Swallan instantly hopped to the top of the carriage and searched the surroundings. Red dust was rising from the edge of the western horizon, but Juan didn’t even bother turning his head; his senses became extremely sharp and sensitive whenever he concentrated on refining his mana.

Juan quickly sensed the familiar spirit of about thirty heavily armed people riding their horses to approach the carriage.

“It’s the Templars,” Juan said.

Swallan looked at Juan with a surprised look, since she could see only their silhouettes from such a distance.

Juan wondered how Swallan would respond to the arrival of the Templars. Swallan handing Juan over to the Templars to receive the reward of ten thousand gold pieces was a reasonable possibility. Juan contemplated what he should do in such a situation, but soon shook his head because it didn’t matter what she decided to do with him.

Juan had already decided that he would not go out of his way to hide his identity nor his traces ever since he annihilated the Order of the Blue Rose—and the same was true of his journey to Durgal.

At that moment, Swallan put a large hood over Juan’s head.

“Hide that head of yours well… After all, it is worth ten thousand gold pieces,” Swallan said.

As the sounds of the horse hooves got closer, the mercenaries began to turn their heads one by one. The Templars didn’t pass by the carriage and stopped their horses nearby.

“O’ Mighty Templars, is everything okay?” the horseman of the carriage said, playing innocent.

However, the smile on his face disappeared as soon as the Templars drew their swords. One of the Templars who appeared to be the leader of the group came up to the horseman.

The Templar in question was carrying a flagpole on his back that had black snakes drawn on a green background.

“Who’s in the carriage?” the Templar demanded.

“T-they are the mercenaries, sir. They are the mercenaries heading to Tiery through the Manas Mountains to join Duke Henna’s forces.”

The Templars exchanged glances with each other. When the Templar wearing the snake-headed helmet signaled, all of the Templars surrounded the carriage at once.

The mercenaries who were nervous due to suddenly being surrounded also grabbed their weapons.

Just one of these Templars could easily kill at least about six mercenaries, but there were thirty Templars in front of their eyes. A cold sweat ran down from the mercenaries’ foreheads.

“I feel bad to be a nuisance to the Duke, but I must inspect the inside of the carriage. Open the carriage door,” the Templar wearing the snake-headed helmet said, then shouted with a loud voice in front of the carriage door. “I’m Captain Velkre of the Order of the Evil Snake! I ask all the mercenaries inside to cooperate with the inspection without resisting! If you obediently cooperate, I promise that you will be allowed to go as soon as possible.”

Templars were people who didn’t hesitate to wipe out entire villages using ‘cleansing’ as an excuse when others didn’t follow their will. Being well aware of the fact that there was no point in resisting, the mercenaries relaxed their hands which had been gripping the weapons.

Meanwhile, Juan grabbed his short sword in his hand and looked for a gap to break through the Templars. He thought that he might be able to run out of the carriage and knock down at least three Templars without having anyone notice.

At that moment, Swallan put her hand over Juan’s short sword. She still had a smile on her face and shook her head at Juan.

The carriage door opened, and the mercenaries began to walk out one by one. When Juan and Swallan walked out of the carriage at the end, the Templar who introduced himself as Velkre turned his gaze toward Juan.

Juan didn’t move an inch as he looked back at Velkre’s eyes.

When Velkre reached out his hand to lift up the hood that had been covering Juan’s head, a head of hair as black as the night was revealed. The Templars drew their swords and approached Juan upon seeing his black hair, but Velkre raised his hand to stop them. Velkre didn’t say much and put the hood back on Juan’s head again.

“These are tough times for people from beyond the border. However, I ask for your understanding as we are all on edge because one of you from beyond the border is making a fuss in the south. Have you seen a kid around thirteen years old? He has black hair just like yours.”

“I haven’t seen him.”

This wasn’t a lie. He considered being honest and telling him the truth, but decided to continue the act since he found this situation to be quite amusing.

