Chapter 19: Ruin Exploration (?) (1)

When I went down to where the carriage was, a big fight was already taking place.

“Gah!”

“Damn it! Stop them!”

“Die!”

Shouts and screams pierced my ears, and blood splattered everywhere.

The carriage was already broken. The soldiers guarding the carriage were lying dead around it.

If there were no more people to fight, then there shouldn’t be a battle, but currently, dozens of soldiers were fighting with mercenaries dressed in leather armor.

Among the soldiers, there were some I had never seen before, but a few were people I had seen during guard duty.

Knights were also visible among the soldiers.

They were dealing with the enemies with sword skills far superior to those of the soldiers.

However, the knights were not able to bring down their enemies. In fact, they were being pushed back.

The enemies were clearly dressed in the same clothes as the mercenaries, but their swords were on par with, or even superior to, those of the knights.

“Where are the knights! Attacking with mercenaries, have you abandoned your honor!”

The knight shouted in a voice filled with anger, but the man with a leather helmet pulled down over his face sneered at the knight’s words.

“I’ve never had such honor. Maybe after this is over, I can take that position too.”

Both the knights and the soldiers were being pushed back by the mercenaries they had never seen before. Or rather, they were dressed like mercenaries, but they didn’t look like mercenaries.

I had a feeling something was going to happen, but I didn’t expect this level of chaos. It was as if a mystery story had turned into a war story.

Those mercenaries must have come to kill us, and the knights and soldiers must have been hidden forces set to trap and capture the enemies.

I understand that the hidden forces gathered to fight the enemies because the plan changed.

But why are they being pushed back?

It doesn’t make sense for the forces prepared to trap and capture the enemies to be pushed back like this!

However, at this place, the knights and the garrison soldiers were being relentlessly pushed back by the enemies.

Falling soldiers. A knight being stabbed from behind by another mercenary while being pushed back.

More soldiers were rushing here, but the garrison soldiers were collapsing much faster.

Moreover, among the mercenaries, there were people who were not participating in the fight.

Men and women on horseback watching the battle.

A middle-aged mercenary who looked like the leader raised his sword and shouted.

“Adria! The target is there!”

His words pierced through the sounds of the battlefield and reached everyone’s ears.

Click. The fight stopped.

Everyone looked at us.

“This is troublesome.”

I should have disguised myself before coming down. The gazes of the people staring at us were very intense.

The silence didn’t last long.

“Capture them!”

In the next moment, the fight resumed.

This time, it was a battle without even forming a proper formation.

“Get out of the way!”

“Stop them! Don’t let them get close!”

While the soldiers were blocking the enemies, the knights gradually joined our group.

“Sir Hugo! It’s difficult to stop the enemies! Retreat will also be difficult.”

“What about retreating to the fortress? Reinforcements will arrive soon.”

The knight leading us, Sir Hugo, shook his head.

“It’s too dangerous. We need to break through the encirclement and retreat.”

“What? That might be even more dangerous. If we hold out until the reinforcements arrive, we can turn the tide.”

Sir Hugo pointed at Simon.

“There’s a young master in our group. The top priority now is the safety of Young Master Simon.”

“Good heavens.”

“Why is Young Master Simon here...”

The knights were shocked to see Simon.

“Gah! Is it possible to escape?”

While blocking the mercenaries who had already rushed in, another knight shouted.

More mercenaries were breaking through the soldiers’ defenses and rushing in. The knights hurriedly blocked them, but it didn’t look like they could hold them off for long.

Sir Hugo bowed to Adria.

“I’m sorry. We need to split up.”

Adria tilted her head. She didn’t understand what Sir Hugo meant.

Protecting Simon is the priority, and if we split up, there’s only one conclusion.

“Do you mean to be a decoy!”

Bianca burst out in anger.

“A decoy?”

“What do you mean by a decoy?”

When Simon and Adria expressed their confusion, Sir Hugo quickly answered.

“They are targeting Lady Adria. I’m sorry, but this is the only way to ensure the young master’s safety.”

To save the heir of a duke, using the daughter of a marquis as a decoy...

It’s bound to cause a big problem later, but the knight’s expression showed no fear.

Adria bit her lip, and Bianca was about to burst into anger again. However, someone else exploded first.

“What are you talking about! Asking to be a decoy instead of protecting us. Is that something a knight should say!”

“Yes, I am a knight of the Grecia ducal family.”

The reason Sir Hugo wasn’t afraid was not because of anything else.

‘Loyalty to the ducal family...’

Even in the midst of chaos, I felt a bitter feeling seeing the knight’s loyalty.

“Protect Young Master Simon and escape. I will protect Lady Adria.”

“Understood.”

While blocking the soldiers, the other knights answered.

After hearing their answers, Sir Hugo asked me.

“What will you do, young master?”

Even if I showed my strength, even if I was recognized, and even if I was younger, I’m still just a bastard.

The treatment I received was completely different from Simon’s, to the point where I almost laughed bitterly.

I answered with a slight mocking tone.

“From our perspective, it’s better if I stay, right?”

“Yes. If one person stays behind, the marquis family won’t be able to say anything later.”

He answered as if it were obvious.

He was a ruthless person.

Seeing him say such things, I felt guilty for the two women who had been treated this way before me.

It was absurd for the knight to say such things, but he wasn’t wrong.

