[ Chapter 15 ]
The harpies decided to change their attack pattern, suddenly taking to the skies and launching their feathers like arrows.
“Screeeeek!”
The steel feather arrows covered the entire field of view. Their range was so vast that it included not just the knights and Todd, Sillan, but also Repenhardt and the orc slaves.
Whoosh!
Though the incoming attack was clearly visible, Repenhardt deliberately chose not to move.
Thud, thud, thud.
Something lightly hit his coat and then fell off. Even attacks that could dent armor were nothing more than a light massage to him.
“Hmph.”
Licking his lips, Repenhardt casually threw a punch into the air. It was a short, jab-like punch, generating a gust of wind that wrapped around the feathers aimed at the orcs’ vital spots, causing all the feathers to deviate from their trajectory and miss.
‘Well, it hit their limbs a few times, but orcs are tough enough not to die from just that.’
Soon after, the area was splattered with blood as the harpies began to flee.
“Squeak, squeak!”
“Screaaaak!”
Putting away his sword and catching his breath, Stefan shouted.
“Report on the damages! Is everyone alright?”
Sir Edward responded heartily.
“The Altion Knights are still strong!”
Despite facing dozens of harpies, everyone appeared unscathed. A few had been grazed by the arrows, bleeding from their faces and arms, but those were merely superficial wounds.
Relieved, Stefan asked again.
“What about the mages and the clerics?”
“Both are safe!”
“Good!”
With a satisfied face, Stefan sheathed his sword and then shouted exuberantly.
“Let’s move! We’ll find a suitable spot to rest and celebrate our victory!”
“Yes, My Lord!”
Victory always brings pleasure, no matter how trivial.
The morale-boosted knights all raised their swords and yelled. It was a truly exhilarating sight.
And Repenhardt muttered to himself,
“Hey, what about my safety? And the orcs are quite injured, you know?”
Of course, his voice was so low that none of the excited knights heard his muttering.
Repenhardt led Stefan and his party to a small clearing in the path. There, they took out some emergency rations and rested.
Todd, who had been using magic, was seen entering meditation to calm his surging magical energy. Seeing his chance, Repenhardt approached him to start a conversation.
“Uh………….”
“Hm? What is it?”
Todd glared at him with an unpleasant expression. Repenhardt, who had always seen Todd smiling, found this expression quite alien. Slightly flustered, Repenhardt slightly bowed his head.
“No, I was just trying to express my gratitude for the magician’s help earlier that saved me.”
Considering it, Todd hadn’t really taken care of him, so there wasn’t much to thank him for. But then again, there’s no one who feels bad about receiving gratitude. Todd’s expression eased a bit. He cleared his throat and said,
“Well, it’s nothing special.”
Seizing the moment, Repenhardt sidled up to Todd. Meeting someone he knew brought out a habit from his previous life, though Todd seemed oddly uncomfortable and avoided him. Perhaps it made sense, since Repenhardt was now a towering figure at 190 centimeters tall.
“By the way, I overheard that you’re affiliated with the Tower of Delphia.”
“That’s right, but why do you ask?”
“There’s someone I know there.”
“Someone you know?”
“Yes, a friend… Do you happen to know Repenhardt?”
It felt strange to refer to himself in the third person, but he managed his expression carefully, waiting for Todd’s response. Todd’s face softened, becoming somewhat nostalgic.
“Ah, Repenhardt, you say?”
Then, suddenly, his eyes lit up.
“Did that kid have such a brutish friend?”
What, so pretty boys can only be friends with each other? Repenhardt was momentarily dumbfounded by Todd’s ridiculous comment but managed to keep his composure. Todd chuckled, stroking his chin.
“That kid. He’s really cute and kind. Heh heh heh.”
The laughter sounded oddly unpleasant.
“But why do you ask about him?”
“Oh, just wondering how he’s been. Nothing’s wrong, is there?”
“Huh? Still studying magic at the tower and doing fine. Why?”
It seemed the message wasn’t getting across properly. Repenhardt asked again.
“No, I mean, has there been any strange happenings in the last few years?”
“Strange happenings? Not that I’m aware of.”
Todd made a subtle face again. This time, Repenhardt could clearly identify it. That sly smile was the kind men often wear when they gaze at beauties!
“Still with a sharp nose… eyes like gems… smooth skin… He’s doing well, but why?”
“Any change in behavior or anything like that?”
“Not that I know of? I’m not really interested in what that kid thinks.”
At that moment, Repenhardt realized. This man, unlike Gerard, valued only physical appearances. What a guy!
He agonized.
‘Ah, my God. What should I do? Should I just beat this jerk to a pulp right here?’
It seemed necessary to do so, if only to protect his own chastity from his youth. He cursed himself for having trusted and treated such a person kindly, but he forced himself to endure it.
‘No, on second thought, he wasn’t a bad person to the extent of harming others.’
In his memories, Todd had never revealed any malicious intentions. He had genuinely treated Repenhardt kindly and had thoroughly hidden himself until now, when he was reborn, to the extent that he only just realized this fact. After all, one cannot be punished for having strange thoughts internally, right?
This made it completely impossible to know what had happened to him in the current era. He had been happy, thinking it would be easy to gather information due to the overlapping dates, but as expected, knowing the future didn’t make things any easier.
“Ah well, I’ll have to look into it later.”
He got up from his seat. He had thought it was a decent plan, but felt disheartened by the setback. As he was about to return to his seat with drooped shoulders, a refreshing voice called out to him.
“Excuse me, are you hurt anywhere?”
