108 – Then the devil came in through the front door (2)
Unfortunately, Alvin did not know how to ride a horse. He looked around to see if he felt sorry, but Cain and his group walked down the road without saying anything, holding the reins.
In fact, there were a lot of tree branches sticking out on the road, making it unsuitable for riding a horse. Moreover, with Lily hurting her back, riding a horse would only worsen the injury.
Perhaps it was because the silence was unbearable, or perhaps it was because he thought he had no intention of harming himself, but Alvin became talkative.
Where did you come from? What were these people originally doing? She asked Maria how she climbed up her tree so quietly, and she expressed her admiration to Lily about how tall she was.
He was consistent in not responding, let alone answering, but Alvin didn’t care at all. He answered his own words by saying, ‘Well, I think it would be like this if it were me.’
In the end, Cain, who was worse off, asked.
“Is it okay to speak that loudly in the forest?”
It was meant to be quiet, but Alvin is just naturally virtuous.
“Ah, this is the land controlled by Count Roberta’s army. And when it comes to Alvin, there’s no one who doesn’t know him. That’s what I’m saying.”
Cain thought he knew why no one knew. Chatterbox. Hoin. An easy-going, friendly person. A man who will become a woman’s husband and a child’s father.
He could have been a talkative innkeeper, a country man, or a city peddler, but in many ways it was clumsy and unsuitable to be called a mountain thief who threatened people.
“Why were you spying on us?”
“Be careful what you say. Peeping. You are the ones who arbitrarily ‘stepped’ into ‘our land’. “Does the owner have to worry about her guests?”
Cain placed her hand on her sword sheath. That alone seemed to make Alvin feel intimidated again.
“Big. She said that Count Roberta had specifically requested it. There are a lot of outsiders coming into the forest these days. Most of them are people who ran away from somewhere, so they are all as sensitive as a scared cat like you? So they told us to collect them and take care of them.”
Cain thought her management style was quite reasonable. ‘Gather it in.’ Doesn’t this mean that by dividing the hierarchy between thieves, you have to manage a certain portion of the forest’s affairs?
But what right does Roberta have?
“… “Roberta is not a countess.”
Alvin grinned at Cain’s question.
“Oh my. You stiff friend. There is also a thing called metaphor in the world. Metaphor. Roberta is not a countess! But to us he is greater than the emperor or the pope.”
“Why?”
“I’ll give you something to eat. I will also give you the arbitration book. If you’re sick, they give you medicine, and they also provide various considerations so that you can live on your own. I have never seen anyone like this angel anywhere in the world. Otherwise, he’s not a hero. Cancer. “That’s why I jokingly called you ‘Count’ and ‘Count’ and ended up here.”
“Is Count Roberta’s Army also the name she gave it?”
“No. We built it ourselves. “You don’t really object, do you?”
What owner wouldn’t like a domesticated dog lying down on its stomach? Cain, who witnessed Roberta’s identity and words, simply turned his head and looked away.
“… Wait for a sec.”
Cain’s eyes narrowed. Maria, Lily, and Alvin also looked in the same direction as Cain. Black smoke was rising from beyond the forest.
“Fire? “There’s a fire in the Black Forest?”
Alvin scratched her head.
“… Well, it’s not unusual for a forest to catch fire. That’s strange. I’ve never seen a fire this big. “If there was smoke visible from here, it would have been from a very large fire.”
“I guess fires don’t occur often in the Black Forest, right?”
“You really pay a lot for your first time.” Alvin arrogantly pointed to a nearby tree.
“Look at this. There’s a lot of moss on the tree bark, right? This is evidence that the forest as a whole is rather humid. A tree like this doesn’t catch fire well. There is too little sunlight. Occasionally, when lightning strikes, the tips of large trees get scorched a little, but that’s it. But over there… “
Despite what he said, Alvin also seems quite strange.
“That’s Young. “It’s a bit weird.”
“Why but?”
“That’s towards Berta Village, right? There is no way such a big fire could start in the village… “
Fire in the village… Cain’s mind became confused. Fire itself is an easy condition to break out. Because uprooted trees are piled up like firewood in a deep hole.
The question is, then, who on earth saw that and made the decision to set the fire? A normal person would get scared and run away, but they wouldn’t set a fire.
