20th Chapter: We Need Variables. (5)
Crash!
Gillian threw a gigantic shield straight ahead. The rushing attackers couldn’t withstand the impact and fell down immediately.
The remaining assassins hesitated and recoiled in shock.
“Ugh! This isn’t what the intel said!”
The middle-aged man leading the assassins shouted loudly.
If they had known such a skilled fighter was present, they would’ve brought more personnel.
They had been told that all members of the party were only slightly better than regular knights, but at this rate, one person could wipe them all out.
“Damn it! Everyone, charge in!”
At the middle-aged man’s shout, everyone drew their swords and rushed towards Gillian.
They realized they had to get past him to attack Ghislaine.
“Pathetic fools…”
Muttering briefly, Gillian retrieved a one-handed axe from beside the wagon.
Without hesitation, he dove into the fray against the enemies.
Swoosh!
“Uaaaaah!”
With every swing of the axe, one person’s head was cleaved in two.
When he raised his sword, the head was split apart along with it. If they tried to dodge, the axe would alter its trajectory and follow them.
Gillian was like a lion among a flock of sheep.
“Y-you! Die!”
One assassin who had been waiting for an opportunity lunged at Gillian with his sword, taking advantage of his comrade’s death.
But…
Clang!
“Ugh, h-how…”
Gillian simply caught the sword with his bare hand.
His hand was completely unharmed.
“How is this… possible?”
The assassin stared blankly, unable to respond to Gillian.
They had assessed Ghislaine’s group as being at an intermediate knight level, and had brought only those capable of using mana to ensure a swift handling.
Yet here was Gillian, catching a blade coated with mana with his bare hands. They couldn’t even fathom the realm of the monster before them.
But they had no time to think further.
Crack!
As Gillian tightened his grip, the assassin’s sword shattered into pieces.
The axe came crashing down on the stunned assassin’s head, leaving him a cold corpse at Gillian’s feet.
The sight made the other assassins recoil and step back.
The middle-aged man leading the assassins also couldn’t charge any further.
This operation was a failure. As long as that monster remained, killing Ghislaine was impossible.
“Retreat!”
As soon as the middle-aged man shouted, the assassins dispersed in all directions.
“Who do you think you are?!”
By then, Gillian was already mounted on a horse, chasing after them.
The daggers he had strapped to his belt flew towards the assassins faster than their owner could run.
Before long, only one assassin was left standing, with a considerable distance already between them. It was a situation where he might slip away.
The distance had already grown quite far. It was a situation where they might have missed it.
Gillian threw the axe he was holding at the last remaining assassin.
Puh-uhk! Fwoosh!
The moment the axe embedded itself in the assassin’s head, a dagger pierced through his heart.
Gillian turned around.
Belinda, locking eyes with him, had a triumphant expression and lifted her chin.
At the end of the dagger that had popped out from her robe, there was a fine thread attached.
With a gesture from Belinda, the dagger that had pierced the assassin’s heart returned to her robe as if it were being sucked back in.
“I almost missed it if it weren’t for me.”
Gillian replied with a blank face.
“My axe came first.”
“It was my dagger that came first, though!”
Belinda shot back.
Without responding, Gillian approached the fallen assassin and pulled the axe from his neck.
He then walked over to Ghislaine and slightly bowed his head.
“I’ve handled everything.”
“Good job.”
Ghislaine said, holding back a grin.
Behind him, Belinda glared at Gillian with ominous eyes.
It was amusing to see Belinda, who always walked around the castle with a strict and haughty expression, getting so worked up in front of Gillian.
‘Belinda found her match.’
The squires, who had been standing awkwardly, exchanged embarrassed glances. They had come to escort Ghislaine, but now they had nothing to do, making it a bit embarrassing.
‘At this level, there’s hardly anyone who can handle him in Perdium.’
They were strong compared to knights from other territories, but Gillian was on an entirely different level.
The squires whispered among themselves, glancing at Gillian.
“Didn’t they say he’s the leader of the Ratatosk Mercenary Group?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard of it too.”
“No wonder, he’s not an ordinary guy.”
