Chapter 154

Chapter 154

***

There were many wondrous things in the world.

The sea filled with saltwater, the sea made of sand, the scorching sun in the day, the starlight pouring down like rain at night.

The mausoleums of ancient Emperors conveying the impermanence of life, and the magnificent fortresses that looked as if built by giants.

However, if I had to choose just one place to lay down my single body, I would leave all those wondrous things behind and choose my hometown.

There might be nothing surprising, and it might not elicit much excitement, but even so, the refuge of my soul was nowhere but my hometown.

Passing the western part of the Empire, reaching the Netherlant Kingdom in the lowlands where vampires live, and then east again.

The scent of flowers mixed in the wind, the smell of earth and grass, the scent of trees, the taste of water, the familiar accents of the people, and the sense of the season feeling like wearing well-fitting clothes.

It was the north.

Going just a little further east Ehrenberg would appear, and going further north up would be the Haiden fields.

The reason Rickart's strategy was effective was that, because he acted like he was going to take revenge on the outside, the Kings were all busy protecting their own single bodies and didn't separately obstruct the knighthood's movement.

If they had known they were trying to go to Adelorn, and if they had asked for their understanding with good words, would they have been able to safely reach the north like now?

They probably would have blocked the intersections and tried to extort something. Because one couldn't exactly expect innocent goodwill from those who frame perfectly normal people and extort money and rights.

The places Rickart and the knighthood passed through all held their breath trembling in fear. Like young children believing a Ghost was wandering around outside the house at night.

Both the bandits of the mountain strongholds, and the lords who harshly collected tolls, both showed not even the tip of their noses, merely hoping Rickart would pass by quickly.

To face the Steel Knights at least kingdom-level troop strength was needed, and though it wasn't a surprise invasion, it was a quite sudden event so everyone was also having a hard time gathering troops.

In other words, since coward-like monarchs were only kicking the air, currently the Steel Knights had leeway in its own way.

However, nature could not be helped. The summer monsoon rainy season covered the north.

KU-GUNG. KU-GU-GUNG......

The shaded world flashed glaringly, and the sound of thunder was heard from afar. It felt as if God grabbed the sky and shook it wildly.

Watching the thunder, lightning, and falling rain on the northern plains spread out endlessly, there was no other spectacle like this.

However, being hit by the rain was not a very pleasant thing at all. The armor soldiers mainly wore was a thing called a gambeson, and because the lining was made of sheep's wool or cotton, it absorbed a lot of moisture especially easily.

Armor that absorbed moisture heavily made the body several times heavier than usual. Furthermore, they had already passed the paved roads, and the road was mud that sank in deeply up to the ankles.

The spear shafts were slippery, the food and firewood loaded on the wagons and carts became damp, and the wheels couldn't even roll a few times before getting stuck in the mire and failing to advance.

This suffering, this exhaustion, someone who hasn't experienced it would definitely not know. It was pain so exhausting, hard, and difficult to endure that it even brought up thoughts of rather wanting to die.

It persistently seemed to ask, WAS HOMETOWN STILL GOOD EVEN LIKE THIS? Because life was always about being put to the test. Only enduring and overcoming it was the answer.

Ring. Ring. Ri-ri-ring. Ring.

The rain streaks beat on the soldiers' helmets. The beat of that sound only became faster as it went, and didn't slow down.

The knights and Rickart dismounted from their horses and pushed the carts and wagons. The invention called wheels was almost useless right now, and exactly like the labor of cows plowing a field, people pushed and moved the wagons one by one.

With a marching speed slower than a slug, just how much further did they have to go. Even the genius of strategy and tactics was merely nothing more than a trivial creature before nature.

Rickart's lower half was completely covered in mud, and his armor lost its light. The knighthood's flag that usually fluttered powerfully was heavy and drooping from getting wet.

After pushing the carts for a long time and encouraging the soldiers, personnel fainting from exhaustion began to appear one or two at a time.

Even if they somehow clenched their teeth and endured the hardship, if it became like this they could catch illnesses.

Rickart thought this wouldn't did and made a decision.

