13 (53)

No matter how hard Iris Jay racked her brain, there was an overwhelming difference in skill that made it impossible to escape this situation. For someone who was supposedly a mere king, Louis was far too strong. Iris Jay bit her lip.

‘No wonder it seemed far too lax.’

Louis’s alert level, as someone who disliked feeling constrained, was quite low. Realizing only now that it had been an attitude born from confidence rather than carelessness was too late. It was like walking into a tiger’s den of her own accord.

“The client is most likely Duke Rose Christopher. And you seem to be mercenaries, not members of an assassin guild.”

When he guessed two truths at once, she was deeply impressed. Now she truly had no will left to resist.

“Th-That is correct. We are mercenaries.”

Several days passed. Duke Rose Christopher, wanting to kill Louis, had released a massive sum and was spending a fortune on the wandering assassin guild. Not only that, he had also hired several skilled mercenaries who were willing to accept the job. Iris Jay, Laplant, and Adrian were among the personnel hired in such haste. With their cooperation, Louis roughly grasped the outline of Duke Rose Christopher. In addition, he was receiving one more form of cooperation from Iris Jay.

The air in the room was warm. It was partly because of the fireplace, but not only because of that. It was because not much time had passed since they had finished. Iris Jay had collapsed at the edge of the bed. Her arms and legs were tied, and the curve of her overturned hips was exposed. She was not wearing a single thread of clothing. Half-sprawled out, she was still panting for breath. As befitted her mercenary background, her body was well maintained. In particular, her hips and the ends of both arms had a firmness ordinary women could not possess.

Iris Jay’s hands and feet were bound, leaving her arms and legs numb, but she did not express dissatisfaction. No, rather, she was so aroused that she could not think of such things. Until now, she had been on the border of death and had not been able to properly see the king, but from what she had felt over the past few days, every rumor about him seemed trivial. Even those about the bedroom.

Even Iris, who had experienced many things regarding sex through her rough mercenary life, could count on one hand the number of men who gave her as much satisfaction as Louis. Moreover, there was no need to even mention his appearance, the kind one might not see even by spending a fortune at a pleasure house. Below, she was still tingling.

“Haa… hah… whew…”

‘He… he’s killing me…’

‘Maybe… it would not be bad to just settle down here like this…?’

Unlike the lewd thoughts she held inside, the words that came from her mouth were polite.

“My king… were you satisfied?”

“No.”

Louis smiled playfully and looked back. The tightly bound intruder was defenseless. When Louis finished speaking, she wriggled and raised her hips again. In terms of pelvis alone, she was better than Linsia. If the balance of the body, especially the face, was taken into account, she could not compare to Linsia at all, but this assassin gave Louis a unique feeling. A body trained as a woman. Scars visible here and there. And the fact that not long ago, she had attacked him to kill him.

After they did it two more times like that, the woman before Louis finally collapsed. Her hips were flushed red, and her wrists had reddened as well because blood was not flowing through them. Her pelvis, which had been maintaining a high posture, dropped downward. The pained moans that had peaked earlier grew gradually quieter. Perhaps because her muscles had been shocked, she was twitching slightly.

Thunder and lightning struck, and the sky split in two. Trees bent this way and that in the fierce wind. The air was suffocatingly cold. In the midst of the raging downpour, a horse shot out like an arrow. The rider on the horse was a young woman of mysterious beauty. Beside her thick hood, blond hair fluttered. She was so desperate that blisters were about to form on the reins she gripped, and the horse being whipped had skin so swollen it was peeling.

Behind the woman, ten cavalrymen were pursuing her. Every one of them wore helmets that thoroughly hid their faces, to the point that no human warmth could be felt. One might have expected them to remove their helmets when the rain blocked their vision, but their movements were unnatural and yet precise. The cavalry horses, tougher and larger than the one the woman rode, were slowly catching up to the blond woman.

The man at the head of the cavalry shouted.

“She is right in front of us. We must capture her. If we do not retrieve her, Duke Christopher will punish us.”

“We cannot become skewers.”

Several responses circulated among the cavalry after the reply of the man in front, but they soon scattered into the air. With the sound of rain, thunder, and horses’ hooves alone, almost nothing could be heard. They were pursuers, yet they were afraid.

The fleeing woman saw a watchtower rising tall through her blurred vision. Things were proceeding according to plan. At that moment, the horse lost balance. Because she had urged it too hard on the slippery road, an unexpected situation occurred. She clung to the horse noisily.

The horse became a complete mess and collapsed on the ground. Fortunately, she was crumpled on the ground as if she had bounced off. Nothing seemed broken, and there were no wounds, but she was so shocked that she could not bring herself to move. The cavalrymen caught up with her one by one. A total of twelve cavalrymen surrounded her. The muscular horses surrounded her like a prison. One sturdy cavalryman dismounted.

“Please return.”

“U-Ugh…”

“Fortunately, you do not seem to be badly injured. If you return like this, His Grace the Duke will forgive you as well.”

“You know nothing. You fools.”

“Compared to you, my lady, I suppose so. In any case, you must go…”

Whoosh… Thud.

The blond woman’s eyes widened. She could not help but be surprised. An arrow was embedded in the face of the cavalryman who had been speaking to her just moments ago. It was not an ordinary arrow, but a steel arrow. It had gone inside as though crushing the helmet. The cavalryman flailed, lost balance, and fell to the ground.

“What?!”

“An archer!”

“Which direction?”

“Find him and kill him!”

On top of the largest tree at the far right, Mark Jay was aiming his second arrow. A hood rested over his half-closed, tightened eyes. The hood had slipped down over the muscles of both arms drawing the bow. His firm posture, impossible to imagine from someone atop a tree, showed that he excelled at the basics.

