Chapter 11

Medo stopped, just as Baberi had ordered.

“Back away. Or I’ll put a hole through this woman’s neck.”

“Medo…”

Sharon called his name with a frightened expression.

Medo smiled at her reassuringly.

“Calm down. It’s not your neck she wants. It’s mine.”

Medo spoke calmly as he sheathed his sword.

Then he raised both palms to show that he was unarmed and tried to approach Baberi.

“Don’t try anything. Back off.”

Baberi shook her head.

Medo stopped and exhaled through his nose.

“I can’t give you my neck.”

Medo said firmly, but cautiously.

“But depending on what you want, we might be able to negotiate. Do you want money? Or do you want to get out of here safely?”

Medo asked.

Baberi rapidly moved her eyes around, assessing the situation.

While he kept her talking, his subordinates were slowly closing in.

“Everyone stop. I believe I told you not to try anything.”

At Baberi’s words, the mercenaries hesitated.

Baberi glanced at Sharon.

“If you really want to see this woman die, then go ahead.”

Baberi made a show of thrusting her sword forward.

Medo hurriedly raised a hand.

“Wait!”

Baberi grinned at Medo as he bit his lower lip.

“Last warning. Everyone take five steps back.”

Baberi roughly grabbed Sharon’s arm and shook it as she gave the order.

Medo gritted his teeth and signaled his men with his eyes.

The mercenaries slowly backed away.

As a little space opened up, Baberi cautiously shifted her position.

“You asked what I wanted, right?”

Baberi calmly searched for a way to escape.

There were around twenty mercenaries surrounding her, making it difficult to find an opening.

Unlike the bandits she had encountered in the forest, these men were trained soldiers.

Their teamwork was excellent.

“I want money and magic stones.”

Baberi continued to move little by little while keeping a wary eye on her surroundings.

“Those aren’t difficult demands.”

Medo readily replied.

“But just so you know, we’re poor mercenaries. We don’t have that much money.”

That made sense.

After all, these were the men who had killed the lord because they hadn’t been paid.

There was no reason to believe they had much money.

“You may not have money, but you have magic stones, right? I heard you took everything from the castle.”

Medo didn’t deny it.

Instead, he gave her a strange smile.

“That’s true. We did take the magic stones. But those…”

He stopped speaking.

Something suddenly seemed odd to him.

Baberi was gradually moving closer to the water.

“…That’s not a very wise choice.”

“What?”

Baberi and Medo’s eyes met for a brief moment.

Medo realized what she was planning and lunged forward, reaching out.

“Sharon!”

Baberi threw the sword she was holding at Medo and jumped into the water.

Sharon, whose arm Baberi had grabbed, was dragged in with her.

A moment later, Baberi trudged out of the water.

Her soaked clothes felt heavy, making every step difficult.

“Cough, cough!”

Sharon, who had been dragged into the water with Baberi, coughed repeatedly in misery.

“Are you okay?”

Baberi patted Sharon on the back.

Sharon immediately slapped her hand away.

“You tricked me!”

Sharon accused Baberi in a sharp voice.

“You said you were Jacob’s cousin. Then who exactly is Jacob?”

“There is one. He lives in Tosen Village.”

Baberi sat down by the river and brushed her wet hair back.

“And you lied too. You said you didn’t know where the mercenaries had gone, didn’t you?”

When Baberi fired back, Sharon silently glared at her.

“Who are you really? Is Margaret even your real name?”

Baberi didn’t answer.

Right now, checking the condition of her slowly recovering right arm was more important.

She repeatedly clenched and unclenched her right fist.

Sharon watched her out of the corner of her eye.

“Does your arm hurt?”

“…”

“How can you fight that well even with an injured arm?”

Baberi had been about to ignore Sharon, but she raised her head.

The compliment rubbed her the wrong way.

In the past, she could have easily defeated an opponent like that with just her left hand.

But she had struggled against him and ended up running away with her tail between her legs.

And Sharon was saying she fought well?

Baberi could only interpret it as sarcasm.

“I’ve never seen anyone who could fight him like that.”

But Sharon looked genuinely shocked and impressed.

“You must think pretty highly of him.”

“Of course. He’s far more impressive and stronger than a fraud like you.”

At Sharon’s praise of Medo’s strength, Baberi burst out laughing.

Honestly, Medo wasn’t particularly strong.

At best, she would have rated him somewhere around the middle.

“You’re laughing at him after running away because you thought you were going to lose?”

Baberi’s laughter stopped.

She wasn’t exactly in a position to mock him.

She knew he wasn’t all that strong, but at the moment, Baberi herself couldn’t even beat him.

For someone who called herself the Dragon Slayer, it was downright humiliating.

“I didn’t run away. It was a tactical retreat.”

Baberi made an excuse.

Sharon scoffed.

“I don’t care whether you’re a liar or a braggart. Just leave him alone.”

Sharon warned Baberi seriously.

She was shivering from being completely soaked, but her gaze remained fierce.

“I don’t want to. How could I give up 100,000 gold?”

Baberi shrugged.

Sharon said something else, but Baberi ignored her and turned away.

“Come to think of it, Kure must have been left alone…”

Baberi stopped for a moment and thought.

