Musou Knight: Crow of Cinders-Chapter 16: I Don’t Hate Women

Chapter 16 - I Don’t Hate Women

"Whoa."

"Did he just summon fire?"

The men fixated on my fingertip. One of them grabbed my hand and tried to douse the flame with a piece of cloth. Instead, the fire lit the dry cloth and nearly burned him.

Lenitia explained. "It’s musou energy. A few musou knights are capable of self-healing through the use of their prime element."

I was glad Lenitia figured it out instantly. That made my explanation simple.

"When I realized fire was my friend, I burned myself to heal my body. That’s how my force kept growing."

Lenitia nodded while the men went silent. I didn’t know whether they were in awe or just speechless, but I supposed my excuses were effective.

The princess demonstrated her own abilities. She opened her palm and generated wind.

"I wish the wind element had that, but I know water-type force can do the same. Fire-types like you are rare, though, because most fire musou knights don’t live very long."

That was new to me. The game hadn’t explained this part.

"How?"

"They either burn out their life force or die in battle. Their offensive abilities are stronger than those of other elements, but they are the most fragile musou knights. Earth-type is more defensive and well-balanced. Wind has speed, but our defenses are slightly stronger than fire. And lastly, water knights excel in support abilities and recovery, but they’re not very good in offense."

In short, I was a glass cannon. I disagreed with some of her remarks, though. For example, one of the late-game bosses mastered two elements: fire and earth. He could one-shot players while tanking musou attacks from multiple opponents. The developers even admitted they based him on Lu Bu.

Lenitia patted my shoulder and smiled. I didn’t like her look because it felt like pity. I didn’t need her sympathy.

She tried to console me.

"I’m sure you’ll grow up to be a fine artisan. Come to think of it, I never asked your name."

That was because she never cared about me, duh.

"Crow."

"Crow?"

"Yes. Just Crow. I’m a commoner. I have no surname."

"Crow sounds ominous. How about I call you Raven?"

Okay, that was rude. Don’t go around changing people’s names, you canine woman!

I rolled my eyes and cut the conversation short. I was starting to get tired of this silicone woman.

"Please do not change my name. Also, are we done with the interrogation? We still have some distance to go before nightfall!"

"R-Right. Lead us the way, Raven."

"...My name is Crow."

The journey continued.

West of the ruined battlefield and the mass grave lay Avaritia’s territory. Unlike Invidia, where most of the land was covered in woods, this place was barren and mountainous.

Our speed dropped by half due to the rocky terrain. I spotted an entrance of an abandoned mine on the way but purposely guided them away from it. If we followed the road north and reached the mine’s entrance, we would be ambushed by a villain, who would trigger the storyline.

I didn’t bring Lenitia here to join her story campaign. My objective in bringing her to Avaritia was to flee these war zones.

By nightfall, we reached the main stone road, which would lead us directly to the heart of Avaritia.

We camped at the roadside. I hadn’t eaten for a full day, so I kept sneaking glances at the small jars. Should I take one and come up with an excuse that I’d use it for the toilet?

"Um, Raven."

Getting called by Lenitia again, I frowned. "What is it?"

"I was wondering if I could borrow one of your empty jars?"

"Why?"

"Y-You see. Umm." Lenitia fidgeted and blushed. She took a deep breath and confessed. "There are no bushes to cover me. I-I really need to use the latrine."

She was going to take a leak... in my precious jar?!

Lady, jars were for breaking and spawning food, not pissing into. I would never eat food from a piss jar!

"These jars are for storing food. Are you going to pee in them?"

"K-Keep it down!" Lenitia covered my mouth and whispered, "I’ll pay for it. Please don’t be too loud."

"Can’t you just pee on the ground?"

"Y-You scoundrel! I-It’s too disgraceful!"

"Yeah, yeah. I forgot. It’s gonna splash, I get it."

"..."

I had lost track of how many times I had rolled my eyes. Maybe I was hungry. Maybe it was frustration and stress building up.

I fetched one of the empty ceramic jars and tossed it to her. She caught it mid-air.

"Keep it. Don’t bother returning it to me."

There was no way I would spawn food with that jar. What if the next spawned food might contain golden water inside? I wouldn’t be eating that.

Lenitia’s face turned redder. She called for her attendant, a woman in soldier’s gear.

"Lia, come here."

The bodyguard was the same height as Lenitia. She carried two long swords. With a ponytail, icy stare, and ample chest, she gave off the vibe of a strict older sister protecting her master from trouble, though her face and figure resembled a certain DOA character who wore skimpy clothes and used only a fan as a weapon.

I remembered her. She was a playable side-character in Lenitia’s main storyline. Her narrative explored hidden conflicts and complex battles, such as escort missions, siege defense, saving civilians, thwarting schemes, and cleaning up Lenitia’s messes.

In other words, if Lenitia was easy mode, Lia was expert mode.

Lia shot me a glare and swung her chest, escorting her lady away from the crowd of men. I scoffed and shooed her off.

I had nothing against women, but I wasn’t attracted to women with exaggerated breasts. They looked like someone who had gone through numerous surgeries or had already conceived seven times in five years.

The two left quietly. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a group of men getting up and following after them.

Were they going to peek? Well, they could try if they wanted to die. None of my business.

I chewed the jerky the soldiers shared while I sat next to my cart. I was dying to break something and spawn food.

Come to think of it, during Lenitia’s first story campaign, Lenitia slipped away from her troops to take a leak somewhere in the mine. However, some of her men were killed, and they disguised as her people. They followed her into the mine cave to assault her, which triggered the battle.

But I was with her troops the entire time. If they were replaced by Zoli Diripio’s men, I would have noticed it. Would she be alright?

"..."

I counted the time. If they didn’t show up after two minutes, I would go look for them. But if I ran into them taking a dump, I would give them a stupid excuse, like, "I’m taking number two too. Do you mind if we share the same toilet?"

What the hell was I thinking?

Anyway, I started counting.

One, two, three...

60, 61, 62...

99... 100... 101...

118... 119... 120...

Two minutes passed. The fools hadn’t returned. Time to look for them.

I got up from my seat and stretched. After grabbing a torch, I followed the direction in which the girls had disappeared.

After walking 200 meters, I spotted chaotic footprints.

Had the idiots I saw earlier really assaulted the ladies?

But then, I saw odd-shaped prints in the soil. Not human.

Horse tracks. Many of them.

I lifted my head and looked around, but the sky was already gray. It was becoming difficult to see, except I had a torch that the troops had given me.

While I swung my torch to scan the area and the footprints, I heard the neighs of horses. The sound came from the camp where I had parked my cart.

My cart?

MY PRECIOUS CART WAS UNDER ATTACK?!