Resting at the back of the carriage, I leaned against the stack of hay and stared up at the bright, blue sky.
Thanks to the job at the Hero's palace, I had earned enough coin and I was able to pay for the trip to Bravia province. The knights in the tavern had tipped me off to the convoy, and I had jumped at the chance to grab a ride.
I had sought out the cheapest carriage – because I needed to save money while I could, given my lack of a secure job – which was a horse cart that was stacked with hay. The Duke of Bravia was buying hay for newly built stables in his castle. Apparently Bradley had the bright idea to train cavalry or something.
That made sense. Bradley was a knight. He probably wanted to build his own privatized knight regiment. At least that was the rumors I heard. It was a regiment of similar-minded knights, whose creed was power ruled over everything or some bullshit like that. I wasn't sure because I hadn't been there personally, and I knew better than to put complete faith in rumors.
"Bro, Bravia province is just beyond the hill there!" the owner of the horse cart called out to me, tipping his hat as he glanced back. He grinned and pointed toward a hill that was a short distance away. I nodded my thanks and rolled about in the hay to take a better look.
Seemed like it was going to be an uphill journey.
Exhaling, I glanced about and noted our surroundings. Bravia province was surrounded by mountains, and we had spent five days traveling from Royales. The journey was made harder by the need to traverse narrow and dangerous mountain paths. On the other hand, the mountains formed a natural barrier against the north, which made it difficult for the demons to invade Bravia.
On the other hand, it also isolated Bravia from the rest of the kingdom. Bradley had used that as an excuse to form his own private knight regiment, citing the need for a sufficient defense force.
I grinned. He had no idea what was coming for him. All the knights in the world wasn't going to stop me from taking my revenge on him.
Lazily rolling about in the hay, I was about to close my eyes when my enchanted lenses caught sight of something and brought it to my attention. Lying on my stomach, I peered through my glasses and magnified the view.
Several hundred meters away, there was a single girl – dressed in armor – running away from an entire company of knights. They were all dressed in similar armor, sporting the same heraldry – the red rose above a pair of crossed blades that Bradley favored – but it was clear that the girl wasn't part of the group. She was glancing back fearfully and angrily, trying to maintain the distance between herself and the pursuing knights.
A distance that was slowly shrinking. As fast as the girl was, and her stamina was impressive, she evidently couldn't outrun the swifter and fitter knights behind her.
This wasn't my business, but…
Closing my eyes, I sighed and shook my head. I wasn't the same as that bastard Herman, the selfish brat, Irene, and the cold and ruthless Bradley. Unlike the self-centered fuckers of the Hero party, I would like to think of myself as a decent human being.
Of course, I was not a saint or a nice person, or even an ally of justice. I was probably doing this for my own self-satisfaction. But why did I need to justify my desire to help others? If people had a problem with my decision to assist those in need, they could fuck right off. They were the same type of scum as the assholes in the Hero party, the ones I was plotting revenge on right now.
Adjusting my glasses, I then turned around and dropped a gold coin into the astonished horseman's hand.
"Thanks for the ride, but here is far enough."
"Eh? But we haven't reached the city itself yet…"
"That's fine. My destination is Bravia, and we're here. I want to explore the mountains."
I hopped off the horse cart without any hesitation and began jogging toward the mountain trail where I saw the chase. Behind me, the horseman looked bemused.
"Well, be careful, bro! I hear there are fierce beasts and even the occasional demons in these mountains!"
"Ironically enough, the most dangerous species around here aren't beasts or demons, but humans," I murmured, out of earshot of the horseman.
And thus I left the convoy, running toward the mountain trail. Even before I reached the girl, I could hear her pursuers taunting her.
"Ha ha ha ha! There is no escape for you now!"
"You still don't understand what kind of situation you're in right now?"
"Give up and let us enjoy ourselves! Ha ha ha!"
Vulgar voices rose just above the ridge. I hastened my pace and covered the last dozen meters of distance in a single burst. As I reached the top, the knights came into view.
The girl had finally come to a stop, and she was surrounded by a couple dozen of soldiers. She drew her sword and held it up in front of her, trembling in fear.
"Why…why?" she gasped, tears streaming down her pretty face. "Why are you doing this?"
She reminded me of Yvonne, especially with the long, red hair. But unlike Yvonne, she hadn't bothered to tie her hair into a ponytail, allowing the silky strands to flow loosely behind her back. As I said earlier, she was dressed in similar armor to the knights around her and sporting the same heraldry, which meant she was part of the regiment.
So why were these knights attacking their own comrade? Or perhaps she was a spy who snuck into the regiment? But that wouldn't explain her current reaction, or the words of the knights surrounding her.
The female knight stiffened, her beautiful face marred by a determined scowl. Resolving herself, she lunged forward, her sword flashing at the lead knight. He merely mocked her, but he paid for underestimating his opponent with his life when her blade suddenly switched trajectory and cut open his throat, leaving him to parry empty air. Dropping his weapon, the knight clutched at his throat and gurgled before falling.
Not bad. Despite her youthful appearance, the female knight was very skillful. Her movements were sharp, precise and elegant. Weaving through the ring of armored knights, she attacked relentlessly and forced them back. Having witnessed the downfall of their comrade, the surviving knights tightened their defenses and deflected her strike. A few of them closed in from behind, attacking from multiple directions and distracting her from her intended targets.
