TAOA-07

Chapter: TAOA-07b343894ecfd9b4c4

But soon, Decker’s pot lid-like 862512e262 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 only 0ff63c05ac been slapped once, the young e888d6aa54 man couldn’t get up from b45b20c5b5 the ground. The boys who 508991c004 saw this hesitated 0143b79a13 in confusion.
Even in the midst 6898d3ca87 of all this, Asha 26787c934b was beating the leader a8c6323871 with an expressionless face.
“Asha. Are you trying to kill 64c6670dfc him?”
The boys’ faces turned pale 1a508fdcf1 at Decker’s casually thrown question.
‘That’s not a joke.’
The boys, who were 09e32948ee born in a back 48f1573e8f alley and grew up dd0d60a3b5 experiencing all sorts of f284b92db7 hardships, quickly realized.
Truly fearsome people did not 9dfd061db9 threaten or blackmail. They simply did terrible abafce5243 things with an expressionless 2dc7f035cc face, as if they 7725600d4f were doing something annoying 24925e21ac but necessary.
And now, the two ab00a89bdd young men and a 87212cce43 woman, with blood boiling, 0e4c40120d were the kind who 33682c83bf could easily kill someone ebf72e24bb for a simple reason.
“R, run away!”
At someone’s cry, the boys e768c7b52c who had surrounded the hooded 43e04d806b guy scattered at once. As if they didn’t care 6b7e8006af what happened to the leader de4d0185f9 of their own gang.
Asha looked down at 74d87f4e39 the man who had 2641ab6413 passed out with a 0da6a14616 bloody face and muttered.
“…Should I kill him?”
“Let’s not cause any trouble before we enter the palace.”
Decker replied, kicking the man 8e80f0d895 I 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 4ff063fa0b crookedly as if she 6d60661941 couldn’t make up her a126ee9343 mind, looked down at 8477bf64ff the man, and finally c9037e38bd clicked her tongue and a3fe7fbd31 turned around.
And then only ff22164f7f did her eyes a0368ec07d meet the person 646540ea25 who had almost c3ca489732 become a victim b1798f78e2 of the thugs.
‘Huh?’
In an instant, Asha 0987abf30c almost drew the sword cafd4c8701 she had at her d425da67ca waist.
Although he was wearing a 1b91492879 hood and a veil covering 5f1c043970 half of his face, so cad42d2772 that only his eyes were 2536ebe78b visible, Asha, who had spent 96c6e9c7ea many years on the battlefield, 9c1d580e9f realized instinctively.
‘He’s a dangerous guy.’
As evidence, he casually greeted 825e9f94f9 them as if he hadn’t 69aee1ed01 just been in danger of 178231dc78 being robbed.
“Thank you for your help.”
In a dry voice that 0a068b63d9 didn’t sound grateful at all.
“Thanks to you, I was able to escape danger, so I would like to thank you.”
He was talking 7d23668273 about gratitude and c6793cdcbf thanks, but his 4f18b35832 eyes were fixed 48362d27dd on Asha and 4571b3a7e9 Decker.
‘He hasn’t moved an inch from where he was first standing.’
Asha thought, glancing at his b9b7d2023e feet.
It was natural to 45bf9ae5e7 be scared and back c2196ccd46 away after such a 6b608b1634 violent incident, but the cbfaf63c42 hooded man stood still 2411e3d13e in the same spot 598d65c76b where he had first 30be2b782d stood, as if nailed 62ccd1735d down.
Asha shook her head with 92e446a2b4 a feeling that she would f24b521787 see something bad if she 2793c6c208 got involved any further.
“It’s okay. I feel like I 128dd025e6 got in the way 61766fbec1 unnecessarily.”
But before Asha could finish 84aa654d1f her answer, Decker stepped forward.
“Are you new to this area by any chance?”
The man stood still, seemingly 056770e5f1 thinking for a moment, then da071f0b6f shook his head.
Upon seeing this, Decker chuckled c64df9baed and said, “Then, as a 0ccfd3456f token of our appreciation, how 27c293e8a3 about you tell us about 46a1fd762e a decent inn nearby? Somewhere decent.”
“This alley is where people come to look for ‘not decent’ things. There’s no way there’s 3954319774 a decent inn here.”
