HRB 55

The masked men casually lifted the carriage curtains with their swords while conversing complacently. They seemed confident that their side would certainly win the battle at the front.

“What are these? Employees of the merchant guild?”

“No, just people hitching a ride on the carriage.”

“Ah, I see.”

A man with sharp, fierce eyes grinned and spoke threateningly to the people inside the carriage.

“You’d better stay quiet. If you don’t want to die.”

“Why don’t we just kill them?”

“Why? That’s troublesome… we might actually get a bounty on our heads that way.”

“They’ve seen our faces even though we’re covered. It’s cleaner to just kill them. That’s probably what they’re doing at the front anyway.”

The conversation about slaughtering everyone came out so casually. Hearing this, people inside began to plead.

“Please spare us!”

“The children, at least spare the children!”

The men didn’t respond, but their gazes toward the carriage passengers contained contemplation about how to deal with these troublesome people.

What should I do? How should I handle this?

Eddie looked around. Even if he wanted to resist, there weren’t many young adult males here besides himself.

Damn it, and the opponents even have weapons.

Eddie was a sergeant who had completed his military service, and naturally knew how to protect himself. But this wasn’t something he could handle by just protecting himself. Moreover, he currently felt fear toward bladed weapons.

In a one on one fight, he might not lose, but there were too many bandits.

Besides, this was a fantasy world, so he couldn’t let his guard down even if someone appeared physically less impressive than himself. The empty shell or the weakling might actually be Eddie.

“Don’t search through the cargo too much. We’re going to take the whole carriage anyway.”

“Just leave it undamaged! Most of it is artifacts. If anyone tries to line their pockets, know that your wrists will be broken.”

From their conversation, Eddie belatedly realized why they had targeted this merchant guild. This caravan was headed to the capital, loaded with expensive artifacts.

They must have looked like very appetizing prey to the bandits. Enough to risk robbing so close to the capital. The passengers who had hitched a ride were just unlucky to be caught up in this.

“What’s this? A noble?”

One of the masked men who had been looking at the carriage passengers with amusement, like playing with captured toys, spotted Eddie and brightened his eyes, licking his lips. It was the kind of look one might give a delicious dish that had just been served.

Eddie frowned with instinctive revulsion, but of course the man paid no attention to that.

“Look at him, obviously a noble young master. Hey, are you a noble?”

Eddie didn’t respond. There was no need to explain that he wasn’t a noble to people who had already decided to kill him anyway. The man continued to talk, regardless of whether Eddie answered or not.

“I’m uneasy about messing with nobles.”

“No need to worry. If he were from a major noble family, why would he be hitching a ride on something like this instead of using his family’s carriage? He’s probably from a fallen noble house.”

They seemed to have reached their own conclusion. Greedy eyes scanned Eddie’s entire body. One man approached and thrust his face close to Eddie’s.

Eddie instinctively backed away, but the carriage wasn’t spacious enough for him to retreat very far.

“Ha, guys who look like this sell for high prices to nobles with perverted tastes.”

“That’s right, pretty slaves are common… but handsome young masters with delicate features are always in short supply.”

The grinning man tapped Eddie’s chin with the back of his blade, then slightly lowered it, using the sharp edge to cut away part of Eddie’s collar and peek at his chest. The unpleasant sensation of the cold blade touching his skin caused Eddie’s expression to harden as he suddenly became the object of their harassment.

If it were up to him, he would have immediately shouted at them to back off. Eddie had been a super smiling man even when running his convenience store, but not toward troublemakers.

The problem was that these troublemakers weren’t just spitting while waving credit cards or receipts. They were ruffians holding weapons that could harm Eddie at any moment.

The feeling of the sharp blade tip against his skin reminded him of the final moments of his life when he had closed his eyes in pain, causing Eddie’s breathing to become increasingly rapid.

Tap, tap. Meanwhile, the blade had descended almost to his navel, nearly stripping off half of Eddie’s upper garment. The man licked his lips.

“Nice smooth skin too.”

“What, is that your taste? I prefer the more slender types.”

“Those types break too easily. Ones like him with some muscle are tighter and grip better.”

