IBTRFL Chapter 16

"Inis?"

Kardo pushed past the people and moved toward the mouth of the cave. His blue eyes, fixed on the blizzard, went cold and still.

Bifera and Fel exchanged a look, not understanding what was happening.

"It's coming."

"What?"

"Everyone, grab your weapons."

The words had barely left his mouth when the ground shook. A heavy, blunt tremor, like a boulder falling.

The strange thing closing in fast stirred a fear buried deep in every human—pure instinct. People fell silent, watching the mouth of the cave with trembling eyes.

What broke through the thinning blizzard was a pack of beasts.

Bear-shaped, each one was enormous, like a small hill moving on its own.

The people who caught sight of them went pale and couldn't speak. Kardo glanced at them and opened his mouth.

"Grab your weapons."

The low, quiet command snapped the mercenaries back to themselves. Even overwhelmed for a moment, they were fighters who'd carried weapons their whole lives.

The mercenaries armored up and took up their weapons with practiced speed.

Fel picked up a spear and came over.

"What are those?"

"Augaberos. They don't have a pack instinct. These are probably cubs out on a hunting trial before they go independent. The mother's likely watching from somewhere a little way off."

"Those are the cubs? Bullshit."

Bifera let out a sigh and looked at Kardo.

"Inis, does that thing have a weakness?"

"They're relatively slow. These are cubs on their first hunt, so they're short on experience—if you go for the eyes first and cut off their sight, it should go a bit easier."

"Fel."

Fel nodded and began giving the mercenaries their orders. Kardo watched.

The mercenaries' skill level wasn't lacking at all. With Fel's and Bifera's considerable ability and seasoned tactics added on top, everyone would probably make it out alive.

The biggest one, apparently the eldest of the litter, turned back and let out a low growl. It glanced toward the people in the cave, seeming to be working out some strategy of its own.

"That little shit's sizing us up like we're nothing? Right to our faces?"

Getting treated like easy prey—it turned their stomachs. Bifera, veins standing out on her neck, ground her teeth.

Kardo glanced over the situation in the cave, then spoke in a flat, even voice.

"I'll deal with the mother in hiding."

"Inis? Wa—wait!"

Before anyone could stop him, Kardo bolted outside. A fierce gust battered the campfire wildly.

By the time the wind died down and Bifera opened her eyes again, there was no sign of Kardo anywhere.

"Bifera!"

Fel shouted, urgent. Bifera came to herself and gave the mercenaries their order.

"Charge!"

The mercenaries surged forward with a roaring shout. The cubs, caught off guard, seemed to fall back for a moment before baring their teeth and rushing in.

Every time a huge paw like a war-hammer swung, the sound of the wind tearing open rang out.

The mercenaries dodged the attacks with practiced skill even on the snowfield where their feet kept sinking deep.

"Fel, you back them up. I'll go find Inis. And, honey—let's get a divorce for a minute."

Fel laughed and nodded.

"Got it."

Bifera turned and threw herself into the blizzard. Fel, reaching the battlefield quickly, kicked off the ground and leapt high. He drove his spear in with all his strength and clung to the beast's back.

Its hide was so thick that not a single drop of blood came out.

Irritated by the sensation, the augabero swung its forelegs and shook its whole body. Fel, clinging to the spear, was tossed helplessly by the violent thrashing.

The spear, unable to break through the hide, began to slip little by little.

"Deputy leader!"

One of the mercenaries watching cried out and swung a spear. The augabero's movement stopped as it dodged the blow.

Fel didn't let the instant slip past. Using the beast's bent back as a foothold, he leapt with everything he had.

The seasoned mercenary reached the back of the beast's neck in a heartbeat and drew the dagger from his waist, slashing across both its eyes.

Red blood scattered across the white snowfield. The augabero, its eyes gone, howled in agony and thrashed on the ground.

The moment Fel landed, the mercenaries who'd been scattered rushed in.

The mercenaries drove sword and spear deep into the hide with every kind of battle-cry.

Sharp cold steel breaking through hide, ear-deafening shouts on top of it. The inexperienced cub couldn't put up even the faintest resistance and was hunted down.

One was finished. Fel immediately ran toward the next one.

Bifera, apart from the main fight, was searching the area anxiously. The blizzard blocked both sight and sound at once.

Shouts and the cries of beasts made it impossible to make out anyone's presence.