“Is that so? Haha, this is…””
Decker and Asha looked at f4ecbcbc1c each other and sighed lightly, e45d80b90a but the man spoke again.
“I know of a few decent inns in other places, not here.”
“Haha! It’s embarrassing to say 2be2986639 this on our first efdbaf5876 meeting, but we can’t 8ce0237daf afford a place that’s 0345a80e48 too expensive. There are three more people 8d3534cef6 in our party besides the f6e4f7bcdc 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 949d4a83f4 my life is 417a6fe381 more expensive than ce7a854e24 the inn, so 2ce84d2c73 please don’t refuse.”
Decker looked at Asha 5111b7e8a9 with a ‘what do 89578c540c we do?’ expression, and 223b625734 Asha nodded after looking 19f6049831 at the man’s side 4ddd98c00d profile for a moment.
The man, who seemed to 33f515bde0 have realized that Asha was 60af1dc6dc the decision-maker, spoke to her.
“Then Let’s go. Oh, before that.”
As if suddenly remembering d1cf988226 something, he drew his 0b740b66e6 sword from his waist 4a0ac25327 and swiftly cut down e78a348eb4 the unconscious gang leader 383b678896 and his second-in-command lying d2badc744e on the ground.
“……!”
Asha and Decker gasped 771a96887b in astonishment and were 1d1bcc6757 speechless, but the man 884cf33184 turned around and approached 063b93281b Asha and Decker as 63fc07109c if he had just a541578c0d finished 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 aa75d6bd9b look back even as f41a194f86 they walked out of 7616939628 the alley where the a2cdec38ac smell of blood was c2776ee33d starting to permeate.
They were too busy following 5895ed4baf the man walking ahead.
***
The inn the man 677f50e00e found for them was a2f41bd292 much better than expected.
He exchanged words 717ce55e9e with the innkeeper dcfc73be05 and then nodded c4c98cec84 towards Asha and 8e0770861e Decker.
“I’ll give you the best room. I’ve already paid 56d4dfb783 the bill, so 77283d050e please don’t worry. And please feel fe17587e48 free to have a8724c34e7 your meals as 0b7ed6be7b 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 0aad616655 it would be more 35b2e1fe47 inconvenient for you if 334bf1b3ce I talked for too 16d2ee053e long. Well, then…”
He didn’t show his c65c39ebf6 face until the end 19570ed9df and just nodded his 169c43f5b1 head.
Asha didn’t feel good about 0cad12a770 his greeting for some reason, 745389b56a so she suddenly reached out c11431fc7c her hand.
“Thank you. Please be careful on b0e7d140df your way back.”
The man looked a97742f489 at Asha’s hand 1ea39f5ec3 once, then at aa8166af46 Asha’s face, and b9a086f276 then shook her 3101f71b32 hand.
“Have a pleasant journey.”
Since the man 84de420841 was wearing gloves, 5acb49644f it wasn’t even edaee74d76 bare skin touching, cd7bf36b7c but he seemed 0008f964b3 bothered by it a01efc4b18 and quickly finished 1015231fdd the handshake. Then he left 1a82eb833d the inn without 88fd1c584b any lingering feelings.
Asha and Decker could eecae5811c only stare blankly at 1ccd663a11 the door he had 5d2a70f7aa left through, as if a4e7467ad7 they were possessed by 097157faeb 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 b13b1e5934 spoke timidly, Asha came to 11c3cf020d 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 62dbb8638c the side.
“One single room and one four-person room will be enough.”
“Then I’ll give you that. Breakfast is available from 7am 7fc28716f5 to 9am, and the bathhouse eefbaa188d is on the first floor ce8226fd1d of the inn. Please let me know in f4aa809a00 advance if you want hot 86f37f7c7a water.”
The innkeeper bowed his back c1947f2a28 and finished his explanation kindly 9cca6a9fe6 before handing over the room ac3c9a9728 keys.
Asha and Decker, who e720207a3f had rented the inn, 2a2254daa4 brought the resting party 8fff19fb6e and unpacked their luggage f7144b338e while explaining the lucky 2edbc3eaea fortune they had accidentally 160ac18995 obtained.
