OLOTV 22

Chapter 22

The situation seemed more serious than I had thought. Seeing the completely bound couple, I instinctively grabbed hold of Keris’s sleeve tightly.

“Shouldn’t we save them? What if something terrible happens to them?”

I asked, keeping my voice as low as possible.

Hearing me, Keris looked towards the couple with a calm expression, then answered in a voice so low it was almost a mutter.

“If we act rashly, we could get caught up in it too and make things worse. Let’s observe the situation a bit more first.”

Keris was right. I tried to minimize my presence, even quieting my breathing. Staying beside Keris, tense, I began calmly observing the scene unfolding before my eyes.

The man, who appeared to be the farm’s owner, shouted furiously.

“Do you think you’ll get away with this! How dare you invade the Layton family’s territory and commit such an outrageous act! This land was cultivated by generations of the Layton family’s lords! You’ll be punished by heaven, you scum!”

“Pfft, praising nobles even while your house is being robbed.”

One of the thieves holding the owner said, sounding incredulous.

Another thief chimed in.

“The whole vibe of this neighborhood seems to be like this. For some reason, everyone’s busy praising the lord’s family, should I say? Though the current lord’s reputation doesn’t seem good.”

“Ridiculous. How on earth did they brainwash these villagers?”

The thief who spoke let out a short laugh, then spoke again.

“Hey, is this your house or the lord’s house? Are you the lord? You and I are both just worthless commoners. Do you think the lord will care if one of your houses gets robbed?”

The thief bent down and looked straight at the farm owner.

“Wake up from your illusion, man. Nobles are beings who don’t give a d*mn about a commoner’s house being robbed.”

His voice was filled with intense malice. It seemed he had a particular grudge against nobles, reacting sensitively to the farm owner’s earlier words.

If I were in that position, I probably would have been too intimidated to say anything. But the farm owner did not remain silent.

“How dare you insult the Layton family! Do you think you’re enlightened, insulting nobles like that? You, who have abandoned your lives and livelihoods, are the true losers!”

At his words, the thieves all turned to look at the owner simultaneously. The atmosphere turned sour; it seemed the owner’s words had truly struck a nerve with the thieves. Suddenly, the surroundings fell silent. It seemed like no one would break the silence, but finally, one thief, unable to contain his anger, kicked the bound owner’s head violently.

A dull thud sounded, and the farm owner screamed. In that moment, I almost let out a scream myself, barely managing to stifle it with my hand.

What followed was horrific. Once one person started hitting the owner, the others rushed in and began beating him together. The woman who seemed to be the leader of the thieves didn’t join the beating like the others; instead, she stood back a step, merely watching her crew’s actions.

In that moment, the farm owner, who was being helplessly overwhelmed by the many attackers, moved. He managed to get up and, almost collapsing, lunged at the man who had first kicked his head. His opponent fell. Even with his hands and feet bound, the farm owner began butting his head fiercely against the other thieves as well. He headbutted so hard that the thief could barely get up. Blood started flowing from the farm owner’s head, and from the head of the fallen thief as well. However, the farm owner, as if he could no longer feel the pain, showed no intention of stopping.

The thieves, startled by the farm owner’s sudden action, hesitated for a moment before snapping back to their senses and pulling him away.

“He’s a complete madman.”

“Hey, get a hold of yourself!”

The thieves who had been headbutted by the farm owner seemed to have lost consciousness. The atmosphere, already tense from the inflammatory remarks, worsened with the owner’s sudden violence, and the thieves appeared even more agitated.

The beating that followed was more severe than before. I began to think that if this continued, the man might really die.

Desperately, I said to Keris.

“He’s going to die at this rate…!”

Keris seemed to have also realized the situation was escalating dangerously. He looked at me from within the darkness of the bushes and said quietly.

“It’s dangerous. You stay here.”

“Huh? Keris, wait. What are you planning to do…?”

Before I could finish responding, he stood up and rushed towards the scene of the beating. In that moment, various thoughts raced through my mind. If Keris didn’t go now, the farm owner might die. But wouldn’t that put Keris in danger too? I knew from the novel that Keris was skilled in combat. But no matter how skilled, the opponents were too many. Moreover, the thieves were armed, while Keris was practically unarmed.

These cascading thoughts eventually led me to the regret that I should have stopped Keris from rushing out.

Meanwhile, a tense situation unfolded at the scene. The wife, seeing her husband about to be beaten to death, threw herself in front of him. At that moment, the thieves were raising their clubs to strike the farm owner. Just as I thought the wife would be hit, someone threw dirt into the face of the thief about to swing.

The thief, getting dirt directly in his eyes, stopped his action, frantically rubbing his eyes and shouting.

“Who did that?!”

I didn’t need to guess who had done it. I saw Keris, who had rushed to the scene, throw the dirt and then quickly step back to avoid the incoming attacks from the other thieves. The farm owner’s wife, who had tightly shut her eyes, cautiously opened them. She looked up with a bewildered expression and spotted Keris facing off against the thieves.

“My Lord…?”

“The Lord?”

Some thieves who heard the wife’s voice murmured. But those who hadn’t heard were struggling to subdue Keris, the sudden interloper.

“Who are you?!”

“Judging by his appearance, he seems to be a noble from somewhere. I don’t know why he’s passing through here, but charging at us alone and unarmed means he’s completely lost his mind.”

The thieves charged at Keris with their weapons. Already irritated, the appearance of Keris, who looked every bit a noble, seemed to make them even more frenzied.

‘What if Keris gets hurt?’

But my worries turned out to be excessive and unnecessary. Despite being unarmed and at a disadvantage, Keris swiftly dodged the charging thieves and began taking them down one by one. He even acquired a weapon in the blink of an eye. Skillfully disarming the first thief who charged him of a crude dagger, Keris fought off numerous thieves without receiving a single wound. The scene before my eyes was so unbelievable my jaw dropped open involuntarily.

But perhaps it was still too much for Keris to handle all these thieves alone. In my field of vision, I saw one of the thieves Keris had initially struck picking up a large rock and approaching him from behind. Perhaps because there were so many enemies, Keris didn’t seem to notice the thief approaching. The thief, panting, raised the rock high.

In my desperation, I moved to run towards Keris. In that instant, Keris finally turned to look behind him. He discovered a thief about to swing a rock at him. But it was too late. My heart sank with the thought that something terrible was about to happen to Keris.