Chapter 145
“…Why is that, Your Holiness?”
Having heard an unexpected answer, Cedric couldn’t hide his confusion. It was an unusually blunt reaction for someone who normally controlled his expressions so well. The High Priest replied with a regretful look.
“God respects the human’s choice. As a servant of the Almighty, I cannot interfere and cause confusion against that will.”
“That’s…”
“It also means that what matters most is the human’s heart. So you may not need to worry as much as you think.”
“What do you mean, Your Holiness?”
“If the human wishes to return here… it means she can return at any time.”
At the High Priest’s words, Cedric felt a small sense of relief. His thoughts, which had been in disarray from greater panic than he expected, settled neatly. He first asked the High Priest for his understanding.
“I apologize, since you have come all this way. May I step out for a moment?”
“I will look around here for a while, so please attend to your business.”
“Yes, thank you for your understanding.”
Hurrying out of the room, Cedric intended to handle the most important matter. He had to inform the Master of this situation as quickly as possible.
* * *
After cutting down the persistent wolf tribe, Nox shook the blood from his blade and continued forward. Unlike when they had only been looting, this time they had occupied an entire village, and the number of soldiers was considerable, so Nox was having a slightly harder time.
However, there was something suspicious. The leader was nowhere to be seen.
Most werebeasts lived in groups, and at the center of every group there was always a leader. Among them, the tribe that relied most heavily on its leader was the wolf tribe.
Yet neither the black-haired man he had seen before nor anyone commanding the battlefield like a leader was in sight. Finding this strange, Nox briefly stopped swinging his sword and climbed a tall tree nearby.
From above, the standoff was clearly uneven. A large number of wolf tribe soldiers were gathering toward the area where Nox was fighting. It seemed they had been directed there by someone’s order, yet no one nearby appeared capable of giving such a command.
“…This is suspicious.”
He began to suspect that the wolf tribe might be using a diversion. They had already looted Ezel Village, so it was a reasonable assumption that they were holding him here while raiding another village nearby.
Quickly descending from the tall tree, Nox moved toward the opposite side instead of returning to his original position. Even so, the wolf tribe soldiers kept advancing, focused only on the enemy in front of them.
He pushed deeper toward the inner camp of the wolf tribe. His plan was to cut down the one who at least looked like a leader and lower the enemy’s morale. If nothing else, he wanted to end this battle as quickly as possible.
“Sia…”
He cursed himself for having had to leave his ill mate behind. Who would understand how he felt, wanting to throw away the title of duke to anyone at all?
Upon reaching the wolf tribe’s encampment, he ran straight toward the largest tent.
“What is that! Stop him!”
A wolf tribe soldier who noticed him too late rushed forward, but he couldn’t keep up with Nox’s speed. Pushing aside the thick cloth covering the entrance and stepping inside, Nox saw that the tent was completely empty and clicked his tongue.
If the leader wasn’t here either, where had he gone? Was he perhaps at another nearby village? As he was considering this, voices came from outside.
“What? Really?”
“They said he just went somewhere around here. But there are so many tents, I don’t know where he slipped into…”
“Damn. This wasn’t part of the plan.”
They probably thought they were whispering among themselves, but to Nox’s ears, their voices were perfectly clear. Suppressing his presence, he moved slowly inside the tent toward the direction of their voices.
“His Grace told us to keep Duke Blois tied down… what should we do about this?”
“His Grace went over there, right?”
“Yeah, he was cursing, saying the snake tribe seems to be pulling something.”
“Are they sure the human is really in the Blois territory?”
“Ah, that part is certain! I saw her myself—”
Their chatter did not continue any further. Nox tore through the tent and burst outside.
Even though the distance was considerable since they were not right next to the tent, Nox accurately located the two who had been talking.
Moving at a speed too fast to see, Nox reached them in an instant and swiftly struck their vital points, rendering them unable to fight.
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