novelraw Chapter 68 : An Offer That Could Not Be Refused
Chapter 68 : An Offer That Could Not Be Refused
Chapter 68: An Offer That Could Not Be Refused
Amid the chorus of clashing weapons, a one-eyed mercenary was rampaging.
Killing intent poured relentlessly from the sword in his hands, and wherever he passed, blood burst without exception.
“Grrraaa!”
An ogre called the tyrant of the forest.
A monster that required at least ten elite imperial soldiers to stand against.
“Your breath stinks, you ugly bastard.”
The mercenary with dull blond hair tied back leapt while frowning deeply.
As if detonating the arm muscles pulled taut in midair, he swung his sword.
Srrk!
The ogre, cut into four pieces in an X shape, collapsed.
The number of ogres felled by that attack alone totaled ten.
All of them had been brought down by the mercenary captain alone.
Calimacos shook the blood off his sword and swept back his hair.
“M-monster…….”
“Crazy, how are we supposed to deal with someone like that!”
The enemy troops wavered and slowly retreated.
Calimacos waved his hand toward them.
“Yeah. Go on, go. Don’t throw your lives away for nothing.”
Strength entered Paul’s eyes as he faced the enemy.
He slashed diagonally upward, cutting down the enemy.
Kicking aside the corpse whose upper and lower body had been severed, he glared toward the enemy lines.
As he raised his sword vertically to guard, an ominous presence brushed over his skin.
“Calimacos, something’s coming.”
“What is it this time.”
Drk. Drk.
A wooden cart rolled out onto the battlefield.
Inside a cramped cage barely large enough for one person, there was someone.
A child with their face buried against their knees.
It was impossible to tell whether the child was a boy or a girl, but one thing stood out.
“Horns……? Don’t tell me it’s a Demon Tribe.”
On the head of the child trapped in the cage, a single small horn was growing.
As Calimacos and Paul stood on guard, the child lifted their face at the enemy’s shouted command.
“What are you doing! Hurry up and use it!”
“…….”
The child raised their fern-like hand.
Then something unnatural occurred.
Stones scattered across the ground rose into the air and were carved into sharp conical shapes.
“After all these years, this is a first.”
The sharpened stones passed Calimacos and attacked the allied forces.
Soldiers struck in their vital points collapsed without even a scream.
The chunks of stone did not stop even after piercing hearts.
They moved as if they had a will of their own.
“Felix!”
“Yes! I’m going!”
Felix pulled his right arm back and threw toward the child.
The short spear, barely over a meter long, failed to reach its target.
It was intercepted by enemy troops blocking the way.
An enemy soldier whose shield was pierced and abdomen stabbed collapsed foaming blood.
Drk. Drk.
Several more carts rolled forward.
Every single one carried a horned child.
The enemy commander shouted at the children.
“You brats! Time to earn your keep!”
The children, their expressions devoid of emotion, raised their hands.
“Ah, what the hell are those guys even doing.”
Calimacos smashed apart the stones moving on their own, but he could not stop every last one from slipping through.
“Khuhk!”
“D-demon… it’s a demon!”
Torgen shouted as he knocked stones away with his axe.
“Captain! What are those things!”
“I don’t know either, damn it!”
“We have to kill them quickly!”
Arrows were fired toward the children trapped in the cages, but they were blocked by shield-bearers.
“It’s time to counterattack! Charge!”
“Waaaaaaaah!”
The tide of battle, which had been leaning to one side, was overturned.
A week had passed since they began staying at the Admiral’s house.
He had not driven Robin’s group away.
-For the time being, please behave quietly.
Robin and Imelda were his saviors.
Turning such people in himself made him hesitate.
From what he had heard, it did not seem that Imelda Tefir had plotted rebellion.
Of course, he could not know what her father, Andrew Tefir, had been like.
‘So he’s settling it like this for now.’
The compensation the Admiral had offered Robin vanished as if nothing had happened.
As if providing a safe place to stay meant he had fulfilled his duty.
