Chapter 6: The Starboy’s Nobility Only Extends To The Good

“Give us everything you have!”

“I-I have nothing!”

Axe stepped back, but doing so made the men approach him even faster. Their eyes, completely set on the cart.

The horses felt it too. They started shifting their hooves, and Axe had to look away for a moment to calm them down.

“Easy,” he whispered. “Easy now. No one’s dying today.”

And from how the horse was still snorting and shaking his head, the horse did not seem to believe him at all.

“We… we haven’t eaten in days!” one of the men said.

“I am not carrying food! Look!"

Sunlight caught Enel’s eyes from the gaps of the cart as Axe removed the cover.

Enel blinked. Even with the commotion outside, he was still drawing something beneath the cart. But the sudden light finally made him stop and focus on what was happening around him.

He subtly leaned his head out again, and he noticed Axe’s fingers were slowly moving toward the side of the cart, where a small charm was hanging idly.

Enel had seen that charm earlier. A little circle of old wood and bone, carved with words too small to read.

Axe’s fingers brushed it once, biting his lip before letting it go.

“Please, look!” Axe said, louder this time. “This is Veilwood! Even if you steal it, you will not be able to sell it without the baron’s seal!”

“Then… then drop every coin you have and—”

“Forget it! We’ll get the baron’s seal from your corpse and sell it ourselves!”

“Please!” Axe raised both hands now, leaving the horses to tremble on their own. “We’re all affected by the war! You don’t need to do this! Baron Robert Blackwood sent me himself. If you are hungry, then come to Widow’s Wall. Beg at the gates. The baron does not turn away the starving!”

“Your baron?” The man in front spat on the road. “Where was your baron when my boy starved?”

Axe’s mouth closed.

One of the other men looked at the ground, his jaw trembling. He was younger than the rest. His dagger shook in his hand.

“Let’s just… take the coin,” he muttered. “I… I’ve heard of Blackwood. He is a good man. We don’t need to kill one of his men.”

“Fool. We leave him alive, he tells the guards.”

Axe glanced from face to face. His eyes stopped on the youngest man longer than the rest.

“Lad,” he said softly. “You do not have to follow them.”

“Silence!” the leader snapped, rushing at Axe. “You will—what in…”

And all of a sudden, the inducing chaos instantly stopped.

Everyone’s eyes turned back to the cart, watching it suddenly shake wildly. They gazed lower, and a blonde with blue eyes was pushing himself out from the bottom of the cart.

They saw him crawling out like… a turtle. Even hitting his head against the side of the cart, causing it to slightly jump.

“Kh.”

Axe’s eyes widened.

“Young—”

“Wait.” Enel raised one finger, asking for a moment.

He pulled himself out, but his cape caught on one of the lower planks. He frowned, tugged once, failed, then tugged again. Stronger, this time. The entire cart was lifted from the ground again.

Finally, Enel freed himself and clumsily stood up, patting all the dirt from his armor. There was black paste on his cheek, and some of it had gotten on the old Blackwood insignia.

He let out a deep breath before finally turning his eyes up to whatever was happening.

And immediately, he saw Axe’s collars being grabbed by someone he didn’t recognize. They were all wearing common clothing, so… not soldiers.

This… was the first time he was seeing actual people outside Widow’s Wall.

The group also looked at Enel, and as soon as they saw him wearing armor—

“It’s an ambush!”

The man grabbing Axe quickly threw him back, and the group immediately gathered together with their weapons drawn. They lowered themselves, their eyes vigilant as they looked at the road for any incoming horses or people.

But even after several quiet seconds had passed… there was nothing.

“Where… where are your companions?!” one of the men said, pointing his dagger at Enel.

Enel blinked, seemingly confused at the question, as he also looked around.

“My companion?” He tilted his head to the side. “Lamb chose to stay behind to take care of her mother.”

“Lamb…?” The leader squinted. “So, you do have food!”

“What nonsense—no?” Enel also squinted. “Lamb is human, I believe..”

“So, you’re alone…?”

“Yes?”

“No, young baron! You—”

Axe covered his mouth as soon as he realized what he’d just said, then slowly turned his focus back to the group of men.

