CH 52

“In any case…what should we do? We must enter the castle to find your men, but I don’t think that’ll be a brief checkpoint.”

The atmosphere outside the castle gates seemed too grave to be a singular, unexpected event.

“That’s true. Perhaps I should wait for night to fall and then climb the walls.”

“Climb the walls? The castle walls?” Surprised, Luisen looked between the walls and Carlton. His companion declared he would climb the wall–which looked to be as tall as a three-story building–without a ladder?

“It’ll be difficult and take a long time, but there’s no choice. I’ll carry my lord on my back.”

“What? Are you even a human being? Answer me truthfully. Your ancestry isn’t mixed with trolls or the like, right?”

“I’m joking,” Carlton said nonchalantly. However, Luisen thought it truly might have been possible for Carlton–after all, this man had jumped off a waterfall with the young lord.

Luisen felt dizzy. He couldn’t do this; Luisen needed to step forward. “…Let’s enter normally. Properly, with our two feet.”

“Do you have a plan?”

“Well…a haphazard one…Follow me.” Luisen took the lead; Carlton followed obediently behind, holding the donkey’s reins. For the past few days, Luisen had walked while staring at Carlton’s back; now their positions had been reversed. It felt strange. The two stopped and circled around the castle gates.

Luisen wasn’t aiming for the front nor the back of the castle but instead the ambiguous sides. Places that bordered the nearby forests and were particularly overgrown. Luisen concentrated in his search for those spots.

Beside the thick walls was an unusually gnarled and well-grown tree. After brushing a branch to the side, the two could see a window behind them. It was just large enough for an adult man to squeeze through to enter the castle. However, the issue was the iron plates that blocked the window.

“Who knew that this would be here. However, this way is properly blocked.” Carlton tapped at the iron plates. “I think it’ll make a loud noise if I were to pull it off forcefully.”

“That’s not what you do–there’s a trick to everything.” Luisen picked up a fallen branch and, following the young lord’s know-how, wedged the branch in the bricks around the iron plates. The bricks that were firmly welded to the iron plates began to shake. Carlton noted what Luisen wanted to do and pulled at the iron plates to add more force. Then, the plate, with the bricks attached, fell off.

“For something like this, don’t focus on the iron plate. It’s easy to pull out if you extract the surrounding bricks,” Luisen said.

“Have you ever been to Confosse?”

“No. It’s my first time here, but castles usually have secret entrances 1 like these.”

No matter how open the castle gates may have usually been, there would always be people who had no desire to enter through legal means.

Luisen shrugged his shoulders.

“Did you learn all this from the pilgrim as well?” Carlton asked.

“No, I learned this from someone else.”

The one-armed pilgrim carried a pilgrim’s pass and could confidently come and go from the main gates. Luisen learned this know-how from a generous beggar the young lord had met during his travels. In other words, this was a secret method available to those who couldn’t enter the gates on their own merits.

Luisen and Carlton entered the castle through the window. Luisen wanted to bring the donkey with him, but the poor beast wouldn’t be able to fit through the window. Therefore, they were forced to let it roam free outside. Since the donkey had survived well in the woods on its own, it should be alright.

The window was connected to a deserted dead-end.

“Where should we go from here?”

“Let’s first go to the central plaza.”

“The plaza has things like bulletin boards, right?” Luisen had thought he had seen something similar to the boards in these plazas before. He had wondered who would ever use such things, but it seemed like people–for example, Carlton–actually utilized them.

Luisen neatly groomed his clothes and made sure his face was well hidden; Carlton gave him the go-ahead. Afterwards, the two walked naturally out to the main road and mixed in with the crowds. Carlton’s physique was somewhat conspicuous, but he suffered nothing more than a few glances–this castle housed a mercenary’s guild, after all.

The castle’s inner structure was quite ordinary, so it was easy for the two to locate the plaza. The place was so crowded–a minor pandemonium. There were two bulletin boards here. One board contained the presiding lord’s commands and decrees or other news relevant to those in the fief; the other could be used freely by anyone.

It was hard for the two to approach the bulletin boards because too many people were crowding them, but Luisen had Carlton. Whenever Cartlon frowned and strode forth, the nearby people automatically moved aside.

“It’s here.” The note was easy to find; similar to the one found in the inn, the note was addressed to ‘my beloved Ennis.’ However, the note’s content was vastly different; the note didn’t pretend to be a shy love letter nor were there secret passwords hidden within. The writer had left behind an incredibly concise comment.

[ XX is doome d]

‘……?’

Did Luisen see wrong? “Am I reading things incorrectly? There’s something strange written there. Are you sure this is correct?”

“I believe it’s the right one.” Carlton also looked perplexed.

