Chapter 187 – Chapter 5: King – 1
Robert seemed to recognize his name. I could see the opened pupils faintly becoming smaller.
But soon the pupils widened again. He then lowered his head as if he had committed a sin.
“…”
“Are you alive?”
I know he’s dead.
While he was leading a tribute party, he was ambushed by bandits, and the bandits identified his body. His death was also known in Deseo. One day during heavy rain, Tia watched his funeral in tears.
Is the man in front of me a ghost?
Even Marie clearly pointed out that he was a ghost. Many people also kept their distance, not wanting to be with this gloomy knight.
Was it revived? Like me?
What happened?
But there was no one who could ask me for an answer. He was so drunk that he couldn’t control his body and was slowly falling apart.
I sat in front of him and asked urgently.
“Do you know?”
“…”
“Tia. Tia Anthea. “You’ve heard that, right?”
The moment Tia’s name came out, blue eyes opened wide.
He looks up at me hungrily, as if he came to his senses for a moment. And he asked while giving off a strong smell of alcohol.
“… What is it?”
“I’m looking for Tia. “She is the girl you met at the public offering booth.”
“Phew! Haha… Haha.”
The knight laughed.
It didn’t seem like he was laughing at what I said. Like getting drunk and talking in your sleep about some vision you see when you close your eyes.
Powerless yet sad. He laughed.
“… “No.”
“Yes?”
“It’s all over.”
He held the wooden drinking glass as if it would break. And I poured the last drop of alcohol that was sloshing at the bottom into my mouth.
His uvula was moving, feeling desperate.
To get a little more drunk. As if trying to forget everything by defeating this strong body. The driver drank alcohol.
Kuung-!
A loud noise was heard.
What fell on the table was not a glass of wine, but Robret’s huge body.
The inn suddenly became quiet.
“Knight?”
Robert, who had been silent for a long time, spoke with crushed lips.
“The knight… No.”
He repeatedly denied that he was a knight.
“I couldn’t protect anything… I am… It’s not an article…”
His wish to forget had finally come true. The knight’s bitter eyelids closed, and he fell into a deep sleep, snoring loudly.
In the end, nothing could be obtained from Robert.
I wondered why he, who was thought to be dead, survived and was sitting in a shabby inn drinking. He is so miserable that he is saying that he is no longer a ‘knight’.
“…”
Should I take him, who is drunk, to an empty room and leave him alone until he comes to his senses? Originally, it would be desirable to do so.
But… When I told him Tia’s name. I was very curious about the inexplicable burst of laughter and the reason why he said ‘nothing’.
Swoosh-.
I slowly stretched out my hand and took Lobrt’s hand. His strong forearms felt like he was lifting a heavy piece of iron.
Holding his hand, I bring back the illusion of his memory.
What happened to Robert after the tribute.
* * *
“Are you that upset about losing to a girl, Alan?”
One day, evening at Gongtidae.
There were two men sitting in the tent.
It was Robert and Allan.
‘Alan’ was the apprentice knight he brought with him. He was also an outstanding disciple who willingly volunteered to train with him during the Great Gongnap expedition.
“… Yes. Mr. Robert. But she feels angry not at the girl, but at her poor skills.”
A duel suddenly took place a few days ago. Alan’s partner was none other than a girl.
Alan lost to that kid. It is said that he had not yet been knighted, but it was still a very shameful thing for a sturdy 19-year-old man to lose a duel to a mere girl.
Perhaps because of this, Alan was concentrating on practicing his sword skills at night.
“Don’t worry too much about it. “You still have great strength and swordsmanship.”
“Lovrt trusted me and entrusted me with the duel. I tarnished that honor by losing. Even now, I can’t sleep well at night.”
“Alan. “That child is different from her origin.”
“Yes?”
“In a time when there was a lot of war, there was a person who was called a legendary swordsman.”
Robert tipped his glass.
“Bin Carlos… He knew the girl’s swordsmanship as soon as he saw it. She is undoubtedly Carlos’s disciple. There is no such thing as a loss. “The carelessness that arose when we crossed swords with a commoner girl broke us.”
“I understand what you are saying. Still, I will become stronger. “I realized through this duel that I had been arrogant.”
“Okay. “There are many extraordinary people in the world who are not yet known.”
The student’s extraordinary attitude of eagerness for training made Carlos want to give him a gift.
“Good night. Alan, if you need it for training, you can use my equipment.”
“Yes? “Are you sure?”
“Okay.”
Alan’s dark expression brightened. I could almost see her lips trembling as she tried to hold back the joy rising in her heart.
Trainee knights usually received very low salaries, so they could not obtain quality equipment. But you can wear the knightly armor of the ‘Lobrt family’, which is quite famous in Deseo!
It was truly an unprecedented privilege.
“Mr. Robert… Little man, I don’t know what to do with myself.”
Haha. “I don’t know if my armor will fit your body well, but please wear it once.”
“Yes! I’ll be right back!”
Alan, with a happy face, hurriedly left the tent.
Robert watched the scene happily and muttered.
“It feels good somehow.”
Even thinking about it myself, I felt like my heart had become more generous.
It’s not because I’m drunk. It was because of that commoner girl who made me smile happily just thinking about it.
Tia Antheer.
Ever since she met that child, she had hoped that this expedition, which she had hoped would end quickly, would proceed slowly.
Never before has her heart fluttered this much… Because it never happened.
