Chapter 3 : Chapter 3
Chapter 3. Under the Pale Moonlight (3)
“Hiiiiek.”
“Can’t you be quiet? Emilia? What will you do if the pursuers hear your voice and follow us?”
“I’m sorry. Young Master.”
At Blanc’s scolding, Emilia clenched her mouth shut and tried to hold back her scream, but it was only for a moment; not long after, she started screaming thinly and long again.
“S-Shall we rest a little and go. Young Master?”
“Rakshar. If you are tired, we will rest, but if not, I think it’s better to keep moving. Don’t mind us hanging on.”
“Understood. Young Master.”
Rakshar running through the forest at high speed carrying Emilia and Blanc on both shoulders while wearing a backpack containing luggage in front.
He moved so fast that even the sound of wind could be heard in the ears, so it was understandable for Emilia to scream and be appalled.
‘I’m really glad the full moon rose.’
The characteristic of werewolves whose wild nature explodes and bodies become strong when the full moon rises.
Since Rakshar had inherited that characteristic to some extent even though he was a half, he could move quickly while carrying two people.
If it were an ordinary night, Rakshar wouldn't have been able to perform this well either. Then perhaps they might have been caught by the soldiers of Gartaria.
“That…… Young Master.”
“What?”
“The maid on my left shoulder seems to have fainted but…….”
He wondered why it was quiet while he was lost in thought for a moment, it seems she fainted in that time.
“Good. Let’s move faster. I want to arrive at the Free City Baywood by tomorrow morning.”
“It, it will be possible. If we go at this speed only.”
Rakshar answered with a grin.
“Thank you. Rakshar.”
“Thank you for this much. Compared to the grace the Head of the Family bestowed upon me, it is not even close.”
Rakshar, born with the ominous blood of a werewolf.
It was Blanc’s father, Pallard Cadmus, who took him in when he was abandoned by his mother early and wandered the back alleys begging and panhandling.
Since Rakshar wouldn't have been able to survive whether starving to death or being beaten to death if not for Pallard, his loyalty to the Cadmus family was extraordinary.
The evidence was that he finished preparing to go down watching the burning mansion of the Cadmus family. If he were an ordinary gamekeeper, he would have run away into the forest immediately.
‘This time I’ll definitely save you.’
And such a loyal gamekeeper Rakshar dies in the Free City Baywood arriving tomorrow morning.
In the past life, that is.
“Let’s hurry.”
“Yes. Young Master.”
And Blanc naturally had no intention of leaving it like that.
***
Free City Baywood.
It was a place packed with trees on all sides to the extent that ‘wood’ was in the city name. In the first place, the beginning of the city was a village where lumberjacks gathered.
The river where lumberjacks floated and transported logs has now become a center of logistics, and as money and people gathered, it developed from a village to a city.
Moreover, geographically, it was a place sandwiched wonderfully between the Kingdoms of Felix, Gartaria, and Anton, so by the complex diplomatic, political, and military agreement of these three kingdoms, it was a city that even held the title of ‘Free City’ not subject to any kingdom’s rule.
And there were three figures standing in front of that city.
A man of huge build covering even his head with rags, a blonde woman wearing a dirty maid uniform, and lastly, a black-haired boy wearing clothes that looked noble to anyone.
Despite being a very suspicious combination, the guards of Baywood did not particularly restrain or inspect them.
“As expected of a ‘Free City’.”
“I worried a lot about whether we could enter, but there’s no particular restraint? If we were in our Norington, we would have been flogged.”
“Because it’s a Free City.”
It was a result possible because it is a hub city of logistics and trade and a city not belonging to any kingdom.
If the guards investigated all people and goods entering and leaving the city like an ordinary territory, the flow of logistics would stagnate in an instant.
Of course, since inspection and search are not properly conducted like this, naturally the city’s public order is in a mess.
It was not an exaggeration to say it was a city made up of countless merchants, wanderers, and criminals targeting them.
