Stella clearly didn't see how visiting the bat cave would be of any use to my strategy, but I wasn't obligated to explain anything to her. Instead, I focused on going to Bravia City for now.
The scene that greeted me was similar to that in Herman and Irene's district in Royales. Many citizens had been driven out of their homes and were living in squalor because they simply couldn't afford the heavy taxes that Duke Bradley had dropped on them. Remembering the situation in the last city I stayed at, I groaned. I didn't want to waste too much coin on an inn again.
"Ugh…any affordable place I can stay at?" I asked Stella. She thought for a moment, and hesitated before looking away. "I have a spare room at my place. If you promise not to do anything to me, you are welcome to stay over."
"I won't do anything to you, I swear," I said wearily.
Stella watched me warily. She still maintained a good distance, which was only natural. Honestly, I would be more disturbed if she dismissed the fact that she had witnessed me slaughtering an entire company of knights, or if she suddenly turned into fangirl mode and said something along the lines "wow, he is so good at killing the enemy, how cool and strong!"
Normal human girls did not behave like that in reality. The only reason why they did so in fiction was because the author wanted to throw a harem onto the protagonist for no reason.
On the other hand, reality was going to bite me in the ass because she clearly would have reservations inviting me over to stay at her house. Already she looked like she was regretting her proposal, despite my assurances.
Fortunately, she sighed and nodded. "If you wanted to try anything funny, you had plenty of opportunity to do so earlier, and I wouldn't have any way of stopping you. I doubt you would escort me all the way home just to do whatever those knights wanted to do to me."
"Yeah, so you don't have to worry." I raised my hand. "I won't ask you to drop your guard around me, but for what it's worth, I have no intention of hurting you unless you attack me first."
"I guess trust goes both ways, huh?" Stella turned toward one of the streets. "My house is in that direction."
"Wait," I said. "Before that, do you mind if I drop by a tavern and visit some stalls?"
"Do you need to buy something?" Stella asked, puzzled. I shook my head and grinned.
"Rather than buy…I'm going to collect information."
It took a few hours of loitering about, eavesdropping, asking a few questions, and such, but I was able to gather the intelligence I needed. As I suspected, Bravia was in dire straits and the citizens were suffering because of Bradley's greed and high taxes. Many of the men had lost their wives and daughters to his lust, and he had collected a harem of beautiful women while driving the husbands and fathers to their deaths through poverty or unemployment.
Almost similar to Royales, except that Bradley at least didn't throw parades and publically burn people at stakes. However, just like Herman and Irene, he didn't hesitate to execute anyone who so much as offended him. He had been burning through his servants with his ruthlessness, killing them over every stupid thing.
I already knew that, of course, from what Stella told me, and from what I heard from outside the city.
The terrible news of Herman and Irene suffering a blow in the capital had not reached Bravia, thanks to the suppression of the information by the Church and state. That was good. Bradley had no idea that I was coming for him.
That said, Bradley's manor was still a formidable obstacle. He had a thousand knights under his command, his private regiment garrisoned at the barracks next to his estate, and having stationed a permanent guard around his gates. He also had hired two lovely priestesses as part of his personal guard, who would heal him during combat. They had their own quarters in his mansion. An old man chuckled as he told me that Bradley pulled some strings to convince the Church to second the pair of beautiful women to him, because they suited his tastes. Because his life depended on their healing magic, he didn't mistreat them as much as he did other women, but he still laid his hands on them and raped them.
Even so, he wasn't worried. If he broke them, he would just pull strings to get a couple of new priestesses to replace them. Of course, the Church was no pushover either, so he obviously restrained himself and didn't break them too much.
Not that his raping of them wasn't overboard, but he was careful to treat them better than the maids and other women in his harem.
"Disgusting," Stella said, her expression thunderous. She was quivering in rage while listening to these accounts.
"Buddy," the old man who was telling me about the priestesses whispered as he leaned over. "You had best hide your wife from the duke. Otherwise he'll take her as well. He doesn't care if she's married to you, he'll have his knights abduct her, and if you're unlucky, have you murdered. Take my advice, keep her at home in a place where no one can see her."
"Uh, she's not my wife, actually," I muttered. The old man raised a curious eyebrow, wondering why a young man and a young woman would be traveling together if they weren't married.
