Farewell Golden Capital
The saddle and reins on the Mageless Workshop’s horse were specially made, just right to seat a dwarf. So the folding table and similar additions were abandoned, the luggage separated to the four other horses, emptying the area for Julian to ride. The siren was highly envious of that, but listened to the knight, and didn’t ask for an exchange.
Having such an unpredictable event as ‘gaining an extra person’ caused the preparation time to be extended, when the members of the ‘Unicorn Legion’ left Elvira, it was already midafternoon.
In order to match the horse’s pace, the travel speed was already slower than normal(1). According to this speed, it would take at almost a day’s walk to reach the closest village, no matter what they would need to camp outdoors tonight.(2) Even so, as long as they can find a suitable flat ground then the problem is solved. Thus the group traveled even more leisurely.
For a while at the start, they would often pass by merchants heading towards the capital. But following the directions on the map, turning onto a narrower path, there were less and less travelers about. After some time, even the path created by travelers repeatedly walking through had become fuzzy, finally what appeared in front of them, was only nature.
The wilderness of early spring, green grass were just starting to sprout. The scenery could not be called beautiful, and even carried a few hints of winter, but no one cared about that. The discussion about magic continued, but the main lecturer became Julian, the topic had naturally become about the creation of magic tools. When the discussion became more passionate, the dwarf swiftly brought out pen and paper, drawing the internal designs for all sorts of tools.
The knight listened to their discussion, occasionally adding his own opinion, and the elf was silent almost the whole way, only when his companions asked him directly, did he answer, unknowingly walking to the front of the team. When the knight noticed this, he said nothing, only lightly tapping the whip to speed up, moving forward to walk beside the elf.
The trees around them started to become thicker, after passing a stream, the team entered a forest. Ancient trees reaching into the sky grew tall and lush, almost covering the sun that was already in the west.。
“There used to be a village here.”
When they passed a large boulder, the elf took the initiative to break the silence for the first time.
“It was called Luta. This rock was where the entrance of the village was. – Of course, that should be three hundred years ago.”
“Ellen.” The knight stared at him worriedly. The elf’s voice didn’t have the normal calm and warm feeling, becoming somewhat lost.
“It’s nothing,” the elf smiled, “I just feels… strange. At that time the war was very taxing, at least in terms of appearance Elvira was the same as before, the mercenaries were a different group of people, but what they do was the same as in the past. So I would always have some sort of misconception, which I’ve only left for a few months, or a few years at most.”]
“Just when I see something like this on occasion, that I would suddenly realize,” the elf lowered his head, as if asking the knight, or talking to himself, “it’s already been this long…”
“I don’t have that sort of experience,” the knight was silent for some time, “so I don’t know what to say to make you feel a little better. – In truth, nothing I say would be useful.”
“So, at this time,” the knight half turned, indicating for the elf to come closer, then said quietly into his ears, “I’ll just pretend you’re Shelly.”
Then he quickly reached out his hand, messing up the elf’s hair, “Don’t think about it, be good.”
Before the elf could react, the knight was pulling his reins to run away. Realizing the elf didn’t follow, he turned and looked back at him with regret.
“…” the elf sighed again, silently pulling his hood up. The knight saw his movement, and couldn’t resist laughing.
“I wasn’t looking at the ears, really.”
The sharp sound of wind suddenly came from behind the team, the knight’s horse cried out, starting to dash forward. The knight reacted quickly to secure himself on the back of the horse, and didn’t fall down. He pulled hard on the reins, but the horse that was hit in the flank by the arrow was still in the grips of its instincts, bringing him deeper into the forest in its mad run.
The elf quickly reached out a hand to grip the bow, taking an arrow from the quiver, shooting in the direction of the sound. A cry followed from that direction. He waited for a moment, his opponent did not continue to attack, and there were no other sounds of movement, only then did he turn to say to the dwarf and siren.
“Wait here, protect yourselves.”
Then he flicked the whip hard, rushing in the direction that the knight had disappeared towards.
The knight on horseback frowned irritated. If the opponent’s goal is to separate the team to attack, waiting for the horse to stop by itself, would probably be too late. Even though it’s a little dangerous, but getting of the horse as quickly as possible would be the best choice.
He looked in front, originally planning to wait for the horse to slow down a little, but realized that the road in front on him, was very uneven and covered in twigs and branches.
No time –。
The knight gritted his teeth, released the reins, pushing hard against the horse’s back, and jumped down. The forward momentum caused him to roll several times on the ground, his back hitting a tree hard. At the same time, the horse stepped into a trap, and fell down screaming.
