Masked Knight

Chapter 87

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Jojo was disturbed after she heard the alarming news. At that moment, there was nothing she could do. She jumped and pointed at the three officers before cursing, "Seth is missing! Your Lord Commander is missing and you military officers are sitting here safely! Do you not know how to dispatch soldiers for a search?"

Sieg forced a smile and tried to explain but Jojo refused to listen. She looked pale and quivered in anger. She thought of all the difficulties she went through to get His Majesty to dispatch her there. She wanted to see her lover instead she got this news. She then saw Rody"s armor which was returned by the enemy. The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. She almost fell.

Gordon gritted his teeth and said, "We are still discussing. I wanted to take some people and secretly sneak into the gra.s.slands to find…" Before he could finish, Jojo immediately shouted. "Good! Why are you still here then?"

Sieg was determined to object but if that was the order of His Majesty"s special envoy, he could not do anything.

Receiving the orders, Gordon immediately led a few soldiers out of the city. After that, Reuben took Jojo to the back to rest. Upon Jojo"s insistence, they let her stay in the duke"s room.

With the door closed, Jojo secretly cried in the room the entire day. She was restless and afraid that someone would come to deliver bad news.

She sat on the bed and looked at Seth"s clothes. She became more paranoid as her thoughts continued to linger. Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door and a pretty girl holding a tub of water entered.

The girl gently handed a wet towel to Jojo. She saw that Jojo was in low spirits. She softly said, "Don"t cry, I"m sure nothing will happen to His Excellency."

Jojo froze for a moment. Her tears stopped flowing and she stared at the girl. After that, she asked in a low voice, "Who are you?"

The girl bowed and replied, "I was sent here to serve you, Miss."

Jojo nodded and asked, "What is your name? How do you know that nothing will happen to the duke?"

The girl lowered her head and slowly said, "My name is Jadelina. I have met His Excellency the Duke…I… I just think that someone like him will not die so easily."

The girl was the village head"s daughter. She was from the village that Rody pa.s.sed through before arriving at Watt Fortress. She had followed Rody and came to the city. Since there were battles in the surrounding area, it was not safe for a young girl like her to go back to the village on her own. Rody thought even though she was young she was extremely brave. She risked her life and pleaded for mercy for her villagers. He decided to leave her at the garrison and planned to only send her home after the war.

When Jojo arrived, Sieg tried to be cautious. There were no other women in the garrison. He and Reuben were both old men and the people by his side were bodyguards. How could any of those men take care of Miss Jojo? That was why Jadelina was asked to look after Jojo.

Jojo was sad and touched to find someone comforting her. She took her time to chat with Jadelina.

At night, several soldiers at the gates of Watt Fortress were vigilantly on the lookout. During the day, they had seen the messenger of the Great Moon Kingdom enter the city. They were uncertain if the war would continue or not. Suddenly, they saw two horses gradually approaching from a distance.

The first horse was ridden by a brawny man carrying a long bow. Behind the brawny man was another horse ridden by what looked like a woman. One of her hands held the reins of the horse while the other hand held a man"s body. The three of them wore the Great Moon Kingdom"s fur jackets and they came towards the walls of the city.

The three people were Rody, Muse and the strange gra.s.sland hunter, Dark.

When Rody regained consciousness, he insisted on continuing the journey regardless of his injuries and Muse"s tearful dissuasion. He knew that he had clearly wasted too many days in the gra.s.slands and without his presence at Watt Fortress, the morale of the soldiers would become unstable. He was at that time, the Duke of the Tulip Family after all and the Tulip Family represented the banner of the Imperial Army. They were at war and although he heard that Reuenthal had retreated, the source of information could not be fully trusted. He actually needed more than 10 days to recover from his injuries however, he could not afford to wait another 10 days. If anything unfortunate were to happen to Watt Fortress, it would be too late for regrets.

Dark knew that the two of them were about to leave. He saw that the young man was insistent on going to Watt Fortress despite his injuries. Although he did not say anything, he looked at the young man strangely. Muse was anxious and angry as Rody struggled to leave. Dark offered to accompany them to the fortress.

Muse was a sensitive woman and she found the gra.s.sland hunter a little bit strange. She had never seen many archers as skillful as him even in the Roland Continent.

Rody was still seriously injured and unable to ride a horse. He could get on the same horse as Muse but she had to hold him with one hand. The journey was b.u.mpy but fortunately, the herbal medication was very effective. Rody"s body was naturally robust. Although he sweated a lot due to the pain, he still managed to withstand it.

Muse was extremely exhausted. It was quite unbearable for her to continuously ride a horse and hold a person at the same time. Initially, Dark wanted to offer to hold Rody but then he saw the way Muse looked at Rody. He chuckled to himself and did not say anything.

With Dark leading the way, they managed to travel smoothly and after two days, they finally left the gra.s.slands. Along the way, they avoided the Loulan Fortress which was occupied by the Great Moon Kingdom. Dark seemed extremely familiar with the terrain of the Northwest. He knew where all the paths, roads and villages were. Muse thought that it was odd but she did not question him. Rody was surprised and suspicious.

Another thing that disturbed Rody was since he got injured, he could no longer talk with Andy. He had lost contact with the sarcastic skeleton. The old and strange monster had always given him ideas. Rody felt like he had lost someone he could rely on.

The soldiers above the walls demanded to know who they were as they aimed their bows. Dark smiled and looked at Rody. Rody then sighed and forced himself to shout, "Open the door! I have returned!"

While the soldiers were still puzzled, an officer arrived and saw Rody below the walls. He was shocked and immediately gave the order to open the city gates. The officer was part of the Central Cavalry so he recognized his commander.

