Chapter 93

“E-Evan!”

 

“I know.”

 

The expressions of the knights escorting the carriage were not good. Evan quietly picked up the sword beside him. I grabbed his sleeve.

 

“E-Evan?”

 

“I’ll defeat them and be right back.”

 

Without hesitation, Evan opened the carriage door. As soon as it opened, a swarm of bandits appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the carriage. The roar from before was the sound of a boulder falling from the sky to block our path. Several people had already been injured by it. Those who couldn’t dodge the falling rocks lay bleeding on the ground. My face went pale at the sight of the blood soaking the earth.

 

I quickly scanned the surroundings. The ambushing bandits had already taken control of the area. There was no place to retreat. In front was a precipice, and below was the vast forest said to be teeming with monsters. I swallowed hard and observed our attackers.

 

‘Wait… bandits? Here?’

 

The Delta territory was suffering from famine due to crop failure. It was possible they had decided to make a living by looting. However, there wasn’t a single wealthy estate in the vicinity—it was strange for bandits to appear in such a place. I hadn’t heard a single word about bandits from the Count. What was even more suspicious was how they managed to launch that massive boulder so accurately to block the carriage’s path.

 

“Sorry, but you’ll have to die.”

 

A man with a grizzly scar covering half his face spoke. They weren’t after money. Their only target was our lives.

 

‘Why am I thinking of Fedeshar’s words right now?’

 

Evan also seemed tense, realizing the boulder falling in front of the carriage wasn’t a coincidence.

 

“Lep, there might be a mage nearby. Stay close to me. Everyone, don’t let your guard down.”

 

Fran stuck close to my side, and the other knights nodded tensely. I watched their fighting stances.

 

‘Their movements and swordsmanship are professional…!’

 

This wasn’t the momentum of commoner bandits. It was more like seasoned…

 

“Evan, above!”

 

Boulders coming from an unknown source continued to hinder Evan.

 

“Ah!”

 

I clapped my palm against my fist. I had completely forgotten about it until now. I fumbled around and pulled something out. To Fran, who asked what was going on, I proudly held it up. Magical sentences were scrawled in a spindly handwriting on what looked like old parchment. It was a scroll. It was time for the hoard of scrolls I had bought to shine.

 

“Evan!”

 

Fighting at the front, Evan heard my voice and turned around. I waved the scroll. Noticing my gesture, Evan gave an order to the other knights.

 

“Everyone, get back!”

 

The group of bandits was caught off guard, and I didn’t miss the chance to tear the scroll. A massive whirlwind rose, wrapping around the fake bandits and flinging them far away.

 

“Yes!”

 

I was elated, thinking I had finally done something helpful. But then, an ominous sound echoed from somewhere. It was a cracking sound—creeeak. The pile of boulders had crashed down on the already dry ground. Having taken multiple heavy impacts, the earth couldn’t hold out any longer. The ground shook as if it were screaming.

 

“Oh… crazy…”

 

In my attempt to stay away from the bandits, I had retreated the furthest. That also meant I was closest to the cliff. Like a cruel joke of fate, a fault line formed right near me and the ground split. By the time I took a step to run, it was already too late.

 

“Aaaahhh!!”

 

I felt my body lift into the air, falling endlessly downward. After seeing Evan sprint toward me and grab me so we fell together, I lost consciousness.

 

 

***

 

 

Tap, tap.

 

“Ugh…”

 

At the sensation of a gentle hand tapping my cheek, I cautiously opened my eyes.

 

“Thank goodness. Are you awake now?”

 

“Gasp…! Evan…? Are you hurt?”

 

“I’m fine.”

 

A small green orb of light was hovering next to Evan. I rubbed my eyes.

 

‘Is that… a spirit?’

 

I immediately looked up. The cliff was so high it was barely visible through the trees. For a normal person, a fall from that height would have shattered their bones. But my ribs were intact, and Evan was fine too.

 

‘Since there’s a spirit… did he use the wind to land us safely?’

 

I looked at his sword. It definitely had a green hue. Still… there shouldn’t have been an occasion for Evan to contract with a spirit.

 

“It’ll be hard to climb back up. We don’t know the situation up there either. They are definitely targeting us. It’s better to sneak out through this forest.”

 

I agreed with that. Evan took my hand and helped me up. I looked into the depths of the forest, which seemed to swallow everything. It felt like standing at the entrance of a haunted house. The forest felt gloomy. The trees looked even more eerie because they were withered and lifeless.

 

“Will it be okay? There are monsters in this forest.”

 

It was my first time entering a monster forest without any safety measures.

 

‘I have a few scrolls left… will it be enough?’

