168 – Wanted man in red clothes
Natalia held her breath and approached Yoru. Unlike usual, the people standing guard around the area are not shabby soldiers, but hardened knights.
Since the crime was already a crime, she had no choice but to be cautious in her actions, but even she had no idea what would happen if Yoru, who was wanted, was discovered to be here.
“W-How did you get here? What about the others?”
“Is it that important?”
Yoru looked at Natalia, who was looking around excessively, as if she was seeing something interesting. Both then and now, Natalia was very timid, unlike the others.
“That doesn’t matter at all. What matters is that I’m going to get you out of here.”
“Please don’t be weird and answer quickly.”
“…I came alone. The old man coldly kicked me out, saying that if he was going to save you, I should go alone.”
“…”
“But I couldn’t bear to do something dishonest, so I ran like this despite the opposition of those around me.”
Yoru, who spoke confidently, pulled Natalia into a hug. Natalia buried her face helplessly in her chest, which was tall for a woman.
Action as natural as flowing water. From a very young age, Yoru hugged Natalia and those who served her as if they were dolls.
‘princess…’
Natalia heard the sound of a heart full of warmth and vitality that never cooled down even in the snowy cold.
It was an old memory, so I couldn’t remember it, but Natalia was a pretty great noblewoman. However, the exaggerated self-consciousness of those days no longer remained with her.
It was a self-consciousness that did not break even when he was treated as a slave at the auction house, but it was broken after he experienced the moment when children of the same age who were in the same status as him before his family’s downfall wondered whether he should live or not.
For Natalia, Yoru was a benefactor who could not help but repay her kindness for the rest of her life. An unfamiliar environment, the culture of those who had been taught that they were immigrants. A life where I was always being chased and couldn’t breathe comfortably even for a day.
It was natural that she couldn’t adapt to being sold as the princess’ servant, and Natalia was able to brighten up those difficult times thanks to this tomboy princess.
While they were hugging each other for a while, a sniffling sound was heard from the top of Natalia’s head.
“By the way, why does this smell like alcohol?”
“…A little while ago, the crown prince came forward and gave alcohol and meat to the unit members and prisoners.”
Natalia, embarrassed by Yoru’s innocent behavior, raised her head and met his black eyes.
“Really? I guess you must have had a hard time, but you seem to have been doing surprisingly well.”
Yoru nodded several times while listening to Natalia’s explanation.
“And, where is Chen? No matter how many times I look around, I can’t see his face.”
“…He’s dead.”
“okay?”
“Yes. Foolishly, I couldn’t control my temper, so I stopped…”
Perhaps hearing the news that a colleague had died, Yoru’s face crumpled for a moment as he listened to the remarks, then straightened.
“He was the one who looked at my breastbone with a dark eye, but he was still a colleague.”
It was unfortunate.
After licking his lips, Yoru prayed for the rest of his colleague, whose head exploded.
“Then, I have something to do before I leave. Who is the guy who killed Chen?”
“…Princess, we must leave quickly.”
Instead of asking who killed Chen, Natalia grabbed Yoru’s wrist and stopped him. It was a force that could be easily shaken off, but Yoru looked back at Natalia with respect.
“Why are you doing this? Do you not want to avenge your comrade?”
“There are knights around here to protect the crown prince. Even if you are a princess, the situation is too bad for you to seek revenge.”
“…I haven’t seen anyone that strong.”
No one noticed Yoru’s presence until he came here. No matter how much they reduced their presence to the limit… Yoru didn’t feel much interest in things that didn’t notice them even though they got this close.
‘Anyway, except for that old man looking a bit useful…’
Yoru’s gaze stayed on Malleus for a while, but that was all.
“Here is Prien.”
“…Where is it?”
but,
The words that followed drew Yoru’s interest. Eyes widen. My heart is pounding. His skin, which had not turned red even in the harsh winter, turned red with excitement.
Yoru, who had grown up hearing the name of Hugo Prien, who had spread across the entire continent beyond the empire, had heard of the high notoriety since childhood, and looked around carefully, suppressing his simmering sense of admiration.
Prien… Prien Prien.
However, the person believed to be Prien was nowhere to be seen. Of course, it wasn’t the knights wearing armor, and it wasn’t even the paladin yawning by the prince’s side.
Natalia gestured to Yoru, who had been looking around with wide eyes for a while.
“It’s him.”
Yoru’s eyes turn to Natalia’s fingertips. It was a man wearing a rather nice fur coat in front of a bonfire… muttering into the air like he had lost his mind.
“That?”
Yoru stiffly turned his head and asked Natalia back. Then I rubbed my eyes again and looked at the man named Prien.
The man was still muttering into the air as if he had lost his mind. Not only that, no matter how far away he was, no matter how long he stared at me, the man didn’t even glance in this direction.
