Return， Control， and Eat 57

Chapter 57 – Pounce

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‘Is it about time?’

Cryle, who was touring around the stagecoach on his horse, rubbed his chin and smiled meanly.

It was the morning of a full day after leaving the expedition.

The stagecoach travels approximately 150 km per day.
It was far enough away from Daejeon that I didn’t have to worry about the eyes of the onlookers.

The road is rough and you may encounter wild beasts or robbers at any moment.
Working as the head of Noel’s bodyguard was hard work, but it wasn’t always like that.

Sometimes there is also a salty side income.
If it hadn’t been for that, I wouldn’t have hit it long ago.

Although they are almost like thugs, they are also human.
It couldn’t have been as enjoyable to handle the dirty work as the hands and feet of people who touch money.

‘Sometimes I can’t eat unless I relieve my stress this way.’

Since the south of Daejeon became a lawless zone, Noel Sanghoe has ruled the residents there by force.

What underpins their dominance is fear, resorted to violence.

Catch those foolishly rebellious and beat them to death if they are men.
It was always effective to capture a woman and humiliate her until she begged to be killed.
South of Daejeon is inherently a very closed neighborhood, so there is no way to escape and no one to call for help.

Lawless zone.
A land where no one is protected by the law.

As long as they did their job properly, no one would touch them no matter what they did.
They are like emperors here.

“Jake, Tyner, come over here.”

“Is this just the start, Captain? I thought I was dying waiting. What is it?”

Hehe… Did you see that little sister?
Because those bitches are softer on the inside.”

“Of course. Let’s eat it right in front of the boy. I’m looking forward to the expression he’ll make.
Oh, of course I know you’re the first Patta captain. After that we…”

As the horse runs at a moderate speed and talks to the men escorting the surroundings, Jake and Tyner approach the horse, spouting vulgar words one by one.

Cryle giggled, opening his mouth.

“The vulgar bastards.”

Crayle rebuked his men, but the corners of his mouth hung below his ears and he couldn’t hide them.

Stripping off guests and unlucky travelers had been done several times before.
But this time it will be a particularly rewarding side job.

According to the manager of the store, this customer seemed immature and wealthy.
Besides, to bring her beautiful sister, who would open her eyes if she met her on the street, to the set.

Doesn’t this amount to shouting ‘eat me up’?

I was wondering if there was a corner to believe in something because I was so defenseless, so I talked to it right before departure, but it was also unfounded.

He was a young boy with a lot of marks growing from his face.
Seeing the expression on his smooth face, not even a hint of doubt, made me feel like all my venom was gone.

In fact, the actions of Noel Sanghoe in the south of Daejeon are almost unknown in Daejeon, so it may be unavoidable.

What kind of aristocrat said to wipe the back?
Thanks to the thorough handling of the work, only those in the know had heard some rumors, and most people did not know anything about it.

“Whoa, whoa, stop!”

Hee hee!

They wave at the driver as they approach the stagecoach that follows furthest behind.

The coachman, who understood it roughly, averted his gaze and tapped the reins, and the horses gradually slowed down.
The horses clattered their hooves and purred, and soon came to a complete standstill along with the stagecoach.

As the rearmost wagon departed from the ranks, the rest of the wagons also slowly reduced their speed.
It seems that he intends to observe their ‘side job’.

I could feel the gaze mixed with a bleak laugh from the coachman and his men who had stopped.

Dogs anyway.
There’s no way I’m missing out on seeing something like this.

Still, the business itself was going to end soon, so it didn’t matter if I stopped for a moment.
Catching the man and beating him up would be over soon, and it wouldn’t be too late to tie the woman up and do it in the wagon.

The wagon leaves dark marks on the road and smokes a thick cloud of sand.

As Crayle and his men approached the wagon, dust covered it, and his already tattered appearance grew even more haggard.
The sand clung to the sweat that quietly soaked his skin and beard, and he felt a gritty touch, but they didn’t care at all.

Rather, it is joy and desire that distort their faces.

Kryle baring his teeth imagining the moment he catches a brother and sister who grew up ignorant of the world and ruins her life.
His face, wrinkled and distorted with filthy lust, gave the impression of a demonic disgust.

At his beckoning, Jake and Tyner chased the coachman away and approached the stagecoach’s doorway.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Guest! Guest! Come out for a second!”

