Escape from the evil lady (GL)
Chapter 99 - 7. Yufil’s Story

Chapter 99: Chapter 7. Yufil’s Story

After I laid out everything that had been on my mind for a long time in front of my idiot brother, he didn’t say a word for a long time. Moreover, he looked at me very strangely. And just when I thought he was going to say something rude to me again, the guy just sighed and turned away from me.

— In any case, the relationship between you has nothing to do with me.

— I told you we didn’t have a relationship!

— ...

— Brother? — I called out to him when the guy didn’t answer me for a long time again.

Yufil snapped angrily.

— How much longer can you get on my nerves? Shut up already! — he exclaimed.

Nevertheless, despite his rudeness, it didn’t stop me. Therefore, reacting to his attack with the utmost calmness, I just said:

— I’ll do it after you answer my questions.

— What other questions? — Yufil was indignant.

The answer was expected to be on the surface.

— How did you become one of the knights of the Dark Host? — this topic aroused my genuine curiosity.

The answer to this question worried me for two reasons. First of all, I could hardly imagine how such an arrogant and spoiled asshole could be accepted into an army made up entirely of criminals and notorious scoundrels. And secondly, since my older brother was the very person the villainess was looking for all over the empire, I was very interested in how he managed to be literally under her nose all this time and still stay alive.

«Damn it,» he breathed angrily, «do you really care that much?»

«Are you going to tell me or not?»

Of course, I had a lot of stubbornness and stubbornness in situations where I wanted to get my way. Yufil could tell by my face, which clearly stated that I wasn’t going to back down until I got a proper response from him. Thus, I still managed to «loosen» the guy’s tongue and force him to tell me everything.

— What a pain in the ass... — Yufil sighed, and even though he was very reluctant to do this, he still reluctantly opened his mouth.

As it turned out, the selection process for the Dark Army was somewhat different from the same process in the Imperial Army. Compared to the last organization, where only the best of the empire’s best swordsmen with impeccable reputations and good bloodlines were allowed, he could practically get into the Dark Army... anyone who wants to.

The main factors in the selection for this army were high physical endurance and the absence of compromising ties with the political elite of the empire. And since Yufil’s mission assigned to him by the Empress was to kidnap me from the castle, he needed to get here first. And since it wasn’t that easy for an outsider to get into the Crown Princess’ residence, in the end, my older brother had to do it.

Of course, for a man like Yufil de Walt, who always boasted of his noble blood and aristocratic background, becoming part of such a criminal group was tantamount to the worst nightmare. And yet, for the sake of the only hope for the rebirth of the de Walt family, my brother had to step over himself.

However, there was only one thing I couldn’t understand in all of this. How the hell didn’t he get exposed?

— I said that my face was burned in a fire when I was a child, and since then I have been wearing a mask all the time.

«And they really believed it?»

«...yes.»

«What about your hair?»

The blue hair color of the guy, who was not so common in the empire, was one of the distinguishing features by which the main villain was looking for him.

— I said that my hair was burned in the same fire, and I’ve been wearing a helmet ever since.

«...»

I just didn’t have the words.

No, damn it, I really wanted to take a look at the person who works in the HR department of this organization! How could anyone approach this issue so irresponsibly...?!

But anyway...

— And then what happened?

— After the initial selection, these barbarians organize a competitive tournament for all candidates. And the one who defeats his opponent in a duel gets the opportunity to join their army and become a recruit.

Wow! I was very surprised to hear that. That’s because it was really hard for me to imagine how my brother could fight anyone, much less emerge victorious from this fight.

«And who were you fighting with?» I asked with genuine curiosity.

«.....»

It was clear from the guy’s face at that moment that he didn’t really want to talk about it. Still, I forced him to answer.

— well... With one bastard,» he scratched his cheek reluctantly.

«And who was it?» I insisted.

In the end, the duke’s heir still had to tell me everything. As it turned out, my brother’s opponent in the qualifying tournament was a former sea robber who had previously earned a living by participating in attacks on various ships and thus profited from it. However, in the end, he had to retire due to his advanced age, as well as injuries sustained during this «activity» in the form of the loss of an arm and one eye.

In order not to sit around, the former robber decided to join the ranks of the Dark Army.

In other words, Yufil was able to join the Crown Princess’ army by defeating an elderly man with no arms or legs...

When I found out about the result of my brother’s «heroic» fight with the sea robber, I wasn’t even surprised. After all, the guy didn’t even really have time to do anything, as the old man’s heart seized up from overwork...

Anyway, after that, the guy very quickly hurried to change the subject.

«Is that all you wanted to know?» Yufil snapped.