"Gather the carts and wagons in one place and set up tents to avoid the rain. Then light fires and warm your bodies. Let's eat all things like potatoes before they sprout."

"......"

It was a spot way too vulnerable to organize an encampment, but Raimund and the knights nearby couldn't raise objections.

Because they also knew that the current situation was so hard. And they didn't think Rickart gave this instruction without knowing that.

Rickart himself didn't give the instruction in a giving-up manner like EH WHATEVER I DON'T KNOW. A leader shouldn't be like that. Whether it made sense or not, there always had to be a solution and they had to present a direction.

"It will take three days to the nearest city. As long as the rain doesn't stop, at the current speed it could take more than a week. Before that, since personnel collapsing and getting sick might occur first, let me and the knights search the surroundings. Whether it's a small village or whatever, let's look for a place the soldiers could rest at."

It meant letting the soldiers stop and rest for now, and Rickart and the knights suffering more to try finding a way out.

When Rickart's instructions spread, the soldiers felt as if they were hit by sweet rain during a drought even while it was raining.

They wanted to collapse right away and did nothing, but squeezing out their strength until the end, they encircled the outside with carts and wagons like temporary castle walls, dug water channels, and then pitched tents.

Letting the horses rest inside, they immediately lit fires, wrung out wet clothes, and took off their shoes. When they turned their combat boots upside down, mud fell off in clumps. Their feet were swollen puffy and, to exaggerate slightly, were on the verge of rotting.

Seeing the encampment being organized albeit hurriedly, Rickart, even though his own body was wet, wiped the Crimson Comet's body with a towel first and brushed its coat. And fed it plenty of carrots and dried bean stalks.

Whether the Crimson Comet knew its owner took care of it before his own body, it nudged its head in, flicked its tongue, and acted affectionately. Of course, finding it cumbersome, Rickart kept pushing the head away. What's wrong with you, stay still a bit.

After that, he also took off his armor and shoes, dried his body a bit by the fire, and did a little personal maintenance. The rain streaks beat against the tent ceaselessly going patter.

While Rickart was warming himself by the fire together with Raimund and his closest knights, a soldier brought a chunk of roasted meat and something like mashed potatoes on a silver plate.

"Thank you."

Rickart accepted the plate and ate the food with his hands. In a flash, pleasure swept up his whole body, and it was nothing short of tasting like honey. Ugh, I'm dying.

Because he moved several times more than others pushing carts and wagons, Rickart was also in a quite exhausted state.

Drying his body by the fire and eating fresh food after suffering, this truly was nothing short of heaven.

He wanted to put aside all worldly matters and catch some sleep like this, but he couldn't. Because the place the knighthood currently organized as an encampment was open terrain, they couldn't stay for long.

"Let's slowly move. Ray, you take charge of the encampment."

"Understood."

Though his body hadn't dried completely, Rickart put his shoes back on and draped only a single cloak. He didn't wear armor, and strapped only a single sword to his waist.

The roughly 10 knights were in similar attire. Like that, Rickart and the 10 knights pulled their hoods up and departed south for a search holding the rain. To find a place for the soldiers to stay.

The soldiers stared blankly at that sight. And naturally had thoughts like this. That such a commander would be hard to meet twice in a lifetime. They even felt a sense of pride like OUR COMMANDER WAS THIS KIND OF PERSON, OUR KING FOUGHT LIKE THIS.

Setting aside him being their savior and the person who accomplished their vengeance, he was just an excellent commander. Leading by example was easy in words but not something just anyone could did.

Furthermore, decision-making, operational planning, execution ability, his own martial prowess, etc., there was nothing lacking. Just the person himself was a person worth following.

Rickart, not even knowing he was receiving such gazes behind his back, continued to walk south. Presently he entered the pitch-black darkness, and escaped the soldiers' gazes.

The south was low-lying mountainous terrain and forests, and it was doubtful if there would be a village in such a place. Even if there was, would it be big enough for 6,000 men to stay?

It was impossible not to have such worries, but there was no giving up. Devoting their full strength to uncertain things was something familiar to both Rickart and the knights. Even if they could die.

