long?”
“Do you think Cosnak is having fun without us?”
“Fuck, do you say that knowing how dirty that bastard plays? I can’t do it after him, even if I die.”
“Really?”
Ruon kicked the door roughly, disgusted by the conversation he heard.
Bang-!
The door, torn off its hinges, hit one of the men behind it.
The men, startled by their colleague who flew out spewing blood, shouted.
“What, what is it!”
“Shit!”
But they quickly took a fighting stance and rushed at Ruon, as if their experience in the bloody battlefield had not gone anywhere.
Among them, there was one who had tightened the bowstring of his crossbow in case of an emergency.
He proudly fired an arrow, confident in his readiness.
Shoo-the arrow that cut through the wind shattered in Ruon’s hand.
“What?”
The men flinched at the sight of their opponent who caught the arrow fired at close range. At that moment, Ruon’s right arm blurred.
The closest man was hit in the face by his backhand and bounced off the wall. His head was smashed front and back, and he collapsed on the floor with a gurgle.
“Yikes!”
Another man, who had not yet realized what had happened, swung his iron hammer with both hands. And he saw it. His weapon bent in the opponent’s hand.
“···Shit, are you kidding me.”
That was his last word. He fell to the floor with his face caved in, just like his previous colleague.
The fight that followed was meaningless to recount in detail. With one punch, each enemy fell to the ground.
Soon, a small groan reached Ruon’s ears, who had taken care of the ten or so men in the warehouse. He looked down and saw a man tied up with thick ropes.
He didn’t bother to ask who he was, since it was obvious. He took out a dagger from his pocket and cut the ropes. He also removed the gag from his mouth, and the man coughed with a bloody face.
“Ha ha, ha, ha ha.”
Did he lose his mind from the beating?
Ruon tilted his head as he saw the man start laughing at his own face.
In the meantime, the man began to speak with a muffled voice.
“What a coincidence… I owe you again…”
“Do you know me?”
The man nodded with difficulty.
“I do… That potion you gave me, it saved me and my brothers from death, many times.”
Potion?
Ruon frowned as he vaguely remembered something, and the man said something that scratched his itch.
“You didn’t give me the troll’s blood, brother…”
