Chapter 38
“Urgh!”
Bodies from the pursuit unit covered the ground.
The Centurion was badly wounded.
He coughed blood while making one final threat.
“Cough... Y-You bastard!”
His eyes burned with hatred.
“Do you think you’ll survive after doing this?!”
Suhyeok placed his sword against the man’s throat.
The Centurion immediately lost what little courage he had left.
Suhyeok sighed lightly.
This became annoying.
He looked toward Kasar.
Kasar immediately looked away.
Then he began whistling innocently.
Suhyeok sighed again.
“...It doesn’t matter.”
He looked down at the Centurion.
“If an outside unit was willing to send a pursuit squad this quickly...”
His eyes narrowed.
“They probably planned to kill me before I returned anyway.”
Then he asked,
“Am I wrong?”
The Centurion froze.
“T-That’s...”
Slash!
His head fell.
There was no reason to hesitate anymore.
They had already crossed the line.
Suhyeok returned to the carriage.
Then he looked at Kasar and Ventus, who were about to enter.
“Ventus.”
He pointed toward the front.
“You sit beside the coachman.”
Ventus quietly nodded.
Suhyeok looked at Kasar.
“And Kasar.”
Kasar smiled hopefully.
“You walk.”
Kasar froze.
“What?!”
His voice exploded.
“Why does that bastard get to ride and I don’t?!”
He pointed at Ventus.
“Squad Leader!”
Kasar looked offended.
“Even if you’re mad at me, this is too much!”
He placed a hand on his chest.
“We’ve shared food all this time!”
Kasar continued stomping and complaining.
Ventus looked at him with pure disgust.
“Hey, muscle idiot.”
He pointed at Kasar’s massive body.
“Look at yourself.”
Then he gestured toward the carriage.
“If you get inside too, the carriage won’t even move.”
Ventus sighed.
“If you have a brain, try using it.”
Kasar froze.
“Urgh!”
Even Kasar seemed to understand that the carriage was not exactly spacious.
He snorted loudly.
Then...
He silently began walking.
Around half a day passed.
The sun eventually disappeared.
Darkness covered the road.
Suhyeok woke Damian, who had been sleeping against the window.
“Get out.”
Damian rubbed his eyes.
“Hm... Huh?”
He looked nervous.
“W-Why suddenly...?”
Suhyeok opened the carriage door.
“The sun has set.”
He stepped outside.
“We already left the front line.”
His voice remained calm.
“The pursuit unit won’t be able to follow us anymore.”
Then he said,
“We’ll spend the night here.”
Damian nodded.
“O-Okay.”
They stepped outside.
Kasar stood nearby.
He looked extremely unhappy.
Suhyeok looked at him.
“Kasar.”
He pointed around.
“Prepare the camp.”
Then he added,
“Wake Ventus.”
“I’m going to scout the area.”
Kasar placed both hands on his hips.
“Oh, sure.”
His voice became sarcastic.
“My legs have only been killing me from walking all day because of someone.”
He exaggerated a limp.
“So I don’t know if I can manage that.”
Suhyeok ignored him.
He began walking toward the forest.
Then he casually said,
“I’ll spar with you when I return.”
Kasar froze.
“......!”
The next instant...
He grabbed Ventus, who was sleeping beside the coachman, and threw him over one shoulder.
“Hahaha!”
Kasar suddenly became full of energy.
“Why didn’t you say that first?!”
He waved.
“Don’t worry about gloomy-face or His Highness!”
Kasar grinned.
“I’ll take good care of them!”
Then he shouted,
“Don’t get hurt out there!”
Three people sat around the campfire.
The coachman was resting somewhere else.
They finished a simple meal.
Kasar stared at the night sky.
“Haah.”
He sighed.
“This is exactly when you need a drink.”
Then he looked toward Ventus.
“Hey, gloomy-face.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You didn’t secretly bring alcohol, did you?”
Ventus replied without looking at him.
“Shut up.”
Kasar clicked his tongue.
“You seriously don’t understand romance.”
He looked toward Damian.
“Well, no way His Highness brought alcohol either.”
