<h4>Chapter 82 – Ten Thousand Gold Pieces (2)</h4>
Swan instantly hopped to the top of the carriage and searched the surroundings. Red dust was rising from the edge of the western horizon, but Juan didn’t even bother turning his head; his senses became extremely sharp and sensitive whenever he concentrated on refining his mana.
Juan quickly sensed the familiar spirit of about thirty heavily armed people riding their horses to approach the carriage.
“It’s the Temrs,” Juan said.
Swan looked at Juan with a surprised look, since she could see only their silhouettes from such a distance.
Juan wondered how Swan would respond to the arrival of the Temrs. Swan handing Juan over to the Temrs to receive the reward of ten thousand gold pieces was a reasonable possibility. Juan contemted what he should do in such a situation, but soon shook his head because it didn’t matter what she decided to do with him.
Juan had already decided that he would not go out of his way to hide his identity nor his traces ever since he annihted the Order of the Blue Rose—and the same was true of his journey to Durgal.
At that moment, Swan put arge hood over Juan’s head.
“Hide that head of yours well… After all, it is worth ten thousand gold pieces,” Swan said.
As the sounds of the horse hooves got closer, the mercenaries began to turn their heads one by one. The Temrs didn’t pass by the carriage and stopped their horses nearby.
“O’ Mighty Temrs, is everything okay?” the horseman of the carriage said, ying innocent.
However, the smile on his face disappeared as soon as the Temrs drew their swords. One of the Temrs who appeared to be the leader of the group came up to the horseman.
The Temr in question was carrying a gpole on his back that had ck snakes drawn on a green background.
“Who’s in the carriage?” the Temr demanded.
“T-they are the mercenaries, sir. They are the mercenaries heading to Tiery through the Manas Mountains to join Duke Henna’s forces.”
The Temrs exchanged nces with each other. When the Temr wearing the snake-headed helmet signaled, all of the Temrs surrounded the carriage at once.
The mercenaries who were nervous due to suddenly being surrounded also grabbed their weapons.
Just one of these Temrs could easily kill at least about six mercenaries, but there were thirty Temrs in front of their eyes. A cold sweat ran down from the mercenaries’ foreheads.
“I feel bad to be a nuisance to the Duke, but I must inspect the inside of the carriage. Open the carriage door,” the Temr wearing the snake-headed helmet said, then shouted with a loud voice in front of the carriage door. “I’m Captain Velkre of the Order of the Evil Snake! I ask all the mercenaries inside to cooperate with the inspection without resisting! If you obediently cooperate, I promise that you will be allowed to go as soon as possible.”
Temrs were people who didn’t hesitate to wipe out entire viges using ‘cleansing’ as an excuse when others didn’t follow their will. Being well aware of the fact that there was no point in resisting, the mercenaries rxed their hands which had been gripping the weapons.
Meanwhile, Juan grabbed his short sword in his hand and looked for a gap to break through the Temrs. He thought that he might be able to run out of the carriage and knock down at least three Temrs without having anyone notice.
At that moment, Swan put her hand over Juan’s short sword. She still had a smile on her face and shook her head at Juan.
The carriage door opened, and the mercenaries began to walk out one by one. When Juan and Swan walked out of the carriage at the end, the Temr who introduced himself as Velkre turned his gaze toward Juan.
Juan didn’t move an inch as he looked back at Velkre’s eyes.
When Velkre reached out his hand to lift up the hood that had been covering Juan’s head, a head of hair as ck as the night was revealed. The Temrs drew their swords and approached Juan upon seeing his ck hair, but Velkre raised his hand to stop them. Velkre didn’t say much and put the hood back on Juan’s head again.
“These are tough times for people from beyond the border. However, I ask for your understanding as we are all on edge because one of you from beyond the border is making a fuss in the south. Have you seen a kid around thirteen years old? He has ck hair just like yours.”
“I haven’t seen him.”
This wasn’t a lie. He considered being honest and telling him the truth, but decided to continue the act since he found this situation to be quite amusing.