What is that pure and beautiful girl doing now?
I’ve invited you to a dinner party soon, and I need to guide you so that you don’t feel too burdened.
I was waiting for dinner with such excitement.
“…”
Alan, who said he would return quickly, is later than expected. It seems like the equipment doesn’t fit my body well.
Robert decided to check later and left the tent first to go to the dinner.
Swoosh-.
The moment I smell the cool night air. Robert’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
He turned his head to the side. For some reason, the shadow of the mountain was very gloomy today.
As if walking through a battlefield. I felt a strange sensation of my back and neck standing on end, as if there was an ambush of enemies in the dark mountain.
The moment when a thought of something ominous crossed my mind.
“Bandits-!!”
His premonition, which was as sensitive as an animal, was right on target.
Wow—!!
Soak-!
People’s screams and countless fire arrows flying.
The carts of the public service unit that he had led and protected for a very long time were burned and cruelly destroyed.
“Robrert! It’s a night raid!”
The soldiers hurriedly searched for him.
It was an attack that no one expected. Everyone was waiting for Robert’s order with bewildered faces.
I heard that all the bandits in Meth Road were wiped out a long time ago. Even now, many merchants travel along this road, making it a safe road.
How did this happen?
“Get on your horse right now! “Protect the tribute zone!”
“Yes!”
There was no time to think.
Lobrt immediately ordered his servant to bring out his horse. Then, without even putting on his armor, he mounted his horse and rode vigorously.
Puuuuu–!!!
Blow the horn It was a warning to innocent people who did not yet know the situation to leave the place immediately.
With each step of the horse’s hoof, the fallen appeared one by one on the dark ground.
They were those who were hit by arrows or killed with axes.
Lobrt saw numerous corpses on the battlefield.
There is no need to give attention to someone who has already died. I had to quickly find the bandits running wild in the dark.
The moment I tried to grab the reins with that thought.
A woman’s body appeared at her feet.
“… !”
I don’t know who it is. It may have been a prostitute who followed the tribute party.
But as soon as she saw it, her heart began to beat rapidly, and a thought she had forgotten for a moment came to her.
Tia.
… Where is Tia?
“Wow!!”
“Save me!”
I saw a bandit screaming and killing people.
Robert quickly ran over and hit the enemy’s neck with precision.
Not just one guy. There are many.
It is difficult to judge because people were all mixed up, but looking at the scale of damage, it was by no means the scale of an ordinary group of bandits.
He continued to go into the deep.
He killed every enemy he saw, but he himself didn’t know where he was going.
“Tia… Please, please stay alive.”
At some point, Robert was looking for Tia.
His eyes continued to scan the darkness, looking for the girl with red hair.
The end of endless running.
Robert realized that he had already entered deep into enemy territory.
No one runs away anymore, only the remnants loitering near the burning cart.
They are all bandits.
As a rule of thumb, the number of troops exceeding 30.
The strength of the armament and this meticulous and rapid attack… It was definitely comparable to a well-trained unit.
Nettle liquid-!
Suddenly, the sound of tearing wind passed by my ears.
Understand!
An arrow was lodged in Robert’s shoulder.
“Ugh!”
The strong impact made me drop the sword I was holding.
Without protective gear, his body was too weak to the arrows fired by the enemies.
There were no weapons to fight anymore.
All you can do right now is stay away from your enemies.
He quickly ran away, holding on to his arm that seemed like it was about to fall.
“Chase!”
Before he knew it, the bandits had captured the horse and started chasing him.
It was at times like this that the moonlight felt heartless.
Sigh-!
Several arrows continued to fly.
Fortunately, his lovely horse was galloping at a great speed and the distance was gradually decreasing, but it was difficult to have hope that this good luck would continue.
It was that time.
There was a horse running towards Lobrt.
It was none other than a knight wearing his armor.
“Alan?”
“I will go.”
“No! There are enemies…”
“Thank you so much.”
With those last words, Alan quickly passed by Robert.
The back of the dashing young man instantly disappeared into the darkness.
The guy knew what he had to do.
“It’s Robrt!”
The bandits shouted his name.
The suspicions he had been harboring all along became confirmed.
The bandits did not come to plunder this tribute. Recognizing Robrt’s armor at once meant that I had come to kill him from the beginning.
The bandits began chasing Alan.
The sound of the chasing horses’ hooves became far away.
* * *
The destination for the injured Lobrdt was Gordburg.
The Lord of Gordburg did not recognize him at first.
This was because he did not look like a ‘callous knight’ at all when he came back covered in blood with a broken arrow stuck in his shoulder.
But when it was clearly revealed that it was Robert. The lord was in great shock.
That meant that the tribute force was completely destroyed.
“What happened, Lord Robert?”
“What I was worried about happened.”
The bandits’ surprise attack was definitely unexpected.
Because they were so secretive, fast, and meticulous, their background could never be found out.
But luckily, Alan was wearing his armor at that time, so Lobrd was able to survive.
Because I am the one who witnessed all of this.
Only Robert was given a heavy choice.
A cruel choice that may turn this entire country into a battlefield.
He closed his eyes.
“…”
Alan and Tia are dead.
Although the bodies of the two people were not found, there was no hope that they were still alive somewhere.
There weren’t many choices for a knight who lost friendship and love.
Robert swallowed bitter saliva and slowly opened his eyes.
“The king… “You betrayed us.”
