Rael released the blade from the knight's grip, which echoed with a soft metal ring as it fell from Yamamura's neck.
He stood there, coolly, between the old chief and the armored figure, his eyes slitted, as though this were but a trifle.
"My lord," Rael said loudly enough to be heard in the quiet square, "if you feel that much hatred toward commoners such as ourselves, maybe you shouldn't be sitting on that horse."
The villagers gasped.
Rael, a mute boy who rarely spoke more than a few words in a whole day, is now outspokenly speaking back to a noble knight.
Rael continued, his voice still calm. "In fact. you should be on the ground. Barefoot."
The knight's face contorted with rage. He seized Rael by the collar, his own blade against Rael's neck, veins throbbing in his forehead.
"What," he hissed, "did you just say to me?"
Rael met his gaze unafraid. The cold, dark depths of his eyes were enough to make a king gaze back at him like a bug.
"You don't like us, do you?" Rael said quietly. "Then why are you wearing our clothes?"
The knight stood still for a moment.
Rael tipped his head to one side. "I am certain that the armor is a commoner's craftsmanship. The blacksmith who made that armor is a commoner. The one who polished it is a commoner. And that warhorse of yours, which you are so proud to ride, is fed, brushed, and trained by commoners."
Rael's words are sharper than a knife.
So, Rael
"So, as far as how much you detest touching us,… don't you think that maybe you should be naked? No armor. No sword. Not even a saddle."
The onlookers were shaking with fear. The villagers were covering their mouths in shock. Others were eager to shout, but they were too afraid.
The knight's anger erupted. "You bastard!."
Raising his sword, his eyes full of murder, he prepared to cut Rael's throat.
Before he could swing—
There was a flash of silver against the sky.
A dagger hissed in from the side, embedding itself deep within the shoulder of the knight.
"GYAAAH!" shouted the knight, releasing his sword as he stumbled backwards, clutching at his side.
Gasps echoed in the square.
"Everyone turned."
On the rim of the clearing, in the trees encircling the village, five people lounged on branches: heads swathed in black cloth, garments dark enough to blend, yet light enough to move with ease. Adventurers.
Among them, the one who had hurled the dagger, sat leaning a little forward, speaking in a cold tone.
"Leave," he said. "Or prepare to die here."
The knights hesitated.
They surveyed the dagger lodged in their captain's armor, the villagers, the forest that closed in around them. It had cost a lot of money to make that armor, with enough mana steel added for it to be impenetrable—yet the dagger had bored straight into it.
"H-how. can a lowly villager group have a weapon that can break my armor.?" the captain growled in a whisper, his furious gaze fixed on Rael and the forest.
The thing was, they didn't know from which direction the next attack might come. The village was circled by trees, with shadows everywhere as far as the knights were concerned.
"Captain, what do we do.?" one of the knights whispered nervously.
The captain gritted his teeth; blood oozed from his wounds. "You," he grated, his eyes locked on Rael, on the adventurers, on the villagers.
"Tch. We're leaving," he spat. "For now
The knights started retreating, slowly backing away from the entrance of the village. But before they could completely turn around, the captain glanced over his shoulder, his eyes full of hatred.
"Enjoy the time you have left," he snarled. "Because soon. all of you will die."
The two knights climbed on their horses and set off, going out of sight down the dirt road.
The villagers can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Rael stood there in silence, Yamamura still on the ground behind him, as the black-clad adventurers observed from the trees, the tension still palpable.