“If you do see someone like him, please report him to the nearest base of the Imperial Army or the Church. I’m sure it would be better for all of you if we could end this situation as soon as possible.”
The Temrs showed signs of dissatisfaction upon seeing Velkre let Juan go. However, they all bowed their heads when Velkre red at them—the position of captain held absolute authority within knight orders.
“I would also like to make an announcement to the other mercenaries. Traces of the Thornbush Priest Organization and a heretic have been detected around here. Six heretics were found, burnt to death, and this is simr to the traces left behind by the devil of Tantil. If you see anyone suspicious, make sure to report them without hesitation to show your faith in His Majesty!”
None of the mercenaries showed much enthusiasm, but Velkre finished speaking regardless of their reaction and turned back. Then, he whispered something at Juan as he had inadvertently remembered something.
“People that came from beyond the border don''t know of His Majesty’s teachings. You should watch your every action from now on as I have remembered your face.”
Velkre finished his warning and signaled the Temrs.
“Let’s go,” Velkre said.
After Velkre and the Temrs disappeared to the south, a sigh of relief broke out of the mercenaries. The mercenaries crawled back into the carriage while they cursed the Temrs and the Church.
***
Velkre stared ahead silently as he whipped his horse. Knowing that he was in a bad mood, the other Temrs didn’t bother talking to him.
Velkre didn’t like this red wastnd at all. The wilderness which extended all the way to the horizon made him recall his old memories—the eastern territory of the empire was thend Velkre was born and raised in.
To Velkre who was born after the Eternal Rule began, the eastern territory was a cruel and terrible ce. Before he could even recognize the beauty of his homnd, he lost his family to the burning ruins. Wandering around the eastern territory that turned into a devastating red wastnd, Velkre had survived by following the army and eating garbage off of the streets.
“Brother Velkre.”
While Velkre was lost in his thoughts, someone approached him. The man who walked up to Velkre had snake-like pupils, which eerily reflected the light under the visor—it was Marco, the deputy of the Order of the Evil Snake.
“Don’t you think that we should have captured that ck-haired guy in the carriage? He was obviously extraordinary,” Marco said.
“Let him be. His Holiness hasmanded us to look for a ck-haired kid around thirteen years of age. If he really is extraordinary, there will be no need for us to go out of our way to make an unnecessary fuss.”
“But he’s still a heretic who hasn’t been blessed by His Majesty.”
“Brother Marco.”
Velkre red at the deputy of the Order of the Evil Snake with irritated eyes.
“Keep in mind that the Order of the White Crow ended up where they are right now due to ignoring His Holiness’ orders and wasting their energy doing unnecessary things. We are basically cleaning up after their mess. Do you still think that we should be wasting our time on such unnecessary things?”
“...My apologies. I was imprudent.”
Marco was quick to admit his carelessness, and recalled themand given to them by Pope Helmut—to not be distracted by useless matters and only focus on chasing the ck-haired boy.
The twelfth knight order, the ‘Order of the Evil Snake’ was specialized in such pursuit and assassination-rted tasks, and their main task was to travel all over the empire to carry out the secretmands given to them by the Pope. They were usually divided into small groups to perform various missions in different ces within the empire, and it was rather rare for all of their Temrs to be gathered like this—most of the missions were easily carried out by using the ‘snake’ that the Order of the Evil Snake was granted anyway.
They specialized in thepletion of special missions, but they were still Temrs. Although they weren’t obligated to do anything about it, their hostility toward those from beyond the border and those who were used of heresy was only natural. After all, the Church instigated hatred against heresy.
However, Velkre was different. He was not moved by faith, but rather a longing for survival and sess.
‘<i>The ck-haired boy, huh.</i>’
Usually, Velkre’s targets for the missions varied anywhere from a newborn from a powerful noble family to old men who seemed to have only a few more days left to live. But this time, his target was unique. Velkre found it difficult to figure out the truth within the rumors that had been spread throughout the empire.