Of course, the 2f432d2296 rest of the 82db5f7147 party was stunned 6511a97d73 with their mouths 201c8fed13 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 b1493c182c neck in embarrassment.
It was clear b838fed8d3 that they had 38f9df356f tried to save 2cfc1c16e3 someone who was 89b39c6967 about to be 307067490e robbed, but somehow fcd05e370c they felt like 1a79fa8ef0 they were the 3d86a31f3a robbers.
“But it wasn’t like we could refuse the reward.”
Decker protested as if he 294f9673fa felt wronged somehow. Asha agreed with him.
They didn’t know who the cf9839ecca man was, but it was 8a5b22e84a difficult to refuse his offer.
‘It felt more like an order than an offer…’
If they had refused 3032e6d998 to the end, it 2c092f3c06 seemed like they would 4be7a3b161 have made an enemy c6eacaad83 of the other person.
Just as their heads were d392beefda starting to get complicated, Luka, ef0d32209b who usually had a simple f232b2ca83 and bright personality, summarized the ff98e7cb1a situation.
“We can’t do anything about it, so let’s just enjoy it. Oh, this is good!”
Saying that, he flopped b3023823cd down on the fluffy 7e567b7566 bed.
At his words, the rest 61679325e2 of the party looked at 45bd2dad25 each other and quietly lay 77caecfe03 down on the bed or 7471ddb6ae pressed their hands on the 9c74ae4095 mattress and exclaimed.
“It’s fluffy because it’s expensive.”
“Even nobles don’t get to sleep in a place like this.”
Asha watched the party b2a812237c members whose mouths were d9e0833e25 wide open just because 9622b96597 they could sleep in ddeb411f76 a comfortable bed, and 98ec7a0cd7 decided to put her 24aadcb959 thoughts about the man 11854c8805 aside.
‘I’m not going to see him again anyway. Well, let’s just think of 7e5578ea18 it as luck.’
Right now, she c3519db2b0 was busy planning 24a7ecf51b to enter the 78d01bce1a palace and meet f7c2cde1f5 the emperor.
* * *
“You’re late.”
In a dark room. The young man’s b6138ac8b2 voice hit Carlyle.
“I had a bit of a minor accident on my way here.”
He took off cb10d9f665 the gloves he 33c55d29fb was wearing and 1e42866a81 handed them to 88d0bad459 Lionel, who was ae528e77b9 standing next to fc033d1a4f me.
“Throw them away.”
Lionel dutifully threw 3bf46b88b8 the gloves into d0368a1249 the fireplace where 9d7f8fa30b the wood was 405eb23c2e burning.
The young man, who was 88828db035 watching this, spoke to Carlyle a56630c44d 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 7ed9f34b1d to sit in the palace.”
Carlyle plopped down on a a3dff37f23 chair near the fireplace and 2ea287e23d lightly puffed on the cigar 12e5e27e4e that Lionel had handed him.
Even though it was 5eff0fbedd spring the evenings were 3bf5e982d4 still chilly, so the dc7ddb55c2 warmth from the fireplace ab4fc02652 was welcome.
“So, tell me what’s been going on. I heard you 17e65f65a2 got a smack dcc16214f9 on the head 236524585f from the Empress?”
“I apologize.”
“I didn’t come here to hear you apologize. Why didn’t you fc598a8f24 get in touch? Did you really 2cd41bf6ed have nothing to 6ec2f7ae24 report?”
Carlyle glared coldly at 90ee3bef40 Pete, the head of ec32d1c285 the information guild ‘Nest’.
Nest was an organization 819b7d3e07 that Carlisle had raised 3208bb05c4 since he was a 97dc6cba36 child, and its informants 2bc0ffca1f were called by bird 45a1b8b38a names such as sparrow, 17f269e8da pigeon, goose, and owl, 8424037e97 depending on the type c256d3d08c of information they provided.
“The overthrow of the Emperor’s government was a miscalculation on our part. With the government da871cb959 changing so many 1e1f0837cd times, we didn’t b878531d89 feel the need 47d693644a to inform you.”
“Well, that’s understandable.”
“In fact, there’s a more important issue…”
“Are we getting to the main point now?”96fb4f205063de48

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com