CH 28

“Did you hear that?”

“What? I didn’t hear anything.”

“No. Just now, I definitely…”

Kieeeeek…!

The wind carried faint screams from the other side of the dark dungeon, where glowing grass only grew in small patches. “Dammit!” The mercenaries quickly rose while grabbing their weapons.

Partec quickly stepped up. “Calm down! Everyone, be quiet!”

Ahhhhh…!

The faint screams resonated once more. 

Partec shouted after sharing a gaze with Breen, “Everyone, prepare yourselves for battle and stand by!”

“What the fuck? What do you mean, stand by? Sir Maverick went that way!” One of Maverick’s mercenaries shouted furiously. 

Partec pointed his shortsword towards the mercenary and replied, “Sir Eugene ordered us to wait here. I will cut down anyone who does not follow orders.”

“Fuck you! Who do you think you…” The mercenary retorted and started approaching Partec. Then, he hesitated before stopping. Glade, Lavan, and all of Breen’s mercenaries had aimed their weapons toward him.

“If you want to get cut down, then keep talking.”

“We follow the orders of Sir Eugene. Lower your weapon, you bastard.”

The fierce spirit emitted by 12 people caused the complexions of Maverick’s followers to change at once. They only had a few people left that were suitable for combat. Thus, they did not dare to stand up against these 12 warriors.

“You ill-tempered babes! You all are so weak that you can’t even cut off a goblin’s dick! Keep your mouth shut and stay in formation.”

Breen's vulgar words were befitting of his dirty impression. Maverick’s mercenaries were forced to gather themselves into formation. After a short while, a torch could be seen swaying inside the dungeon.

“I-it’s coming!”

Everyone’s anxious eyes gathered on the glowing torch.

“Sir Eugene!”

Partec ran out alongside a few mercenaries as soon as the plate armor became visible. It was a grotesque sight. Eugene carried a torch and a shortsword, and his armor was painted with blood in various places.

“We were ambushed by monsters. We will move out right away.”

“Yes!”

The mercenaries and porters hurriedly followed behind Eugene. After walking for a few minutes, a terrible sight unfolded in front of the group.

“Ugh!”

“Bweeegh!”

Some of the weaker porters knelt down on the spot and puked. Bodies of dozens of monsters were scattered all over the place, and mercenaries with torn limbs and shredded bodies lay in between. The smell of monsters, blood, and human excrement from death created an unbearable stench.

“Goblins… There’s a hop as well!”

“They were annihilated? No! Over there!”

Not all of them were dead. The only survivor was crouched in a corner with his legs curled together.

“S-sir Maverick!”

The mercenaries rushed forward after seeing the full-body chainmail. Eugene’s black robe was covering Maverick. As the soldiers came forward, Maverick slowly raised his face.

“…..!”

After seeing his blurred, unfocused eyes, the mercenaries became shocked. Less than thirty minutes had passed since the scouts had left for a survey, but Maverick had already transformed into a completely different person.

Maverick looked around the mercenaries with a blank expression. He opened his mouth wide. Then he started screaming with a horrified look. “Huaaaaagh! Kieeekk!”

“Sir Maverick! What’s wrong!? Get it together!”

“Kiek! Kieeek! Uhu, uhuhu.”

After covering his head with the black robes, Maverick began trembling while moaning like a beast.

“What is…”

“He’s been like that ever since his neck was bitten by a war boar. Thanks to that, I had to deal with the monster alone.”

“War boar!?”

The mercenaries were stunned. Among the monsters classified into intermediate-rank, war boars were known to be the one of the fiercest along with dungeon trolls.

“Where is the war boar?” One of the mercenary asked.

“I took care of it. If you go further in, you will find its carcass.” Eugene pointed in a direction. Breen rushed towards it along with three mercenaries. Eugene continued to speak while looking down at Maverick. “I think he must have lost his mind after experiencing such an event for the first time. I tried everything I could think of, even slapping him on the cheek, but I couldn’t get him to come to his senses.”

“Heu! Hu! Heu…”

The mercenaries revealed dejected expressions when they saw Maverick trembling like a tree. Some of them had experienced such cases before. Those who failed to overcome the lingering effects and fears of a battle would mentally collapse and would act just as Maverick was.

