Chapter 238: Realization
The black horse ran through the night. It didn’t dare to make much noise until it had left the area where Armand and Evelia were. Only then did it let its hooves hit the ground with clear sounds.
The horse was tired too, breathing heavily after running so much. But it didn’t stop, because it still had a mission to complete.
As a horse that belonged to the Royal Knights stationed in the capital city, it was one of the best.
It remembered where all the knights’ bases were. It knew the areas where the knights should be. It focused hard on the scenes in front of it, trying to find the nearest knight base. That was its duty, to carry out Armand’s instructions.
“Mmm… ugh…”
As for Rachel, who was tied tightly to the horse’s back, the long and bumpy ride finally started to wake her up. Being tied up like that was really uncomfortable. She was like a child who didn’t want to wake up in the morning, struggling a bit. But when she tried to stretch and couldn’t move her arms, she was forced to open her eyes.
“—?!”
She was shocked by what she saw.
She clearly remembered falling asleep in that small hut with the Grey Dove. But now, when she opened her eyes, there wasn’t even a ceiling above her?
At first, she was still half asleep, confused about what was going on. But when she noticed the stars and the moon slowly moving across the sky, she suddenly became fully awake.
“Wah?! W-what is going on?!”
She looked down and saw that her whole body was tied up tightly. The sound of the horse’s hooves and the bumpy ride told her she was being carried on a horse’s back.
—Could this be another crazy challenge?! Did Evelia lose an argument with the Grey Dove again, and now that lunatic has started another twisted game?!
Rachel instinctively struggled on the horse, but the ropes didn’t loosen at all. Then after a while, she realized if she was lying on a horse running this fast, falling off would mean certain death. Evelia wouldn’t allow something that dangerous to happen, right?
She didn’t know exactly what had happened, but clearly, trying to break free now wasn’t a smart idea.
But… just wait like this? Wait and see where the horse would take her?
Of course. What else could she do?
Rachel wasn’t the type who liked to take crazy risks. She didn’t want to break an arm or a leg just because her new body wasn’t ready yet.
If this was the past, she might’ve taken the chance. But now, she didn’t even have the materials to make a soul-storing alchemy crystal. If she died now, she would really be gone forever. Rachel didn’t want to take that risk. She had survived so much, even dodged death from the second prince. It would be too embarrassing to die just because she fell off a horse.
Rachel didn’t understand the current situation. She didn’t know whose horse this was, or where it was taking her. If tying her to the horse wasn’t part of a test, then maybe someone just had to send her away quickly and had no other choice but to tie her up and let the horse run.
And this horse… seemed like a well-trained one. She thought, surely no crazy person would tie her to a wild horse and leave her fate to chance.
…Right?
Even though the people from the House of Nightingale were a little strange, they couldn’t be that bad, could they?
Most importantly… Evelia was the “Red Crow.” Her name carried weight. The people from the House of Nightingale probably wouldn’t dare disrespect her, right?
Even though it couldn’t be completely ruled out that this situation might just be one of those “bad jokes” from the people of the House of Nightingale, it was clear that, even if it was, Rachel couldn’t really do anything about it.
This wasn’t some puzzle to solve. Rachel didn’t have any tools to escape. Her only choices were either lie on the horse and wait to reach wherever it was going, or try to jump off the horse and die from the fall. One choice was “might die,” the other was “definitely die.” Of course, Rachel would choose the first.
…What a nightmare.
Rachel cursed in her heart.
She had lived for over a hundred years and still had never seen so many weird and crazy things. Lately, it was like she kept bumping into one strange thing after another. Was it her luck that had changed, or had the world just gone mad? Why were people acting more and more unhinged?
Maybe it was because of too much pressure in society? Well, that didn’t really matter to her…
Even though her current experience was definitely strange, when she thought about all the problems in the world and then remembered that she now looked like a “smelly little brat” (just a kid), she felt a little more relaxed. After all, she was just a child now.
