SS Chapter 29

Chapter 29. Meeting Angela

TL: Warriormonk

Editor: Isleidir

“My predictions were completely off.”

A middle aged man with sharp features shook his head bitterly. He was Lancaster, the captain of the search party sent out by the church of Flora. He had been staying in the outpost guarding the border between Tranbel Kingdom and Sith Empire.

“To think he would cross the border into the Sith Empire instead of Tranbel Kingdom.”

Lancaster had immediately crossed over from Hansel Kingdom to Tranbel Kingdom as soon as he had read the suspicious letter in Esteban Earldom. His objective, of course, was to track down Luke who was suspected to have witnessed the massacre of the knights escorting the Saintess.

Lancaster had enlisted the help of the local churches and monasteries in searching for Luke as soon as he had arrived in Tranbel Kingdom. Even the numerous host of worshippers, however, could not discover the whereabouts of Luke.

“I don’t understand… How can one man avoid the vast numbers of worshippers that I’ve enlisted?”

Lancaster eventually turned his gaze elsewhere due to the lack of progress. He had begun to consider the possibility that Luke had fled to somewhere else.

Finally, he was able to stumble on a lead at the outpost guarding the border of Sith Empire. He had discovered the records indicating that Luke had crossed the border through the very outpost.

“I remember him. A bright young man trying to secure a future in the Sith Empire… I tried to stop him because he was a talented individual, but…”

“That’s enough. I thank you for your cooperation.”

Lancaster left the outpost with a bitter expression.

“I’ve wasted time. I’ve turned over the Tranbel Kingdom trying to find Luke when he was really in the Sith Empire.”

A sharp light suddenly emanated from his eyes.

“However, there are still numerous worshippers of Flora in the Sith Empire. It’s only a matter of time before I find him.”

All he needed to do was find Luke and torture the information out of him. Then, they would know what had happened to the Saintess and her party. Lancaster took a deep breathe before barking out orders to his holy knights.

“We cross into the Sith Empire. All we need to do is enlist the local churches, and we’ll finally be able to find him.”

“Yes, sir.”

Lancaster gazed fiercely into the horizon, towards the Sith Empire.

“You fucking bastard. Why would you beat me so stupidly?”

Luke awkwardly avoided Kurotan’s gaze.

“How was I supposed to know that giving out a beating would be so difficult?”

“You have to keep the person’s limits in mind as you beat him. Or me.”

“That’s easy to say.”

“That’s why you should have been careful!”

Kurotan was currently fuming with anger. Kurotan had literally set one foot into the underworld thanks to Luke.

Even Luke, who had been so angry before, could not meet his eyes. He had been able to achieve vengeance for the beating Kurotan had given him, but he had gone overboard.

Kurotan was experienced in giving out beatings to his orc subordinates, but Luke was not.

“You need to exercise caution and technique even in giving out a beating.”

“All right, I get it. I’m telling you, I get it.”

Kurotan had been beaten by a furious Luke until he had literally stopped breathing. Luke, finally realizing the seriousness of the situation after Kurotan had stopped breathing, had immediately stopped his beating and given Kurotan a healing potion.

However, Kurotan’s body was not fully repaired even by seven healing potions.

“Sh-Shit.”

Luke had hurriedly rode his horse into Jabel Earldom in order to purchase more healing potions. He had used the rest of his remaining funds, but it still wasn’t enough to revive Kurotan. He had eventually had to sell their horses and some equipment in order to purchase enough healing potions to revive Kurotan.

“Keeu, I feel like I’m going to die right now. I need more healing potions.”

“Sorry, but we don’t have enough money. We’d have to sell out weapons if we wanted to buy any more.”

“So that’s why you should have stopped before this point.”

“I… I got too absorbed into giving you a beating.”

“Goddammit.”

Kurotan stood up with a bitter expression. He had avoided death and even recovered somewhat thanks to drinking expensive healing potions as though they were water.

Kurotan closed his eyes and tried to feel out his aura.

