OLOTV 24

Chapter 24

“You seem to know the paths in this forest well.”

Keris said, using a gentle tone I had never heard from him before.

“Yes, I play around here all the time, so I know them.”

“Then you could go back to the village and bring people and soldiers, right?”

“But…”

The child’s anxious gaze turned towards their parents, who were still tightly bound.

Keris followed the child’s gaze for a moment before speaking again.

“Your parents aren’t in a condition to follow you back to the village right now. You’re the only one who can do this right now.”

At Keris’s words, the child’s eyes welled up with tears.

“If you want to save your parents, do as I say.”

He was right, but did he have to be so blunt? I hurriedly added for the child.

“We’ll take good care of your parents, so don’t worry and hurry back. You saw the Lord fighting earlier, right?”

At my words, the child looked like they were about to burst into tears any second but ultimately held them back. The child finally answered with a determined look.

“I’ll be back, my Lord.”

The child ran off into the forest. Keris watched until the child was out of sight, then picked up a sword that had fallen to the ground. He approached the farm owner couple and cut the ropes binding them.

“Th-thank you…”

“Can you stand?”

Keris asked after cutting all the ropes.

The wife managed to stand up easily, but the husband, likely due to the beating he’d taken, couldn’t get up.

“Ugh… I’m sorry. I can’t stand…”

“Honey…”

Seeing her husband looking like a complete wreck, the wife’s eyes glistened with tears. She tried to support him, but he couldn’t move an inch.

Observing the farm owner’s condition, Keris muttered.

“His condition is serious. He needs proper treatment quickly.”

“Huh? Please save my husband, my Lord!”

If the child brought people back properly, they could move the farm owner quickly, but it was impossible right now.

“First, we need to stop the bleeding at least. Hold him steady.”

“Understood.”

Keris spoke as if intending to provide first aid. The farm owner’s wife obediently followed Keris’s instructions and held her husband steady. I also moved closer to help them.

But then, someone grabbed my ankle.

“I won’t let you do as you please.”

It was the thief leader, whom I thought had been completely subdued. The grip on my ankle was powerful, as if her being knocked unconscious by Keris moments ago had been a lie. I fell over. The leader, now standing, pulled me towards her and picked up a sword from the ground, threatening me.

“Freeze! If anyone moves even a little, I can’t guarantee this young lady’s life!”

Keris and the farm owner couple turned to look at me. The couple showed a shocked reaction upon seeing I’d been captured. But Keris’s reaction was beyond mere ‘shock.’ His eyes widened in surprise upon confirming I was held by the leader, and his pupils even began to tremble.

Honestly, I hadn’t expected Keris to react so violently. What was this about?

The leader laughed loudly upon seeing Keris’s reaction. With a voice full of laughter, she said.

“Quite a different reaction from before. Is this woman your woman, my Lord?”

“We have no relationship whatsoever! So please don’t misunderstand.”

I almost snapped out before Keris could even respond.

It was true; I had no relationship with Keris, and he had no reason to be concerned about me.

‘Of course, I’m scared in this situation too.’

If Keris got entangled by this woman’s actions, the situation would only worsen.

The moment I retorted, the leader shouted at me.

“Quiet!”

She slowly increased the pressure of the knife against my neck. Even though it didn’t seem pressed that hard, my neck began to hurt. A scream threatened to escape. But if I screamed here, I’d just be playing the role of the hostage as she desired. So, I gritted my teeth, determined not to scream no matter what.

Keris, unable to act, spoke in a slightly trembling voice.

“Let Sarina go.”

“So this pretty girl’s name is Sarina? Well, the name doesn’t matter. If you want to save her, do as I say.”

“Fine, what do you want me to do?”

Was he really planning to obey her meekly? I didn’t want to believe that the usually cool-headed and rational Keris would do such a thing, but he wasn’t in his normal state right now.

I shouted at Keris.

“What are you saying? Don’t listen to her!”

The leader covered my mouth to stop me from speaking nonsense.

“Mmph!”

The child who had gone to the village would bring people soon. That is, if the child hadn’t taken a wrong turn. If we trusted the child, stalling for time was the ideal strategy. Whether Keris knew I was thinking this or not, he was being docile towards the thief leader.

With my mouth covered, I couldn’t say anything, but internally, I kept screaming at Keris, begging him not to do this. I couldn’t accept just handing over valuable items to these thieves and letting them go so meaninglessly.

‘No, this isn’t Keris’s fault.’

If I hadn’t been captured in the first place, this difficult situation wouldn’t have arisen.

Still covering my mouth, the thief leader said to Keris.

“Isn’t what I want obvious? The same as I demanded earlier. Hand over the brooch you have now and let us go quietly.”

“……”

“You must know this too, my Lord, but since you sent that child, people will swarm here soon. So make your choice before they arrive.”

“……”

“You’d better give up on waiting until people come. I’ll really kill this girl then. Anyway, if we’re caught by the imperial palace, we’ll be executed regardless, so there’s no reason for me to let her go unharmed.”

Who would have thought the threat Keris made earlier would come back to bite him like this? Keris bit his lip and replied.

“I’ll meet your demands, so let Sarina go now.”

“I can’t do that until all of us here have safely left this place.”

At that, Keris made a displeased face but still held out the brooch he was carrying. Perhaps to avoid making the same mistake as before, the leader said to a thief who had just barely gotten hold of himself nearby.

“Hey, go get the brooch.”

“Ah, understood.”

The thief approached Keris, and Keris handed over his brooch. Confirming even that, the leader barked at the collapsed group.

“Get up! We’re leaving.”

“Some people can’t get up because of their injuries. What about them?”

“We’ll have to support them somehow. We don’t have time to treat their injuries too.”

“Understood.”

The thieves, barely supporting the fallen ones, disappeared into the forest. After confirming the others had left, the leader smiled and said to Keris.

“Thanks to you, everyone got away. Should I say thank you?”

“Keep your promise. Let Sarina go.”

The leader laughed as if she’d just remembered.

“Ah, right. Your woman.”

So this is how it ends. Because I was captured, this woman and her gang got what they wanted. While I was blaming myself internally, the thief leader, contrary to her words, didn’t release me and just kept laughing. Why was she doing this? That thought was brief. The leader’s next words made my mind go blank.

“Yeah, I should return her. Of course. That is, if you want your lover back as a corpse.”

Then the leader raised the knife she was holding as if to stab me. She clearly said she’d let me go if he kept the promise… Did she plan this from the beginning? It was absurd, but I had no time to think about it in detail. Because a sharp knife, looking like it would pierce my body any second, was aimed at me. The blade glinting under the moonlight burned into my pupils.

“Sarina!”

And from a distance, I heard Keris urgently calling my name.