If the fire was started based on someone else’s decision, it would have been someone of high rank. And if you are a high-ranking official in this land……
‘Count Wördem.’
The Count may be over there.
There was a rustling sound from the front. It was not one person’s step, but many people’s steps. Soon, people carrying luggage on their backs appeared. Like Alvin’s group, they were holding something ambiguous, whether it was a farming tool or a weapon.
“It’s not Alvin. What are you doing here?”
A man with a braided beard spoke to her. Cain quickly whispered to Alvin, ‘Do as usual.’
“Oh, are you here? I’m working. But what is a backpack? Are you moving camp?”
Alvin seemed to have felt something was strange, as she answered energetically. The man with the braided beard hurriedly motioned for her.
“Wait a moment.”
Alvin told her not to worry and even smiled at Turo Cain and the others. Alvin walked towards her man. Her man whispered something in her ear. Shock appeared on Alvin’s once peaceful face.
“What kind of crazy talk is that!”
Cain thought it was probably a story about Roberta’s downfall. It seems that her man was right, as he was talking about something with a serious look on his face.
“No. “I must see it with my own eyes.”
Alvin did not even lower his voice. She then turned around and came towards Cain and the others.
“Think well! Take your wife and go quickly! Take care of your little brother too! “Before it’s too late!”
Her man with the braided beard shouted at her, and she hastily led her group to the other side of her road.
“What’s going on?” Cain asked as if she knew nothing.
“It’s no big deal. Don’t mind.” She said so, but Alvin kept glancing over to the other side of her where her smoke was rising.
The strange journey continued. The forest was messy in many ways. The sound of birds and the footsteps of animals stopped. Instead, people appeared from all over, shaking the trees.
What Alvin said about her popularity seemed to be true. Everyone recognized her Alvin, everyone spoke to her, and the ending was always the same. Confusion. Embarrassment…
Soon Alvin stopped. It was the same path she had hitherto, but she didn’t get any closer, as if there was a solid wall in front of her.
“Go straight ahead from here. See that little rock over there? If you turn right and go straight, you will find a campsite.”
She got out of the way, as if Alvin was telling her to go ahead. Cain nodded her head.
“Thank you.”
“What do you do when you throw a stone at your forehead and stab yourself in the cheek…” “She muttered as if she was left behind, but Alvin still held her chin up straight.
“And, don’t criticize me too much.”
“What?”
Cain stopped walking and looked at Alvin. Alvin shrugged her shoulders.
“There is no need to be too harsh on me. That… I know. I know how you came here. “I was just like you when I ran away with my wife and her younger siblings.”
Alvin seems to still view Cain as a runaway vagabond. Cain had no intention of correcting Alvin’s misunderstanding, but he was taken aback by her unexpected favor.
“It feels like the whole world is my enemy. It feels like the world is trying to catch me and kill me… Still. There is no law telling you to die. There are good people like Roberta. There’s no law that says you should live alone, right? So, I cut my cheek and threw a stone at my forehead. “I will forgive you for this.”
“… Why?”
Cain felt like she had become an idiot. What she meant was that it wasn’t you she was spying on in the first place. But she accepted Alvin as she pleased.
“I will forgive you, so it means that you should also look at someone who is rude. I have to help and survive. Is not it? “I’m saying this because the eyes look like they could eat a person.”
Maria, who was listening quietly, walked in front of her. She blurted out a pigskin pouch. She was one of the many pockets she had bought in an unnamed market town.
“Thank you. “This is the cost of treatment.”
“No. “Why are you giving me all this?” She did what she said, but Alvin reached into her pockets and counted the coins inside her. Alvin’s eyes widened. Maria muttered, turning her head.
“I don’t know anything else, but give birth in a good place. That money is enough to see a doctor in the Free City. And she lives by honest sweat.”
“… “All the honest ones have gone to the grave.” Alvin lowered her head as if she was downcast. She wrapped her coin pouch again and held it out to Maria.
“Thank you, but I can’t accept it. “Because I was connected.”
“I’m not telling you to take it just because it’s good for you. I’m giving it to you in consideration of your wife’s unborn child. “Why are they giving you money just because you’re pretty?”