The men’s eyes once again turned wide at Axe’s words. They looked at each other, seemingly talking without opening their mouths at all.

“A… baron’s son?” one of them muttered.

“We… we should go. I do not want to be involved with nobles.”

“Should we—”

“Fools!” The one who was grabbing Axe earlier raised his voice, the leader, slapping his friends at the back of their heads. “This is it! We… we’ll take the baron’s son, and we can… we can finally eat. Do you fools not want to eat?!”

The youngest man swallowed.

“He’s a noble.”

“He’s ransom.”

“Y-young baron!” Axe immediately rushed to Enel’s side, trying to push him away, but couldn’t.

“Please… please run! Please—”

Enel pushed forward instead, placing a hand on the hilt of his sword as he once again looked at the group of men. The group all pointed their weapons at him again, but this time, they carefully scattered to surround him.

“You men are starving,” Enel said.

He removed something from his waist, extending it to the group leader.

“I have coin with me. Please, take it and feed yourselves.”

“Young baron, no!” Axe once again rushed at him, grabbing his arm and trying to push it down. “Don’t—”

“And if coin is not enough, then come to Widow’s Wall,” Enel continued. “My father will not turn away those who hunger. If you need work, I am certain there is something to be done. Roads to mend. Wood to carry. Refugees to help.”

The men stared at him.

Axe stared at him too, but for a different reason entirely.

“Listen to yourself,” the leader said. “Roads to mend?”

“Yes,” Enel nodded. “Or perhaps the Veilwood can be unloaded at Riverdown, and Axe can pay you for your labor. Axe?”

Axe’s mouth opened.

Nothing came out.

The leader’s face twisted.

“Enough! Drop everything you have!” he demanded. “Drop your sword, or we will kill you!”

“Kill us?” Enel squinted upon hearing the word. “I know you and your people are starving, but killing is not—”

Before Enel could finish, the group leader suddenly rushed at him, brandishing his dagger.

“Enel!”

Axe gasped at this, and then his old body moved before the rest of him could think.

He knew. He knew the dagger would probably snap before it pierced the young baron’s skin. He knew Enel had once carried a millstone as if it were a strand of hay. He knew Lady Mira would laugh at the idea of a knife hurting her son.

No, she wouldn’t laugh. She would kill him for letting the knife get close in the first place.

But even with all that, Axe still stepped in front of Enel with his eyes closed, hugging and shielding him from the incoming blade.

Because he wasn’t thinking of any of that at all.

Enel was thirteen. Despite his stature, he was someone’s child—a child loved by all of Widow’s Wall.

Enel, however, gently moved him to the side. Then his other hand moved, gently, like how his mother taught him.

Do not strike. Turn. Guide.

The back of his hand touched the man’s wrist, guiding it away. It was a tap, a single tap—but the only guiding his hand did was to guide the man’s wrist apart.

The wrist shattered, and his dagger flew through a tree. The man didn’t even have time to scream before Enel’s palm went to his chest.

To guide him back. Just a gentle… push.

And there, everyone watched as the man flew away—his body rolling violently across the ground before completely folding in half as he hit a tree on the side of the road; his blood, splattering everywhere.

And then, there was silence.

The other men all had their jaws wide open, their eyes following their leader’s body as it slowly and squealchingly, unstuck itself from the tree.

The sound it made caused the hair on their necks to dance.

The youngest man dropped his dagger.

“A… hero?” he whispered.

Another man, the noisy one who had earlier been screaming about coin, finally found his voice.

“Monster!” he shrieked. “That thing’s a monster!”

They then looked at each other, and without even saying anything else or even screaming else, they all started running away.

“Y-young baron…”

Axe slowly and carefully moved away from Enel, his eyes darting back and forth between the corpse and his young lord, who seemed to be the most shocked out of all of them.

“No…” Enel lightly gasped, looking at his palm while his head lightly shook. “I… did not mean to do that. I was…”

His breathing began to stutter.

“I held back,” he whispered. “Like… like Mother taught.”

His feet started moving. He slowly approached the man’s body, his steps hesitant, as though the road itself might break beneath him if he tripped.

