Chapter 31: 29. Church Representatives
In a grove southeast of Bristle-Wolf Castle, Baron Jeo Mormont of Wild Bear Ridge was walking alone. He repeatedly swung his sword with his right hand, hacking at branches, while his left gripped another sword—his eldest son's.
His son, Winks Mormont, had been gone for four days. Four days earlier, his injuries had begun to improve, and the two of them had ridden toward Bristle-Wolf City.
Winks had even said that once this battle was over, he would gather the courage to write a love letter to the Bristle Wolf Flower in Bristle-Wolf City.
But everything had come to an abrupt end four days ago. That night, after Jeo and his son rested in the shade on one side of a slope, a small group of six barbarians suddenly appeared beside them.
The barbarians had taken them by surprise, giving the two no chance to fight back. They had practically flashed into view and were about to seize them.
At the crucial moment, Winks put all his strength into shoving Jeo down the hillside. Jeo suffered a few scrapes as he tumbled, but at least he survived. When he cautiously returned the next day to find Winks, his son had been decapitated.
Jeo had no idea how he had buried his son. Now, all he felt was hatred, resentment, anger, and humiliation.
The Baron of Wild Bear Ridge wanted nothing more than to fly straight to Bristle-Wolf City, join the Count's Knight Order, and perish alongside those barbarian beasts on the battlefield.
Distant houses were burning. The cries of women, the clash of metal, and the clamor of the Barbarian Cavalry reached the Baron's ears.
Less than a kilometer beyond the grove, the barbarians had overrun a knight's estate. Towering Barbarian Cavalry rode straight into the knight's castle and dragged out whatever prey caught their eye.
A band of twelve Barbarian Cavalry could raid several knights' estates in a single day. They would steal the gold coins from the knights' castles, along with the pretty women and sixty percent of the Mana-Wielders.
The barbarians swept through like a whirlwind. Unless an estate was built in the mountains or the forest, there was no way to hold back the Barbarian Cavalry.
Jeo stood in the grove, staring numbly at the flames beyond the trees. But in the past four days, he had already witnessed three scenes like this.
In Jeo's heart, his former faith in the knightly code now stabbed him like a blade and branded him like a hot iron.
Jeo had no choice. If he went there, he would only give the barbarians a little more to plunder. But he could not simply look away and continue on his way, either. Indifference was an even greater betrayal of his beliefs.
When the Two Suns rose again, Jeo continued on his way. Now that he had no horse, he walked through the mountains and forests, doing his best to avoid open ground as he made his way toward Bristle-Wolf City by a circuitous route.
His detours eventually brought him to the eastern part of Bristle-Wolf City. He could now make out the distant outline of its walls. Before him lay a narrow mountain path, bent into a V by the hill where he stood.
Jeo first looked to one side of the hill. A patrol of thirteen barbarians was coming down the road toward him.
The Baron hurried to the other side, only to see a small Human Race party traveling there. The Barbarian Cavalry and the human party would meet in less than ten minutes.
Jeo could no longer stand by and do nothing. He ran straight toward the human party. Of the ten riders, the two men at the front were Mana-Wielders, both taller than the Baron and riding white horses.
Everyone wore rough, linen-colored coats that hung nearly to the ground. Their oversized hoods concealed their faces.
"Run! ... Get away from here!" The Baron began shouting as soon as he got close. "There's... there's a Barbarian patrol up ahead!"
The human party stopped. Everyone watched the Baron run toward them, but no one moved.
"You... what are you waiting for? They—the beasts... they're coming! Get out of here!"
"Brother, are you hurt?" asked the second Mana-Wielder in the party, his voice kind.
"I... I'm fine... Just run... Don't fight... those barbarians head-on." The Baron was panting heavily. He held out his arms to block the riders, hoping to lead them up the nearby slope—or, at the very least, get the two Mana-Wielders out of danger.
"Nicholas, go treat this man. I'll deal with the barbarians." The Mana-Wielder at the front glanced at the second man, Nicholas, nudged his horse, and rode off alone.
Looking at the human Mana-Wielder before him, Jeo realized the man must be a Knight. In that moment, he felt a deep envy. He wished he could face an enemy many times stronger than himself as calmly as the knightly code demanded.
He even wished he could wash away the shame of abandoning others to their deaths through self-sacrifice. But he could not die yet. He had not avenged his son.
The Knight in his linen clothes rode forward alone. Thirteen Barbarian Cavalry appeared on the distant path.
The barbarians saw the three Mana-Wielders and shouted excitedly. Their leader barked an order, and the riders formed three abreast and advanced toward the human party. They held no reserve; every one of them charged forward.
The Knight stood in the middle of the road. He took off his long linen robe, revealing silver-white armor that gleamed like fish scales, dazzling Baron Jeo until he had to squint. A short spear was strapped to the armor. The Paladin took it down and turned a mechanism. The spear extended, becoming a long spear.
"God Emperor, ruler of the Human Empire, great God of Knights and Mages, your devout follower Nicholas White prays to you here.
"Please protect your loyal follower, the Paladin Bert Kaul, as he upholds your holy will, presses forward bravely, and triumphs over all!" Nicholas White prayed aloud. Behind him, the Mana-Less quietly recited the words as well.
With every line of the prayer, the armor worn by Paladin Bert Kaul and the spear in his hands shone with holy light. He stood in the road without advancing, head bowed in prayer, ignoring the cavalry bearing down on him.
Bert Kaul was in no hurry, and neither were the barbarians. Their horses walked forward at an easy pace as their leader watched the Paladin with interest. From a young age, they had been taught not to provoke the Human Race's Paladins or Mages. But the Barbarian Cavalry had just swept through the entire northwestern region of the Dragon Kingdom and had become intoxicated by victory.
In their view, horsemanship was what mattered most in mounted combat. The glittering human before them might have something special about him, but if he couldn't make his horse pick up speed, he couldn't possibly defeat thirteen Barbarian Cavalry...
When the riders had casually approached to within two hundred meters of the Paladin, they froze.