What Serena had once said about giving them a house had become reality to some extent.
As things flowed exactly as the spirit mage had casually blurted out, a hollow laugh escaped him.
Whether she knew Robin’s complicated feelings or not, Serena remained carefree.
“Mm, fish pie is tasty.”
Serena put a pie topped with a fish head into her mouth in the kitchen.
At the sight of her eating the strongly fishy pie without hesitation, Imelda turned her head away.
Perhaps misunderstanding the gesture, Serena placed the pie on a plate and brought it over.
“Here, it was hard to get, so try it.”
“I’ll pass.”
At the refusal without a moment’s hesitation, Serena blinked in apparent confusion.
Her eyes met Robin’s.
At the gaze filled with unspoken expectation, Robin took a bite of the fish pie.
Robin’s complexion turned pale, and he grabbed a napkin and held it to his mouth.
“Ptooey.”
“……?”
“Serena, are you trying to kill me?”
“……?”
“Where did you get something this grotesque?”
“The sailors were eating it happily, so I bought it for 10 Cooper. Isn’t it good?”
‘Ten Cooper for this garbage. Is money rotting away or something.’
Robin spoke clearly.
“This isn’t something you eat.”
“Why? It’s nutritious and looks good too.”
“…….”
There was no doubt her tongue was broken.
On top of that, her aesthetic sense was twisted as well.
Perhaps embarrassed by Robin’s reaction, Serena returned to the kitchen.
Stuffing the remaining pie into her mouth as she went.
“Robin, what kind of training should we do today. Sparring again, maybe?”
“It looks like it might rain, so how about strength training in the living room?”
“Sounds good.”
It had become a familiar routine during their stay at the Admiral’s house.
Unlike the Admiral, who went out early every morning, Robin’s group had nothing in particular to do.
At this point, it was safe to assume he had no intention of reporting them to the Empire.
That did not mean he intended to set them free either.
From the day after they arrived at the port city, whenever they tried to check outside the city, guards blocked them.
When asked why, they replied that they did not know.
Instead, even the guards were curious what had happened for them to be placed under a travel ban.
“Huff. Huff. I did all 100. Now it’s your turn, Robin.”
“You’ve gotten faster.”
“And Robin feels heavier.”
She got down from Imelda’s back as she did push-ups.
When Robin lay prone on the floor and took position, this time Imelda climbed onto Robin’s back.
He moved his arms so his posture would not collapse.
‘Young lady is roughly 55kg right now. Too light. I should make her eat more.’
Just after he had barely passed ten, Serena suddenly hopped on.
His lower body grew heavier.
“Serena……? What’s with you all of a sudden.”
“It looked fun. It’s fine, right, Robin?”
“Of course.”
Even with Serena added, Robin continued doing push-ups without paying it any mind.
‘Serena weighs roughly 45kg. Together they’re 100kg. Just right.’
Unlike the Knights’ Training Yard of the Baron Tefir family, the Admiral’s house had no exercise facilities.
The idea of using each other as weights had been Imelda’s.
Imelda, who took the lead in trying to grow stronger, was admirable.
Robin naturally accepted it.
Imelda’s weight alone felt insufficient, but with Serena climbing on as well, he could work his muscles as hard as usual.
“Hoo. Hoo.”
Push-ups, squats, pull-ups…….
Just as he was immersed in muscle pain that felt like his entire body was being torn apart.
The Admiral returned.
“…You’re in the middle of exercising?”
“We’re almost done. It’s the first time I’ve seen you come back at this hour. What brings you here?”
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
The Admiral’s expression was quite serious.
Stopping what they were doing, the four gathered and sat on the living room sofa.
“Granny, ain’t dinner ready yet?”
“Goodness!”
The Admiral flinched in shock at the old man who had appeared silently behind him.
“Sir. Please make some noise when you move around. And you already ate earlier, didn’t you.”
“Did I eat……?”
“Grandfather, could you wait just a little? I’ll prepare it again.”