“The ck emperor, the devil of Tantil, the butcher of the Blue Rose, and even…”
‘<i>The rumor about His Majesty''s return.’</i>
This was a rumor that made him feel extremelyplicated and unpleasant. To be honest, Velkre didn’t have much faith in His Majesty. He considered himself to be the Pope’s private soldier more than a believer of His Majesty; he was willing to do anything and everything to escape from the hell that was the eastern territory of the empire.
Fortunately, the Priests of the Church epted Velkre’s desire as a form of faith in His Majesty. Nevertheless, the rumor saying that His Majesty had returned somehow made him feel ufortable.
‘<i>His Majesty returned to save the city of Hiveden during its time of disaster, they say… of course he did. Perhaps the eastern territory appeared to be a happy ce that doesn’t need saving in His Majesty’s eyes, huh.</i>’
Although it was true that a lot of people died in Hiveden, the number of the victims was iparable to the number of people who died because of the civil war in the eastern territory that had been going on for more than forty years.
As someone who grew up in the eastern territory, Velkre found the rumor of His Majesty’s return to be ridiculous.
‘<i>Well, a rumor is just a rumor.’</i>
Velkre recalled how the rumor about the ck-haired boy had been changing constantly, and how people were now saying that the boy had turned into a warrior of a giant me.
At that moment, Velkre stopped his horse in a hurry.
‘<i>Wait. Has his appearance changed?</i>’
The Temrs who had been riding their horses at full speed for a long time also came to a hasty stop upon seeing Velkre stop. A thick cloud of sand rose, and Velkre’s expression turned pale as he took off his visor.
“Everyone, we are going back.”
Velkre didn’t repeat hismand, and immediately turned his horse’s head to run back the way he came from.
The Temrs didn’t question him, and instantly followed him back.
As Velkre chased the silhouette of the carriage that had already disappeared beyond the horizon, Velkre cursed at himself.
The red dust of the wastnd rose in front of Velkre.
***
Juan, who had been paying attention to the Temrs as they moved far away from the carriage, sighed upon realizing that they were returning. The Temrs were furiously riding their horses with murderous intent and frustration to catch up to the carriage once again.
Swan opened the window and looked to the east, and frowned when she saw the dust cloud rising from over the horizon.
“You have good senses,” Swan said.
“What are you going to do?” Juan asked as he got ready to pull out his short sword.
This time, Swan didn’t stop him from drawing his short sword.
“What do you mean what am I going to do?” Swan answered Juan, then suddenly opened the door of the carriage and shouted.
“Everyone get off the carriage!”
“Huh? Wh-what’s going on?”
The mercenaries asked back in panic, but Swan moved fast to grab the nearest mercenary by the cor and threw him out of the carriage instead of answering. The mercenary screamed and rolled on the ground of the wastnd.
“M-Ms. Swan, what are you doing?!”
Despite the mercenaries’ints, Swan grabbed another mercenary who stood next to her and threw him outside as well. The mercenary tried to resist, but he ended up rolling on the ground unconscious as he was hit on the head. When Swan took a nce at the remaining mercenaries, they decided to jump right out of the carriage without a word as well. No one seemed to be seriously injured as the carriage had been running at a slow pace.
“Why don’t you get off as well, Mr. horseman?”
“You are going to have to give me an exnationter, Ms. Swan!”
The horsemanined, but handed the reins over to Swan without resisting.
The carriage which was now being led by a different horseman began to move much faster than before. However, it was not fast enough to shake off the Temrs who were chasing them furiously.
Meanwhile, Velkre took a nce at the mercenaries that had been kicked out of the carriage. However, he decided to ignore them and quickly passed by; he figured that there was no reason to waste his time on such an unnecessary matter.
But Deputy Marco’s judgment was different—when he slightly raised his finger and sent a signal, five of the Temrs who had been riding their horses at the very back left the line.
Soon, the Temrs’ spears pierced through the chests of the mercenaries who had just begun to crawl and stand up on their feet.
Swan had a distorted look on her face when she heard the screams of the mercenaries, but she only bit her lips and didn’t look back.