The Joseph Brothers
A rush of wind carrying dirt and leaves, rushing towards the man’s face, the man reflexively raised his right hand to cover his eyes. Quickly following that, he felt a sharp pain in the left hand holding the sword, the longsword fell from his grip onto the floor.
He stared disbelievingly at his weakened arm, the arrow had pierced the gap between the armor, passing between the bones in his arm, through to the backside.
His companion had already drew his dagger, planning to toss him the sword he took from the knight. The man was about to raise the hand that was still mobile to receive the sword, but a voice stopped him.
“Put down your weapon, back up. Or else the next arrow pierces your throat.”
Matching that comment, the bushes surrounding the two men started shaking, as if to threaten.
The man sighed, nodding to his companion. The two man started to slowly back up.
Waiting until the two had backed up a ways, before the elf emerged from the trees. His arrow was still notched on the bow string, his gaze following the two closely, preparing for any suspicious movement.
But the man’s companion, who was silent before, suddenly shouted.。
“My God, Ellen! What are you doing here?”
“I don’t care who you are, reveal yourself.” The elf frowned.
The two reached out their hands to pull down the mask covering their faces. The man had a full beard, with a dignified aged look, his companion looked younger, his lively smiling face was covered in light freckles, both of them had a head of smart red hair.
They were a pair of mercenary brothers by the last name of Joseph, a warrior and a bandit, they were always together, often appearing with them was an archer, called White.
“…Thomas and Titan?” the elf was a little shocked, though he still didn’t plan to lower his weapon, “Why are you here?”
“I want to ask the same,” the older one named Thomas sighed again, “Why are you with this ra… with this person?”
“We’ve become the regular employee of the Marquis Arnold,” at that time Titan interrupted, “He said there was a Holy Knight involved with his daughter’s death, and that person would pass through here today, told us to wait, and after we get the information from him, we can just kill him
“Titan,” Thomas stopped him unhappily, “Shut up!”
“We’ve lost anyways,” Titan said with indifference, “Anyways I don’t think he would do that to the Marquis’ daughter. – Look at that body, and that face! …If I was the Marquis’ daughter, if he just smiled at me, I would have happily taken my clothes off for him to do as he pleased. Whatever the position, for however long!”
“Titan! Don’t insult the dead!” the older brother’s face was a little green.
Titan Joseph shrugged, “I wasn’t talking about her, I’m just saying what I think…”
The elf didn’t spare any time to listen to their conversation, he swiftly cut the rope around the knight, helping him up.
“Are you injured?”
“It’s no problem,” the knight shook his head, turning towards Titan, “What did you say about the Marquis’ daughter… what’s that about?”
“Then, you really don’t know?” Thomas shook his head, “According to the whispers in the Marquis’ residence, when they examined the lady’s body, they found out that she… erm, isn’t pure, and might have committed suicide.”
“That old man was sure strange,” Titan spread his hands out, interrupting, “Saying that by dying in order to protect her purity she could go to heaven, and can give her fiancé some amends, if however, she had an affair with someone and lost her virginity then she deserves to go to hell. Why do I feel that when I’m listening to him, it seems like he would rather his daughter was raped.”
“The Marquis’ daughter was more noble and pure than her father ever was,” the knight’s voice was shaking a little, “the Marquis Arnold couldn’t hold a single candle to her. – But, if that would give her a suitable funeral, then this blame, I wouldn’t mind bearing it.”
The elf reached out, gripping the knight’s hand tightly.
“Go back and tell him, that the paladin he was looking for is dead.”
The Joseph brothers seemed to relax a little.
“That’s best … by the way where is White?”
“Injured, but not fatal.” The elf nodded, “Sorry, I had to make sure he lost mobility for a bit.”
“Oh my God,” Titan suddenly let out a strange shout, “you didn’t shoot the junior right? – That guy is completely useless(1), except for the little guy, if you cripple him, I’d have to find another one.”
“No, it seemed like he was just turning around to run at that time,” the elf replied with a little embarrassment, “anyways, I had some knowledge of first aid and herbs, so let me treat that.”
He pointed to Thomas’s arm.(2)
The group returned to the place where they separated. The dwarf and siren were obediently waiting at the original spot, upon seeing them appear, they released a big sigh of relief.
“The man over there, seems to be crying the whole time…” the dwarf pointed gingerly in White’s direction.