“At least the effect is fantastic. I have around four times as much aura as I did before the beating.”

“Thank goodness, it seems that the ritual was successful.”

“Why are you laughing like you accomplished something? We don’t have any more money to buy healing potions.”

Luke silently scratched the back of his head.

“I get it, so stop it. I’ll be more careful next time.”

“Next time? You know it’s your turn the next time.”

Luke’s face paled immediately.

“Th-That..”

The sound of teeth grinding against each other escaped Kurotan’s mouth as he gripped his fists.

“I will teach you exactly how to give out a beating.”

Luke couldn’t help but shiver as a chill ran down his spine. He had enjoyed giving Kurotan a beating in vengeance, but he had not considered the consequences fully.

“Goddammit, I told you I get it. Please stop.”

“You can expect a lot. I will let you see the faces of your tenth generation ancestors…”

The two were walking up a mountain path. They had sold off their horses, so they were left with no choice but to drag their tired bodies up with their own feet.

“How could you have sold off the armor as well?”

Luke had sold off the armor that Kurotan had worn during the tournament to purchase healing potions. Kurotan glanced over his flimsy chain armor, filled with holes and tears, before glaring once again at Luke.

“I told you, I’m sorry. Please stop.”

“Shut up.”

The mountain path was quiet. Not even the common goblin or kobold made an appearance. Kurotan frowned in an unsatisfied manner.

“Damn, I can’t even take out my anger on any monsters.”

“Kurotan, you used to be a monster as well, before becoming a human.”

“You’re too loud.”

Kurotan, chewing on some jerky that Luke had handed him in an effort to appease him, suddenly stopped and wriggled his ears.

“I can hear metal clashing.”

“Really?”

Luke immediately concentrated his aura into his ears, focusing on his hearing. Just as Kurotan had said, clangs could be heard in the distant.

“This is the sound of battle.”

“Good. Let’s check it out.”

Luke and Kurotan took off with incredible speed.

In a field between the forests, battle was ongoing. Two fully armed parties of knights were attacking each other fiercely.

Chwang. Chwaang.

There were no casualties yet, thanks to the sturdy armors, but one side was clearly being overwhelmed. The weaker side was outnumbered as well, and the battle seemed to be decided.

There was a single woman on the side being overwhelmed. A beautiful woman, seemingly in her early twenties, was shivering like a tree branch in winter as she watched the ongoing battle.

The attacking party was made up of fifteen knights, whereas there were eight knights seemingly guarding the woman. One of the knights defending the woman received a fatal strike as she watched on and fell to the ground.

“Keeuk.”

Blood rushed through the hole in his armor. The woman paled like paper.

“Sir Jason!”

She cried out the knight’s name, but the knight never rose again.

The attacking knight who had slain Jason laughed darkly as he lifted his visor. His face was younger than one would expect.

“Why don’t you surrender now, Lady Angela?”

The woman seethed with anger when she saw his face.

“Stefan, you despicable bastard. How could you commit such treacherous deeds?”

“War means that the ends justify the means.”

“How can you pretend to be a noble after this?”

Stefan did not stop smiling, even as the woman continued to shout slurs at him.

“This is Jablel Earldom! Do you think that Earl Jabel will allow such attacks on his grounds to go unpunished if he finds out?”

“Hahaha. So why did you leave your territory?”

Stefan was the heir to the fiefdom in opposition to the fiefdom that Angela was loyal to.

“A corpse can’t answer any questions. Your bodies will be found, not in Jabel Earldom, but our Tarpan Barony. In other words, you had trespassing into the Tarpan Barony when you were discovered and killed by a party of patrolling knights.”

Angela bit her lips. Just as Stefan had said, it was her carelessness that had led to this situation.

‘I shouldn’t have traveled this way.’

Nijel Viscounty, the fiefdom she was sworn to serve, had not been on friendly terms with Tarpan Barony for generations. Not long ago, a clash between the two for the rights to a mine located near the two fiefdoms’ borders had taken the lives of many soldiers.

