The Bloody Valkyrie

He had no background and didn’t know anyone, so how was he able to escape the army easily. Luckily, he met with some people who could help him with his escape, perhaps his luck wasn’t that bad after all.

It was a mercenary group that had helped him escape.

Of course, to the mercenary group, Zach was only a farmer and wasn’t much of a use to them.  But they had lost many members due to the war, and wished to quickly return to their former size.

Because of this, the mercenary group easily let Zach join. But this wasn’t really a legitimate mercenary group. During a war, they were mercenaries. During times of peace, they became bandits.

It is no wonder what sort of life he led after that point.

To have something is better than nothing. To take is better than to be taken from. Instead of crying, it is better to let the others cry.

He was living that kind of life.

He felt no wrong, and had no regrets.

Every time he heard  the victims’ begging and whimpers, he further confirmed on his beliefs to be so.

Now he broke into a run in the lower city. He runs in the world that’s in even deeper shade of red than the current setting twilight.

He had been pushing himself ever since he had left the inn, so he’s already breathless with beads of sweat on his forehead. He felt exhausted and wanted to rest, wondering if he should actually do so. But since he didn’t have much time, he endured the fatigue and kept on running.

As Zach was about to make a sharp turn at the corner of the street——

“So dangerous~”

A complaint and a clattering of metal sounded as the figure quickly turned their body to avoid a collision.

The near impact startled Zach, and he looked towards the shadow that had jumped back.

In front of him was a woman with a well proportioned face. The black cape she was wearing was blending her with the shadows, but her bright purple eyes were looking at him with great curiosity.

Due to  his exhaustion, Zach had lost all of his patience and barked:

“That’s my line! That was dangerous! Keep your eyes in front of you!”

The woman didn’t seem to be afraid of his threatening snarl and showed him a cold smile.

That smile made Zach want to step back and he couldn’t muster the courage to take out the knife hidden under his shirt. He was like a mouse being stared down by a lion.

The clattering sound of metals that he heard from the moment she jumped back, it’s probably from her armor.

An armor-wearing woman, perhaps she was an adventurer.

...Wrong target to pick a fight with.

Zach’s subconscious was sending out danger signals, and he realized the situation he is in.

He wouldn’t look down on this woman because of the naive thinking that females were of the weaker sex. Zach knew there was a really strong group of female only adventurers. He remembered this being casually mentioned by the strongest member of his mercenary group.

Although Zach was in the same group as that member, he was undoubtedly the weakest of them all.  He was made the errand boy because he’s weak.

Drenched with sweat from all the running, Zach now regretted the threatening tone he took and his sweat slowly turned into another kind of sweat.

As Zach’s face was showing obvious fear, the woman’s smile suddenly became less frightening:

“Hmm~ whatever. I don’t have much time as well. But if I see you again, be prepared to feel some discomfort~”

The woman casually remarked and walked around him. Zach became interested in the direction this particular woman was heading, but it was just a part of the lower town where no one was living.

It was already this late, so why was a beauty like her heading towards the slums? Though he felt curious, he had more important matters to deal with. He started running again.

After a while, he reached another part of the lower city that was filled with many ramshackle houses. He briefly looked around to check if he had been followed.

The sun was gradually sinking below the horizon, and the world was slowly shrouded in darkness. Zach tried to check a second time to see if anyone had been following him by hiding in a dark corner. He had repeatedly performed this action many times already, but he wanted to check one last time just to be safe.

Nodding in satisfaction Zach tried to catch his breath while knocking the door three times. Five seconds later, he knocked another four times.

After giving the secret knock, a reaction could immediately be felt on the other side of the door, which was the sound of a wooden plate sliding against the door. The wooden plate blocking the peephole slid to the side, and a man’s eyes could be seen looking around, to confirm the identity of the intruder.

“Ah, it’s you. Wait a moment.”

He didn’t wait for Zach’s response and blocked the peephole again. The sound of a heavy lock being opened could be heard next and the door opened slightly.

“Come in.”