Capítulo 182: Chapter 182: There’s Nothing to Steal Part 2
The carriage was gone.
It seemed the saying about having your nose cut off in broad daylight in Corin was true. Who would have thought someone would boldly steal our carriage in the short time we stopped for a snack? And besides, how did they even manage with Storm's temper? These city thieves were quite skilled.
"What, what should we do? Should we report it to the guards?"
El asked anxiously while shifting her feet. I shook my head. In a city as big as Corin, losing a small carriage wasn't that big of a deal. Rather than wasting time explaining things to the guards, it would be faster to find the carriage ourselves.
"Well, it couldn't have gone too far from here."
"But…"
"Don't worry, El. Even if we just pretend to look, we should be able to find it."
In truth, what I was worried about was something else.
It would be a problem if the thieves who stole the carriage ended up dead.
Knocking them out would be one thing, but if they died, things would get much more complicated. Starting with the explanations we'd have to give the guards… Would they even believe us if we explained? They might even think we had kidnapped and killed some innocent people.
It had already been months since I bought the carriage. I vaguely recalled the face of the carriage dealer and the warnings he gave me over and over again…
– This carriage was a special carriage made by a nobleman of Paldme, who hired skilled craftsmen and even a wizard. It was a gift for his daughter's eighteenth birthday.
– But on her birthday, on her way to meet her fiancé, she ran into bandits…
– Those bandits weren't just unlucky. They probably thought they could kill the young lady and sell off the jewels, horses, and carriage. But that didn't happen. I don't know what exactly went down, but they were all crushed to death by the carriage.
– The only one left riding in the carriage was the young lady's corpse!
– Everyone who rides this carriage slowly falls ill and…
Dies.
Yes, this carriage was literally cursed. A carriage haunted by the ghost of the noble's daughter from Paldme was cursed. Still, for a cursed carriage, it had proven quite useful so far. I had made various modifications and taken good care of it over the days. At this point, it felt less like a mere carriage and more like a second home.
Of course, that's probably because I didn't mind the occasional sounds of a woman crying or screaming or the sudden smell of blood wafting through. El, on the other hand, absolutely refused to ride the carriage alone. Whenever she fell asleep while riding in the carriage alone, she would have nightmares about a woman crying…
But for me, it didn't matter. As long as the carriage ran smoothly and stayed sturdy, what was the problem? The ghost of the noble's daughter never took up any space, never broke anything, and never harmed Storm. In fact, in the last town, she even gave us a sort of "warning".
At this point, she was practically the eighth member of our group. Something like that, right?
Anyway, what I was worried about wasn't the carriage, but rather this so-called eighth member—the ghost of the noble's daughter from Paldme.
She said she killed all the bandits, didn't she?
Ghosts were vulnerable to déjà vu. When trapped by intense memories from their lives, they lose control and are dragged into repeating the tragedies of their past. If the noble's daughter who had been murdered by bandits were to encounter "thieves" again…
She'd lose her mind and repeat what happened back then.
If I didn't find the carriage soon, these foolish thieves would end up dead at the hands of the noble's daughter's ghost. And it would be in the most gruesome, agonizing way.
"Ayla."
With a snap of my fingers, Ayla began sniffing the spot where we had left the carriage.
– Sniff, sniff sniff.
After lowering her body and sniffing for a while, Ayla headed down a narrow alley just wide enough for our carriage to pass. If this had been our first visit to the city, we wouldn't have even thought of entering this winding, maze-like alley. I glanced at Lloyd and he nodded as if to say it was all right.
We started weaving through the alley while following Ayla. Where had they taken the carriage? Did this alley even have an end? Just as I was growing weary and irritated…
– Woof!
Ayla barked loudly. When I looked in the direction she was barking, I saw a small side street. It seemed to lead to the road out of the city. We'd have to move quietly from here. The thieves who thought they had already lost us were likely off their guard.
Blackie soared into the sky, and Ayla slipped into the bushes. Blackie would fly above the forest, and if he spotted anything suspicious, he would signal Ayla. Then Ayla would ambush the fleeing targets. It was a simple, clean, and flawless plan.
– Kuaaaaaaah!!
…At least it had been flawless until that scream rang out.
"Damn it."
I cursed under my breath and quickly ran toward the direction of the scream. There, at the edge of the road where the forest began, stood the carriage. It was swaying ominously and rattling in place.
– Woof! Woof woof!
I heard barking. It was Argos. I had wondered why he hadn't been here earlier when Ayla had been happily devouring her skewers. So, he vanished along with the carriage. As I rushed over, I saw Argos barking wildly at the coachman's seat. He was growling viciously, threatening the man sitting there and cracking his whip wildly.