He had become nothing but a cripple. Maverick’s life as a knight ended. No, rather, as of today, he could no longer function as a regular human being.

“Hey! Come help us!” Breen shouted to the mercenaries. He was struggling to drag a humongous corpse of a war boar along with three mercenaries. The monster was easily the size of two or three regular wild boars combined.

“It’s real! It’s a war boar!”

“Look at its fangs.”

The mercenaries were stunned by the war boar. Its fangs were as large as a human’s forearm. The monster’s body was riddled with various injuries, and Eugene’s spear was deeply embedded in its large forehead.

It was obvious at first glance that Eugene had killed the monster by himself.

“Since things turned out this way, we will dismantle the corpses of the monsters here and return. Those who followed Sir Maverick here, retrieve the bodies of your colleagues.”

“…Yes, Sir Eugene.”

Starting with their leader, most of their colleagues were either dead or crippled. The heads of the survivors hung helplessly as their faces revealed dejected looks. 

***

“Hey, isn’t Sir Maverick acting a little strange?”

“Hmm.”

At Lavan’s words, Partec glanced back towards Maverick, who was curled up into a ball at the back of the cart. He was still trembling while groaning with Eugene’s black robe wrapped around him. It was impossible to look at him as a knight anymore.

“He won’t eat or drink anything. I tried feeding him the emergency mana stone, but you saw it, right? He only screams like a crazy person.”

One or two mana stones were provided to an evil land’s subjugation party. It wasn’t to be used sparingly, but rather to give to knights when they were seriously injured.

Of course, a mana stone wasn’t an elixir to bring back the dead, but it could extend a person’s life for some time. “It’s amazing that he hasn’t died after being bit by a war boar. But why is he not taking the mana stone?”

“How would I know?” Partec responded in an uninterested voice.

“Maybe Sir Maverick has truly gone crazy?” Lavan whispered after sticking a little closer to Partec.

“Well…” Partec narrowed his forehead. He also could not understand. Maverick’s skin turned blue like a corpse, and he continued to behave erratically. He would suddenly rush at the mercenaries with a beastly growl, then fall flat on the ground with fear whenever Eugene stepped out. However, Eugene did not hit or attack him. If he had, it could have explained his fear toward Eugene. 

All that Eugene did was block Maverick’s way and stare at him. Even so, Maverick was rendered helpless and would always fall on his stomach, trembling. He acted just like prey in front of a predator.

The symptoms worsened when they exited the dungeon. He could not even raise his head. He curled up into a ball and continued making pained moans. If Eugene had not been there, perhaps the mercenaries would have chosen to leave him behind. Both his body and mind had been ruined to the point of no return.

Soon, the mercenaries began having similar thoughts in regard to Maverick’s changes.

‘Maybe he got cursed?’

‘He definitely got cursed by a monster!’

In their line of work, violence and murderer were commonplace. Perhaps as such, mercenaries were susceptible to various superstitions.

For the mercenaries, there was no other reasonable explanation for Maverick’s bizarre transformation other than he was cursed by a monster.

“Anyways, that knight is done for.”

“I know. Phew! I am glad that Sir Eugene was there.”

Maverick was crippled, while Eugene proudly rode his horse under the bright light of the sun. The difference between the two knights was magnified even further. Naturally, none of the mercenaries were aware that such a brilliant knight was the one responsible for crippling Maverick.

***

“What? What do you… Ha!” Camara could not find any words to respond after hearing Eugene’s stories, who returned a few days earlier than scheduled.

“We could not push ahead with the subjugation anymore. Sir Maverick has become like this, and more than half of the mercenaries he brought with him are either dead or have been seriously injured. Of course, even though we did not meet the minimum conditions, I think I have done enough on my part.”

“Tsk.”

Camara clicked his tongue after seeing Maverick, who was curled up and trembling between Partec and Breen. It didn’t matter to him whether Maverick died nor not, but it was difficult to refute Eugene’s words.

“Well, you did manage to catch quite a few low-rank monsters. For the intermediate-rank monsters, you killed a war boar, so the results aren’t too shabby. Anyways, thank you for your hard work, Sir Eugene.”