As someone who wanted to live a good life, Rachel had learned how to switch between being a “genius alchemist over a hundred years old” and a “three- or four-year-old clueless child.”
So, she simply closed her eyes.
She was only awake for a short while. The drug in her body hadn’t fully worn off yet. Just now, the tension had helped her wake up for a bit, but after thinking things through, the drowsiness came back again.
…Meeting them must be my destined misfortune…
Rachel weakly muttered that in her mind, then fell unconscious again.
Meanwhile, the battle between Armand and Evelia was still going on.
CLANG!!!
Armand reached out and grabbed an arrow flying toward him. Without any hesitation, he immediately stabbed it toward Evelia. Evelia flipped backward to dodge it. She avoided the arrow, but couldn’t dodge the heavy sword swing that followed. The strike slashed across her waist, leaving a trail of blood.
“…!”
Evelia hadn’t worn much protection, since the situation had been urgent, only a chestplate. Against someone like Armand, she didn’t even have proper armored gloves, only a pair of non-slip ones.
During the short exchange, Evelia noticed that Rachel was no longer in his arms. She wanted to run after her, but Armand blocked her completely.
Although it looked like Armand had the upper hand, the truth was that he wasn’t in great shape either.
He had taken some medicine to temporarily suppress the effects of the poison in his body, but his condition was already very bad. And that so-called medicine was actually a strong poison itself. After all, there’s no such thing as a drug that boosts your body with no side effects. Because of Armand’s naturally high resistance to poison, the royal alchemists had made the medicine with the poison still inside, trading safety for stronger effects.
But even with his strong resistance, the poison inside the drug was now slowly eating away at him. If he were in a healthy state, maybe he could hold on longer. But right now, he was like a boss in a video game whose second phase didn’t come with a full health bar. He might be more aggressive, but his HP was still going down.
At this point, in the dark of night, Armand felt like his vision was starting to fade.
Most of his movements were now based on hearing. Only when the moonlight shone brightly could he see clearly. Even the last strike he landed, he wasn’t sure where exactly on Evelia’s body it had hit.
Of course, this weakness would only be temporary. Even if the poison was strong, as long as he survived and had time to rest, he would recover.
But right now... things were getting a bit too urgent.
At first, Armand had taken that medicine with the determination to kill the Red Crow. But now, it seemed like that might’ve been a bit too much to hope for.
After all, the Red Crow was a top-level assassin. Defeating her completely wasn’t easy. Even at his full strength, it would’ve been a tough battle. Let alone now, when he was half-dead.
So, he would hold on just a little longer. He just needed to stay until Rachel was safely picked up by the knights. Then he could leave.
CLANG!!
Another arrow flew in. Armand swung his heavy sword and blocked it. The moment he turned back around, Evelia rushed at him again. It was like she was trying to get revenge for the slash from earlier. This time, she crouched low and aimed a stab right at Armand’s stomach.
Armand reacted in time, grabbing her wrist and taking the dagger from her. He then kicked her hard in the knee, as if he was trying to break her leg.
Of course, Evelia didn’t give him that chance. She quickly shifted her balance and moved differently. She flipped over and twisted Armand’s arm, then used that momentum to throw him over her shoulder.
“—?!”
Before Armand could stand up from the ground, Evelia followed him, jumped on top of him, straddled his stomach, and aimed the dagger straight at the middle of his forehead.
Armand grabbed the blade tightly with both hands, locking her in a standoff. Realizing that just struggling over strength wasn’t getting anywhere, he suddenly twisted Evelia’s hands to the side, making the dagger stab into the ground next to his face. Then, he grabbed Evelia’s throat with both hands, trying to strangle her to death.
As Armand held her down with all his strength, he was also deep in thought.
When the “Red Crow” had just jumped on top of him, he had felt something strange, something didn’t feel right.
Suddenly, Armand realized something.
Because his vision wasn’t very clear, his sense of touch and awareness had become more sensitive than usual. Also, his stomach wasn’t covered in armor, just normal clothing. When the Red Crow had climbed on top of him, he had clearly felt—
—She’s a woman?!
