17 Chapter 17: The Male Avenger and the Female Knight

"I'm just a wandering passer-by," I replied. What? I wasn't stupid enough to give away my name to a stranger I had just met. If she was a soldier who had recognized me, that was one matter, but I didn't want people to spread the news that Klein Pearson had returned from the dead.

Thankfully, none of the knights I had just slaughtered recognized me. Actually, they were more concerned with threatening me, but that was beside the point. Also, I was relieved that I hadn't fought alongside such scum during the war against the demons. It made me ill.

"Are you all right?"

The girl blinked, and then nodded slowly. She was still in shock. She glanced at the brutalized corpses, many of which had been dismembered. Her eyes finally came to a stop to the knight whose throat she had cut.

Then she leaned over and threw up.

Poor girl. Evidently this was the first time she had killed. I remembered clearly my first time too. I had just only joined the Hero party, and we were assigned to clear out a bunch of bandits who were terrorizing a mountain village. After I had killed a few of the villains with a barrage of icicles, I found that my hands were shaking violently. Nausea had threatened to overwhelm me.

The second time was easier, and soon enough I had become numb to it.

After throwing up, the girl returned her gaze to me, dazed. She breathed deeply, forcing herself to calm down. Swallowing, she stared at me.

"Just…who are you?" she whispered, looking extremely horrified.

I didn't blame her. She had literally just witnessed me butcher an entire company of knights. Yeah, they were trying to **** her, but even so, how else was she supposed to react to the carnage? I would be more worried about her being a psychopath or mindless automaton if she politely bowed, thanked me, introduced herself, and calmly asked me if I just killed the knights with my magic. And then suddenly requested my help for her revenge.

Perhaps heroines in fiction behaved like that, but that was super-unrealistic. Any normal girl her age would be utterly horrified by the ruthless massacre that had taken place before her eyes. I could see that she was going into shock. Not just the horror of witnessing a bunch of soldiers slaughtered in front of her, but also the trauma of just narrowly escaping an ordeal of ****.

"Sit down, take deep breaths. And here, some water."

I passed her a flask. She took the bottle blankly, stared at it, and then obediently drank a few sips. I stayed silent and waited beside her for a few minutes until the color returned to her complexion.

"Are you all right? Feel better now?"

"Y…yes." The girl gulped, and then she backed away from me in reflex. I could see fear in her eyes. That was the natural reaction. After all, I had singlehandedly annihilated an entire company of soldiers moments ago.

Nodding in satisfaction, I rose to my feet and turned away. If I retraced my steps to the main road, I should be able to relocate the hill that the horseman pointed out, and then from there make my way to Bravia City.

"W…wait."

The girl's voice was hoarse. As much as she was afraid of me, she was even more frightened of being left alone, with all the dead.

"I…I'm sorry." She was still wary of me, but she suppressed her dread and lowered her head. "Thank you for saving my life."

"No problem," I replied. "As long as you're all right."

"I…" the girl's eyes darted toward the knights. Her legs were shaking, which caused her to fall when she attempted to stand. "I'm sorry, I still can't…"

"It's all right." I sighed and helped her to her feet. She flinched and then leaned a bit against me, though that motion was apprehensive.

"Sorry." The girl's head was bowed. "I think I need help to return to the city…"

"Sure. I'll escort you back." I glanced at the corpses. "Since I've already stuck my nose in, I might as well help you all the way."

"Thank you." there was some trepidation mixed with gratitude, but the girl had little choice. She knew she couldn't make it on her own.

Before we began the journey, I used magic to pile the corpses of the knights together.

"What…what are you doing?" the girl asked, her eyes wide when she saw the ice sculpture scoop and nudge the bodies together.

"Burying them," I replied, and then glanced at her. "You don't want anybody to stumble upon them and raise the alarm, do you?"

"That's…" the girl swallowed, and then nodded. She looked away, unable to keep her eyes on the dead. "Thank you."

After the burial, I accompanied the girl back toward the city. She was familiar with the area, so I allowed her to lead the way. Honestly, that saved me a lot of trouble.

As we walked, I wasn't able to deal with the awkward silence, so I decided to satisfy my curiosity.

"Why were those knights chasing you? What happened?"

The girl jolted, and then avoided my gaze. I quickly held up my hands and placated her.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me. Sorry. I won't pry."

"No. it's all right. It's just…" The girl buried her beautiful face in a delicate-looking hand. "It's so hard to trust anyone now."

I snorted at that. "I know, right?"

"…yeah." The girl glanced at me curiously. Then she took a deep breath. "My name is Stella. Stella Nightsworth. I am…I was a knight of the Bravia Regiment."

I nodded, glancing at the heraldry. Noticing the direction of my gaze, Stella reached up and grabbed the badge. With a disgusted expression, she tore it off and threw it down the mountain. It disappeared into the distance, bouncing off the rocky slope and tumbling toward the bottom.

"My elder sister…she was raped and brutally murdered."

