Chapter 35

After performing emergency treatment on his wound and hearing the situation, Arndt nearly fainted.

Following Leandros's warning that a wanted notice would likely be issued, they moved their belongings before dawn even broke.

And now, at present.

"As expected, a wanted notice has been posted. They wrote down a quite detailed description."

"This can't be! Your Grace being a wanted criminal!"

"Sorry, Arndt, but I have one more thing to tell you. You might soon be wanted too because of the missing apothecary."

"First escaping a slave contract, and now becoming a fugitive?"

It would be too risky for all three to stay together.

A decision had to be made.

"Let's split up here. I think it's best for you to return to Hartmann Castle."

Rummaging through their belongings, he found gold coins, the unused promissory note, some food, and spare clothes.

He kept only the gold coins and returned the rest to Arndt.

"You might want to pretend to be looking for the despicable commoner apothecary while groveling to the angry baronial family. Or you could hide."

"I don't like either option. Can't I come with you?"

"You're also a likely suspect. The baronial family will be looking for you with blazing eyes. Though there is one other option."

"Wh-what option?"

"Go to the east. Tell Aisling it's my request and take refuge there for a while. There's also something I promised Aiden anyway."

Aiden wouldn't mistreat Arndt who had been with him.

Rather, if he wanted to curry favor with him, he might treat Arndt quite well.

"But the east is..."

"If you go through a merchant group, you can send telegrams faster. That's the safest. Just don't go to the wasteland development area."

Arndt eventually decided to head to the east where Aiden was.

Watching Arndt heading alone toward the gate, he was reminded of Aiden, who had desperately begged for help with his business.

Aiden Aisling, still sending him love calls, right?

"What will Your Grace do now?"

"There's no time to waste. I need to meet Rotaer. Have you investigated the location?"

"There's one promising candidate."

"Let's go as quickly as possible. We'll have to take a detour to avoid passing through the gate."

Leandros was looking at him with a strange expression.

To be precise, he was looking at his bandaged abdomen.

"Will you be alright? The road is rough."

"I'll be fine. Time is the most important thing right now."

He needed to meet Rotaer alive before Yurik made his move.

As he boldly mounted the black horse, Leandros swiftly climbed up in front of him.

He kept looking back at him several times before finally taking hold of the reins.

* * *

Whether his life was a revelation or a dream, one clear fact remained.

Both in his past life and now, all sensations felt vividly real.

He was clinging to Leandros while inwardly swallowing tears of blood.

At first, there was no problem.

Though one might expect the horse to tire from carrying two adult men, the black horse was actually overflowing with energy.

Leandros, being so adept at handling horses, had no issues at all.

Yes, they were both fine.

The actual problem was him.

Everything below his waist felt shattered.

To put it kindly, it felt like being broken into pieces; to put it harshly, it felt like Yurik had cut off his lower half.

Along with the pain in his abdomen, his entire body was in tatters.

Their strategy was to ride from dawn until late night, taking only minimal rest.

With a body trembling from muscle pain, he would lie down and fall asleep almost like fainting.

Then he would wake up to see the morning star and start the hellish journey again.

A forced march in the literal sense.

By the time they reached their destination, only he was in a wretched state.

Though they were all covered in dust and dirt equally.

Leandros, who was briefly preparing near the village, looked like he wanted to say something as he watched him.

It would be understandable, seeing a Duke kneeling on the ground because his legs had no strength.

"What kind of disgraceful behavior is this?"

"For me, it's a matter of survival."

"Arndt would quite enjoy seeing this."

-Snort.

Even the horse was mocking him.

This creature had run so far and yet showed no sign of fatigue.

Rather, its coat had become glossy, and its red eyes showed satisfaction.

What a monstrous creature.

Perhaps it had stolen his stamina.

"This is a secret from Arndt."

Leaving Leandros, who was asking 'Is that possible?' with his eyes, he barely stood up.

A gently curving path downward.

A small village could be seen below the hill.

This was their second destination.

From the outside, it looked like a small village one would come across going west from the capital.

Just a village that could be found anywhere.

But this village had a special secret.

First, not far from here, Viscount Licht's manor would appear.

Second, interesting things happened here every night.

"Let's find a place to rest."

According to the Information Guild's information, the Licht viscounty was merely a provincial noble family that had failed to advance to the central region.

However, they had considerable influence in the west, disproportionate to their title.

Moreover, they were known for excellently managing the wealth inherited from the previous generation.

And Rotaer Licht.

He was the eldest son of the Licht viscounty, with a younger brother.

There was something unusual about his background.

In this world, it was generally the eldest son who inherited the title.

From the second son onward, they had to carve out their own futures, such as becoming a butler for another family or finding employment at the royal palace.

But Rotaer Licht came to the ducal family with a recommendation letter even before discussing the inheritance of the title.

And his younger brother was receiving successor education for the Licht viscounty.

The eldest and second sons' roles reversed.

Was Rotaer Licht so unimpressive that the current Viscount Licht made such a decision on an important succession issue?

That wasn't the case.

Rotaer must not have been unintelligent to be able to serve as head butler at the ducal residence.

The reason Rotaer left his family was...

"Do you have a room? One with a window?"

"We have an attic. Would that be acceptable?"

"Yes."

It was a farmhouse that was embarrassing to call an inn.

It had a straw roof and a large table on the first floor, nothing more.

Perhaps it was an efficient choice, as travelers didn't frequently visit such a village.