“Hmm.” Eugene nodded, then turned his gaze. Bertel wore a dazed expression this entire time with his mouth slightly opened. He flinched after receiving Eugene’s gaze.

“Come to think of it, Sir Maverick told me a very interesting story.”

“Hmm? What do you mean by that?” Camara asked with a puzzled expression. However, Eugene’s gaze was no longer on Camara, but rather on Bertel, whose forehead glistened with drops of sweat.

“He told me that someone instigated him to kill me inside the dungeon.”

“What!?” Camara’s shock was even greater than when he heard about what transpired in the dungeon. He approached Eugene. “What do you mean by that? Who ordered him to kill you, sir? And why? No, who?”

“I think that’s a question that you can ask your brother,” Eugene spoke in a cold voice. 

Camara abruptly jerked his head around. “Y-you?”

“Brother, are you crazy!? What are you trying to say?!” Bertel roared, then glared at Eugene with malicious eyes. “Sir! I do not know why you are spouting such nonsense. You are speaking words that can seriously smear my honor and reputation. To say such things without evidence…”

“We can ask Maverick, can’t we?”

“…..!”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Maverick. Even now, the latter still kept gasping like a beast.

“W-what are you talking about? What testimony could a crazy man give?” 

“Why don’t we just ask first? What do you think, Lord Tywin?”

“Hmm.”

Camara’s expression became complicated. It was true that he wanted to get rid of his brother, but it was a different matter entirely for his younger brother to become involved in an attempted murder against a knight.

Even in a territorial dispute, captured knights were never killed recklessly. Even if they were an enemy, it was a long-standing tradition to respect the honor and bravery of the knight. As such, they would usually release the knight for ransom.

But if someone attempted to kill a knight, not on a battlefield, but in a dungeon? Moreover, if the target was a knight who participated in their own family’s dungeon subjugation? Such an event would not only be called a disgrace, but it would also taint the honor of the entire family.

As Camara agonized over the decision, Eugene whispered in a cold voice, “If Lord Tywin refuses, I will head to Maren and ask for a formal trial.”

“Hmm…!” Camara was shocked to his senses. He hurriedly met Eugene’s gaze. ‘I-is he threatening me?’

If the matter became widely known and a trial took place in Maren under the supervision of the mayor and the priest, it would quickly escalate into something bigger. Since Eugene personally received armor from the mayor, he could have gone straight to Maren and asked for a trial without telling him. Despite this, Eugene insisted on telling him first.

‘Then, is this… is he giving me a chance?’

It was either the entire Tywin family or Bertel. Camara did not hesitate in his choice. “Okay. Let’s hear what he has to say.”

“Brother!”

“Shut up! As you said, Sir Maverick is out of his mind and can’t even speak properly! What is there to worry about, especially if it’s not true?”

“…..!”

Bertel’s expression became pale, and he started trembling. After turning away from his brother, Camara walked to Maverick. “Sir Rowen of Maverick.”

“Heu.”

Maverick struggled to raise his head. Camara asked in a low, but powerful voice. “Did you attempt to kill Sir Jan of the Eugene family in the dungeon?”

Maverick’s quivering eyes suddenly headed to a certain place. His cracked lips opened slowly.

“Ye…Yes.”

“Brother…”

“Fuck! Shut your mouth!” Camara muted Bertel’s words with harsh swears, then asked Maverick once again. “Did you decide on that on your own? Or was there a mastermind?”

“Heu! I-I was instigated.”

Camara closed his eyes. But he soon exhaled a heavy breath and asked the last question. “Who… instigated you to kill Sir Eugene?”

“T-that’s…” Maverick’s face slowly turned to one side. Then, he raised his trembling finger and pointed. “T-that man… Bertel Tywin was the one who asked me to…”

“Nooo!” Along with a loud scream, Bertel pulled out his dagger and ran towards Maverick.

Kang! Thud!

Eugene drew his shortsword like thunder and knocked Bertel down on the spot.

“Keugh! Kuagh!”

With his elbow pressed against Bertel’s back, Eugene whispered, “You’re done for.”