* * *

The mercenary corps’ destination was the hinterlands of a backwoods village said to be plagued by goblins. Yozen had been dragged along by their hands since dawn. Throughout the journey, he was forced to squeeze himself into the carriage’s luggage compartment, had his personal allotment of bread stolen by other mercenaries, and was forced to labor on various menial errands. Cadel’s patience was tested in more ways than one.

But at noon, when the mercenary corps arrived in front of the back mountain. Cadel realized that all the dirty deeds they had done so far were fresh blood.

‘What, what the hell…… are they doing……?’

Thinking stopped at the sight of something too shocking, and Cadel’s mind reeled from his newfound knowledge.

“Pour another one!”

The mercenaries dragged a cowering Yozen to his feet, grabbed an oak barrel from the corner of the cargo hold, and poured its contents. Normally, the contents of an oak barrel would not be alcohol, but what was pouring over Yozen was blood.

The black liquid quickly soaked Yozen’s entire body. With his arms tied behind his back, he couldn’t even cover his face and was forced to face the blood head-on. Yozen coughed painfully as the blood seeped in with his breath. He gagged at the disgusting odor.

It was beyond common sense. Cadel watched them in disbelief, forgetting that he was supposed to be angry.

Writhing in agony, Yozen rubbed his face and gasped for air only after the mercenaries let go of his arm. Ramp stepped in front of him.

“You play straight bait today, there’ll be more than usual. Run like your *ss is on fire unless you want to die.”

“Ugh…… huu…….”

“Do you understand?”

“……Yes.”

The grotesque-looking Yozen nodded, and Ramp led his men up the mountain. They climbed together for the first half of the way up, but when they reached the top, he pulled Yozen, who was trailing behind, to lead the way. Then, as if in unison, they all dispersed, leaving Yozen alone.

“…….”

Yozen was quickly alone. In the middle of the desolate mountains, a young boy clad in seven layers of blood stood alone. His black eyes, the only ones not stained with blood, darted uneasily. The only sound was his ragged breathing and the sound of dry heaves.

After standing there for a while, Yozen bit his lip in determination and took small steps forward. Naturally, he couldn’t hide his trembling. His tense body shivered as if he’d been doused in cold water, and his teeth rattled loudly.

Cadel stalked after Yozen, trying to locate the missing mercenaries, but he couldn’t shake the horrible image in his mind of being kicked.

‘No way. No way, they wouldn’t have done something like that, not even the devil would do that.’

The bait they called him, Yozen covered in unidentified blood, the backwoods where the goblin clan was located, the mercenary corps that sold goblin pelts for a living.

All of these clues pointed to what was about to happen to Yozen, but Cadel didn’t want to admit it.

“……Here, here they come.”

Yozen muttered softly as he crouched down and began to move forward. At the same time, the quiet bushes erupted, and screams came from all directions.

Kieeek!

It was the goblins. They leapt out of nowhere, each carrying a club carved from a thick tree. Perhaps recognizing the boy’s helplessness, they closed in on him, forming an enveloping circle.

Yozen’s face clouded at the sight of the monstrosity that surrounded him. Pausing to catch his breath, he leapt forward, teeth clenched.

The goblins swung their clubs savagely at their prey’s attempted escape. It was impossible for Yozen to dodge all of them now. The thick clubs slammed into the boy’s shoulders and broad legs as he tried to escape the encirclement.

It must have been hard to keep running, but Yozen staggered briefly and desperately made it out of the encirclement without a single scream. As he continued his escape, Yozen’s eyes showed a venom that hadn’t been present when he endured the abuse.

There was no point in denying it any longer. Yozen was the perfect bait. The young boy had gone into the mountains covered in blood, hoping that the scent of blood would lure the demons away. The mercenary corps used Yozen to wreak havoc on the gathered demons. No one cared if the young decoy lived or died.

And Yozen knew it. If he didn’t get out of here, he’d be torn to shreds by the goblin hordes. Even if he did escape and survive, it would be the same. He would be cast aside for his uselessness as bait. The only way to survive was to run.

‘How the hell…….’

As unbelievable as it was that Yozen had been subjected to this, there was something else that was even more unbelievable. How had he survived this long, using his frail body as bait?

Cadel’s horrified questions were soon answered.

Yozen’s dark eyes scanned his surroundings with urgency. His gestures were both searching and disoriented as if he were staring off into the distance.

Behind him, a growing horde of goblins was in hot pursuit. With them on his tail, Yozen pounded his legs as if he would collapse from exhaustion at any moment.

It was a dizzying situation as if he would be overtaken at any moment and fall prey to the goblin horde. Even though he knew that Yozen had survived this place, that he had met him, Cadel couldn’t suppress the anxiety that threatened to explode.

And the next moment. Yozen’s eyes locked on one place, and he turned sharply. It was a bushy trail. The thorns clawed at his exposed flesh, but Yozen didn’t even have time to recognize the pain.

Desperate to get out of the bush, Yozen ran straight for a tree.

“I’ve got them, Commander! Help me!”

A desperate cry, torn by fear, echoed through the forest. Cadel reflexively flinched at the title that came out of Yozen’s mouth. But it wasn’t ‘him’ he was desperately searching for.

‘Ramp……. That’s where the madman is?’

Yozen sprinted toward the tree as if he’d been aiming for it all along. But when he arrived, not a hair of his head was anywhere near the tree, let alone Ramp.

Perhaps he was too afraid and saw things in vain. Perhaps he had given up trying to escape and was pleading for help anywhere. Cadel looked back at Yozen with concern and soon realized he was looking up into the trees.

Quickly shifting his vision, Cadel spotted Ramp, perched on a thick branch, staring at Yozen, who was surrounded by a horde of goblins.

What are you doing, *sshole? Why don’t you get down here?’

Cadel immediately tried to get Ramp’s attention, but of course, it was to no avail. Ramp’s expression was cold and icy as he looked at Yozen. There was an unexplained hostility in it.

“Creepy *sshole.”

He clicked his tongue in annoyance and gripped the branch he was perched on tightly. Ramp seemed to have no intention of helping Yozen in the first place. Cadel watched in exasperation and soon realized the reason for Ramp’s attitude.

‘Yozen came right up to him like he knew he was up in the tree, even though it was impossible to see from Yozen’s point of view.’

Maybe it was Yozen’s natural talent. His ability to perform tricks wasn’t something that came from hard work alone. It was something that couldn’t be reached without natural talent, and that talent had sprouted from Yozen’s childhood.

‘Yeah. There’s no way he could have gotten this far in this ridiculous bait by sheer luck.’

Ramp also sensed Yozen’s genius without knowing his future. He instinctively saw his talent as a threat.

‘But he’s still just a kid. Aren’t you going to save him, aren’t you going to leave him like this?’

To send him out on a limb to fill their own stomachs, and then refuse to do the least decent thing. Cadel hugged his burning gut and watched Ramp, then turned his attention back to Yozen.

Yozen stood against a wooden beam, his face a mask of fear. He’d given up calling for Ramp and was muttering prayers for help.

The goblins swarming around Yozen let out an unpleasant chuckle, their fierce killing intent ready to tear him apart at a moment’s notice, but they closed the distance ever so slightly as if enjoying the child’s terror.

It was a suffocating sight to behold, and Cadel could only imagine the terror Yozen must be feeling.

‘Please…….’

All Cadel could do from here was pray that someone would save Yozen, even if that ‘someone’ was a bunch of scumbag mercenaries.

And just as the cornered Yozen closed his eyes tightly in resignation to his impending death.

“Get them!”