Just then, a massive roar she'd never heard in her life shook the sky.

"Wha— what is that."

The surviving cub augaberos began whimpering and crying. A pitiful, sorrowful cry, desperately calling for their mother.

As if answering that call, an enormous augabero appeared above the thick-grown trees.

The mercenaries thrusting their spears with everything they had lost their grip on their weapons, minds blank. A few sat down in the snow, gripped by terror.

That thing—how. Bifera stumbled back a step, without meaning to.

She'd worked as a mercenary for over fifteen years, but she'd never once heard of a beast like that existing. Why was something like this in the world at all.

"Inis..."

A kid who wasn't even grown—there's no way he could beat that. Bifera stared at the monster, face blank with shock.

But something felt off. There were spear-wounds all over the augabero's body.

Don't tell me. Bifera opened her eyes wide and studied the massive beast.

It was snarling ferociously, but it was clearly exhausted.

Between the gusts of snow, a flash of blue-white light cut through the air. In a strike too fast for the eye to follow, the beast's foreleg was severed clean off.

"Fuck."

Someone muttered it, dazed. Words failed, but Bifera agreed just as fiercely.

The mother, howling in agony, panicked and began to flee. Fel, snapping back to himself, shouted an urgent order at the mercenaries.

"Get it together! It's coming this way!"

The mercenaries scrambled up and braced themselves. But the mother never reached them.

As it charged toward them on all fours, Kardo, wrapped in blue-white light, leapt above it. Without hesitation, he drove his sword into the beast's skull.

The augabero collapsed forward without even managing a death cry. With a roar like a mountain caving in, the beast's body rolled across the snow.

Kardo wiped the blood spattered on his face and came down to the ground. His expression was still indifferent, without a trace of fatigue.

The mercenaries let out a cheer. Fel gave the order, frowning slightly.

"The cubs are running. Go get them."

"Y-yes!"

At the calm order, the mercenaries picked up their weapons and gave chase to the cubs.

Bifera, letting out a breath, ran toward Kardo. Fel followed after her.

"Inis!"

"Yes."

"Was that you? Did you kill it?"

Kardo glanced back at the beast's corpse and nodded. In that instant, the strength went out of Bifera's legs and she sank to the ground.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

"I wasn't hurt."

"Right. But you're a kid. As strong as you are, you're still a kid. Even if we only just met..."

Trying to say something more, Bifera covered her face with both hands and dropped her head.

Fel, standing nearby, looked at Kardo and spoke calmly.

"Inis."

"Yes."

"Thank you. If it weren't for you, half of us would be dead."

At that, Bifera flinched and slowly lifted her head. Then, in a voice that had softened considerably, she offered her thanks.

"...Sorry, I got a little worked up there for a second. Fel's right. Thank you, really."

Kardo stayed silent for a moment, then turned his gaze behind him.

The mercenaries, having finished the hunt, were tending to the wounded as if by some unspoken agreement.

They supported one another, and rushed to lend a hand wherever it was needed.

"Just as I thought."

"Hm?"

Bifera asked, but no answer came back.

Kardo walked without a word toward the corpse of the augabero he'd killed. He judged the position with the tip of his sword, then split the hide open and dug into the flesh.

Blood still holding the last of its warmth surged up like a fountain. Kardo didn't so much as blink as he avoided the spray. At his will, the blue-white energy split the heart open and laid bare the flesh beneath.

Deep within the heart, which had stopped beating, sat a soul stone the size of an eyeball.

Kardo reached out and tore the soul stone free in a single motion.

Bifera and Fel let out a low, strangled sound. They'd known he wasn't an ordinary boy, but they hadn't expected it to be to this degree.

Kardo looked at the two of them, standing there stunned, and spoke.

"I'll hand over the rest of the augabero carcass, minus the soul stone. The hide alone should easily fetch ten gold coins."

"S-suddenly?"

"Yes. But I have one request in exchange."

Bifera and Fel exchanged a meaningful glance, then nodded. There was no reason not to grant a favor to the person who'd saved their lives.

At that, Kardo spoke at once.

"Not right now, but—I'd like you to watch over someone for me, someday."

"Someone? Who—"

Bifera couldn't finish the sentence. Fel was the same. His blue eyes, dull with gloom until now, gleamed with warm affection.

"The most precious person in the world."

A smile without a single blemish rose on Kardo's face.