It had never occurred to him to get out easily from the fort. Firstly there will be soldiers who catch Cyril on his way out. At that time he will be reported to Adelman and try to calm down because he is still injured. Or even if he could escape unnoticed from the span, in front of the gate would likely be ambushed by the remnants of the black beasts.
However, Cyril did not expect to meet Adelman and the man then thrust a sword into Cyril's neck. So, he was stunned for a few moments and laughed.
"I'm not the right person to fight you!" said Cyril.
He has nothing as a weapon now. He also knows how capable Adelman is. A war hero who conquered several wars. Cyril is just a guy stranded somewhere without knowing anything.
"I don't mind if you cut off my legs and arms. However, I will not return to the capital."
Adelman stared at Cyril almost unblinkingly. His hands gripped the sword hilt tighter than before and his stance was even more perfect for an attack.
In one slash, Cyril will die. However, for some reason he was not at all afraid of the death he was so avoiding now. Strange.
"His Highness the Crown Prince will not punish you if you have no faults!"
"If I have no faults? So what if he doesn't need me anymore? That mistake could easily be made, sir."
Adelman flinched. For a few seconds, the hero doubted what to do. But then he quickly got a grip on himself too.
"I am a coward who does not want to die, Mr. Adelman." Cyril emphasized once more.
Cyril imagined something harmless enough to push Adelman back, at least causing him to lose his concentration for a few seconds. That way Cyril could escape. He regretted not just making a warp this time, but the only places he could go to were those where the exact location was known. Cyril can't move where the location point is unknown.
Water!
Cyril raised his hand, imagining the water ball he used to play with as a child back in his previous life. It flew swiftly towards Adelman and pushed the old man standing with his sword drawn backward.
"CYRIL!!"
Adelman shouted Cyril's name.
However, Cyril wasn't stupid enough to stop and look back. Since the water ball flew towards Adelman and was thrown by him. He had run as fast as he could to go towards the exit. He almost bumped into a knight on duty at the fort. Luckily there was no official order for Cyril's arrest yet, so the knight just avoided him in the last few seconds.
"CATCH HIM!"
As Cyril made it out of the fort's entrance, he heard the order being shouted out by someone behind him.
Cyril told himself to keep running and not look back. His breathing was labored and all the wounds on Cyril's body became more painful from moving. His vision suddenly became blurry and the thing that forced him to keep running was only a strong desire to escape fate.
Screams that asked him to be arrested immediately blared. However, there were quite several injured soldiers inside and only a few were on guard outside right now.
"You can't leave like this!" A knight tried to block Cyril a few meters away from the gate.
Cyril didn't slow down and sent the man who jumped up suddenly with a magical water balloon similar to the one holding Adelman. Cyril made his way through the broken gate that couldn't be closed. No intention to slow down his run.
The commotion behind Cyril is believed to be a pursuit of him. After it felt far enough from the fort, Cyril got off the beaten path. His steps still had not slowed down. His mind is still haunted by the capture.
"OUCH!"
Cyril's foot tripped over something. He fell to his knees with a ragged breath. Cyril was sure that his wound was bleeding again, but he was too tired to check. His vision became darker than before. Cyril lost consciousness amid his fear of being caught.
***
"Did you find it?"
Adelman arrived at the gate just moments after Cyril left. The soldiers who were in front of the gate who were currently still tired and unenthusiastic only glanced at each other hearing questions from Adelman.
"Forgive us, sir!" One of them finally worked up the courage to admit weakness.
Adelman couldn't help but sigh. He didn't know what to do now. He did not have the authority to arrest Cyril. It is the young man's right if he wants to resign from the knight squad and choose to live as anything out there. It's just that Cyril has the potential to be ignored. Also at this time, the young man was injured. Adelman was sure that Cyril had once again stopped breathing while unconscious with the wound pressed hard so it wouldn't bleed.
"Leave some of the knights at the gate, the others come back."
"Sir… don't we need to search? With his injuries, he definitely won't be able to run far."
That's a very good idea. "No. You too are hurt and tired. Return to their respective places according to my orders. We'll chase the boy at sunrise. As you said, he's injured and won't be able to run far."
***
Cyril's whole world swayed and jolted. At the last jolt his head hit something hard. When his vision cleared again, he realized the ceiling seemed to be pressing down hard on him.
"Where ...."
Cyril could not ask because a man answered his question quickly. Or so it happened. "We found you lying unconscious in a bush. Your wound is open, but fortunately, it doesn't bleed much. I've bandaged it again and put some ointment on it." The man paused to speak. "You are in our cart."
Cyril lifted his head slightly to see who had helped him, but all Cyril could see was their back. He again placed his head carefully on the floor of the cart.
The cart was made of wood, it was quite large and was probably used for trading. However, at this moment there was nothing in the cart except for Cyril, the two people who were at the front, and a large package which Cyril did not know was his wife.
"Where is this cart going?" Then Cyril realized he should have introduced himself. "I'm Cyril. I am a mercenary."
He couldn't say that he was a commoner's knight because he didn't want to be sent back to the capital and the fortress.
"What happened to you? You're alone lying in the middle of the road with injuries?" The person who had asked Cyril earlier asked another question.
Cyril was about to answer for any reason he could think of, but the fellow man who had saved him swooped in first. "You don't seem to know those mercenaries. Some of them contain ungrateful people. He must have been dumped after all his belongings were taken. You saw yesterday, he wasn't even wearing shoes."
"Ah, right!"
Cyril had better not spoil these people's fantasies now.
He mustered all his strength to sit on the floor of the cart so he could see quite clearly that it was an old man with an all-white head and a young man younger than himself who had helped him.
"So where is this train going?" Cyril's previous question remained unanswered as well.
"North."
Cyril didn't know where other than the south of the capital he had just come from. However, hearing it was not a place he had been before made him relieved. He didn't want anyone to find him right now.
"What's the name of that place?" asked Cyril.
"Are you from here? Or from abroad?" asked the old man with both hands controlling the cart. "That's enough! No need to answer, seeing how you are it seems unlikely you are from here!"
Cyril laughed. He didn't come from this world. He is just lost or has now accepted his existence as Cyril in the novel.
"There's a lot I don't know about this job." Cyril just needs to follow the storyline in the fantasies of the two people in front of him, right?
"We're going back to Baron Letwick's land, Miscello. We are farmers there and have just returned from selling agricultural products in the capital. It was then that we found you in a terrible state."
"Thank you for your help." Cyril forgot to say it earlier.
"Does not matter! This cart is empty and you are injured. If you're a bad person, we'll just throw you off the cart. After all, you don't have a weapon!" The old man holding the reins laughed at this and Cyril was not in the least bit offended.
Maybe this trip with strangers is just what Cyril needs. He could pretend to be without a problem for a bit. So Cyril decided not to ask too many questions and sank back down on the floor of the cart. His whole body ached.