My Villains Episode 545
68. Traveling to the Royal Road (18)
Deep in the night, a forested path to the left and right.
The narrow road went up and down as the river to the north approached. The road from Abiden was also the border between the two provinces, Odenlock and Albibton, from east to west.
“…Damn it, it’s windy. If you get closer from here, I’ll get caught.”
The old hunter muttered as he lay down under the shallow hillside and looked around. A middle-aged man armed with a heavy brigandine and a two-handed sword snorted a few steps behind him.
“What is wind? They don’t even have dogs.”
“There are mules instead. Maybe there is a dog or a wizard who is sensitive to the smell that will come out.”
“I have to get closer because of the wizard. Not even arrows can reach here.”
“Leave your smell to chance and hope your eyes are covered by the darkness of the new moon? Then what about the sound of footsteps down the valley?”
“Old man needlessly worry.”
“It is the law to wish for luck. And wasn’t the lord the one who asked you to be careful because they seem like those who ate skewered rice in the first place?”
“Tsk.”
The middle-aged man, who was called the lord at the old man’s firm words, clicked his tongue in annoyance. However, the advice of an experienced hunter could not be ignored.
He finally raised his fist, and the branches rubbing dry ends around him came to a halt. Most of the rustling noises also stopped.
“Wait everyone. Look ahead and come.”
Thirty or so people who followed him quietly nodded or winked at him.
It was a robbery gang made up of all sorts of miserable lives, such as thieves, bullies, bandits, and wanderers. Except for the dozen or so mercenaries who had been with the lord for a long time, they were all fluff that couldn’t be expected to be disciplined, but fortunately, it seemed that no one was stupid enough to use their mouths unnecessarily right before the hunt.
The lord and the old mercenary, two old hunters, crawled up the hill.
On the hill, a large spruce tree was green even in the cold wind of late winter. When I reached the base, I saw a small light from the hill on the other side. Lying on their faces on the yellow frozen grass, the four men stared intently in that direction.
“I think those bastards are sleeping.”
A servant wearing a chain vest over quilted armor whispered.
The cautious lord looked around the light again. Thanks to his knowledge as a knight for many years, his eyes could see through the distance quite clearly.
There was a softly burning bonfire and six or seven people spread out with blankets by the fire. Three small, shabby tents;
It was a quiet camp.
“…good.” The lord gave a fishy smile and looked back at another henchman and hunter.
“Take the old man and go to the other side. Seth will be here.”
“What shall I say to Seth?”
“Tell them to attack as soon as they are ready. I will respond from this side.”
The henchman, armed with a light doublet and a crossbow, made a puzzled expression.
“Are you going to attack me right away? What about the original plan?”
The original plan was for Seth’s group to block the prey as soon as it entered the riverbank’s single road, and the lord’s group to attack from behind.
Yeongju crumpled his face as if he was frustrated at the question of his confidant.
“You bastard, what’s the point of planning now and being nabal? A chance to pounce on the sleeping ones.”
“It is.”
“Don’t be stupid and go. Keep your mind straight. If you miss your chance while wandering around the night, you or the old man will soak you in the dung water in the moat.”
“I don’t care about the impression… Hold on to your worries.”
As the two disappeared down the hill, the lord’s remaining henchman scratched under his iron helmet and complained.
“But, brother, do I really have to go this far?”
“I heard that out of 15 of them, almost half are women.”
It was true. That was one of the many reasons why the prudent lord decided to attack a group of mercenaries, especially a gang of more than 10 people.
The party stayed at the castle town of Yeongju last night. As usual, the minions who spyed on the guests of the territory came running to the lord in a rage.
The lord had heard of carts so full that the wheels creaked, and of women who did not spare silver coins, and of women with beauty that could not be hidden. And after a short thought, I decided to open a business.
“It’s a night raid, so you won’t be able to react properly, but you can easily finish it by attacking with only the kids from this side. If Seth follows carefully, he’ll be able to catch those who run away.”
“Sounds cheeky. Those guys are mercenaries too. I’m sure there will be some.”
