Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 51 (Part 2):

The journey continued peacefully. Nobles don’t like their subordinates engaging in idle chatter. In an atmosphere where even the knights refrained from personal conversations, the mercenaries, no less reticent than Helmut, spoke even less. The only thing Helmut could hear outside the carriage window was Xenia’s voice, occasionally answered by the mage.

“My cousin Leon is achieving excellent grades at Greta Academy.”

“I’ve heard of him.”

To be exact, he had only heard the name. Whether that Leon was the same Leon Xenia mentioned, Alea showed little interest.

“Of course, Lord Alea knows him. My cousin Leon is two years above you, so I thought you might not know him well.”

It seemed she wanted to start a conversation by bringing up her cousin this time. Xenia chattered away about Greta Academy and Baden, based on what she had heard from Leon. Helmut thought Leon must also be quite the chatterbox but listened attentively.

Since the border might be closed, they had decided to hurry their schedule. Still, as they were escorting a noble lady, they had to take breaks along the way. Eventually, they came across a decent place. It seemed like a spot where travelers could stay, with chairs made from vertically cut trees and stump-shaped tables near a spring. Gilton signaled.

“We should rest here a bit. The lady must be tired.”

“A spring here?”

“How’s the condition?”

“The water is clean.”

After tasting a bit of the spring water, a knight responded. Sourcing water during a journey is always crucial. Gilton nodded.

“Let’s have our meal here.”

The maids busied themselves preparing the meal. Naturally, the meal was for the lady and the knights. Though the mercenaries were given soup, the basics were bread, cheese, and dried meat.

“What kind of meal takes half a day?”

A mercenary muttered under his breath while chewing on bread. Helmut chewed his bread in agreement. More than anything, the discrimination in meals was particularly displeasing. At the Butan Trading Company, both the mercenaries and the company’s people ate similarly. However, these nobles seemed to require a multi-course meal, even if not a full course, which couldn’t be provided to everyone.

‘The taste of the water is a bit strange.’

Tasting the spring water, Helmut tilted his head. Having consumed Mato (a herb) for a long time in the Forest of Roots, he had a high resistance to all kinds of poisons. Darien had said that even a large amount of a very deadly and powerful poison might not be fatal for him.

If this were poison, his body would have shown signs of resistance with a slight fever. But there was no particular reaction. If it were poison, the knight who first drank the water would have collapsed by now.

Helmut scanned the surroundings. No one seemed to show any peculiar signs. However, as they finished their meal and began to clean up, a few began to show symptoms. Even those who didn’t drink the water separately were affected since water was used in cooking, so everyone had consumed the spring water. One by one, they began to rub their eyes or blink sleepily.

“I’m tired. Sleepiness is coming over me.”

“Is it because I’m full?”

“Maybe resting a bit before we leave…”

“We can’t do that. We need to hurry our schedule.”

As people started to collapse one by one, snoring on the spot, those who noticed the anomaly tried to fight off the sleepiness.

“It’s a trap!”

“Was it poisoned?”

“I need to… stay awake!”

Even a knight who tried to prick his hand with his sword to stay awake couldn’t overcome the drug’s effect. With the knight clutching his sword hilt and collapsing last, all movement ceased. The only one awake and alert was Helmut.

‘Was it not poison but some kind of sleeping drug?’

Muttering to himself and scanning his surroundings, Helmut decided to follow the majority. He lay down on the ground and pretended to sleep. If someone had orchestrated this situation, they would reveal themselves. He felt faint presences from afar, easily dozens of them. They must have drugged the spring with a sleeping agent.

Soon after, footsteps approached. Helmut squinted his eyes, observing them. The positions of the other collapsed mercenaries conveniently shielded him, making observation easy.

Each one armed with bows and swords, their attire was far from shabby. To call them common thieves would be an understatement; they were well-armored. Could these be soldiers from Kinan’s borderlands turned bandits? They weren’t part of a strictly disciplined army, as the newly arrived made noisy chatter while rummaging through the trapped Zahringen party.

“See, I told you I’d catch a big one, didn’t I? Look at those horses. Are we getting a new horse this time?”

“They’re nobles. Oh ho! This is going to pay off!”

“Let’s see. They’re not nobles from Kinan, are they?”

“Looks like they’re from the empire. Here’s a crest. Zahringen? Isn’t that a ducal family?”

“Wow, my legs are trembling. The empire’s ducal family, huh?”

“We can get a hefty ransom for this!”

“Hurry, grab them one by one and tie them up. It’ll be troublesome if they wake up.”

“Don’t joke. The stuff we mixed in the spring would knock out a horse the size of a house for a whole day.”

“Right, that’s our treasure. Didn’t expect the nobles to fall for it so easily. Seems like nobles and commoners alike have the same stupid heads?”

Laughter erupted among them. Then, a particularly large man stepped forward, thumping his feet. He was clearly the leader.

“What are you dawdling for? Move it!”

“Yes, yes, boss.”

As if they were accustomed to such tasks, the bandits started by taking the weapons and then tied up the knights. They used ropes tough enough that even if one were to enhance their strength with Vis, breaking free would be difficult. But that didn’t apply to Helmut.

‘Should I let them tie me up?’

Helmut pondered. He could take them all down on his own. If he cleaned up the corpses neatly and acted as if nothing had happened, even when they woke up, they wouldn’t know it was Helmut’s doing. They would find it strange, but Helmut wouldn’t be suspected.

But killing nurtures a seed of darkness. The nauseating backlash, he didn’t want to experience it twice. Plus, there was a nagging feeling of hesitation.

‘Maybe I should think it over a bit more.’

As the bandits began tying up the knights, the leader ordered.

“Check inside that carriage. There should be nobles riding in it.”

A few bandits headed towards it, and soon after, the carriage door opened. Cheers erupted.

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