Chapter 80: The Mysterious Savior

The sound of exhausted footsteps continued steadily as the freed slaves pushed deeper into the Desolate Land, desperate to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the fortress behind them.

A short distance behind the main group walked a woman with slow, measured steps, sweat dripping steadily down her body despite her condition still being noticeably better than most of the others around her.

"Haah... haah... Seems like we’ve finally made it far enough from the fortress, we’re actually free now, all thanks to that mystery guard back there. I just hope he’s alright."

"Of course he’ll be alright, You saw how he took down so many guards at once. The guy’s got to be some kind of trained knight."

"Nah, I don’t think so, I bet he’s one of our own kind. Humans can’t be trusted. There’s no way an actual human knight would go out of his way to save us. No chance."

"Yeah, you’re probably right. He’s definitely one of us."

As the quiet murmurs continued among the group, Diana, who alone knew the actual truth, remained noticeably silent. If there was one thing she’d learned clearly over the past several months, it was to never trust humans. She knew for certain that the person hidden beneath that armor had been human, through and through. Why he’d chosen to help them, she honestly had no idea. But she thought it was safer, for now, to keep that particular truth to herself.

These people had already suffered enough, captured while simply traveling or hunting for food, forced into months of brutal labor. She refused to let them suffer any further, not even from the small, dangerous comfort of placing misplaced trust in someone like him.

They walked for several more hours, pushing themselves nearly to the limit of what their exhausted bodies could manage, until night finally fell and they came across a small patch of land with a shallow cave nearby and a handful of berry bushes scattered among the surrounding trees.

"This spot looks good enough for tonight," someone said.

"Thank the heavens. I’m exhausted. I just want to lie down."

Diana stepped forward, addressing the group with a firm, steady voice. "We’ll rest here for now. There’s no need to panic anymore, we’ve put enough distance between us and that place. Still, since we haven’t reached home yet, we can’t afford too long a break. Rest for three hours, then we move again. Does anyone object?"

No one spoke up against her.

They couldn’t, not really. She was one of the few people who had genuinely helped them through their time in that wretched fortress, sacrificing her own food and health time and again so others could survive just a little longer.

Once camp was set, a few people struggled to light a fire, striking stones together with little success.

"Wait, let me help."

Diana stepped between them, raising her hand as a small ember of flame sparked to life at her fingertip, catching against the wood and growing steadily into a proper fire. She moved from spot to spot, lighting several more fires to help ward off the growing cold of the night.

"Lady Diana, we didn’t know you could use magic," one of the others said, clearly surprised. "Where did you learn that? And why didn’t you ever show us before?"

Diana barely reacted, lighting the next small bonfire without pause. "It’s nothing impressive. Barely strong enough to light an ember. I didn’t think it was worth mentioning."

The group exchanged uneasy glances, clearly sensing they’d stumbled onto something she’d rather not discuss further.

"Our apologies, Lady Diana. No need to worry yourself over it. We’re far more pathetic than you, after all. Haha..."

He glanced around, hoping someone would join in his laughter. Unfortunately for him, no one did. If anything, the group looked at him like he was the single most pathetic person among them.

"Rest now, everyone, we still have a long way to travel." Diana said, rising to her feet.

She moved away from the main group, settling instead at a quieter spot a short distance off, preferring the silence over the murmur of nervous conversation. Sitting on a dried, broken tree stump, she picked up a thin stick and began idly drawing random shapes into the soil, guilt gnawing quietly at her chest.

A moment later, someone approached and sat down beside her, glancing curiously at her drawing.

"Huh? Are you trying to draw a fortress? I’d say stop while you’re ahead. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a worse artist than you."

Diana glanced over to find a girl with dark hair and gray eyes, a teasing smile tugging at her lips. It was Mira, the same young girl who, only hours earlier, had been roughly grabbed by one of the guards.

"Oh, Mira. Are you alright now? Did he hurt you? I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you sooner."

Mira shook her head firmly. "There’s nothing to apologize for. If you’d stepped in, he probably would have found it even more entertaining and done worse."

She paused, glancing down at Diana’s crude drawing with a small, fond smile. "Ughh, I really want to know who that person was, the one who saved us. I want to properly thank him for saving me from that disgusting man."

Diana looked away quickly, trying to steady her suddenly racing heart. "You should just forget about him. He probably saved us and ran off right after. There’s no way we’ll ever see him again."

"But he saved us. How could I possibly just forget him?" Mira’s eyes lit up slightly despite her exhaustion. "He looked so cool, fighting off all those guards at once. Honestly, he reminded me of the knights from Grandma’s old storybooks. Hehe..."

Diana let out a tired sigh, clearly giving up on convincing her otherwise. "You’re imagining things."

"Hmm? Why would you say that?"

"Because there’s barely any chance he actually survived fighting that many people. You—"

"Why do you assume I couldn’t survive?"

A calm, flat voice suddenly answered from directly behind them.

Diana flinched violently, the voice sending an unsettling, eerily familiar chill crawling down her spine.

Both she and Mira spun around instantly.

Standing there, wrapped in a dark, travel-worn cloak, was a young boy, no older than fifteen or sixteen, his silver hair drifting gently in the night breeze, his deep blue eyes calm and sharp, studying them both with quiet, analytical patience.

"Y-you! Who are you?!"

Diana immediately pulled Mira behind her, narrowing her eyes at the boy, a dangerous, wary glint flashing sharply across her gaze.