“It’s noisy.”
“I suppose so.”
“It’s promiscuous, and dirty.”
“That’s also true.”
What is seen as soon as entering Baywood are street vendors lined up endlessly. And…….
“Young Master, you must not turn your head to the left.”
Emilia’s face frowned seeing prostitutes coming out to the roadside with their chests unbuttoned and throwing flirtatious glances.
If it were an ordinary city, scenes of prostitution that would happen in secret places in back alleys were happening openly on the roadside here.
And the citizens naturally accepting that sight as if it were nothing.
It was Baywood, which could be called a city where all human desires were stuffed in.
For Emilia, who had worked as a maid in the Cadmus family’s mansion almost all her life, she didn't like this free-spirited city.
Rakshar also only had the mind to escape from this boisterous city immediately since he had lived avoiding people in the quiet forest.
For Blanc, who was concerned about Gartaria’s pursuers, it wasn't a city he wanted to stay in for long either.
Above all, it is also the place where Rakshar died.
‘Still, to escape safely, this is the only way.’
Blanc had also arrived here in his previous life.
Although movement of goods with Norington didn't happen actively because it was blocked by mountains, it was natural since it was the closest city to the Cadmus family’s territory if considering only the distance.
And the pursuit party of Gartaria would also be keeping this fact in mind.
Blanc expected the pursuit party to storm in within a day or two at the latest.
No matter how disorderly a city Baywood was, finding a young boy acting like a noble wouldn't be that difficult.
Then how did Blanc in the past life escape this city?
Although he is now a seasoned 40-year-old mercenary inside even if he has the appearance of a young boy, in the past life he was just a young boy.
‘My fate is truly wretched too.’
Looking around Baywood, of which he only had short but intense memories, Blanc gave a bitter smile not befitting his age.
It was a simple story.
Blanc was sold as a slave to a mercenary group before Gartaria’s pursuit party entered this city.
The faithful gamekeeper died trying to stop that.
And the mercenary group left this city as if running away without staying a single day.
Taking the young porter who had degraded into a slave with them.
Blanc thought to himself that it was quite plausible as a prelude to starting the turbulent life history of a man who survived until the end of the world and eventually even regressed.
“Young Master, what do we do now?”
Emilia was unable to judge where and how to move next although they had escaped here somehow.
Rakshar was the same.
Although Blanc was the youngest and the target to be protected, since the only person who could be called an employer and master to these two was Blanc, naturally the decision-making power had to pass to him.
“For now, we sell Mother’s keepsakes here.”
“But Young Master…….”
As soon as she heard the words to sell the keepsakes, moisture began to fill Emilia’s large eyes quickly.
“It can’t be helped. If we don’t have money, we die.”
“But…….”
Emilia was the one Nedrian, Blanc’s mother, cherished most and kept by her side for a long time.
In a way, Emilia might be the one empathizing more with Nedrian’s keepsakes than Blanc who traveled back 30 years in time.
“Even if Mother were here now, she would have told us to sell them. Mother’s keepsakes are not what’s important. Our safety is what’s important.”
Emilia, who dared not refute Blanc’s words, could only wipe her tears with her dirty sleeve.
Blanc intended to shout at her if she cried out loud, but seeing Emilia crying quietly without a sound, he felt an emotion called pity rising from deep inside his soul which he thought had worn out over the past 30 years.
‘Driving me crazy.’
“Emilia.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
Watching tears drop drop by drop from those large eyes, it was to the point where a chuckle came out rather than just pity.
“How old were you this year?”
“I’m twenty-two.”
“When did you enter our family?”
“Four years old.”
Although Emilia was the youngest maid in Blanc’s old memories too, Blanc didn't know she had been there since such a young age.
“Take it. Since you assisted Mother for a whopping near 20 years, you have enough right to have this much.”
Blanc put the golden hairpin in Emilia’s hand.
“Y-Young Master.”