Stella quickly cleared her throat. "Our wedding hasn't taken place yet," she told the old man with a forced smile. "My fiancé is afraid of attracting the attention of the duke, so we plan to hold the ceremony out of town."
"Ah. That makes sense."
I shot Stella a questioning look, but she nudged me under the table. Leaning over, she whispered into my ear.
"Just play along. We don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves. Otherwise, the knights will come looking for me."
Oh, right. I had just literally heard that Bradley was sending his knights around to help him collect beautiful women. That fucking bastard.
If Stella passed off as my wife, the men here would be sympathetic and help me cover up. But if they knew she was single, they might try to make a move on her, or call the knights on her for a reward or something. In such times of poverty, they were desperate to make that bit of cash.
After listening to a few people in the tavern, I then told Stella to wait for me there.
"Where are you going?" she asked, concerned.
"I'm going to check out the duke's estate. I want to have a good look at it with my own eyes." I sighed. "It's best if you don't follow. I don't know what the knights will do if they see you."
"I understand. Be careful."
I nodded and then took off. Before I departed, Stella gave me a few directions and I followed them, finally reaching the massive manor where Duke Bradley lived in. The damned place resembled a palace, and just as I had heard, contained a huge barracks within its grounds. Through the gates, I could see and hear knights training on the field.
However, the mansion wasn't very fortified. Bradley had chosen to live in a life of luxury, and thus there were no towers. Rather, fountains and ridiculously groomed gardens covered the courtyard, while the mansion itself was shaped like a domed palace, more suited for holding balls and throwing banquets than defense against an attack.
Bradley must be very confident that the barrier of mountains around his province would ensure that no invasion would befall his residence.
Despite the absurd architecture, there were countless knights training and patrolling the perimeter. I could see a couple of sentries at the main gate. A homeless man wandered nearby, groveling at their feet.
"Who are you?"
"Duke Bradley's residence is beyond this point. Trespassers will not be tolerated."
"No, please," the man begged. "I'm here to see the duke. Please allow me to speak to him. It's regarding business."
The Bravian knights laughed harshly.
"Do you really think the duke has time for the likes of you?"
"Please...it's important…!"
"Our time is important! You'll be punished for wasting it!" One of the knights strode forward. To my horror, he swung his sword and hacked off the arm of the begging guy, causing him to scream and roll across the floor.
"Ah…my arm!"
"Not yet." The knight guffawed before chopping off a leg. The poor man shrieked in agony, blood spurting from his stumps.
"Please, sir…mercy…"
"Mercy? Peasants like you don't deserve mercy."
"Crawl out of here, or it'll be your head that's next."
"But…"
The knight's sword dropped down, only to be parried by my blade.
"Who are you?!" the knight roared. I shook my head.
"A passer-by. I'll be taking this man back, if you do not mind."
"How dare you…!"
I was already leaving, heaving the wailing man over my shoulders and carrying him away. I toyed with the idea of killing the knight, but knew it was impractical. A platoon of knights was marching toward the gates, to check on the commotion.
It would be difficult for me to get away if I got into a fight here, and I didn't intend to blow my cover just yet. So I quickly strode off with the wounded man.
"You…! Did I say you can go? Get back here!"
"Or what?" I asked coldly. "Are you going to chase me?"
"You think I won't?!"
I turned back to stare at him wryly. "You can if you want to, if you want to explain to the duke why you left your post."
"Ugh!" the knight turned pale. Indeed, Bradley was known for mercilessly killing anybody over the most trivial reasons. The sentry didn't want to lose his head just because the duke perceived him as being derelict in his duty. "I…I'll let you live this time!"
"I'm so grateful," I replied sarcastically, and then I returned to the tavern. Stella's jaw dropped when she saw my load.
"What the hell happened?!"
"Well…" I sighed and briefed her on what she saw. Stella shook with fury, but I waved my hand to bring her back to the present. "Is there any apothecary who we can bring this guy to?"
"There is," she said without hesitation. "I know a place."
The red-haired knight then led me to a small clinic. The apothecary didn't looked pleased, but he accepted his patient when I dropped him a gold coin. Then he chased us away.
"I'll be able to do my job better without you hanging around."
"Understood." Stella nodded and tugged me away. She gave me a look that forestalled any protest. "Let's go home."
By now, night had fallen, and so I followed Stella back to her home. It was a pretty small cottage, looking decrepit and rundown. When she caught my surprised expression, the red-haired knight looked away bitterly.
