The one adventurer Yuda had lost track of was none other than the martial knight, Ea. Yuda had no idea why she was with Kain, but the fact that she was part of his party spelled trouble. With a wry smile, Yuda glared into Ea’s red eyes.
“Calling me a rat? That’s harsh for someone who helped you.”
“If you hadn’t shown up, I wouldn’t have needed your help.”
“Ha, what a joke.”
No good deed goes unpunished, as they say. Leaning against the tree, Yuda raised his right foot and kicked Ea’s abdomen with force as she pressed forward with her sword.
“Ugh! How dare you!”
Groaning and stepping back, she glared sharply, lunged forward, and swung her sword horizontally at his neck. Reading its path, Yuda ducked swiftly, slipping past her side.
Too late to retract her swing, her blade sliced through a tree. Frowning at the flying bark, Ea quickly pulled back her blade and turned, only to find a sharp sword pointed at her neck.
“…!”
The cold blade’s edge froze her in place, a slight cut on her neck already bleeding. Perhaps due to the sting, her eyes twitched. Glaring at the blade, she looked annoyed.
“Ha, not bad. But you’d better put that away quick, kid.”
“What’s with the confidence?”
Yuda let out a hollow laugh. He knew building a good relationship with this martial knight was unlikely. If so, there was no need to play nice.
“Because if you don’t, you’ll die. Want to test it?”
As Ea’s hand gripping her sword twitched, Yuda stopped her. The blade at her neck dug a bit deeper.
“Stop. Don’t move. One more twitch, and you’ll see your head roll.”
“Oooh, scary. Go ahead and try then, little hero?”
Ea called Yuda mockingly. She seemed to still remember the incident at the lord’s castle two years ago. Her hostility might stem from inferiority. Thinking to test his newly acquired fragment’s power, Yuda tried to activate Hypnosis, but it wouldn’t trigger, likely because the conditions weren’t met.
…No choice but to give her what she wants.
“Nothing I can’t do.”
If you can’t have it, break it. Just as he was about to press the blade to Ea’s smirking neck, his name was called.
“Yuda! No!”
Riel was hurrying over with an unknown cleric. Since the distance wasn’t far, they reached him quickly. Yuda still held his sword to Ea’s neck. Glancing at Riel, he saw her, stained with goblin blood, looking frantic. She wanted to intervene, but with both Yuda and Ea radiating killing intent beyond mere hostility, she hesitated. As the standoff continued, Kain, having finished off the remaining goblins, approached.
“Yuda, please. Lower your sword.”
Not just Riel, but Kain also urged Yuda to stop.
“Your friends are telling you to let go. Not gonna listen?”
“Ea, you stop too.”
Cain looked at Ea and said. She merely shrugged with a sly expression.
“Fine, I’ll let go. But I have one question. Have you met the blue lance knight here?”
“…The blue lance knight? There’s only one woman dispatched here. You mean her, right? I heard she’s roaming the eastern forest, so it seems you didn’t get what you wanted. If she were here, that is.”
Ea curled her lips as if amused, seemingly catching on. Good, her being with Kain’s party appeared to be a coincidence. That meant Jeanne was likely alone at the ruins. He would have to go check.
“Perfect. I’ll kill both you and her next time we meet. So, how about lowering that sword? Or should I take it as you wanting to get serious with me?”
Fearlessly pushing the blade’s tip with her finger, Ea provoked him. Yuda sheathed his sword and turned away. He worried she might strike from behind, but Kain stepped between them, preventing any ambush. Yuda retrieved the dagger he had thrown to save Liel.
“Yuda!”
“Yeah, what?”
He expected Kain to approach first, but Riel came over instead. Clutching her staff with both hands, she smiled brightly.
“Thank you, really. You saved my life.”
“No need to thank me. Even without me, your esteemed lady knight would’ve helped.”
He glanced at the longsword lodged in the goblin’s body. Ea had thrown it almost simultaneously. If she had aimed for him instead of saving Riel, both Riel and Yuda could’ve been in mortal danger. Thanks to Ea’s concern for Liel, he had noticed the ambush.
‘I almost died just three days after saving.’
He wiped the blood off the dagger and sheathed it at his belt.
“By the way, why are you here?”
“Just looking for someone.”
“Who? That blue lance knight you mentioned?”
“Yeah, do you know her?”
Riel made a small ‘Mm’ sound and shook her head. A brief silence followed.
“…Be more careful next time. I helped because I happened to see you, but otherwise, you’d have been hurt.”
It might not have ended with just injuries. In Yuda’s view, it was less Riel’s fault and more Ea’s for leaving her post, creating an opening. Glancing at the martial knight, he saw her getting her neck wound healed by the cleric. Their eyes met, and her gaze suggested she’d pounce any second. Not wanting trouble, Yuda looked away.
“Yuda, but if you’re looking for her, why not travel with us? It would be safer than going alone. Kain would like that too.”
“And that lady knight over there would hate it.”
“Ah, right. Ea…”
Riel made an “oops” face. Having just seen them swing swords with murderous intent, suggesting they travel together was rash. Yuda gave a hollow laugh at her awkwardness and straightened her crooked hat.
“Thanks for the offer, but I plan to go alone. Don’t worry about me.”
“But it’ll be dangerous… Do you know where the person you’re looking for is?”
“Well, I think she’s around here somewhere. If not, oh well.”
He planned to wait at the ruins, and if she didn’t show, he was thinking of returning to the castle.
Since the martial knight hadn't encountered her yet, she was likely still alive and would return to her inn unless something unusual happened. At Yuda’s firm words, Riel didn’t press further.
