SWNOVELXO Chapter 44 - The Path to Kapotini (3)
Chapter 44. The Path to Kapotini (3)
“See? Young Master Luden is here safe and sound. So why don’t you just stop worrying about him now, alright?”
“…….”
At Tina’s raised voice, Menkers scratched the back of his head, looking awkward, but that was the extent of his reaction.
Not fully understanding the situation, he decided to tread cautiously for now.
Moreover, he couldn’t help but feel beads of sweat trickle down his back under Rubin’s intense gaze.
“Oh dear, I must have been mistaken. My apologies. Then, have a pleasant journey!”
With that, Menkers quickly scrambled out of the tavern.
As he exited, Rubin swiftly scanned his surroundings, moving to the window to observe the reactions of the nearby villagers.
A clumsy subordinate of Menkers followed him out, but that was all.
‘So, it’s only him and one subordinate connected to the cave dwellers.’
As expected, the villagers were not involved with Deckers’ group.
This meant there was no need to escalate the situation.
The one who withdrew would likely approach them again tomorrow, providing an opportunity to clean things up neatly.
“Coachman, I’ll go up first, so bring the teacher here within 10 minutes. I have something to discuss.”
“Understood.”
Later, the three reconvened at the lodging.
Tina, who had never won a single bet in the snail race, had a thoroughly disgruntled expression.
Since her transformation time was nearly up, she changed back into her cat form.
Meow.
Now, rolling languidly on the bed as if she had never been fixated on the snail race, Tina exuded an air of indifference, to which Kuze chuckled.
“By the way, young master, how was your outing?”
“Well, to put it simply…”
Rubin briefly recounted the events in the cave.
The matter had been simple, so there wasn’t much to summarize.
“They were less formidable than I expected.”
From the moment he got off the carriage, Rubin had been aware of Deckers’ group.
Their gazes had targeted him without even attempting to hide.
Therefore, upon entering the tavern, he had instructed Kuze and Tina not to mind him if he stepped out.
Tina had readily accepted this, but Kuze, as a Ronan, shook his head, unwilling to leave the young master’s side.
“Our coachman here was so anxious, sweating buckets beside me, he barely even noticed which snail was in the lead.”
“Well, Lady Tina, that’s because you kept losing money….”
“What? I lost money? You think I sat there betting just to win a few coins? I was simply enjoying the sport!”
“…Sure, of course.”
With a flick of her long tail, Tina slapped it against the wall, making a hissing sound.
“Rubin, can’t you show Kuze just how strong you are already? Every time you go out alone, he’s going to worry and badger me. Or, just take him with you from now on.”
“Seems to me that Kuze has more responsibility over you than over me.”
Hiss-!
With that, Tina hissed at Rubin, her back arching like a real cat, irritated by his comment.
“What, is ignoring people your hobby?”
Although Rubin’s words had been playful, he meant them.
As a member of the Blood-Transformation Tribe, Tina had a disposition that made her reluctant to harm other beings.
Despite possessing Dark Ripple and the ability to transform flawlessly, being alone posed a risk for her, especially given her official status as a fugitive from the Emperor.
Rubin explained what to expect the following day.
“That guy was one of them. By now, he should have discovered the bodies in the cave.”
“No wonder he was buzzing around me earlier. I thought he was just another scammer trying to swindle me.”
“Won’t they come after us right away when they see the bodies?”
Rubin shook his head.
“They’re not that foolish. He’ll assume I have others guarding me.”
“So, we just ignore them then?”
“Not exactly. They won’t let me go easily. We’ll handle it tomorrow.”
The remnants would return tomorrow. There was no way to know what Deckers had confessed before his last breath.
What was certain was that they would try to eliminate Rubin.
They would likely use various excuses to lure Rubin’s group to a secluded location.
And then, they would reveal their true intentions.
“It’ll take another three weeks to reach Kapotini, and already we have flies buzzing around us.”
“Can’t be helped, can it? We’ll have to deal with them cleanly and keep moving steadily.”
As if to demonstrate her words, Tina moved lightly and elegantly on all fours atop the bed.
‘It’s fine if it’s only minor annoyances, but anything more would be troublesome.’
Traveling across the continent with just a carriage would inevitably lead to various issues.
While most matters could be resolved, he wanted to avoid any escalation.
Until the time was right, the existence of the Assassin Blade Family had to remain hidden.
‘I’ll need to find the shortest route.’
Meanwhile, just as Rubin had predicted, Menkers moved accordingly after leaving the tavern.
First, he and his sole remaining subordinate headed to the hideout where Deckers was supposed to have stashed the kidnapped child.
Holding out a lantern as they stepped into the cave, he was met with a grim sight: six corpses, including that of his brother Deckers.
Five of them had been killed by Deckers himself, unable to control his aura, though Menkers had no way of knowing this.
“Did the brat have a bodyguard after all?”
He muttered to himself, stepping over his brother’s corpse.
“Damn it, I should have been more cautious! Just how far did Deckers go with this?”
There was no sorrow for his deceased brother.
Though they had grown up together in the Flonica Knights, there was no brotherly bond between them—only a temporary “business partnership.”
After gathering his thoughts, Menkers lifted his lantern and exited the cave.
“What should we do?” his subordinate asked, trembling at the sight of the corpses.
“What do you mean, what? Wait until daybreak. Once they leave the village, we’ll approach them again.”
The next day.
As Rubin climbed back into the carriage where Tina and Kuze waited, their journey resumed.
‘They’re following us.’
All three of them were aware.