“What, what are you doing?”

A startled voice came from inside the carriage as Jake knocked on the door and shouted in a harsh voice.

He seems quite surprised.

Well, it was to the extent that yesterday I had to stay away all day to the point where I ate food in the carriage.
Do you have a timid personality?

“The rear wheel got caught on a rock and the axle bent.
I have to lift one side of the wagon and make repairs, but it’s unnecessarily heavy with people inside, isn’t it?
It’ll be a while, so come see me.”

“Yes…?”

Jake first started to coax him out by saying something nonchalant.

It would be difficult for the hukou, who were afraid of showing their true colors from the beginning, to lock the wagon door and stage a sit-in.
Breaking down a stagecoach door was like breaking money, and above all, wouldn’t anyone be upset if you tried that way?

If you can’t control your anger and inadvertently kill a woman, you won’t be able to enjoy it for long.

A crackling sound is heard from inside the carriage.
It seems that he fell while trying to hurry.

Jake and Tyner looked at each other and giggled.

Rattle! Rattle!

A moment of laughter like that.

The door rattled from the inside and trembled loudly several times.
They couldn’t open the door and whimpered for over a minute doing what the hell they were doing.

“What are you doing?”

“Hey, this door won’t open.
Aren’t you locked from the outside?”

Where’s the wagon that locks from the outside?
Not even a prisoner wagon.

Stunned, Jake opened his mouth.
Somehow, it was definitely not a simple Hogu, but something lacking.

Rumbling!

“Wait a minute. I’ll open it for you.”

Isn’t this completely sick?

Apparently, there was no need for three people to come.
I don’t know if I’m going to faint in fear the moment I grasp the situation.

Thinking so, Jake reaches for the carriage door.

That moment.
Kryle, who had been watching them from a few steps behind, instinctively sensed something and his body trembled.
The detecting system’s unique magic, which had been spread out for the time being, sensed a huge wave of magical power.

Inside the carriage, where the door is still rattling.

What is this great magic power?
I remember feeling this way during an accident in a warehouse full of mana stones.
It was absurd that a person who wasn’t even a strategy wizard could have this level of magical power.

“For a moment…”

Wow!

It was much faster than Cryle could have vocally warned him.

The first thing that those present recognized was an explosion like a bomb exploding.

Then a huge shadow.
The two-meter-long wooden door fell off on its hinges and flew through the sky, momentarily blocking the sunlight.

I was confused about how high and how far the heavy door flew, whether it was a paper airplane or not.

How many seconds does it fly?

They stared blankly into the air with their mouths open.
It was a situation that shouldn’t have been in a combat situation, but the sight was just as unrealistic.

“Aaaaa…”

Quagmire!

Jake, who had been tossed with the door and his limbs fluttered in the air, was finally returned to the bosom of his mother Earth.
He landed on the roof of a stagecoach halfway through the ranks.

Jake’s weight is 90 kg.
He has flown over 30m, so there is no need to explain what that kinetic energy is like.

It seemed that his limbs were bent here and there among the fragments that had completely shattered the roof and even the frame of the carriage.

Hee hee!

Amidst the roaring tumult of the frightened horses running in unison, Kryle jumped atop his horse.
Not even the most skilled jockey will be able to calm the horses in this situation.

Right now, even his heart is pounding, who can appease who?
It was far better to trust your feet than to try and force a frightened horse to calm down.

Tyner came and shouted at Kryle, who rolled on the ground and raised himself.
He too was naked, as if he had jumped off his horse.

“What, boss! What the fuck is that?!”

Fuck. I don’t know either!

Crayle swallowed his thoughts and caught his breath.
A man stood in front of the stagecoach with the open door.

He has a peaceful expression, as if asking who threw a person just like a shot put.
He stood crookedly and brushed the dust off his black hair and collar.
I get goosebumps because he looks like a young man from a village who has been to the local supermarket and opened his shoes in front of the front door.

It was confusing and embarrassing, but this was when the experience of serving in the Imperial Army shined.

Whatever the circumstances, now, when that monstrous man does nothing, may be his only chance to catch him off guard.

“Tiner!”

“Yes, yes?”

“That bastard is actually nothing special. The amount of mana that he gets caught in my magic is just average.”