Maria shot back without hesitation, and Alvin giggled and filled her pockets.
“That… excuse me. Friends? Greatness. I don’t know why you want to see those guys. “I’d better leave quickly after I’m done with my business.”
“Why?”
“I just heard from my colleague, it looks like there was an accident in Berta Village.” Alvin looked at the smoldering village with her worried eyes.
“There are also rumors going around that Count Roberta has had trouble. They also say that Count Wördem’s soldiers are capturing everyone they see.”
Alvin blurted out her words.
“What are you going to do?”
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Alvin answered Cain’s question firmly.
“You have to live and see. I barely escaped from Count Wördem, but there’s no way I could be caught by those soldiers. But it looks like there are some tough guys out there trying to fight back. The forest is likely to become noisy for a while, so keep that in mind. When you’re done with your business, leave immediately. Just like you said, no one cares even if several people die in this forest. And… “
Alvin lowered her voice significantly.
“If you see people wearing black robes, run away immediately. Don’t even look back. Pretend you don’t know. Don’t ask me why. Just do it!”
After her words, Alvin ran away. When a jingling sound came from her pocket, she ran excitedly, holding her coin pocket tightly with both hands. It felt like an angel was pushing his back.
“Why?”
Maria glared at her Lily. Lily had a happy smile on her face.
“You look pretty today.”
“You were less pretty yesterday?”
“Today was especially special.”
“… There’s no way there’s a doctor or a pregnant woman in the forest. Anyway. Are you going to keep standing?”
Maybe she was embarrassed, but Maria walked ahead. Cain was behind him, and Lily stood at the very rear. As Alvin had told me, I turned right at the rock and walked for a while.
How long has it been? Lily whispered.
“We are surrounded.”
Maria, Cain, and Lily stopped on the road. A man with a bow appeared from the other side of the path. He was wearing a hunter’s hood, but he was not wearing the black robe that Alvin had mentioned.
“They are fearless. How many more deaths will it take for you to understand? “I would have told you not to come.”
Lily walked forward with her hands outstretched. The man holding the bow paused for a moment. Lily muttered softly but clearly.
“… “I will not die until white blood flows.”
The man, greatly surprised, lowered his bowstring. She answered, stuttering a little.
“We will fight until all our red blood is spilled.”
“You are a member of the White Blood Knights.” Lily caught her breath. She said it was because of back pain. “So do i.”
“Who is it? “It’s a face I’ve never seen before.”
The man with the bow tilted his head.
“It’s natural that you don’t know.”
A dry and angry voice.
A skinny woman appeared from behind a tree. She was as thin as a tree. Her hair was gray, but her eyes were as sharp as an eagle’s.
“Because you are the Valkyria of Valhalla. Who would have thought that signs of battle would freely walk across the lands of the Empire? “It was something that everyone considered taboo.”
Lily bowed her waist in greeting.
“Grand Executor Astrid.”
“Liliana Brünnhild, White-blooded Valkyria.”
The gray-eyed woman responded coldly. She glared at Cain who walked forward.
“What are you?”
“Agent Cain of the Imperial Security Service. “It’s Lily’s superior.”
“Lily? “Why are you cutting off her name?”
“Because that’s the name she chose. So, I’d like you to call her Agent Lily. Lily is a Secret Service agent. And as a security agency agent, whatever it was before is meaningless.”
“Ha.” Astrid laughed. “Is there any point in denying her her own blood and destiny?”
“Bloodline and destiny are not everything about a person. You can also make a choice. Lily chose to be her own self. So I hope she respects it. Otherwise, is she deliberately ignoring the Empire and the Emperor’s officials?”
Lily took a step closer to Cain. Astrid twisted her mouth.
“Ah. Okay. You are the leader, right? Good. Good. Let’s talk inside. Do you want to continue talking there, the emperor’s official? “Who is the woman next to me?”
Instead of answering, Maria snapped her fingers. She spread out only the middle finger of her lightly curled hand. She had sacred fire dancing at the tip of her middle finger.
Astrid gritted her teeth and turned her back. Maria stuck her tongue out playfully.
“You look really pretty today.”
Lily whispered again. Maria lifted her chin in pride.
“I can do it.”