Chapter 84

“…You like him?”

Izack wondered if he had misheard her. The answer itself was clear, but that excessive clarity made it harder to comprehend.

‘Did I just ask the Emperor’s Hunter why she’s helping the third son of a backwater fief?’

“Yep. So I want to look good to him, and I don’t want him to die. But that Young Master loves exposing himself to danger way too much. And this territory is far too dangerous for such a frail Young Master to be running around in.”

Izack gave up on hiding his absurdity in front of Adele.

“Then why are you wandering around alone instead of staying by the side of that ‘brat’ you like so much?”

“Because the Young Master already has a way to escape.”

“A way to escape? Are you saying he found a way out of the lower district already?”

The gate was already blocked. The sewers could be a passage, but they would surely be occupied by Malik’s men by now.

‘Then how…’

“He sent a letter over the castle walls. He told them to have a ladder ready and meet him in front of a specific wall every dawn and night. The Young Master can escape through there whenever he wants.”

“Then shouldn’t he have left already!”

“If he had, he’d already be searching for us with soldiers in tow. But the Young Master said he was going to earn the trust of the lower district people.”

“Trust?”

Adele tilted her fork as if nodding.

“There’s a place called the Second Gate down there, right? The Young Master is probably up to something there. He said he was going to get the cooperation of the people there.”

“Then what are you doing here instead of going there right now?”

“Because there’s one thing I have to do with you.”

Adele’s eyes stared blankly at Izack.

Lust for blood. For a moment, Izack almost mistook it for being aimed at him. But that killing intent wasn’t directed at Izack.

Izack felt a sense of déjà vu. There was a professional seriousness in Adele’s eyes that couldn’t be more profound. It was the gaze of a wolf. The eyes of someone who lived for the business of killing.

Izack spoke. “I believe I told you we aren’t assassinating the influential figures of the lower district, but your eyes are telling a different story.”

—Hmph.

Adele looked away.

“I’m not killing them. Those people are likely important figures. If I get rid of them on my own, it’ll cause problems for the lower district, and the Young Master would be upset.”

“Then what?”

“But wolves like me are different. No one cares if we suddenly disappear one day. A dog just needs to deal with other dogs. There’s no need to fight the dogcatcher.”

Adele held her fork like an arrow and mimicked the motion of firing a bow.

“Pew!”

An imaginary arrow left Adele’s hand and struck a corner of the inn’s dining room.

“That arrow, the one that’s nearly a meter long. Do you remember it?”

“Though I never saw the one who shot it.”

Izack nodded. There was no way he could forget. He had seen with his own eyes that arrow—large enough to be called a short spear—pierce through his comrade.

“You might not have known, but I’m very strong. With me around, the desolate environment of this fief isn’t a big problem. Except…”

A sudden silence broke the thread of Izack’s thoughts. He repeated Adele’s words.

“…Except that archer is different?”

“Exactly. That arrow might target the Young Master. It’s fine if I’m luckily in the line of fire, but if they shoot from a blind spot, I don’t know if I can protect him.”

For once, Adele seemed to be making sense. If that archer started targeting Shane, protecting him would become extremely difficult.

“But that archer always snipes their target from outside the range I can perceive. The moment I start tracking, they immediately vacate the position. To hunt that one, I can’t stay stuck by the Young Master’s side.”

“But the priority is informing the brat of the sniper’s existence and protecting him. Regardless, we have to get to him.”

“That’s why I came looking for you, isn’t it?”

Adele grinned.

“To catch two rabbits, you just need two hunters.”

“Hey, you lot. Let’s head in for today. Wasn’t it the sentiment of us lower district folk that if we haven’t received anything, we have nothing to give? But now, we’ve received far too much. Besides, we’ve caused too much trouble for the Lord’s family. With what face could we demand anything more from the Young Master?”

At the old man’s voice, the citizens gathered in front of the gate began to head back one by one.

“Everyone…”

I clenched my fists.

‘As I thought, sticking to moderate means was the right move.’

Politics isn’t done with fists. In my world, that was common sense. However, it’s difficult to maintain that method in this world. Perhaps if I had insisted on it alone, it wouldn’t have had any effect.

But it wasn’t just my merit that produced this result.

‘Thank you, Shane’s father.’

The forgiveness Alejandro had shown in the past. That historical weight created today’s reconciliation.

“How does this dry, harsh fief manage to move my heart like this…?”

—Sniff.

I secretly swallowed back a sniffle. I turned around. There was the gate. I feel like I’ve crossed one giant mountain, but…

There’s still one more mountain left. Just as a sense of guilt had bloomed among the lower district people due to the recent commotion, a fair amount of concern must have arisen among the upper district people. Violence did occur, after all. They’ll be reluctant to let the lower district people into the upper district.

“How to persuade them is the problem.”

Just as I was about to dive into those worries, I heard a familiar voice.

“Brat!”

Someone was running toward me from a distance, staggering. It was Izack.

“Izack!”