It was Sillan, the priest of Philanence. His face was so beautiful it could be mistaken for a woman’s, full of concern as he scanned him from head to toe.
“I’m not hurt. Maybe you should take care of those orcs?”
Repenhardt spoke formally to Sillan, as he was a cleric after all. Well, he didn’t really expect this young priest to actually take care of the orcs. But to his surprise, Sillan nodded in agreement as if it made sense.
“Ah, right.”
He then went to the groaning orcs and applied healing magic. The resting knights clicked their tongues, trying to dissuade him.
“Ha, priest. Those creatures heal by themselves with just a lick. Why waste your energy?”
Even the orcs themselves looked perplexed.
“It’s okay. High priest, we are not hurt.”
“Really, it’s okay. We are not hurt.”
“Just stay still.”
After restraining the orcs, he poured holy energy into their limbs. The muscles and skin torn by the harpies’ feathers gradually healed back to their original state. The orcs bowed their heads in gratitude.
“Thank you. Thank you, priest.”
Smiling brightly, Sillan healed the orcs completely and returned to his place. Watching him, Repenhardt clicked his tongue.
“Tch, no doubt he’s a good person, but…”
Even though he was a high-ranking cleric capable of performing healing magic, it was extremely rare for someone to show kindness even to slaves. Therefore, there was no doubt about the purity of his heart.
But that doesn’t mean they treated the orcs with personal respect. Perhaps that young priest would apply his healing arts with just as much fervor if a dog, cat, or horse were injured. This isn’t about being good or bad. It’s about an absolute set of values, a way of thinking that has captivated the minds of all humanity.
‘Ah, we have a long way to go.’
Stefan seemed to share a similar thought. After urging the knights to get ready, he yelled at Repenhardt.
“Hey, guide! Hurry up and lead the way!”
Any knight worth his salt would at least feign concern and ask if anyone was hurt, but not this one. He seemed completely indifferent to anything other than guiding.
‘Fine, then I’ll just faithfully provide guidance. Whatever.’
Originally, Repenhardt intended to guide them along a safer path, avoiding monster attacks, but his plans had changed. With a sneer, he decided to stick to his original duty.
“Go straight, then turn left. There’s a stream ahead, so slow down.”
Stefan looked puzzled as they were about to set off.
“What’s with that odd way of speaking?”
“Nothing, nothing at all.”
* * *
In a barren valley swept by the cold winter wind, by a frozen stream, a group of companions lay scattered on the ground, gasping for breath.
“Huff… huff…”
Sir Edward looked over the group with labored breathing. The once proud members of the Altion Knights were now in a state of complete defeat. Their shining armor was dented and covered in dirt and dust, looking more like scrap metal.
“Everyone, take a rest!”
They had just managed to retreat here after fighting more than twenty ogres. There happened to be an ogre tribe at this particular pass.
Before that, they had been fighting non-stop against harpies, basilisks, dire wolves, and other powerful monsters. Even for the renowned Altion Knights, it was impossible not to be exhausted. The mage Todd and the priest Sillan were also on the verge of collapse, covered in sweat and dirt.
One of the knights, looking around in exasperation, muttered.
“Why are there so many monsters in this small mountain range?”
‘Because we blindly charged straight towards the ruins, that’s why.’
Since Stefan had openly declared, ‘Your only value is in guiding us!’, Repenhardt had decided to respect his wishes. The standard approach would have been to navigate through the habitats of the monsters to reach the ruins, but they ignored that and charged straight ahead, encountering various monsters along the way.
‘I didn’t lie. This was the fastest way.’
Of course, the delay caused by fighting monsters didn’t concern him. It wasn’t the guide’s responsibility if something happened along the way and delayed them.
He was a magician. Magicians, as a group, are known to be narrow-minded and petty.
‘It’s not like I was trying to torment you. I did exactly as I was told, didn’t I?’
Repenhardt, with a smirk that seemed to mock the gasping knights, casually checked on the state of the orc slaves.
The orcs were tired too, but unlike the knights, they still had a considerable amount of energy left. It was a natural outcome since they weren’t at the front lines of the battle but were instead hiding in the back.
Under normal circumstances, they would have all died in the battle, but thanks to Repenhardt’s discreet care, they all arrived here without so much as a scratch.
Even the knights were exhausted, so it would be suspicious if only the guide and the slaves were fine, but no one questioned it. It proved how indifferent these people were towards slaves and commoners.
Meanwhile, Stefan was sitting on a rock, resting and being attended to by the elf Relsia. He was catching his breath with a pale complexion, looking across the valley.
“It’s indeed fitting for the place where Sir Claude met his death. To think that so many monsters lived in such a small mountain range…”
He was suddenly struck by the realization of how heavy his task was. It was at that moment that Stefan reaffirmed his determination for the glory of his great family.
“We just need to go a little further. Do you need a rest by any chance?”
Stefan gritted his teeth at the guide’s annoyingly healthy appearance. Although the tone was polite, it somehow sounded sarcastic, as if saying, ‘Surely a knight of your caliber wouldn’t get tired over this little ordeal?’
“Everyone, get up!”
Forcing himself up, Stefan shouted at his scattered subordinates. Knights, magicians, and a young clergyman all stood up with sickly faces. The young guide casually pointed deeper into the valley.
“We’re almost there. Just follow this frozen stream up.”
Stefan started walking, and Repenhardt smiled slightly.
‘Then, we should be arriving soon.’
There were no more monsters left to encounter in the vicinity.
Stefan and his party began to ascend the valley with heightened vigilance.