Episode 7 : The Lady's Tent - Part 3

 The Knights of Mongol are on their way. Their goal is the castle of Alvon, beyond the river Kes.

 The prisoners were tied up with two leather straps around their waists and wrists. The ends of these straps were tied to the saddlebags of the horses, and they were driven into the middle of the two platoons of white knights escorted by the Red Guards.

"Linda--Linda, my hand hurts."

 Remus whispered. His childish face twisted as if he were about to cry.

 Linda did not even try to resist when the rope was applied. Rather, she held her slender, irresistibly slender wrists together and arrogantly stretched them out in front of her to have the rope applied.

"Remus, your father is in the hands of these White Knights."

 Say it in a low, stern voice.

"Remember it for ever. And of the prince and princess of Paro, whom the Lady of Mongol has made the prince and princess of Paro. If one day we are fortunate enough to survive and reestablish your father's kingdom, the first thing you must do as King of Paro is to exterminate the accursed Mongols and, by extension, the three Grand Dukes of Gora from the face of the earth. "

"Are we gonna live, or are we gonna get killed?"

 Remus stared at Linda in horror. Linda didn't try to ease her brother's fear.

"Do you think I wouldn't have done it even if I were the Lady of Mongol? But we'll be together in death. And, Remus, please, remember that you are Paro's heir. I want you to die with your head held high and proud until the last moment. You must listen to your sister."

 Remus shook his head. His soft, sensitive eyes were filled with tears, both from the pain that had already begun in his wrist and from Linda's hints.

"I don't want to die."

 He says it softly, knowing he's going to get mad.

"You're--"

 Linda almost said angrily, but Guin, who was tethered to Remus's left side with a rope that was much sturdier than those of the children, soothed her with a small barking laugh.

"Princess of Paro, not everyone is born as high-minded, strong and upright as you. Do not blame a soul that is not like you, even if it has the same face as you. Because it's no credit to you that you're like that.

 And you, Prince Remus. You're a fine boy. It's hard for a prince of the world to honestly say he doesn't want to die without hesitation. I don't see why you're an ordinary man.

"You think I'm stupid, don't you?"

 Remus asked pathetically. Guin shook his head.

"That's what I'm saying is good about you, boy. You know, you are who you are."

"We're off!"

 From the front came the shouting voice of the messenger. Five hundred men and horses began to move slowly. The three prisoners of war were immediately yanked violently by the taut leather straps at the wrists, and had to stop in their haste to catch up with them.

 The sun is in the middle of the sky, rubbing things slowly, and gradually shifting itself to the western horizon.

"Guin."

 Linda said, panting fast and hard.

"What the... Don't talk to me like that. You'll wear yourself out."

"Guin, I don't know what's wrong with them. They're, uh..."

"Don't tell me!"

 With a snap Guin interrupted. The hippopotamus that had bound them together turned to look at the voice that had risen.

"What did you say?" he said sternly.

"It's the only time you can talk nonsense. In less than half an hour, the children will fall down, their wrists will be gouged and they will be dragged away by the horses."

"The Devil of Mongol!"

 Linda's eyes filled with tears and she cursed in a hoarse voice. Guin waited with his head down until the knights lost interest and turned forward again.

 He made sure that they could not hear him, and then opened his mouth low in the midst of the hoofbeats of five hundred horses and the sound of their feet.

"Don't say his name. He may be the only thing keeping us alive."

"That bastard! I bet he's long since betrayed us and is sleeping peacefully."

"That's not what we decided. And even if it were, we can't blame him, since we didn't hire him as a mercenary. Anyway, we should trust Yarn and his crippled child hope for now."

 Yeah, Guin said.

 It was Istvan.

 He's long since gone to bed somewhere, Linda said wickedly, but that wasn't necessarily a fair accusation.

 However, that does not mean that Istvan felt kindly responsible for the predicament of the three people who became his companions by chance. It is rare to find a person whose interests are not obscured by a veil of compassion or justice as much as the Red Mercenary.

 However, the jovial Istvan of Valakia could not be satisfied with the fact that he had managed to escape from the clutches of Mongol.

