84. back east (4)

The procession arrived at the expected time, neither late nor early. The weather was nice and there were no monsters or thieves in the way, so I thought it would arrive much earlier than expected, but the merchants struggled to arrive on time, even procrastinating.

“Damn it, I’ve been on the estate too long.”

“I told you. Even if we have to wait a bit, let’s just go.”

“It’s also a problem that there are too many things to enjoy, a problem.”

In the end, because I was so procrastinating, I had to speed it up in time.

I heard the muttering of the merchant sitting in the driver’s seat ahead. The carriage procession, which set off at dawn when the sun had not yet risen, reached the walls of Murat before noon.

“We have reached the estate of Count Agon.”

Pierre murmured. Maxim saw the castle walls towering over the backs of the merchants and adventurers who were hunched over. It’s the first time I’ve seen it from the entrance side of that wall. Maxim looked at the busy soldiers with emotions that were not sentimental. Waking up much earlier than usual, the bloody cries of merchants could be heard from here and there.

“Did you unload the goods here, spend a few days there, and then head back to the no-man’s land?”

“About a week. It seems that there are some guys who have brought something with the intention of doing business here for a while.”

It was the coachman’s merchant who answered Pierre’s question. During the last few weeks of their journey, they seem to have made up their minds quite a bit, and they seem to be conversing comfortably.

“I guess there must have been some guys who wanted to do business here.”

“It’s not enough to say ‘there was’. Of the guys lined up behind me, they probably brought 70 packs.”

“Did you not bring it?”

The coachman’s merchant snorted.

“It’s too much to pack the goods to bring to the no-man’s land. I can’t afford to worry about such trivial money-making. It’s for those who really enjoy doing business.”

The merchant tapped the piled up boxes. Strangely, the crates that were shaking to the point of being dangerous did not tip over.

“When will you let me in? You deliberately came here just in time.”

As soon as the merchant’s grumbling had ended, a soldier’s cry came in.

“Raise the gates!”

Metal and metal meshed together, emitting a deafening scream. The iron bars of the huge gate were slowly rising.

“Let’s move!”

The merchant in the leading ranks shouted in a loud voice. The merchants, who were lying on their respective wagons with saggy expressions, stood up with their eyes shining when it was time to work. The ranks advance slowly, like a giant snake wriggling.

“… When you enter the castle.”

Pierre spoke to Maxim in a low voice.

“I hope you remember my words when personal action is permitted.”

Maxim nodded.

“… Are you going to look for them?”

At Maxim’s question, Pierre nodded.

“It’s time for the rats to start acting. It is also the last destination before going to no man’s land… , There must be some merchants whose purpose is here.”

Pierre rubbed his manly hair, his eyes shining. Maxim stepped back as if he was burdened by the strange trust in his eyes.

“It would be very helpful if you could help me… .”

Maxim frowned. It might not have been hidden by Pierre’s hood, but Pierre wouldn’t have been unaware of the doctor’s disgust.

“One guy knows, so it’s just a matter of catching them one after another.”

“I told you it’s not that easy.”

When Maxim sighed openly at Pierre, who was unwilling to say a word, Pierre raised his hands in agreement.

“Yes, yes, you said you also had your business. Know. I just said it.”

Pierre licked his lips, saying he was sorry. I wanted to put off my business and ask her to act together, but Maxim’s strong attitude did not seem to be convincing in words. In the end, Pierre could only content himself with getting a promise to cooperate if he had time left after his errands were over.

“But, remember, nothing will be bad for you. After all, we are dealing with a common enemy. It will help me and our guild, but it will definitely help you too.”

Maxim got up from the caravan. The procession all entered the city gates, and the wagons began moving slowly, each looking for a place to stay.

“Make sure to refer to it while moving. There is nothing I can’t do if it’s something I can help with.”

“For now, that answer is enough… Don’t say that.”

Pierre got up after Maxime and threw himself out of the caravan first.

“What are you standing there for? If he said he had something to do, he would move quickly.”

