Chapter 15
Sob, sob.
——Hrk hrk.
In the forest, the sound of someone sobbing could be heard.
“Elenien, where are you…? Sniffle… I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. Everything is my fault. I’m so sorry.”
Serupe, crying and exhausted, leaned his head against a tree as if his spirit had left him. Watching the utterly broken Serupe, Dirtling stomped its feet and cried alongside him.
Occasionally, bandits passing by heard the sobbing but, unaware of Serupe’s state, fled instead of finishing him off. One more strike would have been the end of him.
The sobbing was loud enough that experienced mercenaries easily tracked Serupe’s location.
“Sigh.”
At the front of the group, Deruna grabbed the back of Serupe’s neck.
“Ahhh!”
Instinctively, Serupe swung his sword, moving too quickly to see. Had Deruna not anticipated this, her head might have been lopped off.
A chill ran down her spine, and she shouted to bring Serupe back to his senses.
“Serupe!”
“D-Deruna? Is that you?”
Seeing Serupe’s dazed face, Deruna felt her tension dissipate.
“What are you doing, sobbing pathetically out here?”
“Elenien….”
“She’s not dead yet. We’ll save her. Get up.”
Serupe nodded and tried to get up from the ground, but he was completely drained of strength and mana. Without some recovery, he couldn’t move.
The mercenaries helped support the staggering Serupe.
“Elenien… where’s Elenien?”
Half-conscious and sleep-deprived, Serupe was in a pitiful state.
“They’re taking her somewhere. If we rest for a day and pick up the pace, we’ll catch up.”
Deruna, feeling a twinge of guilt, couldn’t fully hide her discomfort, but Serupe was too out of it to notice. He simply took solace in the lack of worry on her face.
Soon after, Serupe fell asleep.
Dirtling immediately jumped forward to the mercenaries, as if to report on the situation.
Pointing at Serupe, Dirtling mimed wielding a sword, then pretended to collapse repeatedly, acting out the scene.
“Wait, are you saying Serupe wiped out all the bandits by himself?”
Trying to confirm the mercenary’s interpretation, Dirtling tilted its head before nodding. Deruna sighed and replied.
“I told you, he’s a monster….”
“Wow.”
“When Serupe wakes up, we’ll go settle things with the bandits. It seems they’re targeting Archil. We need to teach them a lesson.”
“Bandits gathering near the capital… This is a serious problem.”
“If they’d stayed hidden, we might not have known. But now that they’ve come out this far, it’s over for them. Ugh, the world’s got too many monsters….”
“Well, Lady Deruna, you’re one of those monsters.”
Kals muttered, and Deruna raised her fist.
“What kind of nonsense is that to say to a woman?”
“Ahh! You know I didn’t mean it like that!”
“Ha ha ha, idiot.”
After a round of laughter, the mercenaries moved to a new position and rested. While scanning the surroundings, one mercenary spoke.
“It seems like the bandits are regrouping. I think they’re planning a final showdown.”
“No need to fight them head-on. We’ll ambush them when they’re worn down, take control of the terrain with the spirits, and destroy them.”
“Understood.”
Deruna’s mercenaries carved a hidden shelter into a rocky cliff and concealed the entrance. Using the terrain, they employed the “Coffin” tactic, making it nearly impossible for enemies to find them.
The shelter wasn’t detectable through conventional magic due to the various techniques employed. Elenien, also hidden in the shelter, stayed quiet as instructed by Deruna to avoid drawing attention from Serupe.
When Serupe finally woke up, the shelter was fully prepared to protect Elenien.
“Comfy.”
A mercenary leaned against the wall, pulling out a bottle of alcohol.
“You said you only had one bottle?”
“Ha ha, of course, I made sure to stash my own! Here’s one for you, Lady Deruna.”
“No thanks, you drink it.”
“Wow, thank you! Hey, pour some in my cup too.”
“Should I or shouldn’t I? Should I or shouldn’t I? We’re in hiding; don’t cause a ruckus. Gulp Ahhh….”
“Fine, let’s die together.”
As the mercenaries joked and relaxed, bandits began circling the area.
Serupe, who had been sleeping soundly, woke up.
“Elenien!”
The moment Serupe called out for Elenien, she instinctively started to respond.
“H-Huh…?”
“Sigh, sigh.”
Deruna sighed loudly, drowning out Elenien’s voice, and promptly concealed her again. Serupe picked up his sword, looking around frantically.
“Ugh…. Sniffle. Sob sob.”
Upon waking, Serupe began to cry. Deruna clicked her tongue and scolded him.
“Stop crying like a kid.”
“Big sis… What about Elenien? No matter how many bandits I take down, I can’t find her.”