Kasar started to stand.
“Maybe I should ask the coachman.”
Damian raised one hand.
“Um...”
He spoke quietly.
Everyone looked at him.
Damian immediately shrank back.
Kasar stared.
“What?”
Then he grinned.
“You actually know how to talk?”
He laughed.
“So what does our Crown Prince want to ask?”
Damian hesitated.
“Do you... know anything about Daniel?”
Silence lasted a moment.
Kasar licked his lips.
Then he grabbed some roasted meat.
“Ha.”
He chewed.
“This is normally the kind of story you need alcohol for.”
Then he grinned.
“But since we’ve got food...”
He leaned closer.
“I’ll tell you.”
Ventus grimaced.
“Tch.”
He looked irritated.
“Not this again.”
Then he said,
“Aren’t you tired of telling that unimpressive story every chance you get?”
Kasar glared.
“Who asked you to listen?”
He waved him away.
“Shoo.”
“Get lost.”
Ventus clearly did not want to deal with him.
He moved to a corner and lay down.
Kasar settled back down.
He ripped into the meat.
“Alright.”
He looked thoughtful.
“Where should I start?”
Then he raised one finger.
“It was about a week ago.”
His expression became excited.
“We were fighting hard.”
He pointed at himself.
“All the weak bastards retreated first.”
Kasar puffed out his chest.
“So eventually I was the only one left.”
He frowned.
“And right when those pointy-eared women were about to kill me...”
Kasar grinned.
“That’s when I met him.”
Damian leaned forward.
His eyes became curious.
Kasar continued.
“He appeared out of nowhere.”
His grin widened.
“And cut all of them down.”
He gestured wildly.
“I had never seen swordsmanship like that.”
Kasar shook his head.
“He even cut their magic apart.”
Then he added,
“And he didn’t kill them.”
Kasar shrugged.
“I survived because of him, so I’m not complaining.”
Damian immediately asked,
“A-And then?”
Kasar scratched his chin.
Then he swallowed the meat.
His expression became proud.
“So I asked him to fight me.”
Damian blinked.
“...Huh?”
Kasar grinned.
“Man to man.”
He pointed toward Ventus.
“I was already bored from fighting that gloomy bastard all the time.”
His eyes lit up.
“So it was perfect timing.”
Damian looked stunned.
Then he suddenly stood.
“W-What happened next?!”
His eyes sparkled.
Kasar seemed uncomfortable under such intense attention.
He rubbed his nose.
“Well...”
He coughed.
“We fought.”
Then he said vaguely,
“Ahem.”
“It was pretty even.”
Kasar laughed awkwardly.
“Really close.”
Ventus spoke from the corner.
“Close?”
He sounded disgusted.
“A stray dog would laugh.”
Kasar’s face twitched.
Ventus continued.
“You challenged him confidently and got destroyed.”
Kasar slowly turned around.
“...What did you say?”
Ventus looked at him.
“Am I wrong?”
He smiled faintly.
“That’s why you keep begging him to spar with you.”
Then he added,
“You’ve already lost several times.”
Ventus sighed.
“You’d think even an animal would understand by now.”
Kasar cracked his knuckles.
“Gloomy bastard.”
He approached.
“You haven’t been hit recently, have you?”
His grin became dangerous.
“My body’s warmed up.”
He raised his fists.
“Come be my warm-up.”
Ventus stood.
“I have a question for you too.”
He drew his sword.
“How badly do you want to die before you stop advertising it?”
His eyes became cold.
“This time, I’ll properly train those muscles for you.”
The moment he finished...
The two attacked each other.
BOOOOM!
Step. Step.
Suhyeok walked through the forest.
Eventually...
He reached a cliff.
“We’re here.”
Seong-a floated beside him.
Her stomach growled.
She pulled on Suhyeok’s clothes.
[Daddy, I’m hungry.]
Suhyeok opened his inventory.
He pulled out a bag filled with iron ore from Dolkin.
Seong-a sniffed toward it.
Her mouth watered.
Suhyeok reached inside to take out only a few pieces.
Seong-a looked disappointed.
