Chương 101: Chapter 81. One-Two

"As per Guild guidelines, adventurers are always permitted to retreat in the event of a unilateral emergency. There is no point in tossing away your life for a doomed situation – especially since the loss of even a single adventurer's life is equivalent to that of a hundred civilians', due to the future lives that would be lost due to the adventurer no longer being around to save them.

Self-preservation is a fundamental right of all adventurers, one we are legally allowed to exercise under any and all reasonable circumstances." The knight recited the words like he was reading from a textbook, trying his best to keep the tremor out of his voice. A bead of sweat slowly trickled down the side of his face as he waited with bated breath. Levi didn't respond. He continued regarding the men before him with a placid expression on his face.

"Y-You can't blame us for deciding to retreat," the knight said, his voice growing more strained as panic began leaking into his expression.

"Aberrational monster activity is almost always a sign of something worse to come. Fighting would've been far too dangerous; retreating was the optimal choice." Levi stayed silent. The seconds ticked on. Desperately, the knight looked behind him to Liliya and Andevar. Levi didn't turn around so he didn't know what expressions they made, but judging by how the knight's face paled by several degrees, it probably wasn't very reassuring.

"Nothing we did was illegal–""What's your name?" Levi interrupted, a note of polite curiosity in his voice.

"... Rudeus," Rudeus answered warily.

"Rudeus Clifford of House Clifford." House Clifford. A noble line, Levi vaguely recalled, though not very high up. A viscount family? Or perhaps an earl.

"Interesting," Levi said.

"Do you know who we are?" Rudeus froze. He wore the universal expression of someone who'd just realized he might be talking to someone far higher up the totem pole than he was.

"No I don't…"

"I am Levi Ironwood of House Ironwood," Levi introduced lightly.

"Behind me is Liliya Volkov of House Volkov." The blood drained from Rudeus's face so fast, Levi could see his veins visibly constrict. His entire body tensed back up.

"W-What?" he repeated, horror entering his eyes as he looked between the two, having instantly recognized the two marquis' bloodlines. Liliya smiled and curtsied.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Her smile turned vicious.

"Now, what was it you said earlier?

'No extra weight?' Rather discourteous to say to a lady, don't you think?" Rudeus blanched.

"I…" His eyes flickered around wildly for an excuse.

"I had full faith in your ability to escape."

"Is that so?" Rudeus's composure broke.

"I'm sorry, I truly am," he babbled.

"How was I supposed to know who you two were? I mean, what are you even doing out here? With a commoner?" Liliya raised an eyebrow. On cue, Levi flexed his fingers, causing the mana threads to tighten. The ice hook embedded in Rudeus's chest lurched, and he grunted in pain. It required a fair bit of precision to ensure the hooks didn't accidentally pierce any vital organs. It helped that they were made of ice; Levi could remotely melt and reform the hooks to avoid the important internal areas.

"That commoner is my teammate," Liliya said.

"As for why we're in a party with him…" She stepped forward and leaned in so that she was eye-to-eye with Rudeus. He tried to look away, but her hand whipped out like a viper and grabbed him by the chin, forcing him to meet her intense gaze.

"After you and your noble band of adventurers left us behind to die, do you know what he did?" Rudeus gave a minute shake of his head.

"He ran," Liliya said. Rudeus blinked and began to scoff, only to freeze at her next words.

"He ran toward the enemy. He didn't hesitate for even a moment. All so he could try and help." Her eyes hardened.

"You ask why we're in a party with him? It's simple, really. It's because he's a better person than you." Rudeus swallowed heavily, and for the first time, something that vaguely resembled shame flickered across his face. Satisfied, Liliya released him and turned back to Levi and Andevar. Andevar was staring at her. His glasses were slightly askew, and behind them, his eyes were wide and a little emotional. He quickly cleared his throat and pushed his glasses back up when her gaze fell on him.

Liliya and Levi pretended not to notice him blinking rapidly.

"So," Liliya said.

"What are we going to do with them?" Here, Levi straightened, a contemplative expression passing over his face.

"Good question…"

"We have to release them, no?" Andevar spoke up hesitantly. Levi and Liliya both blinked and turned to him. He shrank beneath their gazes.

"As much as I hate to say it… they're right. Nothing they did was illegal. We have no right to hold them captive. In fact, what we're doing to them right now is technically against the law." Rudeus perked up, a smug look appearing in his eyes. It disappeared a moment later at Levi's next words.

