Chapter 30 – Accidents Frequently Happen, So I Just Have To Complete The Mission Solo.

 

Editor: SleepyMango123

Proofreader: Lore

It was late at night, and the moon had hidden behind the thick clouds. Only the brightness of the stars fell onto earth.

In the dark night, the starlight passed through the wooden fence and fell on the side cheeks of the blond-haired child who was sleeping.

As the child tilted his head, half of his face was hidden in the shadows, the other half was illuminated by the silvery starlight. With his eyes closed, one hand on his abdomen and the other on the ground, his breathing was even, and the long eyelashes like butterfly wings cast a shallow shadow on the creamy fair cheeks.

Suddenly, the hand that was on the ground twitched.

It was not like the child had moved by himself. It was more like an external force shaking it. It was just that the hand had fallen in the shadows, making it hard to see.

The hand moved lightly again, and the strange body finally awakened Garlan, who was in a shallow sleep. He opened his eyes and felt something shaking his hand, and subconsciously raised that hand, lowering his head to look.

As soon as he raised his hand, the thing hidden in the shadows ran out.

The starlight shone on the little thing, and it stood upright on the ground, with two small paws tucked into his chest, squeaking towards Garlan.

It seemed to recognise Garlan’s hand and kept making sounds towards it.

A little black mouse?

It was a black mouse that was smaller than a normal mouse, and its hair was like pitch black silk. At first glance, one could tell that it was not a wild mouse but one raised by humans.

Garlan looked at the little black mouse squeaking at his hand that was wearing a black cloth wristband and looked carefully. He immediately found that the fur of the little black mouse’s neck flashed under the starlight with a dark luster.

He reached out and grabbed the little black mouse, and saw an extremely small copper tube tied to the little black mouse’s neck. When he grabbed the little black mouse, the creature seemed to struggle, but when he sniffed at the black cloth wristband on his wrist, he calmed down. He obediently allowed him to remove the small copper tube from his neck.

Looking at the thin silk book hidden in the small copper pipe, Garlan was immediately surprised.

This was the secret sign agreed upon by him and Brother King!

Brother Camos and the others had followed the little black beads he left behind. Looking at the little black mouse, Garlan suddenly understood that this little black mouse was probably trained to sniff the little black beads and had followed the smell.

He didn’t have any paper nor pen and couldn’t reply even if he wanted to.

Garlan thought for a while, shook his fingers, put two or three small black beads sewn into the cloth wristband into the small copper tube, and then tied the copper tube to its original place again.

Then, he fed the little black mouse a little bit of food left over from the night, sent it to the outside of the cell, and pointed outside.

This little black mouse was very clever and ran in the direction of where Garlan pointed his finger.

Garlan watched it disappear far away into the depths of the night and heaved a sigh of relief. Now he could finally relax a little, sleep more peacefully, and wait for Brother Camos and the others to find him.

He thought that if Brother Camos took the cavalry, he would be able to get here before midnight tomorrow at the latest, and there would be no more children being sacrificed.

Thinking of this, Garlan couldn’t help but think of what happened this evening.

When he was brought back, the guards went back and grabbed another child, which happened to be the boy with vicious eyes that pushed Kerry out.

Although at that time he was somewhat relieved, he recalled the boy’s numb eyes and desperate expression and felt a little uncomfortable in his heart.

That selfish boy was indeed wrong, but the greatest evil was this malicious cult.

It was its horror and blood splatters that completely distorted the child.

However, this evil cult would end here.

Tomorrow, Brother King Camos would let this sinful cult that had spilled countless childrens’ blood completely disappear!

…

…

In the middle of the night, there was no moonlight, and the faint starlight couldn’t penetrate the dense canopy of the jungle. So at this moment, the forest was dark and quiet. Only the night wind passed through the canopy occasionally, shaking the branches and making the leaves rustle.

A few people squatted shortly among the bushes, silently lurking as if they were waiting for something.