“If you do see someone like him, please report him to the nearest base of the Imperial Army or the Church. I’m sure it would be better for all of you if we could end this situation as soon as possible.”

The Templars showed signs of dissatisfaction upon seeing Velkre let Juan go. However, they all bowed their heads when Velkre glared at them—the position of captain held absolute authority within knight orders.

“I would also like to make an announcement to the other mercenaries. Traces of the Thornbush Priest Organization and a heretic have been detected around here. Six heretics were found, burnt to death, and this is similar to the traces left behind by the devil of Tantil. If you see anyone suspicious, make sure to report them without hesitation to show your faith in His Majesty!”

None of the mercenaries showed much enthusiasm, but Velkre finished speaking regardless of their reaction and turned back. Then, he whispered something at Juan as he had inadvertently remembered something.

“People that came from beyond the border don't know of His Majesty’s teachings. You should watch your every action from now on as I have remembered your face.”

Velkre finished his warning and signaled the Templars.

“Let’s go,” Velkre said.

After Velkre and the Templars disappeared to the south, a sigh of relief broke out of the mercenaries. The mercenaries crawled back into the carriage while they cursed the Templars and the Church.

***

Velkre stared ahead silently as he whipped his horse. Knowing that he was in a bad mood, the other Templars didn’t bother talking to him.

Velkre didn’t like this red wasteland at all. The wilderness which extended all the way to the horizon made him recall his old memories—the eastern territory of the empire was the land Velkre was born and raised in.

To Velkre who was born after the Eternal Rule began, the eastern territory was a cruel and terrible place. Before he could even recognize the beauty of his homeland, he lost his family to the burning ruins. Wandering around the eastern territory that turned into a devastating red wasteland, Velkre had survived by following the army and eating garbage off of the streets.

“Brother Velkre.”

While Velkre was lost in his thoughts, someone approached him. The man who walked up to Velkre had snake-like pupils, which eerily reflected the light under the visor—it was Marco, the deputy of the Order of the Evil Snake.

“Don’t you think that we should have captured that black-haired guy in the carriage? He was obviously extraordinary,” Marco said.

“Let him be. His Holiness has commanded us to look for a black-haired kid around thirteen years of age. If he really is extraordinary, there will be no need for us to go out of our way to make an unnecessary fuss.”

“But he’s still a heretic who hasn’t been blessed by His Majesty.”

“Brother Marco.”

Velkre glared at the deputy of the Order of the Evil Snake with irritated eyes.

“Keep in mind that the Order of the White Crow ended up where they are right now due to ignoring His Holiness’ orders and wasting their energy doing unnecessary things. We are basically cleaning up after their mess. Do you still think that we should be wasting our time on such unnecessary things?”

“...My apologies. I was imprudent.”

Marco was quick to admit his carelessness, and recalled the command given to them by Pope Helmut—to not be distracted by useless matters and only focus on chasing the black-haired boy.

The twelfth knight order, the ‘Order of the Evil Snake’ was specialized in such pursuit and assassination-related tasks, and their main task was to travel all over the empire to carry out the secret commands given to them by the Pope. They were usually divided into small groups to perform various missions in different places within the empire, and it was rather rare for all of their Templars to be gathered like this—most of the missions were easily carried out by using the ‘snake’ that the Order of the Evil Snake was granted anyway.

They specialized in the completion of special missions, but they were still Templars. Although they weren’t obligated to do anything about it, their hostility toward those from beyond the border and those who were accused of heresy was only natural. After all, the Church instigated hatred against heresy.

However, Velkre was different. He was not moved by faith, but rather a longing for survival and success.

‘The black-haired boy, huh.’

Usually, Velkre’s targets for the missions varied anywhere from a newborn from a powerful noble family to old men who seemed to have only a few more days left to live. But this time, his target was unique. Velkre found it difficult to figure out the truth within the rumors that had been spread throughout the empire.

“The black emperor, the devil of Tantil, the butcher of the Blue Rose, and even…”

‘The rumor about His Majesty's return.’