The gates were opened and a group of soldiers rushed out. They saw how weak Rody looked and immediately helped him down. After that, they placed him on a soft bed. Rody had finally calmed down as he lied down on the bed. He then smiled at Muse and said softly, "Your Excellency the Black Veil Saint, please enter the city." After he finished speaking, he winked at her. Muse then dismounted from the horse and gazed at the wall. She was at a loss. Although the both of them had been depending on each other for survival, her ident.i.ty suddenly crossed her mind.

If I go in, would I become a prisoner?

Muse thought of getting on the horse and running away immediately but she could not move when she saw Rody on the bed.

Rody saw her in a daze. He laughed and loudly said, " Hey idiot, what are you thinking about?"

His words made Muse feel warm. Her worries immediately disappeared. She laughed and entered the city. Rody then looked at Dark and said, "Mister Dark., please enter. I still have a lot of things I want to ask you."

Dark gave a crooked smile. His eyes gleamed as he pretended like he accidentally saw the Tulip Family"s banner. As Dark followed him into the city, an officer suddenly ran down from the wall. The officer looked at Rody, who was lying down on the bed and immediately knelt down, "Your subordinate greets Your Excellency the Duke!"

Those words resounded like thunder to Dark and his heart pounded. He suddenly stopped and his expression changed as he looked at Rody.

Rody was aware of his stare and he frowned. "Mister Dark, what"s wrong?"

Dark could not help it but he stepped back. He looked straight at Rody. His voice was hoa.r.s.e. "You are the Duke of the Tulip Family?"

Rody gave a wry smile and replied, "Yes, I am. A few days ago, I was still in enemy territory so I dared not mention it."

Dark"s expression changed again. He took a deep breath and asked again, "You really are the Duke of the Tulip Family? The Radiant Empire"s Duke of the Tulip Family?"

Rody frowned and replied, "Yes, I have only recently inherited the t.i.tle."

Dark looked at Rody and laughed loudly. It sounded like he was desperate. He instantly pulled out his scimitar and roared as he rushed towards Rody.

It was a surprise that n.o.body expected. Before the soldier beside Rody could respond, Dark had already knocked him down. Dark raised his sharp scimitar and slashed at Rody who now laid on the ground...

In a hurry, Rody could not dodge properly so, he rolled away. He narrowly avoided the attack only to hear the sound of screaming. The soldier, who carried his stretcher was cut into two. Dark saw Rody rolling away and he flipped his sword to slash at him again.

Muse"s had the fastest reaction. When Muse saw that Dark had already begun to swing his sword, she quickly jumped over to cover Rody"s body. She screamed as Dark slashed her back. However, it was done in a haste therefore, the slash did not hit any vital areas. Muse just felt the pain on her back. Soon, she felt dizzy and she fainted.

The officer who was kneeling on the ground also reacted quickly. He managed to block Dark"s third slash. By then, the other soldiers had all pulled out their swords as they rushed towards Dark.

Rody was lost when Muse threw herself on top of him and screamed in pain. He automatically held her and touched the fresh blood on her back. When she fainted, Rody felt a piercing pain in his heart and he almost teared up.

Several soldiers quickly pulled Rody and Muse to a secure location at the back. They then formed a circle around them to protect them.

Dark kicked the officer at his side. He saw that Rody was protected by a group. He knew that he would not be successful that day. He was filled with hatred but without any other choice, he could only withdraw and escape.

The soldiers started to give chase but Rody suddenly shouted, "Do not chase him!" After that, he signaled with his eyes for the archers beside him, to put down their bows and arrows. Dark ran a couple of steps and noticed that n.o.body was chasing him. He could not help but turned around to look.

He saw Rody standing up with the support of a soldier. After that, Rody loudly said, "Without my order, you are not allowed to shoot the arrows!" He then glanced at Muse before he gritted his teeth and asked, "Mister Dark, why do you want to kill me?"

In the distance, Dark"s face was pale as he fiercely replied, "I am an honest man! At first, I did not know that you were the Duke of the Tulip Family. I only thought that you were a n.o.ble. I heard that the Duke of the Tulip Family was in Watt Fortress. I wanted to take this opportunity to follow you so that I could enter the city and a.s.sa.s.sinate him! Hmph, count your lucky stars! If I had known you were the Duke of the Tulip Family, I would have killed you long ago!"

Rody replied loudly, "I respect you for saving our lives but why do you hate me so much that you want to kill me?"

Dark did not avert his gaze and kept his eyes on Rody. He then exclaimed, "I am not afraid to tell you! I was one of your father"s subordinates! However, your father personally killed my brother! After that, I fled to the gra.s.slands. My life"s greatest desire is to kill the Tulip Family so that I can avenge my brother!"

Rody sighed. He was surrounded by soldiers and it would have been easy to give an order for the archers to shoot him down. However, that person had saved his life. As such, Rody could not bring himself to do it.

Gritting his teeth Rody shouted, "Give him his horse and let him go!"

The soldiers were dumbfounded but they still followed his order. Dark glared at Rody and hatefully shouted, "Duke of the Tulip Family, even if you do not kill me today, I will find another opportunity in the future and still kill you!" After he finished speaking, he took out his bow and shot an arrow. The arrow flew and embedded itself on the walls above the city gate. The arrow shook. Without looking at his horse, Dark turned around and rode away.

Rody was furious. He looked at Muse in his arms. Her eyes were closed and he felt a stabbing pain in his heart. He then shouted, "Quickly, get the military doctor! Get all the magicians who can use healing spells as well!"

He was actually very weak but he forced himself to stand up and speak loudly. The moment he started to relax, he felt drowsy and soon fell unconscious. However, he did not forget to hold on to Muse"s hand.

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