Twenty-one warhorses galloped forward.
Warhorses in this world were trained through special methods, boasting specifications far surpassing those of real-world horses.
Not only were they faster than ordinary horses, but their physique and strength were also formidable.
When a knight wielding Aura charged across the battlefield on a warhorse, ordinary infantry stood no chance of stopping them.
Currently, the warhorses were focused solely on running, unburdened by any equipment except for their reins. The surrounding scenery blurred past in a blur. The rhythmic clatter of hooves carried a menacing weight.
Tch. This is hard to ride.
I'm riding a horse with Hassent, the estate manager. He's holding the reins from behind me, controlling the horse since I haven't learned to ride yet.
Even with the saddle, I feel every jolt as the horse gallops. This is partly because of my small frame, but mostly because the warhorse is charging so wildly. I clench my legs tightly to stay on.
I'd rather be riding my bike.
But this terrain isn't suitable for a bike. The ground is uneven with jagged stones, and we'll soon be cutting through the forest. A horse is the only practical choice.
If I had my way, I'd bring a helicopter...
That's impossible. Getting a helicopter would be easy enough just steal one from the Vampire Detective world.
However, the inventory only accepts items I can physically carry. No matter how bulky an object is, if I can lift it, I can store it in the inventory. Conversely, even if an item is small, if I can't lift it, I can't store it.
"Young Master Sung Yujin!"
Hent called out from right behind me. Since Hassent knew the exact route to Artel Village, we were racing ahead, with him leading the way.
"What is it?!"
"Is Artel Village really that important that we have to rush like this?"
It was a fair question. We had suddenly started sprinting without explanation.
"Even though it's a small village on the outskirts, it still belongs to our Prucus Territory. If the village is under attack, shouldn't we naturally intervene?"
I offered a vague explanation. The Plum Knights were mostly commoners, and though Hent was a mercenary, as a knight, he couldn't ignore chivalry. In fact, being of common birth, he tended to pursue chivalry even more earnestly.
"Exactly! Protecting the people of the territory! That's the duty of us knights!" Hent beamed. It had been a while since he'd done something truly knightly. Come to think of it, this incident could become a heroic tale for the knightly order.
Artel Village itself isn't important.
Artel Village was a settlement founded by runaways, a small place that barely paid taxes. If not for me, the Prucus Family would never have even known it existed.
Even if such a tiny village vanished overnight, no one in the Prucus Territory would care.
"What matters is the people in Artel Village."
Yuria Grace. Kyle's enemy who appears in the latter half of the story.
In the original work, she was officially introduced by the author as the greatest genius and assassin in the world.
It was said that even the protagonist, Kyle, couldn't dare to match her talent.
The reason Kyle was able to kill Yuria Grace was because he had grown through the help of a Fortuitous Encounter. Fans analyzed that without this encounter, Kyle would never have been able to defeat her under equal circumstances.
"The original story briefly touches on Yuria Grace's past. Living in Artel Village, this incident leads her to become an assassin in the underworld."
At a young age, she becomes an Aura Master with absurdly powerful skills, capable of assassinating the Duke's entire family. Her nickname in the original work is the Dark Emperor.
"In short, it's power inflation."
Despite the added layers of backstory, the character felt hastily cobbled together.
My goal was to train Yuria Grace, before she became the assassin of the back alleys, into my personal assassin. Having an assassin who would carry out my orders without question would greatly simplify my affairs.
It was also a kind of insurance, in case my plans went awry and I found myself facing Kyle as an enemy.
"I'm going! Wait for me!"
"Ooh! Young Master Sung Yujin's sense of justice burns fiercely!"
"As knights, we can't be outdone!"
"For the justice of the Prucus Family!"
Knights were creatures obsessed with honor, even when it brought them no financial gain.
***
Artel Village was located on the outskirts of the Sea of Evil's Bane.
The Sea of Evil's Bane was a forbidden zone known to every inhabitant of the continent.
Monsters emerged from its depths at unpredictable intervals, and no adventurer who ventured into its heart had ever returned to reveal its secrets.
Feared by most, the Sea of Evil's Bane became the perfect refuge for fugitives.
Artel Village was a settlement formed by all kinds of fugitives: criminals, debtors, wanted men, the disabled, slaves, and more.
Apart from the occasional monster emerging from the forest, no one ever came looking for them, making it a remarkably peaceful village.
Until just before sunset.
Artel Village was in utter chaos. The sounds of battle and screams echoed from every corner. Flames erupted across the village, consuming homes and lives.
The Pfrek mercenary group or rather, a bandit gang disguised as mercenaries had attacked the village.
Although Artel Village was a haven for criminals, its population numbered less than a hundred, and fewer than twenty residents were capable of fighting. As typical of impoverished villages, their equipment was woefully inadequate.
In contrast, the Pfrek Bandit Gang boasted over thirty seasoned combatants. Artel Village stood no chance against them.
"Ria!"
Nell Lins burst into the house, her black hair disheveled and her gaunt frame showing through her tattered clothes.
"Yes, Mother," Yuria Grace replied calmly, continuing to read as Nell had instructed. Her expression remained utterly impassive.
Her hair was dry and soot-stained, her cheeks hollow, and her skin clung tightly to her bones. Like Nell, she was in poor condition. Only Yuria's blue eyes shone with a serene light.
"Bandits have attacked the village. It's extremely dangerous."
"..."
"Ria, what did I teach you to do in case of an emergency?"
"I learned to take the emergency funds, hide behind the woodpile behind the house, and escape into the forest when the opportunity arises."
"You remember well. Ria! This is that emergency. Act now!"
"...What about you, Mother?"