“It’s saying something went wrong?”

“……” Carlton looked at the note with a grave expression. Then, he suddenly rushed at the official, lordly bulletin board. He pushed everyone away and stood at the front; there, he could clearly see a prominent official decree.

Luisen stuttered as he read, “The Duke of Anies has been kidnapped…The culprit is…Carlton…?”

‘Me? I’ve been kidnapped?’

No matter how many times Luisen read the official decree, the content didn’t change. The decree was authorized by the duchy–the Duke of Anies had been abducted by Carlton; if anyone knows relevant information, they should send a report. The general, authorized as an official agent of the territory, had signed the decree at the bottom, so the paper had not been forged.

“So, this is saying…” Alarmed, Luisen looked at Carlton before looking once more at the crumpled note in the mercenary’s hand.

[ XX is doomed ]

The succinct letters seared themselves into the young lord’s eyes.

Doomed.

Yeah. It seemed so.

‘Just what’s happening here, General?!’ Luisen shouted inwardly at his retainers back at the duchy. Even though he was puzzled, he could hear the noisy sounds from those gathered around the bulletin board.

“Apparently a bunch of mercenaries and soldiers gave pursuit to the duke during their battle; in the bedlam, the duke was captured and taken away. Apparently, those people were Carlton’s men.”

“Are you certain? I heard that man’s army went north and brought back some enormous trophy.”

Carlton’s men must have managed to only leave behind this one note before being taken away by some soldiers. Luisen looked over at Carlton, whose face had turned pale. Carlton couldn’t have missed what Luisen had just heard.

“Isn’t the noble butcher the prince’s right-hand man? So, why did he kidnap one of the great lords?”

“I suppose he went insane.”

“He’s a peasant who’s elevated his status to well beyond his means–do you think he’d be sane?”

Carlton’s felt like his insides were boiling. Sure, he’d killed a few aristocrats–sure he’d bullied them–but that was acceptable in civil war time. He had no motive to kidnap anyone, nor was there evidence that he had ever kidnapped Luisen.

However, Carlton was treated as a criminal just because he and Luisen had disappeared together; his men were unfairly captured. He felt so unfairly wronged and furious.

‘Ruger, the real asshole who tried to kidnap Luisen, was an aristocrat; it was obvious that the person behind Ruger would be of noble blood as well. However, my men and I are treated like this just because we’re of low birth?’ Carlton rolled his eyes.

Anger sprouted from within his heart. He wanted to wring the necks of those laughing. When the mercenary reached out–about to follow his anger and swing at those around him–Luisen quickly grabbed Carlton’s arm. “Calm down, hm? Just hold it in for now.”

Luisen revealed his blue eyes from underneath his hood. Carlton paused, anger momentarily abated, when he saw the young lord’s distorted expression–as if he had been personally insulted.

“I’ll listen to whatever you say–whatever curses you want to shout. Okay?” Luisen’s soothing voice was slightly unstable.

Carlton finally remembered his surroundings. ‘That’s right, I’m not alone. Now’s not the time to go wild; it’s time to be patient. I still have to protect Luisen.’

""

With that thought, his anger quickly subsided. “I apologize. I just felt so furious, I…”

Come to think of it, Luisen had warned the mercenary to watch his temper before. Carlton eyed the young lord.

Luisen was just relieved that Carlton had calmed down. His temper would eventually be his downfall. Still, what a relief–the mercenary  had endured the comments well.

“Let’s first go someplace quiet,” Luisen said.

“Yes.”

The two slipped out of the plaza, climbed through the same castle window, and exited the castle entirely. The donkey was grazing on grass. When the donkey saw the two, it approached Luisen and placed its head on the young lord.

What a happy-go-lucky fellow. The donkey’s fur was short and rough, but Luisen felt his trembling heart calm down as he gently stroked the steed. Perhaps this was why people raised pets. Luisen grabbed Carlton’s hand and placed it on the donkey’s head so that the mercenary might also receive some comfort.

“To think they would think you kidnapped me. How could all news of the real kidnapper and the monster attack just vanish into thin air? What do you think?” Luisen asked.

“It’s probably all Ruger’s doing,” Carlton said with conviction. “Nobody knows he’s a spy, correct? The only ones in the know are my lord and I–and we’ve disappeared together. It’s understandable they would think I’ve kidnapped my lord.”

“How is it understandable? No matter how one looks at it, you’re not the kind of person to kidnap anyone.” Luisen refuted his companion’s words, but Carlton had a point.

Footnotes

개구멍 = Dog-hole. Basically small entrances that animals (or people) can come and go through. Slang for secret/hidden/illegal entrances.