Maxim laughed and got out of the carriage slowly. The land of Murat, which he had stepped on for the first time in a long time, perhaps not too long ago, was unfamiliar. Maxim closed his eyes as if he hadn’t woken up from a dream.

There is a family here.

Just thinking about it made Maxim’s heart beat slightly. I didn’t think that Count Agon would treat them with disrespect, but Maxim bit his lip at the fact that he had to leave the territory and come all the way here.

I should do well.

In order to be able to recover everything that was lost and become a knight named Maxim Appart again, you must complete the mission you have been entrusted with.

The high winds of the mountains blew through the lofty walls of Murat. In stark contrast to the bright, cloudless sky, the winds of the valley were mercilessly sweeping the city.

“Wow! Hey!”

“The tent flies! catch! catch!”

The villagers of Murat were accustomed to walking the streets as usual, but the merchants were struggling in the strong wind, holding on to their goods and tents so that they would not blow away, shouting.

Maxim put the mess behind him and looked up at the ever-increasing slopes of Murat. Murat’s manor begins at the entrance of the castle, continues with a gentle slope, and turns into a steep uphill road to the mansion of the lord, Count Agon.

A winding road continued along the slope, and houses and buildings of unknown purpose were lined up randomly along the sections that divided the road. It was as if he were an actor standing on the stage of a theater and looking at the audience who filled the seats.

“… Well?”

Maxim, who had been slowly looking down from the highest point in the estate, the mansion of Count Agon, stopped his search at one point.

“Bridge… .”

There was a bridge from a decent location overlooking the square and the entire merchant crowd. It wasn’t the bridge that kept Maxim’s eyes on him, but the two women looking down on the scene from the bridge. It was strikingly black, black hair that was shiny like ebony, and a mask that half covered his face. And a lady with a face identical to hers standing next to her.

oh

Maxim held his breath for a moment.

Mother, Marion.

Dazed, Maxim looked up at his legs. Although they were watching from a distance, the two seemed to get along well. Behind the two of them, a female knight was guarding the surroundings. It seemed to be an escort article that Count Agon posted separately.

will be waiting for you No, you won’t even know if he’s dead or alive yet. That fact became a huge burden and weighed down Maxim’s heart.

“Wait.”

Maxim muttered.

The wind, which had stopped for a while, blew. Maxim could see Marion’s clear blue gaze in his widened field of vision for a moment. His eyes were completely different from the ones he had looked at before, filled with fear and fear. Maxim turned his head away, hiding the thought of wanting to smile. The feeling of the ring wrapped around the ring finger of the left hand, which was hidden by the glove and forgotten for a while, is vividly felt today.

“Let me come… Hey, are you listening?”

Pierre tapped Maxim on the shoulder. When Maxim turned his head slightly, the bald giant was frowning.

“no.”

Pierre burst out laughing at Maxim’s shameless reply.

“It’s nice to be able to answer so confidently.”

“Sounds like sh*t.”

“It’s me who has to be angry right now, you bastard.”

Pierre let out a deep sigh. Then, with a limp gesture, he pointed to the two-story building behind the large caravan.

“Anyway, I’ll be staying over there, at the inn I’m pointing to, so if you have any business, come over there. I’m not going to move out of this area. Even if I’m not at that inn, I’ll be there if you look around the caravan area.”

Pierre lowered his hand and patted Maxim on the shoulder.

“So, did you say you had business?”

“yes. I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you where to go.”

“I didn’t even expect it. It must be something you know how to do.”

Looking at the thick hands being whipped around, Maxim let out a short sigh.

“then.”

“yes. Make sure to return in time for departure.”

Maxim disappeared without a trace. It seemed that the presence was still there, but Pierre sighed as he saw Maxim suddenly disappear.

“… What’s so fast?”

—

“You must remember the Count’s orders.”

“What do you mean by gathering together, kidnapping a girl? And to stay here for a while and keep in touch? The Count is also true. What are you thinking… .”