“Except for that, we might have to sell everything. Do you perhaps want anything else? There aren't many, but pick one.”
“No. No. I like this. It was the hairpin Madam enjoyed wearing the most too.”
Emilia cherishingly embracing the hairpin Blanc handed over.
“Be careful. Pickpockets are swarming here. If things go wrong, you might be victimized in an instant.”
“Hiek!”
Emilia, who turned pale hearing those words, quickly stuffed the hairpin into the pocket inside her skirt.
Due to that, her smooth bare leg inside the skirt was revealed, but Emilia didn't mind at all perhaps because she was distracted by the hairpin.
“Rakshar. Do you happen to know any shops to sell ornaments here?”
“I apologize. Young Master, since it is my first time in this city too…….”
Not just this city, but Rakshar would be visiting almost any village or city for the first time. Since Rakshar had lived a life no different from a hermit stuck only in the forest.
‘Phew…… can’t be helped.’
If it were Blanc, the seasoned mercenary with a 40-year-old body, he wouldn't be scammed no matter which shop he entered, but the problem was that he is now in the form of a thirteen-year-old boy.
Haggling wouldn't be a problem, but this place is a Free City where lawlessness runs rampant.
If a rumor spreads that a thirteen-year-old boy is carrying around a bundle of gold, it was obvious he would become a corpse in less than an hour.
“I-If it’s money to use right now, I have a little money saved up.”
Perhaps feeling sorry for Blanc trying to sell his mother’s keepsakes, Rakshar handed a small leather pouch hanging on his waist to Blanc.
‘13 silver…….’
If it were an ordinary city, three people could last a week with this money, but this was a Free City.
Due to the characteristic of the Free City with high prices, it would be hard to last even two days with this money.
And since Gartaria’s pursuit party would storm in around tomorrow or the day after, the fact that they must leave this city as quickly as possible remained unchanged.
‘I should escape somehow within tonight.’
Leaving the city itself was no problem. Since Baywood was a city with free entry and exit.
However, the problem was that their movement path would be exposed.
If Gartaria’s pursuit party found their traces, being caught would be just a matter of time.
It was necessary to escape their sight until entering the sphere of influence of the Kingdom of Felix.
Blanc, who was repeating contemplation, suddenly raised his head and looked at the sky.
The sun floating in the sky was exactly above his head.
Time of noon.
“Young Master?”
Rakshar was flustered.
Because Blanc suddenly raised his head and started to smile.
“Rakshar, you’re still alive?”
Blanc, who was smiling as if his soul left him looking at the sky, looked at Rakshar and smiled again.
In the past life, at this time.
Rakshar died by the sword of mercenary bastards.
To kill him, whose vitality was persistent like a Half-Werewolf, the mercenary bastards thrust swords into Rakshar dozens of times and cut him.
The thirteen-year-old boy who could only look helplessly at him dying.
“T-That is so. Young Master, I am alive, right?”
Although Rakshar answered bewilderedly at Blanc’s out-of-the-blue question, Blanc was very satisfied with that answer.
“Good. Very good!”
Watching Blanc clapping his palms and rejoicing, Rakshar and Emilia were making worried expressions.
Since his parents died and the family was exterminated overnight, it was a situation where it wouldn't be strange at all even if he lost his mind.
However, unlike what the two thought, Blanc’s mind was in a fine state. Beyond being fine, he was judging with cool reason.
“Good. Let’s get an inn room first. And Rakshar, you brought enough arrows, right?”
“Yes. Young Master.”
“Then can you shoot and kill people with those arrows?”
A gruesome aura rising momentarily in Blanc’s eyes.
Rakshar, who inadvertently met that gaze, swallowed his saliva unconsciously.
“I-If the Young Master commands, it-it is possible as much as you want.”
The faithful gamekeeper Rakshar.
He was the most outstanding hunter in Norington.
And a sharpshooter.
“Then in the evening. Let’s move together.”
“W-Where do you mean?”
“You’ll know when we get there.”