Nightmare Came to The Place I Escaped - Chapter 108

“Prepare a doctor.”

“Duke, do you really mean for us to fetch help?”

 

The knight chased after the Duke of Oates, who was quickly moving, and asked again.

 

“Yeah, she said they poisoned the mercenaries.”

“Then…”

 

The knight was speechless for a moment, and only blinked.

 

The mercenaries drank poison, and they were now looking for a doctor.

 

“Are you looking for an antidote?”

“Yes, we shouldn’t let them die. So, don’t be too late to bring the doctor. I don’t know what poison they might have given them, so bring as many antidotes as you can.”

“Yes, Duke. I’ll hurry.”

 

The knight nodded, and hurried to find a doctor.

 

The Duke of Oates sighed softly and raised his voice loudly.

 

“So, who checked Diane Avery’s belongings?”

“I have it, Duke!”

 

A knight hurried to hand the Duke the belongings he’d found in the pockets of Diane’s clothes.

 

A small glass bottle, a dagger, and a few gold pieces.

 

The Duke of Oates rubbed his chin slowly at the simpler than expected possessions.

 

“Hmm.”

“They decided to kill everyone involved in this.”

 

The Duke, who was reflecting on what Diana had just said, was handed a glass bottle.

 

Such a small amount of liquid, less than a sip.

 

“This is…”

 

So was the liquid in this glass bottle a poison to kill the mercenaries? But why did Diana have this?

 

The Duke peered into the glass bottle. She told him that she and Count Blackbore planned to poison the mercenaries.

 

Diana thought that Count Blackbore had betrayed her, but it seemed that the Count had acted according to their plan.

 

If this was poison, why was Diana carrying this around with her? There was no reason for her to have it.

 

The mercenaries would’ve already been poisoned by Count Blackbore. Even if some of the mercenaries didn’t take poison, there was no way that Diane, who was weaker than the mercenaries, could feed the poison to the mercenaries.

 

“….”

 

So, this belonged to Diana Avery?

 

The Duke rolled the small glass bottle that the knight had given him several times on the palm of his hand and handed it back to the knight.

 

“It was in Diana Avery’s possession. Perhaps the mercenaries took a similar poison, so please refer to it.”

“Yes! I understand.”

“Maybe it was mixed with water or food, and fed to them secretly. They’ll slowly become paralyzed, and die within two days.”

 

The Duke clicked his tongue.

 

“Tell the doctor. They must find an antidote.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll be back in a hurry.”

 

If all the mercenaries were dead, it would be easy for Count Blackbore to escape as planned.

 

If he hadn’t heard from Diana that this was related to Count Blackbore, everything would have gone according to his plan.

 

The Duke of Oates had no intention of letting go of anyone involved in this matter. He had to make them pay for touching the Oates family.

 

“Haa.”

 

In his heart, he just wanted to go to Mike and Rachel right away. His Majesty had gone to them, so he’d made up his mind, with the understanding that everything would be alright.

 

What he had to do for Mike and Rachel right now was to find the mercenaries who raided the Oates family’s carriage and catch the ones who escaped.

 

It was for Mike and Rachel that he would catch them, and prevent the ones involved in this from escaping.

 

So, he couldn’t let the mercenaries die.

 

“Ha…”

 

However, obtaining an antidote wasn’t an easy task. It was also questionable whether they would be able to obtain the antidote in time.

 

Duke Oates, who was watching the knight walking away, let out a small sigh at the vagueness.

 

***

 

“Duke, I caught a suspicious person.”

 

The knight brought a man to the Duke.

 

It was suspicious that he was taking a rest while hiding himself in the dark forest.

 

The man tried to run away when the Oates family knight approached him, but he couldn’t escape because of the deep wound on his calf. He limped and took a few steps before being caught again.

 

It was clearly an arrow wound.

 

“Hey, Duke. I’m really upset.”

 

The man, who was dragged in by the knight, shook his head violently as if he was falsely accused.

 

“I don’t know who you’re looking for, but it’s definitely not me!”

“Then how did you hurt your leg?”

“Well, it was a hunting accident.”

“An accident?”

“Yes, it was just an accident. A person who went hunting with me shot an arrow to catch a roe deer. I, who was next to it, was hit by accident.”

 

At the man’s words, the Duke looked at him quietly.

 

“You got hurt while hunting. Then what happened to the person you were hunting with that left you alone on the mountains during the night?”

“He went to call a doctor for me. That’s why I was waiting there. Then I was caught and dragged away by the knight. I’m innocent!”