Stella began elaborating on her story. She had come across the broken corpse of her elder sister a couple of nights ago. From the bruises and injuries visible all over her naked body, it was clear that she had been subjected to cruel violence. Blood pooled beneath the sprawled corpse, and her limbs and neck were bent at unnatural angles. Her once beautiful face was swollen and nearly unrecognizable. In fact, it was only the long red hair – the same hair that Stella possessed – that she could tell that the broken, deformed corpse belonged to her sister.

Stella had thrown up and wept.

"It made no sense. My sister was a veteran of the war against demons. She was my only family. In order to raise me, she joined the Havan Knights. We both lost our parents when we were young, but we descended from a family of knights. We had been schooled in swordsmanship. So my sister, in order to raise me, to support our family, she took up knighthood and fought against the demons. She earned great recognition on the battlefield and was promoted."

"Then why was she murdered?" I frowned in bewilderment.

"That's what I want to know too!" Stella gritted her teeth. "About three months ago, she was scouted by Duke Bradley, and recruited to take charge of his new knight regiment."

Three months ago. That was shortly after the strongest Hero party had defeated the Demonic Emperor, and Bradley had just recently been promoted to duke and given this province.

"But…it was just a pretense! A cover! That bastard Bradley harbored sinister motives!"

The duke, Bradley, had indulged himself in women and money, charging his citizens heavy taxes. Basically, he did the exact same thing as Herman and Irene, except that he tried to create his own harem.

Stella's sister had been recruited under the pretext of having her take charge of the knight regiment, but in reality Bradley had lusted after her, having heard of her beauty and valor. He had arranged to make her part of his burgeoning harem, to make her one of his women.

Obviously, Stella's sister refused his overtures. But Bradley was not a man who would take no for an answer.

About a couple of nights ago, Bradley had ordered Stella's sister to his mansion, to discuss business. That was the last time Stella had seen her sister. The next day, when her sister didn't return, she panicked and searched…only to find her corpse abandoned in an alleyway near Bradley's mansion.

Furious, she had stomped into Bradley's mansion, demanding for answers. Bradley had laughed her off, and then realizing how beautiful she was, had ordered her to sleep with him.

Of course, Stella refused. And as I said earlier, Bradley was not a man who took rejection well. He sent a company of knights to apprehend her…and Stella had just found out that they were the same ones who had raped and killed her sister.

"Those bastards…they…"

Tears of frustration, grief and rage flowed from Stella's blue eyes and she clenched her fists.

"I'll never forgive them! I'll never forgive Bradley! He will pay for my sister's death!"

"And how will you make him pay?" I asked wryly. Stella blinked, and then glanced away.

"I…don't know."

We continued in silence for a few more moments, and then she suddenly gasped.

"Wait, earlier…you said you are here to assassinate Duke Bradley, didn't you?"

"I did?"

"Yeah!" Stella insisted, glaring at me. "You said that you're his enemy. That you've returned from the Demonic Empire for his head!"

I scratched my head and shrugged. "Now that you mention it, I might have."

"Oh." Stella looked disappointed. "So you were just bullshitting his soldiers. To intimidate them. I see."

She began to laugh.

"No matter how powerful of a mage you are, it'll still be difficult for you to face an entire regiment of knights. Not to mention, Bradley is a former warrior of the strongest Hero party. He will be more than a match for you."

"Why do you sound like you're expecting me to have some sort of overpowered cheat power?" I asked dryly.

"It would be so much easier if you could deal fixed damage to the enemy, or if your stats amplify every time you die, or you have some system that provides you cheats, or maybe the power of darkness granted to you from an insane goddess…"

"What are you even talking about now?"

"But…but isn't it like that in all revenge stories? The main character dies, only to be revived with some sort of cheat power…"

"You've been reading too much nonsense." I sighed and shook my head. Then I pondered for a while. I might not be able to fully trust this girl, but it seemed that her grudge against Bradley was genuine. Bradley had no way of knowing I was coming after him for revenge, so I doubted he would stage such an elaborate ploy and trap me. Moreover, he was an idiot. He wasn't the type to scheme. He was the kind of person who charged the enemy from the front and relied solely on brute strength.

The problem was that he did possess tremendous strength, which made him a troublesome enemy. Even with my magic, I couldn't guarantee that I could win against someone as powerful and skilled as him. Having fought alongside for a couple of years, I knew more than anyone else that Bradley was not somebody I could afford to underestimate.

I studied the outraged Stella for a moment, weighing my options. If I played this right, she could prove to be a useful tool in my revenge against Bradley. Just like against Herman and Irene, I would have to rely on subterfuge rather than direct combat.

But if I didn't put at least a little bit of trust in Stella, then it would be difficult to use her. In order to receive her cooperation, I should show her some faith.

"Actually, I was telling the truth," I announced. Stella blinked in surprise. I continued without waiting for her to comprehend. "I'm Bradley's enemy. He and the strongest Hero party…they betrayed me and abandoned me in the Demonic Empire, sacrificing me to hold back the lord of vampires, and leaving me to die half a year ago."

"Wait, don't tell me you are…" Stella's eyes widened in realization. Just as I suspected, she had heard the story too.

"My name is Klein Pearson," I said. "And I've returned from the Demonic Empire to take my revenge on all those who betrayed me."