Johan ran like hell.
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The notion that big, muscular people are slow was a prejudice. Johan’s sprint was fast enough to catch up with the horses.
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But Johan realized,
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‘𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦.’
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He could see silhouettes darting through the night, recognizing them as thieves by the sound of horse hooves.
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His muscles reached their limit from the sprint. Humans couldn’t win a long-distance race against horses. They were already far ahead.
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‘𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.’
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He might have caught them if he had realized sooner that Burren wasn’t alone and dashed out immediately. But now it was too late. . .
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“No, this was unavoidable.”
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Despite feeling ridiculous, Johan controlled his emotions. It was like an unavoidable accident. How could he have foreseen one of the town folks stealing his horse? It’s not like he could sleep hugging his horse.
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‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. . .!’
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Johan, seizing his mace, threw it with all his might, half relying on luck in the darkness. He couldn’t catch them all, but hoped to catch at least one.
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To show them hell.
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𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐝!
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A heavy sound, followed by a thump, indicated someone had fallen.
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‘𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦?!’
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Johan was surprised. To hit at this distance. . .
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But the horses didn’t stop or change direction. They kept running rhythmically.
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‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. . . 𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯. 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺.’
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Approaching, Johan kicked the groaning figure. The torchlight revealed Pra’s face, unknown to Johan.
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“. . .Slipped away.”
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The fact that he missed the ringleader infuriated Johan the most.
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🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸
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“He’s coming! They’re coming!”
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“That crazy b*stard!!”
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Gamson realized that saliva was drooling from his mouth. He was so scared that he couldn’t close his mouth.
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They ran without turning on the lights, but Johan was running towards them with a torch. It was really scary for them. How could a human run that distance so quickly?
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𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐩!
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“???”
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Gamson turned his head. He saw Pra screaming and falling from behind.
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‘𝘏𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦?!’
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“Shit. . . Run! Run, you stupid horse!”
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“What’s going on?! What happened?!”
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“Ass*ole! The knight dastard is chasing us! Run! If we get caught, we’re all dead!”
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Pell realized that his friend had fallen, but now there was nothing he could do. Turning the horse around now would mean death.
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“Pra. . .! Pra! I’ll come back to save you later!”
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“Shut up and look ahead!”
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A mercenary and a villager thus successfully escaped the town.
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🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸
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The turmoil ended and dawn arrived.
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The atmosphere of the town was gloomy as if something was weighing it down.
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The village chief, Atanka, was holding his head.
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“These b*stards worse than goblins. . .!”
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They should have been punished when they bragged about their well-off homes. They were spared when they caused minor troubles, but now they’ve caused a major incident.
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The influential villagers in the town gathered at the village chief’s house. News spread fast in such a town. They all had different expressions on their faces.
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“Village chief, we heard that the mercenaries caused trouble. Is that true?”
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“How dare they cause trouble in our town. Shouldn’t we call the local militia?”
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“Who got hurt?”
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“Burren and Pra are half-dead. The mercenaries have captured them.”
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“What? The mercenaries dare. . . Call the young men of the town right away to take care of this. . .”
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“Shut up!!”
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Atanka shouted, punching the floor. The villagers were startled by the unusual behavior of the village chief.
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“Am I the only one understanding the situation here? These assholes. . .”
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“Isn’t that too harsh, village chief? Are you siding with the merchant you brought in. . .”
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“You. Try handling this yourself! You seem to be defending your kid who’s causing trouble. Do you think this is a usual situation? The opponent is a real knight! And that merchant is from the Katana Merchant Guild! Do you think this is a matter to be solved with threats?”
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“But they’re less than ten. . .”
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“Those less than ten are people who kill for a living. Local militia? Just some guys who’ve swung sticks a few times. . . Have they even properly dealt with a goblin?”
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“That’s too harsh! We’ve faced mercenaries several times!”
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“That’s when the mercenaries are at a disadvantage! We have dozens of men, so they didn’t want to shed blood rashly. What do you think will happen if we really fight? Even if we catch all of those guys, half of us will die and the rest will flee. And mercenaries are not the issue. If it was just mercenaries, we could have ended this by persuasion or threat. The problem is that there’s a real knight among them. Don’t you really understand what it means to be up against a noble?!”
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At the words of the village chief, the townspeople murmured. The name ‘noble’ instilled fear in them. However, the gruff owner of the mill, Burren’s father, spoke up.
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“So what if it’s a wandering knight? There’s no need to be so scared of a wandering knight dastard, right? No matter how strong he is, we have numbers. Just scare him off and then talk things over when the manager comes. I’ll lead the talk. . .”
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Atanka inhaled sharply, his face red with anger. He refrained from slapping the man right then, only because Atanka had aged. Had he been younger, he would have done it immediately.
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“How are you going to talk properly?”
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“Say that the wandering knight dastard came and caused trouble. . .”
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“What if the knight tells the manager?”
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“The manager is friendly with us; surely he’ll believe our word, won’t he?”
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“You mean to say the manager will take our word over that of a noble-born knight dastard. . .?”
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The village chief spoke sarcastically, and the townspeople began to grasp the situation.
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No matter how they thought about it, something was off.
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“Alright, let’s say he listens to us. And then the knight dastard goes back to his family and tells them about this, and they tell the Count. Do you think the manager will still take our side then?”