Entering the forest they could get hit by the rain a bit less, but it was as dark as a pitch-black night. So the knights lit the torches they brought. Was it late afternoon or early evening right now? It didn't seem like night yet though.

Rickart and the knights closely examined the surrounding trees and ground. It was to find traces of wild animals or traces of people.

How long did they climb the pathless mountain. One knight called Rickart.

"Commander, here."

When Rickart turned his head and looked, the knight holding a torch was looking down at the base of a tree. As Rickart approached and looked, a single corpse hidden by the bushes was seen.

There were no eyeballs. Maggots were boiling in the pitch-black eye sockets that had nothing. There were no lips either, and the inside of the mouth was also full of maggots. They were gnawing away starting from the soft parts.

But other fleshes were somewhat swollen but remained reasonably intact, and guessing based on the recent weather, it seemed it had been about three or four days since death.

Because birds or beetles would gather to eat the maggots if a little more time passed, but they couldn't be seen yet.

"Sword wound."

Rickart stated the cause of death shortly. The heart was accurately pierced avoiding the ribs. There were no other external injuries. The sword skill of the one who killed them looked quite impressive.

Searching the surroundings, they could discover two more corpses. And, guessing based on the distance and direction the corpses were separated from each other, they could also tell that the one who killed them chased the fleeing ones down and killed them.

"The sword skill is too good for an ordinary robber. Anyway, where did these people come from? From where did they come fleeing?"

Rickart spoke as if talking to himself, and as if asking the surrounding knights. Because although they were dead now they were people anyway, so he said it hoping wouldn't there be a place where people lived then.

The current objective was not to track the killer but to search for a place suitable to accommodate the soldiers.

"How about trying to go in the opposite direction of the escape route?"

"Or try going in the fleeing direction conversely. Since they would have been going somewhere."

Connecting the places where the three corpses collapsed, one could roughly know which way the path they fled was.

Rickart thought for a moment then said.

"Let's try going in the direction they fled. With this level of sword skill, they could have killed them all at once. But letting them flee meant this person also wanted to know the destination of these people."

Though not certain, Rickart reasonably deduced in his own way.

And with that deduction, they were able to search holding directionality in their own way. Rickart and the knights headed southwest.

While walking they discovered corpses again. This time they were in a quite fresh state, such that bugs or beasts hadn't eaten them out, so the whitish eyeballs and bluish lips remained as they were. There were a whopping five of such corpses around.

Anyway, looking down at corpses holding torches inside a pitch-black forest was a creepy thing, but Rickart and the knights were merely blunt. Though it was because they were blunt that they could judge cool-headedly.

"Tracking is tracking, but it seems exactly like hunting."

One knight said. As they were those familiar with death, they understood just by looking. It was no less than Rickart.

"It does look like reducing numbers. But the questionable part is whether one person did this, or multiple people did this."

"Seeing the method is identical, it seems one person did it."

"That is true, but it feels like multiple people who learned identical methods. Anyway, let's leave the possibilities open and not be certain."

The knights nodded their heads. Exchanging this and that opinion looking at corpses was a truly harmonious conversation.

By the way, Rickart felt a strange sense of déjà vu. The sword skill was one thing, but because it seemed they weren't randomly chasing and killing haphazardly, but using their head in their own way to reduce numbers little by little.

It completely looked similar to the method he himself used back when he was an adventurer in the past. Just looking at the hand techniques, the parts that were cold-hearted yet seemingly improvisational were like that.

Rickart and the knights kept moving. Then they discovered a mountain village. No, to speak accurately it wasn't a mountain village but a mountain stronghold. A place where a considerably large scale of bandits lived, that was. It was originally a mountain village, but it felt like it had been renovated.

It was a place subtly hidden by the topography of the mountain and surprisingly inconspicuous because it was night. Tiny lights were leaking out dot by dot.

However, if it was this size, it looked like it wouldn't be easy to subjugate even if someone on the level of a Count stepped out. It seemed like a group that spread notoriety in the region quite a bit.

