I’m Hunting My Enemy - Chapter 6

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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6. Hiring Mercenaries (1)

‘A human who isn’t what they appear to be on the surface? How interesting.’

And his appearance was exactly her type too.

‘What should I do?’

Ryuie cupped her cheeks as she recalled Glem’s blazing gaze. That sharp and sensitive handsome expression like a honed blade. Ryuie tapped her cheekbones lightly and smiled slyly.

To think she’d meet someone she wanted to romance in a place like this. It seemed her Crown Prince capture journey would be more fun than expected.

However, the difficulty level wasn’t easy.

“A person escaped and no one knows any trace of him? Does that make sense?”

Ryuie snapped pen shafts one by one with sharp cracks.

Marco flinched every time the breaking sound rang out.

He had been kneeling in a formal sitting position without being told, and opened his mouth.

“I, I’ve already told you everything I know. Please let me go.”

“You’ll die if you go back. Looks like you want to get stabbed again.”

“Hiek. Heueu.”

Though Ryuie had already figured out that Glem had no intention of killing this man, she continued threatening him.

How dare he not appear before her eyes – he should endure at least this much defamation.

“I’ve asked every villager nearby, but there’s no man like the one you described. You said there was another person who escaped besides Glem.”

“Oh my, I’ve already told you everything I know. If everyone else doesn’t know, how would I know? Eh? He might have already fled to a foreign country?”

“This place is close to the border.”

Bendam also chimed in from the side.

Ryuie just spun the broken quill pen around and around.

“Bendam. If you witnessed a ghost, how would you act?”

“First I’d scream loudly and run home. I’d have some nightmares too.”

“Right. You’d want to get to people quickly. You’d need confirmation that you weren’t going crazy.”

Ryuie flicked the quill pen away.

“But if he can’t be found in places where people live, the problem becomes more serious. It means he found something to rely on other than people.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means there might be no point in finding him.”

Bendam found the cryptic words difficult to understand. Rather, at times like this, Catsy understood Ryuie’s thoughts faster.

“She’s wondering if testimony from a human who’s gone mad would be trustworthy.”

“Ah, so that’s what it meant…”

“To make a choice, we need to catch him first.”

Fortunately, Ryuie didn’t need to wait long. Nothing beats quantity, as they say. The Marquis’ Knights combed through the forest thoroughly and brought good news.

They had discovered someone living far away from the village.

* * *

Unlike Ryuie, Glem knew exactly where he needed to go.

So instead of heading straight to his destination, he followed Ryuie’s trail.

Because it was a sight he simply couldn’t take his eyes off.

‘What on earth is that woman thinking?’

Glem looked down with a dumbfounded expression at the crowd of people and beasts gathered in droves.

Originally, he had planned to pretend to flee, then circle back to tail Ryuie.

He was confident in tracking people without being detected.

But he never imagined it would be such a flashy spectacle that even passing children would shout “The Duke’s daughter is coming!”

The carriage was so splendid it could be recognized even at night, roughly counting showed over a hundred attendants following, and with all the supplies loaded, it stretched long like an army forming battle lines.

‘Why don’t you just beat drums and blow trumpets announcing “I’m here”? Ugh. Damn. There’s actually a minstrel there too.’

It looked like all the suspicious characters in the area would come drooling and rushing over.

‘Well, with knights, mages, and even priests, there’s no worry about being attacked.’

If word of this reached across the border, it would be perfect for starting a war.

What made it especially dangerous was that Ryuie was commanding them. She wasn’t your ordinary crazy woman.

You could tell just by watching the entire group stir when Ryuie suddenly moved after receiving reports from the returning knights.

They moved so hastily that even the portraits of the Crown Prince that the artists had been happily copying, pleased with how well they’d turned out, ended up scattered and blown away by the wind.

‘If you were going to do that, why did you commission them?’

Everyone watching felt sorry for the waste.

Though there were many things Glem wanted to point out, he hurried to follow Ryuie.