“I threw a bag of travel rations over, but it seems like he didn’t want to eat.” The young siren added grumbling a little.(i)
The injury on White’s leg was not severe(3), but seemed to have received some deep emotional trauma, he curled up to one side after the elf had removed the arrow and applied some salve, gripping Titan’s shirt sleeve and crying.
In comparison, Thomas’s injury was much more sever, but since it was his left hand,(ii) he claimed that it didn’t affect his fighting abilities much.
The knight’s horse, having stepped into the trap, broke its front leg. After securing it with boards, it should make a full recovery, but won’t be able to travel in the short term, so it was entrusted to the Joseph brothers to take care of.(4)
After dealing with these things, the elf lifted his head, saying to the knight sitting to the side.。
“Cain, let me look at your back.”
Next to him Titan made a ‘gulping’ sound swallowing his saliva, lifting his head, staring intently at the knight.
“It’s bruised at most,” the knight saw the wolf-like gaze on him, and waved helplessly, “let’s talk about it after they’ve left.”
“You won’t lose anything by letting us look,” Titan shook his head with regret, “you’re too shy, little knight. Can I call you Cain as well? … Wait, Cain? That Cain? Iron Bucket Cain?!”
“… You’ve got the wrong person.” The knight turned away.
Titan jumped up, “No no no, it’s that voice, I should have remember this sooner. – Oh God, if I knew this was underneath the bucket…”
“Titan, we should go.” Thomas finally couldn’t take it, coming over to pull his brother away.
“Right, that…” he thought for a moment, turning back to ask, “is there anything, you can leave with us? Anything to identify you. – It makes it easier to convince the Marquis.”
“Right, a lock of hair or something,” Titan grinned, “along with a kiss would be even more…”。
The knight sighed, reaching into his shirt, to untie a string with a small cross attached.
“This is my proof of oath when I became a paladin, my name is carved on it, will it do?”
“Good, that should be enough.” Thomas nodded, taking the cross, “You won’t be back in Elvira anytime soon right? Best to wait a few months, so this won’t be discovered.”
“We won’t,” the elf replied, “thank you very much, we owe you one.”。
“Well said, well said,” Titan licked his lips, “Next time you come back to the capital, let me have a go with that little knight, then we’ll be even.”
“Titan!” Thomas practically screamed in anger, “Behave yourself!”
To one side White’s cries seemed to become louder.
The Joseph Brothers
A rush of wind carrying dirt and leaves, rushing towards the man’s face, the man reflexively raised his right hand to cover his eyes. Quickly following that, he felt a sharp pain in the left hand holding the sword, the longsword fell from his grip onto the floor.
He stared disbelievingly at his weakened arm, the arrow had pierced the gap between the armor, passing between the bones in his arm, through to the backside.
His companion had already drew his dagger, planning to toss him the sword he took from the knight. The man was about to raise the hand that was still mobile to receive the sword, but a voice stopped him.
“Put down your weapon, back up. Or else the next arrow pierces your throat.”
Matching that comment, the bushes surrounding the two men started shaking, as if to threaten.
The man sighed, nodding to his companion. The two man started to slowly back up.
Waiting until the two had backed up a ways, before the elf emerged from the trees. His arrow was still notched on the bow string, his gaze following the two closely, preparing for any suspicious movement.
But the man’s companion, who was silent before, suddenly shouted.。
“My God, Ellen! What are you doing here?”
“I don’t care who you are, reveal yourself.” The elf frowned.
The two reached out their hands to pull down the mask covering their faces. The man had a full beard, with a dignified aged look, his companion looked younger, his lively smiling face was covered in light freckles, both of them had a head of smart red hair.
They were a pair of mercenary brothers by the last name of Joseph, a warrior and a bandit, they were always together, often appearing with them was an archer, called White.
“…Thomas and Titan?” the elf was a little shocked, though he still didn’t plan to lower his weapon, “Why are you here?”
“I want to ask the same,” the older one named Thomas sighed again, “Why are you with this ra… with this person?”
“We’ve become the regular employee of the Marquis Arnold,” at that time Titan interrupted, “He said there was a Holy Knight involved with his daughter’s death, and that person would pass through here today, told us to wait, and after we get the information from him, we can just kill him
“Titan,” Thomas stopped him unhappily, “Shut up!”
“We’ve lost anyways,” Titan said with indifference, “Anyways I don’t think he would do that to the Marquis’ daughter. – Look at that body, and that face! …If I was the Marquis’ daughter, if he just smiled at me, I would have happily taken my clothes off for him to do as he pleased. Whatever the position, for however long!”