‘I am supposed to save her, right?’

If it was a coincidence, then it was quite the coincidence. Mark Jay was roaming Duke Christopher’s territory under Louis’s orders. Of course, if the opportunity arose, he had also intended to scout it at any time. The bad weather had dragged on, so he had not been able to easily decide to approach, but if he had one hobby, it was hunting in heavy rain.

‘It has turned into human hunting.’

Since they were clearly Duke Christopher’s troops, it was right to deal with them. He could have watched the woman in front die, but he did not particularly want to see that. In any case, two cavalrymen were pierced by his arrow and sent flying. Two had died from a single arrow. The two cavalrymen who had been glaring fiercely had their lives cut off and collapsed to the ground.

One had been completely pierced through, and the other had the arrow lodged in his face. The remaining cavalrymen stared blankly at the two. It was a terrifying skill that made their movements stop for an instant.

“Th-This is no joke.”

“Where is the direction?”

“Three are already dead.”

“There… Argh…”

Before he could finish speaking, the cavalryman was hit by an arrow and died. There was one more scream. This time too, two died at once. Five had already died. The seven remaining cavalrymen looked at each other’s faces. It felt like death. They had barely confirmed the direction, but the distance was considerable, and besides…

“Mana.”

“It is mana. We have to run. He is an armed retainer.”

“Hrk…!”

Before they knew it, the ground was muddy with blood. Even though the pouring rain was washing it away, it remained. The blond woman held her breath and watched the situation, and the remaining cavalrymen, having finally decided, all climbed onto their horses.

Whether they attacked or fled, there should have been one of two choices. They all ran backward at once. The mud was trampled noisily, and the sound of hoofbeats began growing farther away. The trees were still bending fiercely, and once all the cavalrymen had fled, the forest was filled only with the loud sounds of rain and wind.

After wondering whether to pursue them or stop here, Mark Jay decided to stop. He slung the bow he held onto his back and jumped down from the tree. Mud splashed heavily. Mark Jay, who had been at the far right, quickly approached the woman who was still collapsed on the ground.

The woman lay fallen, and beside her, the horse was twitching in spasms. One riderless horse, startled by lightning, fled into the pile of woods nearby. There were five corpses in total, and since none of them moved, all had died instantly. Mark Jay said to the woman.

“Are you dead?”

While the woman was wondering whether to answer or not, she felt that Mark Jay’s voice sounded kinder than expected and quickly answered.

“I-I am… alive.”

Mark Jay quickly ran toward the direction of the voice. He saw a hooded woman lying on the muddy ground, and she had just turned herself over. Her hood was covered in mud, the curve of her chest was visible, and above it, her white skin and blue eyes shone like pearls. The woman was beautiful. Mark Jay thought that if she had been left alone, she would probably have been raped. After roughly checking her condition, Mark Jay realized she could not move.

“You are wounded. Is it a wound? Are your arms or legs broken?”

“Neither… of them.”

“That is fortunate. Can you stand?”

“Please help me. I think the part I fell on is covered in bruises.”

“You were lucky. When one falls from a horse with that force, usually the neck breaks and one dies.”

Mark Jay took the woman’s hand and took out a potion from his breast pocket. It was not that effective, but it would soothe bruises well enough.

“Thank you.”

“It is not very effective. Roughly pour it on the worst spots. It is raining, so be careful of that.”

Mark Jay moved with the woman to a place where they could avoid the rain and watched as she wriggled and calmed her wounds. Judging by her appearance and the clothes she wore underneath, she was not an ordinary woman.

“You look like a noble. You will have to explain in detail. The cavalrymen earlier had the crest of House Christopher.”

After she finished applying the potion to her wounds and seemed relieved, she let out a sigh, then returned the half-left potion to Mark Jay and said.

“Yes. Duke Christopher is my father.”

Mark Jay’s eyes widened.

“…What does that mean? I will not tolerate lies. I am Lord Louis’s loyal retainer. Depending on the truth of the matter, I may kill you here or arrest you.”

She looked at Mark Jay with eyes full of astonishing confidence, and Mark Jay saw a certain pride within that arrogance. Even without her saying it, he had already realized that it was the kind of attitude an ordinary commoner woman could not have, but what she said afterward was even more surprising.

“Yes. Arrest me. Take me to the Grand Duke. To the young usurper.”

“……………”

After confirming Mark Jay’s suspicious gaze, she smiled softly and continued speaking.

“My father is insane. I will cooperate with the Grand Duke. I want him to kill my father.”

“………Really?”

“Will you take me to Lord Louis?”

The rain poured for quite a while longer, and the thunder that had been striking repeatedly no longer sounded. Realizing that the situation was apparently very urgent, Mark Jay had no choice but to revise his plan entirely. He untied the reins of his beloved horse, which had been tied to one side, climbed onto it, and held out his hand to the blond woman.

“Understood. What is your name?”

“Rose Christina.”

“Christina. Even if it is a lie, if it is true, I cannot simply leave you here.”

Rose Christina took his hand, climbed up behind Mark Jay, and held his waist. The horse skillfully left the mountain road before they knew it and soon entered the official road. Not long after they followed the official road, a watchtower appeared. At the soldier’s warning, Mark Jay stopped the horse for a moment, and the soldier recognized Mark Jay and saluted him.

“I thought you had already departed.”

“Something came up that requires me to return.”

“Who is the person behind you?”

“An important person……” Mark Jay briefly looked over her, then added, “Probably.”

“……”

“Have this woman’s permit issued by tomorrow. We will leave for the capital immediately tomorrow.”

“Understood.”

After passing the watchtower, they soon arrived at the city, and after going through the same procedure, Mark Jay arrived at an inn called the Zebra.