The shortest figure squatted halfway in the shadows. The young man’s face was not visible in the darkness, nor was one able to see the look in his eyes at the moment. But the faint starlight that passed through the gap between the branches and leaves fell on the back of the boy’s hand holding the dagger at his waist. One could see his fingers clenching the hilt of the sword so hard that the knuckles turned slightly white.

The degree of tightness of the fingers showed that he was extremely nervous and anxious.

Ji, ji.

Suddenly, a small cry sounded in the silent night. A small black mouse emerged from the dense bushes and ran to a tall man who was squatting. It stood upright and squeaked at the owner who tamed it.

The young man’s breathing suddenly stopped, and he turned his head to look. The man quickly grabbed the little black mouse and tore off the copper tube around its neck.

As soon as he opened it, the man’s face was suddenly lit up.

The thin cloth inside was gone, and a few small black beads poured out, swirling in the palm of his hand.

But he didn’t immediately draw a conclusion. He cautiously bowed his head and smelled it, and then confirmed that these little black beads were indeed specially made by him, and it could only be smelled by him and the little black rats he trained.

“How is it?” A low voice sounded in the dark night.

The boy’s voice sounded calm, but the fingers of the hand that were illuminated by the stars gripped even harder.

“Prince Heimos, I’ve confirmed that it is indeed His Royal Highness Garlan. He used this to tell us that he is inside,” the man answered in a low voice.

“The camp we saw from a distance should be where the group of children are being held.”

“…”

A few seconds of silence seemed to stop everyone’s breathing.

Then Heimos spoke.

“…Let’s go.”

He simply said.

“Let’s go back.”

After speaking, he immediately got up, took the lead, and quickly walked out.

The cavalry looked at one another, immediately got up, and followed.

In the dark night, Heimos ran out quickly.

When he heard that the cavalryman who tamed the mice said that Garlan was inside, he wanted to sneak in immediately to bring the brave and self-righteous child back.

However, once this was done, no matter whether it succeeded or not, it would hit the grass and alarm the snake hiding in the grass.1 There were only a few of them lurking here, and the number of enemies were far above them. It was impossible for them to safely rescue all the children without any casualties.

Once they were alerted, whether the ‘thieves’ were able to transfer or kill the children didn’t matter, their actions would cause a complete failure.

…He must not waste the opportunity that Garlan exchanged his life for.

Now, the only thing he could do was to rush back as soon as possible to find King Camos. He could then take the army to completely wipe out this deep valley camp and rescue the child who always made others worry too much!

…

…

This time, he finally didn’t have to worry about the anxious wait, wanting to sleep but not daring to sleep. Thus, Garlan was able to sleep until dawn.

By the time he opened his eyes, the whole morning had passed, and the sun was shining brightly on his face.

Garlan got up. Probably because his heart that had been dangling finally landed on the hard ground, he felt that his whole body lightened a lot, and even his mood improved.

After getting up, he saw a plate placed at the cell door with a substantial amount of food. Apparently the person who brought him food didn’t wake him up, so he quietly placed the food at the door.

Although he didn’t quite understand why he was suddenly treated so specially, Garlan was still very happy his food had been improved. Before meeting the stout man, the food he was given was really hard to swallow.

He took the plate in from the gap in the cell door, sat cross-legged on the ground, and began to devour it all.

En, he didn’t have to do anything now and just had to obediently wait for the others to rescue him.

Ah, this feeling of not thinking or doing anything, eating when you wake up, and continuing to sleep after eating was really good.

Maybe I should go back to sleep after eating, and when I wake up, Brother King will be here.

Garlan, who didn’t realise that he was talking about the life of a pig, continued to eat happily.

At this time, a gust of wind blew, and the sound of dialogue nearby was heard.

Garlan’s current small cell was probably dedicated to the imprisonment of those with special status. It was very close to the guard point, but far from the large cells.

Therefore, the conversation between the stout man and several guards at the guard point, being blown by the wind, was intermittently passed to him.

“What? Tonight?”

