Chapter 65 - 64: Escape

Chapter 65: Chapter 64: Escape

Lilia didn’t reply.

The girl hugged her legs with her free hand, resting her chin on her knees. Her pitch-black eyes were wet, watching him in silence. The man suddenly felt he shouldn’t take it so seriously. The girl before him had obviously grown up in the Ivory Tower—how could she possibly understand the mindset of a bottom-feeder like him?

After a moment of silence, Lilia asked softly, "If we survive this, have you ever thought about not being a mercenary anymore?"

The man instinctively retorted, "If I’m not a mercenary, what else can I be?"

"A guard, a gardener, anything," Lilia said. "People who know Magic can make a living anywhere."

Listening to the girl’s soft, gentle, yet incredibly firm voice, the man’s heart skipped a beat before hammering even faster. It felt as if, just by nodding, a bright and prosperous path would truly open up before him.

This time, he remained silent for a long time before forcing a smirk. "Save your breath and cut the nonsense. We don’t have much food here. If you don’t want to run away on an empty stomach, you need to learn how to conserve your energy."

As his voice faded, the girl pushed a cloth bundle in front of him.

The man glanced down, and his gaze suddenly froze. Inside lay a piece of flatbread and a strip of dried meat—clearly the same food he had tossed to her at noon.

"For you," the girl said softly.

The man fell silent for a couple of seconds. "...You didn’t eat lunch?"

"It was too hard," the girl said, frowning. "I couldn’t bite into it."

The man was speechless.

This matter-of-fact squeamishness was both hilarious and absurd.

"You really are... You’re about to die, and you still care about this?"

"I believe in you." Lilia looked into his eyes. "You won’t let me die, right?"

The man parted his lips but fell silent once more. At this moment, he really wanted to curse her out for being an idiot. He took back his previous assessment of her. This girl had absolutely nothing to do with being smart. What kind of intelligent Noble lady would pin her hopes of survival on a kidnapper?

However, looking into those pitch-black eyes and the lunch pushed to his hand, the mockery that had reached the tip of his tongue simply couldn’t be spoken.

After a long while, he broke the silence.

"...Frei."

"Huh?"

"Frey Cross," the man said softly. "My name."

The night grew deeper.

Having rested for quite a while in the afternoon, the man was in fairly good spirits now. Even though he was running a fever, he kept a vigilant watch over their surroundings without any slack. With him around, Lilia finally felt a bit more secure, even letting out a relaxed yawn, until shouts broke the silence.

"Up ahead! Mr. Williams ordered a thorough search!"

"Don’t miss a single corner!"

"We must find Miss Sifris!"

Muffled voices mixed with chaotic footsteps drifted into the cave. The man’s body instantly tensed, his focus dialed up to the absolute maximum. The footsteps approached, lingered nearby for a moment, and then gradually faded into the distance.

They hadn’t found this place. But that didn’t mean he was safe. Generally speaking, this wouldn’t be the only search party. The fact that they were ordered not to miss a single corner meant the following squads would search even more meticulously. Such an obvious cave entrance wouldn’t be overlooked. They had to move.

Taking advantage of the fact that the men had temporarily wandered off, the man pulled Lilia up and whispered, "Follow me."

"You heard them," Lilia said, not resisting as she obediently followed his lead. "Those are Lucian’s men outside.

"If you hand me over to them, I can guarantee he won’t kill you."

The man’s footsteps paused.

"Stop spouting nonsense." He continued forward, pushing aside the vegetation blocking the cave entrance and carefully observing the situation outside. "Do you think anyone flying the Williams banner is actually loyal to Williams? They say they want to protect you, but they might just kill you the moment they see you. ℯℯ𝑙.

"Keep your mouth shut and stop daydreaming about unrealistic things."

The two safely slipped out of the cave. Unbeknownst to them, a heavy downpour had begun outside. The dark night, mixed with the dense curtain of rain, further reduced visibility. The man pulled Lilia along, heading in the opposite direction of the search party.

Wild beasts ran rampant in the dense forest. Not to mention, the search party had made no effort to conceal their tracks; such a massive commotion had long since awakened all the predators in the woods. However, because of their large numbers and the presence of powerful Mages in their ranks, the beasts didn’t dare approach, opting instead to trail far behind the squad. This was obviously extremely dangerous for two people on the run.

They hadn’t gone far when a pair of eerie green eyes suddenly lit up ahead. Lilia didn’t know what kind of beast it was, but judging from its size—standing half as tall as a person—it was definitely not something to be trifled with.

The man first tightened his grip on her hand, then let go, whispering an instruction. "Find a place to hide."

Lilia nodded and cautiously backed away. She had barely retreated a dozen meters when the fierce beast suddenly made its move, lunging straight at the man!

In the dark night, Lilia couldn’t see the situation clearly, but she could guess that the battle must be incredibly fierce. The wolf-like beast likely possessed some supernatural bloodline, as its combat prowess was astonishingly strong. The man was already injured and running a high fever; neither his strength nor his reaction speed was at its peak.

The two sides tangled in combat. The man found an opening and plunged his dagger into its neck, but the price was his shoulder being sliced into a bloody mess by its razor-sharp claws. Even with its carotid artery severed, the beast didn’t die immediately. Instead, its ferocity was completely roused. In a final, desperate burst of energy, it snapped its jaws at the man’s throat.

The man reacted with lightning speed. He immediately abandoned the thought of yanking his dagger from the beast’s hide to block, swiftly channeling the Magic Power within his body instead. A brilliant flame instantly ignited! The beast let out an agonized howl as its massive body rolled onto the ground, soon losing all signs of life.

The man panted for a moment before staggering around, limping his way back to Lilia’s side. Terrified of being spotted and becoming the beast’s target, the girl was hiding behind a tree, squatting in the bushes like a small kitten.

Seeing him approach, the girl looked up at him.

"Get up."

Before she could respond, the man grabbed her wrist.

"That made a lot of noise. The search party will likely be drawn here... We need to leave immediately." His voice was hoarse to the extreme, forcefully suppressing the tremors brought on by the pain.

With a pull, he hoisted the girl off the ground. Perhaps she had been crouching for too long, or perhaps the battle just now had been too perilous, leaving her overly tense. The girl lost her footing and stumbled right into his chest, following the momentum of his pull.

The man froze for a moment. In the next second, his pupils contracted! His entire body instantly tightened, and his large hands, coated in the beast’s blood, gripped the girl’s shoulders in a deathly vice.

This time, Lilia didn’t speak, nor did she cry out in pain. She took a half-step back, pulling away from his embrace. Under the dim light, one could vaguely see a dagger lodged in the man’s chest. It was the same dagger Lilia had driven in with her own hands when she crashed into him just moments ago.

"Next time you pull a kidnapping..." the girl whispered by his ear. Her voice was soft and gentle, yet as freezing as the plummeting rainstorm. "...don’t forget to do a proper pat-down."

As her words fell, she gripped the hilt of the dagger and shoved with all her might, burying the remaining half straight into the man’s heart.