Chapter 238
The half-blood giant silently watched the pouring rain.
She dried herself off, sat by the window, and gazed out at the rain, recalling what Encrid had said.
‘Tomorrow too?’
Not today, but tomorrow—not the present, but the future.
Is it okay to live thinking about things like that?
Is there really no problem?
Such questions swirled inside her.
As a member of the Cult, a warrior of the Cult of the Demon Realm, her duty was clear.
“Hey.”
So right now, she was supposed to be shaken by this man’s words. Her heart wasn’t moved at all, but she had to force herself to agree.
Swallow Blade leaned against her doorway and spoke.
“I was never interested in a duel from the start. Wasn’t it the same for you?”
Swallow Blade was quick-witted and had a good memory. The half-blood giant knew him. He knew her identity. That’s why this offer was being made.
The Cult wasn’t some group that worshiped brute strength, and if they came this far, their goal was clear.
“Let’s kill them. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?”
That’s right. The half-blood giant knew it too. Still, her head wouldn’t nod easily. Her mouth wouldn’t open. But since it had to be done, she nodded.
‘If you want to survive, endure. If you want to survive, kill.’
The teachings of the Cult were still clear in her mind. Until she died, she was nothing but a cultist, nothing but a warrior of the Cult of the Demon Realm.
She acted exactly as instructed. She agreed to Swallow Blade’s plan.
“I have a plan.”
Swallow Blade took a step closer. His breath stank, and so did the words from his mouth.
That’s how it started.
Swallow Blade loitered by the castle gate and found a soldier.
“Hey, friend!”
“Huh?”
The rain was coming down so hard it made the oiled cloak pointless. It was dark and hard to see.
Even under the roof with a torch, it was a dark day.
Of course, visibility was poor.
Vell stepped under the light to check the face of the person calling him.
The other did the same.
It was a familiar face.
What was his name again? He realized nobody had even asked for a name when he came into the domain.
One thing was certain—he was Encrid’s guest. A guest staying at the inn and a sparring opponent.
He was also someone Markus said to keep an eye on.
“What do you want?”
Swallow Blade smiled. The smile was irritating, but Vell didn’t say anything.
“Do you have a moment?”
The guy with the filthy smile asked.
Vell was on patrol. Of course, he didn’t have time.
What a pointless thing to say.
He was about to answer.
Crack!
At the sudden sound, he whipped his head around. Suddenly, there was a massive warrior behind him.
The half-blood giant.
A familiar face too. Vell had watched Encrid’s sparring matches often enough.
As soon as he saw the cold, hardened face of the female warrior, he tried to shout “ambush!” or “attack!” but a cold blade touched his neck.
He had no time to react.
“Shh.”
That was as far as Vell’s consciousness went. Something struck the back of his head, and when he came to, his hands and feet were tightly bound.
He was soaked from head to toe, and he wasn’t alone.
“Heavenly Father above.”
A prayer was being muttered right beside her.
It was a middle-aged woman, tear-streaked, who sold seasoned jerky—a colleague’s mother.
She wasn’t the only familiar face.
“Vanessa?”
“Damn it, you finally woke up?”
The rough innkeeper was there too. Her tone was harsh as always, but her eyes shook with anxiety.
Vell looked around again. His vision was blurry, but he could still make out people.
Looking around, he saw that dozens were tied up, himself included.
And then—
“If anyone resists, I’ll kill them one by one.”
A voice rang out from a distance. Only then did Vell realize they were in some kind of cabin.
He recognized some of the things around him.
Old leather sunshades, a few rotting hides, a fireplace that hadn’t been lit in years.
They were outside the castle gates, in a remote hunter’s cabin. In other words, an abandoned hut.
What was going on?
All the familiar faces were tied up and trapped in this hunter’s hut.
Sunlight filtered through the window. Lying on his side, Vell braced his abs and pushed herself upright.
“Ugh!”
After righting herself, he looked out the window.
There, he saw the back of the person he’d seen just before passing out.
‘That bastard?’
His head was still throbbing. From the sticky feeling on his face, it seemed he’d bled a bit.
He wasn’t dead, but his skull felt cracked.
Beyond that back, he could make out a blurry figure but couldn’t see clearly.
But just from the voice, he immediately knew who it was.
“Then you’ll die too.”
It was Encrid’s voice.
Vell quickly understood the situation.
It was a hostage crisis.
At the same time, Vell wondered if it would do any good.
It was a world of kill or be killed.
In such a world, would Encrid really die for these people, even if there were dozens of them?
That seemed impossible.
So why was it still like this?
Vell’s mind spun with questions.
He’d have to watch and see how things played out.
—
Swallow Blade’s trick wasn’t anything special or exceptional.
It was just simple and nasty.
“I said I’ll kill everyone.”
From his first day at the Border Guards until now, he’d been watching.
He observed and understood. He learned a few things.
First:
‘Damn? Putting a watcher on me right away?’
Someone was watching him. That was thanks to Krys, who’d reported him to the higher-ups on the first day.
That meant Markus had put someone on him.
Swallow Blade found it irritating.
Fine, whatever about surveillance.
What he figured out after that was that Encrid was close—whether he knew it or not—to those around him.
But even so, if he took them hostage and demanded Encrid’s life, of course Encrid would just snort in contempt.
A hostage only matters if they have that much value to the target.
‘Not family, not a lover.’