"You damned horse! Move! Get going already!"
The man was frantically lashing the whip at Storm. But despite the harsh beating, Storm didn't budge an inch. You crazy bastard. I climbed onto the roof of the carriage and jumped down toward him.
-Bam!!
After striking the back of his head with my elbow, I immediately started choking him. He foamed at the mouth before losing consciousness. I tossed his limp body to the ground and opened the carriage door.
"Hah…!"
El who had been about to climb into the carriage gasped and stepped back in shock. I moved her aside and pulled the unconscious man out from inside. As expected, it was a two-man operation. I checked the pulse of the man, whose face had turned pale and eyes had rolled back, and felt relieved to confirm he was still alive. I then flipped him over and tied his hands and feet tightly.
Even as I did this, El couldn't take her eyes off the inside of the carriage. At first I thought she was startled by the fallen men, but that didn't seem to be the case. Of course, that made sense; she wouldn't be shocked by the sight of unconscious people anymore. After all, she was now on the side that made people collapse.
…. Then, what on earth did she see that surprised her?
Could it be that she saw the noblewoman of Paldeme? Come to think of it, El had once been possessed at the Dawson couple's mansion. Perhaps because of that experience, she might now be able to see ghosts.
I heard the young lady met a terrible end…
If that's true, then I could understand why El was so shaken. But there wasn't time to ask her now. Storm was the more pressing issue. While Lloyd dragged the two thieves under a tree, I approached Storm. The horse snorted hot air and made eye contact with me.
"Bastards."
– Prrrrr.
"…I'm sorry you had to go through this, Storm."
Storm's back was bleeding, as if he had been whipped for just that long. It seemed, as I had guessed, that he had stubbornly refused to pull the carriage. Poor thing. I placed my hand on his back and used [Forest's Healing]. As the magic spread, the bleeding quickly stopped. Though the pain he had endured wouldn't just disappear… I wrapped my arms around his head and stroked him for a long time.
Once Storm had calmed down a bit, I headed over to the tree where the men were tied up. They still hadn't fully regained their senses and their heads hung low.
"They've been disarmed."
"…That's good."
– Smack!!
Without hesitation, I slapped the face of the man who had been holding the whip. With a grunt, he jolted awake and started shaking his head as if he had just come to. I didn't stop there; I swung again, this time slapping the other cheek with all my strength. Blood streamed from both nostrils as he lifted his head.
"If the carriage wouldn't move, you should've pulled it yourselves. How dare you turn an animal's back into 'that'?"
– Thud!!
My anger hadn't subsided. I struck his nose again and wiped the blood off my fist. Whether it was from a broken nose or missing teeth, the man could barely manage a gasp; he couldn't form any words. Not that anything he'd say would be worth hearing.
"Hooo…"
"..."
"Let's go. We need to hand them over to the guards."
"Yeah, let's do that."
When Lloyd grabbed the men by the scruff of their necks and dragged them toward the carriage, one of them, who could still manage to speak, screamed and desperately pleaded.
"M-My lord! We were wrong! Please, please don't put us in that carriage! I beg you!"
It seemed they had been thoroughly dealt with by the noblewoman from Paldme. I glanced over at the carriage. I couldn't let her go through another unpleasant déjà vu. I smacked the back of the pleading man's head and spoke.
"Know your place. Do you still not understand that scum like you have no right to set foot in that carriage?"
"Eek! Eeeeek!"
"I'll tie you to the back of the carriage. You'd better walk properly. Even if you collapse, we won't stop dragging you."
"Yes, yes! I'll walk properly!"
The man bowed his head repeatedly, as if just being spared from the carriage was a blessing.
***
"How in the world did you manage to catch these scoundrels?"
At the city guard's admiration, I shrugged my shoulders with a slight smirk.
"They had bad luck."
"Well, considering they stole your carriage…"
"Those bastards."
"....!"
I glanced at the men who lay beaten to a pulp and locked up in the cell, then turned back to the guard with a smile.
"How much was the bounty again?"
"Ah, here it is."
The guard handed over a pouch that was heavy with silver coins. I took the pouch and called out to the men in the cell.
"If you ever get out, spread the word for me, will you? Tell everyone to watch out for the 'Ghost Carriage' roaming around."
Judging by their pale faces and trembling bodies, the noblewoman's lesson had clearly left a lasting impression on them.
Well, that takes care of my lodging costs.
Thank you, noblewoman of Paldme.
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