Chapter 278: Reached
Luke hadn’t wanted the others to witness any of it, but as if fate had other plans, they ended up watching him kill those men anyway.
Some out of concern and some out of curiosity watched his fight. But despite knowing that, there was no easier way of killing those men.
Letting out a quiet sigh, he was about to return to them when his ears caught another set of footsteps.
He sharpened his senses.
Three people were approaching.
For some reason, they weren’t even trying to conceal their presence. They were walking straight toward them without hesitation.
Were they different from the people he had just killed?
Even so, Luke wasn’t willing to take any chances.
He drew his dagger once more before saying, "Stay inside the carriage. We have company."
Monica immediately tensed.
She knew her mate wasn’t physically exhausted, but after spending the entire night without sleep and then being forced into all of this, it couldn’t have been easy on him.
She was restlessly fidgeting, torn between calling him out or climbing down to stand by his side.
Laila gently placed a hand on Monica’s shoulder.
"He’ll be fine, Mother," she said reassuringly. "Just trust his judgment and stay inside."
Monica pressed her lips and nodded. She hoped Laila was right.
Outside, just as Luke had sensed, three men emerged from the shadows. One of them kept both hands raised, making it clear he wasn’t carrying a weapon.
"Easy there," he called out. "We’re not here to cause any harm."
Unlike the ambushers, these men were dressed in well-made clothes, and the weapons at their waists were polished and clearly expensive.
And the fact they didn’t conceal their presence stated their purpose.
"Who are you?" Luke asked, one brow rising slightly.
He didn’t lower his guard. One careless mistake was all it would take to put the people behind him in danger.
"We’re the patrolling guards from the nearby village," the man explained. "We came after receiving word that this group was planning to target another traveler."
"Are you from Darbaru Village?" Luke asked. He heard the name from Roxanne during the journey. The same place where she was born.
The man nodded. "I take it you were on your way there?"
Luke nodded in return. "Yeah. We would’ve reached by now if it weren’t for them."
The guard let out a weary sigh, his face tightening with annoyance.
"These bastards prey on every passerby, especially anyone traveling with a carriage." He glanced at the bodies scattered across the road before looking back at Luke. "Thankfully, all of you are safe."
It seemed attacks like this were nothing out of the ordinary.
"It’s surprising," Luke remarked, "that a village considered one of the head village’s pillars can’t even secure the main road leading to it."
The three men exchanged bitter looks.
One of them, the man on the left, spoke up. "We’ve been stretched thin lately trying to clean up this mess. These bandits belong to a much larger group involved in all kinds of criminal activities."
Luke inwardly rolled his eyes. Yeah, go ahead and make excuses all you want.
Luke didn’t want to even imagine what could have happened today, if he wasn’t inside the carriage.
Just then, one of them asked, "How were you able to kill them so easily? Are you a warrior as well?"
If the dagger in his hand wasn’t enough of an answer, Luke wasn’t sure what would be.
"He means..." the man standing in the middle quickly clarified, as though he had read Luke’s thoughts, "can you use magic?"
Luke shrugged. "Well, putting that aside, they were criminals. I believe I was justified in ending their lives."
The warrior nodded. "That’s true. In fact, you’ll likely receive a reward from our guild leader for dealing with them."
Luke blinked in surprise.
"Oh? You have guilds here?"
It was the first time he had heard of such an organization.
The man nodded. "We do. Those who prefer hunting monsters and criminals over defending the village usually join the guild. The Guild Master is also the second-highest authority in the village, right after the chief."
Luke gave a thoughtful nod.
"Well, we can continue talking on the way. Do you three have horses?"
The three men nodded without hesitation, and it was decided that they would continue the journey with the guards leading the way.
"Alert me if they lead us off the road," Luke quietly told Rel before climbing back into the carriage.
Rel gave a small nod. He had intended to do that anyway.
Although the three men appeared sincere and trustworthy, the timing of their arrival couldn’t be ignored. They had shown up the moment Luke killed the last ambusher. It was entirely possible they were part of the same organization and had decided to lure them to their main force after realizing they couldn’t defeat Luke on their own.
Once Luke settled back inside and the carriage started moving again, Monica looked at him with lingering worry.
"You scared me back there..." she murmured. "Why do you always let them get so close before attacking?"
As she spoke, she gently wiped the blood from his arm with a piece of cloth Roxanne had handed her.
Luke smiled faintly.
"Sometimes it’s about crushing the enemy’s spirit before defeating them," he said. "I let them believe they have a chance to strike me, only to take that hope away in the very next moment."
Monica understood what he meant.
But understanding and accepting were two different things.
The woman in her, and more importantly the mate in her heart, couldn’t find any comfort in those words.
"Next time..." she said softly, continuing to wipe away the blood, "please choose the safer option."
Luke chuckled in defeat.
"Understood."
To Thea, it was an unbelievably strange sight.
The same man who had slaughtered so many people without the slightest hesitation now looked utterly helpless before this woman.
It was truly baffling.
As the sun slowly dipped below the horizon, they continued onward. They wanted to reach their destination before nightfall, and the journey had become much easier now that man-made lamps illuminated both sides of the road.
"How are they glowing?" Luke asked, studying the hanging lanterns lining the path toward the large settlement in the distance.
Did someone regularly refill them with oil to keep them burning?
Or was this some form of sorcery?
His curiosity only grew.
Before long, the houses ahead came into clear view.
Roxanne’s eyes shimmered with nostalgia, but beneath it lay unmistakable nervousness.
She was returning home after such a long time that her heart refused to settle.
At the same time, the thought of seeing her mother and younger sister again filled her with anxiety.
Sensing the storm of emotions within her, Luke quietly reached over and held her hand.
"Everything will be fine," he assured her.
Roxanne’s cheeks flushed when he said that in front of everyone.
Normally, she would have been too embarrassed to meet anyone’s eyes.
But right now, she needed those words.
More than ever.
A gentle smile slowly spread across her lips as she gave a small nod.
"Mm."
Not long afterward, they arrived at the village entrance.
At last...
They had reached their destination.
Darbaru.
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