“Mm, guess there’s no helping it then. Alright.”
Yuda nodded. Staying longer would only make things awkward, so he decided to leave quickly.
“Then I’m off.”
Waving casually as if parting in town, Yuda walked away. Glancing at Kain, he saw him waving back. Yuda raised a hand in return and plunged into the bushes.
***
Riel watched Yuda disappear into the bushes and sighed.
“Ah, he’s gone. What a shame.”
Riel turned at the sound of a cold voice. Ea, who had approached unnoticed, was pulling her sword from a goblin’s body, examining the blade with an impassive face.
“Oh, Ea. Is your wound okay?”
“Yeah. It’s not a big deal. Don’t worry.”
Since the cleric’s healing magic had quickly fixed it, there was no cause for concern. Riel smiled at Ea’s gentle voice. As expected, it was pleasant, unlike the cold tone earlier. She gave a small bow.
“A bit late, but thank you for helping.”
“It was only natural. If that little hero hadn’t shown up, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place.”
“I should’ve killed him,” she muttered, sending a chill through Riel. Riel quickly looked up, but Ea only swished her red hair and smiled softly, as if nothing was wrong. Riel glanced cautiously at her, rolling her eyes. Ea, wiping goblin blood from her sword with a cloth, seemed to sense her gaze.
“Got something to say?”
“Um, if it’s not rude, can I ask one thing?”
“What is it? Go ahead.”
Riel hesitated, then mustered her courage.
“Why do you hate Yuda?”
At Riel’s question, Ea tilted her head. It wasn’t typically a difficult question, but she couldn’t answer easily. A reason to hate him? There was no such thing. She let out a small chuckle.
“Does hating need a reason? I just hate him. Enough to want him dead.”
If pressed for a reason, she would say he’s an eyesore, nothing more. Riel was speechless at Ea’s response. It was incomprehensible to her.
“You look like you don’t get it.”
“Yeah…”
“Don’t overthink it. You were born and raised in Serenia Castle, right?”
Riel nodded.
“Do you know why the black wolves and white wolves hate and fight each other?”
“? No, I don’t really know.”
“It’s the same thing. I don’t know either, I just hate him.”
“…”
Leaving the speechless Riel, Ea walked over to Kain who was extracting magic stones from the goblins’ corpses. He skillfully sliced their hearts with his sword to retrieve the stones.
‘Just a while ago, he was just a rookie.’
Ea recalled the moment a week ago when she joined Kain. Two years earlier, she had received no support from the lord. It was some comfort that the blue lance knight who had accompanied her was treated the same, but the humiliation she suffered could not be forgotten.
Afterward, she wandered the western forest for two years searching for fragments, but with no clues, it felt like a waste of time.
After much pondering, she sought out Kaseun Sabnak, an honorary noble of Baekje and a Spirit Sword Bearer for help, but sadly, he knew nothing either. Returning to the empire empty-handed after all the time spent here felt like a waste
Determined to gain something, she asked Kaseun Sabnak for teachings and, in return, took Kain to explore the western forest. She wasn’t thrilled about babysitting an inexperienced Kain, but she was the type to give as much as she received.
Unfortunately, she had little to teach. Kain was already a perfectly polished gem, crafted by Kaseun. Chosen by the Third Holy King Gabriel, he had even been granted paladin status without the usual process. It was a boy with a bright future.
And that left her with nothing to teach. Her role was simply to guide Kain, relying on her two years of experience and her familiarity with the terrain of the western forest.
Playing guardian to fledglings coming of age this year was absurd, but she had no choice. Today, though, she planned to take a break from that role.
“Kain.”
“Yes?”
Kain, pulling a magic stone from a goblin’s heart, turned. Seeing a paladin, who valued spiritual maturity, holding a stone symbolizing wealth felt like a breach of her common sense. The dissonance struck her every time. She sighed softly, eyeing the goblin blood on his gauntlets.
“You know the way back, right?”
“Yes, I know… we’ve come this far every time.”
Kain nodded with a puzzled expression.
“Then go back to the castle on your own today.”
“By ourselves? Weren’t we going further today?”
“I changed my mind. It doesn’t matter, right? There’s tomorrow and the day after.”
“Hm. Even if we go back alone, what about you, Ea?”
Ea gave an enigmatic smile. The gentle curve of her lips was beautiful, but it sent a shiver down Kain’s spine. Meeting his eyes, she turned her head toward the direction Yuda had vanished.
“Me…? Well, I’ll follow behind to see if you find your way. I won’t help unless it’s really dangerous, though. So go on your own this time. I can’t guide you forever, can I?”
Cain could only nod.
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***Author’s Note***
Oops, I should’ve mentioned earlier.
I made an error by referring to “silver wolves” before.
I alternated between white wolves and silver wolves, which confused some readers. White wolves are the correct term.
Q. For the duplicate (though it’s been a day), I’m sending a coupon for a chicken. Thank you for the great work as always… It’s not exactly a coupon demanding more chapters, right?
A. I love you, MilinBangse-nim… Want a drumstick?
Q. Are there plans to upload character illustrations in the story settings?
A. I haven’t commissioned any… haha.
Oh, and by the way.
Thank you to DUskHowler, John_Doe, FusionAddict, 9910, and John_Doe for the support coupons!
Thanks to LifeWhatIsIt? and everyone else who sent manuscript fee coupons. I love all of you who enjoy the story, of course. If you don’t like a man’s love, well, can’t help it, hehehe.
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