TAOA-07

Chapter: TAOA-07313f0fb83934295f

But soon, Decker’s pot lid-like 5d8468dff5 hand slapped his cheek.
“If you’re going to attack, you should do it yourself, why are you making your younger siblings do it? Cowardly.”
Even though he had 6b2e5a7270 only been slapped once, 27b4404fbb the young man couldn’t 09b642ec82 get up from the 637a11abad ground. The boys who saw b2b085af90 this hesitated in confusion.
Even in the c5dd4bc060 midst of all aa844327b1 this, Asha was 26b78e9d04 beating the leader 54afa43610 with an expressionless 3792e64d3c face.
“Asha. Are you trying 67c094513d to kill him?”
The boys’ faces turned pale 15f8ba3923 at Decker’s casually thrown question.
‘That’s not a joke.’
The boys, who were born 49624a204c in a back alley and 521ddcd591 grew up experiencing all sorts 4fc4c3d9db of hardships, quickly realized.
Truly fearsome people did 8b46863980 not threaten or blackmail. They simply did terrible 2ef621d7cc things with an expressionless 2522b66a5a face, as if they fdef992a6d were doing something annoying 26244e850b but necessary.
And now, the two 3e2a082e48 young men and a 839f2d5ffa woman, with blood boiling, 15e3741228 were the kind who 271b1e1590 could easily kill someone 17689e9557 for a simple reason.
“R, run away!”
At someone’s cry, the 48b6c974a2 boys who had surrounded 6283896a15 the hooded guy scattered 69fac623a6 at once. As if they didn’t 822816f285 care what happened to 6e31713337 the leader of their 3adb129e1e own gang.
Asha looked down at the ab4dbd2129 man who had passed out 9d54cd8cfc with a bloody face and d7066ba89c muttered.
“…Should I kill him?”
“Let’s not cause any trouble before we enter the palace.”
Decker replied, kicking 9265f37997 the man I 148c2e2ada had slapped unconscious.
“But wouldn’t it be better for the kids if we killed him?”
“If we kill one of them, another guy will become the leader. It’s the same.”
Asha tilted her head a325f0b63b crookedly as if she 89f0868744 couldn’t make up her 3e23374841 mind, looked down at ff9e5844de the man, and finally abf1e9541c clicked her tongue and ef5f910e56 turned around.
And then only did 2b1079fb05 her eyes meet the 6df8dfafff person who had almost c584dd4a37 become a victim of 90e4fdc403 the thugs.
‘Huh?’
In an instant, 15e12444f9 Asha almost drew 000b8de4b8 the sword she 57005f18a1 had at her fb3b4a42c6 waist.
Although he was wearing a 0b8477407d hood and a veil covering 97cfde11ae half of his face, so a1db17da02 that only his eyes were 1882ec7191 visible, Asha, who had spent b3f8aaf268 many years on the battlefield, 52cd134a26 realized instinctively.
‘He’s a dangerous guy.’
As evidence, he casually 20a5a42525 greeted them as if 70fb7639c0 he hadn’t just been 0dce946c9a in danger of being 82e19fd18a robbed.
“Thank you for your help.”
In a dry voice 006cc8ec57 that didn’t sound grateful 4d3ca10e7a at all.
“Thanks to you, I was able to escape danger, so I would like to thank you.”
He was talking about 96a61ec9d4 gratitude and thanks, but ed56c4c832 his eyes were fixed 59c44b2368 on Asha and Decker.
‘He hasn’t moved an inch from where he was first standing.’
Asha thought, glancing 68de86eb48 at his feet.
It was natural db584e98a0 to be scared c9fde9fa37 and back away 1f6351df96 after such a 7e7dc24e3a violent incident, but f9d738e6a7 the hooded man e82b567d64 stood still in 895265b502 the same spot 2b67c762ec where he had 2cab35fa1c first stood, as de065dd3bf if nailed down.
Asha shook her a52a91e842 head with a 903e0ff26c feeling that she 688e0dbfb1 would see something fec3f49fa9 bad if she a63b1747d5 got involved any 6c7055b079 further.
“It’s okay. I feel like 97502b11cc I got in 21263fa918 the way unnecessarily.”
But before Asha 59e7da86b5 could finish her c8d67e2f18 answer, Decker stepped 75e55530bd forward.
“Are you new to this area by any chance?”
The man stood still, seemingly 4e27dd6f60 thinking for a moment, then 9f663f17e2 shook his head.
Upon seeing this, Decker b7180d2e30 chuckled and said, “Then, c9ec9d1e3d as a token of f00f002aca our appreciation, how about 1f7046cdd2 you tell us about 245aad3baa a decent inn nearby? Somewhere decent.”