This was a rumor that made him feel extremely complicated and unpleasant. To be honest, Velkre didn’t have much faith in His Majesty. He considered himself to be the Pope’s private soldier more than a believer of His Majesty; he was willing to do anything and everything to escape from the hell that was the eastern territory of the empire.

Fortunately, the Priests of the Church accepted Velkre’s desire as a form of faith in His Majesty. Nevertheless, the rumor saying that His Majesty had returned somehow made him feel uncomfortable.

‘His Majesty returned to save the city of Hiveden during its time of disaster, they say… of course he did. Perhaps the eastern territory appeared to be a happy place that doesn’t need saving in His Majesty’s eyes, huh.’

Although it was true that a lot of people died in Hiveden, the number of the victims was incomparable to the number of people who died because of the civil war in the eastern territory that had been going on for more than forty years.

As someone who grew up in the eastern territory, Velkre found the rumor of His Majesty’s return to be ridiculous.

‘Well, a rumor is just a rumor.’

Velkre recalled how the rumor about the black-haired boy had been changing constantly, and how people were now saying that the boy had turned into a warrior of a giant flame.

At that moment, Velkre stopped his horse in a hurry.

‘Wait. Has his appearance changed?’

The Templars who had been riding their horses at full speed for a long time also came to a hasty stop upon seeing Velkre stop. A thick cloud of sand rose, and Velkre’s expression turned pale as he took off his visor.

“Everyone, we are going back.”

Velkre didn’t repeat his command, and immediately turned his horse’s head to run back the way he came from.

The Templars didn’t question him, and instantly followed him back.

As Velkre chased the silhouette of the carriage that had already disappeared beyond the horizon, Velkre cursed at himself.

The red dust of the wasteland rose in front of Velkre.

***

Juan, who had been paying attention to the Templars as they moved far away from the carriage, sighed upon realizing that they were returning. The Templars were furiously riding their horses with murderous intent and frustration to catch up to the carriage once again.

Swallan opened the window and looked to the east, and frowned when she saw the dust cloud rising from over the horizon.

“You have good senses,” Swallan said.

“What are you going to do?” Juan asked as he got ready to pull out his short sword.

This time, Swallan didn’t stop him from drawing his short sword.

“What do you mean what am I going to do?” Swallan answered Juan, then suddenly opened the door of the carriage and shouted.

“Everyone get off the carriage!”

“Huh? Wh-what’s going on?”

The mercenaries asked back in panic, but Swallan moved fast to grab the nearest mercenary by the collar and threw him out of the carriage instead of answering. The mercenary screamed and rolled on the ground of the wasteland.

“M-Ms. Swallan, what are you doing?!”

Despite the mercenaries’ complaints, Swallan grabbed another mercenary who stood next to her and threw him outside as well. The mercenary tried to resist, but he ended up rolling on the ground unconscious as he was hit on the head. When Swallan took a glance at the remaining mercenaries, they decided to jump right out of the carriage without a word as well. No one seemed to be seriously injured as the carriage had been running at a slow pace.

“Why don’t you get off as well, Mr. horseman?”

“You are going to have to give me an explanation later, Ms. Swallan!”

The horseman complained, but handed the reins over to Swallan without resisting.

The carriage which was now being led by a different horseman began to move much faster than before. However, it was not fast enough to shake off the Templars who were chasing them furiously.

Meanwhile, Velkre took a glance at the mercenaries that had been kicked out of the carriage. However, he decided to ignore them and quickly passed by; he figured that there was no reason to waste his time on such an unnecessary matter.

But Deputy Marco’s judgment was different—when he slightly raised his finger and sent a signal, five of the Templars who had been riding their horses at the very back left the line.

Soon, the Templars’ spears pierced through the chests of the mercenaries who had just begun to crawl and stand up on their feet.

Swallan had a distorted look on her face when she heard the screams of the mercenaries, but she only bit her lips and didn’t look back.