Chapter 103: Eren [3]

Click—!

The carriage door shut with a firm thud, and the wheels began to roll, gradually pulling them away from the towering gates of the Draken estate.

Inside, Lila exhaled softly and sank into the plush cushions of her seat. The gentle sway of the carriage was almost soothing, a lull after the chaos of the past few hours.

Across from her, Mira sat upright, still visibly tense. After a long pause, she finally asked the question that had been gnawing at her.

“Should we have told them about Eren, Miss Lila?”

Lila, the head of the Lotus House Merchant Guild, didn’t respond immediately. Instead, she turned her gaze to the coat beside her—a worn, weathered piece of leather draped over the armrest. With practiced ease, she reached for it, her fingers brushing against the rough fabric. Gripping it calmed the tremble in her nerves.

“We made the right choice,” she said quietly, more to herself than to Mira.

“But—!”

“If we hadn’t told them, they would’ve found me. And your mercenary group, too.” Lila’s voice was firm now, her amber eyes narrowing with certainty. “Don’t underestimate the North Duke’s reach. We would’ve been hunted down before we even crossed the next region.”

Her tone left no room for doubt.

She pulled the coat over her shoulders, nodding once in quiet satisfaction. For a moment, the carriage was silent again, save for the rhythmic clatter of wheels against the cobblestone road.

Mira couldn’t help but stare at the coat. She had noticed it ever since they left the abandoned mine—the very place where everything had changed.

The coat was old, scuffed at the seams, and certainly didn’t match Lila’s usual style. As the owner of one of the most successful merchant houses in the Empire, Lila could afford silk-lined cloaks or enchanted velvet coats embroidered with her crest. And yet… she clung to this.

Unable to hold back her curiosity any longer, Mira asked softly, “Miss Lila, why do you keep that coat? It doesn’t suit you. Isn’t it… time to throw it away?”

Lila was quiet for a long moment. When she finally spoke, her voice was soft, distant, as if speaking more to herself than to anyone else.

“This coat… it was the only thing covering me when I needed it most. How could I just throw it away? And you’ve probably already guessed who it belonged to.”

Mira hesitated. “Is it…?”

Lila gave a faint nod. “Yeah. It’s Eren’s.”

Mira didn’t respond right away. She simply nodded and turned to stare out of the small, frost-covered window of the moving carriage. Snow blanketed everything in sight—silent, endless.

Like Lila, Eren had saved her. And not just once.

The first time was when Bjron had attacked her. he was fast, way too fast her for to aim him. She thought she was dead right there—but it was Eren who stepped in, who faced Bjron without hesitation.

The second time was when that bandit, Rook, had started looking at her with those sick, lust-filled eyes. She remembered the way her stomach twisted in disgust. But Eren had stepped forward again—this time with only a few calm, razor-sharp words that made the bastard back off immediately.

The third time…

That was the worst of them all.

They had been thrown into a dark, filthy cell. Mira had lost all hope. She was half-mad with fear, convinced that Bjron would come for her next—after Lila.

But once again… Eren had stepped in. He broke them out of that cell with nothing but grit and willpower.

And not just that—because of him, she had managed to rally herself, save the remaining mercenaries, and get her revenge.

She remembered what Eren had said—that he’d cut off Rook’s dick before killing him.

But he had gone off to save Lila instead, and so she had done it herself. For him. And for her own revenge.

She owed Eren. Big time.

That’s why…

Just like her mercenary captain had once tried, she had planned to bring Eren into their group when they met again.

She had even pictured it—him walking into their camp, that aloof expression on his face, maybe grumbling about the cold. She would greet him, maybe even smile a little.

But by the time she reached Bjron’s slaughter room, he was already gone.

He had left behind only Lila.

And Bjron’s headless corpse.

…And think Mira know was that he hanged Bjron served head on the clock tower of the market town in Draken Duchy.

And left the message

I WILL COME FOR YOU ALL. THE SCUMS OF THE NORTH!

