53 Useless pride
"Oi, did you order that volley of arrows?" Mark asked calmly but that guy ignored him as he just stared at the beast under him. He even trotted back to the window of the carriage and talked to someone inside it.
"I said, did you order that volley of arrows?" Mark said as a sphere of fire appeared on his palms ready to throw at the guy. He was pissed for a little bit as he did all of that so these people were warned but their first thought was to fire arrows at something and someone who might have warned them. Did they ever think that there was someone fighting this beast or did they not care.
Mark saw the guy ignore him and it made him more pissed as the guard just whispered to someone in the carriage. He did not care who the person in the carriage was so he threw the fireball towards it and it made the people shocked at his brazenness.
"I asked you a question so answer!" Mark was not arrogant to think that he must be answered if he questions someone but to think he would be ignored after they had shot arrows at him. They might just be defending but an apology would be nice yet they still showed blatant disregard at his wellbeing.
"Y-you!!" The guard was shocked as he did not think this dirty armored person in front of him dared to strike a Damsel of the Lady. He wanted to stop the fire ball but it was too late as it hit the horses in front that it made them spooked. The horse panicked as they ran making the carriage follow as it was being pulled by the panicked beast.
"My Lady!!" The guard and his men followed behind as they tried to calm the horses down so the ones inside would not be harmed.
"Tsk! So the one inside is important but you still ignored a man who was holding a fireball in his hands? You think I was bluffing?" Mark's old tendencies of cursing appeared as he squatted above the corpse of the Preyton. He did not care anymore about the caravan as they were in chaos stopping the horses of the carriage.
He pulled out his spear as he inspected the beast, he estimated that the beast stood for about three meters high on all fours and was six to seven meters long with the tail excluded. Its wingspan was about fifteen meters and its horns were two meters long each.
"This would look great decorated in my wall." Mark then raised the spear as he swung down with great strength that it sliced the neck clean in an instant. He could see the black blood as well as the small sizzle of smoke that appeared as soon as the blood reached the ground.
"Damn that's dangerous." Mark said as he took a small bundle of rope from his belt and tied the severed head to make some sort of strap. He looked back and saw that the caravan has settle down after calming the horses. He turned around and ran towards where he left his stuff, he was so fast the people mercenaries thought that they were dreaming.
"Did you see that?!" a Mercenary asked his buddy besides him.
"Yeah." nodded the other one.
"He ran as fast as a Horse!!" said an old archer in their group.
"Where is that bastard!!" a shout was heard and the mercenaries and guards looked back to see the guard captain with a furious looks. They were not sure why this guy was so arrogant that he even did not reply to that warrior wizard earlier. The mercenaries did not speak much as they were just following orders earlier.
'Who told you to act arrogantly?!' that was all the Mercenaries thought as they looked at the guy like a fool. He had been like this acting like someone important but they knew he was trying to impress the lady inside the carriage.
"He seemed to have gone over that direction captain." A guard said as he pointed to where Mark ran.
"Really, chase him down!! I'll have his head on a pike!!" the guy said as he rode his horse towards Mark is.
"Captain stop!" a stern mellow voice sounded inside the carriage which made the guy pause in his tracks.
"B-but my lady, he disrespected you so he must pay for his sins." The guard captain said.
"Did he know who I am?" said the voice which made the captain pause but he still answered.
"He should have my lady, you are the best student that ever came from the College of Magic!" the guard captain tried to flatter which made the mercenaries roll their eyes. They were sick of this brown nosing idiot, they knew that the lady inside is someone very influential but even they knew that what that guy did was indeed disrespectful.
"I don't want to hear any more excuses from you captain. We were the ones in the wrong, now let's go and find the person to apologize." The one in the carriage said.
"Bu-but my lady, he might just be a peasant so you have no need to lower you head to commoners." said the guard captain.
"A 'commoner' killed a Preyton alone guard captain, need I remind you of how funny that sounds? And who said he was a commoner? Did you assume just because of his appearance? My father let you become guard captain to guard me, not to dictate how I view others so know you place. No, you better remember it guard captain." The voice now had a hint of annoyance as she was quite angry as she insinuated the words 'guard captain'.
She has been displeased as her nap was disturbed due to what happened earlier. And besides, she knew how this guard captain her father assigned her acted towards other people. Sure there were few people that dared to disrespect a daughter of the Duke of Cabarnet of Carcassone. But she understood the real situation just from the few seconds she observed the scene outside.
"I-I understand m-my lady." The guard captain paled as he bowed sweating his back, he was so angry earlier that he impulsively acted that way. He was blaming Mark inside as he felt that he would not have lost favor from his Lady if he did not appear.
"Take the corpse with us so we could give it back to the warrior earlier" the one in the carriage ordered and the other guards followed.
"B-but my lady, a Preyton's body would fetch a great sum of money should we provide it to a Wizard or a Merchant." The guard captain said as he felt it was a waste to give the body back to that disrespectful peasant.
"Captain…" the one inside the carriage changed her tone and it made the guard captain realize what he had just said but he did not want to take back his words as he felt that he was not wrong. The lady in the carriage then asked a few questions.