 Because this was Nosferus, a no-man's-land full of unknown threats, and if he had at least joined forces with a superhuman warrior like Guin, he would have known that no matter how good a warrior Istvan was, he would not have survived there for more than two days with only a single sword in his hand and no horse at his side. For no matter how good a warrior Istvan was, he could not have survived two days there.

 In addition, Istvan was not familiar with the situation in Nosferus, although it was only natural for a man of the Middle Kingdom.

 Thinking of the horrible id that had just latched itself onto my leg, and of the "Great Bitsu Gumakchius" of Nosferus, a land-dwelling water demon of the same species as the one that lives in the Kes River, made me shudder. However, there was no way to return to the Gora territory without a raft.

"Well, I'm in trouble, I'm in trouble - I must admit I'm in a bit of trouble with a hundred long ears of Yarn in heaven."

 In the morning, as soon as he saw the dust and smoke of his pursuers' horse, he abandoned his duty as a watchman, and abducted even Suni of the Lakhs, who was chasing him to reproach him, and successfully escaped from the spot. Whatever other character flaws Istvan may have had, his fearful shrewdness was second to none.

 It was based on intuition and correct reading that almost rivaled Guin's superhuman physical and mental strength, almost to the point of superpower. Istvan expected that Mongol's pursuers, while almost satisfied with the capture of Guin and the three others, would still devote a certain number of men to the search for the other two.

 So he dragged Suni, who was shouting in a language he did not understand at all, and instead of trying to stay back a little to the east, as he had generally expected, he went around behind the knights and watched from the top of the cliff as the search party went eastward. And then, from the top of the cliff, he watched the questing party head eastward, and took it easy.

 At the bottom of the cliff, a temporary settlement has appeared with tents and knights resting in the shade of the horse.

 The mercenary looked down at it and laughed fearlessly.

"Hey, hey, Sal. You wouldn't know what I'm talking about if I asked you, but I'll tell you. Do you know what the trick is to hiding? To hide completely, you get as close to the other hand as you can and follow it from behind. Anyway, by the gods of trickery, the best way to escape is to chase your pursuer. But you wouldn't know that. Well, it's never been safer to sit on this rock in the sun.

 Damn it... what kind of sun is it anyway? It's like the legend of Lala, the frost nymph who carelessly climbed into the lure's disk... it'll melt you in half an hour. I'll get hungry on top of that... what? What? What are you trying to say?"

 Istvan twisted his handsome face and half-raised his head, and scowled at the ape-man girl who suddenly began to chirp. Suni pulled Istvan's hand in a fiercely irritated manner.

 Without thinking, he looked down where Suni was pointing and his mouth quirked up. He could see Guin and the Paro twins being led out and held in front of a luxurious tent that looked like the commander's.

 The Valakian-born mercenary could not understand a single word Suni said, but in fact, Suni's body language made it clear what he meant.

 She shuffles her little hairy feet, points downwards, makes a pleading gesture to Istvan, and pulls the sheath of her sword from her waist. Suni's walnut eyes, with a fearful and serious light, do not turn away from the mercenary even for a moment. Suni is demanding that Istvan save Linda and the others quickly.

"Alura, iminit, gras!"

 The tone of his voice sounded like he was cursing her, "You coward, idiot! Sun-hee ranted, as if she was cursing him.

"Quiet, you monkey, or I'll burn you."

 Istvan shouted angrily, then rushed to put his finger to his mouth in a universal gesture. But Suni, who was desperate, did not show any sign of understanding, though he might have understood.

 Even more frustratingly, he glares at the fugitive with his round, reproachful eyes and pulls on the scabbard of his sword.

"You stink--don't touch me with your beastly hands."

 Fed up with the urging, Istvan raised his voice.

"What the fuck do you want me to say? Those guys-- leave those guys alone. Look, that Guin guy, he can take care of anything on his end. Even that monster. He's a man. So, Sal, the proper thing for us to do is to let him take care of him and mind our own business.

 Istvan's obsidian eyes narrowed wickedly. Suni, who had been ranting in a high-pitched voice, let out a yelp and jumped. He suddenly grabbed the sword at his waist and made a sign that he intended to cut Suni down at any moment.