“Be careful with your words,”

Five men were gathering and talking. The people of the Benning family planted by Leon Benning. They were talking while Pierre briefly entered the inn.

“This is the last time we can gather like this. The two I mentioned earlier headed for the mansion. I’ll divert my attention from here, and the other one sneaks out and heads to Murat’s Adventurer’s Guild. And the other one… .”

The man who was talking narrowed his eyes. His gaze was on one of the party, a one-eyed adventurer. His one-eyed hand was shaking, and he was biting his thumb nail, as if he had emotional instability.

“So, why are you still here?”

“fart… take it away.”

“What?”

The man twisted his face and grabbed the one-eyed adventurer by the collar and shook him.

“Who should be following the guy wearing the hood right now? What are you guys doing here?”

“That guy, that guy is the problem!”

The one-eyed shouted as he roughly shook the man’s hand that had grabbed him by the collar.

“Okay, let’s listen to what you have to say. Why are you here?”

“I tried to follow you. No, no. I didn’t even try in the first place. Everything I was able to catch up to until now was only possible because he left it alone. From the beginning, I struggled moderately, and after losing moderately, I tried to follow you servilely, noticing… .”

One-Eye ran his hand over his stomach.

‘I’ll leave my arms and legs behind since you have to drive the carriage.’

The sense of the blade that touched me was by no means a sloppy determination or bravado. He remembered very clearly the feel of the metal digging into his back. To the intestines, shallow so as not to touch the fatal site. Be clever so as not to cause visible bleeding.

Was there ever a time when the senses of wriggling organs were so vivid? Have you ever been shaken up inside by direct human life? Have you ever felt the unfamiliar touch of the tip of a knife, as if it were about to pierce your belly skin?

“F*ck, that hood adventurer. It’s no joke. Really, it’s no joke. he’s dangerous It’s not something I can do alone. five of us? Wouldn’t it be okay if we all got together? There’s no one to look for when we die. If one dies, all five of them will die.”

The man wiped his hands as if he had touched something dirty.

“You talk at great length about your failure in your mission. Do you want to be disposed of?”

“disposal? under! Die there, die now… .”

wait.

The one-eyed stopped talking.

“If you didn’t expect much from us in the first place… , if the count had put us in just for poking around… .”

“This bastard is talking nonsense now.”

The man shot at him in a voice filled with disgust.

“You should be fortunate that even one person is in a situation where you feel sorry for them.”

The man glared at the party with eyes full of annoyance.

“Wouldn’t it be better to put that guy in the kidnapping to raise the odds even a little?”

One of the spies who had been watching the man quietly raised his voice.

“Actually, it wouldn’t have mattered too much if the mission to follow them failed. It was just something the Count just added… .”

“therefore?”

“Rather than disrupting other missions by forcing yourself to do a mission that has already failed, it’s better to just complete the rest of the mission with certainty, that’s it.”

As long as it wasn’t for the follow-up mission, the man nodded his head while looking at those eyes that said anything was fine.

“… yes. you know? Execution day is just before the procession leaves here, when it is cluttered. It must be brought back intact, without a single wound. If you see him struggling because he can’t bring a girl, then he’s literally dead.”

—

Count Agon was silently contemplating with his eyes closed in his office.

‘Thanks to the items that came in this time, the territory will be able to recover to the level before the battle. I’m glad the royal capital applied at a low price.’

Count Agon also realized that defense cannot be neglected even for a moment.

‘I heard that the situation in the capital is unusual again. Just because the turmoil in the no-man’s land is over, we can’t cut down on military spending.’

All sorts of calculations made the count’s head complicated.

‘It’s a civil war, a civil war… .’

“You seem to be in a lot of trouble.”

stop.

The count’s shoulders twitched. when? how? Thoughts and actions happened simultaneously. The movement of the count’s hand as a servant call and the intruder’s grabbing of the count’s wrist were done at the same time.

“what… !”

The Count’s cry stopped halfway through.

“I have something to tell you.”

A man in a black hood was holding a silver fleur-de-lis in front of the Count’s eyes.