The old man, Theodric, was soothed by Imelda and sat down at the kitchen table to wait.
Enduring the throbbing in his head, the Admiral began to speak.
“Tomorrow. I will be leaving this place and heading to the front lines.”
“You’re joining the war.”
“Yes. And so I have a proposal. Would you like to go with me.”
“What happens if we refuse?”
“You will have to leave this house. Also, you will no longer receive my protection.”
The Admiral had helped Robin in ways both obvious and unseen.
Robin was well aware that he had shielded them from being captured by the Empire.
Following the Admiral meant participating in the war.
If he did not step onto a battlefield where people killed and were killed, this comfortable life would come to an end.
There was no choice.
‘Though it’s what I wanted from the start.’
“Alright.”
“As expected… you must have thought about it even before I said it. Do you have any war experience.”
“No.”
“I’ll place you somewhere as safe as possible.”
“I don’t mind going to the front lines.”
“Haha, you have ambition. Very well.”
Robin glanced to the side.
Imelda would go with Robin, but Serena had no need to.
When their eyes met, she opened her mouth.
“I’ll go too.”
“That’s unexpected.”
“But I have a condition.”
“What is it.”
“Help me later.”
“With what, specifically?”
“I’m looking for someone. If I can’t find them even after searching the north, I’ll go to the Demon Realm. Follow me then.”
It was the first time he was hearing this.
That girl who looked somewhat lacking was searching for someone.
And someone she wanted to find even if it meant going to the Demon Realm?
Serena was capable enough to be worth ten people on her own.
Recently, she had fully recovered her Ether, and they said her capacity had grown wider than before.
From the enemy’s perspective, even just firing off a few fireballs would be troublesome enough.
Robin pondered.
‘The outskirts of the Demon Realm might be manageable, but beyond that is dangerous.’
“I refuse.”
“Really? Can’t be helped.”
“Then our connection ends here…….”
“I’ll follow. But I won’t participate in the fighting. That’s fine, right, Admiral?”
“Hmm…….”
After a brief moment of consideration, the Admiral spoke.
“If you will not participate, you cannot go with me. I am going for an important mission.”
“Then station me in the rear. The more pay the better, but handle that as you see fit. Work three times a week.”
“Agreed.”
The Admiral accepted at once.
For an ordinary person, those conditions would be absurd, but Serena was a spirit mage.
Just having a spirit mage present boosted morale.
‘She’s so sharp at times like this. But usually, why…….’
“Then, what about Grandfather.”
“Given the circumstances, I will escort him separately to a safe place.”
“There’s a safe place?”
“Yes. I will take him to my family home.”
“You don’t mean the domain of Count Wilcock…….”
“That’s right. I will personally take responsibility and accompany Sir Theodric, so you need not worry.”
Robin was dumbfounded.
The old man might have been a former knight, but he was undeniably a dementia patient.
‘In the middle of a war, is there any reason to take care of a senile old man?’
“We depart tomorrow at 7 a.m. Please prepare any necessary items in advance, and I’ll see you in the morning.”
Before Robin could voice his doubts, the Admiral excused himself.
As if he had truly stopped by only to say what needed to be said, the Admiral went outside.
‘All things considered, this worked out well enough. There’s still a warrant out, but hardly anyone in this region cares about that.’
“Granny, aren’t you going to cook?”
“Just wait a little, Grandfather.”
Imelda took out ingredients in the kitchen and began cooking.
Perhaps truly hungry, the old man stared at Imelda cooking as if he might breathe fire.
“Serena, let’s pack our things.”
“Yeah, I already did.”
“Excuse me……?”
“I put money in the pouch, and I’ve got this staff too, so we could leave right now.”
“Of course… that’s how Serena is…….”
“Ah, should I pack a few fish pies? They’re tasty.”
Leaving the girl who had clearly lost her sense of taste behind, Robin checked their travel supplies.
If they headed north from here, the temperature would drop further.
He began writing down items to purchase, focusing mainly on cold-weather gear.