The Arrow of Destiny Cuts Through the Night

#35

The soldier who spotted Jersian’s group was moving back and forth through the dense forest trees, but this wasn’t a big problem for Kain.

The real issue was…

“…”

If he released the bowstring now, the arrow would fly and pierce that soldier’s body. Kain’s brow furrowed with natural displeasure as he held the bowstring. The sharp arrowhead, which had been aimed at the heart, moved to a part like an arm or leg where a wound wouldn’t be life-threatening.

“Go ahead first. I’ll follow soon.”

Kain said, keeping the bowstring taut. Despite the noisy forest sounds, his flat, low voice wasn’t drowned out and was clearly heard by Jersian under the trees. He meant to provide rear support.

Hearing this, Jersian quickly turned his head and then gripped and struck the reins hard. Neigh-! The black horse that had momentarily stopped started galloping, quickly pounding the ground. The knights who had recognized Kain also slightly bowed their heads in gratitude before spurring their horses with a “Hya!” to increase speed.

Thwack! Clack! The flaming arrows that had been shot into the air fell one by one onto the forest trees. Whoosh, the hot fire spread to trees unrelated to this incident, starting to flare up enough to burn the entire forest.

Jersian and the Gerold knights had now gone far enough that their backs were no longer visible.

Whoosh——

Lightly jumping down from the tree to the ground, Kain gently released the bowstring he had been drawing to its limit.

Thud! The arrow that had been nocked to the string stuck into a tree. It was a warning shot to prevent the soldiers from coming closer.

“Over there!”

To avoid revealing the direction Jersian and the knights had disappeared, Kain lightly jumped down from the tree and ran in the opposite direction.

The trees near where the flaming arrows had fallen were burning hotly, gradually widening their range. The sound of burning trees collapsing while screaming for help could be heard everywhere. Deer and rabbits that had been curled up sleeping in the night jumped out of the bushes in fright.

Damn it, Kain bit his lip as he moved his legs.

This seemed a bit excessive just to tie up the intruders’ feet. It was as if they had been waiting for someone to intrude on this mansion.

With a furrowed face, Kain lightly ran across the burning forest. He had to slow down a bit to match the speed of the soldiers chasing him, to let them track his movements.

The soldiers behind shouted at Kain’s back, dressed in a robe:

“Stop right there!”

“Surrender now!”

Whoosh—

An arrow flew towards Kain. Swish, he lightly caught the arrow in midair with his bare hand.

…It might be good to replenish arrows with this opportunity. Thinking this, Kain put the caught arrow into the quiver he was carrying. In Fiokhim, he spent most of his leisure time making arrows, but here in the human world, he hardly had time for that.

Kain moved his long legs quickly and pulled the robe he was wearing deeper over his head. Still, he had succeeded in leading the soldiers in the completely opposite direction from the Gerold mansion. This much time should be enough. They should have left the Baron’s private property by now.

Kain widened his stride, which had been running slowly to deliberately show his trail to the soldiers behind. His already fast speed increased to an unbelievable degree.

But this was Kain Starchis’s normal moving speed. In just a few steps, he left the pursuing soldiers behind. He could hear their confused voices far behind.

He knew the direction to the Gerold mansion. But it would have been fine even if he didn’t know. As Kain became alone, the spirits living in the forest began to reveal their presence one by one.

「You’re looking for the human riding the black horse, right?」

The forest spirits poked out their round heads from tree branches and bushes, speaking to him.

「They went that way!」

「An elf in the human world! Why are you here?」

「That’s right! Why are you here? Elves should be in Fiokhim.」

“…”

Kain focused on running while inwardly swallowing a sigh, trying not to be noticed by them.

Humans seem to highly value elves’ ability to communicate with spirits, but in reality, being able to talk to them is quite bothersome. They’re beings that can chatter among themselves all day even if left alone, and it’s even more chaotic when there’s an elf who can understand them.

「Should we tell the ones living in Fiokhim?」

「Yeah! Let’s tell them.」

That’s why elves used the spirits’ chatty nature in a different way. As a means of communication between distant elves.

“I appreciate your help, but it’s fine. I’m just here on business.”

When Kain cut them off, a forest spirit that had arbitrarily landed on his running shoulder chattered:

「Business? What business? Tell just me!」

“To tell the others?”

「No! I absolutely won’t tell. Tell me.」

“I guess the news hasn’t reached here yet, but I just came down to the human world to find my destined partner.”

The spirits in the human world would hear about it soon enough anyway.

「Really? Your partner? Who is it? Who?」

“Even if I tell you, you won’t know them.”

「Really? Why? We’re friends with all the elves?」

「No way!」

「Don’t tell me the reason you came to the human world is?!」

The forest spirits huddled together with wide eyes.

「Your destined partner is human?!」

“…”

「That’s impossible!」

Kain slightly covered his ears while running fast. Having excellent hearing wasn’t very helpful at times like this.

It was then.

“Kain Starchis.”

Jersian’s voice stopped Kain’s legs abruptly.

He had finally met up with Jersian’s group that had left first. As soon as they heard his voice, the forest spirits clinging to Kain’s shoulders and surroundings were startled.

「Gasp!」

「Eek!」

「It’s a human!」

Then they scattered into the air as if a storm had swept through towards them.

It was far from Baron Basiz’s mansion. Judging that they no longer needed to run, Jersian was standing there on horseback.

“Why are you here?”

He asked with a frown to Kain, who was wearing a robe.

It was the same cold voice Kain had heard when he first met Jersian.

“…”

Come to think of it, this was the third time he had disobeyed Jersian’s order to stay quietly in the room. Following Jersian who left the mansion in the middle of the night wasn’t something anyone would consider good, so he had nothing to say even if he had ten mouths.

“Are you not even going to make excuses now?”

As Jersian sneered, Kain, who had been withholding his answer, quickly responded.

“I’m sorry.”

“…I don’t want an apology, I want an explanation. Since when have you been following me?”

Jersian’s eye level was about the same as Kain’s while he was on the large horse. Hmm, Kain Starchis slightly averted his gaze.

But he couldn’t lie.

“…Since you left the room.”

“What?”

Jersian barely suppressed a curse that was about to burst out. Angry, he spoke while his Adam’s apple bobbed:

“Then that means from the very beginning.”

Ha, a sigh escaped through Jersian’s lips.

It was quite troublesome. Of all people, to have this incident discovered by an elf who can’t lie. If anyone with even a little interest in the Gerold Marquis family’s suspicious behind-the-scenes activities were to ask Kain about today’s events, he would have no choice but to answer.

Moreover, they hadn’t even found the ‘evidence’ they had originally aimed for. They had entered Baron Basiz’s mansion, but the people inside noticed earlier than expected. Usually, such missions would be easy enough to complete by searching the Marquis’s office or the butler’s storage for records. They might have chosen the wrong day. No one could have expected the butler to be in the storage until dawn on the day they attempted the covert operation.

“…”

Jersian stared at the long robe of Kain Starchis standing right next to him.

The one fortunate thing was that none of the Baron’s household members had discovered their identity. If Kain hadn’t appeared unexpectedly to provide support, they might have been caught.

“…For now, let’s return to Gerold.”

Jersian frowned and then swung the reins. There was no point in spending more time here; a failed mission wouldn’t turn into a success. Jersian moved his horse with a hardened face. He didn’t really want to go back.

Because he could easily predict Marchioness Elmerila’s reaction when she heard this news.

Kain tilted his head slightly as he noticed Jersian’s unusually dark expression.