"…How far did we first see that first burst of fire Captain? Half a league away? Did the Preyton not run straight towards us with the speed of a Brettonian charger?" The guards nearby heard her questions nodded as it was indeed the case.
"Yes my lady." The guard captain was also confused as he did not understand its relation to returning the corpse to that peasant. But the next words of the lady in the carriage made him and the other guards nearby remember one thing they overlooked.
"So tell me, which one of you could chase the Preyton without fear barefoot and still manage to catch up to the beast? Need I also remind you that warrior was wearing a set of heavy Armor meant for Heavy infantry yet he was still able to run as fast as a Warhorse. Do I need to speak more?" the lady inside sounded cold with a hint of disappointment at how her subordinates missed such crucial details.
*hiss* the guards felt chills inside their armors as they realized what kind of person they had just faced.
"So you see, I am quite angry about the horses but that does not warrant me to offend such a strong warrior. As my father said to me and all of you, there are vast plains but the world is very wide it could contain many of such places wider than our own understanding." the guards nodded as the Duke indeed said such things when they were in training.
"We were the ones in the wrong from the start, so captain…"
"Y-yes my lady."
"…keep your useless pride away, you were trained to protect me and not to bring unnecessary trouble." A tone of finality was heard which made the guards realized they had anger the Lady. Even the guard captain realized what he has done wrong but he still resented Mark deep inside.
"Now reorganize our caravan as soon as you can. We'll have to thank the warrior for killing such fell beast, it seems the Chaos moon has brought out its horrors tonight." the lady said before going silent in the carriage.
[Mark's Carriage]
Mark came back and gathered all the things he used earlier including arrows and shields. He also took out a large cloth to act like it was where he put all his weapons as he travelled, he then took out the carriage as well as call for his entourage before the caravan behind him arrives at where he is currently.
"My Lord, you have blood on you!" Maria was shocked at the disheveled appearance of Mark but she then noticed the large head placed in the ground nearby. Even the shadows were awed at how a creature they were told to be a nightmare of knights since they were kids was now a severed piece of head when it faced their lord.
"Not my blood though, light up some small torches. There is another caravan just ahead of us, not sure but their sigil reminds me of Corounne. Well know after this anyways so I'll take a bath first." Mark then went to the bedroom in the large carriage where the small bathroom was installed.
[Ten minutes Later]
Mark came out with a new set of fresh clothes and saw another group is now present sitting together with his subordinates in the camp fire. He can also see the caravan they led was on the other side of the clearing they occupied.
"We hope we did not impose on the Baron tonight, I apologize for the misdemeanor of my men earlier and hope we can start again anew with more cordial relations." there was a cloaked woman sitting on a chair in front of the fire, she stood up as soon as Mark came out and he was stunned for a while. He then realized that it was the caravan earlier feeling a glare and looked back to the ones behind the woman. There he saw the guards earlier including the one that ignored him.
Mark did nothing as he went down to the fire with only a bastard sword on his side as he was confident of reacting to any attack. His silence and nonchalance made Maria who was standing on the side nervous as she knew who the lady in front of her was. She was a candidate their Queen wanted to recruit but was not able to due to the amount of attention this lady has from other factions.
She was not sure how her new Lord would handle the meeting but never like this, blatant disregard and not even showing a greeting. She felt that there was something more to this thus did not go and remind her liege. And as expected the guard captain snapped first.
"Yo-you dare ignore the Lady of…"
"Agnes, are we near towards our destination?" Mark acted like the guy was air as he asked Maria besides him. She was standing a bit far behind as she was scared of being found out as a vampire because she felt some holy items on the possession of the woman in the hood by the fire. But she still answered nonetheless as she was sure Mark had something in plan.
"Yes my lord, we are now near the place where the road to Marienberg coincides with the Old Coast Road." Maria was nervous seeing the overreacting guards but sighed in relief that the one in the baggy cloak not reacting.
"I see…" Mark nodded as he sat down near the camp fire acting like the ones in front did not exist at all. The guard looks like he was going to explode along with the other guards but they were stopped by the one in the cloak.
"I can see you are still disgruntled by my subordinate's behavior earlier, so I humbly ask for forgiveness for the misdemeanor we have showed to you." The cloaked woman said as she pulled back her cloak to reveal a very beautiful face that was slightly above Agnes'.
But Mark was having none of that as he stared at the night sky, he had just realized that Preytons usually live in the forest of Brettonnia but they were now in the empire's lands. It was then Mark noticed as few dots in the ominous sky far behind them and it made Mark feel uneasy.
"Agnes, have the men and the Carriage ride ahead!" Mark did not bother as he went to take his armor from one of his men that was cleaning the blood on it. Mark's actions made the shadows realize something as they also hurried to pack up and some helped Mark wear the armor faster. Soon Mark was decked again in full heavy armor as well as took out a still clean helmet.
"Agnes, ride ahead and wait for me by the fork of the road that you have said. I'll be there shortly." Mark also unsheathed the large claymore and placed the longbow on his back as well as spears and arrows. His actions made the ones in the caravan confused but the lady with the cloak was able to react even after Mark ignored her.