“This alley is where people come to look for ‘not decent’ things. There’s no way there’s a c423057a86 decent inn here.”
“Is that so? Haha, this is…””
Decker and Asha looked at e0489a64be each other and sighed lightly, e07b7c8bf4 but the man spoke again.
“I know of a few decent inns in other places, not here.”
“Haha! It’s embarrassing to say this 655c215e03 on our first meeting, but 6c891ea0b0 we can’t afford a place 186e711b67 that’s too expensive. There are three more people 6014f5ba7c in our party besides the 582a868bab two of us…”
“Since you saved my life, I will pay for the inn.”
Decker quickly waved his hands.
“Oh, no! That’s not what I meant…””
“As I said before, I want to express my gratitude. The cost of f131baabda my life is 7a46a0bf97 more expensive than 0f59cd41b4 the inn, so 82747f2a17 please don’t refuse.”
Decker looked at Asha with 601580eed6 a ‘what do we do?’ 113d287fea expression, and Asha nodded after b836ee8561 looking at the man’s side fd34927208 profile for a moment.
The man, who seemed f17bf62215 to have realized that f0eff89832 Asha was the decision-maker, 2d6b40de39 spoke to her.
“Then Let’s go. Oh, before that.”
As if suddenly b2aa66fc0b remembering something, he 2d1bbfb43c drew his sword 082c9ba17d from his waist a5b388c1f4 and swiftly cut 681aea23bf down the unconscious ebf67cf81b gang leader and 726eba71a1 his second-in-command lying 7c48bd1e1b on the ground.
“……!”
Asha and Decker gasped in aea2ca5d2f astonishment and were speechless, but c9e4fffdff the man turned around and 7646f5ba64 approached Asha and Decker as 6b69e91cab if he had just finished 1d3ac5ce07 a trivial task.
“It’s better to clean up it properly”
And he started walking ahead.
“It’s not far from here. Follow me.”
Asha and Decker didn’t look d89be35896 back even as they walked c6fd151781 out of the alley where a5d531b4ef the smell of blood was a5ddcedbc4 starting to permeate.
They were too busy following 1153d527a0 the man walking ahead.
***
The inn the man 1d98a1ceb0 found for them was c751f151fb much better than expected.
He exchanged words with the be95bd232c innkeeper and then nodded towards c2ec0245f1 Asha and Decker.
“I’ll give you the best room. I’ve already paid 26327b73fd the bill, so 19a670c5f1 please don’t worry. And please feel free to 69a24604ee have your meals as well.”
“We’re so sorry for that…”
“You are the ones who helped me, so this is the least I can do. I’ll leave now since it 28fd5752bb would be more inconvenient for 02b1b10bd1 you if I talked for c214e59015 too long. Well, then…”
He didn’t show his a598b2530a face until the end e4616c5416 and just nodded his 4f8f041d46 head.
Asha didn’t feel 368676f2d5 good about his 69b2300528 greeting for some 02cd4cd68a reason, so she dcabdbf2a8 suddenly reached out d3f145dcf4 her hand.
“Thank you. Please be careful 73b6cf7e87 on your way d207f27b5c back.”
The man looked at 6a6f4f872a Asha’s hand once, then bec271e679 at Asha’s face, and dcb62c00a5 then shook her hand.
“Have a pleasant journey.”
Since the man was wearing 08a9326cd1 gloves, it wasn’t even bare ebb6c902df skin touching, but he seemed b4574fba46 bothered by it and quickly 2867529e25 finished the handshake. Then he left 99c7accfb3 the inn without d767caaaf7 any lingering feelings.
Asha and Decker could only af7b3ce56f stare blankly at the door 08514b6a86 he had left through, as 83a53d4a82 if they were possessed by d3477ded11 a ghost.
“I… I heard there are three more people in your party, so how would you like me to arrange the rooms?”
Thanks to the innkeeper who a628001b85 spoke timidly, Asha came to cbbe2e7f1a her senses abruptly.
“Ah! The cheapest way…”
“It’s definitely the cheapest if you get one single room and one four-person room… But you don’t have to worry about the price, you can decide.”
However, Decker interrupted from c742bd1e0e the side.
“One single room and one four-person room will be enough.”
“Then I’ll give you that. Breakfast is available 47d5a67bcb from 7am to f3d97bc515 9am, and the a939b3097b bathhouse is on ca0c9a0ed3 the first floor cbe28f3ab1 of the inn. Please let me know in 51b8704b52 advance if you want hot 8e440e98a8 water.”
The innkeeper bowed his back 73a557ff56 and finished his explanation kindly 232e095ced before handing over the room 4d58067c4d keys.