Feeling guilty for lying, Deruna struggled to suppress the pang in her chest and gently pulled Serupe into a comforting embrace.
“It’s okay. Who am I? What can a bunch of bandits possibly do? I’ll wipe them out and bring her back.”
“I-I’m sorry. They took Miss Elenien while I let my guard down…”
Serupe glared at the mercenary with eyes full of blame. For a brief moment, the mercenary felt a terror he had never experienced before and froze.
However, Serupe quickly looked away, murmuring to himself as though realizing it wasn’t entirely the mercenary’s fault.
“They say the bandit chiefs are really strong… What should I do if they hide her before Karon arrives? Elenien… I’m sorry… It’s all because of me… Elenien…”
Unaware that he had already slain a bandit chief in a single strike, Serupe sunk into his own world again. The mercenaries, who had heard from Dirtling about Serupe’s rampage last night, couldn’t make sense of his words.
Kals, in particular, was perplexed, having seen Serupe trembling in fear earlier. He turned to Deruna to ask.
“Could he be… uh… have a split personality?”
“…No.”
For the mercenaries who didn’t know Serupe had only been training with Karon for less than a month, this reaction was understandable. Deruna barely managed to suppress a sigh, then grabbed Serupe’s shoulders and spoke firmly.
“The only ones who can rescue Elenien right now are us. Karon won’t make it in time. Who do you think needs to pull themselves together right now?”
“M-Me.”
“Good. And I’m here too, so we’ll manage. Got it?”
“Yes, yes.”
As Serupe composed himself, Deruna turned to the mercenaries.
“Get ready.”
The mercenaries geared up and stood.
“Let’s go.”
“Ugh, being cooped up in that cramped space made me stiff. Let’s stretch out a bit.”
Deruna opened the hidden entrance and stepped outside, followed by the mercenaries. Seeing this, Serupe scrambled to his feet, fumbling with his sword as he dropped and picked it up in haste to catch up.
“W-Wait for me! You can’t leave me behind! Hoo, hoo… I need to save Elenien… Don’t be scared…”
Watching Serupe disappear out of sight as the entrance closed, Elenien emerged from her hiding place.
“Serupe…”
Though guilt weighed heavily on her for deceiving him, her affection for Serupe grew as she watched his determination to save her. In the dark cave, she prayed to the spirits for his safety.
***
“These guys are just surrounding us and running away?”
When Deruna and the mercenaries advanced in formation, the bandits retreated cautiously. Seeing this, Deruna quickly realized what was happening.
“It’s a leader’s duel.”
The bandits couldn’t afford to continue losing people endlessly, so this was an obvious tactic.
“Keep a safe distance and make sure no bandits stick too close. Avoid engaging anyone too strong.”
“Yes.”
“Got it, don’t worry about us.”
As the mercenaries dispersed, Deruna urged the hesitant Serupe forward.
“What are you doing? Let’s go.”
“Y-Yes, ma’am…”
Deruna couldn’t help but wonder how this awkward rookie managed to decimate the bandits. Unable to contain her curiosity, she questioned him.
“What exactly were you doing last night?”
“Uh, I-I was running around trying to find Elenien among the bandits… I’m sorry. I couldn’t be of much help.”
He seemed to have no memory of his feats. Deruna sighed deeply.
This wasn’t promising. Did this fool even realize he effortlessly tapped into the warrior’s trance state that many swordsmen dream of mastering?
“Just stay behind me and keep yourself safe. Don’t interfere and get in the way.”
“Yes? Yes… But I should still do something—”
“Doing as I say is helping.”
“Yes…”
Deflated, Serupe quietly followed Deruna. When they reached the area where the bandits were leading them, three powerful figures stood waiting.
“Ha ha, three against two, is it?”
“I came thinking it’d be fun to play around with a group, but tsk. Where’s that lord? Did he trip and fall somewhere against amateurs like these?”
“You knew this was a trap, yet you walked right into it. Deruna, are you overconfident, or do you actually think you can handle this?”
Deruna glanced at Serupe, who was trembling at the sight of the formidable opponents—warriors so powerful that encountering even one of them would be a rare lifetime event.
“Three against two? You must be joking. I’m enough to handle you all by myself.”
“Ha! Let’s see if that’s true!”
A hidden bandit sprang up from the ground behind Deruna, attempting a surprise attack.
“Ugh!”
Four against one? Or maybe worse? A seemingly unfavourable battle began.
—
Read More at – GENZNOVEL.COM!!
PLEASE JOIN OUR DISCORD AND SUBSCRIBE THE ROLE TO RECEIVE LATEST NOTIFICATIONS!!
Click here -> https://discord.gg/S8c2kGVr2g
Comment