“Titan! Don’t insult the dead!” the older brother’s face was a little green.
Titan Joseph shrugged, “I wasn’t talking about her, I’m just saying what I think…”
The elf didn’t spare any time to listen to their conversation, he swiftly cut the rope around the knight, helping him up.
“Are you injured?”
“It’s no problem,” the knight shook his head, turning towards Titan, “What did you say about the Marquis’ daughter… what’s that about?”
“Then, you really don’t know?” Thomas shook his head, “According to the whispers in the Marquis’ residence, when they examined the lady’s body, they found out that she… erm, isn’t pure, and might have committed suicide.”
“That old man was sure strange,” Titan spread his hands out, interrupting, “Saying that by dying in order to protect her purity she could go to heaven, and can give her fiancé some amends, if however, she had an affair with someone and lost her virginity then she deserves to go to hell. Why do I feel that when I’m listening to him, it seems like he would rather his daughter was raped.”
“The Marquis’ daughter was more noble and pure than her father ever was,” the knight’s voice was shaking a little, “the Marquis Arnold couldn’t hold a single candle to her. – But, if that would give her a suitable funeral, then this blame, I wouldn’t mind bearing it.”
The elf reached out, gripping the knight’s hand tightly.
“Go back and tell him, that the paladin he was looking for is dead.”
The Joseph brothers seemed to relax a little.
“That’s best … by the way where is White?”
“Injured, but not fatal.” The elf nodded, “Sorry, I had to make sure he lost mobility for a bit.”
“Oh my God,” Titan suddenly let out a strange shout, “you didn’t shoot the junior right? – That guy is completely useless(1), except for the little guy, if you cripple him, I’d have to find another one.”
“No, it seemed like he was just turning around to run at that time,” the elf replied with a little embarrassment, “anyways, I had some knowledge of first aid and herbs, so let me treat that.”
He pointed to Thomas’s arm.(2)
The group returned to the place where they separated. The dwarf and siren were obediently waiting at the original spot, upon seeing them appear, they released a big sigh of relief.
“The man over there, seems to be crying the whole time…” the dwarf pointed gingerly in White’s direction.
“I threw a bag of travel rations over, but it seems like he didn’t want to eat.” The young siren added grumbling a little.(i)
The injury on White’s leg was not severe(3), but seemed to have received some deep emotional trauma, he curled up to one side after the elf had removed the arrow and applied some salve, gripping Titan’s shirt sleeve and crying.
In comparison, Thomas’s injury was much more sever, but since it was his left hand,(ii) he claimed that it didn’t affect his fighting abilities much.
The knight’s horse, having stepped into the trap, broke its front leg. After securing it with boards, it should make a full recovery, but won’t be able to travel in the short term, so it was entrusted to the Joseph brothers to take care of.(4)
After dealing with these things, the elf lifted his head, saying to the knight sitting to the side.。
“Cain, let me look at your back.”
Next to him Titan made a ‘gulping’ sound swallowing his saliva, lifting his head, staring intently at the knight.
“It’s bruised at most,” the knight saw the wolf-like gaze on him, and waved helplessly, “let’s talk about it after they’ve left.”
“You won’t lose anything by letting us look,” Titan shook his head with regret, “you’re too shy, little knight. Can I call you Cain as well? … Wait, Cain? That Cain? Iron Bucket Cain?!”
“… You’ve got the wrong person.” The knight turned away.
Titan jumped up, “No no no, it’s that voice, I should have remember this sooner. – Oh God, if I knew this was underneath the bucket…”
“Titan, we should go.” Thomas finally couldn’t take it, coming over to pull his brother away.
“Right, that…” he thought for a moment, turning back to ask, “is there anything, you can leave with us? Anything to identify you. – It makes it easier to convince the Marquis.”
“Right, a lock of hair or something,” Titan grinned, “along with a kiss would be even more…”。
The knight sighed, reaching into his shirt, to untie a string with a small cross attached.
“This is my proof of oath when I became a paladin, my name is carved on it, will it do?”
“Good, that should be enough.” Thomas nodded, taking the cross, “You won’t be back in Elvira anytime soon right? Best to wait a few months, so this won’t be discovered.”
“We won’t,” the elf replied, “thank you very much, we owe you one.”。
“Well said, well said,” Titan licked his lips, “Next time you come back to the capital, let me have a go with that little knight, then we’ll be even.”
“Titan!” Thomas practically screamed in anger, “Behave yourself!”
To one side White’s cries seemed to become louder.
