<CHAPTER 8>

“Damn it…!”

The mountain girl, who had grown up strong running through the hills, looked around and suddenly began picking up stones and throwing them.

When she came to her senses, she was overwhelmed with anger.

As the wicked spell continued, and blood splattered while bones shattered in the slaughter, stones filled with rage flew into the scene.

“You said you’d take me with you!”

She didn’t want to die here.

Something flew from afar and dropped nearby with a thud, startling the horses, but Bellona didn’t bother to look back.

It was probably a severed arm or a head anyway.

The sharp ringing of magic intensified, and Bellona shouted again, filled with fury.

“Hey! Sol! You idiot! Snap out of it!”

The stones she hurled flew with force, making a loud crack.

Someone’s skull burst open.

It hit!

It helped!

The corners of Bellona’s mouth rose without her realizing.

Solishar, who had pulled a bow and arrow from the saddle of the man who collapsed after being struck in the head, turned his body and drew the bowstring.

Amid the rain of swords and spears pouring toward him, he had time for only one shot.

He willingly used that brief moment for the mage who had been relentlessly casting curses at him.

The arrow pierced the mage’s left eye, and he fell from his horse.

“Waaah!”

The woman who had been cheering, forgotten for a moment as he fought with his back turned while being consumed by curses, cried out.

The cold night air, thick with the smell of blood, brushed against Solishar’s cheek.

The pitch-black fog that had filled his mind began to clear.

“Idiot, huh.”

Solishar let out a faint laugh, grabbed another arrow, and struck down the arm of the man swinging a sword at him.

It wasn’t wrong.

“If you don’t want to die, hide right now!”

At his shout, Bellona flinched and quickly ducked behind a rock.

Still, just in case, she tightly gripped a stone until her hand hurt and held the reins in her other hand.

For a while, the sounds of horses crying and things clashing didn’t stop.

Right now, she was once again crossing the boundary between life and death.

She had acted recklessly out of urgency and anger.

But if she had failed to help Sol, he would have killed her too without recognizing her.

She somehow just knew that.

So she had to stay sharp and check if there were any other mages.

The moment that thought crossed her mind, Bellona raised her head.

She gathered three more stones and prepared herself.

Even if I see something horrifying again, I won’t falter.

Just as she cautiously stepped out from behind the rock, she met a pair of dusty boots and eyes.

“Aaaah!”

Bellona screamed and threw the stone before rolling her body.

She tried to move toward the horses, but as she tumbled across the dirt, a hand suddenly grabbed her, lifting her into the air.

“It’s over, so get up.”

Solishar pulled Bellona up to her feet and brushed off the dirt from her robe as she cautiously looked at him.

He smirked lightly.

“You finish looting.”

Fortunately, the horses hadn’t run away and were still nearby.

It seemed they had realized even faster than Bellona that the situation had ended.

Sol tied the horses back.

Bellona, who had followed him, praised the horses for being good.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not hurt?”

“I’m fine.”

“Are they all dead?”

The field answered her question with silence.

Even the animals that had been crying out had fled in fear of the massacre.

The only sound left was their footsteps.

Even in the darkness, the corpses lying in pools of blood were clearly visible.

Sol had killed them all.

Bellona swallowed dryly.

“Are you really okay?”

He killed all these people?

She couldn’t believe it even as she saw it.

“As long as I stay conscious, that’s enough. Don’t force yourself to look. Just stay here.”

Solishar answered casually.

“You’re going to rummage through bodies again. I can do that too.”

“These guys even poison their belongings. No.”

At those chilling words, Bellona quickly pulled back the hand she had extended toward a corpse.

Still, she stuck close behind Sol.

Being alone was scarier.

“How are you now? Are you okay?”

“For now. How did you use magic?”

Sol asked, turning to her.

“Right? That was magic, wasn’t it?”

Solishar let out a sigh as he looked at the woman who kept astonishing him today.

He had too much to do.

He needed to search the bodies for clues about how far the pursuers had come, clean up quickly, and leave immediately.

He focused only on tasks because a storm of emotions was raging inside him.

He didn’t want to open his mouth and let them spill out.

Yet this girl, who didn’t even know his name, had stopped his episode with a few gestures and now asked if that was magic.

Unaware that she was the one who had pointed him out as the culprit and caused his capture, she hesitantly grabbed his collar.

Trembling in fear and fixated only on him, she still spoke nonsense.

Solishar almost wished he could keep feeling anger without pause.

He was angry.

But whenever he thought her clear face or the way she ate bread so well was pretty, he felt like an idiot.

