Translator: CinderTL
The next morning, Roland quickly washed up and left his room.
Sean hadn't returned all night due to his night duty at the military camp.
Without his dear friend's thunderous snoring, Roland had finally enjoyed a rare night of peaceful sleep.
"Good morning, Mr. Roland."
"Good morning, Miss Theresa."
Staring at the mountain of food piled on Theresa's plate, Roland couldn't help but wonder, Was that silver coin I gave Uncle Peyton yesterday really enough to cover this young lady's meals?
As he pondered this, Gary emerged from the kitchen.
The burly, good-natured man beamed with genuine delight as he saw his meticulously prepared breakfast devoured in its entirety.
"You're up, Roland! Come grab some breakfast!"
"Alright, Uncle Gary."
Shaking off his lingering thoughts, Roland swiftly finished his meal.
Patting his satisfied stomach, he stood up and called out, "Let's go, Miss Theresa. The sooner we complete the commission, the sooner you'll receive your reward."
"Very well, Mr. Roland."
"By the way, how far is that Demonic Beast Camp from here?"
Their conversation carried them out the door.
Roland swung himself onto his horse and reached out a hand to Theresa.
Seeing her confused expression, Roland explained, "The camp isn't exactly close. You weren't planning to walk, were you?"
"I-I..." Theresa fidgeted with the silver hair near her ear. "Mr. Roland, my walking speed..."
"Enough talk." Before she could finish, Roland leaned down, grasped her pale wrist, and with a swift pull, hoisted her onto the horse behind him. "Hold on tight and stay steady."
After giving the instruction, Roland felt her hands grip his waist. He took hold of the reins. "Now, please guide me according to the details on the commission."
"Understood." Though her voice remained calm, the slight tremor betrayed Theresa's inner turmoil.
Roland, however, remained completely oblivious to the faint flush on the silver-haired woman's ear tips behind him, his mind preoccupied with planning the eradication of the demonic beasts.
"If the camp is in the dense forest like last time, mounted combat might be impractical..."
He wasn't worried about the demonic beasts posing any real threat; his concern was that the horses' difficulty maneuvering through the dense foliage could allow the creatures to escape.
In Mist Creek Town, where commissions were scarce, every demonic beast was a precious resource.
After all, to advance to the rank of knight's squire, one needed to slay a full hundred demonic beasts.
Even losing a single one would sting for quite some time.
Lost in thought, Black Wind had already raised its hooves.
With a rhythmic clatter, the horse began to gallop toward the town's outskirts.
Shortly after Roland and his companion departed, the tavern's wooden door burst open with a violent crash.
Sean strode in heavily, his face etched with grave concern.
"Yo, you little brat!" Peyton called out with his usual playful grin, but his smile vanished instantly when he saw Sean's grim expression.
He handed Sean a glass of water, his brow furrowed. "What's wrong?"
Sean drained the glass in one gulp and cut straight to the point.
"The demonic beasts in the Black Cedar Forest are acting strangely again. Lord Beckham sent me back with a team to warn the townspeople to prepare for immediate evacuation."
"Is it that serious this time?" Gary asked, emerging from the kitchen, wiping grease from his hands with a rag, his brow furrowed. "Even Lord Beckham can't hold them back?"
"I don't know the specifics either," Sean said, shaking his head. He glanced around before asking, "By the way, Dad, Uncle Peyton, where's Roland?"
"That kid went out early this morning with a pretty girl, said they were going to hunt some demonic beast," Peyton replied.
Midway through his explanation, Peyton noticed Sean's sudden look of concern. Having fought alongside Roland before, he waved dismissively. "Don't worry. With his skills, ordinary demonic beasts can't even scratch him."
"Besides," Peyton added, "I checked the commission. The location isn't the Black Cedar Forest, but the dense woods east of Mist Creek Town, over a day's journey from Beckham's final defensive line. They'll definitely be safe from this chaos."
Hearing this, Sean finally let out a relieved breath.
"Good. When Roland gets back, tell him to stay in town for now. No more adventures."
"Understood."
After watching Sean hurry away, Peyton and Gary exchanged a knowing glance.
Having experienced the kobold attack on their village firsthand, they knew Knight Beckham's warning was no idle threat and immediately began packing their belongings.
Unaware of this, Roland was currently riding Black Wind, with Theresa on his back, sprinting toward their mission destination.
In less than half a day, they reached the edge of a dark, dense forest.
The faint, chaotic noises drifting from within the woods made them exchange wary glances. They dismounted, moved forward with cautious steps, and parted the thick undergrowth.
The scene deep within the forest lay before them in stark clarity.
The once-dense woods had been systematically cleared into a massive circular clearing, its edges as clean-cut as if sliced by a razor-sharp blade.
The exposed earth had been flattened with unnatural force, leaving not a single tree stump behind, its surface as smooth as polished stone.
Within this cleared space, over a hundred demonic beasts of various forms were moving supplies in orderly fashion.
Hunchbacked goblins carried wooden crates, diminutive kobolds pushed crude carts, and towering Hyena-Men shouldered sacks of grain, all moving deeper into the forest.
The two reacted very differently to the scene before them.
