Musou Knight: Crow of Cinders-Chapter 43: Patience is Key

Chapter 43 - Patience is Key

Walking up the stairs with broken legs was impossible unless your pain sensory was turned off.

Cow-Cow sat on my shoulder. His three claws pierced my skin as his flame poured into my body to heal me.

I patted his head while I pushed myself, one step at a time. My arms and hands pressed against the cold, hard brick stairs as I crawled to the top of the wall.

The climb, which should have taken a few seconds, took me minutes. By the time I reached the wall-walk area, the superficial wounds had already healed.

I checked my knees. My kneecaps had taken shelter in my skin once more, but my ankle was still twisted. I couldn’t stand straight.

I wasn’t worried. As long as Troturre didn’t come after me immediately, I could take my time to heal. I could hide up here or slip into one of the towers. Maybe I could find some crates or jars inside. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

I kept limping along the wall-walk. Ahead of me was a stone tower. Entering through the open door, I found nothing but stairs leading to the top floor and the lower floors.

Taking a break, I sat on the cold floor and closed my eyes to meditate. Cow-Cow stopped sending flame into me and slipped into my clothes.

I bit the tip of my tongue to avoid falling asleep.

My decision was correct. Hours later, I heard loud footsteps. Now that I had closed my eyes long enough, I opened them.

Everything was dark blue. My eyes had become accustomed to the dim light of the moon. As I peeked outside the tower through the backyard window, I saw torchlight coming from the area where I had fallen from the shitter chimney.

"FIND HIM!"

Indeed, they were searching for me. The men separated into teams and ran around like headless chickens. However, a team was approaching my tower.

I checked my legs. They felt a little better after hours of recuperating, but the twisted ankle hadn’t healed yet.

There were no destructible objects in sight. I regretted not storing away some dumplings when I showed my skills to Lenitia and Lia. Otherwise, I would have been completely fine in this situation.

But there was another method to recover instantly.

I could Level Up.

If I was a level 2 musou knight with a fire attribute, the next level-up condition should have been a simple "Kill 1,000 Enemies and 1 Level-3 Knight" mission.

Kek. As if I could kill a thousand proper soldiers with two broken legs and a twisted ankle. This was why I needed the natural method, the cultivation method, to train properly.

Come to think of it, how many people had I killed so far? Ten?

Yeah, impossible right now... unless I had a guandao. That weapon’s musou attack patterns were better for mob grinding.

While my mind wandered, a team of three men climbed the stairs and patrolled the wall-walk. One of them walked straight toward my location while the other two headed the other way.

I exhaled deeply and lurked in the shadows near the entrance.

The patrol officer entered the tower. His torch illuminated the interior, revealing a staircase to the top floor and the bottom floor. He walked past me.

I leapt at him from behind. Instead of using a musou attack to kill him instantly, I sliced his throat. The blade cut through his jugular, and he let out a muffled voice of someone without air in his lungs. He went limp and collapsed. My left arm supported him, softening the fall.

After lowering the dead guy onto the ground, I moved the tip of the torch to my broken ankle and burned it. My leg quickly caught fire, but I didn’t feel any pain. Instead, fire seeped into my pores, and my body filled with vigor.

However, the light might give away my position and my deed. I grabbed the dead guy by his eye sockets and dragged him away from the door.

Pulling a dead body was not easy work. I remembered going to the gym and dead-lifting 150 pounds with ease. However, pulling this guy, who had a similar weight, was not as simple as it sounded. His breastplate, greaves, and armor parts grazed the bumpy stone floor and caused unpleasant noises. Fortunately, no one was nearby.

I put him in front of the stairs and searched his body. Aside from his plate armor, this bozo had nothing on him. Poor bastard.

I removed his chest armor and leg guards. To blend in with the local soldiers, I put on the patrol uniform. However, I couldn’t wear the boots yet since my legs were still in poor condition.

After ripping his boots off, I pushed the body down the stairs. Then I sat on the stairs, torching my legs to heal them. By pushing my joints to the right angle, my bones clicked. Once more, my ankle joints resumed their functions, even though a dull ache persisted.

I put on the boots and walked out of the tower. Cow-Cow rushed after me. But as soon as he saw the sky, he flew up and sat on top of the tower, watching me from above.

Ignoring the birb, I took my time walking away from the tower. My goal was the south gate of the fortress, which was connected to the town outside the walls. Reaching that location, which was outside the story’s scope, would ensure my survival.

Along the way, another team of night patrol climbed the staircase and ran into me.

I deeply exhaled and stepped aside while holding the torch.

One of the patrol soldiers looked at my face and raised an eyebrow. "A new guy? Never seen your face before?"

I smiled at them. "I am from Detrain Town. My father is ill, so he has sent me here to fill his shift."

"Heh, the militia. Well, don’t sleep on the job, kid."

The team of five soldiers ignored me and continued on their way, heading toward the tower I had left. I inwardly snorted at these idiots and minded my steps, heading toward the drawbridge gate.

As I walked, I looked outside the wall and glanced down.

It was twenty meters high. There was a water moat, but it was too shallow. If I jumped down, my legs and butt would be crushed. The water splash would be too noisy, and Troturre’s men would notice my presence.

I resisted the temptation and continued onward. I prayed that the previous team wouldn’t find the corpse of their friend.

Minutes later, I arrived in front of the south gate. There was a staircase leading down.

As I approached the stairs, a loud noise echoed through the night. It came from the stone tower where I had come from.

"THERE’S A DEAD BODY!"