"Ah," Levi said. He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"I see. I think there's been a misunderstanding here. You seem to be operating under the assumption that we care about following the law." Andevar, Rudeus, and the six other men all froze.

"What?" Andevar asked." What?" Rudeus blurted out. His head snapped to Liliya.

"Lady Volkov, do you hear what this reprobate is saying? You can't possibly agree with this–?" He cut off as Liliya raised a single delicate eyebrow.

"No…" Levi and Liliya tuned them out as they turned to each other.

"Should I educate them?" Levi asked.

"I can ensure they never do something like this again." He wiggled the mana threads, inadvertently causing several of the men to groan in pain.

"I already have the perfect setup, too."

"Tempting," Liliya said.

"If not somewhat disturbing. I presume your magic is preventing the ice from melting inside their bodies? Ah, but that's not relevant right now." She hummed before shaking her head.

"I don't think you should do anything to them." Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Relief bloomed in the men's faces as they gazed at Liliya like she was the Goddess herself.

"Thank you," Rudeus all but cried in relief.

"Thank you, thank you–""There are others who have more of a right," Liliya continued. The men all froze.

"Feels a bit uncouth if we don't let them have a go first, no?" Levi blinked before he chuckled.

"Fair point. You're right, I got ahead of myself a little there. My apologies." Andevar looked between the two warily.

"What are you talking about?" Liliya smiled and nodded her head at the village behind them.

"Well, Canum was the one who hired these adventurers for protection in the first place. It's only professional if we let them be the ones to take care of these adventurers. Don't you agree?" Andevar was silent for several moments, even as the adventurers began wildly thrashing around in fear. Then, slowly, a smile spread from ear to ear. A small contingent of soldiers rode out to greet them as they approached the city. Levi, Liliya, and Andevar came to a stop, waiting for the city soldiers to arrive.

The first horse reached them after several seconds. Two men were sitting atop its back; one of them jumped down before the horse fully stopped. He made his way toward them with powerful strides, a steely look on his face, even as behind him the rest of his men dismounted as well and waited respectfully at attention.

"That's General Marlowe," Liliya said quietly.

"He's the leader of Canum's garrison." Levi nodded and stepped forward.

"General Marlowe," he greeted.

"It's good to see you alive and well–""Which one of you was it?" General Marlowe asked, his voice brusque and almost harsh. Levi blinked.

"Pardon?"

"Which one of you killed all the monsters?"

"Ah. That was me." Levi paused as a sudden thought occurred to him.

"Oh, sorry – was my assistance unneeded? I didn't mean to steal the thunder, but the situation did look rather dire from afar, so I wanted to err on the safe side – oof!" He abruptly cut off with a grunt as General Marlowe practically lunged forward and crashed into Levi. Levi was halfway into sending a few armor-piercing curses into the general's gut when he realized that the general wasn't attacking him but rather enveloping him in a tight hug. He let the magic that'd instinctively gathered at his hands die down.

"You beautiful son of a bitch," General Marlowe said. There was a suspicious tremble in his voice as he did his utmost best to crush Levi's bones.

"You beautiful, terrifying, gorgeous son of a bitch." After a few seconds, he pulled back but didn't fully let go, grasping either side of Levi's shoulders tightly.

"I thought we were done for. I thought I was going to have to watch my home get massacred." His voice broke.

"Thank you…"

"Levi. Levi Ironwood."

"Thank you, Levi Ironwood," General Marlowe said. He finally let go to give a deep bow. Behind him, his men bowed as well.

"I, no. All of Canum owes you a debt."

"Nonsense," Levi said. General Marlowe immediately began to protest, but Levi continued.

"I only did what I ought to do. You owe me nothing. On the contrary, I believe I am the one who owes you something…" General Marlowe blinked.

"What do you mean?" Levi smiled. He, Liliya, and Andevar stepped aside to reveal the pile of chained adventurers behind them. The ice hooks had been removed and their wounds had been healed, the only evidence being the bloodstains on their ripped clothes. Their mouths and limbs were bound with rope.

"We found them riding away from the battle," Levi said.

"Thought you might want to have them back." For a second, General Marlowe and his men just stared, stunned. Then, he threw his head back and let out a hearty laugh.