 

Evan stroked my hair playfully, telling me not to worry too much. It was obvious he was forcing a smile to reassure me because my expression had become so serious.

 

‘Wait, if Evan summoned a spirit… does that mean this isn’t his first time in a monster forest?’

 

He was supposed to become a Sword Master and a Spirit Summoner during the graduation exam.

 

‘A person who was hovering between life and death? Forget the graduation exam, Evan couldn’t even attend regular swordsmanship classes properly.’

 

Furthermore, I thought Evan hadn’t even taken the graduation exam. He couldn’t participate in the swordsmanship competition either. Because of that, Piote had won by a landslide.

 

“What a mess this is. Getting ambushed, falling off a cliff… Evan, aren’t you anxious?”

 

I glanced up at him. Evan blinked slowly and then gave a soft smile.

 

“Not at all. I’m with Lep. And I’ll protect you no matter what happens.”

 

I nodded at his attitude, which made it sound like an obvious law of nature. Seeing him lead me with such confidence made my anxiety vanish. And if Evan really had become able to command spirits… wouldn’t he be the strongest?

 

My suspicion slowly turned into certainty. As if he were no stranger to the monster forest, he gave me precautions before we moved.

 

“Evan… you seem familiar with this?”

 

“I have plenty of experience dealing with monsters. The swordsmanship department often had classes where they dropped us in a monster forest and made us find our way back to the academy. The graduation exam was similar.”

 

Thinking back, Evan had been the top student until the very end. There were several points of doubt. Even on the pirate ship, Piote had said that Evan put in a lot of effort to find me. Back then, I thought he used the power of the Duke’s house, but what if it wasn’t that?

 

The mercenaries were supposedly fumbling around looking for lily of the valley where I was kidnapped, but it was unprecedented that Piote and Evan, who would have come from the capital, appeared at the perfect moment without delay.

 

It was as if they knew exactly where I was and ran there at top speed. Since it was a wind spirit, he could have made the ship faster, or used the wind to find me…? Come to think of it, didn’t someone say Evan passed the graduation exam successfully?

 

“Evan, did you take the graduation exam? Is that when you contracted with the spirit?”

 

At that, Evan looked at me intently and gave a bright smile.

 

“Yes.”

 

Seeing Evan’s innocent smile, my mouth fell open as I realized I had been completely fooled. He then said nonchalantly: “Ah, I guess I didn’t tell you.”

 

“You never said a word!”

 

“Well, I thought I always had to keep it a secret… but since there’s no need to hide it anymore, I’ll introduce you.”

 

Evan opened his clenched fist. A small green orb of light popped out. So that green light I saw occasionally was this…

 

“It’s Phil.”

 

When Evan held out his palm and called the spirit’s name, the green orb of light floated above his hand as if it knew they were talking about it.

 

“He helped me find or rescue Lep several times.”

 

“Even when I was captured by pirates?”

 

At that moment, I felt my hair float up. It wasn’t just a feeling; it was real.

 

“Phil, stop it.”

 

Even though Evan scolded him firmly, the orb of light moved around innocently.

 

“His name is Phil?”

 

“Yeah. You know him, right, Lep? He’s the spirit that was sleeping in this sword.”

 

As Evan held out his hand and called the name, the green orb of light circled around him.

 

“He has a name too?”

 

“Giving a name is essential when making a contract. It’s the proof of the contract. He must really like you. You recognized this little guy before, too. That was our first meeting.”

 

Phil started playing light pranks on me again. As if a child were playing, my hair fluttered wildly. A clump of it even twisted in mid-air. It almost felt like I could hear the sound of giggling.

 

“He seems like a prankster.”

 

“He hasn’t been out for hundreds of years, so he’s overflowing with energy…”

 

Apparently, as the contractor, Evan could hear Phil’s stories; he was winking one eye. Was Phil stuck to his side, chattering away? Just as spirits have various personalities, Bastian’s spirit was quite dignified, but Evan’s spirit was like a spoiled child.

 

“Phil will let us know if any people or monsters approach.”

 

“Are you… disappointed that I hid it?”

 

I felt like I could see drooping puppy ears on top of Evan’s head. Phil also seemed to be affected by his mood, as his movements slowed down.

 

“…I’m not disappointed. You were sick back then. I was just worried. As long as you aren’t hurt, it’s fine.”

 

Even so, I couldn’t help a hollow laugh. So what, he didn’t awaken when he was healthy, but when he was sick?

 

“Well… actually, I also became a Sword Master? So there’s no need to worry about me. I’ll defeat all the monsters or enemies that come our way.”

 

I couldn’t help but give him a round of applause. Even Piote wasn’t a Sword Master yet. To begin with, there were only a handful of Sword Masters in the entire Empire.