Chương 140: Is That Guy Really an Angel?

The road out of the capital looked different from the way in. Outside the gate, a long line of carts headed toward the battlefront. Carts loaded with sacks of grain and water barrels, carts with spears and shields tied upright, and carts carrying tent poles and folded cots all pointed in the same direction. Kichan's group walked among them. At first, the city wall filled the view behind them. After the road bent once, the gate was cut into pieces between the trees.

At the second bend, only the flags above the wall remained visible. Once they crossed a low hill, even those disappeared. The road descended for a long way ahead. Fields lay across the low ground. Dark red leaves grew to knee height, and water ran through wooden channels. Between the fields, residents with long sacks on their backs cut the leaves. There were fields in the Demon Realm too. Kichan slowed beside bundles stacked along the road.

"Do they eat that?" Riphiel smelled the leaves.

"It smells closer to a medicinal herb."

"You don't know, right?"

"It is a plant I have never seen before."

"Then say you don't know." Riphiel looked at Kichan.

"I know that it smells like a medicinal herb." Argaon was watching the sacks on the cart ahead. Whenever one swayed, the smell of dried meat came from it. At first, Paul kept pace with the rest of the group. After a long while, he began holding up the hem of his cassock with one hand. Dust from the road clung to the black cloth. Riphiel moved to his side.

"Would you like to rest a little?"

"I am still all right."

"Your steps have shortened." Paul looked down at his own feet.

"You notice even that." Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

"I am guarding you." The group stopped briefly beneath a large tree beside the road. The carts ahead poured water over their wheels and tightened their ropes. Several soldiers sat in the shade chewing dried bread. One took off his boot and shook out a stone that had gotten inside. Kichan took a water bottle from the bag and handed it to Paul first. Paul drank twice and returned it.

"I should at least have brought water from the hotel."

"Father, you were dragged here."

"Even so, I was responsible for your hospitality." Paul looked at his empty hands and gave a small laugh. Argaon returned from beside the carts with a strip of dried meat in one hand.

"Where did you get that?"

"Bought it."

"You paid?" Argaon shook a pouch at his waist. When the break ended, the carts began moving again. The road grew rougher. The fields thinned out, replaced by low rocks and stunted trees. Gray clouds hung over a distant ridge. The same soldiers walked beside Kichan's group for a long time. At first, no one spoke. By afternoon, one of the soldiers in front began complaining about his superior.

"He tells us to reach the next camp today, then rides ahead on a horse."

"That's because you're slower than a horse."

"Am I supposed to run beside one in this armor?" Another soldier joined in from behind.

"Last time you fell behind without the armor too." They laughed. Even the corners of Paul's mouth lifted a little. The soldiers' talk moved between the units ahead and behind. Someone had hidden liquor. Someone had fallen asleep on watch. One captain had miscounted his men's rations. Then someone said,"If it weren't for that lunatic, we would have gotten more support from the south." Kichan raised his head. The soldier in front asked,"You mean the terrorist?"

"Who else would I mean?" Another soldier joined in without even lowering his voice.

"But is that guy really an angel?"

"I heard he is a living weapon made by the celestials."

"What are you talking about? He's a Yao spy."

"Why would the Yao send someone with wings?"

"Because a spy has to look different." Their claims collided. Kichan kept walking beside them. The soldiers cut one another off without looking back.

"I heard it from a man who saw him himself."

"So you didn't see him yourself."

"They say he blew away the gate of a southern city. Half the wall came down too."

"Not half."

"Did you see it?"

"My cousin lives there." One soldier turned and spread his hands.

"They say one wing is black and the other white." Another shook his head.

"He's so strong the demonkin can't even get near him."

"Maybe they didn't, not couldn't." Riphiel moved one step closer to Kichan.

"It seems to be the same person."

"It is still only a rumor."

"The colors of the wings are the same."

"That is something they heard too." Kichan looked at the soldiers' backs.

"We'll know when we find him." The road narrowed that afternoon. A low cliff rose on the right, while dense trees covered the slope to the left. The carts formed a single line. The soldiers closed the gaps before and behind them. Argaon stopped walking. His red eyes moved between the trees on the left.

"They're coming."