By now he was being called as Vigilante Of The North according to latest news.

Of course, no one know it was Eren did it as she and Lila was coming from Draken Duchy revealing what happened to them, how happened and how they were saved and who saved them.

The carriage rocked gently as it crossed the old stone bridge out of Draken territory, a hush falling between Lila and Mira once again. But the silence was not empty—it was thick with memory and meaning, like the moment after a storm when the sky still echoes thunder.

Mira leaned her forehead against the chilled windowpane, watching the snowflakes slide past the glass in lazy spirals. Her breath fogged the corner. She let it.

Eren.

She didn’t know where he was now. No one did. That name—Vigilante of the North—had already begun to spread like wildfire through whispers in inns, market stalls, and soldiers’ barracks. The rumors didn’t agree on who he was or what he looked like. Some claimed he was a fallen knight. Others said he was a rogue magician with a vendetta against the nobility.

But Mira knew better.

She had seen him. Bleeding, breathless, yet unyielding. A lone figure in that dim cavern, standing over a dying vampire, his clothes torn, his expression void of fear.

She’d watched him walk into Bjron’s lair like death itself—and walk out alive.

He was no knight. No hero from songs.

He was real.

And now he was gone.

“…It’s strange,” Mira murmured, voice low, “I didn’t even know him that well, but it feels like something’s missing now that he’s not here.”

Lila’s eyes flicked toward her. “It’s not strange.”

Mira tilted her head slightly.

Lila’s voice was steady, but the way her fingers tightened on the coat told a different story.

“He’s the kind of person who leaves a scar when he disappears,” Lila said. “You don’t notice it right away. But eventually… you realize you’re walking with a limp, and you don’t know why.”

Mira was silent for a while, digesting the words. Then she let out a small, mirthless laugh.

“Do you think he’ll come back?”

Lila turned her head to look out the opposite window, her reflection faint on the glass.

“I think he’s already started.”

Mira blinked. “You mean the message?”

Lila nodded once.

“I WILL COME FOR YOU ALL. THE SCUMS OF THE NORTH!”

The words weren’t just carved into that town’s clock tower. They were etched into memory of everyone who read it.

Every corrupt noble, every slaver, every torturer who had used the northern lands as their playground—they would start watching their backs now. Start whispering his name.

And Eren?

He wouldn’t stop.

Not until the entire North changed.

Lila’s fingers ran absently across a tear in the coat’s sleeve. “He told me once… ’I’m not trying to be anyone’s savior.’”

Mira looked over. “Sounds like him.”

“But,” Lila added quietly, “he saves people anyway.”

They rode in silence for a while longer. The snowstorm had thickened, and the outside world had vanished into a curtain of white.

Eventually, Mira leaned back and pulled her cloak tighter.

“Where are we going now, Miss Lila?”

Lila didn’t answer immediately.

Then, softly, with a flicker of resolve: “To the capital. If Eren’s going to shake the North… the Empire will take notice. The real players will start moving.”

Mira frowned. “You mean the nobles?”

Lila shook her head. “Not just nobles.”

She glanced out the window again, eyes sharp now.

“There are other monsters out there, Mira. Not just demons or slavers. The kind that wears crowns. The kind that smiles while signing death warrants. And if Eren’s stepping into this game… then we’ll need to move fast.”

Mira grinned, a cold, toothy grin. “You think he’ll need help?”

Lila didn’t smile back, but her voice was steel.

“No. But I think we’ll need him.”

As the carriage rolled forward, cutting through the snow-covered forest path, the two women sat in thoughtful silence—each haunted by memories of a man who had vanished into the cold, and each carrying the same thought:

He was just getting started.

—

Julies Evans POV.

The night has settled down, today activity was not much for me since everyone is focusing on the dead Bjron and this Vigilante of the North—which was me. But no one knows about it.

…And due to that I was able to get some rest while Alice Draken attend the meeting with her father due this incident all most all day.

Anyway, now that I have completed quest.

It was time to check the rewards of my hard labour.

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