Time of the Blind Beast - Chapter 122

Ezekiel took off his outer garment and draped it over Lisanne’s shoulders. Torn and stained with blood though it was, it was still better protection from the cold than her thin nightgown. Seeing her bare feet in slippers shiver, he tried to give her his shoes as well, but Lisanne refused. Remembering the difference in the size of his feet and hers, he reluctantly accepted it. In the middle of the trackless mountain, walking in shoes that didn’t fit would only cause her to stumble and twist her ankles.

At least he could take comfort in the fact that it wasn’t the dead of winter.

He loaded powder and bullets into two rifles and slung them over his shoulder, then took Lisanne’s hand. From all the fear and tension, her hand was as cold as ice. He pressed her fingertips firmly, then pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket and slipped them onto her hands. They were the gloves she had knitted herself.

“I’m just lending you these. They’re my favorite gloves.”

Though he spoke lightly, Lisanne’s heart ached. They were nothing more than ordinary wool gloves, yet he had treasured them, never wearing them, but keeping them hidden like a precious treasure in his inner pocket.

There was not a trace of use on them.

Heat radiated from the wound in Levian’s shoulder where the bullet had struck. Grimacing in pain, he leaned on his rifle like a cane and tried to control his men. The sudden ambush had thrown them all into panic, but the most shaken of all was Akenaus. Stroking over and over the eye he had lost, Akenaus looked pitiful, and Levian clicked his tongue.

“Well, perhaps this is our chance. Our greatest enemy has appeared right before us, all alone.”

In the blink of an eye, Ezekiel had killed three men, wounded Levian, and even seized one of their rifles before fleeing with the hostage.

At that moment, Levian was certain.

Ezekiel Valdemaira had come alone.

If Astrie’s King’s Army had surrounded their group of ten, this time they would have been utterly annihilated. Though Ezekiel was known as a commander skilled at using decoys in battle, there was no reason for him to act as bait himself against mere spies who had barely survived the trap. When the difference in firepower was so great, what need was there for tactics?

Instead, Ezekiel had infiltrated alone, killed only the men nearest the woman in haste, and escaped with the hostage. Anyone could see it was a desperate gamble relying only on the darkness and surprise. For a man with the power to command soldiers to take such a reckless risk meant only one thing—he had no reinforcements. Whatever the reason, something had happened.

Levian scanned the faces of his men. Other than himself, wounded by the gunshot, seven soldiers were still unscathed, while on the other side, there was only one man. Worse, he had the burden of a woman dragging him down. And since they had returned fire, unless his body was made of iron, he was surely wounded as well. By all counts, the odds were in their favor.

“Good. Then let’s return home with the corpse of a war hero as our gift.”

When you step off the path in the mountains, the scenery becomes unfamiliar very quickly.

Lisanne walked carefully, lifting her eyes to the sky. She had managed to find the position of the North Star, but that only gave her a rough sense of direction and was of little help in actually finding the way.

In truth, wandering the mountains for five or even ten hours until they found the path would not have been a problem. The real issue was the spies from Davis. If they pursued and this time came prepared to fight, Ezekiel would be far more disadvantaged, forced to fight outnumbered.

Ezekiel gave no sign to her, but the way he kept both rifles loaded, guarded all directions, and walked while suppressing even the smallest sound proved he was prepared for the worst. Rescue hadn’t been the end, but the beginning.

Now they had to be cautious of every footstep, every voice, every breath. So they had set a signal in advance. If he had to stop suddenly, Ezekiel would squeeze her hand hard, then release it.

In silence, Ezekiel led. Lisanne followed just as silently. Her light body left almost no trace in her steps, so Ezekiel gave her no extra warning.

When there was a large tree trunk nearby, they would hide behind it for a moment to secure their view before moving again. In summer, they might have climbed the trees and hidden among the thick leaves, but now the branches were bare, the gaps wide open.

In the mountains, a downward slope was not always a path down, and an upward slope was not always a path up. Keeping to one steady direction was the most important thing.

Checking the North Star’s position now and then, they walked step by step. Suddenly, she felt the pressure of his hand squeeze and release. Lisanne immediately clamped her other hand over her mouth. She was afraid even the sound of her breath might hinder him.

With no good place to hide, Ezekiel and Lisanne crouched behind a tree that was not very large.

Moments later, men holding rifles came down the mountain trail in a line.

Please, not this way.

Lisanne prayed silently.

The safest solution now was for them to pass by without noticing.

But the spies descending diagonally across the slope were clearly aiming straight for the place where she and Ezekiel were hiding.

In the darkness, Lisanne met Ezekiel’s eyes.

His decision was swift. He immediately pressed Lisanne down to the ground, then crawled low across the earth, separating himself from her. Skillfully masking his sound, he created some distance, then deliberately let slip a sign of his presence.

The faint crunch of disturbed sand made the spies snap their heads toward the sound. At the same moment, Ezekiel charged out and fired. His rifle burst with flame again and again.

His aim was precise. The two spies closest to him dropped in succession.

“There!”

Bang, bang, bang! Gunfire rang out in a volley, and Lisanne clapped her hands over her ears. She couldn’t bear to watch the battle.

But if she drew attention to her own position, it would ruin everything Ezekiel had risked by exposing himself. So she pressed her head down and held her breath whenever rough shouts pierced through her muffled hearing.

The commotion gradually faded. Ezekiel must have lured them farther away. Even so, Lisanne couldn’t lift her head. She remained crouched, buried, unmoving.

She prayed, and prayed, and prayed.

Please let him be safe.

Please let this moment pass quickly.

Every minute, every second, dragged on endlessly.

She didn’t know how much time had passed. Only when she felt hot breath on her back did she finally come to herself.

“It’s me, don’t be startled.”

The familiar frame, the familiar warmth.

Her halted breathing poured out all at once.

Never had she felt such relief. Tears almost spilled without warning.

“For now, it’s all right. They think I fled that way.”

After killing two, Ezekiel had drawn the rest away. A cluster of trees had blocked their view, and he had thrown a stone to the other side, tricking their ears. The spies had chased the false noise in a rush.

But it was only a temporary measure. They wouldn’t go far. Realizing soon enough they had been deceived, they would return to this spot and search again.

Discounting Akenaus, who was not even worth counting, Ezekiel had reduced their number to six. But his body was not unscathed.

It was time for a decision.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of. Lisanne, you will get out of this mountain.”

Lisanne’s head jerked up.

Something in his tone made her shiver. The man who had always said “we” now said “you.”

She caught a stronger scent of blood than before.

“Stay hidden here for ten more minutes. If you don’t have a watch, count slowly to six hundred. After that, go down in that direction. Don’t look back, no matter what.”

Why was he speaking as if he would not go with her?

A chilling suspicion rose.

No.

“It was simple to make a plan. All I had to do was be the bait.”

Was he going to use himself as bait to draw the spies away?

Fight them all alone while she fled in the opposite direction without looking back?

Would he really do something so reckless…?

“War is inherently dangerous at every moment.”

That was what Ezekiel had said back then.

“In battle, there are only two kinds of strategies. Good ones and bad ones. A good strategy is the one that succeeds.”

His “good strategy” was the one where she survived.

No, the one where only she survived.