Chapter 38

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.”

“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.