Apparently, the divide between the forest and the strip of wasteland had served as the country’s borders. A highway that’d been unmaintained and left in a practically untraversable state ran alongside the woods.
The guard station was hidden inside the forest itself. It had probably originally been constructed to be temporary. It looked less like it was built to handle people and more like a shelter from monsters.
But war had been declared, and hostilities had begun.
The mercenaries, hired to at least provide some coverage over the border, numbered twenty men in all. Not a single one of them looked to be an official military officer. This meant that we were far from the actual warfront. They’d been stationed here just in case.
However, that also meant they must have been bored out of their minds with nothing to do. Since they’d chanced upon some wayward “spies,” they’d decided to mess with us for sport.
Passing through a wall fashioned from logs sharpened to points at the tops, we were led into the guard station’s grounds. Once there, the prince and I were immediately pulled apart.
The pack that Wald had left on the ground during his battle with the giant frog had already been taken from us. They were ransacking it now. All of the weapons I kept on me had been taken as well.
The cowl of the prince’s cloak had been pulled down, exposing his pretty face for all to see. The mercenaries crowding around him began shouting and jeering crudely.
Of course, they didn’t pay much attention to me, the bearded mountain man.
“We got ourselves a woman!”
“Yeah, a spy woman!”
“Leave him alone!” I shouted. “He’s my brother, and we’re not spies! If you want money, you can take everything we have, but let him go!”
If any of them heard me, they didn’t show any indication of it, so I switched tactics. “My brother was the one who was casting magic earlier!”
That did the trick. The crowd of men closing in on the prince stopped in their tracks.
“Look, pal,” growled a man with a large frame—he looked to be the leader of the mercenaries. He approached me, his drawn sword casually slung over his shoulder. “Ain’t no one gonna believe a couple o’ nitwits out on a stroll near the border of a country we’re at war with. We say you’re a spy? You’re a spy.”
“You’ll know we’re not if you check. We have proof from Helenna. We’re not enemies. We were only out hunting some wild game.”
I pulled the wooden pass out of my jacket’s inner pocket and held it out.
The man glanced at it and snorted.
“Then no one knows you’ve come to our country.”
He slapped the pass out of my hand and stepped on it.
Then, he addressed the other mercenaries. “The next time those military dogs’ll come sniffing around here is in three days! Until then, let’s make sure we have a good report for ’em, eh? Interrogate the woman! And listen up, wench,” he sneered, turning his attention to Wald. “If you try to resist, we’ll kill your brother! If you do anything stupid, he’s dead meat!”
“Big bro!”
I leveled a glare at the mercenary leader. “So you say, but you mean to kill us both before the patrol arrives, huh? There’s nowhere to sell us off as slaves in these backwoods, after all,” I spat.
He grinned and then thrust the tip of his sword near my face. “Don’t even think about resisting, or I’ll kill you dead.”
Next, I heard someone snarl at the prince. “If you don’t want to see your brother gutted right in front of you, then strip. Right now.”
The men dragged Wald to the ground, savagely yanking his braid. They bent over around his small body, each fighting to be the first on him.
“Don’t move, Wal!” I shouted.
There was no space for me to wedge myself between Wald and his assailants with Jump this time. Instead, I wordlessly channeled a spell—Wind Slash—and blasted the swarming men away from him.
“Wha?!”
Then, I warped behind their leader with Jump—he was frozen with shock.
I whispered darkly into his ear. “Did you think I couldn’t use magic, even though you knew my brother could?”
The area around the prince was clear now that I’d scattered the men—my magic had left them collapsed on the ground. I cast Jump once more and reappeared over the prince, who was drenched with splattered blood from head to toe. I grabbed him by the arm and then Jumped several more times.
Ensuring we’d be out of the mercenary leader’s line of sight, I warped us to a stable at the far end of the compound.
I gently set the wide-eyed, speechless youth down on a pile of hay.
“Wait here,” I said to him, then lowered my voice grimly. “I’ll exterminate them.”
What followed was a one-sided massacre. With the stable to my back, I picked off the mercenaries as they frantically tried to flee.
A long time ago, I had done the exact same thing when I had cleared out that den of bandits.
Whether they tried fighting back or begging for their lives, I killed them all. I shot off arrows while occasionally sweeping through them with blades of wind, but I ultimately ensured my targets were dead. Some attempted to flee on horseback, but it was simple enough to shoot at their retreating backs—their bodies slid off their mounts.
“N-No, stop,” the mercenary leader wheezed as I set my gaze on him. “Spare me...”
“Have you ever once spared someone who begged for their life?”
Then I put an arrow between his eyes. Aside from me, not a single person was left standing.
✦ ✦ ✦
Boy, had I fucked up.
I ruefully reflected on my mistake as I slid my bow back into storage.
I didn’t regret killing the mercenaries. Those who work evil get their just deserts.
Those bastards were using me as a shield to gang-rape the prince, then they would kill us both. Considering how efficient and organized they had been going about the deed, they must’ve done the same damn thing before.
Even if they had stripped the prince and had seen that he was a man, they wouldn’t have stopped. As long as their victim had a pretty face, those pigs would’ve gone all the way.
What I deeply regretted was how I’d failed to warn Wald of this danger beforehand. If he had known what was going to happen, he could have slaughtered them himself. And... Well, he still would’ve ended up covered in blood, I guess.
But at least he wouldn’t have been drenched in it from head to toe like he was now.
I’ll prepare a bath for him. But will he let me help wash him now? If he’s traumatized, that’d be too hard on him...
I turned back to look at the stable. A lone youth, soaked red with blood, was standing at its entrance. He had one hand on the door to support his weight, while his other was tightly balled into a fist at his chest. His bloody clothing was still disheveled.
Wald’s hair was a torn mess, and his long braid had been raggedly cut off. It must’ve gotten caught in my spell. As I looked at his now-short hair, remorse welled up in my chest.
“Prince Wald...” I tentatively called out.
“Please, Kariya, call me Wal. I told you before, didn’t I?” The corners of the prince’s lips weakly curled up. “The royal family takes responsibility for every battle waged in its name. You fought for me, so I accept the consequences. Thank you for saving me.”
Oh, I realized with a start. He really has committed himself to his role.
I’d fought to protect him, so he was shouldering the repercussions and blame as if he’d killed the mercenaries himself.
This was the resolve of a true leader.
He was well aware of the bearing he should hold as someone who could stand above all others. Our relationship was that of a client and contractor, not of an oath-sworn fealty. But at this moment, I felt it might not be so bad to pledge myself to the prince.
“I’m so glad you’re okay, Wal,” I said.
I honestly felt that way from the bottom of my heart.