Not even a secret child.
Just acquaintances. That’s it.
“I’m not asking for much. That’s it. Just send everyone else away and stay here alone.”
So Swallow Blade made a condition Encrid might accept.
Honestly, if he and that crazy half-blood giant fought together, he believed they could kill Encrid.
What was the problem?
‘Those bastards, right?’
From the axe-wielding guy smirking and petting his weapon, to the bear of a man two heads taller than himself, to the quiet guy who always seemed ready to kill—
“Especially you—don’t disappear. If I don’t see you, this woman dies first.”
He spoke to Jaxson.
Swallow Blade already had a resident in his arms. The woman who made marmalade. The blade was pressed to her throat.
A drop of blood fell.
Encrid didn’t remember her name.
But Krys did.
“If you even touch Juri’s fingertips, you won’t die a painless death.”
Krys, unusually serious.
She made excellent marmalade with those hands, so her fingers were especially important.
Juri, her face pale, couldn’t say a word.
Her whole body was stiff, dragged by Swallow Blade’s rough grip.
Even watching this, Encrid didn’t show impatience. That made Swallow Blade’s smile even wider.
‘That bastard’s eyes piss me off.’
If things went his way, he’d gouge those eyes out first.
“Is what I said hard? It’s not. If you’re hesitating because you’re scared… well, that’d be different.”
Still a cheap provocation. Swallow Blade’s condition was simple.
Send everyone away. Leave Encrid alone. Then?
“If you beat us one-on-two, that’s it.”
If he could do just that, the hostages would be freed. It was obvious bullshit, but he wasn’t demanding Encrid die or lose an arm.
If Encrid didn’t accept, he’d kill the hostages without hesitation. An ambiguous line.
Can’t you even accept that?
‘That’s what he’s aiming for.’
Objectively, it was absurd. He was telling Encrid to send away his allies and face two enemies alone.
What if the two attacked him at once?
‘Would everyone stay back if I got seriously hurt?’
If he got badly injured, Rem and the others would never just stand by.
They’d chase after him. Did Swallow Blade have another trick?
How many years had he survived by using his head?
Encrid was as sharp as anyone at reading the room.
He read Swallow Blade’s intent, and what lay beyond it.
His sixth sense told him more than his five senses.
‘He must have a backup plan or something hidden.’
Next to him stood the half-blood giant, helmet pressed down, holding sword and shield.
Dealing with just that warrior alone was impossible before. Well, before he started hanging out with Pell the shepherd.
‘Now it might work.’
Calm and unruffled. Her eyes were the same.
Seeing Encrid’s eyes, Swallow Blade’s grin grew.
He’d always hated that smile.
But he’d let things play out, wanting to see what skills were hidden. Encrid thought this was his responsibility.
He was about to agree.
“Bullshit!”
What a loud voice.
“Huh? Who’s eavesdropping on my inner thoughts?”
Rem spouted nonsense from the back.
Inside the abandoned hut, it was Vell shouting.
He’d probably be the first to get himself kidnapped that way, Encrid worried.
Everything had happened because of him, and everyone here was someone he knew.
This wasn’t a battlefield. If someone was stabbed to death here, it would haunt him.
So he wished they’d keep quiet.
Swallow Blade’s face now looked more like a twisted mask than a smile.
Doesn’t his face hurt from grinning like that?
“Haha, creepy smiling brother, let’s have a chat instead. In the scripture it says, ‘If you go astray, look back.’ So, look behind you.”
With nonsense words, he gestured naturally, making everyone look back. Jaxson subtly lifted his left foot, Rem let his left hand hang, and only Ragna yawned as he watched.
“Cut the crap.”
Swallow Blade didn’t fall for it.
Encrid made his decision. Whatever—he didn’t think he’d be risking his life.
“Everyone, go back and dry your feet and rest.”
“Tsk, you’re going to do this alone?”
“I think I can.”
He’d said this often in the past. Back then, Rem would have scathingly mocked him.
Are you going off to die alone?
But now?
After the duel right before coming here.
‘Tsk.’
Rem held back what he wanted to say. He’d improved. He really couldn’t be underestimated anymore. And now he’d awakened even a fragment of [Will].
He was now qualified to join the Red Cloak Order, the kingdom’s only knight order.
Well, there are requirements for joining an order, but—
He’d even been scouted by a mysterious order.
“So, then?”
Encrid nodded toward Swallow Blade, now warped so much his eyes couldn’t be seen.
He sent everyone back. Sent them so far away they couldn’t be seen.
Swallow Blade never let go of the hostage.
If only the hostage hadn’t been Juri, or whoever she was, Encrid would’ve tried something already.
With the back of his hand, he was concealing a knife.
He was ready to use the Whistle Dagger.
If he threw it now, Swallow Blade would use the hostage as a shield.
‘Should I kill the hostage and rush him?’
The hostage would die, but he’d take out the enemy cleanly.
It was an option.
But then someone would die. A resident he should be protecting would die because of him.
He wouldn’t feel much guilt.
He wasn’t one to wallow in self-blame over things that had already happened.
But just sitting by and watching when he could stop it wasn’t his style.
Ching.
“I never swore to protect the Border Guards, but they’re in my domain.”
Encrid drew his sword.
“I can’t just stand by.”
The rain had stopped. Under a clear, bright blue sky,
Encrid stood, sword in hand.
