Chapter 137: Great Escape (5)

The explosion sound, echoing through the valley just in time, sounded like a celebratory cannon blast for our escape. Alice and I hummed tunes while holding tightly onto the sled, and Lorena, emerging from the tree shadows, also wore a cheerful smile. I took the young Beastman from Alice’s hand, stroked its head, and said.

“Kiddo. You’re happy we’re escaping too, right?”

“D-Don’t touch my child!”

The Beastman seemed to really dislike the affectionate voice coming from behind and my appearance, holding his child tightly. This was because he spat out the urgent voice even while running towards the village. I handed the young Beastman back to Alice and said.

“Just hurry up and pull, you punk.”

“Damn it! Damn it! I’ll tell the Beastman that you’re a traitor! I won’t let you come to the North again!”

I smiled broadly even at the Beastman’s shout. In any case, it was a choice between two options: either live as a slave to a gay boss for life, or be prepared to make enemies for life. Whether Baara beat and killed Drak-Sai or was furious at my betrayal, he was the king of the ‘North’, and he didn’t know where I lived.

“Do as you please. Whether you do that or not. I’m going home.”

“Damn it! Damn it! Traitorous bastard!”

The Beastman seemed even more furious as I nonchalantly brushed off the threat. Repeating ‘Damn it!’, he shook his head, while his arms and legs moved busily for his son. His appearance of lightly running through the sinking snowy field was enough to make me want to use him as my personal sled dog.

The village lights appeared in the distance. The familiar sight of the snowy landscape, which I had seen sometime before, also came into view. Alice looked at me and said.

“Looks like we really won’t get the security deposit back.”

She must have remembered the sled’s security deposit. At Alice’s words, both I and Lorena chuckled and nodded. The Beastman ran until the village lights were within reach, then stopped the sled towards the nearby bushes and said.

“We can’t go any further from here. Now that the village is really just around the corner, stop it and release my child!”

“Here.”

I took the child from Alice’s hand and handed it over to the Beastman. The Beastman, holding the young Beastman tightly, glared at us once, then slowly backed away, increased the distance, turned his body sharply, and moved away.

We waved our hands until the Beastman was out of sight. Then, we casually turned our bodies towards the village and walked. Lorena fiddled with her short sword, looking back at the valley with a regretful expression. Alice said.

“The sword. We couldn’t find it.”

Lorena tried hard to act okay, forced a smile and said.

“It can’t be helped. We weren’t free enough to search for the sword. Evan will find it for us next time. Right?”

After our weapons were confiscated, we didn’t have the luxury of retrieving the sword from the weapon storage again. This was because the time spent preparing the sled and escaping by threatening the Beastman, though packaged cheerfully, was a series of quite tight and precarious moments.

“Of course.”

I nodded to Lorena to lift her spirits. The valley visible in the distance, spitting out snow mist, faded hazily from view. I scanned the surroundings for a moment, following the traces of the valley, then shook my head and turned back towards the village.

“How… you’ve returned alive.”

In the end, the security deposit was not returned. The innkeeper showed signs of great surprise when we returned looking perfectly fine. After we were dragged away by the Beastman, the broken sled fragments returned to the inn along with hunters who were wandering around the area. Having recognized the identification number of the sled we rode, the innkeeper seemed to have thought we were dead.

“Wow, if the carriage fee hadn’t been paid in advance, an obituary notice would have flown home along with the carriage. Isabel would have fainted.”

Fortunately, the innkeeper was someone who knew loyalty. Even though he thought we were dead, he didn’t sell our carriage or send it back to our home. He had kept our carriage and horses stored until the agreed-upon deadline passed.

“Old folks believed that if they didn’t do so, dead ghosts would cling to the inn. It’s a kind of superstition.”

“And sometimes, dead people come back alive like this. Right?”

The innkeeper laughed heartily at my joke and stroked his beard. In the inn, Northerners who knew how to drive horses were leisurely drinking alcohol, waiting for customers. The innkeeper handed over the stable key and asked.

“By the way, what on earth happened?”

“I came back after setting up a fight between a Beastman boss who rapes men and a 3-meter muscular imp.”

“You’re quite the joker. Hahaha!”

The innkeeper and I made eye contact and laughed loudly. Alice and Lorena sat at the next table, stretching out their bodies and enjoying the warmth of the establishment. After laughing for a while, the innkeeper nodded and asked again.

“Huhuhu… So, what really happened?”

