Chapter 77

Chapter 77

To the north of Crossroad, there lay undeveloped mountainous areas.

In the lands north of the frontline, all places suitable for farming were already fully developed.

Though not as fertile as the land south of the front line, every inch of soil had to be put to use for survival.

That it remained undeveloped, meant...

"Sort of... rugged, this mountain..."

The terrain was treacherous.

Naturally, the footpath was not well-established. It was just a raw mountain trail.

Having lived a life far removed from refreshing hobbies like hiking, climbing even a bit of the mountain soon had me panting hard. It was killing me!

"Are you okay, My Lord? Shall I carry you to our destination?"

"Oh, really? Can you?"

I was about to hop onto Lucass back, when...

"..."

Whew.

I could feel the sharp stare from Evangeline behind me...

"...What is it, junior? That look."

"No, nothing really."

After claiming it was nothing, she immediately began speaking.

"Just, I was thinking... how lucky you are. Having your own personal vehicle."

"..."

"While your subordinates are sweating buckets climbing up, you get to comfortably ride up on your knights back. Truly befitting of royalty."

"..."

I glanced behind me.

I could see dozens of soldiers following us up the mountain.

At first, I said I would go alone, but Lucas had insisted on coming, vehemently opposing my decision.

So, I decided to bring Lucas along, but then Evangeline somehow heard about our trip and insisted on joining.

And so, intending to just bring the two... it was a repetitive result.

I deliberately didnt bring Damien. He had been overexerting himself, and there might be a situation where we would have to fire upon people.

Anyway, everyone was struggling with the sudden hiking trip, and Evangeline was taking issue with me trying to make it easy on myself.

"Alright, lets do this."

I raised my index finger at Evangeline, who was about to nag some more.

"Ill carry you."

"What?"

Evangelines eyes widened.

"You, youre going to...carry me?!"

"Thats right. And Lucas will carry me."

At my absurdly serious suggestion, both Evangeline and Lucas looked horrified. I crossed my arms and chuckled.

"I can take care of my subordinate and make things easier for me. Two birds with one stone!"

"Wait a minute. But that means Lucas will have a really hard time!"

"No, carrying two people is not feasible in the first place..."

While engaging in this absurd banter as we climbed the mountain trail, one officer following us bowed his head deeply to me.

"I am ashamed, Your Majesty... Due to our negligence..."

I glanced at the man.

This officer was the leader of the prisoner escort squad.

He had met with an accident while transferring five convicts to Crossroad.

"No, no. Thanks to you, Im getting some unexpected exercise, right? Ah~ my back~"

"Your Highness, Im truly sorry! Please bestow mercy upon me!"

At my growl, the officer was almost on the verge of collapsing on the floor.

"Hey, hey. Its a joke. A joke. Cant you take a joke? Are you afraid Im going to eat you?"

Evangeline gave a shrug at my confusion.

"You have quite a reputation from the capital, Ash."

Ah, right. The Ash before I inhabited him was no joke in the capital.

These officers and the escort party must have come down from the capital as well, they must have thought I was that barbaric and mad Prince Ash.

No wonder they are terrified.

"So, the escaped convicts ran straight to these mountains, correct?"

"Yes, Your Highness. As you can see, their tracks lead into these mountains."

On the treacherous mountain trail, there were sporadic footprints of those who had come before us.

There were also signs that something heavy had been dragged along.

"Why would they choose to go through such rough terrain..."

Evangeline, a local of the area, answered my query.

"The northern mountainous region of Crossroad is home to bandits. They have been a nuisance for quite some time."

"You hijacked a carriage?"

"Y, yes! It looked expensive, so naturally, we thought the contents would be too... we thought we could sell both the contents and the carriage for money..."

I clucked my tongue.

"And when you opened the hijacked carriage, there were no treasures, only prisoners. And those prisoners ended up beating you all. Thats the situation, right?"

The young bandit frantically nodded his head.

I quickly turned to look at the escort troops captain.

"Escort Captain, didnt you claim the prisoners escaped on their own? But according to this boy, it sounds like the escort carriage was simply hijacked by bandits."

"That, that is..."

"I see. Youre supposed to be a prisoner escort from the Capital, but youd lose face if you admit you were robbed by mere peripheral bandits."

"I... Im sorry. I never meant to lie..."

I growled ominously.

"But, captain of the escort, I can forgive the error of letting the prisoner be stolen by the bandits, but I cannot forgive being lied to..."

"Yo, yo, your majesty! Ive committed a sin worthy of death!"

"I forgive mistakes but not intentions. Be aware there will be a fitting penalty."

The escort captain trembled and fell to the ground.

Why would he lie when it could easily be found out? Did he think I wouldnt personally inspect the situation and just believe the reports?

...That could have been his thinking.

Anyway, now the whole picture is becoming clear.

The escort squad was attacked by bandits while transporting five condemned prisoners in a carriage to Crossroad.

The bandits hijacked the carriage, brought it to their hideout, opened it, and were then caught off guard and overpowered by the prisoners inside.

The escort squad falsified their report, saying the prisoners had escaped on their own, and now that their lie has been found out, theyre going to get an earful from me.

The situation is explained but...

So, where are these five condemned prisoners now?

"Senior!"

Then I heard Evangelines voice from deep within the hideout.

"Over here! Hurry!"

I got up and headed in her direction.

Evangeline stood in the hideout, a puzzled look on her face, pointing to the middle of the yard.

"Look."

"...!"

I was surprised and my eyes widened when I looked at the scene.

In the middle of the ravaged hideout,

Five people, dressed in the black uniforms of the Everblack Empire, were seated.

No, they were seated, but...

Clink, clank.

They had tied themselves up with chains, blindfolded, and gagged. They knelt there.

Everyone who came into the courtyard was dumbfounded at the sight.

"Welcome, your highness, and citizens of Crossroad."

One of the prisoners, a man seated in the middle, slowly opened his mouth.

"The five of us, the condemned prisoners, have been waiting for you."

He was the only prisoner not blindfolded or gagged, but he was tied up in chains just the same.

Did he tie himself up?

Why?

When an opportunity to escape had finally come, why did they not run away but instead tie themselves up and wait for us?

"We have no intention of escaping or fleeing, not even a tiny bit. We wish for our execution to be carried out promptly and for a report to be sent to the higher-ups as quickly as possible."

The man slowly lifted his head.

Under the hood of his worn-out, charred imperial uniform, bright green hair flowed down.

I was surprised and slightly opened my mouth.

In this game, there is only one race with that hair color.

An elf...?!

"Please, everyone."

The elf man bent his head down again and repeated his request.

"Please execute us as soon as possible. If not, you may cut our throats right here."

The other prisoners also bowed their heads deeply.

They kept uttering words I couldnt comprehend.

"Please, kill us swiftly."

"..."

No, what do you mean, kill?

I shouted internally.

Ive reserved you for my sub-party! You cant die!