Chapter 78: A Lonely Journey.

Chapter 78: Chapter 78: A Lonely Journey.

Chapter 78: A Lonely Journey.

It was a suit of armour covered in dirt, blood and claw marks.

It was a bit banged up no doubt but at least the essential parts were still there.

Osborne gradually put on the suit of armour, and yet.

"...." In the end, one part refused to work.

The helm.

His horns were unable to fit.

Just when he thought of giving up, he noticed something hidden with in the dirt.

Osborne bent down and saw a rusty blade. Probably belonging to the armour set.

His expression hardened then he picked it up.

He sat down on the dirth before using the blade to saw at his horns.

The moment he began, he felt an instant surge of pain which forced him to grit his teeth, nevertheless he pressed on, thinking to himself that this was necessary.

After who knew how long, both horns were cut off at their base.

The bleeding gradually stopped thanks to his healing factor.

Osborne let out a tired breath, cutting his horns felt like sawing off two of his limbs, but thankfully he was now done.

He stared at both horns before storing them in his sub space. He once read that demon parts sold well on the market, a good tip for later on.

Right now he didn’t have access to a nobles wealth so every coin mattered.

Osborne then got up before leaving the tunnels.

*******

The first thing Osborne felt when he woke up was the cold.

It wasn’t cold enough to freeze him, but the morning air was still chilly enough that he could feel it against the exposed parts of his face, while the rest of his body remained covered by the armor he had refused to take off during the night.

Slowly, Osborne opened his eyes.

For a few seconds, he simply stared at the wooden roof above him before remembering where he was.

He was inside a small makeshift shelter that he had put together the previous night using several branches, leaves, and pieces of bark he had gathered from the surrounding forest.

It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it was enough to keep most of the wind away from him.

’Another day.’ Osborne sighed before pushing himself up.

His armor made a faint metallic sound as he moved, and after crawling out of the small shelter, he stood upright and stretched his arms above his head.

"Ahh..." A quiet yawn escaped his mouth.

He moved his shoulders from side to side before stretching his neck, feeling several small cracks as his body adjusted to the movement.

For a moment, he simply stood there.

The forest around him was quiet.

Birds could be heard somewhere in the distance, while the leaves of the trees moved gently whenever the morning wind passed through them.

There were no servants.

No guards.

No large estate.

No familiar voices.

Only the distance call of the wild.

Osborne looked down at the remains of the campfire he had made the previous night.

The flames had long since disappeared, leaving nothing more than a pile of gray ashes and a few pieces of blackened wood.

He stared at them for a while before letting out a quiet sigh.

It had been over a week since he had left the Roosevelt Household behind.

During that time, he had done everything possible to avoid being noticed.

He had stayed away from the major roads whenever possible, avoided towns, and spent most of his time moving through forests.

He had also avoided staying in one place for too long.

The reason was simple.

He didn’t know whether his little ploy had worked.

He had deliberately made it seem as though Osborne Bismarck had either died, disappeared, or been replaced by something else entirely.

If Roseline believed that, then perhaps she wouldn’t immediately search for him.

However, there was always the possibility that she had seen through everything.

And if that were the case, Osborne didn’t want to make the mistake of staying in one place long enough for her people to find him.

’Better to assume the worst.’

He had been travelling on foot for days, only stopping whenever his body needed food or when he needed a few hours of sleep.

Normally, such a journey would have been impossible for an ordinary human.

Walking through forests for several days without proper rest would leave even a trained knight exhausted, but Osborne had quickly discovered that his body was no longer entirely human.

The changes had become more obvious since leaving the Roosevelt Household behind.

His stamina had increased considerably, allowing him to travel much longer than he should have been able to.

He could remain awake for days without feeling the same level of exhaustion he would have experienced before.

Even when he finally slept, he needed much less time before his body was ready to move again.

At first, Osborne had been pleased by the discovery.

Now, however, there was something else that concerned him.

His stomach growled all of a sudden.

Osborne froze.

"..." He slowly lowered his head.

Beneath his helmet, his expression became slightly irritated.

’Again?’

His stomach growled a second time.

Osborne frowned.

"Blasted thing can’t ever be full." Osborne grumbled. " Can’t you hold it in a little bit more?!"

Of course, his stomach didn’t answer.

Instead, it growled once more.

Osborne sighed.

Along the way, he had discovered just how different his body had become.

His stamina wasn’t the only thing that had changed.

Unfortunately for him, he had also discovered that he needed considerably more food than an ordinary human.

Much more.

At first, he had thought it was simply because of all the walking he was doing.

But after several days, he had realized that wasn’t the case.

Even on days when he barely moved, his hunger remained far stronger than it had ever been.

His body simply seemed to demand more energy.

’The demonic essence is probably affecting my metabolism.’

Osborne rubbed his stomach.

He didn’t know enough about demons to say for certain, but there was no point denying the obvious.

Something inside his body was changing.

And it was changing faster than he would have liked.