The innkeeper pointed at a small ladder in the corner.

"Go up that way."

After paying with copper coins, they climbed the creaking ladder.

As he poked his head into the attic, there was a faint smell of rotting straw and dust.

A small space right under the roof.

It was a single room, slightly cramped for two people to lie down.

Leandros, seemingly accustomed to such environments, said nothing and simply pushed the dust away with his foot.

"Is this the view you desired?"

"To some extent. Look over there, can you see it? That large building."

Beyond the open casement window, several houses smaller than the farmhouse could be seen.

And a large gray wall existing as the backdrop of the village.

Pointing at that wall, he continued.

"They say it's a prayer hall."

"Do you mean the prayer hall that the Licht family supposedly sponsored?"

"I think so. Do you know anything about it?"

"Nothing beyond the fact that the Licht viscounty several generations ago funded the construction of the building."

"They must have been quite devout."

"Though it's called a prayer hall, it doesn't have a structure that could perform sacred ceremonies, and it's far removed from the functions of a monastery. Since there's no sanctuary in this area either... I understand it was eventually closed due to difficulties in maintenance."

So they just spent a lot of money and gained nothing in return.

"Since we've come all this way, how about offering a prayer tonight?"

"That's a morbid taste. You seem quite curious about the viscounty. Will that be alright?"

"Don't misunderstand. I'm simply indebted to Rotaer."

If not for the Amelia incident, he might have considered stirring things up with the viscounty.

Remembering Amelia and the baronial family left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Well, putting that aside, what needed to be done right now was.

"Let's rest until then."

"Are you still suffering from muscle pain?"

"...My entire body feels like a jellyfish."

Let's escape from this jellyfish state first.

Tragically, in Arndt's absence, Leandros had to attend to him.

Though he hadn't asked for it, perhaps Leandros had some compulsion to do so.

Organizing the room, massaging his dying limbs.

He could clearly see Leandros's eyes dying more and more as he massaged his arms, but that wasn't his concern.

If he had a problem with it, he should have been a Duke himself.

Thanks to Leandros's tearful dedication, he regained a fair amount of energy by evening.

While Leandros prepared a simple dinner, he briefly took care of the horse.

"Is the meal alright?"

"I don't have much appetite after riding all this time."

As it darkened, people disappeared.

Only faint lights leaked through the gaps of the casement windows from houses.

Passing between houses enjoying warm evening hours, they headed toward the wall of the prayer hall.

There were no houses, fields, or anything near the prayer hall.

Following the wall, which was much taller than Leandros, they finally saw an entrance.

Should it even be called an entrance?

The middle of the thick wall was suddenly pierced through.

The arch-shaped entrance was blocked by two doors.

Moreover, the doors only rattled and wouldn't open at all, as if they were blocked by something from the inside.

He pressed his face close to the gap in the door.

Through the poorly joined wooden planks, something seemed to flicker.

"I can see light."

But there was no way to get in.

While he was fumbling at the door, there was suddenly a thudding sound right beside him.

Turning his head, he saw Leandros driving the tip of his sword between the stones of the wall.

After tapping it a few times to ensure it was firmly embedded, he said to him.

"Step on it and climb up."

"...Is it okay for a knight to use his sword like that?"

"Of course not. Once you climb up, don't come down; just sit up there."

Was it because of him?

He suddenly felt like garbage.

The sword was embedded quite high, making it impossible to climb up directly.

In the end, Leandros offered his thigh, and he stepped on it to reach the embedded sword.

Thanks to Leandros holding the sword with his hand, it didn't wobble.

Feeling that it was higher than expected, he sat on top of the wall, trembling and crouching awkwardly, when he saw Leandros pulling out the sword from below.

Could it be betrayal!

Was he trying to send him in alone!

What was he going to do, leaving him like this!

"You...!"

Before he could finish speaking, Leandros climbed up the wall.

Without any equipment.

Pushing his fingers between the stones.

Using only his grip strength.

Watching from above, it was like a horror movie.

He had done nothing wrong, so why did he want to run away so badly?

Why was it so scary?

Was it trauma from the human-spider seen at the baron's mansion?!

Watching Leandros climb up with an expressionless face, he understood why slasher films often used the effect of killers slowly approaching.

Leandros reached the top of the wall in an instant.

"...Thanks for sparing my life when you were giving me a massage earlier."

"? Yes."

He rotated his wrist for a moment and looked down inside the wall.

After pondering something deeply, he said to him.

"Excuse me."

"What, ack!"

He grabbed the nape of his neck and dropped down.

There wasn't even time to scream.

When he came to his senses, Leandros was calmly setting him down on the ground.

As if it were nothing special, he patted his cloak and looked around before speaking.

"Since we've successfully entered, let's go to where you said you saw light... Your Grace?"

He looked curiously at him, who had stopped in his tracks.

A large hand waved several times in front of his rigidly frozen face.

Still, he couldn't move.

Honestly, he had almost wet himself...

It felt like if he moved here, something would definitely happen.

And in a terribly, terribly unsightly manner.

As he was contemplating between male pride and human dignity.

He saw several people walking out from behind the prayer hall building.

At a glance, they didn't seem like devout believers or related personnel.

At best, they looked like medieval thugs.

"Leandros."

"Yes."

"Go and knock them out one by one with the back of your sword."

"?"

Sorry, guys.

But this is because there shouldn't be any witnesses.

Absolutely not for his private dignity.

They understood, right?