Chapter 5 of 10
Chapter 5
8 min read1,918 words
Chapter 004: With Sharik
A blonde woman sat atop a horse, looking down at him. However, her gaze seemed to regard him as insignificant as a fly, and it appeared she could kill him as easily and casually as that.
Mew was too frightened to look at her, but once he raised his head to answer, he couldn't take his eyes off hers. Like a frog frozen in the gaze of a large snake, Mew was paralyzed.
– Shiver, shiver, shiver
“What… what are you?”
“Aa, a, I, I…”
“Hahaha. Isn’t this guy completely an idiot? Huh?”
It was a laugh unlike any ordinary woman's, high-pitched yet tough and powerful.
Sharik laughed while toying with her prey, just like a predator playing with its catch. Mew, perhaps overwhelmed by fear and cornered, felt something stir deep within his chest. Though Mew, tense and terrified, didn't realize it, a strong desire to live was manifesting within him without his awareness.
And just as Sharik began to laugh heartily, finding it all very amusing:
As if a large stone had been thrown into a calm pond, the intense waves of Mew's will to live grew and spread widely.
“…?!”
Sharik, who had been laughing and teasing Mew, suddenly stopped and became serious, causing the other knights nearby to look at her with puzzled expressions.
“… What is it?”
Sharik seemed to sense something strange, yet not quite sure what it was, feeling a vague unease.
After a moment, she felt that laughing and playing with this boy in front of her wasn't befitting her role as the leader of the knight squad.
“Cough. Hmm, why are you here?”
Mew, who had felt a slight calm after the intense desire to live had emerged, was able to answer Sharik's question. He also feared that hesitating might get him killed.
“I live in this cottage! I, I live alone! But earlier, those knights came and… they demanded to know where the witch had gone, just like that…!”
Once he started speaking, he soon began to ramble under Sharik's intimidating presence.
Sharik stared at Mew with a frightening gaze for a long time before turning her stern face to slowly survey the area around the cottage.
The harsh winter forest, with no proper paths, made it difficult to ride horses any further.
After some thought, Sharik dismounted and took out a map from her saddlebag.
“Brick, Jenner. Get the map and come here.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Sharik spread the map on the muddy ground and squatted down, and the other knights dismounted and gathered around her. Brick and Jenner, the two knights called by name, unfolded the same map and knelt on either side of her.
“We are here, and we came this way.”
Sharik pointed to the map with her gloved finger, tracing their route, and the knights nodded.
“Yes, Captain.”
“Now, we start the rabbit drive, Brick.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“You will lead the first group on horseback from here to here… and then here… with two men at each interval.”
Brick marked the route on his map as Sharik pointed.
“Jenner, you will lead the second group on horseback from here to here… and then here… with two men at each interval as well.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Jenner also marked the route on his map as Sharik instructed.
“And Russell, Ben.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“You two will stay here. I'll leave my horse here, so guard it. The witch might turn back if she realizes she's surrounded, so you must guard it well. If you fail, you die.”
“Yes? Captain, then…”
“I will take this boy and track through the mountains.”
Sharik's plan was as follows:
First, she would have the other knights spread out widely around the area to form a large encirclement, then tighten the net from the outside in. She would have Mew guide her through the mountain paths to catch the witch, who would be moving and thus easier to spot within the net.
The knights seemed a bit worried that Sharik was going into the mountains alone with just the boy, as it could be more disadvantageous for the captain to act alone.
However, they knew Sharik's prowess far exceeded theirs, and that pursuing on foot through the mountains in heavy armor would be too much for them, so they had no choice but to comply.
“By noon the day after tomorrow. We meet at the center. The witch is severely injured and can't have gone far. Move slowly and thoroughly.”
“Yes, Captain!”
The knights responded with vigor.
“If we fail to catch a dying witch with such a wide net, I will catch you instead.”
Sharik's menacing words left no one daring to respond.
Their hardened expressions showed a determined resolve to find the witch no matter what.
“Everyone, do you have enough rations?”
“Three days' worth. No issues.”
“No issues.”
“Then everyone, move out. Move slowly, but if you fail, you die.”
“Yes, Captain!”
Eighteen knights, led by Brick and Jenner, rode down the forest path, while Russell and Ben stayed behind to tie the horses to a tree.
Watching her subordinates, Sharik also took out a sword, rations, a map, and a bag from her saddle.
“Come here.”
When Sharik turned to look at Mew, who was standing behind her, Mew, startled, hurriedly approached her.
“Listen.”
“Yes, yes.”
Mew took the bag, rations, and water flask Sharik handed him from the saddle.
“You will guide us. I'll set the general direction, but you know this area well, don't you?”
“Yes? Ah, yes, yes!”
Sharik, securing her sword at her waist, said:
“How do you plan to carry all that? Don't you have a bag?”
“Ah? Yes, I do!”
Mew, answering, quickly entered the cottage.
