When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist
Chapter 85 - 83 Just Interest [Seeking First Subscription] (3 Updates)

Chapter 85: Chapter 83 Just Interest [Seeking First Subscription] (3 Updates)

Digging a hole on this hillside with a spade, Horn drank some wine and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Even though Prince Kongdai had already erected a grave for Danji, Horn thought that this probably wasn’t what Danji would have liked.

Horn took out a spoon from his pocket: "This was supposed to be my holy relic, but now it has become your holy relic."

He tossed the spoon into the pit and shoveled the soil back over it.

Placing a cedar tombstone in front of the mound, Horn patted the dirt off his hands, took two steps back, and nodded with satisfaction.

Sitting down right there, Horn took another sip of wine, the mead so sweet it turned bitter.

In everyone’s eyes, Danji either didn’t catch up or got injured and was taken away by the church.

Apart from a few of us, who could know of his bravery?

He died protecting these villagers, yet Horn couldn’t tell them.

The villagers didn’t even know Danji protected them.

Danji lived a life of desolation and cowardice, and at his most heroic moment, Horn couldn’t say a word.

No one knew, only Horn and a few others knew.

But if the truth were told, the lie about the Knight race would be exposed.

When the common folks realized, would they still unite and move forward wholeheartedly against the church?

What would Danji’s death mean then?

Horn’s heart pounded heavily, perhaps from drinking too much, but he really couldn’t catch his breath.

Holding the wine, he walked to Danji’s grave, pouring the wine in his hand in front of that wooden plaque.

After a long silence, Horn slowly spoke:

"Danji, my old brother, to tell you a truth, both you and I know what this Pope Country truly is."

"To put it bluntly, it’s just a facade, a facade I’ve been using to deceive people."

"You all asked me to create a fair country without knights, but I never intended to really create this Pope Country."

"I’m very confident, but I’m also quite ordinary; I firmly believe I can achieve great things, though not to that extent yet."

"You’ve overestimated me."

"There’s no Pope Country, nor our country."

"After this journey ends, I will leave the Thousand River Valley."

"I lied to them, saying Mother met you in the Celestial Kingdom, saying your glory was recognized."

"But it’s all lies. I’m neither a descendant of Miseria nor a Chosen Pope, I’m just, just..."

"I’m not like you, I’m just a fraud."

"Maybe others don’t know, maybe no one knows, but I know, I can remember, you are the true hero."

The clouds in the night sky blocked all light, Danji’s tombstone did not respond to Horn’s words.

As if everything was in darkness, only the candle holder in Horn’s hand emitted a fuzzy light, enveloping the two together.

"Only I know..."

Horn hung his head low, murmuring like in a dream.

If the Pope Country is false, then in other words, Danji’s achievements would never be truly recognized.

In everyone’s eyes, he’s still that knight who rushed into the water mill.

Horn raised his head.

Though clouds covered the moon, the moonlight on the tombstone seemed as if it were about to ignite.

Supporting his knees, he stood up.

He walked down the hill, getting faster and faster, not even bothering to retrieve his windproof cloak that was blown off.

He threw away the candlestick, started running, directly slipping down the hillside.

Crossing the camp’s fence, leaping over the ground’s ditches, Horn rushed into Qianqian’s tent.

"Qianqian, where’s my bow?"

"Still adjusting..."

Snatching the big bow from Qianqian’s hand, he slung it over his shoulder, grabbed a short spear, and sprinted out of the camp, mounting a sluggish horse.

The horse hooves splattered mud, jostling Horn lying on its back.

Horn hadn’t ridden many times; he could only awkwardly hold the horse’s neck, galloping madly toward the western hillside.

The night was thick, and he couldn’t see anything, only discerning the rough direction.

The clumsy horse braked suddenly, and Horn toppled off it.

His forehead grazed the ground, bleeding, his knees and elbows bruised purple.

Yet Horn continued without pause, stumbling to his feet, struggling to stride forward.

Faster, run faster.

It was as if someone was urging him; no matter what lay ahead, Horn kept running.