The knight struggled to sit up, reaching a hand to draw his sword. But there were already two shadows in his field of vision, the cold blade of the sword neared his throat.
“Take off his weapon, and tie him up tighter.” The man holding the sword said. His face was masked, only revealing his eyes.
His companion, also masked, bent down carefully, removing the knight’s sword. Then brought out bundle of rope, circling around the knight’s wrists and ankles many times, and tying a knot.
“You’re Felix Paladin?”
“Who are you?” the knight asked.
The man laughed coldly, increasing the pressure at the tip of the sword, “Someone with the right to ask questions.”
— So they came for me.
The knight released a breath softly, replying calmly, “Yes.”
“The incident in November last year, tells us everything.”
“I’ve already told the magistrate, how many more times do you want me to say it?”
“Once, if what you say is the truth, I can give you a quick death.” The man pulled his sword back a little, but still pointing it towards the knight.
“At the request of the Marquis’ daughter, I escorted her from the lower city church to the Marquis’ residence.” The knight said his face blank, “When we were almost at the manor, she told me that there was no more problems, she could walk the rest of the way herself, so we went our separate ways.”
“What did you do afterwards?”
“Returned directly to my rooms in the church.”
“Humph…” the man laughed coldly again, “then the next day the body of the Marquis’ daughter was found, what coincidence.”
“I’ve been interrogated(3) before,” the knight replied coldly, “there is only one answer(4), I did not kill her.”
“And before that? After you left the church, you did not return directly to the marquis’ manor. Where did you go? Who did you see?”
“I cannot divulge that.(5)” the knight said calmly.
“Oh~ so it’s that again,” the man said mockingly, “ ‘I made an oath so I can’t say’? You still think you’re a knight, a dog of the church.”
“That is the truth.” The knight frowned, “In addition she has already passed away, do you want me to break an oath to the dead?”
The man rested his sword against the knight’s throat again, glaring at him. The knight looked back without fear, with no indication of wanting to escape in his gaze.
“Even if what you say is the truth,” the man backed up a step half believing, “But… I still have to answer to my employer.”
He gripped the hilt of the sword with both hands, raising the blade, aiming for the knight’s throat.
“Any last words?”
Farewell Golden Capital
The saddle and reins on the Mageless Workshop’s horse were specially made, just right to seat a dwarf. So the folding table and similar additions were abandoned, the luggage separated to the four other horses, emptying the area for Julian to ride. The siren was highly envious of that, but listened to the knight, and didn’t ask for an exchange.
Having such an unpredictable event as ‘gaining an extra person’ caused the preparation time to be extended, when the members of the ‘Unicorn Legion’ left Elvira, it was already midafternoon.
In order to match the horse’s pace, the travel speed was already slower than normal(1). According to this speed, it would take at almost a day’s walk to reach the closest village, no matter what they would need to camp outdoors tonight.(2) Even so, as long as they can find a suitable flat ground then the problem is solved. Thus the group traveled even more leisurely.
For a while at the start, they would often pass by merchants heading towards the capital. But following the directions on the map, turning onto a narrower path, there were less and less travelers about. After some time, even the path created by travelers repeatedly walking through had become fuzzy, finally what appeared in front of them, was only nature.
The wilderness of early spring, green grass were just starting to sprout. The scenery could not be called beautiful, and even carried a few hints of winter, but no one cared about that. The discussion about magic continued, but the main lecturer became Julian, the topic had naturally become about the creation of magic tools. When the discussion became more passionate, the dwarf swiftly brought out pen and paper, drawing the internal designs for all sorts of tools.
The knight listened to their discussion, occasionally adding his own opinion, and the elf was silent almost the whole way, only when his companions asked him directly, did he answer, unknowingly walking to the front of the team. When the knight noticed this, he said nothing, only lightly tapping the whip to speed up, moving forward to walk beside the elf.
The trees around them started to become thicker, after passing a stream, the team entered a forest. Ancient trees reaching into the sky grew tall and lush, almost covering the sun that was already in the west.。
“There used to be a village here.”
When they passed a large boulder, the elf took the initiative to break the silence for the first time.
“It was called Luta. This rock was where the entrance of the village was. – Of course, that should be three hundred years ago.”
“Ellen.” The knight stared at him worriedly. The elf’s voice didn’t have the normal calm and warm feeling, becoming somewhat lost.
