Ch.141Family Request – 2

‘What kind of woman is she, anyway?’

While hiding in the cargo compartment of the lead carriage, I pondered why this mysterious masked woman was doing all this.

No clear answer came to mind. She left mercenaries and mages half-dead but didn’t kill them, completely ignored the caravan people, thoroughly destroyed the carriages but didn’t take a single item?

Her behavior contradicted everything I knew about common sense.

‘Is she trying to prevent things from escalating?’

If caravans were properly looted or dozens of merchants were killed, that would no longer be a matter for mercenaries but would justify dispatching knights. Perhaps she was wary of such a situation.

She wanted to harm Diana’s caravan, but not enough to escalate matters, so she limited herself to destroying carriages to obstruct passage.

‘So the key question is who benefits from giving such orders…’

Diana said she had investigated all the caravans that might benefit from this incident but found nothing significant. Most didn’t even have the financial resources to hire mercenaries of that caliber for weeks.

Besides, those other caravans were also suffering from not receiving goods on time, so they were far from benefiting from the situation.

“Based on the circumstances, the attack should be happening about now. You should start preparing, young master.”

“Got it.”

A cautious voice came from outside the carriage. I pulled my robe down low and put on my mask. It was to hide my identity, just like that woman. There was no benefit in revealing who I was first.

“Did you explain the plan?”

“Yes. Everyone who joined has been briefed.”

I decided to deliberately make this convoy a sacrificial pawn so I could see with my own eyes how that woman operated. It was the largest in scale, but contained the least valuable goods.

Being a sacrificial pawn usually meant risking one’s life, but since everyone had been attacked repeatedly for weeks and knew they wouldn’t die, they accepted the role without complaint.

“She’s coming! It’s that woman!”

Just as I finished checking the weapon at my waist, a sharp cry rang out.

‘Finally.’

I concealed myself with an invisibility spell and climbed onto the carriage. A single knife was quivering where it had been thrust at an angle in front of the lead carriage.

From somewhere, the masked woman descended and grasped the knife.

Tall and slender, dressed in tight-fitting black clothes, a hood covering her head, and a plain mask hiding her face—along with her unusual attire, her movements were far from ordinary.

She didn’t appear to be a character from the original story. If a woman dressed like that had appeared in the original plot, whether as enemy or ally, someone would have definitely mentioned her at least once.

With precise movements, she drew her knife and gestured toward the coachman.

“I’ll just destroy the carriages and withdraw as always, so come out quietly.”

“I absolutely cannot do that!”

“I don’t want to do this either. So please step aside quietly. I’m asking you.”

‘She doesn’t want to do this?’

The situation was becoming increasingly puzzling. To properly understand what was going on, I would definitely need to capture her alive.

“If you refuse, you should be the one to withdraw! Everyone! Take up arms!”

The merchants took cover while the coachmen raised their weapons. Just as planned.

“…Fine. Do as you please. This is the path you’ve chosen.”

The woman charged in an instant. And true to form, she began subduing the coachmen by striking only their wrists.

She dodged every arrow fired at her, approached to strike wrists and make them drop their weapons, used disarmed coachmen as shields to prevent others from shooting arrows freely, then restrained them by binding their thumbs.

The entire process flowed as naturally as water. It didn’t take long for everyone leading the carriage convoy to be subdued without a single drop of blood being spilled.

“Should have done this from the start.”

The woman muttered quietly as she approached the carriage. I quickly moved to the floor to avoid making noise. She remained completely unaware of my presence, focusing solely on destroying the carriages.

After methodically demolishing far more carriages than usual, she truly didn’t touch a single box, just searched the coachmen’s pockets for six silver coins before turning to leave.

The observation was complete, and it was time to make my move. I approached her head-on and deactivated my invisibility spell.

“You’re an unusual sort of thief.”

As a human figure suddenly appeared out of thin air with a voice made husky by alteration magic, the woman jumped back like a startled cat and pointed her knife at me.

“Who are you? Where did you come from?”

“If I were going to tell you that, I wouldn’t be wearing this. Why ask when you’re doing the same?”

I tapped my mask with my finger. The woman’s aura grew even sharper.

“Are you a mercenary?”

“Hmm. If I were a mercenary, wouldn’t I have tried to stop you before the carriages were destroyed?”

Not knowing her identity, it was best to keep mine hidden as well. The masked woman seemed uncertain.

“If you’re an outsider, quietly go your way. If you don’t bother me, I won’t bother you.”

“That won’t work. I happen to be short on money. If I help these people, I might get something in return, right?”

“…How stupid.”

The woman lowered her stance as if about to pounce. I drew my cheap iron sword, ready to counter.

With a loud thud, she closed the distance in a cloud of dust. She moved much faster than when attacking the carriages. Even in this situation, she seemed reluctant to kill—the tip of her blade was aimed at my shoulder.

“Not so fast.”

She was no match for me, of course.

I deflected her blade while using physical enhancement, simultaneously aiming for her mask. Since a strike to the face could be fatal if misdirected, I angled my attack as obliquely as possible.

Not knowing the durability of the mask, I had to control my strength. It was likely sturdy enough for concealing identity, but whether it could withstand my attack was another matter.

—Crack!

“…!!!!!!”

As my blade grazed the mask, making it rattle, the woman abandoned her next attack and hastily retreated to adjust her crooked mask. She seemed desperate to keep her identity hidden.

“Oh, you’re quite skilled. I thought that would have knocked it off.”

She had slightly tilted her head at the last moment, which is why the mask only rattled. Otherwise, it would have definitely come off. I mentally upgraded my assessment of her skills.