And as he stood in front of the mangled corpse, he stared at the man’s eyes.

Empty. The color it once had has completely gone. There was no anger, no hunger, no pain.

“No,” Enel repeated. He crouched beside the body and placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Wake up.”

The body did not move. Enel patted him once, then again.

“I did not hit you hard,” he whispered. “I only… I only stopped you. You were going to hurt Axe.”

“M’lord…”

Enel’s eyes moved around the body, not knowing where to look. Because no matter where he turned his eyes, the man’s bones were broken.

“Mother could take that,” he said. “Mother…she tells me when it is too strong. She tells me to do it again. Why…”

His voice cracked.

“Why did he break?”

Axe stepped closer, then stopped. And once again, the young baron looked very small all of a sudden.

Enel slid his arms beneath the corpse.

“I can bring him to a priest,” he said quickly. “They can—”

He lifted, and the body almost tore in half, only the man’s clothes holding it together.

Enel froze.

Axe covered his mouth.

“I…” Enel gulped, then turned to Axe while carrying the corpse. “I killed someone. I did not… but Mother could… why? I have… I have shamed the Blackwood name.”

“M’lord…”

Axe also gulped, carefully approaching Enel while staring at the extremely horrified look in his blue eyes.

“This… is no fault of yours. This man would have… killed us.”

“He… but he said he was just hungry,” Enel whispered. “We could have helped.”

“They are bandits, M’lord.”

“Bandits?” Enel squinted, then turned to look at the man’s unpleasant face. “No, they are not. They’re not wearing masks.”

“...Masks, M’lord?” Axe blinked, seemingly confused.

“Yes.” Enel tilted his head. “In the books Mother read to me, they have masks.”

“Ah…”

Axe’s mouth opened, and a small breath escaped him as he finally remembered their young lord had never truly been outside Widow’s Wall.

“Bandits… rarely wear masks, M’lord. Look at the ink on his neck. He’s part of a brigand group called Riverguards. They… are a group of murderers and thieves terrorizing innocent people around these parts.”

“A bandit. Ah.”

Enel blinked.

Then, without even saying another word, he shrugged and casually tossed the mangled corpse back to the tree. He patted his armor clean, getting rid of the dirt and blood.

Axe completely froze when he saw that. His feet instinctively backed away from the young lord, his hands trembling.

He was about to reach out to comfort him earlier, but he quickly retracted back.

He almost forgot who was standing in front of him—this was the very same boy who, at only nine years old, crushed a refugee’s hand after finding him leaving another child blue and bruised just for a handful of coins.

And that man was banished into the Dark Forest before sunset by the rest of Widow’s Wall.

“Where did the others go?” Enel asked, drawing his sword. “They are bandits, too. Am I correct in that assumption?”

He was about to go deeper into the woods where the others disappeared to, but Axe quickly blocked his path.

“D-don’t, M’lord!” Axe begged. “We… we don’t know how many of them are. We should leave and let the duchy handle this!”

“But as a noble, it is my duty to—”

“Does your father know you snuck out?” Axe interrupted. “I think… I think we should go home. I do not want to be in trouble with your parents, especially Lady Mira!”

“Hm…”

Enel squinted, then sighed as he sheathed his sword back.

“You are right, Axe. I apologize for giving you more trouble… but I am not going back. I have made an oath under the Sovereign to bring Gregor and Ansel back.”

“Gregor… and the seamstress’ son? You—wait.” Axe’s eyes turned wide. “You made an oath under the Seven Laws?!”

“Yes.” Enel nodded, seemingly proud of himself while sheathing his sword back.

“What… what did you offer?”

“The blood in my flesh.”

“You—” Axe clasped his head. “Your parents must not know about this. We will all be in trouble.”

“Hmn.” Enel closed his eyes, nodding several times. “You are correct, Axe. That is why I must return with the others as swiftly as possible.”

Enel flicked his hair, then walked back to the cart and sat on the coach.

“We must make haste, Axe. Onward. To war!”

Axe stared at the young lord, sitting there, with absolutely no idea about the real world.

“Gods…” Axe whispered to himself. “...I am too old for this.”