Chapter 281: Mental Trauma

Monan found himself in Lancaster when he woke up.

He felt a bitter taste in his mouth when he was informed about old Basil being received by the mayor and moved to the guest room of mayor’s residence.

In every manner speaking, he had failed in his duty as a knightly escort.

Still, the other escorts of the diplomatic corps also had terrible looks on their faces.

Aside from Basil being assertively ushered away by the Lancaster mayor’s forces while they were unconscious, it appeared that they were more surprised by the outcome of their confrontation.

It was hard to believe, but a single person had wiped the floor with them, a full detachment of imperial military elites!

Moreover, not a single one of them had been killed, making it even less of a fight. Indeed, the Flatfish Swordsman wasn’t giving an inch – he was giving a mile!

“So? What happened to that man?”

Monan asked another knight who had recovered before he did. But for some reason, the knight was wearing a small rag shirt that was too small for him and didn’t even have a single piece of equipment.

That certainly left Monan a little upset: it was a creed of imperial military elites that they never went unarmed.

“Who? Lord Basil… or that fish-head man?” The knight did a double-take when questioned, unable to react immediately.

“What do you mean, fish-head man? It’s just a head mask.” Monan corrected. “I heard that that there were wildlings from certain wastelands who would put on the heads of beast to frighten their enemies, and only the strongest warriors were granted the honor to do that. It symbolizes their rank!”

Being a man of war who admires might, Monan wouldn’t have been that respectful if they group had won the ‘spar’.

Be that as it may, the pink flatfish (Mufasa) had turned their whole procession upside down alone, displaying admirable power. As such, they need to show respect, both out of a warrior’s obligation and to cover for their shortcomings.

If such a champion was called a fish-head man, what should those who were soundly beaten by him be called? Small fry or plankton? “Would most champions pick a pink fish head to symbolize their rank, though?” The knight asked hesitantly.

“The champions in the imperial capital has their unbelievable eccentricities. It’s probably just the world view of the strong.” Monan sighed, before returning to his initial question.

“So, about that…”

At that point, Monan suddenly realized that he didn’t know the name of or how he should address the pink flatfish who came to receive them either, and after half a beat, he was forced to make up a name for him. “So, what happened to his fish-head excellency?”

“So we’re sticking to fish-head…”

The knight rolled his eyes before becoming serious and went down to business. “You’re right, captain, the Lancaster city watch is poor, lazy and unmotivated. Their tight patrols are actually full of openings-in fact, I’ve just slipped out to get some information.”

“So? What happened?” Monan quickly pressed.

“His fish-head excellency… is dead.”

“Dead…” Monan felt his spirit left his body.

It was not as if he felt anything… special towards the flatfish, but merely that he had lost the chance to challenge him again and erase the humiliation before. Meanwhile, the other knight continued, painting a vivid picture of the scene. “After we were defeated by his fish-head excellency, he drove the carriage and returned to Lancaster before us. Afterwards, several anglerfish-headed people appeared, pointing at him and asking ‘why is your HP falling to

zero?!!

“His fish-head excellency looked stunned at that, pulled out one of the bolts and yelled ‘Damn it, the bolts actually have a HP Bar’ and then dropped to the ground, dead. The anglerfish-headed people then carried him away…”

“Hold on. Are you saying that our bolts were still stuck on him even after he reached Lancaster?” Monan asked, gaping.

“That’s right.” The knight nodded. “He was probably afraid of bleeding profusely if he simply pulled the bolts out.”

Even if it was the right choice not to pull out any arrows after being hit on the battlefield, when the battle was over and there were bandages in hand, it was the right choice to plug the wounds.

After all, illogical powers like sacred arts existed in this world, and as long as the wounds could be closed and then washed with holy water or be blessed by a high-ranked priest, any injury would heal completely before infection and there wouldn’t be blood loss.

On the other hand, this was the first time Monan ever met such a macho man who simply let a pound worth of arrows stick on him as he returned from the wilderness back to town.

He would definitely make commander in the imperial military with that level of toughness, claiming achievements and accolades everywhere.

It was such a waste that a macho champion like him forfeited his life for the mayor of a border city like Lancaster, leaving all his mastery and training to waste.

Even Monan had to shake his head and sighed.

“Oh, forget it.”

Calming himself, Monan then checked on something else with his comrade. “But since you’ve managed to slip out, did you manage to report what back to the imperial capital?”

“I tried…”

The knight’s face looked troubled at that. “After I managed to learn what happened to his fish-head excellency, I then asked directions to the runner… only to run into a group of dolphin-heads.” Monan:???

“Is fish-heads that popular in Lancaster?” He mused, feeling as if he was out of fashion since he was completely unaware of such a weird trend.“Captain, I heard that the scholars had recently discovered that dolphins aren’t fishes…”

“Stop joking around. What are they if not fish? Hippos?” Monan waved him off, completely unaware and unconcerned about the classification of marine life. “Anyway, what did the dolphin-heads do?”

The knight gulped upon those words. “They were walking past me when they suddenly stopped, and for some reason were staring tightly above my head. Then, they started yelling, saying things like ‘Look, red-name!’ or ‘Hold on, I got a quest, we can’t kill him!’ or ‘Encounter quest? I finally got one!’ and then rushed towards me to beat me up.”

“I tried to resist with my full strength, but they were surprisingly strong, screaming something about take the items of whatnot and unclothing me even as they beat me up…”

At that, the escort guard hung his head, a crumbled expression on his face as if caught in profound mental trauma. “I would rather fight an ogre than being dragged on the streets naked like a dead pig! Can’t you understand me, captain!”

Monan’s mouth twitched even as he pictured the sight.

‘No wonder the others are still fully equipped while you’re only wearing a single piece of rag…

‘It’s been hard on you…’