Book 2: Chapter 288
Book 2: Chapter 288
The man named Budilem smiled brightly, his white teeth contrasting starkly with the dark surroundings.
“Long time no see. Has it already been a week?”
“Y-, you’re mistaken… I…”
“I’m mistaken…?”
Swoosh!
A faint flicker of light came from Budilem’s pocket, and Idail had no time to respond.
Crack!
“…?”
Idail couldn’t help but stare at Budilem in confusion. He saw something move, but that was it. Suddenly, his vision began turning red. He didn’t feel any pain. Instead, she just felt his eyelids become heavy as weakness overtook his body. He also felt something warm flowing from his eyes, nose, and mouth.
“Ah.”
That was Idail’s last word.
Before he even realised what happened, a dagger had been embedded into his forehead. The small dagger had easily pierced through his skull before piercing the brain matter behind it.
Idail, the leader of the mercenary company who had successfully completed a total of 123 missions, collapsed on the spot and died without even making a sound.
“Leader Idail…?”
Rina couldn’t help but call out in a dazed tone. Seeing her panic, Budilem clicked his tongue in derision.
“A corpse cannot speak. Even a merchant should know that much.”
While speaking in a nonchalant tone, Budilem threw another dagger. But he wasn’t aiming for Rina.
The dagger passed close by her ear before flying towards the luggage compartment behind her. To be precise, it was aimed at the hood(1) that covered the luggage compartment.
Rip!
The fabric was torn apart, revealing the crates and boxes contained in the compartment.
Rina’s expression hardened. But Budilem simply smiled as he threw one dagger after another.
Crack!
As if they had wills of their own, the daggers moved in complex ways as they broke apart the crates. Naturally, the items contained within them fell out.
There were all kinds of equipment.
From weapons like swords, axes, and spears, to armour like breastplates, helmets, gauntlets, and boots…
There were also quite a few magic items that were quite expensive.
“You said I was mistaken, Rina Traine. So can you tell me where you intended to transport this equipment?”
“That…”
“It’s Westroad Academy, is it not? Kukuku… One of the base camps of those disgusting reactionary forces.”
“…!”
Did he know everything from the beginning?
Unlike the thoroughly shocked and frightened Rina, Budilem’s smile continued to grow wider.
“Did you think I wouldn’t know? It seems you underestimated our intelligence division.”
“S-, since when…?”
“Since the moment you signed that contract with Peran Jun.”
In other words, they’d known from the very beginning.
Rina collapsed on the spot.
“Actually, I had several chances to kill you. But I held myself back. I wanted to aim for a more certain moment. Ah, of course, it was never the mercenaries that I was afraid of.”
“…”
“No matter how confident I am, I don’t want to go up against an Archmage like Peran Jun.”
Rina looked at Budilem with an anxious expression.
It had been less than a day since Peran had left. When he left, he did so in as quiet a manner as possible due to the chances that such an attack might occur.
Nevertheless, Budilem had accurately grasped the time of Peran’s departure.
Did he plant a spy? No, that was impossible. Rina thoroughly investigated the personal information of all the mercenaries she hired this time. She didn’t hire anyone who had even the slightest hint of suspicion or uncertainty.
“…!”
At that moment, Rina’s eyes suddenly became wider.
The image of a person appeared in her eyes.
“…ha. So in the end, he was your person after all.”
“Mm?”
They had suffered because of an obvious ploy.
This could probably be considered Rina’s mistake as well. Because she hadn’t strongly appealed her opinion since she didn’t want to draw Peran’s ire.
She should have stopped him from accepting a mysterious person no matter what.
“What are you talking about?”
“Are you still planning to keep it a secret when you’ve already won?”
“Hmm…”
Budilem looked down at Rina in confusion for a while before smiling.
It didn’t matter. She was going to die soon anyway, so he didn’t have to pay attention to her nonsense.
“You just chose to stand on the wrong side.”
His voice became low and cold.
Rina looked around again. There was no mercenary close enough to protect her. All of them were still fighting fiercely.
Although it still seemed like they were slowly gaining the advantage, that was only because Budilem hadn’t made a move yet.
Rina knew just how unreasonably strong this middle-aged man in front of her was.
He’d turned Idail, who was easily one of the strongest in the mercenary group, into a cold corpse in an instant.
If he killed Rina and joined the battle, the battlefield would be completely cleaned up in a few minutes.
Tap tap.
Budilem continued as he slowly walked towards her.
“And that’s enough of a reason for you to die tonight.”
Clatter-
Budilem suddenly stopped moving. He could feel a presence inside a carriage.
It was not the carriage he had torn up, but the one behind it.
‘Someone is in there.’
A hint of wariness appeared on his face.
Peran Jun might have already left, but it was still possible for unknown variables to appear.
Of course, he felt that it was highly unlikely given the expression of despair on Rina’s face, but in his profession, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Should he attack first? Or should he wait?
Before he could even finish wondering what to do, a white-haired young man directly stepped out of the carriage.
“…”
Budilem quickly scanned the young man’s entire body.
The first thing he noticed was the sword he was holding, but his attention was drawn to his clothes. At best, what he was wearing could only be called dirty scraps that had once been a robe, and in no way could it be considered armour.
‘He’s not a Swordsman or a Knight.’
He could tell that much with a simple glance. There were no signs of training on the young man’s body at all. Not only was his body quite skinny, but the way he held the sword was also clumsy and awkward as if it was the first time.
“Who is this skinny brat?”
Budilem asked in a disbelieving voice.
But the most surprised one there was Rina.
Firstly, she was surprised that the mystery man, Lukas, and Budilem didn’t know each other, and secondly that he’d picked up a sword from the luggage compartment.
“Is this guy supposed to be some kind of last res—ort?”
Swoosh.
A dagger silently shot out of Budilem’s hand before he even finished his sentence. The small dagger was barely visible in the dark as it quietly flew towards Lukas’ throat.
He hid the sound of the dagger and his killing intent with his voice and gestures.
‘He could be a Wizard or a Spiritualist.’
Or he could be something else with powers he was unaware of.
In other words, this attack was a test. Nevertheless, that didn’t mean that the power of this attack was low. It was at least three times faster and more stealthy than the dagger he’d used to kill Idail. The expression might sound a bit strange, but it was best to test with as much power as he could spare.
This might seem a bit excessive, but this young man was the only one there that he had not yet identified.
So even if he were to easily die without being able to react, it wouldn’t be considered a waste of a bit of attack.
Clang!
…
…
Lukas shook his wrist slightly and frowned.
On the other hand, Budilem’s expression became exceptionally hard.
Then, something fell to the ground, inches away from Rina’s hand.
It was Budilem’s dagger which glowed slightly in the moonlight.
“Uh…”
Rina, who finally understood what had just happened, couldn’t help but gulp slightly.
She’d heard the sound of the sword and knife clashing, and there were no visible wounds on Lukas’ body.
Which meant one thing.
Although it was hard to believe.
Lukas had completely blocked Budilem’s dagger.
(Note:
1.The cover for the body of a carriage is called the head or hood )