Chapter 84: An Unexpected Companion.

Chapter 84: Chapter 84: An Unexpected Companion.

Chapter 84: An Unexpected Companion.

’So these bastards have been doing this for quite some time.’

He walked toward the deeper part of the cave.

There were several piles of belongings stacked against the walls.

Some of them clearly belonged to merchants, while others were personal belongings that had probably been taken from ordinary travelers.

Osborne sighed.

’What a waste.’ He wasn’t particularly interested in most of it.

Carrying all these things around would only slow him down.

However, the grain was different.

The poor man had probably lost most of what he had worked for.

Osborne turned around.

’I’ll at least return what I can.’

He grabbed one of the sacks and walked out of the cave.

On the stretch of road, the old wagon driver was still sitting beside his wagon.

His head was lowered, his shoulders shaking slightly.

The old man’s body jolted when the wagon suddenly shook.

He hurriedly raised his head, only for his eyes to widen.

He saw an armored man suddenly walking away from the back of his wagon.

"Wait..." The old man called out, unsure what he had done.

But Osborne didn’t respond. The knight continued walking, vanishing into the forest.

The old man stared outwards in confusion.

Curious, he went to check the back of his wagon.

The moment he saw two large sacks of grain sitting there, his eyes widened.

"Impossible." He couldn’t believe his eyes.

He hurriedly stood up, feeling like he was hallucinating.

The old man approached the sacks and placed his hand on one.

It was real. This was no hallucination; it was his missing grain.

But where had it come from? He wondered.

’Could it be?’ He suddenly recalled the strange knightly figure.

He looked toward the forest. The armored knight was nowhere to be seen.

"Who is that man...?" The old man scratched his head.

Just then, the armored figure from before returned once more. The old man couldn’t believe it. He walked out with another set of grains on his shoulders.

He didn’t have time to think for long before both landed inside the wagon.

"Wait a moment, sir! How are you—where are you getting these?!"

Weren’t his goods already stolen? So how come he was bringing them back?

Unless...

The old man’s gaze turned into a look of bewilderment.

’Did he dispatch those hoodlums?’ He thought to himself.

But that would mean he had been here the whole time watching everything. If not, how could he have known the grains were his?

Rather than feeling weary, the old man’s heart was filled with gratitude towards this unexpected benefactor.

"Wait! I’d really like to talk to you." He called out, but once again, Osborne didn’t stop.

"You... you were the one who defeated those bandits, weren’t you?" Even when he said this, Osborne’s gait didn’t pause.

The old man became even more unsure of what was happening.

He had lived a long life, and in that time, he knew how soldiers and knights behaved. They were mostly all arrogant, only mindful of their lord.

Did that mean that this knight was sent by the lord of this land to help eliminate the bandits? He wondered.

But on second thought, he found it implausible.

He knew how reclusive the lord of this land was. Not even his people’s pleas could move him, not to mention sending a vital force such as a knight to handle such a task.

Which left the question: who exactly was this silent knight?

The armor covered almost his entire body, leaving almost nothing visible.

The man hadn’t said a single unnecessary word.

Even now, when the old man was trying to speak with him, the knight refused to engage him.

The old man swallowed nervously, standing there in the open.

Since the other party refused to converse, he decided it was best to leave him be.

The old man simply waited.

A few minutes later, he watched him return with another sack, moving back and forth without question.

The old man’s mouth slowly fell open.

’Just how much did those bandits take?’ His own grain was already complete, yet this knight was still bringing more.

It took Osborne quite some time before he had returned most of the grain that he could reasonably carry.

He eventually stood beside the wagon, after placing the last bag he had carried over.

There was still plenty of loot left behind.

But he intentionally left it there.

He could have carried more, but the old wagon already looked like it was struggling under the weight.

If he added much more, the poor thing would probably collapse before reaching the next town.

’I’ll come back for the rest eventually.’ Osborne looked toward the forest.

He had already covered the three corpses using earth magic and mud.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to prevent someone from immediately discovering them.

He had also used earth magic to cover the entrance of the cave with a large wall of earth.

The loot inside could wait.

For now, getting back on the road was more important.

Without saying anything, he climbed into the back.

The old man watched him. He seemed hesitant to say something.

Eventually, he gathered enough courage.

"Are you... heading toward the town?"

Osborne remained silent.

The old man awkwardly scratched his cheek.

"I suppose you are."

Rather than a reply, Osborne pointed toward the road.

The old man followed his gesture. Then he nodded.

"Ah... yes." He climbed onto the driver’s seat and grabbed the reins.

"If that’s where you’re heading, I don’t mind giving you a ride."

Osborne said nothing. The old man took that as agreement.

He clicked his tongue lightly.

"Alright then." The wagon slowly began moving.

Osborne leaned against the wooden wall of the wagon, listening to the sound of the wheels rolling across the dirt road.

His expression beneath his helmet slowly relaxed.

’This is better than I thought.’ He had initially planned on traveling alone again.

That would have been the safest option.

However, walking everywhere was becoming tiresome.

His body could handle it.