 Suni hurriedly retreated to a place beyond the reach of Istvan's sword and cautiously looked at him. Looking into his frightened round eyes, the unscrupulous mercenary could not stop laughing again.

"You monkey, you know I'm gonna eat you. You're scared."

 He folded himself up and laughed, and laughed again when he saw the angry Suni glaring at him with round eyes. He himself would have been very disappointed if he had been told that, but the mercenary, who was not yet twenty years old, sometimes had moments when he looked like an unpredictable little boy, and when people saw that, even if they were very angry with him, they could not be angry with him.

 But Suni could not be so sure. Because this little Semite had already given her heart to Linda, who had saved her life, and perhaps it was Suni who was more distressed than anyone else at her master's predicament.

 Suni glared at the laughing mercenary with disbelief. But he did not pull his sword by his side any more, as if he thought that he could not count on him anyhow, and he was thinking about something, but suddenly he jumped up with a suddenness that was very beastly.

 And then, in a flash, they begin to climb down the rocky mountain with a swiftness of movement that is only possible for a race born and dying on this rocky mountain.

"Oh-- hey, Sal!"

 Startled, Istvan was halfway down the rock when he raised himself.

"Hey, wait, where are you going?

 Istvan stretched out his hand and tried to catch Suni's small arm, but Suni was much quicker. But Suni was much quicker. Suni scowled at the mercenary with scornful walnut eyes, and, springing to his bare little feet, ran down the path without a second glance.

"Oh--"

 As Istvan looked away in dismay, a small, hairy figure fluttered off in the opposite direction from where the Gora soldiers were hanging out on the cliff and disappeared.

 Istvan looked away for a moment in a daze. But then, suddenly,

"Che, what the hell is that monkey?"

 He wakes up shouting in a strangely annoyed manner.

"Why'd you have to look at a man like that? What did I do to deserve that three-and-a-half-foot tail of a yarn?"

 The mercenary's youthful face was twisted in a strange way. But then he looked towards the cliff, hesitated for a moment, and then, deciding that it was none of my business, he slumped down again - not long after that he jumped up again.

"In short, they got what they deserved. The Leopard-head can take charge of his own destiny... but there's no point in me just running away like this... if I'd known this would happen, I should've surrendered to Gora much earlier, taking back the whereabouts of the prince and princess of Paro. I should have been able to get a position in the Order. However, I really wanted to see how the power relations of the three lords would be changed by Mongol's capture of Paro.

 I'll just have to think of the best way to deal with them. It's true that even a demon warrior like me won't be able to make it across Nosferus on my own... but I don't owe them that much... and I'm not a hired hand... --

 Oh?"

 Suddenly the mercenary stopped his usual monologue and squinted under the bright sunlight.

 The knights of Mongol, below, suddenly began to move in a hurry.

 It appeared that the order to depart had been sent to the troops. All at once, the knights put away their canteens and rations, stood up, cleaned themselves, and got their horses up. The horse of the captain's troop ran between them again and again.

 The mercenary, cautious, moved to a place where they could not see him, but where he could see well enough, and lay down on the cliff.

 From the east, a small mass of dust was gradually approaching, and then it became the figure of the platoon that had left the main force earlier to search. As they joined together, the formation of the hikikomori, shaped like red petals around a white core, was complete, and the drums of the departure signal, beaten by the drummers seated at the head of each troop, echoed through No Man's Land.

 Finally, a company of people emerged from the tent. Even from the top of the high cliffs they could easily make out the leopard-headed majesty of Guin, towering high above the heads of the people, and the slender twins, like two bellflowers on a rock, flanking him on either side.

 The knights would prod them forward, and kneeling down, would place nappies on their waists and their outstretched wrists, and tie them to the saddles of their horses. And Istvan watched the prisoners being led thus between the ranks, without raising an eyebrow.

 Suddenly, however, his eyes were fixed on something that startled him. After the tent had been folded and everything was ready for departure, a tall, slender figure appeared at the last moment, straddling a white horse.

"..."

 From there, he was too far away to see, but the mercenary sensed something. Because his face suddenly tightened, his eyes suddenly sank into thought, and then he suddenly raised himself up and gave a big nod. His appearance had changed.

 Something was finally moving now.