‘They know who I am!’

Although he was young, perhaps it was just as the young man had said – The blood of Pendragon spoke for itself. Raymond observed the scary adults in front of him with wide eyes despite his fear.

“Heave-ho!”

The young man carefully raised Raymond to his shoulder. Then, he lowered Raymond down next to Number 3.

“For now, rest and watch over the prince. I will have to find a place to rest.”

“We do not have time for that. Kuagh! We need to get away from here as soon as possible.”

Number 3 struggled to shake his head while coughing blood with a pale complexion.

“Ah, dammit! What do you expect me to do if you die? Not after Number 5 was taken care of in a single strike. We will spend tonight in this place and leave as soon as the sun rises tomorrow. Suck on a bottle of potion while watching over the kid. I will be right back.”

The young man grumbled before running towards the forest.

“Keugh! You idiot. How could a potion be sufficient to deal with a blow imbued with the Knight King’s spirit…? Cough!”

Number 3 whispered to himself before taking out a small bottle of blue liquid with difficulty. He emptied the contents at once.

‘That is a mana potion. We don’t have too many even in our palace…’

Potions were compounds manufactured by wizards of high caliber, specifically those with bestowed titles of ‘master’.

As such, even the Pendragon Kingdom possessed very few of such compounds. The only quantity in their possession was due to Alan Pendragon, their founding king, and his companion Soldrake. The royal family had been gifted about 10 bottles in total from the Aragon family and several masters. Potions could not be obtained easily, even with sufficient gold.

The man called Number 3 looked poor, but he was gulping down an entire bottle of precious liquid without hesitation. Raymond could not help but be surprised and inquisitive as well.

“Hmm…”

Number 3 had suffered heavy internal injuries after directly facing Isla’s spirit. However, his complexion gradually returned after ingesting the potion.

Despite that, the degree of the injury was still quite critical. It would take at least ten days for him to recover completely.

“Phew!”

Thanks to the effects of the potion, Number 3 could breathe easily and had no difficulties in slowly moving. He examined his condition with a frown, which created quite a frightening image in conjunction with his already-cold appearance.

Coincidentally, he met Raymond’s gaze. The child had been looking up at him with wide eyes.

‘This child…’

Although he did not show it, Number 3 was a little surprised. He knew the successor of the Pendragon Kingdom to be only around seven years old. A child of that age would surely be frightening or even cry after being placed in such a situation. Moreover, Number 3 knew very well the impression he left on others.

Not to mention young children, even adults tried to avoid eye contact with him. However, the boy with the obsidian-black hair was different.

Surprise and anxiousness could be found in the boy’s eyes, but curiosity was evident in his gaze as well.

‘Perhaps his capacity and capabilities? Or perhaps the direct line of a royal family is born different.’

Perhaps it was because the boy was thoroughly educated from a young age. Regardless of the reason, Number 3 found Raymond to possess something surprising.

“I found somewhere suitable.”

The young man returned from the forest.

“Can you walk?”

“Hmm.”

Number 3 nodded lightly before raising himself up. All the muscles and bones in his body screamed with pain, but he forced down the agony and walked without displaying any signs of discomfort.

“Now, Your Highness… Here we go! This way.”

The young man placed Raymond on his shoulder before moving towards the forest. Number 3 and the griffon followed behind.

*** 

“This place is fine, right?”

The young man guided the group to the trunk of a large tree. After entering a small hole barely large enough to squeeze through, a rather spacious, cozy interior was found.

After gently placing Raymond on the ground, he spoke to Number 3.

“I set up some traps around the vicinity just in case, so we should be fine for a single night.”

With a griffon by their side, there was no real need to set up any traps. Nevertheless, the young man installed a variety of traps in fear of a certain person. Some traps would sound an alarm, while others could inflict potentially fatal injuries.

“How dreadful. I have never seen such a monster in my life, I’m telling you…”

The young man shook his head while helping Number 3. He was referring to Isla.

“You haven’t? Hoho… Number 1 will be disappointed at your words.”

Number 3 replied with a cold smile, and the young man scratched his head with an awkward expression.

“Oh, right. I guess it wasn’t my first time. Hehe! But I’m not entirely sure how strong Number 1 is.”

“You aren’t?”

Number 3 smiled even colder than before, responding in the same way as before. Number 3’s smile and words contained deeper meaning. 

The young man smacked his lips with an awkward expression. 

He sensed it from the first time they met, but Number 3 was really a sharp man.

“Anyways, we flew more than 50 kilometers, so it will be impossible to track us in a single day. Let’s get something to eat and rest.”

“Do not let your guard down. The opponent is the Knight King of Valvas. I am sure you know what kind of people the cavaliers are, hmm?”

“They are masters of various weapons and are masters of tracking, hiding, and ambushes.”

“That is right. And the man searching for us is the one who stands at their apex.”

“Even so, we are the shado… We are not to be taken lightly either, though we are only a few in number.”

The young man stopped himself after seeing Raymond looking up at himself with clear, sparkling eyes.

“Be careful. He is not a normal child.”

Number 3 spoke with a sharp gaze at the young man’s mistake, glancing at both the young man and Raymond.

“Well, I guess I’ve also never seen a child like this.”

The young man grinned and turned towards Raymond. Although he was kidnapped a few hours ago and a man’s leg was sliced off in front of his eyes, Raymond did not cry. In fact, he did not even look scared. 

The young man found Raymond to be rather interesting.

