Chapter 57
After buying a horse in the village, Kyden confirmed the merchant’s destination.
‘Mountain Goat Village.’
If the merchant had gone to the nearby village, it would have been easier to follow Roel. Mountain Goat Village was a half-day’s ride on horseback.
Kyden wondered if the merchant might have gotten off halfway to the neighboring village instead.
Kyden returned to his cabin to pack, he loaded his gear onto the horse and headed straight for Mountain Goat Village. He imagined Roel would have wanted to escape far from the valley village.
She must have wanted to escape the cruel relatives and the guilt tormenting her.
Did she also want to distance herself from him? Why had it been so easy to let go? What was she thinking when she left? Did she hesitate? Was it painful to leave?
Throughout his ride to Mountain Goat Village, Kyden couldn’t stop thinking about Roel’s feelings. He knew it made him feel low, angry, and depressed, but he couldn’t stop himself from thinking of her.
Still, he asked if he should even be searching for her, yet without a moment’s hesitation, he knew he must.
He needed to find Roel. There were no complicated reasons.
He was terribly worried something might have happened to her, and he yearned to see her so badly that her face came to mind every time he closed his eyes.
It felt like his rationality was paralyzed.
While urging his horse on, Kyden stopped his train of thoughts. He had decided to find her, so he would dismiss any unnecessary distractions. He would worry about what comes after finding her.
Driven by a single goal like a starved beast, Kyden arrived at Mountain Goat Village early in the morning. He immediately began searching for the merchant.
There had been only one merchant who left the valley village with goods, and fortunately, he was still staying in Mountain Goat Village.
At the merchants’ guild , Kyden asked about the merchant’s name and stormed into his house. The merchant, faced with a large man pounding on his door as if to break it, was terrified.
“Who, who are you?”
Kyden, with a knight’s longsword at his hip and a broadsword on his back, was intimidating enough carrying two swords, but his formidable size made him even more threatening to the merchant.
Kyden was so tall and muscular that even grown men had to look up to meet his gaze, and his fierce eyes made him look like a knight on a covert mission.
Suddenly, Kyden grabbed the merchant by the collar, intending to intimidate him into revealing accurate information.
“Ouch! Why, why are you doing this?”
The merchant was terrified, his heels lifting off the ground due to Kyden’s strength.
“Roel.”
“Excuse me?”
“Where is Roel? Speak the truth, or it’ll be the end of you.”
The merchant blinked, puzzled. Who was Roel? Why would a knight storm in to threaten him over someone he didn’t know?
“I don’t know who that is!”
“Don’t know? Didn’t you take a woman in your cart when you returned from the valley village yesterday?”
Kyden shook him as he yelled, causing the merchant’s face to turn pale. It then struck him who Roel might be.
Did that woman commit some crime? Did he inadvertently help her escape? He stuttered in concern.
“That, that woman…”
“Remember now?”
“Yes, yes! But I just gave her a ride to Mountain Goat Village because she asked for it. I really don’t know anything else!”
Relieved by the merchant’s words, Kyden realized she had indeed come to Mountain Goat Village. Now he just needed to locate her here.
“It was a small, pale woman, right? With a small face and round, cute eyes?”
“Yes, yes, that sounds right. She had wheat-colored hair and limped on one leg.”
Kyden released the merchant’s collar, smoothing out his clothes as he softened his expression. The merchant, confused by the sudden change, swallowed hard.
So, he was like someone chasing a criminal, but actually looking for a runaway wife?
“So where did Roel go?”
Kyden stared intensely at the merchant, pressing for information. It must be about his runaway wife. The merchant gulped and shook his head.
“She said she was going to the capital.”
“….The capital?”
“Yes. She asked if there was a cheap way to get to the capital, so I told her to visit the merchants’ guild.”
“When was this?”
“I arrived last evening and she must have gone to the merchants’ guild… She might have left as early as this morning.”
Kyden’s expression hardened again. If Roel had gone to the capital, things would become complicated.
In a populous place like the capital, it’s much harder to find someone specific, and the city holds more dangers, especially for someone as naive, vulnerable, and charming as Roel.
Kyden headed straight to the merchants’ guild.
‘If she left this morning, I can still catch up.’
A horse travels much faster than a merchant’s cart. He could catch up with the merchants’ pace easily.
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