ISGJV 62

Chapter 62

The group tightly tied up the sleeping slave traders and took everything useful from their wagon and luggage.

They left only one wagon in the best condition for themselves and destroyed all the others so they couldn’t be used.

Anything that was awkward to take was thrown off a nearby cliff.

‘There’s no way I’d leave these for those guys to use.’

They naturally took the food, valuables, and weapons as well.

The plan was to use what they could and sell the rest in the next city to use as travel expenses.

‘Somehow, I feel like I’ve become a bandit.’

But honestly, compared to real bandits, those guys were far worse, so it was fine.

Kasia had stopped Juto from killing them all, but she didn’t feel guilty about this much.

‘Honestly, I also think they deserve to die.’

But Edmund and Juto were still children.

She didn’t want to see them stain their hands with blood right in front of her. Willes felt the same.

‘If they get attacked by wild beasts while unconscious, that’s honestly just a natural death.’

They were people who harmed beastfolk and captured such young children as slaves.

On top of that, they had tried to sell them too, so sparing their lives at all was already more than merciful.

After tying up the slave traders, they resumed their journey in the wagon loaded with the chosen luggage.

Their party had gained one more member.

Juto was looking around outside the wagon with his big eyes wide open.

Edmund looked like he was in a bad mood.

“Why is that guy coming with us?”

“Well, the flooded area where the beastfolk live is close to the Lambert Duke’s territory. If we ask the Duke directly, he might be able to safely escort him back to the beastfolk village.”

At that, Juto’s ears perked up.

“Our friend. Knows?”

“You know the Lambert Duke too?”

The child nodded.

“Father. Meet. Friend.”

Well, he was the beastfolk prince. It wouldn’t be strange if he had met the Lambert Duke with his father. At the very least, he must have heard of him.

Seeing an opportunity, I grabbed Edmund’s shoulder and pushed him in front of Juto.

“Doesn’t Edmund look like the Lambert Duke? He’s the Duke’s grandson.”

Juto blinked his big eyes in surprise.

But soon, a suspicious response came.

“Not alike. Friend. This guy. Black hair.”

“Ah, Edmund’s real hair is silver. Like snow—pretty silver hair.”

I asked Willes, who was driving the wagon from the coachman’s seat.

“Edmund’s silver hair is a Lambert family trait, right?”

“Yes. That’s correct. The young Duke resembles the late Duchess Munisa, who was a Lambert lady.”

Juto seemed confused.

“This hair. Dyed. Original hair. Silver. Like Duke Lambert.”

I took both of their hands and made them shake hands.

“The beastfolk and the Lambert ducal family are friends, right? You two should get along too.”

They didn’t look very enthusiastic, but they held hands as if they had no choice.

I watched the scene with satisfaction.

‘Good. Now it’ll be easier for them to cooperate like in the original story.’

After riding the wagon taken from the slave traders for half a day, the group made camp in a suitable place in the mountains and began to sleep outdoors.

Still, since they had a good wagon, they could sleep inside, so it wasn’t completely sleeping rough.

Kasia, with her weak stamina, soon fell asleep as if she had passed out.

Edmund looked at Kasia, who was sleeping against his shoulder, with affectionate eyes and covered her with his blanket.

Kasia and the nanny were already asleep.

Juto, who had been staring at Edmund and Kasia from the corner of the wagon, got up.

Edmund asked in a low voice,

“Where are you going?”

It wasn’t that he cared about that annoying brat.

But Kasia was especially weak to pitiful children.

Juto was a being that perfectly hit that weakness.

He really didn’t like that, but if that kid got hurt or disappeared without a word, Kasia’s heart would be hurt.

That was unacceptable.

“I. Back soon.”

“Where to?”

Golden eyes glared at the road they had come from.

Though still young, they were clearly the eyes of a beast of prey. His killing intent was enough to sting the skin.

It was obvious what he was going to do.

Edmund had no intention of stopping him.

‘No, it’s actually better for our safety if he handles it thoroughly.’

But there was one concern.

“Kasia mustn’t find out.”

“I know. Me too. That’s why. I waited.”

He had waited until night so he could handle it without Kasia knowing.

“I’ll be back.”

Srrrk.

With a chilling sound, sharp claws extended from all ten fingers of the beastfolk boy.

“How long will it take?”

“I come back. Before sunrise.”

After saying that, Juto disappeared in an instant.

He moved so fast he was almost invisible.

Willes whistled in pure admiration.

“Amazing. That child must be of very noble beastfolk blood. Such physical ability at such a young age.”

“He’s probably from the Beast King’s lineage.”

When he was young, his mother had told him:

“The king of the beastfolk has very mysterious hair. The tips of his golden mane are red, like they were dyed with rubies.”

It matched that description perfectly.

He didn’t know how a beastfolk royal ended up nearly being taken as a slave, but when he thought about it, it might not be that strange.

‘It’s already been seven years since the Kingdom of Paltz, which was friendly to demi-humans, was conquered by Genovia.’

There was no guarantee that the Empire’s harsh oppression hadn’t reached the demi-humans during that time.

Edmund’s gaze turned north, toward where they were heading.

‘I wonder how the Lambert territory is.’

And how safe the road there would be.

But one thing was certain.

There was one person he would definitely protect.

Edmund tightened his arms and held Kasia, who was sleeping deeply, tightly in his embrace.

Morning.

I woke up feeling very refreshed. Since I slept under a roof and with a blanket, I slept deeply.

‘Maybe because we kept traveling by wagon, my feet are much better too.’

I just needed to endure until we reached the Lambert territory without any major problems.

I clenched my fists and gathered my motivation.

‘Alright! Let’s do our best!’

But in the morning, Juto’s condition was strange.

The nanny had cooked the stew Juto regretted not being able to eat yesterday because it had sleeping medicine in it.

But Juto was nodding off so badly that I couldn’t tell if he was eating with his mouth or his nose.

“What’s wrong, Juto? Are you very sleepy?”

“…Hk! No. Sleepy. Fine, cough! Fine!”

He had dozed off and spilled stew all over his clothes.

I clicked my tongue and tried to wipe it off, but Edmund stepped in.

“He’s a kid, so he must need a lot of sleep. I’ll do it, so you keep eating.”

“Huh? Edmund, you should eat too—oh, you already finished?”

So fast.

Edmund carefully wiped Juto’s clothes, made a makeshift bib with leftover cloth, and fed him the stew.

“Here. Open your mouth.”

“Ahh. Mmm.”

“Finish eating and sleep.”

He tapped Juto’s cheek with the back of the spoon as he fed him, looking quite like an older brother.

I watched the scene with satisfaction.

‘Kids really become close fast. They got this close in just one day!’

I was glad I encouraged them to travel together.

Willes watched this strange scene with a silent smile.

Only he and the two boys knew what had happened last night.

‘Lord Edmund is quite something. He naturally kept Juto away from Lady Kasia, hid what happened last night, and earned points with Lady Kasia too.’

Unlike Kasia, who didn’t know the truth, he knew everything.

After the encounter with the slave traders, their journey continued for about two weeks more peacefully than expected.

Without Kasia’s feet getting ruined again, and without anyone getting injured.

It was a very peaceful journey.

Until they finally entered the borders of the Lambert territory.