215 Reasons

Hanses looked at Kieran and Lawless as a bitter smile formed on his face.

"Remember the man who caught me during my previous escape?" he asked.

"Stagner, the Grand Duke's sword master? The teacher of all three of the Grand Duke's sons? You're saying he is the masked man?"

As Kieran recalled the man Hanses was talking about, he frowned. Hanses had said a lot more than that.

Stagner was the best swordsman in Morko Grand Duchy and the strongest fighter under the Grand Duke's dictatorship.

Hanses nodded, the bitter smile on his face getting even bigger.

"Yeah, I think he is the masked man. The feeling I got when he passed by me… It felt the same as I remembered!"

"When I entered the Grand Duke's vault, the whole thing was too easy. It felt like it had been pre-arranged. The news about the treasure had also reached my ears accidentally… Now it all seems like it was a trap though. They had planned this ahead of time. They had been preparing for this uprising! I swear on the contract that everything I said was true!"

Hanses drew in a deep breath. He seemed to want to suppress his anger, but he could not calm down. He just couldn't accept that he had fallen into a native's trap.

Lawless patted Hanses on the shoulder in an effort to comfort him.

Meanwhile, he looked at Kieran.

Kieran's frown had not eased up after Hanses' explanation. Quite the opposite, he was frowning even harder as he connected more things in his mind.

"So those rebels that entered the castle were led by Stagner with the excuse of capturing you? Even if this is true, he could not have brought in that many troops. There must have been someone on the inside!"

"LeGrand! Don't forget the second son! He was also wearing the same mask as Stagner! Plus, Reedrall was killed by his own guard! I have a new theory now that I've put everything together!"

"The second son must have been jealous of his older brother. The eldest son was going to inherit the throne, so LeGrand caused an uprising and took this chance to eliminate his other competitor, his younger brother!" Kieran said slowly, taking a deep breath.

"Impossible! Even if the second son successfully rebelled against his brother, considering the meritorious deeds of the eldest son and the fact that he was the people's favorite, LeGrand would never have gotten the Grand Duke's throne! This might even have backfired on him!"

Hanses shook his head in disagreement.

"Then let's change perspective. What if the second son suppressed the uprising and found the 'Legacy'? Don't forget the Church Hall massacre! I still do not understand why the masked man would kill his own men, but if he wanted to use that incident to claim that he had suppressed the rebels, then the massacre would make sense! All they'd need is an appropriate number of rebels, not an army with a big advantage!"

Kieran smiled as he looked at Hanses.

Hanses' face turned pale instantly.

"If that's the case..."

Hanses did not finish his sentence. The conclusion was obvious.

"But we killed the second son…" Lawless sighed.

"They'll hunt us down relentlessly now!"

Kieran sighed as well.

What would he have done if his big plans had been ruined by a couple of thieves?

He would have hunted the culprit down till the end of the world.

Kieran's scalp went numb as he recalled Stagner's abilities.

"We need to recover as soon as possible and get into prime fighting form!" Lawless said.

Kieran and Hanses did not object.

"I'm more worried about how many men he'll bring to chase us down."

Once Kieran recalled the scene inside the Church Hall, he realized that his enemies were no noble knights that upheld chivalry rules.

They would not fight them one-on-one if they could beat them by using the advantage of their manpower.

"No matter how many there are, we are still a couple of days ahead. The rebellion in the castle will cost them a lot of time. Unless they find LeGrand's body and put everything aside to pursue us!" Lawless said, raising his head towards Kieran and Hanses.

The two of them were looking worried.

"Relax! It's just a theory!" Lawless said with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

A terrible feeling rose in Kieran's heart.

He was anxious as they rested. Every time he'd had a bad feeling in the past, it had come true.

Nothing happened until they started moving again though.

Kieran breathed out in relief.

Suddenly, he noticed that his Sub Mission [Sudden Arrival] had been marked as completed.

[Sudden Arrival (Completed)]

[Rebels Killed: 17 (Good)]

...

A Good rating only meant an average result. Not too shabby, but not too great either.

Truth be told, the number of enemies Kieran had killed should have been double, but unfortunately the castle defending troops had not been included.

"The Forest of Pilgrimage is dangerous, and our current equipment and items aren't enough! We'll at least need more food. Tastier food! The towns near the forest will have everything we need!" Hanses said, leading the pack with his horse.

"Agreed!" Lawless nodded right away.

"No comment!" Kieran shrugged.

He had no reason to deny more food, but what troubled him more than food was the Main Mission itself.

"My Main Mission is [Escape Morko Grand Duchy], Lawless' is [Escape Morko Grand Duchy's Pursuit], and Hanses' is [Escape Morko Grand Duchy's Pursuit in 2 weeks]! Our Main Missions are different because of our dungeon entry numbers, and Hanses is the initiator and the main culprit, that's why his mission is the hardest! When the three of us escaped together though, our seemingly different Main Missions became the same! Only Hanses' Main Mission has a time limit..."

Kieran quietly thought about that problem as he sat on his saddle.

The time limit had to serve a purpose.

"What does it mean? Could it…?"

Kieran suddenly came up with a theory. Before he could share his thoughts with Lawless and Hanses though, a series of horse gallops were heard from behind them.

Judging by the sound of the galloping, there had to be at least a hundred men.

In barely a few seconds, Kieran could make out the pursuing horses with his exceptional eyesight.

It was the castle troops!