Chapter 97
“Just… how long does Sir Karl intend to keep running?”
“…I don’t know.”
Kelvin, who had energetically shouted to follow Karl’s back, was now regretting having said to follow Karl.
At the head of a staggering 800 cavalry, Karl Meyer rode relentlessly without rest.
The only time Karl briefly stopped his horse was for the horse to catch its breath for a moment.
Other than that time, he did nothing but ride his horse forward.
“At this rate, we might drop out first. Let’s go suggest taking a little break. It’s not like anyone is chasing us, so there’s no reason to push this hard, is there?”
“…I’ll watch for an opportunity to mention it.”
Even for Leslie, the now undisputed Master and 1st Knight Division Commander of Alcantara, keeping up with Karl’s forced march was burdensome.
He was thinking of talking to Karl about resting during a short break.
If the two knight orders were in this state, the condition of the mercenaries, whose skills were relatively slightly lower, was even worse.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa….”
Just then, Karl stopped his horse while stroking the mane of his dark brown mount.
“Let’s rest for a bit.”
Karl dismounted and led his horse somewhere.
There, reflecting the moonlight even at night, lay an incredibly large lake.
“Saincroix…!”
The mouths of everyone who followed Karl fell open.
It was a massive lake they too were seeing for the first time.
Although they knew of the existence of Lake Saincroix, not many had actually visited it.
“Did you intentionally come here?”
“Sometimes, rest is necessary too.”
Karl put all his equipment into the subspace and plunged into the lake.
The lake was truly vast like a great sea, so much so that its end couldn't be seen.
Just then, many of the knights who followed Karl plunged into the water after him.
Grown knights swam in the lake like children, laughing and chatting.
Crackle, crackle.
After swimming for quite a while, they came ashore and lit bonfires here and there.
Like a military camp during wartime, the sight of 800 people lighting fires and settling down was a spectacle in itself.
“Care for a drink?”
Karl, having taken a large gulp of alcohol from the subspace, offered it to Kelvin sitting beside him.
“Thank you.”
Kelvin drank from the canteen received from Karl without hesitation.
Gulping down the alcohol, he looked intently at Karl.
“Do you remember me?”
Smirk.
Seeing his smile, Kelvin noticed that Karl remembered him.
“I do.”
“…I was quite immature back then. I don’t think I ever properly apologized… I was sorry.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for.”
Karl said so and offered the canteen again.
“I learned a lot watching you, Sir Karl.”
“What’s there to learn.”
“I’m serious. I’ve been thinking that if the opportunity ever arose, I’d like to ride behind you, Sir.”
The indifferent eyes met Kelvin’s eyes once more.
‘A knight order.’
It wasn't that I hadn't thought about it.
It was just that this world felt like clothes that didn't fit me, so I didn't want to create many connections with people, and thus it became a distant story for me.
“Kuh…”
The burning, strong alcohol hit the back of Karl’s throat, and his gaze turned towards the knights sitting separately and laughing.
‘It might be okay.’
Many things had changed from before.
I had thought the food I ate in Schwerin recently was edible.
Along with that, I didn't dislike this world entirely anymore.
That was a small but significant change.
“If someday Sir Karl leads a knight order… could you accept me?”
“Are you not the Sword of Essus.”
“Then wouldn’t it be even more right for me to be behind Sir Karl?”
Kelvin, seeming frivolous yet also earnest, had grown considerably.
The past few years had transformed him into a knight.
“If such a day comes, do as you please.”
At the characteristically indifferent answer that came from his lips, Kelvin’s face brightened noticeably.
“What are you talking about so interestingly?”
Just then, Leslie approached beside them.
“Nothing much.”
Karl said so and offered Leslie alcohol as well.
He accepted it naturally and swallowed.
“Sir Karl, you are truly a remarkable person. Aren’t all these many people moving for you, Sir?”
“Why did you come?”
Smirk.
Leslie laughed.
It was funny that he asked, even though he couldn't possibly not know.
“Didn’t you save all of us, Sir? That’s why the name Knight of Salvation was attached to you, Sir.”
“Salvation, my foot.”
Karl shook his head.
And just drank his alcohol.
“Well, it’s true Sir Karl saved us. Us mercenaries were on the verge of the mercenary guild dissolving.”
Though his speech was somewhat crass, Karl offered the liquor bottle instead of replying to Tomio’s rough words, which were purely expressing gratitude.
“Kh, thanks.”
It was truly a peculiar combination.
A Holy Knight, a knight, a mercenary.
They were getting along through the single person named Karl, without any discord.
Before long, everyone who had spread out around with their own alcohol began to mingle.
As time passed a little like that, the boundaries of the camps disappeared, and regardless of whether they were mercenaries or knights, they laughed, chatted, and shared drinks here and there.
“Truly… a precious sight.”
“Indeed it is.”
The professional fighters from three different organizations clinked their liquor bottles and shared drinks throughout the night.
Watching them, Karl also quietly tilted his liquor bottle.
Feeling the warmth of the bonfire, a thought occurred in his mind.
‘Not bad.’
***
Even after drinking so much, Karl got up at dawn the next day and rode his horse.
The dawn, before the sun had risen, was darker than night.