Izack was waving both arms at me. Is he that glad to see me? As if to sound an alarm against such a stupid thought, Izack shouted urgently.

“Get down! Guards! Everyone gather and protect Shane! Right now!”

‘Protect me…?’

In the confusing atmosphere, both the guards and I milled about in disarray.

Izack was speeding up, limping toward me as he ran.

Suddenly, goosebumps erupted all over my body.

‘What is this?’

It felt as if time had frozen. Amidst the chaos, I spotted Izack, who had closed the distance to just a few feet away. And hidden in his shadow, I saw something else hurtling toward me.

An arrow.

It was a heavy, massive arrow, nearly as long as a spear shaft. It was aimed precisely at my heart.

‘I’m dead.’

For some reason, it felt as though that event had already been realized. Time remained frozen, and I was technically still alive, yet—

‘Why?’

Why was I already feeling a pain akin to death? In truth, I already knew why. I just didn’t want to accept it.

I didn’t want to accept that time hadn’t actually stopped. That someone had already been hit by the arrow. That I had been thrown into this chaos while clutching that person in my arms.

“Ah…”

I looked down at the man who had collapsed into my embrace.

Izack Arenta.

He was the very talent I had wanted to recruit so desperately.

“Oh.”

Adele’s voice echoed in the alleyway. Standing across from her was a woman with a sturdy build. She held a longbow of overwhelming size, likely weighing over a dozen kilograms. Her muscles were developed specifically to handle the immense draw weight of that bow.

“I finally found you. The sniper.”

The taciturn archer let out an annoyed huff. She spoke as if grumbling to herself.

“Were Shane and Izack just bait?”

“I don’t have much experience with fishing, but I am a hunter. Don’t they say you need big bait to catch big prey?”

“I agree.”

“My, thank you. We’re both women, so I feel like showing a little mercy… but I suppose I can’t. You targeted something you shouldn’t have.”

“Same goes for you.”

As the archer spoke, armed thugs sprang out from every corner of the alley. The archer continued.

“I assume you knew this was coming.”

Adele replied readily.

“Of course. I said it was ‘big prey,’ didn’t I? I didn’t come here expecting to catch a minnow.”

From the start, the archer had intended to use herself as bait to lure in Adele—or whoever might come to hunt her. Adele and Izack were the two pillars of the upper district’s martial power. If both fell, the upper district would be in grave danger.

However, Adele couldn’t leave a sniper who threatened Shane alive. Thus, she had found Izack and persuaded him.

‘You block the arrow targeting the Young Master. In exchange, I’ll find the sniper.’

In her heart, Adele wanted to protect Shane personally. But Izack’s leg was injured. It was uncertain if he could pursue a sniper as skillfully as she could.

‘And… he doesn’t need anyone by his side but me.’

Adele beamed a bright smile at the dozens of enemies before her. They likely thought they had dug a pit for her, but she had absolutely no intention of falling into it.

“I can tell you’re all skilled warriors from a harsh fief. But it’s a shame. I guess you never had the chance to learn humility.”

Adele pulled out her mace and swung it lightly, as if handling a toy. Just then, two more men appeared from among the armed thugs. They were faces she had seen somewhere before.

“Oh, were you Bard, and you Szilard?”

“It’s the other way around, but you almost got it. You remembered us.”

Bard answered. Szilard remained silent, his gaze thick with resentment. Adele looked back and forth between the two.

“Are you two brothers?”

“Haha, you’re just noticing now?”

As he spoke, Bard drew two daggers. Szilard’s weapon was also small, suited for an alleyway brawl. Behind them, the sniper was aiming directly at Adele.

“Hmm… you really prepared a lot to catch me.”

“Of course. But I’ll ask just in case—any interest in joining our side? You have no reason to serve the upper district.”

“Not a chance.”

A damp smile dripped like liquid, soaking the atmosphere of the alley.

“I’ve spent far too much time rolling around with people who do nothing but lie.”

Then, the bowstring released the arrow.

“A doctor…! Get him to a doctor! Quickly!”

Even as Avenger screamed, I did nothing.

“It’s dangerous, Young Master! Please, get inside!”

I was led back to the castle by the hands of Avenger and the guards. I left all the aftermath to others. I sat in a corner of the Great Hall, staring blankly into the void.

What woke me was a single phrase that burst from my lips like a seizure.

“Izack, no…!”

I tried to reach out for the memory of him, but of course, all that greeted me was the chilly night air.

“No…”

Reflexively, I opened my Status Window. I searched through it frantically. But it wasn’t there.

‘Why isn’t it there?! You’re a Status Window. You’re a game system!’

In the back of my mind, I had always thought of it that way. That this was a game. That if I died, the system might save me. That there would be a save button, allowing me to easily return to some point in the past. Perhaps that was why I had been able to act so recklessly.

But no matter where I searched the Status Window, no such function existed.

‘What kind of shitty game is this? He’s a card I already pulled. But…’

“…How can you just disappear like that…”

Nowhere in the Status Window… could I find the name [Izack Arenta] anymore.