Chapter 38
Urich sat next to Kylios and glared at him with cold eyes.
“Purr.”
Kylios snorted as he looked at the barbarian as if he was wary of his presence.
“You’re only obedient to Pahell.”
Urich wasn’t the only one who couldn’t get on the horse’s back. Kylios didn’t allow anyone other than Pahell to ride him, not even the mercenaries who were experienced horse riders.
“That’s a wild horse, alright. Who would’ve thought that young noble would have a knack for it?”
The mercenaries who were rejected by Kylios commented as they walked away.
“You’d better give up, too, Urich. This horse isn’t for everyone.”
“Shut up.”
Urich still couldn’t give up.
‘Dammit, it was pretty cool.’
The image of Pahell taming the wild beast in a heartbeat and roaming the plains on its back was still vivid in his head.
‘I want to ride a horse, too.’
He didn’t want a stable horse that was born tamed by humans. He wanted a wild horse that was full of life.
Thump.
Urich’s heart squirmed as he felt the force of life from the beastliness of Kylios.
“Kylios,” Urich muttered, and the horse looked up as if he recognized his own name.
‘Horses are smart. They can understand everything we say.’
Those were Pahell’s words.
“I guess today isn’t the day, either.”
Urich got up from his seat. He decided not to rush to get on Kylios’ back.
‘Kylios rejects me.’
First and foremost, he had to become closer with the animal. With that intention, Urich spent a lot of time with Kylios.
“Purr.”
Kylios always acted cold toward Urich, but that attitude went away the moment Pahell walked up to him.
“Once we get to the city, I’ll get you some nice horseshoes,” Pahell said to his horse as he assessed his condition.
‘He’s a young male. He’s big and his hooves are also healthy. I got a good one.’
Pahell was a horse expert. He could tell that Kylios was a fine horse. Even though he was an unbred wild horse, he was big and strong enough to make it as a warhorse.
“Why don’t you just hand the throne over to your uncle and stick with raising horses? I think that suits you better, no?” Urich asked with an attitude.
“Being good with horses is one of the virtues of a king.”
“You can’t even fight.”
“What’s a king going to do on the frontlines? I just need a certain level of swordsmanship to be cultured. It’s not even that important for kings, anyway.”
“How ridiculous is it that you ask your people to put their lives on the line fighting for you, when all you do is just sit in your throne, giving orders? I also don’t understand the people who fight to the death just because you ordered them to,” Urich laughed.
“A barbarian like you could never understand the nobility of bloodlines, statuses, and loyalty, even if you spent your whole life trying to.”
Pahell was proud to be of royalty—to be the rightful heir to the throne.
“You’re right about that, I’ll never understand your strange system.”
Pahell’s eyes turned sharp and hostile as he looked at Urich. His look was a mix of hatred, rage, and strangely, a hint of favor.
“Sir Phillion is fond of you, even though you were the very man who cut off his fingers. At first, I thought there was something wrong with his head.”
“Four of my brothers died because of his false job description. I think losing some fingers was a light punishment compared to that.”
“That’s what he said as well—that he got off easy,” Pahell replied as he gritted his teeth in anger. After what had happened, Pillion’s time as a knight was finished. Maybe he could’ve managed if it was his left hand that was left fingerless, but he had lost four of the five on his right hand. He was also too old to learn to wield a sword with his left hand.
“So, what, are you complaining?”
“I am, but I also gave you my word. Once I become the king, I am going to reward you generously and I won’t try to get you back for what you’ve done. I am of royal status, and my oaths are worth just as much as my status.”
Pahell jumped on the back of his horse. He said to Urich as he looked down.
“Mercenary Leader Urich, start thinking about what you want as your reward. Perhaps you’d like to take a bundle of gold and silver treasure to return to your home proudly.”
Pahell smiled brightly and tapped Kylios with the back of his heels. In response, Kylios turned his head and walked away with him.
The mercenaries packed up their camp and got on the road again. The border was now two days away.
“We’re finally out of here if we just walk today and tomorrow. Damn, we’re finally getting to the city, huh?”
“Pfft, the city’s at least three days away. Don’t get your hopes up.”
The mercenaries exchanged their casual chatter. They were passing the border between sparsely populated territories.
“It’s much better to be on a horse,” Pahell said as he drew in the tall air. Riding a horse also required a great deal of stamina and strength, but it was nothing he wasn’t used to. For him, it was much better than walking with a bunch of blisters on his feet.
Clop, clop.
The group was walking past a few patches of fallow fields. They were lands on break from harvest.
“Fallow fields?”
Urich asked for an explanation. He had a great deal of interest in farming.
“If you keep planting the same crops in the same land year after year, the land eventually loses its strength, and the crops won’t grow properly in the following year. So, you either let the land rest for a season or if you can’t afford to take a break from farming, you plant a different crop that doesn’t require as much from the land,” Bachman explained.
“I see, you have to think of all that as you farm? That’s quite impressive, impressive indeed,” Urich expressed his admiration as he looked at the fallow lands.
“I see smoke coming out of the chimney of that farmhouse over there. I will go buy some bread or grains,” Lupin, who was one of the guards of the prince, said to Phillion.
“That’s a good idea, Sir Lupin. The prince must be tired of the hard food we’ve been eating ever since we left the city. Maybe some porridge might help,” Phillion said as he nodded.
Lupin made contact with the farmhouse. He split a hundred-thousand-cil coin into two and gave half to the farmer for the food. It was quite a profitable deal for the farmer. After the transaction, Lupin rejoined the mercenaries with a basket full of bread and grains.