“It’s nothing,” the elf smiled, “I just feels… strange. At that time the war was very taxing, at least in terms of appearance Elvira was the same as before, the mercenaries were a different group of people, but what they do was the same as in the past. So I would always have some sort of misconception, which I’ve only left for a few months, or a few years at most.”]
“Just when I see something like this on occasion, that I would suddenly realize,” the elf lowered his head, as if asking the knight, or talking to himself, “it’s already been this long…”
“I don’t have that sort of experience,” the knight was silent for some time, “so I don’t know what to say to make you feel a little better. – In truth, nothing I say would be useful.”
“So, at this time,” the knight half turned, indicating for the elf to come closer, then said quietly into his ears, “I’ll just pretend you’re Shelly.”
Then he quickly reached out his hand, messing up the elf’s hair, “Don’t think about it, be good.”
Before the elf could react, the knight was pulling his reins to run away. Realizing the elf didn’t follow, he turned and looked back at him with regret.
“…” the elf sighed again, silently pulling his hood up. The knight saw his movement, and couldn’t resist laughing.
“I wasn’t looking at the ears, really.”
The sharp sound of wind suddenly came from behind the team, the knight’s horse cried out, starting to dash forward. The knight reacted quickly to secure himself on the back of the horse, and didn’t fall down. He pulled hard on the reins, but the horse that was hit in the flank by the arrow was still in the grips of its instincts, bringing him deeper into the forest in its mad run.
The elf quickly reached out a hand to grip the bow, taking an arrow from the quiver, shooting in the direction of the sound. A cry followed from that direction. He waited for a moment, his opponent did not continue to attack, and there were no other sounds of movement, only then did he turn to say to the dwarf and siren.
“Wait here, protect yourselves.”
Then he flicked the whip hard, rushing in the direction that the knight had disappeared towards.
The knight on horseback frowned irritated. If the opponent’s goal is to separate the team to attack, waiting for the horse to stop by itself, would probably be too late. Even though it’s a little dangerous, but getting of the horse as quickly as possible would be the best choice.
He looked in front, originally planning to wait for the horse to slow down a little, but realized that the road in front on him, was very uneven and covered in twigs and branches.
No time –。
The knight gritted his teeth, released the reins, pushing hard against the horse’s back, and jumped down. The forward momentum caused him to roll several times on the ground, his back hitting a tree hard. At the same time, the horse stepped into a trap, and fell down screaming.
The knight struggled to sit up, reaching a hand to draw his sword. But there were already two shadows in his field of vision, the cold blade of the sword neared his throat.
“Take off his weapon, and tie him up tighter.” The man holding the sword said. His face was masked, only revealing his eyes.
His companion, also masked, bent down carefully, removing the knight’s sword. Then brought out bundle of rope, circling around the knight’s wrists and ankles many times, and tying a knot.
“You’re Felix Paladin?”
“Who are you?” the knight asked.
The man laughed coldly, increasing the pressure at the tip of the sword, “Someone with the right to ask questions.”
— So they came for me.
The knight released a breath softly, replying calmly, “Yes.”
“The incident in November last year, tells us everything.”
“I’ve already told the magistrate, how many more times do you want me to say it?”
“Once, if what you say is the truth, I can give you a quick death.” The man pulled his sword back a little, but still pointing it towards the knight.
“At the request of the Marquis’ daughter, I escorted her from the lower city church to the Marquis’ residence.” The knight said his face blank, “When we were almost at the manor, she told me that there was no more problems, she could walk the rest of the way herself, so we went our separate ways.”
“What did you do afterwards?”
“Returned directly to my rooms in the church.”
“Humph…” the man laughed coldly again, “then the next day the body of the Marquis’ daughter was found, what coincidence.”
“I’ve been interrogated(3) before,” the knight replied coldly, “there is only one answer(4), I did not kill her.”
“And before that? After you left the church, you did not return directly to the marquis’ manor. Where did you go? Who did you see?”
“I cannot divulge that.(5)” the knight said calmly.
“Oh~ so it’s that again,” the man said mockingly, “ ‘I made an oath so I can’t say’? You still think you’re a knight, a dog of the church.”
“That is the truth.” The knight frowned, “In addition she has already passed away, do you want me to break an oath to the dead?”
The man rested his sword against the knight’s throat again, glaring at him. The knight looked back without fear, with no indication of wanting to escape in his gaze.
“Even if what you say is the truth,” the man backed up a step half believing, “But… I still have to answer to my employer.”
He gripped the hilt of the sword with both hands, raising the blade, aiming for the knight’s throat.
“Any last words?”