A great noble, sick and tired of the two fiefdom’s bickering, had stepped in and had decided that the rights to the mine would go to the fiefdom that won a knight’s competition.

Each side would be able to send five knights to do battle, with the winning side gaining mining rights.

The two fiefdoms had spent enormous sums trying to recruit knights, blinded by the profits that the rights to the mine would bring.

Recruiting knights, however, was not easy. Unlike a martial tournament, a knight’s competition only ended when one side was dead or disabled.

The two fiefdoms had a fair number of knights under their command, but a skilled knight at the aura expert level could turn the tides of the competition.

Angela, the daughter of the lord of Nigel Viscounty, had traveled to Jabel Earldom in secret in order to recruit a proven aura expert, Sir Cooper.

Earl Jabel, however, had rejected her request straight away.

“I can’t possibly lend you Cooper, as he is a valuable talent to our lands. I will pretend I did not hear that.”

“We can provide ample compensation. We are willing to give up a piece of land near our borders.”

“I don’t need it. I value the service that Sir Cooper can provide more than that.”

Angela had had no choice but to bitterly return to Nigel Viscounty. On her way back, she had been ambushed by the knights of Tarpan Barony.

‘I screwed up. I should have gone around and taken the safer path even if it had taken longer.’

There was no use crying over spilt milk. Another knight from Nigel Viscounty fell with a pitiful cry as she watched on.

After losing two of their members, the rest of the knights formed a tighter defensive formation around the carriage Angela was in. The knights of Tarpan Barony closed in on them.

One of the knights, face covered with blood and sweat, said to Angela determinedly.

“Lady Angela, we will try to stall them while you escape.”

“That’s impossible. I can’t possibly leave you and the rest of the knights, and my riding skills aren’t good enough to break through.”

“There are too many of them.”

Angela bit her lips bitterly as she unsheathed a dagger from her side.

“Can’t help it then. I will die as a noble in this place.

She closed her eyes as the knights of the Tarpan Barony closed in.

SS Chapter 29

Chapter 29. Meeting Angela

TL: Warriormonk

Editor: Isleidir

“My predictions were completely off.”

A middle aged man with sharp features shook his head bitterly. He was Lancaster, the captain of the search party sent out by the church of Flora. He had been staying in the outpost guarding the border between Tranbel Kingdom and Sith Empire.

“To think he would cross the border into the Sith Empire instead of Tranbel Kingdom.”

Lancaster had immediately crossed over from Hansel Kingdom to Tranbel Kingdom as soon as he had read the suspicious letter in Esteban Earldom. His objective, of course, was to track down Luke who was suspected to have witnessed the massacre of the knights escorting the Saintess.

Lancaster had enlisted the help of the local churches and monasteries in searching for Luke as soon as he had arrived in Tranbel Kingdom. Even the numerous host of worshippers, however, could not discover the whereabouts of Luke.

“I don’t understand… How can one man avoid the vast numbers of worshippers that I’ve enlisted?”

Lancaster eventually turned his gaze elsewhere due to the lack of progress. He had begun to consider the possibility that Luke had fled to somewhere else.

Finally, he was able to stumble on a lead at the outpost guarding the border of Sith Empire. He had discovered the records indicating that Luke had crossed the border through the very outpost.

“I remember him. A bright young man trying to secure a future in the Sith Empire… I tried to stop him because he was a talented individual, but…”

“That’s enough. I thank you for your cooperation.”

Lancaster left the outpost with a bitter expression.

“I’ve wasted time. I’ve turned over the Tranbel Kingdom trying to find Luke when he was really in the Sith Empire.”

A sharp light suddenly emanated from his eyes.

“However, there are still numerous worshippers of Flora in the Sith Empire. It’s only a matter of time before I find him.”

All he needed to do was find Luke and torture the information out of him. Then, they would know what had happened to the Saintess and her party. Lancaster took a deep breathe before barking out orders to his holy knights.