I tried sending it to the man with a slight hint of hostility, but the man didn’t move a single inch. The subject is not even wearing a weapon and is just sitting in an awkward posture.
“I gave it a try and readily agreed.”
Natalia nodded and said.
“He just looks like he’s lost his mind.”
“…He may have made nonsense by calling himself a fairy, but his power was real. He cut down demonic beasts that would have been quite difficult for even our warriors with a single sword, and took charge of this large forest all by himself.”
“But you don’t have red hair either.”
Yoru focused on the head exposed above the fur. Yoru heard that Prien was a family with red hair for generations.
Prien, whom her grandfather met, also had red hair, and she heard that Hugo Prien, who played at the front, also had red hair.
“It doesn’t look like Prien to me.”
“So does that mean the author impersonated Prien?”
“I don’t know about that, and even if he wasn’t red-haired, there’s no way Frien could be that poor. My father said that not only Hugo Prien, but Glenn Frien is also a very strong person. Just looking at him gives me goosebumps and makes me sick.”
Yoru continued speaking, putting aside his cooled interest.
“But, I can’t feel anything from that man. His sitting posture is awkward and his mental state seems strange. Also, what is a fairy? That’s ridiculous. There’s no way such a big, black fairy exists.”
‘The face deserves a little attention, though.’
Like her father, the warriors of Sileia were all rugged men, so Yoru was not used to men with sharp lines.
“But that’s what you said.”
Yoru patted the cold iron horse and then turned around. I wanted to ride it once, but it was a shame to have to turn around like this, but I had no choice.
Tuk-
Before she knew it, Sobok kicked Sobok’s snow-covered head. It was the head of a person guarding the rear of the train that had been cut off a while ago.
‘train. ‘I wanted to ride it.’
Yoru kept looking back because he was conscious of not moving away from the black iron horse.
*
“Did you go?”
[Yes, warrior. I think he went.]
“Wow. I thought you were scared and searching.”
Siron rubbed his chest and sighed in relief. I thought my whole body was aching because I was trying so hard to ignore the glances I was getting from earlier.
If Latera had not granted [Blessing of Serenity], an unnecessary battle would have occurred in response to an unnecessary dispute.
‘If someone dies after hanging out with a girl with a strong desire to win, the prestige you have raised will be at risk.’
Siron got up from the bottom of the tree, shook his butt and walked straight towards Viktor. As if he didn’t know what was happening, Viktor was talking to Malleus.
“majesty.”
“Shiron… what’s going on?”
From noble mtl dot com
“Construction is finished, so hurry up and get out of here with your troops.”
Siron spoke quietly into Viktor’s ear.
“You almost got lost. So as soon as the sun rises, gather your staff and get out of here.”
“…you?”
Even though it was an order, Victor did not take offense at him. However, I felt puzzled by Siron’s actions of hastily stuffing snacks into his mouth.
“you?”
Victor frowned and tried to shake off his drunkenness. For some reason, the sight of him taking care of his supplies gave me the feeling that he was going to leave somewhere.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m not going far. I’ll just learn magic.”
I didn’t say I was going to get the dragon’s heart. Instead, it does not arouse curiosity. As long as Yoru was nearby, any further chatting would only make time go by.
“There’s a deserter. In addition, the person standing guard may have died. But don’t investigate. Instead of searching the forest, start the train.”
“…You couldn’t stop it?”
Malleus asked with a serious expression, and Siron lowered his head in exasperation.
“Yes. It was the work of a much stronger b*tch than me.”
“It’s hard to believe…”
“I can be stronger than my uncle when he was young. Please take good care of Viktor.”
“I understand.”
Malleus did not ask Siron any more questions. This is because the revelation I heard a few months ago, telling me to watch the theory, flashed in my mind.
After confirming that Malleus nodded, Siron turned around and ran without delay. If you don’t find Demodoras’ nest as soon as possible, you will have to live as a Mana eunuch for several more years.
That can’t be possible.
Siron took out the compass and continued running east.
*
“Two corpses, one of a deserter and one of a guard, were found.”
The drinking party was stopped before it even reached maturity.
The unit members were heavily intoxicated, grabbed by the collar, and herded into one place. The knights surrounded them and checked their faces.
“Who is the deserter?”
“…I am Natalia, a most wanted person.”
“You mean the woman with the big scar on her face?”
Viktor looked confused and swallowed her sleep, and the knight accompanying her continued speaking as he glanced at the two corpses covered in cloth.
“Based on the circumstances, it appears that Natalia killed the two knights, but it is most likely the work of an outsider.”
The cross section of the detached neck was extremely neat. This was not something that a knight armed with self-defense equipment, and Natalia, who did not even have a proper weapon, could do.
No, it was an art that could never be performed even with a proper weapon.
“This is the work of someone who breached the border and committed murder. We cannot deal with this with our current personnel. We will take the body and withdraw as is.”
“…All right.”
The knight bowed his head at Victor’s command.