Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 126 (Part 2):
Along the way, James loudly called out for his friends. Already down three team members due to an accident, who knew what else could happen.
“Andro, Dino!”
“Will these guys hurry up and show themselves?”
After Asuka vented his frustration by swinging his fists in the air, they finally encountered two figures looking back at them, coming their way.
“What’s going on?”
“We were about to head back.”
They weren’t far from the campsite. Apparently, their pace was slowed because they were cautious of traps.
“Did anything happen?”
“Well…”
“We picked some mushrooms. Thought they might be edible.”
Andro showed the mushrooms wrapped in cloth. Helmut nodded. They were edible. Asuka grumbled again.
“Ah, what? These guys are not kids; what could have possibly happened?”
“What’s going on?”
James also expressed his confusion.
“Let’s go back and I’ll explain.”
Helmut briefly replied and turned around. The campsite was a better place to prepare for an attack than the leaf-dense forest.
It might have been an overreaction. But meeting Fasho was real, and his threat to target his friends was genuine.
He wasn’t an easy opponent to take down in a flash, especially with all their gear. Tension rose.
Returning to the campsite, they noticed something was amiss.
“What, what? There’s not a single horse left!”
“Where did they all go?”
“Is there a thief nearby?”
“That’s unlikely! In this forest?”
“We were only gone for about 20 minutes?”
“Hey, the food! Look there!”
The spot where the horses were tied was now empty. In addition, their unpacked belongings, spilled food, and empty water containers lay scattered. The ground was soaked with spilled water. It was a mess.
“Who would do something like this?”
“Ah, I worked so hard on that yesterday!”
Asuka screamed, clutching his head. Unlike the other shocked team members, Asuka was more concerned about his ruined cooking.
‘This was his target.’
He felt caught off guard. The loss of food and water was one thing, but the stolen horses meant a long trek back to the previous campsite where the instructors were.
“What’s all this about?”
Everyone’s gaze turned to Helmut, suspecting his strange behavior might be related.
It seemed unnecessary to hold back any longer. They needed to be aware to stay alert.
Helmut began to explain. He said Black Hawk was targeting him and that the assassins they sent intended to kill all his friends as well. Their eyes widened in shock.
“What? Black Hawk?”
“Those guys are crazy? Sending an assassin against Greta Academy students?”
“Did Sabbat or Jerome harbor deep resentment? You gave those guys a rough time.”
“They can’t do much on their own. If they hired Black Hawk, it must be their families. But would noble families go to such lengths against academy students?”
“They want to kill us all. Does that make sense?”
“What happened with you that they’d go this far?”
The atmosphere was one of disbelief. More explanation seemed necessary. Helmut continued calmly,
“Before Sabbat, I had a conflict with Black Hawk during my mercenary days. After hiding and entering the academy, it seems my presence was revealed to them through the Asuka incident.”
“Ah, right. The guys who attacked Asuka escaped. I remember.”
“I didn’t expect such a thing to happen.”
Asuka muttered, feeling somewhat responsible. The others asked, puzzled,
“I’ve heard about Black Hawk. Some noble families back them.”
“But going so far as to kill three nobles just to get one guy seems strange.”
“What kind of conflict made them so bitter?”
“Ah, I killed a few of them.”
Helmut replied nonchalantly, but quickly added when he saw their changing expressions,
“They attacked me first. I had no choice.”
Helmut realized his mistake. The academy valued morality. Being a murderer wasn’t something his peers would appreciate.
However, the response was different from what he expected.
“Really?”
“You killed someone from Black Hawk?”
“That’s… impressive.”
Dino was the first to exclaim,
“That’s amazing?”
“You’re an experienced one.”
The four sets of eyes fixed on Helmut were not filled with contempt or fear as he had expected.
Even Asuka seemed impressed, ‘You’ve even committed murder? That’s amazing! You’re an adult.’
Each family or the country they belonged to had different circumstances, but for a swordsman, killing was sometimes unavoidable.
Especially for nobles or knights, there were frequent instances where it wasn’t considered a crime. It wasn’t a senseless murder if the opponent was Black Hawk.
Rather, his peers seemed to admire Helmut for experiencing murder before them.
“…Anyway, that’s why.”
“You’ve deepened the grudge.”
“Not returning with three of our members wasn’t a coincidence?”
“That’s right, neither was that trap.”
James asked,
“But what did we do to deserve this?”
“Wrong place, wrong time.”
Asuka muttered nonchalantly. Unlike the agitated team members, he seemed unaffected. Rather, he appeared intrigued by the situation, smiling slightly.