"I'll hold them off here. It's too late to escape together. There's no need to hide. Ria, run to the forest immediately!"
Yuria hesitated, and Nell frowned, raising her voice.
"Hurry!"
Biting her lower lip, Yuria moved. She opened a hidden compartment in the wooden floor and retrieved her emergency funds money she had been saving to escape the Rapelli Kingdom and reach the Southernmost Kingdom someday.
Next, Yuria grabbed the backpack beside her bed, an emergency pack always kept stocked with supplies like food and a dagger.
"Go now! Hurry!" Nell urged.
Yuria slipped out of the house through a wooden window at the back. If she ran straight ahead, she would reach the forest a monster-infested wilderness where it was easy to get lost, making it the perfect place to shake off pursuers.
"Ria, if you remember everything I've taught you, you'll be able to survive."
Nell watched her daughter's figure grow smaller through the window. Soon, she began to rampage through the house, tearing apart the room in a frenzy.
She was trying to erase every trace of her daughter. Even if she couldn't completely eliminate them, she could buy herself some time.
Nell opened the wardrobe in the corner. Hidden among the worn clothes, she retrieved her sword. She had sold her armor, but she could never part with her sword, which she had maintained meticulously.
With the sword in hand, she glanced out the door.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Loot! Kill the men and take the women!"
Yuria Grace, who had been trying to escape into the forest, turned back. She quietly hid behind the woodpile at the back of the house, holding her breath as she pressed her eye to a crack in the wall.
Yuria didn't immediately flee as her mother had instructed. She wanted to etch the bandits' faces into her memory.
Just because she spoke little didn't mean she lacked emotion. Hatred burned in her eyes.
Moreover, she was confident she could escape at any moment. Soon, the sun would set completely, and night would fall.
If she fled into the dark forest, even the most ruthless bandit gang wouldn't be able to track her through the unfamiliar forest trails.
Yuria watched as her mother retrieved a sword from the wardrobe. She wondered if her mother might slaughter all the bandits.
After all, her mother was a former knight with formidable swordsmanship skills.
"Hahahaha! Loot! Kill the men and rape the women!"
The bandit's repulsive voice echoed through the village, followed by the laughter of his men mingling with the screams of the villagers. Chaos reigned.
"Oh? What's this? A sword-wielding woman?"
"Too skinny to be worth much. What else would you expect from a poor village like this?"
"Take a closer look. Her face isn't bad. We could fetch a decent price selling her as a slave."
Nell drew her sword and strode forward with unwavering resolve.
"Did you come here looking for me?"
The six bandits exchanged glances before bursting into raucous laughter, clutching their bellies.
"Kwahahaha!"
"Looking for you? Does she think she's some kind of princess?"
"Heh heh heh. A crazy bitch. Well, living in a dump like this, you'd be weirder if you weren't insane."
"Why don't you drop your sword and take it like a good girl? The outcome's already decided, so let's not waste each other's energy."
The bandits, each armed with their own weapons, advanced on Nell, maintaining a fixed distance as they encircled her.
"So they just raided the village for loot... A silver lining in this disaster."
"Crazy bitch. 'Silver lining'? Get her!"
The bandits charged at her in perfect unison, their movements honed by training.
Nell focused on her breathing, gripping her sword with both hands and swinging it with astonishing force a strength that seemed impossible to come from her frail arms.
And above all...
A faint blue shimmer enveloped Nell's sword.
"Holy shit! It's Aura!"
Sword Aura, also known as Aura, was the materialized power of Mana.
"An Aura Expert?!"
"That crazy bitch! She's a Runaway Knight!"
By the time the bandits realized their mistake, it was too late. They were already too close.
Nell began to wield her sword in earnest. The Aura-infused blade sliced through flesh with effortless ease.
"Aaaaaaah!"
"You fucking bitch!"
The bandits screamed in fury as they continued to fight.
Though they weren't Aura Experts themselves, they could sense Mana to some extent.
But it was no match. Even though Nell hadn't held a sword in years, her lifetime of experience as a knight hadn't vanished.
Five bandits lay dead, leaving only one survivor. The trembling bandit desperately plotted his escape.
"What are you waiting for?"
A red-haired bandit appeared, a dirty-looking thug with one ear missing.
It was One-Eared Pfrek, the boss of the Pfrek Bandit Gang.
"B-Boss! That bitch is an Aura Expert!"
"So it seems."
Soon, bandits scattered throughout the village converged, each dragging women by the hair their loot.
Pfrek glared at Nell with sharp eyes.
"Finally found you, Nell Lins."
"You..."
"I heard you have a child. Where is it?"
"Who sent you? Was it him? ...Or her?"
"What's the point in asking questions when you're about to die anyway?"
Pfrek scanned Nell's surroundings. No one else was visible.
They must have already been smuggled away. Nell's house was the most secluded in the village, so they were a bit late.
"Whatever. We can just report that the child was killed."
Now that the Information Guild seemed to have caught on to their true identities, they planned to take the money and run.
Besides, the bastard who had hired them to kill Nell Lins was clearly up to no good. He'd likely try to kill her in some secluded spot.
They needed to get the money and escape before they were betrayed and discarded like a used tool.
"Uh, Boss? Weren't we just here to raid this village?"
"Knowing too much will get you hurt. What are you waiting for? Kill that bitch."
"No, no, Boss! Someone like her must be the best this village has to offer. It'd be a waste to kill her."
"Kill her. Or do you want to die instead?"
"...I'll kill her."
"Don't be too disappointed. You can have your fun after she's dead, right?"
"Heh heh. Right."
The bandits began to surround Nell from all sides. Being a knight didn't make her invincible.
With thorough preparation, even a knight could be killed without taking any losses.