area51novel Chapter 161 - The Return of the Group
Chapter 161 - The Return of the Group
Another week had passed, and just as the sun was about to fall—
TAP.
Pwyll, Bernia, Tatum, and Nara—along with the slaves that decided to stick with them—reached the entrance of the [Cursed Forest].
The three carriages stopped in a neat line behind them, the wooden frames groaning under the immense weight of the resources, tools, and the breeding pairs of livestock they had brought all the way from the City of Sven.
"Can you tell us now where we are headed...?"
The only human that sticked with them asked, he was confused.
His eyes darted from the dark tree line back to the faces of their guides. His voice carried a deep, gravelly tone, filled with a mixture of exhaustion and a rapidly rising anxiety that he could no longer suppress.
Pwyll and the others didn’t say anything to them throughout the journey on the way here.
Whenever any of the captives had tried to ask about their final destination or the identity of the person who had financed their mass rescue, they were met with absolute silence or a simple shake of the head.
They kept telling them that their Lord will explain everything once they arrive.
It was a frustrating answer that only fueled their anxiety, but the absolute discipline of Bernia and the others never wavered for a single moment during the entire week of travel.
The group received an instruction from Verc to not reveal their affiliation to the slaves, and that he will handle the explaining to them. That’s why they kept quiet.
Their Lord had been very specific about this. The shock of being freed, combined with the realization that they were being brought to a village ruled by a demonic entity, required a delicate touch that only the ruler himself could provide.
"We’re near the destination, don’t worry."
Bernia told Rick.
She turned around in her seat on the lead wagon, offering him a calm, steady look that was meant to reassure him, though she kept her expression perfectly neutral.
Rick was the only human slave that came with them, he was a pretty well known mercenary before in multiple cities—but he was framed by his last client during a commission as a noble killer.
He had possessed a respectable reputation among the mercenary guilds, known for his high success rate and his ability to handle difficult combat situations without leaving a trace.
His client that time was a noble as well.
The aristocrat had used Rick’s team to eliminate a political rival, only to turn around and place the entire blame on the mercenary crew to clean his own hands of the crime and avoid any suspicion from the royal court.
His members were in cahoots as well with betraying him.
They had been bought off with gold and promises of immunity, leaving Rick to face the full wrath of the city’s guards entirely on his own.
Because of that incident, he became a criminal and a slave.
His weapons were confiscated, his reputation was completely destroyed, and he was thrown into the deepest pits of the slave market, stripped of his rights and treated like a common animal.
He was in the last section of the slave shop before, Ripah was barely feeding him, just barely keeping him alive.
His physical strength had deteriorated significantly during his time in the dark cells, his ribs showing through his ragged shirt, but the sharp, analytical gaze of an experienced fighter still remained hidden deep within his eyes.
He had nowhere else to go, so when Bernia and the others freed him along with the other slaves—Rick still sticked with them in the end.
He didn’t have a home to return to, and any town within the kingdom would likely recognize his face from the old criminal posters, making this mysterious merchant family his absolute last chance at survival.
"We’re near? We’re in front of the [Cursed Forest]... don’t tell me that we’re going to enter this place?"
Rick asked with a slight frown on his face.
He fixed his posture, his hand moving instinctively to his waist where his sword used to hang, his body tensing as he looked at the forbidden territory ahead. To any human living in Arcanis, the Cursed Forest was synonymous with absolute death, a place where strong monsters roamed freely and from which no regular traveler ever returned.
And hearing this, the ten non-humans slaves that also came with them became suspicious with Bernia and the others.
They shifted uncomfortably, their sharp ears pinning back against their heads as they exchanged worried glances, their old fears of human deception rushing back to the surface.
"Is this why you bought us from that fat bastard?"
Rick then asked, his voice hardening as he stepped down from the carriage onto the muddy soil.
"To use us as meat shields? Did you bring us all this way just to throw us into the jaws of the monsters so you can harvest your precious spices and lumber in peace?"
His past experience that led with him being a slave made him distrust the group.
He had been betrayed by the people he trusted most, so the idea of a group of wealthy merchants acting out of pure kindness was something his cynical mind simply could not accept. He assumed there was a catch, a dark secret behind their apparent generosity.
But Tatum, he rebutted his words—
"If we wanted expendable shields to throw at beasts, we would have kept the collars on your necks. Along with the others we set free back in the city."
Tatum stated, his deep voice cutting through the evening air like a heavy blade.
