Harvest

Squelch!

Roland thrust his sword into Sam's chest as he lay on the ground. Only after confirming that he was completely dead did he stagger back and collapse onto the ground.

As the adrenaline faded, his legs felt a little weak.

"Hah..."

As he gasped for breath, Roland ran his fingers over the dent in the iron plate on his chest, and a wave of lingering fear surged through him.

If this crude Heart Protection Mirror had not blocked the blow, Sam's dagger would likely have pierced his heart before Roland's sword could reach his throat.

"Luckily, my Basic Swordsmanship is already maxed out, and I injured his arm while he was fighting Sean. Otherwise..."

Recalling that Life and Death struggle, Roland gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand.

"I still lack real combat experience. Otherwise, I should have been able to react to that desperate strike just now..."

"Roland!"

Turning toward the voice, he saw Sean stumbling toward him.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

Roland slowly shook his head.

"What about you?"

"What could possibly be wrong with me?"

Sean's gaze anxiously swept over Roland's entire body. Only after confirming that every inch of him was unharmed did his tense shoulders loosen slightly.

Before he could fully let out his breath, his peripheral vision caught sight of the stiffening corpse on the ground.

"H-He's dead?"

"Unless something unexpected happened."

Unlike Sean, whose face was pale and who seemed at a complete loss, Roland barely maintained his composure. Suppressing the pungent stench of blood, he walked over to Sam's corpse and began searching it.

"What are you looking for?"

Sean swallowed with difficulty, his trembling voice nearly breaking apart.

"He said someone hired him."

Roland continued searching without looking up.

"I need to see whether I can find any clues."

Although he had already decided that Marco was the mastermind, if he could find conclusive evidence, Hawk's impartial nature would ensure that Marco was driven from the manor.

With that thought, Roland quickened his movements and looked up.

"Sean, keep watch around the area. If anyone comes close, warn me immediately."

"Understood!"

Sean took a deep breath to steady himself, then gripped his iron sword and walked away.

"This is..."

Seeing his own portrait on the paper, Roland frowned and tore it to pieces without hesitation.

Then, a heavy cloth coin pouch caught his attention.

The instant he opened it, Roland's pupils contracted sharply.

"One, two, three..."

He counted under his breath, his fingers trembling slightly with excitement.

"A full eight silver coins!"

This was practically a fortune!

After all, all he had on him amounted to barely more than a dozen copper coins.

After letting out a long breath, Roland set the coin pouch aside and continued searching.

A moment later, he slowly shook his head.

"He was more cautious than I expected. He didn't leave behind a single piece of evidence."

Seeing Roland stop searching, Sean quickly approached and asked in a lowered voice.

"Did you find anything?"

Roland shook his head, his brow tightly furrowed as he spoke slowly.

"Although there's no direct evidence, other than Marco, I can't think of anyone else who would want to harm me."

"That son of a bitch!"

Sean roared. His iron sword left its sheath with a clang as he turned to rush off.

"Stop!"

Roland grabbed his arm.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to kill that bastard!"

Sean's eyes were bloodshot, and the veins on the hand gripping his sword bulged.

"He actually dared to hire someone to kill you!"

"Calm down, Sean!"

Roland pressed down hard on his friend's trembling shoulder.

"Even if you really kill Marco, then what?"

"Think about Uncle Gary. Do you want him to spend the rest of his life being cursed at as the father of a murderer?"

Sean's entire body stiffened. His sword tip slowly lowered, but the fury in his eyes did not fade.

"Are we just going to let this go? What if he tries again... Then I won't enlist. I'll return to the manor with you and protect you."

His rough fingers clenched the hilt so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"At worst, if I fail the assessment, I'll go back and inherit my father's butcher shop."

"There's no need, mate."

Roland looked Sean directly in the eyes.

"Marco's family has power and wealth. If he truly wants me dead, not only would you fail to protect me, you'd get yourself killed as well."

"But if you enlist and stand out among all those soldiers, earning Lord Beckham's favor, hehe..."

At that, Roland chuckled softly.

"Even if his father is Blackwater Territory's renowned blacksmith, he wouldn't dare easily offend a knight, even a knight's trusted follower."

Seeing that Sean was still hesitant, Roland suddenly curled his lips into a smile.

"What, you don't have confidence in yourself?"

"How could that be..."

Sean hurriedly retorted. His rough fingers unconsciously rubbed the sword hilt, and only after a moment did he reluctantly accept reality.

"All right, mate. Maybe you're right."

"That's more like it."

Roland patted Sean's shoulder reassuringly.

"Besides, you said before that Marco wouldn't dare act recklessly in the manor."

"What do we do now?"

"Let's bury the body first. Oh, and don't tell anyone about this, understand?"

"Of course."

Following the principle of making use of everything, Roland efficiently stripped the worn leather armor from Sam's body. Then, together with Sean, he buried the corpse in a freshly dug pit.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Roland pulled the heavy coin pouch from his clothes.

"Eight silver coins."

He shook the pouch, and the silver coins collided with a crisp clink.

"We'll split them evenly."

Sean's pupils tightened slightly at the clear sound of the coins, but in the end, he turned his face away and muttered.

"You killed him. I..."

He kicked a clod of dirt by his feet.

"My sword was even knocked out of my hand."

Seeing his best friend stubbornly crane his neck, Roland sighed and instead stuffed the leather armor and dagger into Sean's arms.

"Then take these. These things are useless in the manor."

Seeing Roland's determined expression, Sean did not refuse again and began putting on the leather armor.

Just then, he suddenly gave a puzzled grunt and reached toward the armor's lining.

"What's this... Mate!"

Hearing the call, Roland, who was checking the surroundings for anything they might have missed, turned around.

Sean had pulled a roll of yellowed parchment from a hidden layer within the leather armor. Dark brown bloodstains still marked its edges.

"Uh, this..."

Sean scratched his head and awkwardly handed over the yellowed parchment.

"Mate, you'd better take a look. I can't recognize all the words on it..."

Roland frowned slightly at that and accepted the seemingly ancient parchment.

The paper had yellowed and wrinkled, while the ink had faded badly.

He had no choice but to squint and lean close to carefully make out the blurred writing.

Time passed in silence.

Roland frowned at times and pursed his lips at others, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the parchment's edge.

Finally, he spoke hesitantly.

"This seems to be... some kind of Potion Recipe?"