 

The Duke turned his head to the knight.

 

“Duke, it’s a half-hour walk from the place where this man was hiding himself to the nearest village.”

“Then he could’ve called for a doctor before sunset. So, why would he wait for the doctor until now?”

 

For a moment, the man’s face distorted.

 

“Also, what is the reason that you went hunting without a bow or arrows? Did the person who went to call the doctor take your weapon?”

“That, that… ”

“Besides, you don’t seem to live around here. So, you don’t seem to know this, but hunting is prohibited in the forest near where these carriage roads are.”

 

It was only then that the man’s face turned white as if he realized that his lie wouldn’t work.

 

“Sorry, sorry. I was just following the boss! I didn’t even know who I was attacking!”

 

The man fell to his knees. His quivering lips and uneasy breathing expressed his state of mind.

 

“I just followed him because he said they would pay me a lot! Please, forgive me!”

“So, where did the others go?”

“I was abandoned when I was lagging behind. They’ve probably gone far on the horses by now.”

 

The Duke nodded at the man’s words.

 

“Did anyone else get hurt besides you?”

“Yes, but none of the people who ran away with me.”

 

By now, they were already far away. For now, it was impossible to catch them. They’d already left this place on horseback, and they didn’t know their faces or age.

 

“Just give him some simple treatment before the doctor arrives.”

 

The Duke glanced at the kneeling mercenary’s legs, and ordered a nearby knight. The wound wasn’t just wetting his pants a bit, the blood dripped all the way to the hem of his pants.

 

“End the search here. Now we wait for the doctor.”

 

As the mercenary said, those who were not injured must have already fled far away on horseback. It was pointless to send out the knights to catch people who’d already escaped.

 

So it seemed that now all he had to do was find the antidote, then join Mike and Rachel.

 

“Excuse me, Duke.”

 

At that time, the knight who was bandaging the mercenary cautiously approached the Duke.

 

“What is it?”

“The mercenary is unable to move his feet properly.”

“What?”

“I don’t think the leg that wasn’t hit by the arrow can move either. His legs are numb, too. I don’t think it’s a symptom of an arrow injury.”

 

At the words of the knight, the Duke moved back to the mercenary.

 

“Your legs are numb?”

“No, not now. Besides, it wasn’t that bad.”

“Huh, the doctor will be here soon. Tell him everything about the symptoms you’re experiencing then.”

“Don’t you mean a medic? Well, I’m fine. It’s ridiculous to call a doctor.”

 

The mercenary shook his head in a hurry as if he was okay.

 

“If you want to live, you’d better see a doctor. Didn’t you know that Count Blackbore gave you poison?”

“What? Poison?”

“Yes. So, if you want to live, answer sincerely to what the doctor asks.”

“But, but if it’s Count Blackbore.… Why did he poison us? When did he poison us?”

“It is Count Blackbore who commissioned you to do this.”

 

The mercenary hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth.

 

“But… The boss said that it was definitely not an aristocrat who hired us. Plus poison, I don’t remember taking poison! I’ve never met Count Blackbore. How…”

 

Then he closed his mouth as if he thought of something.

 

“We were treated to dinner, while they said, ‘Please take good care of it without fail’. However, we never even knew that Count Blackbore was our client. Why would he kill us?”

 

The mercenary raised his voice abruptly.

 

“What’s there to gain by killing us all!”

“He must’ve wanted to rule out any possibility. Maybe if you guys are alive, he might get caught.”

“What are you talking about!”

 

The mercenary frowned.

 

He liked hearing ‘If you succeed at this job and get paid, all your hardships will be over.’

 

In the end, the client had no intention of paying them.

 

He still couldn’t believe that Count Blackbore was going to kill them all in the first place.

 

The mercenary frowned at the dull ache and muscle pain he felt a while ago. He thought it was caused by the injury, but that wasn’t the case.

 

Then were his other colleagues getting stiff like him?

 

Did they even know that they ate poison at that dinner, that their bodies were hardening? Could they survive? Would they visit a doctor?

 

They left him in the forest so they could live.

 

However, none of them would live.

 

The Duke of Oates told him to tell the doctor his symptoms if he wanted to live, but even if he managed to get an antidote, he wouldn’t live.

 

He’d attacked the heir of the Oates’ family and His Majesty, the Emperor. It was a matter of death.

 

“If you help catch Count Blackbore, your punishment will be reduced.”

“…What?”

 

The mercenary, who was shedding tears in vain, raised his head at the Duke’s words.

 

***

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