— .....

At that moment, I really had to do my best not to burst out laughing.

— Brother.

«What’s that again?»

— Why don’t you think about changing activities? It seems to me that during the time you spent there, you may have really found your true purpose...

However, my innocent joke caused a real outburst of anger on the part of the duke’s heir.

— Are you kidding me?! — Yufil was very angry at me for saying that, — How dare you put me on the same level as these uncouth thugs?! It was just a performance!

— ...

— Now that I’m out of this hole, I have nothing to do with those bastards anymore! I don’t even want to hear about it!

— Uh...

— If your stupid questions are finally over, then leave me alone and let me rest!

After this angry tirade, the guy pointedly turned away from me. And, fearing that at that moment I might really have crossed a certain line, I did not insist and also fell silent.

The forest around us was filled with various night sounds: the rustle of leaves, the distant howl of owls, the crackle of branches. Time passed, and eventually fatigue took its toll. I thought about what I had heard from Yufil for a while longer, and therefore I didn’t even notice how I fell asleep.

The brother and sister, tired of the night’s chase and worries, gradually began to fall asleep, their heads bent over each other’s shoulders, and only the crackling of the campfire could be heard around them.

***

The next morning, the forest was filled with morning light and freshness. Still half awake, I was listening to the chirping of birds out of the corner of my ear, and suddenly my hearing picked up some other sounds. Our calm in this early morning proved to be short-lived.

— Hey, what have we got here? Were the two lambs lost in the forest?

Quite unexpectedly, some dubious individuals came across us, most of all resembling some kind of bandits in appearance. It’s not hard to guess that these were most likely local bandits.

While Yufil was still half awake and snuffling on my shoulder, I had already more or less regained consciousness. My expression frowned.

— What do you need from us?

The four men laughed at my words, which sounded rather harsh.

— Young lady, don’t worry so much. We’re good guys and we won’t hurt you if you cooperate with us, — one of the bandits grinned.

In this situation, I decided not to delay and stated right away:

— We don’t have any money.

And, as unfortunate as it may sound, it really was true.

Nevertheless, even after my statement, the local bandits were not going to retreat so easily. Actually, as expected.

The second bandit flashed his yellow teeth unkindly.

— Even if what you’re saying is true, aren’t you two of noble birth? Although I have no idea how the two of you could end up in a place like this, but meeting nobles without guards is like finding a gold mine!..

His tone conveyed undisguised greed and obvious ill intentions towards us. Of course, people like them won’t miss their chance to make easy money. And while I was quickly figuring out what to do and how to get out of this situation, here...

— Wait, — one of the bandits suddenly turned pale, — this guy... he... he... he...

— what? Isn’t this kid a friend of the young lady in the beautiful dress?

— N-no way! Look carefully!

The robber’s finger twitched, pointing at Yufil, who at that time also began to come to his senses. And as soon as he pulled away from me and stood up, the four bandits noticed that the guy, whom they also mistook for a young aristocrat, was wearing the uniform of the army of the Dark Host...

«...»

It was a situation where even I didn’t know what to say. No, what’s going on right now?

My older brother only glanced in their direction, and that was enough to make the bandits who had just so confidently threatened us look like frightened children.

Despite the fact that Yufil had just woken up, he quickly assessed what was happening and the whole situation. Therefore, in the next moment, he calmly opened his mouth:

— You understand who I am, don’t you?

— We are... — the stutterers were so shocked that they could not utter a word.

— If you don’t want trouble, then give me all the money and valuables you have right now, — Yufil said dispassionately.

«.....»

The bandits froze upon hearing the order. Although they had not expected such a turn of events, it was still obvious that they had no other choice in this situation. Who would have thought that this cute boy, whom they mistook for an aristocratic scion, would actually turn out to be such a terrifying person! It seems that they were really unlucky today.

— You don’t want to piss me off, do you? — Yufil growled: — You have a choice: give us everything you have, or face the consequences.

«.....»

This guy was one of the knights of the Dark Host. The main bastards of this empire that no one wanted to deal with.

The robbers looked at each other with fear: they were definitely not going to take such an unreasonably dangerous risk to engage in a fight with this guy. One by one, the men quickly began to take money and other small valuables out of their pockets, throwing them at Yufil’s feet.

— T-thank you so much for sparing our lives, sir!

Looking at how the robbers, having emptied all their pockets in front of us, were now running away from us, flashing their heels, I couldn’t help but wonder this question. Despite the fact that before that the guy strongly denied any involvement in the Dark Army, but...

— You know, I didn’t want to say this, but aren’t you acting like one of them right now?