“Eh, but the difference in the number of pages… The lord glared at him with an annoyed expression at the confidant’s complacent attitude.
“Don’t you remember that crescent army from last year? Nineteen people tried to catch seven, but five of them went after them?”
“At that time, my luck was really bad. Who would have known that there were two sorcerers hiding among them?”
“Are you sure it won’t happen this time? What if those guys turned out to be the ones who made a name for themselves in places like Ireland? What if there is a swordsman from the empire or a battle mage from a great family?” “Ah brother. You can’t do business that way
.”
“I am where I am today because I lived that way. So shut up.”
At the threats of the lord, ‘Rantov’, the confidant kept his mouth shut.
Originally, Lantov was the youngest son of a baron, and, as is the case with noble men who are not the eldest son, he had to leave the manor as soon as he received a knighthood.
Unlike his older brothers who entrusted themselves to powerful families or neighboring lords, he became a mercenary because he loved freedom. He spent his youth enjoying indulgent adventures, dissolute pursuits, and clandestine raids.
In the meantime, he formed a small mercenary army and led at least two hundred subordinates because Lantov always survived. And the secret to its survival was prudence.
Of course, a prudent attitude was not the key to success. His mercenary army, which was going well, quickly shrank due to several failed requests, fist-fighting financial management, and the boss’s trivial embezzlement.
Lantov took less than thirty of his men to find a way out, and around that time he heard the death of his eldest brother.
He immediately returned to his hometown of ‘Galemant’ with his subordinates and helped his sickly nephew run the estate. After this, he became a baronet after his nephew who died in an unfortunate accident.
It was fortunate enough that the third son, not the second son, sat on the baronetcy, but Lantov, who belatedly awakened to the desire to succeed, could not be satisfied with this.
‘I can’t be worse than that kid who says I’m Ruyan or something.’
Luyan was a descendant of a great family, but because of his father, who was a traitor, he only inherited a run-down castle and a title of baron in name only. It was Rantov’s idea that it was a fluke that he crossed over to the Mitergerland Empire and became the lord of the two provinces.
‘But there are lessons to be learned from that young fellow.’
The anecdote in which Lu Yan led the ignorant serfs to hunt down bandits who came to rob the weakened territory was very famous. The young dragon gathered wealth and raised elite soldiers, and participated in the war with only the blade, making it a jackpot.
The ‘business’ that Rantov started as soon as he became the lord of Galemant was also inspired by Luyan.
Of course, it wasn’t exactly the same. Since a good imitation had to surpass the original, Lantov’s business reaped greater profits by targeting a wider range of sales.
It was for this reason that the group camped on the hill across the street was targeted by Lantob.
“You move slowly.”
Yeongju, who was thinking about other things, nodded at the whisper of his confidant. Then, taking the men who were waiting under the hillside, he started down the trail.
As they passed the bottom of the shallow ravine, a commotion came from the top of the hill. Finally Seth’s Joe started the night raid. Lantov screamed as he ran away.
“Now is the turn!”
Mercenaries, thieves, thugs, bandits, and wanderers responded with shouts of vigour. It was a fairly steep slope, but the gang, thinking of the riches and beauties awaiting them up there, hit the hill at once.
“Uh- back! It’s in the back too!”
Lantov raised his head in the direction where the young man’s startled voice came from.
And I found a strange silhouette. A large shadow held something taller than itself above its head.
“Huh!”
Immediately after the unheard-of silhouette burst into a roaring spirit, something dark flew towards us. With a little exaggeration, it was a rock the size of a house.
“Ugh-”
The two thieves who were hit directly by the rock exploded like rat cannons. The boulder, half of which was covered with dead grass, rolled and crushed three or four more bandits.
“… such crazy.”
At that very moment, Lantorb realized that something was wrong. It was a realization too late.
“Rider of the Sun!”
At the screams of the woman who flew up with the crescent moon on her back, Lantov stopped running without even realizing it.
Swish. Thanks to this
, it was not the lord, but the mercenary with
his mouth wide open, who was the first to be split in the upper body by the sharp blade with the assault of ‘Valkyrie’ .
