A Forgotten Promise – Part 03

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Translator: Kell


If the goods were not available, standard practice among mercenaries was to capture the person who had the goods.

But I couldn’t just hand Albus over without a fight.

I caught the sound of arrows zipping through the air, and I quickly rolled under the carriage. “I fucking knew it! One of them’s hiding in a tree.”

People planning to fight a Beastfallen would definitely have an archer with them.

Should I take care of the archer first? But leaving the carriage will put Albus at risk.

“Hah! Pathetic animal. He’s actually hiding!”

“You idiot!” his companion shouted. “Stay away from it!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll drive it out from under the carriage with my sword, then the archer can kill it.”

Ignoring his companion’s warning, the man ran up to the carriage, sneering. I grabbed his legs and dragged him under the carriage.

“Welcome to the pen, human.”

I flashed a friendly smile, but my fangs gleaming in the darkness were too terrifying that he let out a shrill scream. I strangled him just enough to knock him out without killing him, took his sword, and kicked him out from underneath.

“Stupid amateur,” one cursed.

Apparently they were a ragtag group of mercenaries, and I couldn’t be more glad about it.

But I couldn’t stay under the carriage forever.

My eyes darted to the lanterns hanging from the carriage. It was nighttime. Without their light, the surroundings would be plunged into darkness, and the archers would not be able to take their aim.

I reached out my arm from under the carriage and smashed all the lanterns.

“He turned out the lights. Keep your eyes peeled! He’s gonna come at us. Let’s huddle together! Don’t get scared and turn off the lanterns now. He can see us even in the dark anyway.” There was a clatter of metal against metal as the four men gathered around.

I pulled my black cloak over my head to blend in with the darkness, and jumped out from under the carriage. As I expected, the archer didn’t move.

I pulled out one of my throwing knives and hurled it at one of their lanterns. The glass shattered, and the light went out. For a moment, their attention was diverted somewhere else.

Taking advantage of the distraction, I closed the distance in one breath, dragged down the one closest to me and stepped on his dominant arm, breaking it.

“My arm!” he screamed.

“Don’t you underestimate us, fuckin’ beast!”

Two of them swung their swords at me. I punched one of them in the face, breaking his nose, and pointed the tip of my sword against the neck of the other.

“Did you say not to underestimate you?” I asked. “I see. Are you sure you want me to go all out, though? I’ll cut off your head. How about that?” I pushed my blade deeper against his skin.

The man dropped his sword, slumped down, and curled up with his head in his hands. Lost the will to fight, huh? Pathetic.

There was only one person left.

“Aaaaahhh!”

“Oh, shit!”

The last guy swung his sword around in desperation, hitting my side. I wanted to dodge his attack, but I was still a little rusty. The man charged at me once more. Clicking my tongue, I grabbed his arm and hoisted him into the air.

“You’re the last one. Let me ask you a question. Do you want to introduce your client to me, or do you want to get your balls crushed?”

“I don’t know them! I really don’t! A servant sent me a letter, and I took the job!”

“Where? What kind of a job is it exactly?”

“In a tavern in Fomicaum. The letter said a carriage carrying a Mage is coming here, and we should take the promised item.”

“And what is this promised item?”

“It wasn’t mentioned in the letter! Apparently it’s something priceless.”

“One last thing: can you drive a carriage?”

“…What?”

“The driver escaped. If you can’t drive one, I’ll have to knock you out.”

“I can! A one-horse carriage should be easy.”

“That’s good to hear. Drive us to Fomicaum. You bastards made us waste precious time.”

I dropped him to the ground and turned toward the carriage. My side hurt a little, but it was a good workout.

The fact that I let my guard down before the fight was even over suggested that it wasn’t only my body that was rusty, but my mind as well.

The moment I got back to the carriage and put my hand on the door, I sensed a murderous aura. I looked up. Someone was on top of the carriage.

“It’s over, you monster!”

The archer! I had completely forgotten about him.

It didn’t matter if he couldn’t see well. He knew that I would eventually return to the carriage. While I was fighting the other four guys, he climbed up on the roof and waited for me.

His gleaming arrow was pointed at me, the bow’s string drawn taut. He was ready to fire at any moment.

I couldn’t dodge it. I regretted leaving one of the mercenaries awake to be our driver. While I faltered in the face of the arrow, he could stab me with his sword. Even a Beastfallen like me would not get out of it unscathed.

The archer fired the arrow, but it slipped past me and stuck to the ground. There was silence.

“…Huh?”

The archer’s body went limp, and he rolled off the carriage. As I stood there confused, Zero peeked out the window.

“Chapter of Capture, Page Two: Snooze,” Zero said. “To put it simply, I put him to sleep. That was a close call, Mercenary.” She grinned.

“D-Did you use Magic?! I thought you were out of magical power!”

“Magical power is like water. It can be taken and given. The lass and I are drained, but if we combine our powers, casting a basic spell is doable. Also, the moon is bright tonight.”

“The moon…” I looked up at the sky and found a full moon sitting above. I believe she mentioned before that moonlight enhanced a witch’s power. “In that case, you could’ve dealt with all of them from the start.”

“Do not be foolish. I cannot possibly recite an incantation while being attacked by six people including an archer.”

I get it. She needed time. Nodding, I took the fallen archer’s lantern off his waist, and handed it to the temporary driver. He would need a source of light to drive through the dark night, and I broke all the carriage’s lanterns earlier.

After watching the man climb up to the driver’s seat, I returned inside the carriage.

Albus yelped. “Mercenary! That blood… Are you wounded?”

Blood was seeping out from my side where I was cut.

“It’s just a scratch. It should heal up by the morning. I’m a Beastfallen, after all.”

“I would love to heal you,” Zero said, “but if I use Magic again, I might cough up blood and collapse.”

“That sounds way worse than me getting hurt. I’m fine. There’s no need to stitch it up even.”

But if my blood kept flowing out, it would stain the carriage. I didn’t want that, so I pressed a cloth against the wound and wrapped it tight.

Albus was watching me with a pale face. It looked like she wanted to say something.

“Hey, kid.”

Albus jumped.

“Listen. Being a bigshot means people will try to kill you for reasons you don’t understand, like what happened just now. As long as you’re leading the Mages of this kingdom, there will be plenty of people who will get hurt because of you.”

“Wh-Where’d that come from?! I don’t need a lecture from a moron! I know all that already.”

“Then don’t freak out just because I’m hurt. Whether the wounds a guard receives from protecting you become a proof of stupidity or a badge of honor is up to the employer. It’s up to you.”

“He is right, lass,” Zero said. “Mercenary did his job. Why do you look dejected? Be proud, and let him take pride as well. When a servant does his job, it is the master’s duty to praise them and give them the reward they deserve.”

“You heard her,” I said. “You’re an expert at being patronizing.”

“Wh-What do you mean by that?! I didn’t mean to be…” She looked at my wound again, then shut up. After a while, she mumbled, “Thank you.”

I got a simple word of thanks instead of a compliment. I guess this is fine for now.

“I expect a generous reward,” I joked.

“Shameless,” she said.

Zero laughed, and the carriage started moving again, this time toward Fomicaum.

The question was: who was after Albus?

I hope we can find the answer in Fomicaum.


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