Territory (part 1)

Ch. IX - Territory (Rake)

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Tyland looked very shocked.

It looks like he became worried of what would happen if a human sneaked into Velborn, the capital city of all ethelens. He is definitely worried that I might do something bad, like wreak havoc or something.

No, silly… I would never do that.

"Why… Do you want to get into Velborn?"

He asked with a really worried face, and I simply grinned.

"I think it's about time I tell you the real truth about me. The reason why you and your friends were found by my men, why I know someone wants you dead, and how me and my men were so strong."

I said to him, and he looked like he had a few rough guesses.

"You are a mercenary… An assassin."

"Correct! I am indeed a hired assassin.

Someone from Velborn, an ethelen, has paid me a good amount of sum to make sure that you and your friends die on the forest today. It was quite a hefty sum too, so you can say that this person truly wanted you dead."

"But… for ethelens to be contacting humans…"

My grin grew bigger, and Gilbert turned to speak this time.

"Our network is incredibly large. Forget Velborn, we even have men hidden inside the elven kingdom."

"T-The elven… They're supposed to be well hidden and closed from all sources!!"

"Exactly, so you can easily tell that our mercenary group is no simple one. This young man here is actually a famous idol in the human kingdom, and yet here he is being one of the highest ranking captains."

Gilbert said while pointing his hand at me, and I simply grinned. Tyland can't say anything back, because he is too surprised to say anything.

"I am amazed… for humans to be this advanced in underground business… Then? Why do you want to go to Velborn, then?"

He finally asked again.

I turned to Gilbert, and he nodded at me. That was meant to show Tyland that we are hesitant at first regarding this mission, but in reality we are already very sure.

"To assassinate… someone."

"A-Assassinate!? Who??"

"Someone important… a person with a really high ranking in their kingdom."

Tyland looked very shocked, despite already knowing that we are assassins. He pondered for a while, and finally formed a firm expression.

"If I say… that the person you are going to assassinate is somewhat close to me… will you heed my request to not assassinate that person?"

"Absolutely not. The sum paid for this mission was incredible, over twenty times the sum for your head."

"T-Twenty times!? Who!? Who is the person you are going to assassinate!?"

Tyland panicked even more, while my grin grew wider.

"The king."

Shock worn by Tyland's face grew even more restless. His head started to sweat as his fist grew tighter.

"The king… is a nice person…"

"I don't care. Even when he's a wonderful person like you, the amount is not so simple that I can just ignore this."

"He is a good king… he treats his people fairly."

"If he truly does, then you wouldn't be here, would you?"

Tyland suddenly realized a certain detail, and he looked shocked once again. He turned his gaze back to me, but quickly looked away.

"Me being here… was not the king's fault…"

"Of course it is. You're a knight that serves his kingdom, the kingdom that he leads, the kingdom that he rules. The fact that you, a high ranking noble, got assassinated by someone who is also an ethelen, doesn't that show that he has truly failed as the highest ruler?"

Damn, using Tyland is really easy. He was the son of a Duke, and he has most likely met the king before. The first thing I did was break down his view of his ruler, very slowly by using lies. And then, after he has submitted…

"I understand… whatever it is that you wished."

Everything, became so much easier.

.

.

.

Two days have passed.

The mission has been going pretty well. With Gilbert preparing in the background, Tyland and I are now well on our way to Velborn territory.

We are using a different pathing that was not through the valley, but around the valley. This path has been used quite a lot of times for battles in the past, and this time we are using it to enter the ethelen territory.

The carriage consisted of only me and Tyland, and one other guy that he suggested we brought along. His friend, Kirnos, is the son of Earl, and his role in the team was a magic archer. He is also good at sensing things, like hunting or detecting things. A very capable hunter, one can say.

Tyland, on the other hand, mentioned that himself is a magic swordsman. He was their team leader, which means he must not be weak.

That's two magic swordsmen in the team, counting me as well. Not like we need any tanker, anyway.

I borrowed the armor that they used when we fought in the first encounter. It was a full set of light armor with horns on the helmet, so that the ethelen horn can be protected in the fight. I wore the armor from another ethelen guy that didn't come with us.

The other ethelens who stayed were being taken care of nicely by Gilbert's men, so no need to worry about them.

"How far out is Velborn?"

I peeked my head out and asked Tyland who was riding the carriage on the front. He hummed as he counted, and gave a rough answer.

"We are now passing the path surrounding the valley, so… let's say, five or six hours."

Five or six hours… It should be afternoon when we arrive, then.

"I see… dang."

"Yeah… just get some rest. Me and Kirnos will be the one taking care of the carriage, so you can just chill."

"All right. I'll leave it to you."

I pulled my head back inside, and found Kirnos at the other far end of the carriage. His gaze was watching the path behind us, and his face looked quite troubled.

Well, nothing to be talked about anyway. I needed some rest, as well…

I began to lean my body and laid down on the seat. My face is facing the carriage's ceilings, and my right hand is the soft pillow support for my head.

I then began closing my eyes, and began faking my sleep.

I don't actually need sleep, but I just want to close my eyes for some reason. I won't sleep like this, since I probably can't, but Tyland and Kirnos don't know about that.

The trip goes on, and it's finally time for Kirnos and Tyland to switch. I am still fake sleeping, so I can still hear what they are saying thanks to my enhanced hearing ability.

"He is sleeping right now… Dude, we can just kill him--"

"No, enough about that. We can still trust them… despite how likely they will betray us. We don't have a choice."

"But still… I can't believe you're trusting them so easily."

"… I am. We would've been dead long ago if they really wanted to dispose of us."

"Tch."

Looks like Tyland has fallen too deep in the rabbit hole. I'm glad.

It doesn't seem like Tyland has any ill feelings towards me, at least. Even though his friend does, he also knows that Tyland is right.

The trip continued, and about an hour later, we finally arrived at something.