Kays Translations

Chapter 87: That Kind of Place

After watching from a short distance as the enemy followed Ricardo out, Gerhard and his team entered the cave.

About fifteen people chased the suspicious person, about half of them. As expected, they didn’t all try to bite the bait.

“oh……”

Gerhard opened his eyes wide after advancing a little further into the cave.

It was surprisingly large. There was an underground lake in front of us. Although it may not be drinkable as it is, the abundance of water is ideal for a hideaway.

“Okay, I like this.”

“It’s a fine, secret base.”

Jocel looked at Gerhard and Lutz, who nodded at each other, with awakened eyes.

“I can’t live in a place that smells musty like this.”

At Jocel’s dismissive tone, Gerhard shook his head, “You don’t understand.”

“It’s a romance, a man’s romance”

“Can you make a living on romance?”

“There’s something romantic about eating in a place like this.”

While talking foolishly, we bypassed the underground lake and peeked into one of the many narrow paths near the wall. Suddenly, a sword was thrust out of the darkness. Gerhard dodged it and kicked the enemy in the stomach.

It appears to have been a soldier’s bed. Soldiers who had been sleeping on rough beds with only grass on the floor got up one after another and pulled out their swords.

There were five enemies. Gerhard drew his beloved sword “Ittetsu” and charged head-on. He said, “I don’t care who or what I kill, that’s something I can think about after I kill them”.

Lutz and Jocel were on the left and right. The position was such that they would not get in Gerhard’s way, yet they would not let the enemy surround them.

Gerhard swung his sword at the nearest soldier. The soldier held his sword horizontally and caught the blow, or so he thought.

The sword, which had been struck by a friend, finished by his comrades, and with his own hand, had been cursed, sliced through the soldier’s well-worn sword. He did not break the sword, he cut it.

The blade split the soldier’s head and he crumpled to the ground.

The soldiers were skilled. They must have passed through the line of death many times. They would not hesitate to kill their enemies, or they might have even accepted their own death.

Sadly, however, their weapons were mass-produced cast-metal castings. If the nation had valued them correctly and given them the armor befitting heroes, Gerhard might have struggled.

It didn’t happen..

While Gerhard killed the soldiers, Jocel cut down two enemies, and Lutz stabbed one in the throat. Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

The man who was kicked off first managed to get up, but before he could, Gerhard stomped on his chest. He had a knack for successfully stomping on the heart, but the man had no blood in his body and no strength.

“Where is the princess?”

Gerhard thrust his sword to the man’s throat and let out a cold voice.

The man opens his mouth wide open, but no words come out. Gerhard reluctantly loosened the strength he had put into his right leg.

“Fuck you.”

Immediately after he spoke, the man’s throat was slit horizontally. A large amount of blood pours out from the wide open second mouth. The man drowned in a pool of his own blood.

‘……, I’ve done a bad thing.’

Gerhard muttered with regret. He should not have told the proud warrior to sell out his friends. He should have killed him without any tricks.

“Hey, what are you doing there!?”

Another new voice. He smells blood and is readying his sword.

Lutz immediately started running. As soon as he pulls out his sword, he slashes up from the bottom. With a “giiin,” sparks flew in the dimness of the cave.

The man who lost his balance had his mouth suppressed from behind. A short, thick blade scratched the man’s neck. The man fell down, even his screams were silenced, and behind him was Jocel, his face expressionless.

“What’s wrong Jocel. I think it was a wonderful collaboration, but is there anything you’re unhappy about?”

Gerhard asked, and Jocel replied with an apologetic look.

“I thought that was a bit, well, knightly….”

It was more of an assassin’s approach, and far from fair. The Knight Killer, a sword specialized for indoor combat, fit comfortably in his hand, and it was a natural move for him to do so in the most efficient way possible.

“Do everything you can, do whatever it takes to survive. That’s the courtesy of the battlefield. I don’t care what anyone says, that was a brilliant blow.”

“In the first place, there are nearly 30 enemies, so you can’t blame two people.”

Jocel did not say anything more after Gerhard and Lutz followed up, but he was left with a nagging feeling in his heart.

Gerhard proceeded to the next room, knowing that he could not keep up with the man’s sentimentality forever.

There was also what looked like a bunkhouse, but there was no sign of anyone. It was probably the room of the people who chased the decoy.

Next is another empty room.

There was a warehouse. Liquor and food were piled up. Not all of them seemed to have been purchased with money.

The next room had a little more torches.

Carefully going inside, I saw a clumsy but sturdy-looking wooden framework. There was a small shadow at the tip of the wooden frame.

Gerhard picked up a torch and lit the interior.

“Princess, we’ve come to help you…”

When I called out low, a small shadow, still seated, looked up. The face illuminated by the torchlight was indeed that of the third princess, Listille-sama, whom I had seen before.

The overall appearance was dingy from life in the prison of the cave, but even so, she had not lost any of her elegance.

“Thank you for coming, Gerhard-sama.”

The girl nodded at Gerhard and smiled at the two behind him.

Lutz admired Listille as a royal, and at the same time felt a little sorry for her. At a time like this, one should either jump up and down with joy or cry out in relief. That’s what I would do.

You cannot cry when you want to cry, you cannot laugh when you want to laugh. I couldn’t imagine how hard it must be to be in a position that requires you to act with class at all times.

“Princess, please step back a little.”

Gerhardt pulled out his beloved sword and slashed down at the wooden-framed prison. Another flash, another flash. Every time his sword emits a dull light,  the grating falls to the ground with a thud.

When the sword was put away, there was a hole big enough for a grown man to pass through easily.

” ……I wonder if it needed to be that flamboyant.”

“He wanted to look cool.”

Jocel replied to Lutz’s question with the nuance that he was someone who had that kind of childish side.

I thought that was really all there was to it, and something came to my mind.

Gerhard must have done such a fancy imitation to show the princess that she was already saved and that she was okay and to reassure her.

I don’t know what the truth is. I felt it would be wild to ask him.

“Because that’s who he is, I guess.”

Lutz smiled thinly and muttered.

As Listil was about to leave the prison, Gerhard jerked away.

“…Princess, please stay in the prison for a little longer.”

“Eh?”

The sound of multiple footsteps approaching from behind. It was a very leisurely pace, which did not suit the bloody battlefield.

Of course, this is their home.

A tall man with sharp eyes led the way, followed by eight men. The way out was completely blocked.

“It’s a hostage we captured, so don’t worry about it being taken away.”

A tall man who seemed to be the leader of the group said in a voice that seemed to echo from the depths of the earth. His sunken eyes and skinny cheeks, as if he had been gouged out, were the very image of the Grim Reaper in the story.

Surrounded by the enemy’s hideout, the three Count vassals were still not intimidated.

Lutz chuckled, “This is where a man’s charm comes into play.

“I’m sorry, but I have a previous appointment to play with the princess.”

I want cute girls to smile honestly. That’s enough reason for a man to risk his life.

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