Two men kept their distance, trailing their carriage.
The vast, sweeping field of Dark Ripple allowed Rubin to detect their every movement in vivid detail.
After leaving the village, the carriage entered a bumpy dirt road, and they traveled along it for about ten more minutes.
“When do you think they’ll make their move?”
Even so, they would never think Rubin was the one who killed Deckers.
Such an idea was beyond their reasoning.
It was more sensible to assume there had been an internal mutiny among the bandits, resulting in an unfortunate incident.
“Oh, there he is. Young Master, I’ll handle this.”
They had already passed through the forest where Deckers’ hideout lay, now completely outside the village limits.
Menkers, who had taken a shortcut to get ahead of Rubin’s party, appeared. He was standing in the middle of a stone bridge over a small stream.
He was pretending to limp as if injured, but it was all a ruse to stop Rubin’s group.
“Excuse me! Please, help me!”
The carriage came to a halt.
At that moment, Rubin sensed Menkers’ last subordinate moving in the bushes behind them.
It wasn’t just Rubin.
Kuze, clearing his throat, and Tina, letting out a meow beside Rubin, were also aware of it.
From his seat as coachman, Kuze looked down at Menkers.
“What seems to be the matter?”
“Oh, you’re the ones from yesterday! I injured my leg while I was out on an errand.”
“Oh dear, are you alright?”
The two men continued their feigned dialogue for different reasons. Menkers likely thought he could easily kill a mere coachman since there didn’t appear to be any guards around.
But this coachman was Kuze, an assassin who had reached the Four-Star rank.
If he wished, he could kill Menkers before the man even drew his sword.
And just as he was about to do so.
“Kuze, stop.”
Suddenly, Rubin’s voice sounded from inside the carriage, calling Kuze by his real name.
Kuze’s hand paused, just as he was about to reach for his hidden dagger.
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Wait.”
Rubin opened the carriage door and listened carefully.
“Someone is coming. They’re not ordinary people.”
“What?”
Meow?
Beyond the reach of Kuze and Tina’s Dark Ripple, a group was approaching swiftly.
They finally came within Kuze’s range, and he recognized them as well.
Judging by their speed, they were likely mounted riders, each on a high-quality horse.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden…?”
As Menkers stammered, still clueless about Rubin and Kuze’s conversation, the group revealed themselves.
Riding on powerful warhorses were knights, clad in gleaming armor.
The first to recognize who they were was Menkers.
“Ah…ah!”
Panicking, Menkers looked around for an escape route, but it seemed too late.
Spotting Menkers, the knights accelerated and swiftly surrounded the carriage.
With no other choice, Menkers dropped to the ground, trembling.
Simultaneously, Kuze, sensing danger, positioned himself at the carriage entrance to protect Rubin.
“Young Master, it appears they are knights from a nearby noble house.”
‘What a nuisance.’
Seven knights in total surrounded the carriage.
Each of them was an elite, at least a Two-Star in rank.
Among them, Rubin’s attention was drawn to one young knight who stood out, even among the elite.
‘Could he be above Four-Star?’
The young man who seemed to be leading the group, or perhaps a noble himself, exuded the most prominent energy.
At that moment, an older man spoke.
“Vermin that disgrace the honor of the Flonica Family! We’ve finally found you.”
“C-Captain! Please, spare me!”
“Where is your brother?”
“My brother…he’s dead.”
“This wretch dares to lie even now?”
The captain drew his sword, aiming it at Menkers.
“Silas, enough.”
The one to stop Silas was the young knight who Rubin had assumed was the strongest.
Perhaps just barely twenty years old, the young knight rode up close to the carriage.
“Before we punish the one who’s disgraced our honor, let’s first handle this situation here.”
Silas understood what the young master meant. With others in the carriage, he was indicating they should first speak to them.
“We are knights of the Flonica Family.”
Silas dismounted and approached Kuze, with an air of both respect and authority.
“We are here with Young Master Yan, chasing down those who’ve tarnished our family’s honor.”
With that single sentence.
‘So, those two were knights once affiliated with this family.’
Listening from inside the carriage, Rubin grasped the overall situation.
Deckers had been able to use aura, however weakly.
This ability would be expected of a knight from a noble swordsmanship family.
“These two were once members of our knightly order, but after being expelled, they engaged in criminal acts that sullied our family’s honor. We are here to deal with them.”
Then Rubin addressed Kuze, who was still guarding the carriage entrance.
“Kuze. I will handle this.”
When Kuze stepped aside, Rubin emerged from the carriage.
“Oh, the young master is present?”
Rubin ignored Silas’ greeting and instead looked past him to Yan.
Yan’s gaze held a glint of curiosity as he observed Rubin’s appearance. The two briefly exchanged polite gestures.
“I am Luden Poinen.”
“I am Yan of the Flonica Family.”
Rubin was startled.
Yan? If it was Yan…
He didn’t even need to strain his memory.
The name was one he’d heard countless times before his regression.
‘As far as I know, Yan was from the Sevillon Family, not the Flonica Family.’
Rubin had never met Yan directly before his regression. But Yan’s appearance was so famous, down to the finest detail, that he knew it wasn’t a mistake.
A clear scar ran horizontally across his neck, along with his silver hair and purple eyes.
The most certain indication, however, was not his name or appearance but the power Yan exuded.
Rubin could feel his body instinctively reacting to Yan’s strength.
‘There’s no doubt. The Silver-Haired Rebel, Yan Sevillon. The man who stood directly against the Emperor before my regression.’