"The knights…when they tried to catch me, they also dropped by to wreck my house." She took a deep breath. "Given that you've gotten rid of them, we probably don't have to worry about them coming back to disturb us…for a while, anyway."
I nodded. Eventually the regiment would notice that an entire company of knights had gone missing and would investigate their disappearance. But until then…
"This room used to belong to my sister." Stella opened the door to one of the room, and looked apologetic when she saw the mess. The bed had been broken, the shelves toppled, and belongings and furniture thrown about. The fucking knights had been thorough. "I'm sorry I can't be more hospitable."
"It's fine." I shook my head. "This is good enough."
"Well…good night then." Stella swallowed, and then disappeared into her own room. She still didn't trust me, not completely at least. Enough to let me stay under the same roof as her, but she was clearly uncomfortable with spending too much time in my company.
I didn't blame her.
Sighing, I began straightening out the mess as best as I could before going to sleep.
*
The next morning, I requested that Stella bring me to the cave where she saw the cross bats.
"You really want to go there?" she asked with a frown. I nodded.
"It's really unusual for demonic beasts to be inside the territory of the Havan Kingdom. I think it's worth investigating."
"What's the significance?" Stella cocked her head to one side, her long red hair falling.
"It might lead to an alternate route…to the Demonic Empire."
For a moment, Stella didn't seem to comprehend. Then she gasped, one of her hands flying to her face and the other gripping the hilt of her sword.
"A way for the demonic legions to march into Bravia without having to brave the treacherous terrain of the mountain range."
"That's right." I smiled. Stella's scowl deepened, as if she was wondering why I found this so amusing. She couldn't help but be disturbed about this.
"We have to check it out! And if there really is such a passage, we have to report it!" she immediately turned toward the exit. "We have no time to waste!"
We set off at a brisk pace, climbing the steep slopes of the hills and then heading into the mountains. Since this was Stella's territory, I allowed her to lead the way. I had no idea how to navigate such a confusing piece of land, whereas she had clearly grown up here.
"It should be here…"
Our journey took us to the foot of one of the mountains. Stella glanced back at me to ensure that I was keeping up. I waved at her to show that I was fine.
"This looks familiar." I looked around. Then I pointed at a nearby mountain. "Hey, isn't there where I met you yesterday?"
"That's right." Stella seemed impressed. Then she turned downcast. "When I was trying to escape Rose Company yesterday, I decided to run through here because I was familiar with the lay of the land. I know the mountains well enough and I was confident of shaking them off if I could just reach the network of caves that I played in when I was a child."
But she didn't have the stamina to complete the journey, and the knights had caught up to her before she could reach her destination.
"I see."
"Anyway, this is the cave." Stella gestured toward the gaping cavern at the foot of the mountain. I nodded and entered the cave.
As I did so, a flock of zoo bats fluttered outward, the tiny creatures batting their wings frantically. Each of them was only as big as my hand, and so they weren't of much threat. They were capable of sonic attacks and biting into prey to suck their blood, but they were usually timid.
"Ugh! No!" Stella cried out, swatting them away.
"You should stay outside," I told her. She shook her head.
"I'm your guide. I'll follow you all the way. I don't want you to get lost in here."
"All right then." Even though my glasses had a function that allowed me to see in the dark, I produced a lantern from my backpack and lit it up, illuminating the dark interior. "Let's begin mapping out the place."
While I did so, my right hand ached. I winced and clutched it, feeling my skin throbbing feverishly.
"Are you all right?" Stella asked worriedly, noticing my reaction. I blinked and nodded, removing my left hand. To my surprise, there was something on the back of my right hand. Stella caught sight of it too. "What's that?"
"I don't know." It was an intricate pattern, resembling a crest or symbol, and the lines were the color of blood.
"A scar? An injury? Did you scrape your hand against the wall?" Stella came forward to tie my hand with a handkerchief. "Be careful. That looks like a huge wound."
"Thanks." I let her bandaged my hand, even though the weird picture no longer throbbed. I had a few ideas of what it was, having been a mage. A magic crest, most likely, but how did it get etched into my hand? When did I acquire it?
Regardless, I doubted Stella would understand if I told her, so I stayed quiet on the matter.
Taking a deep breath, I proceeded deeper into the cave and wondered what I would find in here.