By Zephyria =======
Silver fell into thought, clasping his hands together. Next, it was time to deliver the bad news to Wolf. He should have done it while the Prince wasn’t around.
No… perhaps it would be more advantageous for the Prince to know as well?
If he knew the situation, Red Eagle would plead with White Deer to spare Wolf. However, the chances of such a plea working were slim. To White Deer, a son was nothing more than a piece of old furniture she wanted to throw out immediately.
Still, something had to be done.
“Hey, Wolf. Bad news.”
“Huh?”
Wolf looked up. Red Eagle, who had been fiddling with a loose thread on the hem of his robe, also looked over. Right on cue, the ceiling shook violently with a loud thud. Silver unclasped his hands and got to the point.
“The Ice Armor Warrior demanded you, Wolf, as the remaining balance instead of money.”
“What? Why?!”
Red Eagle’s eyes widened. The color drained from Wolf’s face.
“It’s a long story to explain. Anyway, that’s the bad news.”
“At least tell me why Uncle wants Wolf—”
“He plans to take me to that murderer grandma, have the two of them torture me together, and eventually bury me in a dirt pit.”
Wolf interrupted in a dry voice, as if reading a cargo manifest. Red Eagle gasped.
“What on earth are you talking about, Wolf! Murderer grandma?”
“As Silver said, it’s too long to explain. The point is, Uncle wants me dead.”
“Wait!”
Red Eagle raised a hand.
“Silver, let me ask one thing. Did my mother accept the request?”
“Gladly. That’s why I called it bad news, you broken-wheeled cart.”
“Ah…”
Red Eagle swallowed hard.
“Alright, I’ll persuade my mother. Silver, you translate for me.”
“That’s not hard. However, your mother might refuse the request. We need to secure another escape route as well.”
“Another escape route?”
Wolf repeated the words in a whisper. Silver scratched the dusty floorboards with his fingertip.
“That murderer grandma’s den is close to here. A week by ferry? While we’re heading there, I’ll look for a chance to escape. Wolf, you just need to run away diligently without looking back. Prince, if you have any valuables, give them to me now. I need money for the boat fare.”
Without hesitation, Red Eagle pulled out a pocket watch.
“Wolf, take this. It’s yours from now on.”
“You’re going to escape with me too, right, Silver?”
Wolf asked the question abruptly, his gaze fixed directly on him.
Silver couldn’t open his mouth. It felt as if his tongue had turned to tar and stuck to the roof of his mouth. To think he couldn’t utter a simple “no.”
Wolf’s gaze did not waver from Silver’s eyes. Silver didn’t look away and met it head-on. Wolf’s eyes… he was searching for something. No, he was trying to draw out the desired answer. He had somehow learned that if one stares silently and steadily for a long time, the opponent will falter.
Looking at this, Wolf wasn’t just someone who begged. He knew how to push an opponent within certain boundaries. Quietly, but with a pressure that couldn’t be ignored.
Unfortunately, the opponent was Silver. A bottom-dwelling beast who spent his days in staring contests and arguments with assassins.
Push. Pull. Crush.
Shove. Resist. Shake off.
In the end, Wolf did not get what he wanted. The light in his eyes faded rapidly. His shoulders slumped like an old sail.
“Hey!”
Only then did Silver force the words out.
“I have to keep an eye on the Ice Armor Warrior. If you get caught while escaping, you’ll die on the spot.”
“What about you? You won’t be safe either, will you?”
“I won’t die.”
Silver countered firmly. He hoped his tone sounded confident to Wolf’s ears.
“I’ll get you out as quickly as possible. If you follow the river, you’ll reach Morgan within ten days. Now you know why I can’t leave with you, right? Your destination is obvious. The Ice Armor Warrior will arrive first and be waiting for you.”
“Wolf. I’ll wait for you.”
Red Eagle gripped Wolf’s hand tightly.
“Let’s go to Atania together. You promised we’d be together when we returned.”
“…”
After a silence, Wolf spoke.
“Please wait for ten days. If I don’t arrive by then, forget me. You must erase the existence of a foster brother named Wolf from your mind.”