“No, but oh…”

“You asshole, you heard the explosion earlier! You must have planted a bomb in the door.
Don’t you know when you see me standing there now? It’s obvious that you’re just bluffing when you don’t have a dick.
If you’re a physical enhancement mage, you’ll be able to win enough.”

“D-I think that’s what I heard…”

Clyle pretended to be cold and spoke calmly.

It was a blatant lie, of course.

This was evident from his military experience and his confidence in his own unique magic.

That man is a monster
It never occurred to me that even if the entire fifteen-member security team, let alone two Crails and Tyners, attacked, they would be able to defeat it.

To think that an unknown prey rolled into my feet.
How did you come up with such an absurd misunderstanding?

Shall I beg you to save me?

It will be useless.
If you ask why, there is nothing to say other than persimmon, but I felt that way strongly.

Isn’t today a disaster that we encounter at least once in our lives?
Natural disaster in human form.
I just ran into it because I was unlucky.

I had to give up my thoughts of confrontation and duck down to save my life.

Of course I can’t tell you the truth.
Wouldn’t Tyner be more than willing to buy them time?

If two people run away at the same time, there is a half chance that the man will come after Kryle.
Rather than that, running away with Tyner in front was more likely to survive.

The rest of the crew were still having a hard time calming down the horses, so if you move a little faster, you might be able to use them as bait to get out of this place by yourself.

“I’ll cover you, so when you signal, charge.”

“Ugh…”

Tyner swallowed his saliva.

Unless you’re an idiot, there’s no way you’ll be relieved to say “Oh, is that so?”

Even so, the reason he didn’t turn his back right away and run away was simple.
May the captain be right. In fact, it was because she desperately hoped that the man in front of her was just a bluff.

Tyner stances, grits his teeth, and takes one step forward.
Clyle, on the other hand, stepped back little by little without anyone noticing, matching his footsteps.

While they were running back and forth, sweating from tension, the man in question opened his mouth.
His expression seemed refreshed, as if he had brushed off all the sand from him.

“I’ve been waiting for you since before.
I was nervous about what to do if he didn’t come.”

“…?”

What are you talking about?
The man continued.

“I’ve heard rumors about you, but rumors are just rumors.
If you guys weren’t as bad guys as you thought, wouldn’t you feel sorry when you messed up?”

“…You said you came after knowing everything?”

“I just peeled carrots. And I heard all the talk outside.
There’s nothing I can’t say to my woman, right?”

The man’s dark eyes glowed ominously as he spoke with a grin.
Unique eye glow when using magical power.

The man had magical powers all over his body.

“…”

Kryle secretly shivered all over.

It was also an enormous amount of magic attribute.
No matter how much detection-type magic was activated, my skin was all tingling.
The tips of his hair seemed to stand up.

However, the others gathered around Kryle one by one, as if they did not feel his danger.
It seems that he took the nonsense that Clyle shouted earlier straight away.

They intended to fight back.

‘Useless bullshit.’

They were just town thugs until they received basic training from Kryle.
Since he was a beginner who did not even know the three man-one unit strategy, which is the basis of wizard battles, he said everything.

Thanks to training, I’m a little better now, but garbage is garbage.

A truckload of these guys wouldn’t be able to hurt that man.

At least that man was completely surrounded by such rubbish, so at least it could buy him time until Cryle got away.

Bodyguards surrounded the stagecoach in a circle.

They raised their mana to use their own magic.

Sparks blazed, lightning crackled, and spear knives floated in the air and fluttered.
With just one word of Kryle’s command, all of those magics would strike the man in front of him.

But the man had no gaps.

At first glance, it may seem flirtatious and full of gaps, but it is not.
His attitude is not based on gaps, but on leisure.

The composure comes from knowing full well that their resistance is meaningless to anyone.
The next time they use magic, that man takes a step.

Just thinking that way, Clyle couldn’t possibly issue an attack order.

It was the moment when Cryle broke out in a cold sweat and gulped down his saliva.
A woman’s voice came from inside the stagecoach.

“Brother, there’s a signal!
Smells dangerous. Be careful!”

“Dangerous?”

The man raises his eyebrows in surprise.

At that moment, Clyle shouted.

The gap that the man saw for the first time.
It was because he thought that if he missed this moment, even running away would be impossible forever.

“Pounce!”

It was the moment he cried out.
A series of gunshots pierced the air along with a sandstorm.