Even such a group, upon hearing the news that the Steel Knights were passing by, was staying dead quiet like dead mice without revealing their presence.

But Rickart and the knights turned to look at each other smiling broadly as if the sky finally cleared up on a dark and cloudy day. And without speaking, each other's thoughts were conveyed. Found it. Resting there would did.

As soon as day breaks, attacking and killing them all or driving them out, and staying inside until the rainy season stops, before heading east again seemed like it would work.

Rickart and the knights were excited, their hearts fluttered, and laughter didn't cease. While doing so, they naturally exchanged opinions about the operation as if making small talk.

"How about detouring down south, cutting off the retreat route, and scaring them from the main gate?"

"Is there a need to dare go that far? Let's form a small separate unit, infiltrate, and then open the main gate from the inside. Since the objective is not killing but occupying."

"Sparing them needlessly might become troublesome."

"Herding them into a barn and setting it on fire is fast though."

"We can't bear such risks. Since even one place to avoid rain is precious."

"How about killing them all at once after disarming them?"

But right in the middle of talking, something heterogeneous caught Rickart's sharp senses. Before his brain could make any judgment, Rickart accurately turned his head in that direction.

"Shh. Someone is staring."

Rickart said. Then the knights abruptly ceased conversation. Rickart's eyes were staring slightly upwards in the truly pitch-darkness where nothing was visible.

"It seems to be the people who made the corpses we saw, but it's not one person."

"Pardon?"

"We were confused whether it was one person or multiple right. But it's not one person. One, two, three, four, at least five. More than that."

Even when nothing was visible, Rickart almost accurately grasped the number of opponents.

"Shall we put out the torches?"

A knight asked. Because we couldn't see the opponents, but due to the torches the opponents could see us. It was still raining, beating heavily against the hoods they wore.

"No. I don't feel hostility yet."

"Just what kind of people do you think they are?"

"I wouldn't know either."

The knights looked like they didn't have even an ounce of tension. Because they were that confident.

At that time, lightning flashed glaringly. Momentarily the whole world divided into only two colors, white and black, before returning to darkness again.

Rumble......

The sky cried out. It was a short moment, but this time the knights also saw them all. Four or five people standing like grim reapers on a slightly higher ground, looking down this way.

Even though they recognized each other, no words particularly went back and forth. They didn't stealthily bring their hands to the hilts of their swords either.

Then from beyond the darkness, one spoke first. It was a youthful man's voice.

"Are you people from the Lothar Count family?"

"No."

"We were already in the middle of handling this place. Seeing as you had no interest all this while, we wish you would not come now and interfere with our work."

"I told you we are not."

"Then who are you people?"

"Who are you people?"

"We......"

Just as the youthful-voiced man was about to reveal their identities, another person spoke. He had a mid-to-low tone voice, but strangely, it was familiar to Rickart's ears.

"Are you looking for a place to rest, travelers?"

Rickart momentarily felt a HUH? sensation at the familiar voice.

Presently as the owner of that voice came to mind, a smile naturally spread on his lips. Even though he couldn't see the opponent speaking with a smile, he felt it.

"You who are exhausted and burdened, come to me. I will give you rest."

While doing so, he plopped down from the slightly higher ground. Approaching with rustling steps, he reached the place where the light of the torches touched and revealed his appearance.

Because he was pressing his hood down deeply, only the area around his mouth holding a faint smile was visible, but he took off his hood and revealed his entire face.

It was a handsome man that would make even the same man feel dizzy looking at him. His rare silver hair was slightly wet, which made the man look even more sensual.

Rickart's smile deepened further.

"I am the sword instructor of the Michela Sword Monastery, Ice."

Ice jokingly introduced himself slightly, as if introducing himself to a person he was seeing for the first time.

Rickart chuckled. It was a sign of gladness, a sort of ironic expression.

"You've become even more handsome......"

The march was stagnated and it was a dark forest where rain fell heavily, but his frustrating heart became remarkably brightened.

The smile of a friend seen after a long time held such power. There was nothing surprising, and no huge excitement, but it felt exactly like returning to one's hometown.