Even now, her hand clutching his collar bothered him.

And yet his anger kept fading into absurdity.

“Watching what you went through reminded me of something similar.”

“What memory?”

“When I was little, a friend I used to play with suddenly went mad and attacked a wolf in the mountains or forest.”

“They fought with strange strength.”

Bellona paused briefly, horrified at the thought of a child fighting a beast.

“Back then too, a bad mage was controlling them from afar.”

“You can hear a noisy sound with those spells.”

“Like metal vibrating or scraping.”

Surrounded by corpses and eerie silence, Bellona deliberately kept talking.

It was a joy to regain even a fragment of her memory, and she wanted to engrave it deeply so she would never forget.

“So I helped the same way just now.”

“How?”

Sol asked while scattering the corpses he searched, finding nothing as expected.

“Um… You just block the bad spell and protect.”

“You just do it?”

Bellona answered shyly.

“Yes. That’s all I can do.”

Her voice fell flat.

Solishar could now understand why the magistrate who claimed to be her friend disliked her.

At that moment, he found a heavy pouch of money on one of the bodies.

Was this the leader?

He removed the mask, revealing a face full of scars, but it wasn’t someone he recognized.

However, another corpse lying nearby with a broken neck was familiar.

The mage with the arrow piercing through his eye stared at the night sky, unable to close his eyes.

“…About that memory you mentioned.”

Bellona, who had been avoiding the corpses, quickly looked at Sol.

“Did you see the face of that bad mage?”

“No. They were far away, so I only caught a glimpse.”

Solishar looked down at the dead mage.

Interestingly, two of the three suspects accused of attempting to assassinate the Crown Prince were here.

One was this girl, rambling about fragmented memories without understanding.

The other had come to kill him again, only to be killed instead.

“I was too scared to get close.”

Bellona murmured softly while looking at the mage.

Even someone who tormented others must have feared death.

The twisted face was filled with shock and pain.

“You were scared, yet you still interfered.”

“They were my friend.”

She frowned deeply and spoke seriously.

“And even if we weren’t close, I still had to save them somehow.”

“There were no adults nearby.”

“So, were you close?”

As Sol searched the mage’s body, Bellona thought quietly before shaking her head.

“I don’t know. But I think they were important.”

At her small voice from behind him, Sol’s hand paused briefly.

“I really wanted to save them.”

He had seen enough blood for today.

He had caused another episode and scattered corpses across the wasteland.

Yet still, Solishar unconsciously tightened his grip.

The ribs of the still-warm corpse cracked under his hand.

If he turned back toward that careful confession, he would see those pale eyes staring without knowing anything.

The Bellona who once couldn’t even meet eyes and stiffened when spoken to was gone.

Now she dared to shout casually even at the Crown Prince.

It was clear she had lost all her memories.

So he couldn’t blame her for forgetting.

The sense of loss he felt alone was dizzying and repulsive.

“Where did that bastard run off to?”

Viviana Rodrigo unconsciously looked at Cardian.

Cardian placed a finger over his lips and smiled.

Is he insane?

Viviana’s expression turned cold.

It seemed the Crown Prince himself was the one they were chasing.

“Did you check all the alleys?”

“Yeah. That bastard couldn’t have gone far. He must be nearby.”

“Did he get into that carriage?”

“Idiot, look at the crest. It’s a lily. That’s the Rodrigo Duchy’s carriage. How would some gambling fool ride something like that?”

The man who had been peeking at the carriage was kicked away by his companion.

Cardian watched the scene leisurely, then spoke after they left.

“The Rodrigo Duchy is quite reckless. Sending a lady out alone without guards after what almost happened recently.”

“What kind of lunatic would barge into a carriage?”

Viviana was speechless.

She had even forgotten to greet the Crown Prince properly.

“They’re waiting a little distance away because I said it was burdensome.”

“If I hadn’t said I was fine, they would have rushed over immediately.”

“Oh really? That’s fortunate.”

Cardian replied indifferently.

“Your Highness, do you gamble?”

“My, my. You haven’t heard the rumors?”

He looked genuinely surprised.

“I’m a notorious scoundrel. Of course I gamble.”

“I did get chased due to a misunderstanding, though.”

“With your skills, couldn’t you subdue them?”

“How could I harm my own citizens? Running is the only option.”

Viviana was once again at a loss for words.

“Ah, Lady, about what you said earlier.”

Cardian’s ruby-like red eyes gleamed with interest.

He tilted his handsome face slightly and met her gaze.

“How exactly are we well acquainted?”