Worrying about a dragon. What a waste of concern.

Kure had probably eaten a magic stone by now.

Even if he hadn’t and had collapsed from lack of energy, there was no way the mercenaries could kill him.

What Baberi needed to worry about now were two things:

The mercenaries pursuing her.

And finding a way to reunite with Kure.

“Are you even listening to me?!”

Sharon shouted, angry at being ignored over and over.

Baberi found her annoying and covered her ears with her hands.

Then a black shadow fell over the two of them.

“I knew this passage led here.”

It was Medo.

Baberi cursed inwardly and immediately prepared to take Sharon hostage again.

“Wait. I’m not here to fight.”

Medo raised both hands.

They were completely empty.

“I want to talk to you, Rangs.”

At being called Rangs, Baberi’s body involuntarily flinched.

“Looks like the life of a hero isn’t so easy either. Considering you came all the way here after the bounty on my head… Did you gamble or something?”

Medo tilted his head with a smile.

There was a distinctly mocking undertone to his attitude.

Baberi’s lips curled slightly.

“But you should stop coming after my head.”

“Why? Are you going to tell me you’ll kill me with your own hands if I don’t?”

I’ll definitely kill him with my own hands.

Baberi made up her mind.

“That’s a more fundamental reason than that. Even if you capture me and take me away, you’ll get captured too in the end.”

Medo pulled a wanted poster from inside his clothes.

Even in the moonlight, it was obvious who was drawn on it.

“The Dragon Slayer has put a bounty on your head.”

What? Who did what?

Baberi doubted her own ears.

Why would she put a bounty on herself?

She had neither a reason nor the money to do such a thing.

“What kind of nonsense…”

Baberi was about to dismiss it as nonsense when she suddenly thought of someone who would actually do something like this.

King Glock.

If it was that shameless bastard, he could absolutely use Baberi’s own name to put a bounty on Baberi.

“F***!”

Realizing she had been played, Baberi immediately cursed.

There was no way he would simply leave her alone after she escaped from Pony Gorge.

She had known that much.

But she never expected him to come at her like this.

Baberi shoved Sharon aside and snatched the wanted poster from Medo’s hand.

Medo caught Sharon as she stumbled from being pushed.

“One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, one hundred thousand, three hundred thousand…!”

Baberi checked the amount on the wanted poster again and again.

She simply couldn’t believe it.

But no matter how many times she counted, it was still 300,000 gold.

“You bald-headed lunatic!”

Unable to contain her anger, Baberi shouted.

“Why would the Dragon Slayer put a bounty on Margaret?”

Sharon asked, clearly unable to understand.

Medo answered that he didn’t know either.

The wanted poster didn’t state what crime she had committed.

It only said that she was to be captured alive.

“Could she be pretending to be the Dragon Slayer?”

Medo suggested.

There had been plenty of people doing that, hadn’t there?

Baberi’s eyes flashed as she glared at him.

“I am the Dragon Slayer! What do you mean, pretending?!”

Baberi stomped her foot and shouted.

Medo snorted, clearly unconvinced.

Why would the Dragon Slayer put a bounty on herself?

Even if this were some kind of trap, it still made no sense.

The Dragon Slayer was supposedly unmatched when it came to skill.

Yet this woman couldn’t even defeat Medo and had been struggling desperately.

“She’s not the Dragon Slayer.”

Medo said with absolute certainty to Sharon.

But there was one thing that didn’t quite add up if she were merely an ordinary fraud.

There had been countless fake Rangs before, and bounties had been placed on their heads too.

But they had been treated as nothing more than petty thieves, with bounties that never exceeded 10,000 gold.

This time, however, a massive bounty of 300,000 gold had suddenly appeared.

And it had been issued directly by the Dragon Slayer, who had been completely silent for two years.

Medo came up with a theory.

“Are you related by blood to Baberi Rangs?”

If Margaret were her family, it would make sense that Baberi herself had taken action.

It would also explain the order to capture her alive.

Medo thought he had come up with a rather convincing theory.

“…?”

Baberi was rendered speechless by the absurdity of it.

When she merely stared at him, Medo smiled.

“I’m not trying to pry into your family affairs. What matters is what comes next, Margaret.”

Baberi noticed that his tone had suddenly become strangely friendly.

“Why are you suddenly acting so friendly?”

Sensing something was off, Baberi took a step back.

She carefully watched where his hands were going.

“Don’t be so wary. You and I are both in the same position—people with bounties on our heads, being hunted. So let’s get along.”

Medo smiled and raised both hands, showing that he had no intention of fighting.

“I want to make you an offer.”

Medo stepped toward Baberi with a smile.

Baberi reached for her waist, ready to fight with her left arm if necessary.

But there was no sword.

Then she remembered.

She had thrown it at him before jumping into the water.

Baberi belatedly recalled the fact and felt herself despair.

“There are all kinds of people in our mercenary company, each with their own circumstances.”

“…So?”

“So having one more person like that wouldn’t be a problem.”

Baberi frowned, unable to understand what he was getting at.

Medo smiled and extended his hand to her.

“I’m asking if you’d like to join our mercenary company.”