It seemed certain that Ryuie was heading toward a place he knew.

Ryuie frowned as soon as she saw the place the knights had discovered.

“After a tent, now a hut. At this rate, a real doghouse appearing next wouldn’t be strange.”

The shabby house made of woven brush under the cliff that was easy to pass by looked like it would collapse at any moment.

Bendam rolled his eyes suspiciously.

“No matter how poor someone is, it would be hard for a person to live in a place like that.”

“He must have wanted to taste nature.”

Catsy sneered. Ryuie stared intently at only the hut.

“Everyone shut up. He’s coming out.”

Before anyone else could notice, Ryuie warned them. Ryuie’s words came true like a prophecy. The sides of the hut that had been swaying like giant grass split apart smoothly and spat out a human.

Ryuie’s pupils sparkled and gleamed.

“Are you the human who saw the Crown Prince’s ghost?”

The Man seemed unfamiliar with everything.

Though strangers he’d never seen before had suddenly surrounded his house, he just stood there stupidly and answered in a hoarse voice.

“Wrong.”

Ryuie whipped around to look at Marco. The flustered Marco babbled incoherently.

“No, that’s not right?! That’s him! That face is right! That person definitely said he was going to the swamp and took mercenaries!”

“Could be me, could not be me.”

When The Man grinned and opened his mouth, his sparse, missing teeth showed.

While Catsy grimaced in disgust, Ryuie became even more intrigued.

“I thought there’d be some normal parts left since he ran away after seeing a ghost.”

Ryuie put her hands on her hips.

“He’s completely gone mad, hasn’t he?”

The Man just continued to smile eerily.

Marco felt fear and stepped backward.

“Some, something’s strange. He wasn’t like this originally… He didn’t act this way even right after seeing the ghost.”

“Miss. It’s dangerous. We’ll investigate.”

“Tell me everything you saw in the swamp.”

Despite the knight captain’s restraint, Ryuie still asked while looking him straight in the eye.

Even while facing Ryuie’s face that most people would be too shy to look at properly, The Man showed no agitation whatsoever.

“Why are you hiding and living here?”

Ryuie repeated her question.

Just as The Man finally moved his mouth to answer something.

White light flashed and split their vision.

“!”

“Kueok!”

Crack.

The ominous sound of someone’s body part being struck by metal echoed.

“That bastard!”

“Glem!”

Glem landed with his hair flowing long behind him and twisted his shoulder holding the sword forward with a hardened expression.

Then the last survivor, who was already near death, convulsed and collapsed to the side.

“He, he killed him! Someone died!”

“Stand back, Miss!”

In an instant, the knights drew their swords. Marco screamed and the mages’ magic flashed, but Ryuie’s bright gaze remained fixed only on Glem.

“Darling! To see you again so quickly! You missed me too!”

Glem’s already unpleasant expression soured even further. It was clear he had reluctantly swung his sword. While Ryuie’s eyes scrutinized Glem as if licking him with her gaze, Catsy shouted sharply.

“Look over there!”

Horror spread through the crowd.

“Gasp!”

“Th-that thing!”

The fallen man’s body swelled grotesquely before spitting out a long, black object from his mouth.

It was a black snake without scales.

“A m-monster!”

“How could such a demon be here!”

The snake that had emerged from the mouth writhed. If it had been intact, it looked ready to burrow into the belly of anyone nearby at any moment.

Fortunately, the demon that had just been struck by Glem’s sword and had its body severed let out a shrieking scream before writhing and collapsing again.

After confirming that both the human shell and the demon were completely dead, Glem smoothly pulled out his sword again. His expression was unexpectedly pained. However, that emotion vanished without a trace in an instant, and by the time he turned toward Ryuie, it had all transformed into contempt.

“As you just saw.”

Glem wiped his sword on the corpse’s clothes like someone who felt no sympathy whatsoever.

“This Cursed Land is full of even worse demons. Go back quietly.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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