The girl evaded them with sublime skill and impressive reflexes, occasionally countering with ripostes and thrusts, but the male knights were no pushovers too. They had evidently honed their skills in actual combat and accumulated a lot of experience, whereas, as talented as the girl was at swordsmanship, her youthful appearance, lack of scars and sometimes awkward movements betrayed her lack of practical experience.
I wouldn't be surprised if she was a swordswoman who had just recently graduated from a knight academy, but hadn't actually been on a real battlefield before. This wasn't to say that women were inferior to men in combat. I had seen Yvonne and other female knights fighting before. And I wasn't ashamed to say that they could probably beat me in close combat.
Then again, I was a mage, so I had no reason to feel embarrassed at losing to swordswomen in a physical duel.
In addition to her lack of experience, the girl was vastly outnumbered. Before I could reach the scene, she had already run out of stamina. The male knights, aware of her weakness, didn't deliver any killing blow and were practically toying with her. One of them struck her head with the hilt of his sword, dazing her. Another kicked her in the midriff with an armored boot, causing her to sprawl on the ground.
"Ugh!"
The girl tried to scramble to her feet. Another knight stepped forward and swung his broadsword. The girl frantically blocked it, but not ready for the blow, she lost her grip on her sword and could only watch helplessly as it was knocked out of her hands. A fourth knight kicked her sword away before she could retrieve it, and she withdrew her fingers when he tried to stomp on them.
She wasn't able to avoid the kick that came from an opposite direction and caught her in her well-endowed chest, causing her to crash onto the ground with a cry.
"Ah!"
"Ho…what a fine woman."
Gazing at her prone figure, the first soldier licked his lips. His companions exchanged lecherous glances as they closed in on her.
"Hey, how about we have a taste of her before we send her to the duke?"
"Huh? Are you sure? Wouldn't we get into trouble?"
"Don't worry! As long as nobody finds out, it's fine!"
The knights began unbuckling their belts and loosening their trousers, revealing their engorged crotches. The girl shrank back, trembling in fear and rage.
"You…you disgusting bastards…!"
"Oho! Aren't you quite the feisty one?"
"That's not surprising," another soldier said with a smirk, raking his eyes over the girl, who was trying to cover her chest and shoulders with her hands. "We had one hell of a time with her older sister, remember?"
"Ah, yes, that's right!"
As the knights chuckled, the girl turned pale, her eyes widening in disbelief.
"So you are the ones who…did that to…my sister…!"
"Hey, don't blame us." one of the knights scratched his head. "It couldn't be helped. Bradley had his fill of her, so why can't we help ourselves after he was done with her? It's not like it will make any difference, right?"
"Yeah, it's not as if her virginity can be restored."
"Blame your sister for having such a tempting body!"
"Man, what a waste!" a knight exclaimed. "She used to be quite the pure, innocent maiden! It's a pity that she lost all that innocence and started swinging her hips wildly halfway into it. But I can't complain about that, though! She was so amazing! So tight!"
"Hey, wasn't that because you forced yourself on her first? I'm pretty sure that bitch fought all the way until the end."
"I…I won't forgive you!"
The girl was weeping uncontrollably. She lunged for her fallen sword, but the knight closest to her kicked her in the gut, causing her to double over and fall.
"Do you think she'll be just as amazing as her sister?"
"I guess we'll find out."
The knights chuckled as they crouched down and began pawing away at the poor girl, restraining her and stripping her of her armor. She kicked and screamed, but found herself overpowered by the superior number of male knights.
"Somebody, help!" she pleaded, sobbing. "Anybody!"
"Don't be a fool," one of the knights sneered. "There won't be anybody else this far out here. And even if there is, they aren't stupid enough to help you."
"Huh, so you think I'm stupid, huh?"
At my voice, the knights all turned around…and froze.
I had finally reached the maximum effective range of my magic and had conjured a hail of icicles. Before they could react, I launched them.
In an instant, 90% of the knight company was obliterated. Though their armor protected them from the icicles, which shattered ineffectually against the gleaming metal, there were too many of the glacial projectiles. They punched through gaps in the armor, such as joints, causing men to shriek.
More importantly, many icicles punctured their skulls, ramming deeply into their astonished faces and wiping their lustful expressions away. The idiots had discarded their helms, all the better to indulge in their rape, and their heads were thus unprotected from the lethal barrage I had just delivered.
Of course, there were a few who were lucky enough to survive, but their joints were impaled by icicles and they writhed about on the ground, yelling in agony.
"You…you…!" one of the knights bellowed at me when he caught sight of me approaching them. "How dare you attack us?!"
"Don't you know who we are?!" another knight screamed. I pushed my glasses up my nose and cocked my head to the side.
"A bunch of lowlife rapists who only know how to pick on a girl?"
"Bastard! We are Duke Bradley's subordinates! You won't get away with this!"
Did my attack addle their minds? Did they not understand the predicament they were in?
Sighing in exasperation, I shook my head.
"And I am Duke Bradley's enemy. I'm here to assassinate him." I grinned. "I've returned from the Demonic Empire just for his head."
"What…what…?"
The soldiers stared at me, not comprehending. Dread filled their hearts, and they tried to scamper away.
Too late. I had no intention of letting any of them go.
Drawing the whip from my waist, I lashed out. The demonic whip, Night Fang, unfurled hungrily and sliced through the scampering soldiers, cutting through armor, flesh and bone with little impunity. The black whip appeared to glow ominously as it chewed through metal in milliseconds, turning the screaming knights into pieces.
In less than half a minute, there were no survivors left…save for one.
"W…who are you?" the girl gasped, staring at me in horror.