That couldn’t be right… All the information they had before pointed to the Red Crow being male. Even during their previous fights, he could definitely feel that the Red Crow was a man.
So now… what was going on?
In that moment, Armand’s thoughts shifted from “I need to kill her” to “I need to find out who she really is.”
He tightened one hand around her throat, while using the other hand to try and pull off the Red Crow’s hood.
…Who was she?
Had the Red Crow been replaced?
Or had “he” really… changed?
He had only half-joked about that before, but now… was it really true?
Who was this person—?
CLANG!!
“—!!”
Another sneak attack! A hidden arrow came flying in. Armand had to defend himself, which made him loosen his grip. Evelia quickly stood up, coughing hard twice, and then gasped for air.
If it hadn’t been for Armand’s moment of hesitation, and that surprise arrow from Grey Dove, she might’ve really been choked to death.
This time, Armand didn’t rush in to attack again.
Armand was feeling strangely unsettled, though he couldn’t even tell what exactly was bothering him. His thoughts were a mess, and his brain couldn’t keep up. He just had this strong feeling that… something wasn’t right.
He felt like he was starting to suspect something, but his confused mind couldn’t properly think it through.
He couldn’t figure it out. Nothing made sense. Armand just stood there in a daze, suddenly unsure of what he was supposed to do.
Had the Red Crow been replaced? If so, should he still kill her?
No, maybe she hadn’t been replaced. Maybe her gender had changed?
Changed gender? Huh? Seriously…? Was that even possible?
Where was Rachel now? Was she safe?
But the Red Crow—wait, who even was who anymore? The person he was fighting right now… who was she, really?
What should I do now? Leave? Or keep going?
I came here because I was supposed to…
…Supposed to…
…Supposed to—?
For a moment, it felt like his brain just shut down, like it had been running too hard and finally hit its limit. His mind, which had been trying to keep thinking, suddenly blanked out.
Realizing this, Armand became anxious.
But it wasn’t hard to understand. Like the doctor had said earlier, his brain was like a clogged toilet. One wrong move, and the poisons in his system would block the whole thing up.
And clearly, that’s what was happening now. The poison in the medicine was finally kicking in. Between the original poison and the toxic medicine, Armand’s mind was becoming slow and sluggish.
No… I need to get out of here…
Armand knocked on his own useless head, trying to force himself to stay awake.
Go back to the manor—no, wait… return to the Knights first…
I need to sleep…
He wiped away the nosebleed that had started again without him noticing, stood up straight, and pretended like nothing was wrong, tightening his grip on his heavy sword.
When Evelia rushed at him again, Armand used the same trick. He used his footwork and backward movement to slowly push himself toward the edge of the slope. When Grey Dove pulled her bowstring on Evelia’s side, Armand made his move.
He pretended to be overwhelmed, allowing Evelia’s dagger to stab into a non-fatal spot on his stomach. As she lowered her guard, Armand leaned backward and fell. At the exact moment when the heavy arrow hit the ground with a loud crash, he thrust a second sword, hidden in the alchemy mark, into the cliffside. With the sound of two clanging metals echoing together, he lightly landed on a narrow path below, cloaked in black, and disappeared into the night.
Evelia looked at the man who had fallen, then at the steep cliff below. She turned around and gave Grey Dove a hand signal, telling her to quickly go and find Rachel.
Actually, Grey Dove could’ve gone long ago. She had already noticed that Rachel wasn’t in Armand’s arms anymore. Armand had blocked Evelia, but not her. She had a clear path and could’ve chased after Rachel.
But she simply didn’t want to.
Because she suddenly realized, Rachel was one of Evelia’s reasons for coming home. If that child was really kidnapped or killed… then maybe her Red Crow wouldn’t have a reason to leave again.
So only now, after receiving Evelia’s direct order, did Grey Dove finally move.
Evelia didn’t stay behind either. She didn’t even give herself a moment to rest. She also vanished quickly under the moonlight.