After fixing her mask, the woman pointed her knife at me again and spoke.

“Let me ask you something. Do you believe in coincidence?”

“Suddenly? Well, I suppose I do believe in it.”

After all, many things I’d experienced could be called coincidences. Who would have predicted I’d be reincarnated into a novel twice?

“I don’t.”

“I see. But why bring that up?”

“It means I consider you not a random outsider but a mercenary hired by the caravan. They seem to have brought in someone quite formidable this time.”

Then she abruptly turned and started to flee.

‘Wait, after setting up that dramatic tone, she’s running away?’

While escape was part of the plan, I hadn’t expected it at this timing, so I was slightly taken aback as I gave chase. With physical enhancement and acceleration, following her wasn’t particularly difficult.

The woman was truly fleeing with all her might. Even from behind, I could tell she was gritting her teeth.

‘Let’s see how long she can keep this up.’

Despite her desperation, I could have caught her anytime, but I deliberately maintained a distance of about 10 meters, pretending to be just barely keeping up.

I wanted to find out where her base was.

After exhausting herself in the chase, she would either find a random place to rest or return to her base to recover. I was aiming for the latter.

This caravan I had used as a sacrificial pawn was the only one today. With no other targets, if I kept following her, she would eventually return to her home or workplace.

The chase that began with this thought continued for a full three hours.

“Huff! Huff! Huff!”

“Your breathing sounds rough. Maybe you should give up?”

“Stop… following me…! You… persistent bastard…!”

“If I were going to stop because you asked, I would have given up long ago.”

Having run at full speed without rest, even using physical enhancement, she seemed to be reaching her limit.

Her speed noticeably slowed, her breathing became much rougher. Her legs seemed to give out as she almost tripped while running.

‘This should be enough. If I chase any further, I’ll really catch her.’

I deliberately pretended to be tired, stopped, and threw my iron sword. The woman barely deflected the sword that was aimed to just graze her, and as soon as she confirmed I had stopped, she used her last ounce of strength to put distance between us.

After waiting briefly until she disappeared from view, I used invisibility magic and followed her trail. As expected, the woman had collapsed spread-eagle at the very spot where she lost sight of me.

“Huff… finally… gasp… gave up… huff… persistent bastard…”

The woman pulled at her clothes to shake off the sweat pooled inside. Steam rose from her soaked skin.

‘She still won’t take off the mask. Is she that averse to revealing her identity?’

Her entire body was drenched in sweat, so her face and hair must have been unbearably uncomfortable, yet she absolutely refused to remove her hood and mask. She was a strange woman.

After confirming that her skin-tight black clothes were being loosened, I averted my gaze. I couldn’t become a pervert who watched a woman undress while hidden by invisibility magic.

“…I should move.”

After some time had passed with my gaze averted, the woman staggered to her feet.

“They said there was only one carriage today… I can rest a bit today…”

‘As I thought. There must be someone behind this.’

Those words meant someone had informed her about the position and number of carriages departing from the caravan. Whether it was an internal enemy or someone external would require further investigation.

“Haa, haa… almost… there…”

Perhaps because she had circled around the same area while fleeing to make her return journey shorter, it took only 40 minutes for the woman to stop.

She stopped in front of a small cabin. I decided to wait and observe her actions to be certain.

“Phew…”

Confirming that this cabin was indeed her base, the woman not only lowered her hood but also removed the mask she had never taken off and carefully tucked it into an inner pocket. Her sweat-soaked green hair flowed down her back.

Finally, as she removed a ring from her finger, changes began to occur.

‘Huh?’

Her considerable height shrank dramatically, and her green hair, which had reached her buttocks, shortened to around her shoulder blades. Even the color changed to brown, making her look like a completely different person.

The woman, now slightly shorter than an average adult woman, shook off the sweat inside her clothes and grasped the doorknob. I suppressed my surprise and spoke.

“Pretty humble place for someone with your skills. Not getting paid enough?”

“W-What!”

The woman froze with her hand on the doorknob as if struck by lightning. Having removed her mask, she neither tried to turn around nor made any sudden movements.

“Is there an illusion spell on that ring? I didn’t sense any mana, which is interesting. Is it an artifact?”

“…You’re quite roundabout in saying you watched everything. Did you deliberately pretend to be shaken off and hide to observe me?”

“Observe? More like surveillance. Anyway, don’t try anything foolish and put down your weapons and mask. Otherwise, you’ll be bound by restraining magic and dragged away. The choice is yours.”

After a moment of consideration, the woman sighed deeply and answered.

“I’ll do that if you promise not to harm me and not approach the cabin.”

“Not harming you is a given, but the second part won’t work. I need to check what’s inside…”

Suddenly, I sensed humans approaching the perimeter wards I had set up in the distance. Six people in total, and they were heading directly toward us.

Six other humans in this deep forest, heading precisely toward this cabin? It felt extremely suspicious.

“Did you have an appointment? Or reinforcements?”

“Appointment? Reinforcements? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“Someone’s coming this way. If it’s neither of those, what business would anyone have at a cabin this deep in the forest?”

“…!”

The woman’s back, still facing me with her hand on the doorknob, visibly flinched. I wondered why she reacted that way, but my question was soon answered.

As the approaching humans came within earshot, they shouted in booming voices:

“Io Brante! You bitch! You’ve probably screwed up the job again! Come out right now!”

It was a voice filled with rage, but my attention was focused elsewhere.

“…Io Brante?”

On the woman before me, called by a name that was extremely familiar to me.