22

"What are you doing?"

Marlon examined him. He's surprised when Christopher poured the beer. They plan to drink it when they will travel tomorrow. 

"Marlon… For now, just watch me. However, if you see that they will going to kill me, I want you to save me."

"What? Hey, where are you going?"

Christopher walked to the center of the road. He saw an empty cart and pushed it down to block the road. After that, he lay down on the ground. Marlon watched him dumbfounded. 

He didn't knew why his friend did that. Perhaps the Curse of Faux Pas had a side effect except from not holding a weapon. 

Christopher laughed slightly, showing that he's high.....

A company of merchant carriages traveled and they saw that the road was blocked. The coachman saw that there's a cart and a man lying in the road. 

The coachman went down and moved the cart to the side of the road. He politely asked the man to move, but the man said…

"F*ck you. This my road!! No one can use this road if they don't pay toll!"

Christopher angrily shouted. He's tipsy and sluggish. The coachman realized that Christopher was drunk.

He tried to asked again but Christopher didn't answer. 

His back was sweating because Christopher was so stubborn. He's afraid that their travel would be slow and maybe they'll be late to meet their quota.

"What happen? "

"Boss!"

A man appeared and talked to the coachman. They were busy and they want to leave this place immediately. They didn't want to cause any commotion.

"Boss, this drunken man blocked the road and he said that we must pay to use the road."

"… Is that so. How much do you want young man?"

He sighed, he thought it was a bigger problem. 

The Boss came into him and asked about the price. Christopher paused before saying.

" Ten, ten golds!"

The Boss opened his pouch and took a handful of golds. He threw it close to him. The golds clank on the ground.

Christopher eyes beam and his greedy mind awakened.

"Oh, you got money huh, mister. However, I'm sad to say this, but the price increase. Now I need 100… no 1000 golds to let you escape!! "

The Boss immediately took his sword to kill this insolent man, but Marlon appeared and cut him. The Boss received a wound, but it's not deep.

"… I guess-"

"HELP! HELP! SOMEONE TRIED TO KILL ME! GUARDS! GUARDS!"

Before the Boss said anything, Christopher cut him and immediately shouted. The people around them were starting to focus their attentions to his screams. 

The Boss quickly lowered his weapon and bow. He tried to pacify the situation but he failed.

"I apologize for what I did. However, I believe I didn't try to kill y-"

"F*ck you! You're the Boss of the merchants, right? I can't believe a merchant like you will kill a person. Could it be that you're a Heretic!? GUARDS HELP ME, THERE'S A GROUP OF HERETIC HERE!!"

Christopher gasped and touched his chest, he's agitated.

The people around them were started to murmur.

The other merchants got out to look at the commotions. They saw their Boss talking to a drunk man. Some of the merchants were starting to sweat. However, they didn't run, they were professionals. 

Guards are appearing. It's still early in the morning, but the Marquis and Marlon trained them to be fast and efficient. When they heard the disturbance, they immediately went to quench the problem. 

The Guards saw that their Young Master Marlon was already in the scene. Marlon watched the guards. The guards immediately bow before asking what happened.

Christopher shivered and beg for help.

"This man tried to kill me! They are Heretics! Quick, call the Temple!!"

Christopher hysterically shouts.

Based on what he knew, the Marquis worship the Goddess of War. He believed that there's a Temple of War here in this City. To increase the chances of living, he decided to use the Priest of Goddess of War. 

At last, his wish happened. A large man appeared and there's a large axe hanging on his back. 

Marlon and the guards immediately put their right hands to their chests. Christopher follows their gesture. They greeted the Priest.

"Glory to the War!"

"Glory to the War! What's happening here? Why do I hear the word Heretics, hm?"

Priest Cratust coughed and asked them about the disturbance. He just woke up after of long night rocking a woman in a brothel. His knees were tired yet he need to show his prideful appearance. 

"Priest Cratust, what happened here is-"

"These men! They're Heretics!!"

Christopher, who's tipsy but lively, didn't stop shouting. He must do his part. 

This time, his role was the hysterical drunken noble who caused disturbance. 

"I'm sorry for the commotion, but I believe we need to justify ourselves."

The Boss opened his mouth.

"No, you don't need to. I saw you pulling your sword to cut the head of my friend."

Marlon is angry that this man is still calm even though he's lying. 

"Enough."

Priest Cratust stopped them, the followers of the Goddess of War need to be astute. 

He looked to Christopher, who's having a hard time to stand, but his discerning eyes can easily see that he's faking it. Yes, he's drunk but not that much. 

However, the most part that he feels is the deadly killing intents coming from the merchants. 

He believed that this was not an ordinary commotion. Maybe a turmoil would happen. 

As a Priest, his priority is to save the citizens who's watching. 

"Heretics! They are heretics!"

Christopher cracked voice didn't stop from screaming. 

"Hoh, and what is the reason your saying that?"

Cratust touched his chin and asked him. 

"T- that's…… flesh! Right, I believe there's a human flesh inside their carriages!"

The citizens gasped, they begun to look at the merchants suspiciously. 

"No… Sir, I believe there's no-"

"Let me see it! I will only believe if I didn't see anything!"

"That's…"

"Very well, guards open their carriages."

Marlon commanded his guards to open every box inside the carriages. 

The Boss clenched his fist. He thought their plan was going smoothly, they escaped the Capital and no one detected their movements. However, he couldn't believed that a drunken man would stop their plan. Right now, he wanted to kill Mikael, but he can't. 

He believed that the guards were warriors that already awaken their Auras, he deduced that they're in the Apprentice rank. 

He could fight Marlon equally, but the real problem was the Priest. He's a Master Rara Avis. The atmosphere was actually suffocating because of him. 

He knew that the Priest was watching every movement that he make. If he moved suspiciously, that axe would cut him in half. 

Since the plan was already failed. He decided to use their advance escape tactics. 

He signalled his men and flicked his fingers. 

Every merchant threw a smoke bomb. 

"Gah!"

The guards were surprised, but they immediately ready their stance. If they attack, they would kill them. 

The Boss sprint and go inside his carriage. He took the tied woman and tried to escape, but he saw an axe coming to cut him. 

The Boss evaded the attack, but he stepped his foot on the ground full of calamansi fruits. He stumbled and tried to regain his footings but he's already late.

Marlon stabbed his back. 

"Ack!!"

The Boss resist, but he quickly died when Marlon twisted his sword. The Boss fell down and he started to drop the woman. He's lose his strength and the woman he's carrying muffled. 

Christopher jumped in and caught her. He felt the heat of the frightened woman. She's shivering and scared.

Christopher breathed heavily, his mission was success!