The world was an arid black, the ground like the back of a giant beast, knotted with fur and stiff bristles rubbing against his ankles.

Horn kept running, climbing up the hillside only to slip down again, his clothes and knees torn, but still, he ran on.

He dared not stop.

Horn traversed the hillside, seeing nothing but the retreating bushes and branches before him.

On all fours, scrambling awkwardly, Horn grasped the vines, dug his fingers into the soil, and finally crawled up the slope.

He bolted and tumbled to the edge of the cliff.

To Horn, it was just a small slope, but to those below the cliff, it rose high into the clouds.

The night was dark as fog, yet one could still see the corner of a tent raised.

Below the cliff, at the bottom of the canyon, a few faint lights floated—it was Prince Kongdai’s camp.

"Kongdai!!!"

Horn roared towards the canyon.

"Kongdai!!!"

"Kongdai! You damned goat-loving bastard!"

"Listen closely!"

The farmer with a bow stood imposingly atop the towering cliff.

"One day, I will become the greatest figure on this land!"

The farmer shouted hoarsely, covered in dirt and grass, with soil packed under his fingernails.

Meanwhile, in the camp at the foot of the mountain, a few lights flickered on.

"One day, I will let everyone know that Danji is a fearless hero!"

"One day, I will offer your head at Danji’s grave!"

"Even if you hide at the ends of the earth, I will find you. I swear, even if you’re dead, I’ll dig you up!"

Horn pulled out the two-meter short spear he had brought from the ground, grasped it by both ends, and slammed it against his knee, trying to break it.

But alas, after trying two or three times, he only managed to bruise his knee without any success.

He had to wedge the end of the spear into a crack in the stone, kicking it hard several times before breaking it.

Breathing heavily, he limped to the edge of the cliff, setting the broken spear against his body-length bow.

"This arrow is just the interest!"

"I swear!"

As Horn released the string, the previously softened mountain copper instantly hardened.

The bowstring twanged, creating a gust that swirled the air into small whirlpools; he could even hear the piercing shriek of the spear.

As soon as he let go, the spear vanished from Horn’s vision.

The first time shooting, Horn couldn’t even control where it went.

Staring into the thick night, the sound of the arrow’s disappearance seemed to still reverberate.

The canyon was empty as if Horn hadn’t said a word earlier.

The lights that had lit up gradually dimmed again.

"Hum, heh, hahahaha."

After drawing the bow, dizziness hit him, and Horn sat slumped on the ground, legs apart, laughing at himself as though waking from drunkenness.

What’s the use?

But this is all I can do.

Rest assured, without needing the so-called Pope Country, once I achieve fame and success, I’ll restore honor for you.

Slung the bow on his back, Horn bared his teeth, limping down the hill slowly.

......

"Your Highness, Your Highness!"

Prince Kongdai shielded the firelight with his hand, squinting: "What now? Is it that person calling my land by my name?"

Standing behind two soldiers, a coachman trembled all over, his teeth chattering: "Y-you, you...you..."

Sitting up, Prince Kongdai pushed aside the two soldiers, lowered himself before the coachman: "What’s wrong?"

"Your horse is dead."

When Prince Kongdai reached the stable, his Dragon Blood Horse was already lying on the ground, gasping its last.

He slowly approached, holding the horse’s head with trembling hands.

The Dragon Blood Horse could only utter a dying whinny.

A broken spear had pierced through its rump, across its spine and belly, cut open its abdomen—undigested Black William’s flesh and entrails oozing from the wound.

"What happened?" Prince Kongdai’s voice trembled along with his hands.

"Your horse was shot dead with a spear..."

"I know." Prince Kongdai gritted his teeth, asking, "I mean, where did this spear come from? Is there someone with a ballista from the cliff?"

"N-no, we don’t know. We had everything arranged perfectly, your horse was sleeping soundly when that spear suddenly fell from the sky, I had no time to react, and when we realized..."

"Ah——"

The iron hand fell on the coachman’s face with a blur.

The coachman’s head rotated two and a half times on his neck before stopping, taking a step forward, then drawing back to collapse heavily on the ground.