Chapter 42 : Thieves and Jing

“Stop right there, you thieves!!!”

To think he was experiencing being treated as a thief for the first time in his life, all thanks to someone.

If he let his guard down, it felt like his tear ducts, loosened with age, would let go.

“They’re thieves and we’re thieves, can’t we just take them down?”

Feeling like his own head was about to explode thanks to that someone who was making a head-splitting sound and fiddling with the sword at their waist, Jing hurriedly moved his legs.

“‘Thieves’?! The only thief here is you!”

Jing tore at his hair as he looked at the young man running alongside him with a shrug.

He had to shake off this hopeless young man quickly.

***

Jing, who had climbed a leafy tree to avoid his pursuers, looked at the black-haired young man on the opposite tree, assessing the situation with him.

As if sensing his gaze, Ratel met Jing’s gaze expressionlessly.

“Where did those thieves go?!”

The angry voices of the men searching for Jing and Ratel were heard from below.

The ominous-looking blades in their hands clashed, making a brutal sound.

“Damn it, just let me catch you. I’ll make it so you can never walk on two legs again.”

The large, bald man who appeared to be the leader punched the trunk of the massive tree Ratel was on.

Ratel looked down at the bald man as if he would ambush him from above.

Jing shook his head at Ratel, silently but strongly conveying his plea not to.

Fortunately, Ratel saw the old man’s desperate gesture and stood quietly, gripping the branch.

The group, which had been searching the surroundings, seemed to conclude that the people they were looking for were not in this area and disappeared into the distance.

Only then could Jing and Ratel come down from the tree.

“Why do you take the hard path when you could have killed them all anyway?”

Ratel asked Jing as soon as his two feet touched the ground.

“Because I am in my right mind. Because I’m sane.”

At Jing’s lamenting reply, Ratel tilted his head as if he couldn't understand.

“If you were in your right mind, wouldn’t it be easier to kill all of them and make it so the guys who saw us earlier can't run their mouths?”

Jing looked at the young man, who was speaking such cruel words so casually, feeling his mind go distant.

“……How old did you say you were?”

“Probably 18 years old.”

Oh my god.

As expected, he was just big; he was a complete kid.

How on earth do Amica's priests educate children?

Jing recalled the slick old geezer's face and touched his forehead.

***

Jing recalled the moment he had grabbed Ratel to threaten the Elder, and the unidentifiable light that had emanated from him enveloped him.

Due to the glare of the radiance that wrapped around him, along with someone's obnoxious laughter, Jing could not open his eyes for a while.

By the time his stinging eyelids settled and he could open his eyes, what spread before him was a forest landscape, verdant with endless green grass and trees.

All he had left was a heavy leather bag full of stones, one sword, and one unconscious young man.

Jing was dismayed at having come out like this, but he was relieved by the fact that he had escaped Amica's space nonetheless.

He thought that all that was left now was to return to the ducal family.

He sat Ratel against a tree along with his sword.

He had used a lot of force when knocking him out since he was such a large opponent, but for him to still not have regained consciousness.

Is he weaker than he looks?

He was a little worried, but he had no intention of waiting in this spot until he woke up.

When he regains consciousness, he has his sword, so he'll surely find his own way back.

As the one who knocked him out, he didn't feel at ease just leaving Ratel sitting there, but he didn't want to clash and fight with a fellow who didn't have a speck of respect for the elderly.

More than anything, the words that obnoxious old geezer had said at the end bothered him.

-I'm saying to take good care of that child.

-The child's name is Ratel Loera. He eats whatever he's given, so don't worry.

Those words, as if entrusting a child to him.

He already had too much to resolve.

He didn't want to be involved in anything related to Amica anymore.

Still, Jing covered him with his cloak, hoping he wouldn't catch a cold, and left the spot.

It wasn't a very good connection, but he hoped the young man would find his way.

If only he had known that an hour later, he would run into him surrounded by ruffians, he never would have done so.

***

The path out of the forest was not that complicated.

Seeing that the path people used was quite well-maintained, it didn't seem to be such a rural corner.

While relieved, a corner of his mind was also worried that it would be a difficult itinerary if he had to travel a long distance.

I didn't know I would be setting off empty-handed like this.

Because he had come out so suddenly, he had nothing on him that would be helpful.

He didn't have a single proper weapon, aside from these damned stones he kept carrying because he felt like he shouldn't throw them away for some reason.

First, I need to get out and find a village.

He had to quickly return to the capital and meet with the Little Duke and Tollin.

Since he had passed on the family head position and died, there was no longer a justification to hold the Piteos family accountable, but the suffering the remaining people would experience just from the fact that the former Duke had died displeasing the Imperial Family would not be small.

At the very least, I need to go to a place where I can get news from the capital…….

“Hand over everything you have!”

What stopped Jing, who was walking busily, was a rough voice heard faintly from between the bushes.

It was a brutal sentiment that didn't match the magnificent view of the beautiful forest.

“I have nothing.”

Following that was a familiar voice that shouldn't have been heard, answering.

“I think I’ve said it several times, but it seems your understanding is poor even though you don't have hair covering your ears.”

At the unfazed tone that made one's insides burst, Jing squeezed his eyes shut.

If that punk woke up, he should be going back, why is he still in the forest?

Soon, the angry voice of the opponent, enraged at Ratel, echoed through the forest.

“Are you mocking me for being bald right now?!”

“Right! Our boss is voluntarily bald! He didn't lose his hair!”

It seemed the opponent was even bald.

Jing sighed and quietly moved in the direction of the sound.

He could sense that quite a few people were gathered, not just one or two.