"Ha! Ha ha ha! It appears I owe you another debt, Levi Ironwood!" His gaze turned dark.

"We were fortunate enough to not lose a single human life, but… My horse died in that battle. I find myself most displeased about losing my trusted companion of many years–" He blinked.

"What are you doing?" Levi was bowing to him.

"I apologize," he said, his voice slightly pained.

"If I had just been a little faster, I could've prevented that from happening. I acted as quickly as I could, but the spell I used required a great deal of preparation and concentration." The moment he'd teleported out from within the mountain and seen the monsters attacking Canum, Levi had begun casting his magic. However, the sheer scale and precision required meant that it had taken him entire minutes to fully cast the spell.

He had to first blanket the entire battlefield with his magic so he'd know the exact location of every being within his range of detection, then he had to infuse the clouds above with his magic so he could condense all the water vapor into ice. The additional time had been necessary to ensure that an ice spear wouldn't accidentally pierce a human as well. Not to mention forming the three massive pillars of ice that'd crushed the Elder Centipedes. General Marlowe stared at him.

"You must be out of your damn mind," he said slowly, "if you're apologizing for saving an entire city from certain death, with the only casualty being a magnificent warhorse." He turned on the seven high-tier adventurers.

"No, if anyone should be apologizing, it's these bastards over here." His entire form shook with rage as he towered over the adventurers.

"You sicken me, all of you! Canum depended on you all. Canum needed you all. And what did you do? You fled! You ran away like cowardly dogs!" Rudeus managed to spit the rope out of his mouth.

"Canum would've been doomed, with or without our help–""You don't know that!" General Marlowe roared.

"You're not a fucking Seer! A battle isn't lost until the very last moment, when the enemy is seconds away from standing triumphant – and even then, it's still entirely possible to rip victory from the jaws of defeat and claim it for your own! Such is the nature of battle, is it not? If you had stayed behind, then we might've been able to win. It would've been a long and difficult battle, but we could've overcome the odds! But instead, you ran away, and in doing so you removed all our chances of surviving."

He spat to the ground in front of Rudeus.

"If the city fell, it wouldn't have been because of the monsters – it would've been because of you."

"I couldn't take the risk." General Marlowe's face turned red, then purple.

"You're an Adamantine-tier adventurer, aren't you? You've survived worse odds, haven't you?! For crying out loud – are you a man or not?"

"You can insult me all you want," Rudeus said, "but I had my priorities–" Rudeus's head snapped to the side as General Marlowe threw a furious haymaker. Several teeth clattered to the rocky ground below.

"You damnable fool! Priorities? You left eighteen-thousand, six-hundred and forty-five lives to die!"

"So what?" Rudeus spat, blood dribbling down his chin.

"They're just commoners–" General Marlowe was already stepping forward for another punch but paused as in a flash, Andevar grabbed Rudeus by the shoulder, spun him around, and socked him in the face. An audible crunch sounded. The resultant impact knocked Rudeus right off his feet. Andevar breathed heavily, his fist still outstretched and a look of rage. Then, he realized where he was and what he'd just done, and he froze.

"Err–" General Marlowe grinned.

"Good punch, kid," he complimented.

"Impeccable form."

"T-Thank you." From the ground, Rudeus groaned in pain.

"Thith is illegal!" he shouted, his cheek already beginning to swell.

"None of you have any right to do anything to uth. If you don't release uth immediately, I will make thure everyone in this thity–" Levi coughed.

"Just to clarify," he said quietly, "It's either them or me. I'll spare you the specifics, but I assure you, they're very much doing you a favor here." His voice didn't change, nor did his expression shift, but nevertheless, a deathly pallor crossed Rudeus's face. He fell silent.

"Take them away," General Marlowe ordered his men, disgust in his voice. They complied, fanning out and taking the adventurers into custody. None of them were particularly gentle about it. Even though the adventurers theoretically could break free of their bonds at any time – the rope was just ordinary rope that Andevar had in his inventory – they had clearly received Levi's message loud and clear.

"I'll decide their punishments later. For now, toss them in the dungeons." Then, General Marlowe turned back to Levi.

"Now that we have that ugly business out of the way…" He smiled.

"I believe it's time to celebrate." Levi was about to respond when he caught sight of Andevar's expression. The warrior looked hesitant, even a little worried, though he remained silent. Well. That wouldn't do.