Theresa gazed at the dense swarm of demonic beasts crowding the clearing, a hint of solemnity flickering in her silver-gray eyes. Her slender fingers unconsciously tightened around the hilt of the sword at her waist. Despite her considerable strength, facing an assault from over a hundred demonic beasts simultaneously would inevitably push her to her limits.
In contrast, Roland's eyes burned with excitement.
"One, two, three..." he murmured, his tongue unconsciously flicking across his dry lips. "Over one hundred and thirty demonic beasts!"
The number made his heart race.
"I never imagined a single commission could fulfill the 'knight's squire' job advancement requirement to slay hostile creatures!"
Yet his excitement didn't cloud his judgment. He signaled Theresa to follow him, and the pair silently circled the clearing, scouting for aberrant demonic creatures or other oversights. After confirming no such anomalies, Roland cast Theresa a grateful glance.
The silver-haired girl paused slightly at the look.
"Mr. Roland, the number of demonic beasts is truly overwhelming."
Theresa lowered her voice, pointing to the demonic beast patrols moving in regular patterns along both sides of the clearing.
"They've established a tight patrol network. Even if we wanted to sneak in..."
Before she could finish, Roland had already swung himself onto his horse.
He hefted his long-handled axe, its razor-sharp blade flashing coldly in the sunlight.
"As agreed, you'll intercept any fleeing demonic beasts," Roland said, his voice steady and resolute. "If you encounter danger, raise the alarm immediately."
With a flick of the reins, Black Wind instantly understood his master's intent.
The warhorse reared its head and let out a piercing neigh, its front hooves pawing the air before it surged forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, iron hooves kicking up dust as it charged toward the demonic beast horde.
Roland's long-handled axe carved deadly arcs through the sunlight, each swing leaving a crimson mist in its wake.
The first to fall were the patrolling goblin squads.
Before they could even raise an alarm, the whistling axe blade cleaved them in two at the waist.
Shattered green limbs flew through the air, tracing grotesque parabolas against the sunlit sky.
"Gah-gah-goo!"
A Hyena-Man guard finally let out a roar, but its warning was cut short in an instant.
Roland swung his axe backhand, the razor-sharp blade precisely splitting the Hyena-Man's throat.
Blood gushed out, forming a crimson rain in the air.
Several goblins frantically hurled stones, but their projectiles failed to even graze Black Wind's mane.
Roland rode Black Wind through the swarm of demonic beasts, his long-handled axe swinging like the Grim Reaper's scythe, felling creatures with each sweep.
A kobold attempting a sneak attack raised its dagger, only to have its skull crushed under Black Wind's heavy hooves.
The clearing instantly descended into chaos.
The demonic beasts abandoned their cargo and scattered in panic, but their speed was no match for Black Wind's.
Roland charged back and forth through the panicked horde like a reaper harvesting wheat, each turn of his horse eliciting a fresh wave of screams.
The sounds of axe blades cleaving flesh, bones shattering with crisp cracks, and the dying wails of demonic beasts intertwined to form a macabre symphony of death in the clearing.
Theresa stood rooted to the spot, her silver-gray pupils contracting slightly as she stared in disbelief at the carnage unfolding before her.
Her slender fingers unconsciously tightened around the sword hilt, her knuckles turning slightly white from the excessive force.
"Is this... is this truly the level of strength a human can achieve?" she murmured to herself, her eyes fixed on Roland's every move.
Each swing of his axe followed a trajectory of terrifying precision, and every charge was timed with flawless accuracy.
The swarming demonic beasts she would have approached with caution crumbled before Roland like brittle straw.
What truly astonished her was Roland's composure in battle.
There were no flashy techniques, no wasted movements. Each swing of his axe flowed as naturally as breathing.
Theresa even noticed that in the instant he felled a Hyena-Man, Roland had the spare capacity to adjust his angle, preventing blood from splattering onto the mane of his seated horse.
"How many battles has he truly experienced?" Theresa unconsciously bit her lower lip.
As a seasoned traveler, she had witnessed many powerful warriors, but never had she seen anyone execute slaughter with such grace.
Every movement of Roland's seemed honed through countless trials, carrying a rhythmic quality that bordered on artistry.
Suddenly, a piercing shriek shattered her thoughts.
A kobold that had slipped through the net was lunging at her.
Theresa was about to draw the rapier at her waist when a silver flash caught her eye.
Roland had somehow turned his horse around without her noticing. The long-handled axe flew from his hand, piercing the kobold's chest with deadly accuracy.
The axe's momentum carried the corpse into the tree trunk behind it, pinning the creature to the wood.
"My apologies, Miss Theresa. According to our agreement, you're not allowed to intervene," Roland called out from a distance, his voice as casual as if discussing the weather.
He spurred his horse forward, smoothly withdrawing the bloodied axe as if retrieving a tool from a rack.
Then he wheeled around and charged back into the fray.
Theresa watched Roland's blood-stained cloak and his eyes, still as calm as still water.
In that moment, she suddenly realized:
This seemingly easygoing young man harbored secrets she couldn't begin to fathom.
Having gained the divine power to see into others' pasts, she felt, for the first time, an overwhelming curiosity about a person.
(End of the Chapter)
⚡ 𝟏𝟒 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬 | 𝟖.𝟔𝐤 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 | 𝟏𝟒.𝟓𝐌 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 [𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐥.𝐜𝐨𝐦]