The Hunters Appear

Chapter 13 The Hunters Appear

Early in the morning, the town's hotel was closed, marking its fourth day of closure.

"They ran away?"

"My lord, look! That mad sorcerer has burned down your property! The stables, the roof!"

boom!

The viscount kicked the hotel owner over.

"Enough with the nonsense! They ran... which way? How far did they go? Don't they even know what's in their carriage?"

"They've been traveling for four days... sir, they're a caravan, they can't go fast! The carts are full of leather..."

"Idiot, there's more! The hide is a decoy! You pig brain! You know nothing!" The Viscount kicked him again. He calmed his breathing and turned to ask the man behind him who had been silent all along.

"They're heading to Valois, all the way south... Leopold, can they catch up?"

"Can."

Leopold, tribune of Limburg, the local military governor of the region. This mountain-like man bore many wounds from serving in the Imperial cavalry. His reason for joining the "Our Lady of the Return" was simple—Her care and mercy, Her divine magic, and Her consecrated anointing oil were more soothing to the constant torment of the body than alcohol.

Torture is ever-present in this world.

The Viscount vented his anger by tormenting the innkeeper. Pairs of eyes watched from behind, and Leopold knew they were the eyes of the waiters and maids, secretly laughing and rejoicing.

Then some of them, or all of them, would have to endure double the torment from the hotel owner.

Pain and oppression were passed down from the gods, from the emperor to the lowest slaves, amplified with each passing level. Like nerve conduction to the extremities, although Leopold didn't know what nerves were, he could feel the world convulsing with pain, just like his own body.

Only Mother Earth can soothe these pains. Leopold truly believed this. The great being, having soothed itself, will surely soothe the world. He too could soothe the world; Leopold was one of Mother Earth's agents.

Behind him were six uniformly dressed young men, a cavalry unit funded by the Viscount and trained by Leopold; all of them were devout believers. Nominally, this armed force was the elite of Limburg's guard, but in reality, they were the wilderness hunters of the "Return of Our Lady" order.

The cavalry was very strange; anyone who saw them for the first time could see the incongruity: the knights were all dressed in light, soft armor, but the horses were all completely covered in heavy armor, with heat rising from the gaps in the armor plates and leather.

Leopold pulled a handful of herbal powder from his satchel and held it to his mount. The horse greedily licked it, then began to steam more and let out a loud snort.

"Set off."

The others followed Leopold's lead and mounted their horses. The steeds became restless, their forelegs pounding the ground and their armor clanging. With a pull of the reins, the seven knights propelled these heavily armored warhorses faster than their unarmored counterparts, galloping swiftly towards Rorschach and his companions.

……

evening.

Unaware of the danger rapidly approaching from behind, the convoy continued its slow, leisurely pace. A small river blocked their way. Mr. Ale tested the depth and current, deciding to cross first and then set up camp on the other side to rest.

The river was wide and shallow, so the drivers pulled out planks from under the carriages and pieced them together to make a raft, so that the horses' hooves and wheels wouldn't sink into the silt at the bottom of the river. In addition to the drivers stopping the raft from being drifted away by the current, Singh also jumped into the river to lend a hand, and Rorschach also lent a hand—the Mage's Hand.

They were so busy running around that they didn't even notice the closer trackers.

"My God, they've finally rested!" The convoy was stationed at the river bend, and two dusty men with straw camouflage were lying on a mound not far away. One of them was looking at a monocular telescope, monitoring Rorschach's group's every move!

"I thought it would be an easy job, but this little troublemaker had an airship and instead came to hitch a ride on the merchant convoy! He made us do wilderness survival! Our boss even had to pay for his travel expenses!"

"Looking further ahead... I've already foreseen the rise of a new star who's slacking off and taking advantage of the system..."

"It's still rising... Looking at it this way and that, this kid doesn't seem to know many spells. Boss, aren't your expectations too low? How can he only have this much ambition!"

The other man suddenly fell silent, clenching his fist to signal for quiet. After a long pause, he lowered his voice and said, "Keep your voice down, that wandering swordsman is already suspicious..."

"We'd be better off without that pretty girl. All that dwarf does is drink..." The man's expression suddenly changed. He put away his binoculars and, already lying down, turned his head to the side with his left ear touching the ground.

"A cavalry unit! This commotion... a ten-man squad! Approaching on horseback!"

……

"Bang!" The air vibrated as Rorschach made a shooting gesture, aimed at a hare, and sent it flying with a bang.

"Repulsive force" + "Projectile" = [Rorschach's Air Cannon]

Rorschach discovered that spells without a mana-gathering start usually directly mobilize one's own mana to cast the spell's effect, such as Disintegration and the current Air Cannon. The output of one's own mana is limited, and after being converted into repulsive force and momentum, the power is even more limited—the rabbit that was blown away came to its senses and ran away.

"Young Master Rorschach, the rabbit is even further away from us. Are you helping it escape?" The dwarf laughed heartily, taking a sip of wine. There wasn't much wine left in his large silver flask; he had been sipping it slowly these past two days.

"The earth is shaking." Singhlev suddenly put down his wine jug, his intoxicated expression turning serious.

"Relax, Singh. This isn't your hometown in the northern mountains; there are no earthquakes here."

The wandering swordsman knelt on one knee, supporting himself with one hand, and said, "No, he's right, the ground is shaking." After a while, he added, "It's rhythmic, the pace is fast. It's horses, more than one."

Mr. Aller immediately roared, "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

Everyone remounted their horses or carriages, and the four carriages were put away together.

At that moment, a pair of cavalrymen appeared on the horizon and charged towards the convoy.

"The cavalry stationed in Limburg? Or are they related to the underground cult?" It seemed too late to leave, so Mr. Aller and three guards rode behind the convoy to protect it.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

The seven heavily armored warhorses approaching were imposing. In the afterglow of the setting sun, and under the watchful eyes of the caravan, the riders stopped on the opposite bank of the river. A cold wind blew across the riverbank at dusk, and Rorschach smelled a fishy odor coming from the other side.

The man at the head of the group introduced himself: "I am Leopold, the tribunal protector of Limburg, and I'm investigating an arson case. Have you stayed at any hotels in the nearby towns?"

Singrev breathed a sigh of relief and shouted at the top of his lungs from across the river, "Great! Protector General! You have to help us! The innkeeper is a cultist! He believes in something like 'Go Home and Find Your Mother'! How can anyone believe in such a thing? You must investigate!"

Leopold didn't react much, but the knight behind him already showed anger: "Insolence!" "Blasphemy!"

"Go home and find your mother. She's clearly part of the 'Return of Our Lady' order." Rorschach reminded the dwarf, "You're going to make her furious after you say that. Don't you think the other side is in cahoots with the 'Return of Our Lady' order?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the knights drew their bows and fired, several arrows piercing the air.

"Be careful!"

(End of this chapter)