After slipping out of Hilmor’s bedroom, Keldric headed straight to the guest room where Joseph was staying.
But no one was there.
“Already fled, huh,” he muttered with indifference, leaving the room.
He’d half-expected Joseph to run, and outside, a fierce snowstorm raged under the heavy darkness.
If Joseph tried to escape the village in this weather, he would either freeze or fall prey to wolves—something Joseph was likely aware of.
Ultimately, the village was his only refuge, and Keldric knew that Joseph had one last trick up his sleeve.
“Cavalry.”
Bursting out of the manor, Keldric adjusted his helmet and raised the torch he’d received from a servant, swinging it in large circles once, twice, three times.
The torch spun, leaving a blazing red arc in the air.
He kept the pace just right so the flames wouldn’t extinguish.
Sure enough, a faint, unfamiliar sound began to rise in the distance—thudding, heavy, yet lively.
Hoofbeats.
Keldric’s gaze fixed on the direction of the sound, a look of tension in his eyes.
This was his first encounter with trained cavalry.
“They’re coming.”
The sound grew louder as they galloped through the snow.
Keldric jammed the torch into the ground, securing it upright.
Flames flared in the wind, dancing and casting a fierce glow into the cold darkness.
Two cavalrymen advanced, holding torches. Keldric, rarely wielding his sword with both hands, now gripped it with resolve, watching as they neared.
The battle was about to begin.
In moments, the first cavalryman staggered upon seeing Keldric and tried to pull back the reins.
With quick reflexes, Keldric thrust his blade.
The soldier’s cry echoed as Keldric’s strength and skill penetrated even thick armor.
A riderless horse bolted toward the manor, leaving Keldric with five remaining foes.
One of them shouted, “It’s an ambush!” while another swore, “Damn it! Let’s kill him!” The five cavalrymen spread out, horses hooves scattering the snow.
Though Keldric had never faced mounted soldiers, he found confidence rising within him.
As they closed in, he twisted his body, narrowly avoiding their lances.
Holding his ground, Keldric quickly pulled one off his horse and delivered a blow that left him lifeless.
The cavalry was down by a third.
Stunned, the remaining soldiers didn’t expect Keldric’s strength and resilience.
One barked orders, and they charged again in unison, following a sequence.
Keldric countered with a sharp throw, his spear splitting the air like a ballista shot.
The battle, shrouded in darkness and snow, had only begun.
“Haah!”
One of the startled cavalrymen quickly ducked, barely avoiding a spear.
“Crazy!”
The accuracy was so precise that it would have skewered his head if he had hesitated even a second.
The cavalryman narrowly escaped danger once but, unfortunately, his evasive action brought him into a second peril.
Instinctively bending down, he belatedly noticed Keldric charging from the opposite side.
One step, two steps, then three.
Keldric closed the gap swiftly.
Though three other cavalrymen were charging at him, he decided it was better to eliminate the one directly in front of him first.
“If I only dodge, it’ll never end.”
The cavalryman, realizing too late that Keldric was upon him, hastily thrust his spear, but it was already too late.
Keldric, having closed the distance, deflected the spear with his sword.
The cavalryman’s thrust plunged uselessly into the ground.
With a quick strike, Keldric’s fist slammed into the horse’s chest with all his might.
Thud!
The horse collapsed forward without even letting out a scream, blood pouring from its mouth.
The cavalryman, now trapped under the horse, shared the same fate, coughing blood.
Leaving the blood-spewing cavalryman under the fallen horse behind, Keldric swiftly leaned back.
Three spear tips lunged toward where he’d been standing just moments before.
In their momentary confusion at missing the mark, Keldric took the opportunity, leaping forward with his sword.
The power from his solid legs propelled him right in front of another cavalryman.
“Ah, ahh…!”
It was over in an instant.
Without hesitation, Keldric slashed at the cavalryman’s leg, slicing it clean from the thigh with a sickening sound.
“Argh!”
The dangling thigh left the cavalryman screaming, and he toppled into the snow, his neck twisting at an unnatural angle.
“Die!”
Yet another cavalryman charged at Keldric.
Unluckily for him, Keldric’s next move was as smooth as flowing water, seamlessly continuing from his previous attack.
Keldric’s sword split the head of the oncoming horse.
Its skull cracked with a brutal snap!
At that point, Keldric noticed something odd.
Cutting through a cavalryman’s thigh so cleanly? And now the horse’s head, split in two? Strange.
There was no time to ponder further.
The horse, already lifeless from Keldric’s strike, collapsed, its rider tumbling into the snow beside it, screaming in pain as his ankle twisted on impact.
Taking a deep breath, Keldric scanned the surroundings.
Blood was scattered across the snow, with dead horses and men lying around.
Fresh snow was already beginning to cover them.
“One, two, three, four, five…”
Keldric had taken down a total of five cavalrymen.
However, the sixth was nowhere to be seen.
Judging from the tracks leading toward the forest, it seemed the last one had fled.
Keldric sighed at the unsatisfying victory.
Letting an enemy escape left a bitter taste.
“Ahh… ugh…!”
Then, he heard the sound of someone still alive.
It was the cavalryman who had fallen and broken his ankle after Keldric cleaved through his horse.
Keldric rested his bloodstained sword on his shoulder and began walking toward the surviving cavalryman.
The blood on his sword still felt warm, and mist rose from it in the cold air.
The terrified cavalryman clutched his ankle, shouting in fear.
“I… I serve Lord Godfried! Treat me with the honor befitting his name!”
Keldric halted at the mention of the name.
Godfried? What baron was he talking about?
“Who do you serve?”
“Baron Ansen Schultz of Godfried! I am one of his elite soldiers—”
“Why are you here, attacking the Bellaf family?”
Godfried and his title were irrelevant; Keldric had more pressing questions.
Carleton Village was under Bellaf rule, but the true lord of the land was Baron Volpen.
Yet, if another noble was inciting an attack against the Bellaf family…
Keldric felt a sinking feeling.
A conflict between nobles was always messy.
The cavalryman stammered, unable to answer directly.
In reality, he had no idea why they were targeting the Bellaf family; he was merely a soldier following orders, not privy to his superior’s motives.
Keldric waited a long while, watching the cavalryman groaning in pain as the torch planted in the ground began to flicker from the chill wind.
“You don’t know anything, do you?”
Keldric’s patience had worn thin.
He didn’t have time to waste here; he needed to find Joseph, who had likely already descended to the village.
And he had to worry about the one cavalryman who had managed to escape.
“W-wait! Please wait a moment!”
“Doesn’t look like there’s anything left to say. You don’t seem to know your lord’s purpose anyway, do you?”
“S-sir! I could be useful as a witness… if you let me live…”
It was a futile plea.
Even if a mere soldier could serve as a witness, a noble like Baron Godfried would easily deny involvement, making it pointless.
Realizing he had nothing left to gain from the half-crippled cavalryman, Keldric swung his blood-soaked sword horizontally.
Slash!
The cavalryman’s head was severed instantly, spilling blood across the white snow.
“Tch.”
All Keldric had learned was a name—Baron Godfried.
With a slight click of his tongue, he stood up.
The mansion was still lit in the distance.
After a brief glance, Keldric turned in the opposite direction, toward the path leading to the village.