“It’s the truth.”

“……?”

The innkeeper looked at me with a peculiar expression. I took the key, stroked Alice’s head, and said.

“Let’s go. We really have to go home now. I’m sick of snow and ice. People need to live seeing grass.”

“Yeah. Dad. Let’s go quickly.”

“We’re really going now…!”

Lorena, her energy completely drained, collapsed onto the table. I massaged Lorena’s back and said.

“Get up quickly.”

“Ah, okay! It tickles!”

As I pressed firmly on Lorena’s firm back, she wriggled her body back and forth and laughed. Amidst the cheerful atmosphere, Northerners with rough appearances glanced subtly and turned away. We clung closely together and cheerfully headed towards the stable.

It seemed the carriage had been moved to the inn’s backyard. We turned towards the inn’s backyard. The yard, surrounded by rocky ground and coniferous trees, was sparsely populated. While the hired coachman brought the horses, Alice looked at the dust and frost piled on the carriage with a regretful expression.

“Ah, I’ll have to clean this when we get home. Will the wheels roll properly? It’s not rusted, is it?”

“Alice. Look at this. It’s icicles. Icicles.”

Lorena said, seeing the sharp icicles formed on the carriage roof. Alice tapped them with her hand, and seeing the icicles falling down in a shower, she let out a hollow laugh.

“It really is. Icicles.”

“Even though you walked out of the snow, are icicles fascinating?”

Alice and Lorena turned their heads. I was perched on the stable fence, yawning. Large Northern men were approaching through the bushes, stretching their bodies. They each held a weapon in their hands, and their shoulders were as broad as the Pacific Ocean.

A man with a rough appearance said.

“Living in the North, we find money quite fascinating. We won’t harm you. Your carriage too, and looking at your faces, you seem like people of means. If you just give us a little money, we’ll gladly step aside.”

Alice looked at me and Lorena. We were experts at these kinds of problems. Lorena shook her head and reached for her waist. I rolled up my sleeves and stared intently at the man.

Seeing our hostile attitude, the bearded robber started to laugh. Starting with him laughing, the robbers around all burst into laughter.

“Hahahahahaha!”

“Uheoheoheoheo!”

“Hahahahahaha! Look at these guys? They seem to think we’re joking. We don’t like drawn-out stories. Think carefully. If you just give us a few bucks, we can all go our separate ways peacefully. Or do we have to hit you a few times with our fists before you cooperate? Huh?”

Lorena silently drew her sword. Because it was a much shorter sword than usual, she swung it a few times in the air, gauging the distance. I said.

“Lorena. Just let me handle it. Okay? Rest for a bit until we get back and you get a new sword.”

“Still, I’m the bodyguard.”

“Hey, I can take those guys down even if I just flick them once.”

The man resembling the Northern mountains seemed to find my contemptuous words very unpleasant. He frowned and said to me.

“You effeminate bastard… What did you say? This is the last time I’m speaking nicely! Hand over the money!”

I looked at the backyard entrance. One man, who looked like part of their gang, was standing there too. Smiling, I slowly approached the leader. Seeing me approach, the people including the leader started to laugh as if they were dumbfounded. Instead, the leader stuck his face out towards me and even shook his head as if daring me to hit him.

“Here! Kid! Here’s my face! Hit me! Huh? Hahahahahaha!”

“Hahahahahaha!”

“Uheoheoheoheo!”

“Hahahahahaha!”

Laughter could be heard from all around. With the intention of mocking me, the leader opened his mouth wide, pressed his face even closer to me, and started laughing.

“Hahahahahahaha!”

I raised my arm. Everyone’s faces filled with anticipation, and I swung my fist.

“Huh?”

“Wha-?”

The leader couldn’t laugh. His head spun around like a top, facing his subordinates. His jaw was crushed from being hit by the fist, and teeth poured out of his mouth like an avalanche. Everyone was frozen.

I said to Alice and Lorena.

“There are too many people. Let’s pull the carriage and get out of here.”

“Okay.”

“That sounds good.”

Alice and Lorena nodded, and I personally pulled the carriage by hand. The gang of robbers remained standing there, looking back and forth several times between their leader, standing in an unreal state, and me. I said to the robber guarding the backyard.

“What are you doing? Move aside.”

“Ah, yes.”

The robber is kind to the strong. We got onto the carriage, and only after receiving guidance from the polite coachman could we truly feel that we had escaped the North.