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13. Childhood Friend – Inn

The Guard scanned Leo up and down and asked,

“You don’t look like a knight, are you a hired mercenary? No? But you’re trying to bring a weapon into the castle? Quite bold of you. Shouldn’t you at least act like you’re hiding it?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to bring a sword in. I just arrived in Nebis today and was planning to look for a job.”

“Oh really? Well, hand over the sword first. Where did you get this?”

Leo handed over the sword without a fuss. There was no benefit in annoying the guard.

“I got it for self-defense on the way here.”

“Let’s see… What’s this? It’s a total piece of junk.”

“Why? Let me take a look.”

Another guard chimed in.

“The weight is all off towards the tip. It might be good for swinging, but it’s not some kind of axe.”

“Um… Can’t I carry it with me?”

Leo hesitantly asked.

The two guards examined the sword before returning it and said,

“I don’t think it’s worth taking from you. You just got here? Weapons are prohibited in the castle. It’s better to leave them somewhere before you enter.”

“Wait! What’s that tattoo on your arm? Are you a thug?”

“No. It’s not like that; it’s just that my father…”

He ended up explaining about the tattoo for quite a while. Lena chimed in from the side.

“That’s right. He’s had this tattoo since he was little.”

“Really?”

“Hey. Can you just let him go? What stupid thug walks into the castle with two-handed swords? Go on. Be careful from now on.”

“Thank you.”

The two bowed to the guard and left.

Leo looked at Lena with a face that showed he had just dodged a bullet. She narrowed her eyes, clearly ready to tease him.

“Ugh. I recognized you the moment you brought this in. You can’t even swing a sword, looking all flashy.”

Leo scratched his head awkwardly. Lena exaggeratedly gestured, as if she hit the jackpot.

“Even a piece of junk? Ugh~ I must be an idiot for being touched when you said you’d protect me with that.”

“Ugh. I can use a sword, you know.”

“Sure, sure~ I’m sure you can.”

In the end, they couldn’t get inside the castle and wandered around looking for jobs outside.

They grabbed a quick bite in the market. It was a dumpling made from bellflower roots, and Lena excitedly exclaimed that it might be from Demos village.

Eventually, Lena found a job at a bakery.

A plump lady resembling Hans was wiping her hands on her apron and said,

“If I can get someone to help with the dough, that’d be great. Can you come by tomorrow? I need to see you work before I set your pay.”

“Yes! I’ll come early tomorrow morning!”

“No need to come too early. I still have to fetch water and stuff.”

“Okay! I understand.”

“You’re a lively girl. I like that. See you tomorrow!”

“Yes! I’ll be there!”

Lena came out of the bakery beaming.

Leo waited a little at a distance and asked,

“What’s the pay?”

“Not decided yet. She’ll set it after seeing how I work tomorrow.”

“Lena, you can’t just take whatever they give you like a pushover.”

“Oh come on. I’m not a child. I’ll get paid for my work, so don’t worry. And believe it or not, I can read people! That lady is a good person.”

“… You probably think that because she looks exactly like Aunt Hans.”

“Not at all!”

Lena and Leo bickered as they looked for a job again. This time, it was Leo’s turn to find a place to work.

He was able to easily get a job at a tool shop.

The owner of the tool shop recognized Leo’s skills right away when he drove nails with precision. He promised a generous wage and urged Leo to come in starting tomorrow.

But for Leo, just showing Lena that he was working was enough. He had plans to find a clue to meet the prince from now on.

So, he deliberately chose a place far from the bakery where Lena would be working and figured that he could give her some money every now and then for the job and wouldn’t get caught.

The two returned to the inn, each carrying different hopes. The sun was already setting.

Lena pointed at the main entrance of the inn.

“Huh. The door frame is really chipped.”

“It was the same when we first got here. Maybe they carved out the rotting wood after it got rained on?”

“Aha~”

We entered through the inn’s door. In the lobby, about a dozen men were sitting and murmuring.

“We’re back~”

Lena greeted the innkeeper cheerfully, and he smiled at them warmly.

“Welcome back. I was waiting for you.”

Leo politely nodded and was about to head up the stairs when he sensed something was off in the atmosphere.

Looking around, he noticed that the men sitting were gradually getting up, all of them holding weapons.

Mercenaries?

“Oh, come down first.”

Ahead, Lena tried to make way for a man blocking the stairs.

Leo turned around to see a large man filling the staircase while holding a shield.

A warning light flashed in Leo’s head.

“Lena! Get back!”

“What?”

Leo shoved Lena against the wall and stood in front of her. In the blink of an eye, he was holding his sword.

As if that was a signal, the men sitting in the lobby surrounded the two, each grabbing their weapons.

They concealed their malign intentions. The weapons they drew were aimed at Lena and Leo, and a few blocked the entrance of the inn.

Their slouching posture was far different from that of mercenaries guarding a merchant group.

These were thugs.

Confronted with violence that had no respect, Leo spoke up.

“What the hell is going on here? Back off.”

His request was met with quiet chuckles of disdain.

The men closed in even further, and the innkeeper behind the counter discreetly stepped aside. Looking closely, Leo saw that the counter was completely empty.

Lena stiffened behind Leo.

The gazes of the surrounding men were terrifying. There was not a shred of warmth in their eyes, and the weapons they brandished called for submission.

How can one person treat another like this? ─ Alongside that thought, he recalled the slaves he had seen in the market.

This was reality.

The inn lobby grew still. The wooden floor creaked under their weight, and one thug stepped toward Leo.

– Clang!

The thug swung a small axe at Leo’s sword. He wasn’t aiming to cut but wanted to knock Leo’s sword away, but Leo sent it flying with a parry.

