Chapter 14: Carlos Is Dead
“Shh—! You little idiot, keep your voice down! If those knights overhear us, we’re done for!”
The person spoke in a hushed tone, careful enough, but still not escaping my sharp senses.
“… What are you afraid of? They’re so far away they can’t possibly hear us, plus there’s no one else around… How about we sneak a few puffs here before heading back?”
“Dammit, Lyuz! Quiet down and get to work, don’t make trouble for yourself.”
“Yeah, Lyuz, just listen to big bro. It’ll be fine, just bear with it. Tonight’s a special case with so many Church Knights around, we can’t let anything slip. Don’t get stupid now.”
“It’s just two puffs; what could possibly go wrong?”
What are they talking about? Is there a junkie among them?
I poked my little head out from behind the tree, squinting to get a clear view of what was happening in the distance, but the falling snowflakes kept obstructing my sight; everything appeared hazy.
“… You fool, what are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed! Put that away!”
Just then, a muscular figure lunged at another person, the two of them began to tussle, apparently fighting over something in their hands.
“Quick, help me out!”
“Lyuz, you idiot, dammit!”
“Quit it! I’m not doing it anymore, I swear… NM, that’s mine!”
The scuffle didn’t last long before breaking apart, likely because someone compromised. That voice continued, sounding exasperated.
“Phew—, MD, you know who we’re delivering to, right? If anything goes wrong, don’t say I didn’t warn you; even your whole family won’t escape this. Can’t you be smart? Don’t let that craving take over everything!”
“… I know, I know. I just took it out to get a whiff, haha. It’s just a little dry spell, nothing serious.”
“If you dare show that again, I’ll deal with you first!”
“Big bro, cool it down, haha.”
“But our boss is probably the first one to crack, right? Hahaha.”
“That’s his problem; you better shut your mouth.”
…………
The figures gradually moved away.
I stepped out from behind the tree, not wasting any more time in the forest, and absorbed another animal before returning to the group.
The knights had already lit a roaring campfire, its brightness illuminating the scattered white tents around, standing out notably in the twilight. About two hundred meters from the camp, tiny flickers of light indicated the merchants’ camp.
Smart move. If they are indeed regular merchants, the closer they are to the Church Knights, the safer they are. But if there’s something fishy, acting all cautious won’t help; it would only spark suspicion. Quite a bold yet meticulous choice.
Carlos was sitting on a large rock by the fire, legs spread, like a kid playing, making snowballs to toss into the distance. When he saw me approaching, he immediately extended a half-eaten dry bread to me.
“Want some?”
… This guy thinks I’m what? Daring to offer me leftover bread? Upon closer inspection, it even had Carlos’s shiny saliva on it.
I grimaced in disgust.
“Not eating that, are you trying to k*ll me?”
Carlos shrugged nonchalantly and finished the bread in two or three bites.
“Why do you take so long every time you go to the bathroom? Constipated?”
I shot him a glare and turned my head away angrily, showing I didn’t want to talk. After a moment, remembering what happened in the forest, I couldn’t help but ask him again.
“Carlos. Lotus Seed Grass, what is it?”
Carlos, holding a snowball ready to throw at me, suddenly changed his expression.
“Where did you hear about that?”
I gave him a fierce look, my delicate fingers pointing toward his nose.
“Carlos, are you daring to throw a snowball at me!?”
His eyes went wide.
If he dares to throw it, I’ll fight him.
“No.” Carlos immediately dropped the snowball, raising his hands in surrender, “Let’s talk nicely. What was it you mentioned about Lotus Seed Grass?”
“… In the forest, I heard the merchants talking.” I changed my finger direction, pointing to the campfires of the merchant convoy not far off, “They have big employers who are really afraid of being discovered.”
After saying this, I felt a little embarrassed to just answer his questions. It sounded like I was too obedient. Wrinkling my little nose in dissatisfaction, I thought for a moment and finally huffed, “I’m the only one who gets to throw at you; you can’t throw back.”
Then, I bent down, made a snowball, and threw it at his face, feeling satisfied.
“… Stop messing around.” Carlos wiped the snow off his face, falling into contemplation.
“What is it?” I asked curiously.
“Lotus Seed Grass… can numb a person’s senses. Originally, physicians used it as an herbal remedy for pain relief. But soon after, someone discovered that if you burn the dried Lotus Seed Grass, the smoke produces hallucinations. They say… it can make you forget all worldly troubles, like entering a paradise. But it’s extremely harmful to the body and very addictive. People who use Lotus Seed Grass for long periods end up going mad. This stuff is considered a specialty of Silgaya… a drug the Holy Church is constantly trying to suppress.”
“Oh.”
Isn’t that just like poppies?
“Since we know about this, we can’t just let it slide.”
Carlos dusted off his pants, sitting up thoughtfully, then waved to the Captain of Knights nearby.
“Mr. Carlos, is there something you need?” The Captain replied with a formal salute before inquiring.
