Berserk: The Prophet

—North of the Dordore Mountains—

Green rode forward in tattered clothes, his reddish-brown hunting horse looking malnourished and thin.

To tell you about this, we have to go back to the encounter with the Juda army a few days ago. The defeated and fleeing soldiers dared not return to their lord to be punished, and the area became home to many bandits and robbers composed of the routed soldiers.

There were hardly any living people in the villages along the way.

Green took out his shrunken water bag and poured the last few drops of sweet spring water into his parched throat. The weather was approaching the height of summer, and water sources were hard to find in the mountains.

After the previous fierce battle, Green got separated from the two knights, but if they weren't dead, they should come back on their own soon.

Sigh, this kind of money isn't something everyone can earn.

Because of his terrible medical skills, all the knights he summoned from his inventory died.

It's all too real that they were mistaken for enemy forces by both sides because they had no insignia or tokens. But after going around in circles, they finally managed to find out the whereabouts of the Fierce Bear Group and Gambino.

...The first thing we need to do is find a water source.

As Green was pondering this, suddenly, the hunting horse beneath him began to paw at its hooves restlessly, neighing incessantly.

He gripped the reins tightly warily, his eyes quickly scanning the surroundings. He could see several pairs of greedy eyes gleaming in the bushes not far away.

"Bandits again!" Green's heart sank.

These bandits, composed of routed soldiers, preferred to prey on lone travelers and caravans on remote, desolate trails.

He instinctively reached for the sword at his waist, but unfortunately, after the previous fierce battle, the blade had several nicks and chips, making it unlikely to withstand the upcoming fierce fight.

Just as Green was figuring out how to break through, the bandits swarmed forward. Leading them was a burly man with a menacing face, wielding a long knife, who shouted menacingly, "If you know what's good for you, hand over your valuables and horses, or don't blame me for being impolite!"

Green snorted coldly, "You think you're worthy of what I have?"

Having said that, he spurred the horse's flanks, and the hunting horse neighed and charged forward, intending to use speed to tear a breakthrough.

However, the bandits were prepared and surrounded Green with their weapons. Green slashed left and right, trying to fight his way out, but the bandits kept gathering, and he gradually became overwhelmed.

His wounds continued to multiply, and blood stained his already tattered clothes.

"You sons of bitches, you've asked for it!!"

Green cursed under his breath, and in the next moment, a full set of plate armor instantly covered his entire body. A gleaming lance and a kite shield appeared in his hands, and his warhorse was also clad in horse armor.

A miniature version of the knight.

Previously, to make traveling easier, all of these equipment were put into the portable storage space.

"Suffer death!!"

He squeezed the horse's flanks with both legs, the warhorse neighed, its front hooves raised high, and it charged fiercely into the enemy ranks.

Green's sudden and fierce aura shocked the surrounding bandits, and several unlucky ones were impaled in the chest before they could even react, their bodies neatly strung together.

"Hmm——!"

Green decisively discarded the lances that had pierced through several men, drew his two-handed greatsword, and faced the bandit leader.

Seeing Green's bravery, the bandit leader was immediately intimidated, but his years of military experience made him instinctively use his longsword to block the attack.

The two blades clashed with a loud bang, sending sparks flying.

To his surprise, a single blow left his hand numb and he staggered back several steps, a nick appearing on his longsword.

The other bandits also realized what was happening and gathered around, trying to support their leader.

These routs, lacking armor, were no match for Grin's armor, and with a few powerful strikes, they were sent to meet the god of the abyss.

After dealing with the surrounding henchmen, Green, holding his blood-dripping greatsword, looked at the bandit leader through his masked helmet, his eyes gleaming with a cold light.

The bandit leader was deathly pale and his legs were weak, but he still forced himself to raise his long knife and shouted in a bluffing manner, "Don't...don't come any closer!"

Green sneered, exerted force with his feet, and pounced forward like a ghost, his greatsword whistling through the air as he slashed down.

The bandit leader frantically parried, and with a "crack," his long knife broke in two. The greatsword then slashed at his neck, and blood splattered instantly.

The headless corpse quickly lost its balance and fell to the ground. Its head, which had tumbled several times in the air, also fell to the ground, its face still bearing an expression of disbelief.

Green used his arm armor to open the helmet covering his face to let in some air, spitting out a curse: "Damn it, I have to clean the gear again."

With a thought, the scattered lances and equipment turned into golden light and dissipated, flowing into his chest.

These bandits didn't have anything valuable on them, but something was better than nothing, so they all had Beligat take them.

[Battle ended. Total kills: 26; loot: 23 silver coins; other spoils: several...]

......

—North of the Dordore Mountains, Southern Fortress—

——Camp——

A small, dark-haired figure moved among the tents.

"Gambino——!"

"?" Gambino, who was planning to find a few women to have some fun, turned around in confusion.

...It turned out that Guts had run up behind him.

"what's up?"

“...This.” Gus took out his salary from the small leather bag behind him.

The small purse containing silver coins was handed to Gambino by the owner of the little hand.

"..."

Slightly puzzled, Gambino took the money pouch and raised an eyebrow at Guts. "What's going on? Why are you giving me your salary?"

"Ugh...ugh...I..."

Gus blushed. He wanted to call him 'Father,' but he couldn't bring himself to say it...

He simply didn't have the courage his brother had to address him that way, especially since he'd heard Gambino say those words with his own ears that day, and his brother's fate was now unknown...

Guts bit his lower lip, as if he had been holding it in for a long time before finally managing to squeeze out, "...Thank you for saving me today, Gambino."

Ganbino paused for a moment, then resumed his nonchalant demeanor. This kid's salary wasn't much silver coins, with a few copper coins mixed in here and there.

“...Tch, here you go.” Gambino picked out a silver coin from the small bag of coins and tossed it to Guts.

Gus caught the silver coin steadily.

"...You'd better do a good job." Gambino took the money bag and turned to find a young lady, intending to do something "relaxing" for adults.

"..." Gus looked at the silver coin in his hand and smiled with satisfaction.

In short, this is a good start; he can support himself now.

Gus was in a rare good mood. He was exhausted after a long day and it was time to cook and rest.

Little did he know that at the very moment he left...

A bald, dark-skinned man watched Gus's departing figure and gave him a meaningful smile.