Surprisingly, one man behind him spoke up.

“Oh? I thought you could block.”

“Next time, I won’t stand still either. Step back immediately.”

No one was listening to his words. Tension began to fill the air as a few of the thugs tightened their grips on their weapons.

“Hey. Let’s forget about the guy and just attack.”

The man in the hat gave the order, and the thugs closed in, rushing in two or three at a time.

Lena’s scream echoed.

Leo concentrated, pushing aside his fear for Lena.

He dodged the axe that a muscular man swung down, moving narrowly to the right. The axe struck the ground and splintered wood flew. At the same time, he stabbed the man thrusting a dagger at his left armpit with his sword and kicked the thug in front of him away. Then he spun around and cut down the thug, raising his axe once more.

The thugs hesitated.

As blood dripped from the wounded thugs, the wooden floor made a sticky, dry sound.

The man behind adjusted his hat and frowned.

“Hey. This isn’t what I heard. You were some townie who hunted out in the woods, right?”

“I just told you what the merchant guy told me.”

The innkeeper shrugged.

The thugs rushed in again, and Leo protected the trembling Lena cowering in the corner.

Block, cut, dodge, swing.

The swordplay continued, but as the thugs raised their shields, most attacks began to go to waste.

“Ugh!”

A dagger flew through the crowd and lodged itself in his thigh. For a moment, he felt pain, but he lost his balance as a shield swung at him from the side.

His shoulder felt like it was going to break with pain.

Hearing Leo’s groan, Lena looked up with tear-stained cheeks.

“Leo!”

In the midst of losing his balance, Leo tried to roll away to dodge the descending blade aimed at his neck.

He barely avoided the sword, but that was a terrible mistake.

A thug spotted his opening and dashed toward Lena, grabbing her without a second thought.

Lena flailed her arms in resistance, but the thug ignored her weak attempts and roughly wrapped his arms around her waist, squeezing her neck tightly.

Lena struggled and was dragged away.

“Lena! You bastards!”

Leo swung his sword wildly to fend off the thugs, but another dagger flew at him.

In a panic, he pulled back to block it.

It was a stroke of luck. But he had no time to avoid the axe coming down with it, so he had no choice but to lay the sword flat to take the hit.

– Clang!

The sword and axe collided frontally. Leo’s injured thigh couldn’t bear the pressure and began to bleed.

“Leo! Leo!”

“Is it really the time to worry about her?”

“Let her go! Please, let go!”

Lena squirmed to break free from the thug’s grip. The thug frowned and squeezed harder, and Lena let out a pained whimper.

The man in the hat, who was watching the fight, turned his head at Lena’s cry.

“Hey! She’s supposed to go up for product tomorrow. Can’t you take care not to leave marks?”

“But she… keeps…”

“If she gets too bruised, she’ll have to wait until the next auction. Can’t you keep hold of one little girl? Hey! Don’t grab her clothes! That’ll leave marks! Are you people hopeless?”

Leo’s sword pierced straight into a thug’s neck. The thug fell to the ground with a gurgling sound.

Blood splattered over Leo.

[ Achievement: First Murder – Leo feels less guilty about murder. ]

A message popped up in his peripheral vision, but Leo felt no guilt at all. Instead, he burned with rage to take them all down, spitting blood mixed with gore onto the floor.

However, despite his heart, his body continued to sustain injuries. He was only just managing to dodge critical hits with {Swordsmanship}, and now holding the sword was becoming a struggle.

This Leo was no longer the Leo Dexter from the engagement scenario.

He had the sturdy lower body suitable for climbing mountains, but his physique hadn’t been trained to swing heavy swords for long. Even if Leo Dexter himself were here, it would be impossible to take on a dozen foes alone.

Furthermore, this piece of junk, weighted towards the end, was quickly draining Leo’s grip strength.

The sword was slowly falling down.

“Enough. Don’t let your guard down and finish them.”

“Wait a moment!”

Lena, who was trembling with tears, shouted desperately.

“Please, spare Leo. I’ll do anything you say.”

“…Anything you say?”

“Lena! No!”

“Hey. First, let’s not kill him but take the sword.”

The thug standing in front of Leo grumbled.

“This is really sweating me. Could you cool it a bit?”

The thugs raised their shields and cautiously swung their weapons. After a few more blocks, the grip tore, and the sword fell. As soon as he lost the sword, the thugs threw themselves at him.

Exhausted, Leo found himself pinned beneath the hulking figures, unable to move.

“Miss. Keep saying what you were saying earlier. You’ll do as I say?”

“… Yes. Just spare Leo.”

“Hey, let her go.”

The man holding her released his grip. Lena stood still, not resisting, as tears streamed down her face.

The man in the hat grabbed Lena’s chin and inspected her, smiling with satisfaction.

“Hmm… Good. We didn’t have time for training, so this worked out nicely. If you don’t behave by tomorrow, your boyfriend will… you know what I mean.”

“… Yes.”

“Le… na! No…!”

Leo’s voice struggled to break free as he felt suffocated under the weight pressing him down.

The thug holding him glared fiercely, but all Leo could see was Lena being dragged outside.

“Leo…”

Lena turned back at the door.

The man in the hat grabbed her shoulder and shoved her outside.

Lena disappeared from his sight.

“Guys, keep her locked up properly. If she dies, she dies.”

“Yes, Captain.”

The thug who was presumably the captain spoke in a way meant for Lena to hear as he stepped outside.

The thugs tried to bind Leo, but he fought back desperately. His eyes turned red with rage as he shouted and screamed.

“Just knock him out. This is a hassle.”

One thug raised a club.

– Crack!

Leo’s vision went dark.