Chapter 2: Confrontation

Cnute got up, hand shaking. Then he vomited.

Up to this point his adrenaline rush kept him normal but as the time went on he lost his nerve.

This is the first time he killed someone. And not just one but six men .

What's more he killed them by his own hand. All the blood and stench with a foul smell was on him .He could vividly remember the expression of those he killed. Though Cnute was trained to endure such a scenario, he struggled to calm himself.

After getting a hold of himself he formulated a plan.

Firstly, he searched all the corpses' pockets, taking out their sacks of coins. Pouring them all into one sack, he tied it around his waist.

"Right, I've got six people's worth of money now. Guess these are gonna have to be my funds for the time being."

Then he removed the armor from a corpse that was close to himself in size, then dressed it in his ohhhhhh tattered clothes and burned off its face using a torch, in order to make it unrecognizable.

He then put on the clothes and armor he had taken from the soldier.

"Phew. I put it on, somehow...". He'd never put on armor, after all. But while it took him a bit of time,

He then dipped a bandage into the water and used it to wipe the blood off armor. Walking around in bloodied armor would attract attention.

Then unsheath the two horses from the carriage. He worked as a stable boy in the castle so he knew how to ride one.

After arranging everything he went to look into the second carriage. But the moment he entered it Cnute felt a sharp blade on his neck.

" Wait... wait..."

He tried to get away from it but he quickly realised the attacker's grip is simply inhuman. Rather than foolishly struggle he chose to talk..

" Who are you?"

" I should be the one asking that. What was all the noise outside. speak." The attacker ordered in an icy tone.

Feeling his life is on the line Cnute started to talk honestly. But the moment he told about how he killed the old man the attacker exclaimed.

" What? ! you killed Giselle Valkan! Do you have any idea about what you just did!"

At this exact moment Cnute took advantage of loose grip and got away. Blocking a blow using plate armour.

Cnute took out the sword and attacked using his full force.

chang...

Spark flew as the steel blades of swords clashed.

It was easily blocked.

After a few clash the attacker made some distance from him and swang him blade in the air.

At first Cnute couldn't comprehend what he was doing. But then he felt something sharp passed right by his face, leaving a cut in his cheek.

(Shit! this is insane.)

Cnute ram towards him blocking those air slashs using plate armour.

As the attacker prepares to confront him, Cnute stopped right in front of him and kicked dust off the ground. Then he swiftly moved to the side and swung the sword to his blind spot.

(caught you!)

Right then Cnute felt pain in his left side, losing his momentum. Two swords struck him simultaneously , his plate armour barely blocking him to have a fatal injury.

(Damit! there's another one!)

Cnute quickly moved away. Turned around pointing the sword at them.

" Impressive, too bad you met us." the first attacker spoke.

(Are they even human? I can't die like this, i just survived just a while ago. Think..think about something.)

Try as he might, Cnute knew there is no point fighting them. Not just he's outnumbered but these attackers not only can use magic but also seem to possess inhuman strength. Despite both having less physic, he was sure their strength came from somewhere else.

"Just who are you?" As he said that, an idea popped into his mind.

(So be it.)

As the two attackers approached him from two sides , Cnute showed his left hand and threw his sword on the ground.

" W..we can talk. Even if you kill me here that won't change anything . The only way you can survive is to work together."

Both of them stopped for a moment.

" What do you mean by our survival?" The new attacker spoke in a female voice.

(Bullseye!)

" Surely other soldiers will soon come looking for them. Do you think they will believe that a serf can kill five fully armoured knights and a mage combined? They will definitely think you are one who killed them and used a serf as a scapegoat and a poor one at that i say."

Cnute gamble on the assumption that these two are not connected to others .And they are lower ranking than the old man.

In this extremely heiaracical would blame game is very common occurrences. And no one will believe that a serf can kill a knight on face value. Consequently if these two are more important than the old man then his tactics will immediately fall apart.

The attackers exchanged glances. Though he couldn't see them properly Cnute knew they were staring at him.

Moments pass by like hours , droplets of water gathered on Cnute's forehead. Finally the first attacker came towards him. She was a woman.

She immediately pointed her sword on his neck and asked,

" Still i don't see any reason to keep you alive."

Hiding his surprise, Cnute looked straight into her eyes and said,

" Of course, if i can point you to a problem that means i can also solve it."

"What is it?" The other one asked.

" There is no way i am telling you that, that's the only thing keeping me alive."

" I don't trust you."

"Same here."

Both of them started at each other. Testing the other's resolve.

" How about a contract?" The other person who also turns out to be a girl offered a compromise.

" Hmm. I can agree with that." She removed the sword.

" A ether contract." Cnute knew about the ethar contract, after all he was immediately forced to sign one.

A contract in this world is more than a signing on a piece of paper. It normally contains some kind of magic power to enforce its terms.

Ether is the power of the soul, one's internal energy. A Ether contract binds individuals through their souls. It has the most powerful binding contract so normally it is used to make treaties between nations.

" How about the condition being a nonagrasion agreement. If any party breaches the contact he'll die immediately."

" We are in agreement."

" But we only have one page."

" No , a simple contact would do. No need to waste resources."

" Why is that miss? If you are okay with signing a magic contact what's the problem with a ether one?

Oh look at that i just happened to have another page."

" You stole it."

" I am just borrowing it from a corpse."

Though bonding contracts are powerful there are ways to nullify it. Cnute didn't want to take any chances.

Sensing another stalemate, she finally stated her final condition.

" Fine , we'll sign the ether contract on the condition you help us kill a person."

Cnute quickly thought of it as a trap . But realised it's an extremely odd request to make in this situation.

" Who's this person?"

" Baron of Varun Lord Marlok , he resides in a city just a day's journey from here . It will be in contact."

Though she tried to suppress it, she seems to have a deep hatred against the person.

" Sister, are you..."

" Yes , now it doesn't matter . He must die."

Cnute remained silent not sure whether to refuse it or not until he was reminded of his position.

She Again pointed her sword at him .

" So deal or no deal?"

Cnute tried to put up a brave face. " Okay , then i will be the one writing."

" You can write?" She let out a small surprise.

" Naturally."

Then in no time the contact was hashed out. Three of them doped a drop of blood on it. They collectively chanted """ By my own will i accept."""

Then the contact started to burn itself and emitted blue rays , which entered their bodies binding them through the contact.

Cnute finally relaxed a bit. He asked the two girls with a smile ,

" So ladies where are we exactly?"

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