Emperor of Steel

Chapter 37: Getting Attacked 2
The sun began to set and the darkness began to set upon.

Even though they were worried about having to stay homeless for the night, Luke and his group managed to find a small inn and immediately grabbed the dinner.

“Those peddlers we met during the day. Weren’t they more like mercenaries than merchants?”

Rogers nodded at the words from Philip.

“Even I think the same. Mercenaries often have false identities, but their skills seemed to be quite good. Moreover, it was very strange as they were driving an expensive trailer, which was why I broke away from them quickly.”

Luke who was eating without saying a word, agreed with what the two had to say.

‘In that trailer, there surely was a Gigant.’

It was camouflaged as a cargo, wrapped in thick cloth, but they weren’t able to conceal the unique mana flow.

It wasn’t definite what they were trying to do, but when one disguises as a trader and brings in five Gigants, it wasn’t considered as a normal situation.

‘Furthermore, they purposely stopped in front of us. Then maybe…’

Luke suddenly recalled a story he had overheard.

It was a conversation between Hans and the other retainers, which was about the Gigant accident that put the young Lord in a critical condition and was said to be someone’s act.

The chief who caused the accident didn’t provide much help in shedding light on the matter as he was found dead in the neighboring estate.

‘Were those assassins sent for me?’

They could be people holding grudges on Philip or Rogers, but not just him.

But for some reason, Luke felt like he was the one being aimed at.

Then it would be the right choice to leave quickly before those people went into action.

Of course, if those people were aiming for a group of three, then they wouldn’t be much far away. They’d better move at a quick pace rather than stay overnight in the inn.

‘But when one sends a high-level mercenary along with the Gigant… would it really be for killing the young lord of a country estate who didn’t do much?’

Luke, who was analyzing the situation by himself, suddenly sensed an unusual mana flow which made him jump out of his seat.

“What is it, young Lord?”

“We need to get out of here right away!”

“Huh?”

Rogers jumped out of the seat and grabbed Philip, who was bewildered and dragged him to the back door.

Although he wasn’t as influential as Luke, he was experienced enough to act as the Knight general, and he noticed that something was off from the expression of the young lord.

Kwang!

“Why, what is with you guys?”

As soon as they went out the back door, the front doors were shattered and the armed masked men swarmed in.

The dumb-head who was leading, no it was Tigel who ordered for the assassination of the target with a single slash of a sword.

“Look everywhere and find that young lord!”

“Yes!”

Those were the shadow knights sent by the Count Monarch.

On their way to Rakan, they met Luke during the day, and they attacked by night.

“Kaaak!”

“Save, save m…e! ah!”

As the order fell from Tigel’s mouth, the Shadow Knights began to wield their swords without caring about their identity.

Guests who were eating dinner in the restaurant, the ones who were fast asleep in their rooms, and the cooks in the kitchen, everyone was getting killed by them.

Just because they were in the same place as Luke, without even having any connection with him.

“Captain Tigel, I don’t see them anywhere…”

“Kaak!”

There was a scream from behind the inn.

However, the scream wasn’t from either the guests or the targets, but from the mouth of the Shadow Knights who were surrounding the Inn.

“Tch, have they already gone out?”

Hearing the screams from his men, Tigel went out after ordering the others to light the Inn for destroying the evidence.

From the sound that was coming from the clashing weapons, Luke and his group was fighting the Shadow Knights with swords in the dark.

“Captain, these people aren’t joking!”

“If you have time to talk, then go and swing that sword of yours!”

Rogers was an expert and Philip was an intermediate Expert, but he wasn’t able to break through them.

Even though he was just fighting to protect Luke, the skills of the Shadow Knights were very talented.

Among the guys who were approaching them, they were of low level, but they had more than three guys who have reached the level of an Expert, and there were a dozen or so that were sword users.

And the most serious thing was the Gigant was waiting for them very closely.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

“This, this is huge!”

“Everyone close your eyes!”

At the cry from Luke, Rogers, and Philip closed their eyes even though they were puzzled.

At the same time, Luke used magic.

“Sun, shine in the dark!”

Glitter?!

A dazzling flash burst out of Luke’s hand.

It was simple flash magic, but a flash of surprise happened in the eyes of all the shadow knights, who had been accustomed to the dark alley.

“Kaah!”

“My eyes, I can’t see!”

The Gigant riders too lost their sight for a moment; the Gigants too stopped moving.

“This is it, let’s get out of here!”

“Ah, dammit! Catch them!”

Luke and his party pushed away from the lingering Shadow Knights out of their way.

Tigel, who was one step late, saw how pathetic his men were acting.

“You worthless pricks! Are you all under a spell? And what are those wizards even doing?!”

The Shadow Knights included five mercenary wizards to help maintain the Gigant.

“That, that… there was no information about the target having wizards, so we have no need to use magic…”

“Shut up! There is no time to listen to your futile excuses, just go after them and deal with them right away!”

Tigel’s men began to chase after the traces that were left by the party of Luke when they were escaping.