Jing knew that if he hadn't known it was fine, but if Ratel, who had come to the forest because of him, ended up in danger, it would leave a bitter aftertaste.

Turning slightly from his original path, he exited the overgrown thicket area, and a small clearing appeared.

Jing hid behind a rather thick tree.

As expected, one black head and one shiny head stuck out among a large number of people.

Ratel was standing with a bald man, a head taller than himself, in front of him, staring at them impassively.

It seems Ratel wasn't the only one who was accosted.

Jing thought as he saw several people, with their hands and feet bound and their faces turning dark, kneeling a short distance away from Ratel and the ruffians.

It seemed Ratel had jumped into a situation where ruffians were committing robbery in the forest.

“Boss, he looks fine on the outside, but I think he's a few screws loose. Let's just kill him like the other guys and take that sword.”

The beard next to the bald boss said, as Ratel, who was surrounded by about 10 people and spouting nonsense, didn't seem normal.

“Uh, young man, just give up the sword and come over here. We're all going to die at this rate.”

A man who looked elderly among those sitting spoke to Ratel with a trembling voice.

Ratel glanced at him for a moment, then looked back at the group of thieves surrounding him.

Whether they knew that the silent Ratel would not hand anything over, the punks took out their brutal-looking weapons one by one.

“If you don't want to be minced, hand over that sword on your waist while we're being nice!”

Contrary to his words about being nice, when the bald boss raised his battle-axe high, the rest of the remnants also raised their weapons.

Jing gripped a stone from his bag and kicked off the ground.

Even bare-handed, that level of small fry was manageable for opponents.

But, to Jing's well-meaning, he didn't get a chance to step in.

Ratel dodged the battle-axe swung by the boss by stepping back and kicking the dirt hard.

“Kkeuak!”

While the bald man, who got muddy dirt mixed with grass and moss in his eyes, flinched, he drew his sword and swung without hesitation and the bald man's weapon split in two and fell helplessly to the ground.

“Keuk!”

The bald boss stepped back, bleeding from his chest being grazed by the shallowly entered sword.

“What, this bastard!”

There was one who swung his sword in panic, but even that urgent movement was too slow compared to Ratel.

Without any chance for Jing, who was trying to help, to step in, the ruffians fell to the ground one by one.

Anger and fear were etched on the face of the boss, who had fainted while clutching the wound on his chest.

If he's that good, I don't need to worry.

Jing awkwardly put the stone he had gripped back into his bag and had to watch the situation again.

“My goodness, he wasn't just an obnoxious punk, he was a savior!”

“Young man, please untie us!”

Hope filled the voices of those who had been captured at Ratel's unexpected victory.

Jing, too, was relieved at the heartwarming scene and was about to turn away.

“Ugh!”

“Y-young man, what are you doing?! Euak!!”

But the screams of the flustered people that followed soon after caught him again.

What entered the eyes of Jing, who had turned back, was Ratel, expressionlessly knocking out the bound people one by one.

What is he doing right now?

After knocking everyone out like that, Ratel leisurely approached the fallen thieves and went through their pockets.

It was a very familiar and swift motion.

Jing wasn't the type to show mercy to criminals either, so he had no intention of blaming Ratel for that.

The problem was that Ratel was also reaching into the pockets of the fainted civilians.

“Hey, what are you doing!”

Jing forgot he was hiding and jumped out.

“Ah, you were there?”

“Yes, I was here. I saw everything from here! Including what you're doing now!”

Even while talking to Jing, Ratel was diligently taking things from the pockets of those whose limbs were bound.

“Stop doing that!”

“Why?”

Jing, who snatched the people's wallets back from Ratel's hand, stuffed them back into the pockets of the unconscious people.

He was dumbfounded at Ratel, who asked back as if he genuinely found it strange.

“Why are you stealing those people's wallets?”

“Because they have a lot of money?”

“Are they not civilians!”

The black-haired thief, worse than a band of robbers, tilted his head as if he didn't understand.

How on earth did that damn Elder raise this kid?

“I don't know why Jing is so angry. Didn't Jing do something similar to me?”

“That's……”

Jing, who had knocked him out and threatened the Elder, was momentarily at a loss for words.

Jing sighed and untied the ropes of those whose limbs were bound.

“This is a different case. You are not a civilian, and I was a prisoner. Stealing money from innocent civilians is not right……”

“Kkeueung.”

Just as Jing was about to continue his step-by-step explanation, the large bald man regained consciousness.

Groaning in pain, he opened his eyes and discovered Jing and Ratel standing awkwardly.

His gaze lingered on the pockets of the people, including the robbers, which were in Ratel's and Jing's hands.

A fire lit in his eyes.

“So you were in the same business!!! I’ve never seen such unethical bastards!!”

His rage-filled shout was loud enough to wake the other ruffians.

The punks who regained consciousness one by one, similarly enraged by the fact that they, as thieves, had been robbed, lit their eyes on fire and chased after Ratel and Jing.

***

Jing, who had arrived at the current situation like that, removed the hand that had been on his forehead and asked Ratel.

“Why didn't you go back? Were you searching for me to capture me?”

“It's true I was searching, but I didn't come to capture you.”

“No, why look for me! If you're worried I'll talk somewhere, you don't need to. The one who let me out was that Elder guy!”

Ratel, who was watching Jing speak with wide gestures, raised his hand to calm him.

“Actually, that is the problem.”

“Why is that?”

As Jing asked with a raised eyebrow, Ratel lifted the sword that was hanging at his waist and answered calmly.

“I cannot return to Amica's space. I think the path is blocked.”

Jing felt his mind go white.

Someone's obnoxious voice echoed faintly in his head.

-I'm saying to take good care of that child!

That damned Elder.