“We cross into the Sith Empire. All we need to do is enlist the local churches, and we’ll finally be able to find him.”

“Yes, sir.”

Lancaster gazed fiercely into the horizon, towards the Sith Empire.

“You fucking bastard. Why would you beat me so stupidly?”

Luke awkwardly avoided Kurotan’s gaze.

“How was I supposed to know that giving out a beating would be so difficult?”

“You have to keep the person’s limits in mind as you beat him. Or me.”

“That’s easy to say.”

“That’s why you should have been careful!”

Kurotan was currently fuming with anger. Kurotan had literally set one foot into the underworld thanks to Luke.

Even Luke, who had been so angry before, could not meet his eyes. He had been able to achieve vengeance for the beating Kurotan had given him, but he had gone overboard.

Kurotan was experienced in giving out beatings to his orc subordinates, but Luke was not.

“You need to exercise caution and technique even in giving out a beating.”

“All right, I get it. I’m telling you, I get it.”

Kurotan had been beaten by a furious Luke until he had literally stopped breathing. Luke, finally realizing the seriousness of the situation after Kurotan had stopped breathing, had immediately stopped his beating and given Kurotan a healing potion.

However, Kurotan’s body was not fully repaired even by seven healing potions.

“Sh-Shit.”

Luke had hurriedly rode his horse into Jabel Earldom in order to purchase more healing potions. He had used the rest of his remaining funds, but it still wasn’t enough to revive Kurotan. He had eventually had to sell their horses and some equipment in order to purchase enough healing potions to revive Kurotan.

“Keeu, I feel like I’m going to die right now. I need more healing potions.”

“Sorry, but we don’t have enough money. We’d have to sell out weapons if we wanted to buy any more.”

“So that’s why you should have stopped before this point.”

“I… I got too absorbed into giving you a beating.”

“Goddammit.”

Kurotan stood up with a bitter expression. He had avoided death and even recovered somewhat thanks to drinking expensive healing potions as though they were water.

Kurotan closed his eyes and tried to feel out his aura.

“At least the effect is fantastic. I have around four times as much aura as I did before the beating.”

“Thank goodness, it seems that the ritual was successful.”

“Why are you laughing like you accomplished something? We don’t have any more money to buy healing potions.”

Luke silently scratched the back of his head.

“I get it, so stop it. I’ll be more careful next time.”

“Next time? You know it’s your turn the next time.”

Luke’s face paled immediately.

“Th-That..”

The sound of teeth grinding against each other escaped Kurotan’s mouth as he gripped his fists.

“I will teach you exactly how to give out a beating.”

Luke couldn’t help but shiver as a chill ran down his spine. He had enjoyed giving Kurotan a beating in vengeance, but he had not considered the consequences fully.

“Goddammit, I told you I get it. Please stop.”

“You can expect a lot. I will let you see the faces of your tenth generation ancestors…”

The two were walking up a mountain path. They had sold off their horses, so they were left with no choice but to drag their tired bodies up with their own feet.

“How could you have sold off the armor as well?”

Luke had sold off the armor that Kurotan had worn during the tournament to purchase healing potions. Kurotan glanced over his flimsy chain armor, filled with holes and tears, before glaring once again at Luke.

“I told you, I’m sorry. Please stop.”

“Shut up.”

The mountain path was quiet. Not even the common goblin or kobold made an appearance. Kurotan frowned in an unsatisfied manner.

“Damn, I can’t even take out my anger on any monsters.”

“Kurotan, you used to be a monster as well, before becoming a human.”

“You’re too loud.”

Kurotan, chewing on some jerky that Luke had handed him in an effort to appease him, suddenly stopped and wriggled his ears.

“I can hear metal clashing.”

“Really?”

Luke immediately concentrated his aura into his ears, focusing on his hearing. Just as Kurotan had said, clangs could be heard in the distant.

“This is the sound of battle.”

“Good. Let’s check it out.”

Luke and Kurotan took off with incredible speed.

In a field between the forests, battle was ongoing. Two fully armed parties of knights were attacking each other fiercely.