“There’s a problem with those merchants over there…”
Carlos explained what was going on.
The Captain’s face turned disgusted when he heard there might be someone peddling Lotus Seed Grass.
“If Little Shay heard them mention a big employer, then it’s definitely not just a simple supply run for the orphanage. We should go take a look.”
“Sure.”
The Captain agreed, calling over twenty knights and walked with Carlos toward the merchant camp. I had nothing else to do, so I decided to tag along just to see the excitement.
The merchant camp was quite lively; I could hear various coarse conversations and laughter from afar. As soon as they saw the Church Knights approaching, everything went quiet in an instant, with suspicion clearly written on their faces.
The Captain’s expression darkened as he surveyed the area and called out.
“Who’s in charge here?”
“I am, I am… uh, fellow knights, might I inquire what brings you here?”
A slightly portly middle-aged man stepped out from the crowd, bowing slightly and sporting a ridiculous, forced smile.
I recognized him; he was the same man who had locked eyes with me before, and his gaze made my skin crawl from the very start.
“I need to inspect your cargo.” The Captain stated firmly, without waiting for consent, signaling the knights behind him, “Open their cargo boxes; look for dried grass leaves or black-gray powder.”
“Yes!”
“Keep your eyes sharp!”
The knights pushed their way through the merchants in front and started prying open wooden boxes by the carts for inspection.
“What are you doing! You can’t do that!”
Some tried to rush forward to stop them, but were roughly shoved to the ground, the scene quickly descending into chaos. The lead merchant appeared anxious, wanting to stop but not daring to, wiping sweat from his forehead, he timidly spoke up.
“Uh, sir, we’re just a group of merchants working hard for the Holy Church, helping to earn some meager money. Is there some misunderstanding here?”
“Whether there’s a misunderstanding, we’ll find out after the inspection.”
The Captain remained unmoved, directing the knights to open every single wooden box, casually rummaging through their goods.
Watching the chaotic situation unfold, I couldn’t help but smirk.
It seemed the Church was used to heavy-handed law enforcement; this scene made it look like we were the bad guys.
“Sir, I don’t know what you’re suspecting. We’re just delivering food for the children at the orphanage; you can’t do this to us!”
The lead merchant was sweating profusely, but since the Captain wasn’t paying him any attention, he turned his gaze to the little girl standing next to him—me—and, after a brief moment, sought help from Carlos.
After all, in normal reasoning, a little girl like me wouldn’t make those rough knights behave, but Carlos looked more reliable.
“Sir, may I ask what exactly we’ve done wrong? Let’s be clear about this.”
Carlos shrugged, putting on a nonchalant act.
The merchant wore a pleading look, appearing quite pathetic, but I noticed he subtly reached behind him, signaling something.
Hmm, there was indeed something off.
I gently tugged Carlos’s sleeve.
“Hm? What’s up? Did you notice something?”
“Yeah.” I nodded at him, and then, maintaining a straight face, I extended my right hand, palm up. “Give me food.”
Suddenly feeling a bit hungry.
Sure, I just devoured an animal, but that only satisfied my mental hunger; I hadn’t had dinner yet.
“…”
Carlos looked at me in disbelief.
“Nothing.”
While he said that, he pulled out a clean small cloth bag from his jacket, and under my expectant gaze, opened it to reveal a pie.
“Why didn’t you give this to me earlier?”
“You didn’t ask for it.”
Carlos feigned innocence and handed me a piece.
“Give me everything!”
I snatched the pie right out of his hand.
Meanwhile, the cargo inspection was nearly done, and a knight came over to report.
“Captain Kral, no irregularities found.”
“Sir, I told you we’re just ordinary merchants.” The lead merchant let out a small sigh of relief, smiling.
The Captain ignored the merchant’s words and instead looked at me with a frown.
“Chew, chew, chew… find someone who goes by the name Lyuz, search him.”
The lead merchant’s smile faded in an instant, turning as pale as a ghost.
The Captain noticed his reaction, a faint smirk playing on his lips.
“Who is Lyuz?”
“… Sir, we don’t have anyone named Lyuz here…”
I elbowed the Captain and pointed behind a nearby rock.
Under the faint moonlight, a sneaky figure, clutching a large bundle, was trying to quietly slip away in the night.
“Who is that!”
“Someone’s trying to run!”
“Chase!”
Seeing they were discovered, the figure turned tail and fled. The Captain commanded the knights to pursue him.
I swallowed the food in my mouth and grabbed another piece of pie to bite into. Just then, a flash of electric light flickered beside me—Carlos moved.
“Zzap—”
“Boom—”
A thick blue arc of electricity zipped by, and in the next moment, he had caught the person.
Then, the suddenly roaring wind hit me, tangling my hair and throwing bits of dirt onto my dress.
“Thud.”
Startled, I dropped the pie from my hand, scattering it on the ground.
“…”
My face turned dark.
