With a golden light enveloping Eiran, the dagger aimed straight at his chest stopped in mid-air. Thanks to the System's warning, Eiran opened his eyes and saw with his own eyes who was trying to kill him.
"You… were trying to kill me?!" Eiran immediately grabbed the collar of Joseph's shirt, who turned out to be the one trying to take his life.
"W-what did you do?" Joseph was stunned as he saw his dagger frozen in the air, unable to touch Eiran's body at all.
"I didn't think you'd stoop this low. Tell me, who ordered you to kill me?" Taking advantage of Joseph's shock, Eiran pushed him and pinned him to the ground.
"You won't get any information out of me, you bastard!" Joseph sneered, unfazed by Eiran's fury.
"Then I'll just shut your damn mouth!" Eiran wasn't the type to let Joseph go after trying to kill him.
Eiran threw a punch straight at Joseph's face, landing two solid hits. The fight escalated quickly when Joseph fought back using his dagger.
Their fight caused a considerable commotion. Several mercenaries sleeping near Eiran's tent began to stir. With many witnesses watching the brawl, eventually the military commander guarding Frosthollow was informed.
It took five people to separate Eiran and Joseph. Both of them were injured, although Eiran took more hits. They were both taken to the military base in Frosthollow for questioning.
"Give me a good reason for this fight, or I'll hand down a severe punishment!" Iskandar, the military commander, sat coldly at the end of the table.
While being treated by a healer, Eiran spoke despite his injuries. "Joseph snuck into my tent and tried to stab me while I was sleeping!"
"Nonsense! I never did that. You were the one who hit me first!" Joseph snapped back and accused Eiran.
"Shameless bastard. Then what were you doing in my tent with that dagger?!" Eiran scoffed at Joseph's stupidity.
"I came to give you a letter that arrived for you!" Joseph glared, enraged that Eiran dared to accuse him directly.
"A letter? Couldn't you come up with a better excuse?" Eiran rolled his eyes, clearly not buying a word.
"Enough of this nonsense. From this night forward, no member of your Ember Pact is allowed to approach Eiran. If I see any of you near him, you know the consequences," Iskandar waved his hand dismissively, signaling everyone to leave.
Of course, Joseph wasn't happy with Iskandar's decision. This meant he and his mercenaries wouldn't be able to harm Eiran before they returned to Lysvarin.
But Joseph knew better than to defy Iskandar's orders. He understood just how unlucky that could turn out for him.
Meanwhile, Eiran was also displeased with the arrangement. He was about to protest, but Owen—who was also there—stopped him.
"Stop causing trouble. Right now, getting treated is more important," Owen whispered while escorting Eiran out with the healer.
Eiran threw a death glare at Joseph, who walked off casually. He couldn't forgive what had just been done to him.
But Owen dragged him away from Ember Pact's territory. Eiran noticed that the fight had drawn a lot of attention, as many eyes were on him the moment he stepped out of Iskandar's room.
"Why did you stop me? That bastard Joseph really tried to kill me!" Eiran protested to Owen, who was still helping him toward the Royal Knights' tent.
"Commander Iskandar knows that. That's why he made them stay away from you. Trust me, they'll face consequences for starting trouble here," Owen explained once they arrived at the Royal Knights' quarters.
"But—"
"You'll just make the commander angrier if you keep protesting. He's trying to protect you from those underground scum," Owen cut in quickly.
As Eiran was about to respond, he winced from the pain in his body. Fortunately, a healer immediately tended to his wounds.
"Get some sleep here once you've healed," Owen said before leaving Eiran to rest.
Not long after, the healer who treated Eiran also took her leave, leaving Eiran alone in the tent. But he couldn't go back to sleep, still haunted by the memory of Joseph's ambush.
. . .
By the next morning, Eiran still hadn't slept. He was the first to wake and decided to help the knights on guard duty prepare breakfast.
Around 8 a.m., they reported to Iskandar for permission to return to the capital. It was then that Eiran received his payment as a mercenary. Honestly, Eiran didn't expect to get paid, so he was grateful to earn his first money in this new world.
The pay wasn't much. He received a total of 8 silver coins. Still, it was enough to live with Runi until he could find another job.
Due to the conflict with Joseph, Eiran decided to accept the offer from the Crimson Howl mercenary leader to return to the capital. Though in truth, he only planned to travel with them as far as Lysvarin.
Crimson Howl was much wealthier than Ember Pact, so they used horses for transport, and the journey to Lysvarin only took four days. During that trip, Eiran encountered no attacks.
. . .
"Are you sure you don't want to come to the capital?" Steven, the leader of Crimson Howl, asked one last time before leaving Lysvarin.
"Yes, I have something I need to do here," Eiran replied politely.
"Alright, you can find me if you ever come to the capital." Steven gently patted Eiran on the shoulder before leading his group away from Lysvarin.
Eiran watched them go before turning and running toward Virella's house, where Runi was staying. He hoped Virella had kept her word and taken good care of Runi while he was away in Frosthollow.
The streets of Lysvarin were lively and full of life. Eiran could smell the distinct scent of the sea along the way. He saw all kinds of sea creatures being sold and thought about taking Runi to eat some fish later.
Eiran walked with a light heart, eager to pick up Runi from Virella. When he reached the area near Virella's house in central Lysvarin, he heard an explosion.
Eiran's heart nearly stopped when he heard the blast, and for some reason, he had a terrible feeling.
"No way…" Eiran muttered under his breath, then picked up his pace.
When Eiran arrived at Virella's front yard, he saw the grand house already engulfed in flames, burning brightly and ferociously devouring everything in its path.