“This… is this too many? Fifty of them. There are more than one hundred in total here, and in an instant half of them at once.”

“That… the priest… said, today… the Mother God of all things… a special sacrifice, so many sacrifices are required.”

“It’s like this ah…”

“So, you see there is no one today, it’s because… the believers are busy preparing… large-scale festivals.”

“But fifty… Now those people are very vigilant. They hold their children very firmly, and it would be very difficult to kidnap them again.”

“It’s okay, then… that lord… will create the illusion of a thief attacking the City of Vernal, and let us go into the city to catch the children.”

“That’s good.”

“Get ready… the time for the sacrifice tonight… advance…”

In the cell, the blond-haired boy stopped chewing his food.

He clenched the white bread in his hand and looked straight ahead, speechless for a long time.

After a while, Garlan raised his eyes and glanced at the large prison holes in the distance.

From there, he could see countless children. The young children were moving, talking, and were still alive. They didn’t know that nearly half of them would shed their blood on that sinful altar tonight.

His throat felt uncomfortable, but he swallowed the food in his mouth. Garlan continued to swallow the white bread in his hand silently, without saying or doing anything.

He lowered his head, soft blond hair scattered in front of his eyes.

However, at this moment, even the thick hair couldn’t cover up the flashing light within the child’s golden eyes.

…

The other believers were busy preparing for the important festival tonight, and even the ten guards who usually guarded outside also left. Only the stout man and another guard were left there.

In any case, the weak children were all locked in the cell, and they didn’t have to worry about what those little brats could do. It was enough to leave two people here as the lookout.

The stout man looked at the sky. The sun had almost completely sunk into the horizon, and the sky was already dark all over. He estimated that in an hour or so, someone would come over and escort fifty children to the altar for the sacrifice.

He sat there sipping Ke Fei in a stultifying manner, and the equally bored guard next to him spoke, “I’ve heard that you’ve kept a child. What do you want the child for? You even locked him in a separate prison from the others?”

The stout man glanced at the guard and got up.

“Come on, brother. I’ll take you to see.”

The small cage holding Garlan was very close to the guard point, and it was just around the corner. The stout man pointed to Garlan, who was sitting in the cell, and said, “Look. How is it?”

“This…” The guard looked at it and smacked his lips. “Looks pretty, like a porcelain doll. But what about it? Isn’t it all for sacrifice?”

The fat man snorted.

“That’s why I say you guys won’t understand. Some nobles like this kind of beautiful child the most, and selling it to those people can fetch a high price. If you sell this child, then you can buy a large number of slave children with that money. Isn’t it more cost-effective?”

The five big and three thick2 rough guard scratched his head. He didn’t quite understand these ideas, so he subconsciously asked the most intuitive question.

“How much money can he be sold for?”

“At least this number! Gold coins!”

The stout man stretched out five fingers.

The guard was taken aback.

“Five Aaron gold coins?! So many?”

The Aaron Landis Gold Coin was also referred to as Aaron Gold Coin. Although each country had its own currency, Aaron Landis was a country with a long history and had the mainland’s trading center. Thus, Aaron Gold Coins were universal on this continent.

One Aaron gold coin was enough for an ordinary civilian family to live on for a year.

The fat man snorted.

“Five? Don’t kid me. It’s at least five hundred!”

The guard took a breath of air and suddenly looked at the child as if it were a golden doll.

It just so happened that the blond-haired boy looked at him, blinked his big eyes, stood up, grabbed the wooden fence of the cell door, and stared at them.

The guard followed the child’s gaze and found that the child was staring at his hand.

He had a cup of Ke Fei in his hand and was drinking it, but had brought it over while talking to the man next to him.

Ke Fei was a dark-coloured drink with a very strong aroma, which made one yearn for it. It was bitter at first, but it was addictive. It was as though it had some magic power that made people want to drink again.

This was something that was soaked in black powder, something unique to this cult. According to the high priest, it was given by Mother God and could elevate the soul of a person.

