CH 106

Mist took me by the hand and we hid behind the nearest tent.

Immediately, from the depths of the forest, a group of black-clad men appeared. There were four, maybe five, men scurrying around, as if they hadn’t noticed our presence yet.

One of them stretched wide, as if he had been distracted.

“What the hell is this? Just a bunch of empty armors lined up. I guess we failed this time.”

In front of the men was a group of armors that had been hung from the wooden poles and placed behind the tent this morning. The rest of the men stood frozen, apparently taken aback by the scene.

“Hey. Be quiet. Just a moment ago, there was a guy holding up a flag on top of that tent, don’t let them know we’re there.”

With that, the larger man thrust his sword at the frivolous-looking man.

“Oh, shut up. Why don’t you just kill him, too?”

“I said, shut up.”

The man, angered by the low tone of his voice, shrugged his shoulders.

What the hell? From what I’ve heard, they’re after someone. Besides, their language has an intonation not heard around here. Are they from another country?

Just then, Mist squeezed me by the hem of my clothes.

When I looked at Mist, I saw her cherry-red bangs sticking to her forehead and her serious eyes fixed on the men in black. That’s right. This is not the time to be thinking about the identity of these guys. They’re obviously dangerous. We have to get out of here.

When I looked at the men to see if there was an opening, I saw that they had begun to scour the tents to see if anyone was hiding.

The sight of the men made my heart beat faster and I felt like it was about to burst. However, thanks to my experience in the royal castle, I was still able to keep my mind calm.

It was only a matter of time before we would be discovered. Then, it would be better to escape as soon as possible. If we went down the mountain, they would be exposed to the eyes of the public. Judging from the way the men were acting earlier, they didn’t want to be exposed to too many people’s eyes.

If we run away now, you might be able to escape somehow. But…….

I turned my gaze to Mist.

Mist’s current attire is light armor. She wears silver shin guards, but still has thin, slender legs. It would be tough to escape by running down the mountain. We would probably not be able to escape.

How can we escape together? No, what if I just leave Mist behind?

Mist is the Count of Piazon’s, and her abilities are monster class. If the men in black get their hands on her and she disappears, one major threat will disappear. That would be a huge advantage for the Dreschord family.

Let’s say I leave Mist behind and run away, but I’m lucky enough to survive. Even so, in this life-or-death situation, I’m confident that I can cover up the fact that I left her there. To be honest, I’d say it’s no risk.

But for some reason, I can’t bring myself to abandon Mist. I’m fed up with my own naivety, and I sigh to myself that I need to fix this before the civil war breaks out.

“Mist, I can manage on my own. So, take your chances and run.”

That was all I said, and without waiting for Mist’s reply, I stepped out of the shadow of the tent.

Pulling my mock sword from its sheath, I ran out and slammed it into the back of the nearest man’s head. There was a dull thud as I caught sight of the man turning around and I closed the distance.

The man reaches out to draw the sword at his waist, but I slam his hand down from above. The man raised his struck arm in front of his face and screamed while holding it with his other hand. I followed up with a thrust to the man’s chest.

Then, with a thud, the man collapsed and I saw the two men in front of me with swords at the ready.

“I came here to kill the princess, and I found this funny-looking kid.”

“How dare you? Don’t think you’ll make it out of here alive.”

Tsk. I wanted to get at least two more before they found out, but it was no use. I’m going to run away as soon as I buy enough time for Mist to escape.

“Haha. The princess is your objective. Unfortunately, she’s not here, so can you please leave?”

“Do you really think we’ll let someone know we were here?”

“No. I’m having a bit of a hard time with the princess myself, so I’m rooting for you guys.”

“Ha-ha-ha. You are a funny kid. Cheering for us will get you in trouble.”

“I’m having a hard time with you, so can you give me a break?”

“You’re really good at jokes.”

“……hahaha.”

I laughed dryly.

“Are you kidding me? Let’s go, you little shit!”

A large man, who may have been offended by my laughter, came at me.

I managed to duck with a back step, and then with a side-step. Then I stand up between the man’s legs and swing my sword at the back of his head in a spinning motion. However, because the man’s large body fell forward, the sword cut through the air.

At that moment, I felt a presence from behind me and turned my head to see another man cutting down from above. I quickly bent down and jumped like a fleeing shrimp, slipping past the man who tried to cut me down.

I kept my distance and tried to regulate my ragged breathing. Oh no. These guys are pretty strong. If I don’t get out of here soon, I’m going to be killed.

As I looked at the men, wondering how to get away, I saw a large man with a blue line across his face.

“Nice try, kid but there’s two of us.”

“I wasn’t going to join you, but I thought it would be a little hard to do it alone.”

Damn. I guess I should have acted weaker but there’s no point in complaining. The place I’m at now is opposite the starting point of the mock battle. I’ll somehow switch places and escape.

I’ll provoke them to make it easier for me to escape.

“Oh, my God. You’re making a mess. Come on, let’s go at it.”

Obviously agitated by my words, they came running back and forth, side by side. All right, I’ll just dodge them and run down the mountain.

I run with my sword at the ready, stopping just in time to sidestep the frivolous-looking man. Then I step aside and throw my sword at the other, larger man. The large man swung his own sword at the one I had thrown and I took the opportunity to slip past him and run away.

“He’s getting away!”

“Wait for me!”

Ignoring the voice behind me, I ducked through the crowd of tents.

I thought to myself, “Who’s going to fight you?” As I passed through the last tent, a man in black appeared in front of me, stopping me in my tracks.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

The man in black in front of me smirked.

Oh no, there were five of them. I was in a hurry to find a way out, but the two guys from earlier were right behind me.