“Wolf! Don’t say that!”
“I don’t have the confidence to protect myself from Uncle.”
A bitter smile twisted Wolf’s lips.
“Uncle is strong. You saw it too, Prince.”
“Don’t give up so easily. You can just attack together! If it’s the two of you, you can bring Uncle down!”
Joint attack. At that one phrase, a bolt of lightning flashed before Silver’s eyes. The gears in Silver’s head screeched to a halt and immediately began turning in the opposite direction. Fuck! Why didn’t I think of this?
Silver smacked his knee with his fist.
“That’s not a bad idea! Wolf, you’re good at fighting.”
“Huh?”
Wolf’s face looked somehow pale as his shoulders flinched. Silver stretched out an arm into the air.
“Once! Just once, let’s make the bastard fall on his ass. If you try to win, greed gets in the way and you’ll make a mistake, so we’ll set a modest goal. You know that, right?”
“I don’t… know about that… Silver, I’m really… bad at fighting…”
“The pie comes after the feast. Now is not the time for modesty. The Ice Armor Warrior isn’t an idiot, so he’ll expect a joint attack. I’ll attack first. That’s when you jump in. The moment he hits the ground, you run!”
“You can do it! Together, you can take him down!”
Red Eagle shouted, clenching his fist. Wolf dropped his head low, like someone heading toward the gallows. Silver slapped Wolf’s shoulder.
“I know, the opponent is the Ice Armor Warrior. Your big balls have probably shriveled up like walnuts. Still, don’t be scared. I’ll handle all the hard parts.”
“…Silver. If I were stronger than Uncle, would everything have ended long ago? Would no one have made an issue of it?”
“This is Stohl, after all.”
Silver shrugged.
“Even if you blew off the Ice Armor Warrior’s head right now in front of the soldiers, there’d be no problem. Though they might complain about who has to wash the blood off the deck.”
“Even if the joint attack succeeds… you still won’t escape with me, right?”
“Hey. I already explained that—”
“Let’s kill Uncle together.”
“Huh?”
Silver blinked. Did I hear that wrong?
No, he didn’t. Red Eagle was covering his mouth with one hand, his eyes darting left and right. Silence. Only the ceiling beams shifted in time with the vibration of the deck. Fine dust floated like schools of fish in the lamplight.
Let’s kill Uncle together. Wolf said it as if reciting the dinner menu. He was serious. Undeniable, naked murderous intent leaked through his voice. Sharp, like a butcher’s knife that severs bone in one go.
Silver looked back at Black Weasel through Wolf’s eyes. A murderer. Someone who splits a human head with an axe as casually as cracking a boiled egg for breakfast. Anyone from Stohl would be able to gut him and sleep soundly for the rest of their lives. However, seeing a quaint Atanian boy reveal such firm murderous intent was somehow strange.
“Did you become a Stohl person already? You adapt quickly.”
Silver spoke jokingly. Wolf’s face remained expressionless.
“If we just kill Uncle, you won’t face retaliation. And I can go to Morgan port with peace of mind. It’s a rational solution in every aspect.”
Logically, he wasn’t wrong. If Black Weasel weren’t his biological father, Silver would have been the first to suggest to Wolf that they kill him.
“I won’t pester you to go to Atania together. I’m just saying let’s kill Uncle. Do you still hate the idea?”
Silver’s lips parted and then closed. His voice felt as if it had turned into fish bones. Every time he tried to let it out, it got stuck in his throat.
Wolf stared at Silver in silence. The lamplight transformed the boy’s face into a strange relief. His jaw looked sharper, his pupils buried in shadow. The veins wrapping around his firm neck protruded more prominently. He looked like a different person he had met for the first time today.
An oppressive silence followed. Even Red Eagle didn’t breathe, like a spectator at a duel. Silver gripped the hem of his robe tightly. He had to say something. Quickly. Anything.
The solution was simple. The Ice Armor Warrior is my biological father. Everything would end with that one sentence. But…
It’s embarrassing! How the hell am I supposed to tell Wolf that the guy trying to kill him is actually my biological father!
68 – Hell Execution Order