After drinking this thing, there was indeed a refreshing and uplifting feeling, so many worshippers believed that this was indeed a magical item given to them by the Mother God.

Seeing the child having a look of greed from the scent and eagerly staring at the Ke Fei in his hands, the guard walked to the door.

The child held onto the wooden fence and looked up at him. His small creamy fair face and big beautiful eyes like golden jewels looked at him. Those eyes were so mesmerising that it made one look at him with tenderness.

“Do you want to drink?” He couldn’t help but want to tease the child.

The child nodded quickly, stretched out his hand from the crack in the door, and looked at him expectantly.

The cute little appearance made the guard laugh, and he handed the cup over.

The greedy child took a sip while holding the cup. But after taking the sip, he vomited it out and coughed nonstop. It was inevitable for him to ingest a little liquid despite throwing most of it up.

“Bitter!”

The child, who thought it would be delicious, was caught off guard by the bitterness and coughed violently. A layer of mist appeared in his big eyes.

The appearance made the guard laugh and the plump man beside him joined in.

He smiled and said, “Little guy, don’t worry. After a while, you’ll be given whatever you want to eat.”

That was right. After he was sold, those nobles would treat this child well, and naturally they would give anything that was delicious to him.

They were amused by the deflated appearance of the child and didn’t notice the coughing child shaking his fingers while holding the cup, causing a few small black beads to roll into the black liquid in the cup and instantly melt in it.

With a foolish, unhappy look, the child handed the cup back, as if angry, and ignored them.

The guard took back the cup and happily returned to the guard point with the stout man. They continued drinking Ke Fei together, chatting excitedly about the huge sum of five hundred Aaron gold coins, and eating the meat with sauce.

Suddenly, the stout man glanced at the corner of his eye and his expression suddenly changed.

He saw that in the small cage not far away, the child knelt at the door of the prison with a pained expression on his face, clutching the wooden fence. He convulsed a few times and then fell head first to the ground.

My five hundred Aaron gold coins!

With a scream in his heart, the stout man jumped up and ran over.

When the guard saw it, he was shocked and sped over as well.

When they rushed to the prison door, they saw the child holding his body on the ground constantly twitching and became anxious. The guard hurriedly pulled out a key from the large set of keys on his body and opened the door.

“Why did you give him Ke Fei!? Don’t you know that he might be allergic to this stuff?”

“I-I didn’t know! At that point of time, you also didn’t stop me!”

“Look at the situation first! This is worth five hundred Aaron gold coins—”

The guard knelt down in a panic, stretched out his hand to pick up the twitching child, wanting to see his condition. But suddenly, his eyes went dark, his face was stagnant, and he closed his eyes and fell to the ground without any movement.

The stout man who was anxiously next to him was taken aback. He didn’t know what was going on, so he knelt down and stretched out his hand to shake him.

“Hey, what’s the matter with you—hey—”

He only cared about the fainted guard and didn’t notice that the child, who had been convulsing painfully, had silently gotten up.

In the next second, a stone slammed heavily on the back of his neck, the most fragile area of the cervical spine in the human body, and knocked him out all at once. The plump man had his eyes closed and fell beside the unconscious guard.

Garlan grabbed the stone and panted violently. He then threw the stone away, knelt on the ground, and tore off the large bunch of keys around the guard’s waist.

He raised his head and looked at the cells in the distance.

He had just pretended to be ill and had twitched and rolled on the ground, so he was now covered with dust and dirt.

But at this moment, on that little face full of dust, the faint firelight on the stone wall fell into his golden eyes, making his eyes brighter than the sun.

1

(Actual words: 打草惊蛇) It is an analogy of not doing things carefully, causing the other party to be alert and guarded.

2

(Actual words: 五大三粗)  A Chinese idiom that describes a person who is tall, stout and burly. In ancient times, the “big five” referred to: “big hands, big feet, big ears, shoulder width, and hip fat”, and the “three thick”were: “thick waist, thick legs, and thick neck”.