Mew felt incredibly lucky. If the knights had entered the cottage first, the bloodstains left by Ariel would have been a big problem.
First, he hid the wooden bucket with Ariel's blood under the bed, among the clutter and farming tools. Then, he sprinkled some ash from the hearth on the bloodstains on the bed, rubbed it in, and covered it with a deer hide.
After hurriedly dealing with the problematic areas, Mew felt relieved.
He then calmly found the leather backpack he used for hunting and gathering. It seemed large enough to hold Sharik's items.
After a quick look around the cottage, he gathered all the potatoes from the log and wrapped them in a cloth, placing them in the backpack. Mew thought the remaining knights would likely eat the potatoes if left behind, and Sharik didn't seem like she would share her rations with him.
He also filled a wooden water flask hanging from a tree with his own water and left the cottage.
Sharik was giving instructions to Russell and Ben.
Mew put Sharik's bag, rations, water flask, and map into the backpack and securely tied it with a leather strap. As he tied the strap, he realized he might never return to this cottage.
Why was he facing such a series of events?
While the witch Ariel was the start of it all, Mew didn't blame her, knowing she had been forced into it by the baron, not by her own will.
‘Is this my fate…’
Mew, shouldering the backpack, looked back at the shabby, humble cottage where he had spent most of his life with his grandfather. The thought of leaving and possibly never returning made his eyes well up with tears.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
At the sound of Sharik's footsteps approaching from behind, Mew squeezed his eyes shut to force out the tears and wiped them away. He didn't want to appear weak in front of the knights, even if they saw him as insignificant.
“Let's go.”
Sharik led the way into the winter forest, and Mew, shouldering the backpack, followed behind.
* * *
The mountain behind the cottage was rugged.
Not only was the slope steep, but the sparse trees and shrubs were interspersed with sharp rocks.
Sharik slowly searched for the witch's bloodstains or tracks in the snow, but to her surprise, she found nothing. Despite the many bloodstains leading to the cottage, there were none beyond it.
Sharik stopped as she pushed through the branches.
Mew, following slowly behind, had no choice but to stop as well. A gentle winter breeze rustled the snow-laden branches, and occasionally, snowflakes were scattered by the wind. Sharik stood still, seemingly searching for something.
She slowly turned her head, surveying the winter mountain.
“Strange, isn’t it? How… could there be no traces at all from the cottage?”
Mew flinched, feeling as if he was being accused, but he pretended not to know and remained silent. Even if he hadn't helped the witch, how could he dare to contradict a knight speaking to herself? Silence was the best policy.
– Whirl
Sharik suddenly turned her head and stared at Mew with a sharp gaze. Feeling as if she might cut his throat at any moment, Mew involuntarily took a couple of steps back.
“W-Why… why?”
Mew, perhaps due to his trembling legs, suddenly became very nervous and stammered. Sharik, not taking her eyes off him, slowly turned her body and approached.
– Thud, thud, thud
Sharik, now right in front of him, stared into Mew's eyes with a terrifying gaze.
The oppressive feeling he had felt in the cottage, as if she could crush him, returned, and Mew began to tremble uncontrollably.
Reflecting on it, he had been trembling a lot since last night.
“Strange, isn’t it? A severely injured witch… no traces at all after the cottage. No footprints, no bloodstains…”
A cold wind blew, making Sharik's yellow hair, poking out from under her fur cap, flutter, but Mew didn't even notice.
He only felt as if he was about to die.
He didn't realize how wide his eyes had become or how much sweat was pouring down his face.
“The witch… ate the person living in that cottage… Could you… have… transformed… into… that… person?”
As she spoke, Sharik moved her right hand to the hilt of her sword.
Mew's heart felt like it was about to burst.
Despite his heart pounding wildly, it felt as if no blood was flowing through his body.
This knight must already know everything.
Mew thought his 18-year life would end in this rugged, remote mountain.
He saw a faint memory of his mother from his childhood, the many events with his grandfather, the village uncles and aunts he occasionally met, and… Ariel, the witch with deep scars and burns, the start of it all.
‘Ah…! Like this… I… am… going… to… die…’
“Hahaha! You’re scared! Hey, are you crying? Hahaha!”
– Whoosh! Thud!
As Sharik laughed heartily at Mew's terrified face, Mew slowly collapsed.
“Hahaha… Ha… Ah… …”
Mew's memory didn't retain Sharik's bewildered expression. His consciousness had already faded before he could see it.
* * *
Title: The Harem Knight Squad Owner
Author: Shinnaeun Jaka
Cover: Bbal
Planning/Editing/Proofreading: Shinnaeun Jaka/Jung Jae-hoon/Jung Jae-hoon
Publication Date: August 17, 2020
Publisher: Cheongha Books
ISBN: 979-11-970944-0-8(5)
E-mail: [email protected]
Price: Non-commercial
Copyright 2020. Shinnaeun Jaka. All rights reserved.
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