“What grip? He’s obviously an inexperienced young master.”

“Well, that’s true, but there’s a pleasure in training them.”

Eddie squeezed his eyes shut at their vulgar snickering. There was no point in thinking further about whether it was right to endure or what would be wise. It seemed that if he remained still, he would face a situation more miserable than death.

Eddie thought about grabbing even a branch from the floor to fight back if necessary. No matter how fearful and scared he was, it would be better than doing nothing.

While waiting for Ketron to finish dealing with the front and return quickly would be ideal, that didn’t seem possible right now.

Just as Eddie was taking a deep breath and clenching his fists, preparing to fight back desperately…

“You’re making things complicated.”

An unfamiliar voice came from behind.

Eddie froze at the sensation of his hair standing on end. An overwhelming presence appeared behind him, so immense it felt as if it had suddenly dropped from the sky, making him wonder how he hadn’t noticed until now.

A cold but large and firm hand came to rest on Eddie’s shoulder. It was a remarkably leisurely and languid touch. One that seemed to feel not the slightest tension about the situation.

Someone was standing behind Eddie without him noticing.

This mysterious presence that suddenly appeared leaned close to Eddie’s ear and whispered.

“What should I do?”

The languid voice somehow seemed full of drowsiness. It was a voice that didn’t match this situation at all.

“Should I kill them all? Hmm? Eddie.”

Only then did Eddie turn his stiff body around to look behind him.

There stood a handsome man with striking white hair. Exactly in the position where Ketron had stuck the holy sword. When Eddie turned around and their eyes met, the corners of the man’s eyes curved elegantly.

Where did the holy sword go…? No, more importantly.

…Who are you?

Eddie could state with certainty that he had never seen this man before.

And for good reason, forgetting a man who looked like this would be impossible even for Eddie, who was often teased for having facial recognition disorder. Even if it had been described in writing, this appearance would have been striking.

But apart from his flamboyant appearance, why did his personality seem so…awful? Even though he was smiling and it was their first meeting, he couldn’t help but think that.

And with the addition of a subtly friendly attitude towards Eddie, it was really hard to understand what was going on.

In the midst of the strange standoff, a light returned to Eddie’s eyes as he racked his brain.

No wonder he couldn’t see the Holy Sword that Ketron had placed next to Eddie… It was such a large, huge, and flashy sword, of course, its true form was hidden by the cloth it was wrapped in, but the sword handle alone was flashy enough, that it wouldn’t have been easy not to notice its presence if it was nearby.

And the man was now standing exactly where the Holy Sword had been stuck.

What did that fact mean?

Eddie looked at the man’s face again.

Glossy white hair, gray eyes.

The suspicion that had deepened the moment he saw the color symbolizing the Holy Sword’s blade turned into certainty as soon as he confirmed that the strings attached to the end of the Holy Sword’s handle were hanging from the man’s collar.

“S, Sword…?”

Eddie, who had almost said Holy Sword by mistake, bit his tongue and barely uttered an awkward word, and a faint expression appeared on the man’s face, which had been icy cold.

It was definitely a smile.

The man, or rather the Holy Sword, asked Eddie again.

“I asked you.”

“Yes?”

“Should I kill them all? I asked.”

The fact that he didn’t deny Eddie’s words was proof that the man was the Holy Sword. No, how? It wasn’t that he didn’t have that thought, but that wasn’t what was important now.

The moment the man’s eyes deepened, Eddie felt that something big was going to happen and hurriedly said.

“Don’t…kill them.”

Eddie denied the man’s words for now.

“Don’t kill them?”

When the man asked with a benevolent attitude as if he would grant any wish, Eddie’s rolling head also stopped.

“Just…subdue them.”

No matter what, it was impossible for Eddie to ‘kill’ people.

“Hmm.”

The man made a strange expression. It was an expression that was hard to gauge whether he was satisfied or dissatisfied. In the first place, Eddie’s sense in that direction was infinitely close to zero.

But one thing was clear.

The man was at least showing goodwill to Eddie. He didn’t seem like he would refuse his request.

Soon, as if not denying that guess, light flashed from the man’s hand.