He didn’t turn around to look at Rick, his hands remaining steady on the reins of his horse, but the sheer coldness of his tone was enough to make the former mercenary freeze.
"And also, we told you all that any of you could leave any time during the journey. Even now, you could leave."
Tatum followed up, his tone entirely indifferent.
"We gave you gold. We took off your chains. If you believe this is a trap, the road behind you is completely open. No one is stopping you from walking away right now."
He added.
"..."
Rick became silent after hearing that.
He looked back down the long, empty dirt path they had traveled for the past week. It was true. At any point during the journey, they could have slipped away into the night, yet the group had never placed a single guard over them.
"I know I am asking for a lot as a slave..."
Rick muttered, rubbing his scarred wrists where the iron cuffs used to rub his skin raw.
"But can’t you at least tell us why you can’t answer our questions?"
Then he askde that again after calming down. His tone losing its aggressive edge, replaced by a genuine, weary frustration.
"It’s normal for us to feel anxious because we’re being kept in the dark about the destionation and everything else."
He followed.
Though--
"..."
It was Tatum and the others who became silent this time.
They kept their gazes fixed entirely on the dark tree line ahead, their expressions hidden beneath their deep hoods, refusing to utter a single syllable that would violate the direct orders of their Lord.
Rick felt disappointed seeing that they have no intention of telling them anything.
"Haaaa..."
He let out a long, soft sigh, running a hand through his hair as the silence dragged on, the complete lack of answers wearing down his remaining patience.
The idea of just leaving entered his mind for a split second.
He seriously considered turning around and taking his chances in the wilderness outside the forest, preferring it over the terrifying unknown of the dark woods in front of them.
But then—
"?!!"
Tatum and Jed suddenly turned their heads toward the forest.
Their movements were incredibly sharp, their bodies freezing instantly as their senses locked onto something hidden deep within the dense brush of the tree line.
"Huh?"
"W-What?"
Their sudden movement surprised everyone.
’What’s there?’
Rick instinctively dropped into a low, defensive stance, his eyes widening as he tried to peer into the shadows.
SWOOSH~
Tatum and Jed then got down of their horses and they bowed their heads.
Their eyes fixed on the ground before them, their postures displaying an absolute, unshakeable reverence that Rick had never seen given to any noble he had worked before.
"Ah...!"
Pwyll, Bernia, and Nara got an idea what was happening seeing the two do that, so they copied Tatum and Jed.
Pwyll slipped out of his saddle with practiced ease, bowing beside his horse, while Bernia gently held Nara close to her as they both lowered their heads toward the dark entrance of the woods.
"W-What’s going on?"
"???"
But Rick and the others were in total confusion, they were about to ask what’s happening—
TAP.
When they suddenly heard a footstep coming inside the dark forest, where Tatum and the others are facing.
The sound was light, perfectly controlled, the snap of a single dry twig echoing clearly in the dead silence of the evening.
And after that—FWOOOOOSH~!
An overwhelming presence that made their whole body flinch spread everywhere!
"GUH?!!!"
"...!!!"
The raw, crushing weight of an immense mana output suddenly flooded out from the trees, a heavy, suffocating pressure that felt like the air itself had turned to solid iron. It was an aura so dense, so terrifyingly vast, that it physical forced the breath out of Rick’s lungs!
Rick and the others unconsciously looked toward the direction where they felt it.
Their eyes wide with a primal, instinctual terror that locked their joints and turned their muscles to ice.
And their instinct told them that they are in front of a predator!
It was not the feeling of facing a strong warrior or a powerful mage; it was the terrifying realization of an ant standing beneath the foot of a giant, a complete and total manifestation of absolute power that demanded submission from every living creature in its presence.
They looked at Tatum and the others, and on their own—FWIP!
Rick and the other slaves bowed their heads. No, they got on the ground and place their head on the ground even!
Rick’s pride as a seasoned mercenary was entirely shattered in a single second; his body moved completely on its own, his hands slapping against the earth as he forced his head down.
And at that moment—
The heavy, suffocating pressure suddenly pulled back, shrinking down until the air became light enough to breathe once more, though the residual chill remained hanging over the clearing.
"What are you all doing?"
A calm, but chilling voice echoed the silent entrance of the forest.
The tone was smooth, perfectly conversational, yet it carried an underlying resonance.
It was Verc.
"...?"
He stood at the very edge of the tree line, his eyes looking down at the massive line of carriages and the crowd of people currently face-down in the dirt before him, his demeanor completely relaxed as if he had simply gone for a casual evening stroll.