Chapter 21: Out the frying pan and into the fire ?
Chapter 21: Out the frying pan and into the fire ?
WHENG~!
" FUCK OFF!" Osborne ignored the holy swords cry and sent it falling to the ground with a stone.
He then hurriedly ran towards the dagger with the sword out of the way.
During those few brief classes, he was able to decipher that the holy sword could not harm him unless he himself touched it first.
Hence why he used the stone instead.
The holy sword got back up after being knocked down, but by then it was already too late.
Osborne grabbed a hold of the rusted dagger.
[Item obtained, Do you wish to exit the temple]
" Yes!" Osborne said.
The next moment, his figure vanished in a flash of light.
Right after, he emerged back in the snowy mountains.
But his carriage was nowhere to be seen and yet, when he turned to the side, he saw the angel statue still in place.
Though right now it was covered in layers of snow like before.
" Halt! Who goes there!" Out of nowhere, several men dressed as soldiers jumped out from the forest with weapons in hand, all pointed at him.
" I-I surrender." Osborne was surprised to see so many people out here, but recalling that their armour designer really did match the kingdoms militia, he chose to be taken in instead.
With his carriage and belongings nowhere to be seen, this in a way, was a blessing.
’ Well at least I still have the dagger–?’ he said only to realise that his hand was empty.
’ Hold up! Where’s the dagger?!!!’
********
The soldiers all gradually stepped out of the forest.
There were about five of them in total, all in leader armour with swords in hand.
A white haired man around 25, with an athletic build, stepped forward towards Osborne before retrieving a knife from his satchel.
Osborne who already understood what he was about to do, dropped both hands before stretching out one of his hands towards the soldier. Specifically his finger.
The soldier raised a brow but continued to remain cautious.
Osborne stood motionless as the man nicked his finger, drawing blood.
" It’s red." The soldier let out a sigh. Seeing the same thing, his comrades as well let out a breath of relief.
What they just applied was one of the methods the Kingdom used to check whether someone was a demon or human. While most demons possessed non human appearances, it still wasn’t impossible to find some who did, and since Demonic blood was blue, it was easier to tell from that.
And since he knew that, Osborne had no reason to fear.
" The names Silas." The white haired guy said as he offered Osborne a handshake, which he returned.
" Sorry for scaring you like that pal, but we were really shocked to see someone this far up north. You’re almost at the border you know." Silas said.
" My apologies for that, I was on a journey to look for something but ended up getting lost and losing my carriage." Osborne said awkwardly.
" What on earth could you be looking for all the way out here, there’s nothing as far as the eye can see but snow." Silas said, raising a brow.
" Well it’s not really important right now." Osborne avoided the question.
" If it’s ok with you, could I please accompany you men back."
" No need to ask, of course, there’s no way we’d leave someone all the way out here in the cold."
" Much obliged brother." Osborne thanked Silas.
" Umm... Silas, a word please." One of the 4 men, a guy with neck length black hair and crimson eyes spoke up.
He led Silas away from the ground.
" Are you really sure about this? Judging by his clothes, he’s definitely one of them noble bastards." The man whispered.
" I could already tell that Vlaric." Silas said. " Even if he is a noble, we can’t simply leave him out here to fend for himself, you and I know that there’s rarely anyone around here."
" But won’t we get in trouble for bringing him back to the barracks with us?"
" Not unless we explain his situation." Silas said.
" And what if his words aren’t what they seem, what if instead of a demon, he’s a spy groomed by then to get information on us."
" Won’t our squad get the blame if that turns out to be true" Vlaric said through gritted teeth.
His comrades expressions turned grim. " Are you really that unwilling to help someone who’s clearly on the brink of death?"
" Don’t put words in my mouth." Vlaric said with a bit of nervousness. " I’m just saying that it’s far too risky."
" At least, let’s meet up with the squad leader before deciding anything like this."
" That guy’s just too suspicious." Vlaric added.
" And what if he can’t make it that far, we don’t even know where the squad leader is!"
" Tsk!" Silas clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.
" If you’re so worried about that, then I’ll take the blame myself." Silas said before walking off.
" Silas! Wait." Vlaric tried to call him back but the man completely ignored him.
" Just follow me, we’ll have you out of here in no time." Silas said to Osborne who was already beginning to hug his body.
" Thank you." Osborne nodded.
Silas nodded back before looking at his other counterparts.
" Alright everyone, we’re heading back to the barracks."
" But what about the mission." One of the other three said."
" We’ve already done as the platoon leader said." Silas replied. " We couldn’t find whatever it was respondle for all those tremors, honestly my guess is as good as any, it could be an Earth Wyrm for all we know or just some earthquake."
" I think it’d be wiser to go back and report our findings than continue to wander out here aimlessly." Silas said.
The other three looked skeptical but nodded in the end. At that time Vlaric came back.
Silas only spared him a glance before leading the way, with Osborne walking beside him.
The walk back to their barracks only took around 30 minutes, which was a blessing to Osborne who was about to freeze over.