The Garbage Collector Who Stumbled Upon Mythical Weapons! - Chapter 14
Van and the others outside the inn were startled. A loud noise made them turn around just in time to see something burst through the inn’s wall and fly out.
For a moment, Van thought Garm had been defeated, but that wasn’t the case.
Garm came rushing out, chasing after whatever had flown away. Meanwhile, Sophia was still treating Amber.
Van was worried about Garm but hesitated to leave the area.
Then—
“Go, Van!”
“Sophia… but…”
“Garm is fighting alone! We can’t just ignore that!”
“…Alright.”
Leaving the two behind, Van ran in the direction Garm had gone.
It was nighttime, but the moonlight was bright enough for him to spot Garm right away. He was standing still under a tree.
“Garm! What happened to the woman?”
“…She escaped.”
Garm bit his lip in frustration. Van looked up to see a broken tree branch and a dented tree trunk. Bl00d was splattered all the way down to the roots.
“Did you defeat her!? That woman!?”
Van was shocked. From what he had felt during their fight, she was terrifyingly strong. He wouldn’t have doubted it if someone had told him she was an A-rank adventurer. He turned to Garm.
His clothes were torn, and his body was in bad shape, but he didn’t seem to have any fatal wounds.
The only thing that concerned Van was—
“Garm… your left hand…”
“Hm? Oh.”
Bl00d was dripping from Garm’s palm.
“It’s nothing serious.”
“Sophia should take a look. Amber seems to be out of danger, too.”
“I see… That’s good to hear.”
Garm let out a relieved sigh.
“Garm, to be honest, I didn’t think you could take her down. If things had gone on like that, we all would have died. I really appreciate what you did.”
Van expressed his gratitude sincerely. Garm’s face turned slightly red, looking embarrassed.
“W-Well, I told you, didn’t I? I’m strong and useful!”
“Yeah, you definitely proved that.”
Van smiled and acknowledged him.
“Alright, let’s head back to the others.”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Under the soft glow of the moon, the two walked back to Sophia and the others.
◇◇◇
At the same time—
Bleeding from her back, Louisa staggered down a dark forest path.
She had barely escaped with her life and was constantly looking around, terrified of being found. A pathetic sight, something she would never have imagined for herself.
Both of her arms were shattered, several ribs were broken, and her internal organs were likely damaged.
Her pale face was smeared with bl00d, dirt, and humiliation. Her pride was in shambles.
She never expected to suffer such a crushing defeat, such a humiliating loss. Barely able to walk, she took unsteady steps, laughing to herself.
Leaning her back against a tree along the path, she slowly slid down to sit.
It felt refreshing. There was someone stronger than her.
Just that fact alone thrilled her. Looking up, she saw the moonlight shining through the gaps in the black leaves. It was beautiful.
Until now, she had never even thought of looking up at the sky. That was the kind of world she had lived in.
But now, things were different. She had a clear goal. And that made her happier than anything.
“Garm… That’s what they called you, right…?”
A twisted smile formed on Louisa’s lips, and a crazed light flickered in her eyes.
“Wait for me, Garm… I will kill you… for sure… Fufu… Ahaha…”
Her distorted laughter melted into the darkness of the night.
◇◇◇
What came after was a hassle.
Before dawn, several men arrived to steal the cargo. Garm and Van subdued them, but they refused to reveal who had hired them.
With no other choice, they tied them up and locked them in a room at the inn.
While discussing with the innkeeper about handing them over to the town’s militia, an unexpected person appeared—Mattio, who was thought to be dead.
Garm and Van frowned. The woman had claimed to have killed all the Trading Bonal Company employees. So why was Mattio the only survivor?
“Well, when the bandits attacked, I hid under the bed and barely made it out alive. It was really close,” Mattio explained nonchalantly.
His tone was casual, but something didn’t sit right.
“That doesn’t add up. I can’t believe that woman would make such a mistake.”
Van glared at Mattio.
“N-No, really! It was just pure luck!”
“That sounds suspicious…”
“I think so too,” Sophia and Amber added, both eyeing Mattio with doubt.
Garm also felt something was off. That woman was an experienced assassin. She wouldn’t have overlooked someone just because they hid under a bed.
“Let’s take our time and hear the full story.”
Cracking his knuckles, Garm stepped toward Mattio.
“H-Hii!”
In the end, it turned out Mattio had been working with the woman. He was tied up and thrown into the same room as the captured thieves.
After discussing their next steps, they decided that Garm would return to the city of Rayford to report the situation to Bonal Trading Company.
“Sorry about this, Garm. If I weren’t injured, I would have gone myself.”
“It’s fine. You guys rest up. I’ll go call for reinforcements.”
Saying that, Garm untied a horse from the cart and rushed toward the city.
It took him about half a day to reach Bonal Trading Company and report everything that had happened. Brenas, the butler of the Bonal family estate, quickly arrived to take charge of the situation.
His response was swift.
He arranged for employees to retrieve the cargo from the village and hired new adventurers as escorts. He also contacted the city’s militia to take custody of the captured thieves.
Van and the others, who had remained in the village, were also given a carriage ride back to Rayford.