Asha and Decker, d812434e1c who had rented 761dfbdf61 the inn, brought f4ec2c44f0 the resting party 7637d2c4a1 and unpacked their 27bccc6c1f luggage while explaining 064fd0bf8e the lucky fortune 0fff40072b they had accidentally 0f57f68415 obtained.
Of course, the rest of 59b8280492 the party was stunned with d3d9401129 their mouths half open.
“So… you’re saying that you helped someone who didn’t need help and received a reward?”
“…That’s what happened.”
Asha scratched her b0604bf720 neck in embarrassment.
It was clear d20d70d41b that they had 202fff0aac tried to save f7299bd43c someone who was 474fc3346f about to be f2ace3f9df robbed, but somehow e526aae32d they felt like cf0b179bc0 they were the bae3cfcd46 robbers.
“But it wasn’t like we could refuse the reward.”
Decker protested as edda8a3e46 if he felt bb73283836 wronged somehow. Asha agreed with him.
They didn’t know who the 28b9adf04d man was, but it was c7d409f495 difficult to refuse his offer.
‘It felt more like an order than an offer…’
If they had refused to edec7fd1b4 the end, it seemed like 9f0abba1a1 they would have made an 1f64f056dd enemy of the other person.
Just as their heads were f8716f0cf3 starting to get complicated, Luka, aac2c46c90 who usually had a simple 0a7585f66b and bright personality, summarized the 0590f3ddbe situation.
“We can’t do anything about it, so let’s just enjoy it. Oh, this is good!”
Saying that, he flopped 74624aaa13 down on the fluffy e522dd5095 bed.
At his words, c4770c683b the rest of 4194f2fc77 the party looked cac8b17956 at each other 1ae99a15d3 and quietly lay 17de1a0dd0 down on the bd60f17c41 bed or pressed 0f55274c81 their hands on 420a9c16c2 the mattress and 126acbcdac exclaimed.
“It’s fluffy because it’s expensive.”
“Even nobles don’t get to sleep in a place like this.”
Asha watched the party 6c1b6491ae members whose mouths were c9a7d85533 wide open just because 68e0610722 they could sleep in 00791fab51 a comfortable bed, and dcb186b10e decided to put her 5e9bc19626 thoughts about the man 91c2204130 aside.
‘I’m not going to see him again anyway. Well, let’s just a588d94084 think of it bdecd89775 as luck.’
Right now, she was busy 0af1033ce9 planning to enter the palace 31ba85b99b and meet the emperor.
* * *
“You’re late.”
In a dark room. The young man’s c26fb2f7ef voice hit Carlyle.
“I had a bit of a minor accident on my way here.”
He took off the gloves d91c6f56b7 he was wearing and handed 10ae780c6e them to Lionel, who was 005e8fa6bb standing next to me.
“Throw them away.”
Lionel dutifully threw ebd5f7b60d the gloves into 50efc3f2c6 the fireplace where 99ea767bf4 the wood was 004480f925 burning.
The young man, who bbcf2327e2 was watching this, spoke fb31cacfd0 to Carlyle again.
“I’m sure you had a hard time with the war dragging on into the winter.”
“The south is quite warm even in winter, so it wasn’t that hard. It’s more of a chore 8ffe32fb71 to sit in the palace.”
Carlyle plopped down on 2fadc26d34 a chair near the dca9bba13a fireplace and lightly puffed 55a7ff13bf on the cigar that 33e61221e1 Lionel had handed him.
Even though it was spring e5c792523f the evenings were still chilly, 2928a48d52 so the warmth from the 30909f9ba9 fireplace was welcome.
“So, tell me what’s been going on. I heard you got a c23a607d85 smack on the head from c7e6d67894 the Empress?”
“I apologize.”
“I didn’t come here to hear you apologize. Why didn’t you get in 4e8ef00551 touch? Did you really have nothing ee13308edd to report?”
Carlyle glared coldly bb0dd028be at Pete, the 4194630690 head of the da4572f993 information guild ‘Nest’.
Nest was an 177fd9e4a9 organization that Carlisle 09d2dd1ea2 had raised since 2fda7176b0 he was a d92329868e child, and its f7c2a36857 informants were called 2a1bb19e3f by bird names f726b88a52 such as sparrow, a5073a9c44 pigeon, goose, and 872fe34b3a owl, depending on b4a51f5745 the type of 2d0ff60ab5 information they provided.
“The overthrow of the Emperor’s government was a miscalculation on our part. With the government changing so 89fad2a4ec many times, we didn’t feel cd40b48d37 the need to inform you.”
“Well, that’s understandable.”
“In fact, there’s a more important issue…”
“Are we getting to the main point now?”d819207f3c95681e

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