The knights hadn't woken up yet, and a few individuals who were not night sleepers noticed Karl's movement and woke their superiors.
Karl simply geared up completely and rode his horse, regardless of whether the knights sprawled behind him were preparing or not.
Thus, except for a few knights who followed to know Karl's destination, Karl rode alone.
Moving like that for quite a while, Karl noticed that the sounds of various creatures usually heard in the forest were completely absent.
‘It probably isn’t Taklama's Sandstorm. If it were them, they wouldn’t use such sloppy camouflage. Then who is it.’
It clearly meant someone was ambushing, aiming for Karl.
Just as Karl was thinking that, one mercenary who had been following behind him naturally increased the distance and turned back the way he came.
Karl simply rode his horse comfortably, as if nothing had happened.
The clever Silver had already sensed something was amiss and, to aid Karl's act, slowly moved forward with very leisurely steps.
Those ambushing in the forest watched Karl, who wasn't arriving quickly at the ambush point, with frustration.
His movement was too different from a normal horse's and too slow.
‘Did he notice?’
The Five-Legged Mask, leading 300 Spider Masks, frowned heavily as he watched Karl, who wasn't getting closer easily.
‘Yes, just a little more…!’
Regardless, even if slowly, Karl was steadily approaching the point where they lay in ambush.
In just a little while longer, they could finish off that detestable Karl Meyer.
Just as Karl, moving at a truly sluggish pace, had almost arrived.
It was the moment the Five-Legged Mask’s hand rose towards the sky.
Dudududududu!
From somewhere, the sound of numerous warhorses began to echo through the forest.
Although it was a forest, the spacing between the trees was wide, making it easy for cavalry to move, so the sound of the warhorses could be heard even more clearly and loudly.
‘What…? What is this sound…?’
The Five-Legged Mask couldn't understand the reason for the sudden sound of cavalry hooves shaking the earth.
Karl Meyer was a Free Knight and a thorough wanderer.
Why, then, was a sound typically heard only on large battlefields audible at this moment?
“Alcantara! Pierce through!”
“Strike down as God’s mace!”
“Let’s earn back the cost of last night’s drinks before we go!”
“We kill them all and take the spoils too!”
Suddenly, lion's roars erupted from all directions, and hundreds of cavalry charged in from all sides, making the Five-Legged Mask’s mind go blank.
‘…!’
Even though the Five-Legged Mask was easily a Master-grade expert, he found it hard to collect himself amidst the enemy forces suddenly charging in from the surroundings.
Moreover, the enemies also had one Master knight, and most of them were knights of a considerably high level.
“…What on earth is happening!”
Karl was supposed to be alone.
But where did this large number of knights pop out from?
Caught surrounded from all sides and facing the enemy, the Five-Legged Mask neurotically swung the greatsword in his hand.
Seeing three knights fall to his greatsword as they charged, Leslie lowered his spear diagonally and charged towards the Five-Legged Mask.
“So it’s Tarantula! Excellent! Truly excellent! Leslie, 1st Knight Division Commander of the Alcantara Knights, will collect my master’s debt from you bastards!”
Leslie’s spear gathered a brilliant blue aura, the same as his master’s, and he became one with the spear, advancing towards the Five-Legged Mask.
Leslie’s spear, carrying immense energy, stretched forward.
It was when numerous shadows of the spear filled the surroundings and flew towards the Five-Legged Spider Mask.
Woooooong!
The Five-Legged Mask's greatsword seemed to tremble, and then black aura extended from his greatsword in streams.
And at that moment, his body rotated like a top, and the greatsword spun around him.
Kwaaaaaaang!
With a tremendous explosion, the swirling greatsword tornado and the massive spear strike collided.
Due to the momentary massive collision of Qi, air pressure spread out in all directions, and several nearby Spider Masks were swept away by the aura storm, vomiting blood and flying backward.
“Keuleuk…!”
After the collision, the one who vomited blood and collapsed was Leslie, who had charged in vigorously.
It seemed his skill, being at the entrance level of Master, was lacking compared to the relatively more mature Spider Mask.
“Impressive, but you’ll need to bring your master, Maximov, to be my opponent.”
The Five-Legged Mask smiled as he looked at the fallen Leslie.
“Everyone retreat! Follow me!”
The Five-Legged Mask vigorously struck down Leslie and intended to use the brief opening to withdraw with his subordinates.
It was when he was about to swing his aura-infused greatsword to clear a path for retreat.
Kwaaaaaang!
He had to stumble back several steps due to a suddenly flying crescent-shaped golden aura.
Towards him, who had retreated once, the golden crescent-shaped aura flew relentlessly.
In fact, since he too had expended a lot of energy during the clash with Leslie, it was difficult to easily parry the incoming crescent-shaped aura.
Besides, the continuous stream of aura itself was extremely tricky.
“You baaaaastard!”
Thoroughly angered by the continuous aura strikes, the Five-Legged Mask swung his greatsword clad in black aura, shattered the crescent-shaped aura, and began to run.
After cutting down several more slashes, the figure of Karl, firing the golden aura, finally came into his view.
“Caught you, bastard!”
Momentarily launching his body into the sky, the Five-Legged Mask brought down the greatsword dripping with black aura towards the ground.