Chapter 79 (2/2)

Leaving the monsters which were growing in number by the minute to the knights, Viscount Luken ran and jumped up the castle wall.

“You! Where do you think you’re going?”

Isaac turned around to see Viscount Luken. He smiled and pointed to the forest. Isaac stepped to the edge of the wall and spun around to meet Viscount Luken face to face. In response, Viscount Luken threw the sword in his hand at Isaac.

“I’ll see you later.”

Viscount Luken threw the sword with all his strength, but a blue barrier blocked the sword with ease. Isaac waved at Luken leisurely and jumped off the wall.

“Uaaah! I will kill you no matter what!”

Although Luken wanted to chase after Isaac immediately, there was nothing he could do alone. The only method he had was surrounding Isaac to prevent him from escaping and attacking him until all of his mana crystals were spent. His first course of action was to deal with the rampaging monsters in the castle. Once the situation was under control, he had to lead all of his soldiers outside, surround the forest, and then corner Isaac. Thankfully, the forest Isaac ran to was close to his army’s encampment.

“Messenger! Go to the army at the outer wall and tell them to surround Arden Forest! Let not a single rat escape from the forest!”

“s.h.i.+t! How are we supposed to find anyone in a darkness like this?”

“The real question is how we are supposed to find the right person when we don’t even know who we’re looking for.”

“It’s a warlock from what I overheard the knights saying.”

“A warlock? Why is a warlock appearing all of a sudden?”

“How would I know? But it sounds really bad. They say monsters appeared in the inner walls of the castle. I hear many died from the attack. Not just the soldiers but some of the knights too.”

“s.h.i.+t! My cousin was working at the inner wall!”

“I’m sure he made his way out safely.”

“Do you really think monsters are picky about what they eat?”

“I mean, I do feel sorry for those who died, but I’m just relieved we weren’t there when all of that happened.”

“You have a point. But I guess we aren’t so lucky for being deployed so suddenly just because we were the closest ones to Arden Forest.”

“Hey, I heard the Lord has put a bounty of 1000 Giga if we capture the warlock.”

“Really? 1000 Giga!”

“Yeah. And I hear the warlock gravely wounded our Lord when he made his escape. So whoever feels lucky should lead the way. We have to capture the warlock ourselves if we don’t want others trying to take their share of the bounty.”

“Wow! We could play around for the rest of our lives if we capture the warlock!”

“You think that’s all? We could even become guard captains.”

“s.h.i.+t! Don’t start giving me ideas already. But what I am sure of is that we’ll always get a free round of drinks for the rest of our lives. Huhuhu.”

Night time in the forest was something to fear. Within the dark abyss, the soldiers’ torch lit the area just enough for them to see their surroundings. The three soldiers haphazardly clambered through the area, ploughing through bushes and branches all the while badmouthing Isaac for forcing them to suffer so late at night in order to suppress the fear that was slowly eating away at their hearts.

As the torches slowly drifted away, Isaac peeked his head out from one of the bushes and muttered to himself, dumbfounded.

“What the, who are those r.e.t.a.r.ds?”

They didn’t seem to have even the most basic understanding of how to conduct a search. Just getting the correct sense of direction was difficult in such a dark forest. Viscount Luken had to capture Isaac no matter what, so it was obvious that he was going to have his men surround the forest.

And lo and behold, Isaac saw a torch flickering from afar. Isaac considered summoning another monster, but the monsters didn’t really distinguish between what they were attacking. In the worst case scenario, the monster could end up attacking him instead and eat away at his precious mana crystals.

So Isaac camouflaged the area by breaking some of the branches and shoved himself into one of the bushes. The soldiers complained and pa.s.sed Isaac by as they performed what they considered to be a search. Isaac almost felt stupid for being so tensed up, seeing them act with so little motivation.

“Time for me to gather some information.”

Having decided on his next course of action, Isaac began stalking the dim torchlight silently.

Subduing the soldiers was simple enough. Isaac stalked the group until one of the three split away to take a bathroom break. After eliminating him, Isaac moved on to crus.h.i.+ng the back of the skull of one of the soldiers who took their helmet off while waiting for their friend, and he subdued the remaining soldier, who was stunned at what had just happened. Isaac tied the soldier up and began interrogating him.

“So you’re saying this is Viscount Luken’s fiefdom?”

“T, that’s right.”

“Does that mean even Lords work for Central?”

There really was no way out since it was one of Central’s schemes; it may as well be the will of the Empire. No, they told Isaac that they had been watching him ever since he fell into this world, so Isaac had been dancing in the palm of their hands all along.

“Sigh. It p.i.s.ses me off the more I think about it.”

It really irritated Isaac. They must have been laughing at Isaac all this time, seeing him make a fool of himself all the while acting innocent and naïve. Isaac really wanted to get back at them somehow, but his options were limited now that he had lost most of his tools.

“I never planned on running, but it seems like I have nowhere to go even if I do escape. I guess this will be my last stand now.”

It was the perfect situation. Since he was going to die, he may as well bring as many people with him as companions so he doesn’t get bored. It would be best if that Ismael and the old or middle-aged warlock was here too. But seeing that neither of them was showing their faces despite the chaos, they were likely somewhere else.

But it was likely that they were going to make a move now that Isaac had escaped. Those two would be the perfect companions for the trip to the afterlife.

“I’ll be able to survive a few days if I’m lucky. I hope they show themselves by then…”

Isaac fell deep into thought and the soldier squeezed his voice out as he watched Isaac carefully.

“Um…”

“Hm?”

“You’ll let me live right?”

“Ah! Were you still here? Sorry, sorry. Goodbye.”

“Kuuk!”

Isaac approached the soldier as if he’d forgotten and slit the soldier’s throat.

“Man, was it always so easy to cut someone’s throat? Do they just have great manufacturing techniques? Or did they imbue some magic into this?”

Isaac muttered those words as he wiped off the blood on the knife with the dying soldier’s clothes. The soldier struggled on the ground, but his body was quickly becoming cold. Isaac gathered the bodies of the dead soldiers, stripped off their equipment, and looted their bodies for rations.

“Let’s see. Long sword, dagger, leather armour, and a helmet. And just simple snacks as rations.”

After looting the soldier’s belongings, Isaac noticed a glint of light and voices from afar. Isaac quietly disappeared back into the darkness.

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