Chwang. Chwaang.

There were no casualties yet, thanks to the sturdy armors, but one side was clearly being overwhelmed. The weaker side was outnumbered as well, and the battle seemed to be decided.

There was a single woman on the side being overwhelmed. A beautiful woman, seemingly in her early twenties, was shivering like a tree branch in winter as she watched the ongoing battle.

The attacking party was made up of fifteen knights, whereas there were eight knights seemingly guarding the woman. One of the knights defending the woman received a fatal strike as she watched on and fell to the ground.

“Keeuk.”

Blood rushed through the hole in his armor. The woman paled like paper.

“Sir Jason!”

She cried out the knight’s name, but the knight never rose again.

The attacking knight who had slain Jason laughed darkly as he lifted his visor. His face was younger than one would expect.

“Why don’t you surrender now, Lady Angela?”

The woman seethed with anger when she saw his face.

“Stefan, you despicable bastard. How could you commit such treacherous deeds?”

“War means that the ends justify the means.”

“How can you pretend to be a noble after this?”

Stefan did not stop smiling, even as the woman continued to shout slurs at him.

“This is Jablel Earldom! Do you think that Earl Jabel will allow such attacks on his grounds to go unpunished if he finds out?”

“Hahaha. So why did you leave your territory?”

Stefan was the heir to the fiefdom in opposition to the fiefdom that Angela was loyal to.

“A corpse can’t answer any questions. Your bodies will be found, not in Jabel Earldom, but our Tarpan Barony. In other words, you had trespassing into the Tarpan Barony when you were discovered and killed by a party of patrolling knights.”

Angela bit her lips. Just as Stefan had said, it was her carelessness that had led to this situation.

‘I shouldn’t have traveled this way.’

Nijel Viscounty, the fiefdom she was sworn to serve, had not been on friendly terms with Tarpan Barony for generations. Not long ago, a clash between the two for the rights to a mine located near the two fiefdoms’ borders had taken the lives of many soldiers.

A great noble, sick and tired of the two fiefdom’s bickering, had stepped in and had decided that the rights to the mine would go to the fiefdom that won a knight’s competition.

Each side would be able to send five knights to do battle, with the winning side gaining mining rights.

The two fiefdoms had spent enormous sums trying to recruit knights, blinded by the profits that the rights to the mine would bring.

Recruiting knights, however, was not easy. Unlike a martial tournament, a knight’s competition only ended when one side was dead or disabled.

The two fiefdoms had a fair number of knights under their command, but a skilled knight at the aura expert level could turn the tides of the competition.

Angela, the daughter of the lord of Nigel Viscounty, had traveled to Jabel Earldom in secret in order to recruit a proven aura expert, Sir Cooper.

Earl Jabel, however, had rejected her request straight away.

“I can’t possibly lend you Cooper, as he is a valuable talent to our lands. I will pretend I did not hear that.”

“We can provide ample compensation. We are willing to give up a piece of land near our borders.”

“I don’t need it. I value the service that Sir Cooper can provide more than that.”

Angela had had no choice but to bitterly return to Nigel Viscounty. On her way back, she had been ambushed by the knights of Tarpan Barony.

‘I screwed up. I should have gone around and taken the safer path even if it had taken longer.’

There was no use crying over spilt milk. Another knight from Nigel Viscounty fell with a pitiful cry as she watched on.

After losing two of their members, the rest of the knights formed a tighter defensive formation around the carriage Angela was in. The knights of Tarpan Barony closed in on them.

One of the knights, face covered with blood and sweat, said to Angela determinedly.

“Lady Angela, we will try to stall them while you escape.”

“That’s impossible. I can’t possibly leave you and the rest of the knights, and my riding skills aren’t good enough to break through.”

“There are too many of them.”

Angela bit her lips bitterly as she unsheathed a dagger from her side.

“Can’t help it then. I will die as a noble in this place.

She closed her eyes as the knights of the Tarpan Barony closed in.