“Perhaps we did something unnecessary. We could have followed them quietly, grasped their movements, and reported back.”

“What’s done is already done. In addition, the Pendragon Kingdom’s royal successor is a high-value target. Perhaps the most after the emperor.”

“Hehe! That’s true, too.”

Raymond’s curiosity ballooned even further at their conversation. Even though he was young, he knew very well what kind of status his uncle, the emperor, possessed. Every time he paid a visit to the Pendragon Kingdom, he would ride in a huge, decorated carriage pulled by eight horses and have hundreds of knights in golden armor as escorts.

Everyone in the royal family, even Raymond’s grandmother, was respectful towards his uncle, addressing him as “Your Majesty”. However, his two kidnappers were referring to his uncle with only a single word – emperor.

‘What kind of people are they?’

Since they were kidnappers, they were most likely bad people. However, Raymond wasn’t too afraid of them.

His mother and grandmother had always reminded him.

Great nobles of the emperor and royalty could not be harmed recklessly, even if they were thrust into an unexpected situation like this. Moreover, given what the two men were talking about, he was certain that they would not harm him.

They mentioned that he was of high value, the highest after his uncle.

“Oi, Your Highness.”

“…..?”

The cold voice of Number 3 interrupted Raymond’s chain of thoughts.

“I am going to untie the gag. As you already know, we are scary people. If you scream, it won’t end with us retying the gag. We might just sew your mouth shut so that you can never eat or talk ever again. Do you understand? If you get it, then nod.”

Raymond nodded without hesitation at the words of Number 3.

Soon, the gag was finally undone after several hours.

“Pu-ha!”

Raymond exhaled loudly.

He felt a tingling sensation around his mouth, but he only smacked his lips several times. He did not scream nor talk.

It came as another surprise for Number 3 and the young man.

“What an interesting kid.”

“I know, right? I thought he would ask a question right away.”

Raymond felt a little nervous as the young man gazed over him. Although the young man’s expression and way of speaking was somewhat playful and shabby, the way his eyes looked over Raymond was different. Raymond felt his hair stand on end.

It was the eyes of a beast looking over its captured prey.

He was still young, and he was a prince. Raymond never encountered anyone looking at him with such a gaze, so it was only obvious for him to be nervous, at the same time be ignorant of the feelings contained in the eyes of the young man.

“His Highness is going to get scared. Be careful.”

“Ah! I did not mean to. Hehe…”

The sticky energy captured in the young man’s eyes dissipated at the cold voice of Number 3.

“Don’t you think we should eat something first?”

“We should. Hmm?”

Number 3 nodded while looking over Raymond. Suddenly, his gaze turned fierce.

“What’s wrong?”

“This…”

Number 3 snatched Raymond’s arm and lifted his wrist.

“Ah!”

A sharp moan escaped Raymond’s lips at the violent gesture.

“What about his arm… Hmm?”

The young man’s eyes grew large with shock. Although the simple, thick winter clothes were unbefitting of his status as royalty, it was evident that they were crafted with the finest fabric. However, the end of his sleeves was frayed. 

“This can’t be…”

The young man observed Raymond’s clothes with narrowed eyes, then raised his head and met Number 3’s gaze.

“I am certain. He did so purposefully.”

Number 3 glared at Raymond with an even colder gaze.

“Uah…”

A weak, murderous intent.

Raymond felt his teeth clattering at the suffocating aura.

However, the direct descendants of the Pendragon royal family were born with the energy of the dragon. Moreover, he was familiar with the overwhelming spirits of knights of the castle, including Isla and Killian. He quickly overcame his fear and spoke clearly.

“That is right. I did it on purpose. Mister Isla will be able to find me from the fabric I ripped out.”

“Motherfucker…”

The expressions of Number 3 and the young man darkened.

*** 

In a small vacant lot located in the forest, stars were starting to reveal themselves one by one across the dark sky. Raven skillfully fanned the sparks into a bonfire.

Soon, flames rose into the air and the surrounding area became warm.

Soldrake sat next to him, leaning on his shoulder.

“It’s not cold, is it?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. And this sensation of being cold, it’s not bad.”

She found the cold air of the forest an interesting sensation. After living as an absolute before for an immeasurable time, she had forgotten such sensations.

In addition, she preferred the heat and the unique scent transmitted from his cheeks to the warmth of the bonfire. She found joy in feeling and sharing such things with him.

“Even so, you should be careful. Although it will not happen, I do not want you catching a cold.”

Raven smirked and wrapped his arms around Soldrake’s shoulder.

Although she lost her authority as the Dragon Queen, her physique was massively superior to regular humans. She would not catch a cold.

“Well, I should catch something before it gets too late.”

“Did you not buy anything in the village?”

“It is only natural to make food with the game you catch in places like these. Wait just a moment.”

Raven stood up after dusting his pants, then gently stroked Soldrake’s head. She was looking up with wishful eyes. He walked towards the forest.

“Hmm.”

Soon, he found traces of animal tracks, and focused his senses. He could clearly sense the sound of grass rustling in the wind and the movements of small animals in the forest.

“Over there.”

He strode forward without hesitation after identifying a prey. Finding the way in the dark was one of his talents.

“Hmm?”

A glimmer appeared in Raven’s eyes as he followed the trail of a small animal, likely a rabbit. He spotted an object reflecting the moonlight in the depth of the grass.

“This is…”

Raven's eyes glimmered coldly as he slowly picked up the object.

It was a small button made of gold, an object that could not exist in such a deserted forest.