“If we go this way, we’re most likely going to run into the border patrol. We should take a detour as we planned. There should be a couple of bridges that used to be used by the farmers.”
The mercenaries planned their route as they had their lunch. The border of Porcana Kingdom was a series of canyons and rivers, so travelers needed to use bridges to enter and leave the kingdom.
After walking for another half a day, the mercenaries set up their camp again.
“Hah, you dumbass!”
“Fuck!”
Urich fell off Kylios’ back again. Pahell was rolling on the ground laughing, and Urich was shaking in frustration.
‘Maybe I should just beat him up.’
Urich aggressively scratched his head. It was another day of him not being able to mount Kylios. The mercenaries had established a regular bet for whether he could ride the horse or not.
“Ah, bread porridge, that’s good. My jaw was starting to hurt from all that hardy food,” Pahell said in relief as he sat in front of his pot. His meal was a porridge with pieces of bread boiled in it. For a royalty who had grown up on the delicate food of the palace, the hard foods of the mercenaries were too harsh.
The mercenaries who were enjoying their food stopped their meals when they noticed a shaking torch coming their way from afar.
“Who are you?”
Someone yelled from not too far from their camp. Their voice was thunderous and clear.
“We’re a mercenary squad!”
The mercenaries answered while both parties maintained their distance from each other.
“We are the border patrol. We must ask you for the reason for camping here since this isn’t the way to the border gate.”
As the border patroller shouted, the mercenaries started to curse among themselves.
“They’re all on horses.”
“Why are the border patrol coming all the way out here?”
“Some luck, this is.”
There were five patrollers in total, all of them on horses.
“You better answer our question unless you want us to consider you as bandits.”
Stalling only made the mercenaries look more suspicious to the border patrol.
“We have a prince with us. If we tell them that, wouldn’t they just get on their knees?”
“Or we could be arrested right here.”
While the mercenaries were talking, two of the border patrollers rode off back to their camp.
“They’re going to bring the gate defense,” Phillion said with concern.
“How big is the gate defense?”
Phillion thought for a moment before answering Urich’s question.
“If it’s the nearby Orquell Defense, probably around two hundred men with fifty horses.”
“So, if we were to run, then we’d have about fifty coming after us? We can deal with fifty,” Urich said with a grin. He was already smelling the blood of another battle.
“Warhorses are strong and fit. They’ll come right after us with two men on their backs. We’ll have to fight off a hundred men, then.”
The mercenaries were stirred. It was impossible to ditch the horses on a flatland. It seemed like a conflict was inevitable.
The morale of the squad was dropping rapidly. After all, their goal was to survive and get their rewards for the job. They didn’t have the loyalty for the prince to welcome any battle where they would be at a disadvantage.
“Urich, the mercenaries are splitting. If we go into battle like this, we’re definitely going to have some running off,” Bachman said to Urich. He was always reading the tendency of the squad and giving appropriate advice.
“Can I suggest something? We might have a way to avoid the battle altogether,” Phillion said, getting Urich and the mercenaries’ attention.
“Avoid the battle?”
“The reason why the patrol is being so sensitive is probably because they’ve heard the news of the missing prince. Or there could be a false rumor that he had been kidnapped. Regardless, what I’m saying is that it’s about time for Duke Harmatti’s message to spread throughout the kingdom—a message telling the people to look out for a young man with blue eyes.”
“So, you’re saying that our little master is the culprit?”
“We can’t outrun a horse on feet, but we can on a horse if the prince was to leave right now. We can meet up at the city of Valgma past the kingdom border. That way, even if the patrol searches the squad, they won’t find anyone around the prince’s age with blue eyes. They won’t want to start a meaningless conflict with a mercenary squad, either.”
“That’s a good plan. Who’s going to go with the prince? Not you, Phillion, you don’t have a good track record.”
“Of course, I understand. Urich, I want you to take the prince,” Phillion said solemnly. Urich’s eyes widened.
“What? I’m the leader of the squad! It doesn’t make sense for me to run away!”
“Sven can fill in for you. To be honest, his aged look is more fitting to the leader title, anyway,” Phillion said as he pointed at the other barbarian. Sven laughed after hearing the plan.
“What a great idea. I’m in.”
After hearing Sven agree, the majority of the mercenaries nodded in favor of the plan which sounded much better than a battle that they had little chance of winning.
“I’m not on board. It feels like I’m running away! Why can’t we just fight...”
Urich stopped midsentence after glancing at the reactions of the mercenaries. He felt their cold glare.
If everyone in the squad were like Urich and Sven, they might have chosen to fight like warriors who were always prepared to accept death. However, the main goal of the mercenaries was to survive and get paid.
“Urich,” Sven said as he shook his head. His single word contained many meanings.
Urich kicked the ground and frowned.
“Dammit. Pahell! Can I even ride Kylios?”
“I’ll teach you how to really ride a horse. It shouldn’t be a problem for you to ride behind me.”
Pahell seemed just as flustered as anyone else. He looked at Phillion with uneasy eyes.
“Urich is a trustworthy man, my prince. He may be a barbarian, but he is a follower of Lou and understands the nobility of oaths,” Phillion said to his young master. Pahell bit his bottom lip and nodded.
“May Lou’s light guide you, Sir Phillion.”
Pahell and Urich snuck out of the camp with Kylios. Kylios, being a dark horse, didn’t stand out at all in the darkness.
“We’ll allow your search!” Sven shouted.
The border patrollers nodded and rode closer to the camp but maintained their last bit of distance.
“The main force will arrive shortly. Unless we see anything suspicious, we’ll let you go without any problem.”
The mercenaries stood by in silence, waiting for the gate defense.
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