If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have pretended to be so smart... but then again, I might have died earlier.

There was no choice. If I ran away from the mission, the duke’s personality would not have led to a good outcome.

Simon would be in big trouble when we returned, but if I went with him, I would likely be thrown to the marquis family as bait.

‘If I couldn’t come back to life, I would have run away without looking back.’

Even if I had to live the same five years again, the thought that I could live again allowed me to make a decision.

“Sigh, I’ll stay too.”

“You made a good decision.”

The conversation was short, but the enemies were already closing in.

“Let’s move out! We’ll retreat to the fallen fortress!”

Adria bit her lip and turned around. She started to climb back up the path she had come down with Bianca’s protection.

Sir Hugo and I followed behind the two, blocking the enemies.

“The target is escaping! Pursue them!”

As Sir Hugo had predicted, the enemies, seeing Adria run away, began to chase us, passing by Simon and the other knights.

Thanks to this, Simon and the knights were able to quickly break through the encirclement.

Whatever the knights had said to him, Simon followed them and ran north.

“I’ll bring reinforcements right away! Please hold on a little longer!”

Simon shouted loudly at us, but Adria’s stiff expression didn’t change at all.

Four of us were now climbing the path that five of us had come down.

The fallen fortress was getting closer.

Since we were retracing a path we had already taken, the group was able to shake off the pursuit quickly.

As we entered the fallen fortress, Sir Hugo took the lead.

He seemed to know the fortress inside and out, quickly finding the way and leading us deeper into the fortress.

Adria and Bianca, following behind Sir Hugo, had very solemn expressions.

They looked like they had been abandoned by the people they trusted and were now prepared to die.

It was very admirable that Adria, still a teenager, remained resolute in such a situation, but she seemed to think I was even more impressive.

“Aren’t you scared? You might die, but you don’t look scared at all.”

Adria, who had moved closer to me, spoke to me.

Bianca also glanced at my face when Adria spoke.

To be honest, I wasn’t scared. I had died too many times to be afraid of death.

However, I had no intention of dying this time.

I believed I could come back to life, but I didn’t want to experience the pain of death again, nor did I want to repeat the same five years.

This time, I planned to survive until the end and return.

Of course, there was no need to tell her the truth.

“I’m scared too.”

“Of course, right? I’m scared too.”

My answer seemed to ease her mind a bit. Her face looked better than before.

While we continued to go deeper into the fortress, Bianca finally asked the running Sir Hugo.

“Where are we going? Won’t it be harder to escape if we go deeper inside?”

From the fact that they weren’t chasing us immediately, it seemed the enemies were setting up a proper encirclement.

We didn’t know when the reinforcements would arrive, but this way, we would just be like rats in a trap.

Sir Hugo answered while continuing to run.

“Do you know why I was chosen as the leader? This place was my playground when I was young. I know this fortress inside and out.”

He pointed to the inside of the fortress.

“I didn’t stay behind to commit suicide. I stayed to protect Lady Adria and Young Master Alex.”

There was a statue that didn’t fit the fallen fortress where he pointed.

* * *

After the group disappeared deep into the fortress.

Mercenaries appeared between the outer walls of the fortress.

The leading mercenaries tracked the target by the marks on the ground, and the mercenaries who had fought the knights and the mounted mercenaries followed behind.

In the center was the middle-aged mercenary who had been commanding them earlier.

Unlike the fleeing group, they were not in a hurry. They were advancing carefully, eliminating variables one by one.

A sleek-looking mercenary approached them from the back and said.

“The encirclement is complete.”

The middle-aged mercenary nodded at the mercenary’s words.

“However, the enemy’s attack is fierce. We won’t be able to hold them off for long.”

“Just buy time and then pull back.”

“Understood.”

At the leader’s words, the mercenary turned around again.

After the messenger disappeared, the only female mercenary in the group spoke to the leader.

“It’s easier than expected. Thanks to the boy who fled with the knights. Was he the duke’s son by any chance?”

“He is the duke’s son.”

The leader’s answer made the woman look surprised.

“Really? But you let him go?”

“He’s not our target. It would be troublesome if he died for no reason.”

“True, we can’t let the Grecia ducal family cause trouble. But, is it okay to cause such a commotion in the ducal family’s territory?”

“It’s fine as long as we complete our mission and withdraw. There’s no evidence, so they can’t declare war immediately. Even if they find evidence later, it will be too late.”

“Yes, yes. It’s the work of the higher-ups, so they’ll handle it. Still, I feel bad for all the effort we put into setting the trap.”

“We misjudged from the start, so it’s no surprise the preparation wasn’t adequate.”

“True. Killing the bride to prevent a marriage alliance... it’s ridiculous to think that such a thing would kill a cute young lady.”

“Hold on.”

The middle-aged mercenary raised his hand to stop the ongoing conversation.

The mercenaries tracking in front had stopped.

They were gathered in one place, looking down with serious expressions.

The middle-aged mercenary moved to where they were.

When he arrived, he also had a serious expression like the other mercenaries.

“Oh, a variable has appeared. What do we do now?”

No one answered the woman’s question.

In front of them, there was a passage leading underground.

Next to the passage, a statue that had been covering the passage was lying on the ground.

The mercenaries looked down the passage.

The brick stairs leading down were shrouded in darkness, and the end was not visible.