“How did the young lord even find him?”
Ratatosk was a mercenary group that operated in foreign lands, but they were famous enough for everyone to have heard of them at least once.
It was surprising to discover that Gillian was the leader of such a group, but considering his skills, it made sense.
Ghislaine smiled inwardly, pleased.
He had already seen Gillian’s skills when he had his tail, but seeing him engage in battle for real was a first for him as well.
‘He’s much better than the rumors.’
In his previous life, Gillian had been a figure Ghislaine had only heard about through rumors while working as a mercenary in another country.
Though they came from the same kingdom and adjacent territory, Ghislaine’s companions and seniors often talked about Gillian.
He had hoped to recruit him if given the chance in this life, and fortunately, the timing and luck were good.
At the time, he had thought the rumors were exaggerated, but seeing it firsthand, his skills exceeded those tales.
‘I moved at the right time.’
Thanks to that, he had gained a solid ally.
Having extracted money from Amelia and acquired a loyal follower, this outing was truly a success.
Ghislaine tapped Gillian on the shoulder a couple of times before addressing the group.
“Looks like Amelia hired the assassins. That woman is quite relentless.”
In his previous life, Amelia had persistently interfered with Ghislaine. Even when she tried to kill him, he often escaped, making it a bothersome ordeal throughout the war.
Of course, he had no intention of letting Amelia go this time. After all, they were bound to clash continuously.
Belinda rummaged through the corpses of the assassins one by one. It seemed she was checking their affiliations.
“Can you find out where the assassins came from?”
After checking a few bodies, Belinda nodded and replied.
“I see a tattoo with three fangs. It’s the ‘Wildcat Smuggling Group.’ They’re quite a powerful guild based in Raybold.”
“Yes. It’s a pretty powerful guild in Raybold.”
“A wildcat smuggling group? Strange name.”
“It’s a guild formed by smugglers and thieves. It’s full of crude and rough guys. They deal with smuggling and drug trafficking, apart from assassinations. In short, they’re just filthy bad guys.”
“How would Belinda know about that while staying in the castle?”
When Ghislaine asked, Belinda hesitated and said, “Well, I happened to learn about it before coming to the castle. Either way, they’re persistent louts, so I wouldn’t feel safe even if we returned to the territory.”
“I see. Amelia must be using some nasty folks. If I get the chance, I’ll make sure to deal with that place too.”
Ghislaine added the name of the “wildcat smuggling group” to her kill list.
Amelia was undoubtedly using the criminal guilds in Raybold as her pawns.
Not just the wildcat group, but all the other criminal guilds had to be crushed eventually.
‘By the way, how does Belinda know all this?’
Belinda said she learned it by chance, but Ghislaine did not believe her.
Ghislaine did not know which guilds existed in which territories. Since she had spent time in foreign lands after this period and had no ties to criminal organizations.
Even she, who had lived as a mercenary, didn’t know much, so it was strange that Belinda, who only stayed in the castle, was familiar with the guild names, their nature, and sphere of influence.
‘Speaking of which, I don’t know much about Belinda either.’
She was just aware that Belinda was her personal tutor and head maid, and strong enough to take on respectable knights.
That was all.
‘Well, now that I have plenty of time, I can slowly get to know her.’
Ghislaine pushed the doubts about Belinda to the back of her mind and decided to deal with the urgent matter at hand.
It was about gathering all the valuable items and weapons from the corpses of the assailants.
With a territory as impoverished as this, there were plenty of places to spend money, so she should grab whatever she could.
*
After defeating the assassins in the forest and traveling for another two days, the group finally reached near Perdium Lord’s Castle.
In the distance, the familiar sight of Perdium Castle appeared. An inexplicable warmth filled her heart.
‘It’s nice to have a place to return to.’
When he returned in his previous life, his family had already perished.
One wouldn’t know the despair of having no place to return until they experienced it.
After that, Ghislaine couldn’t settle down and wandered aimlessly for the rest of her life.
Life had always been tough, and even resting felt like no rest at all. It was always anxious and sorrowful.
Seeing Perdium intact now brought deep emotions welling up within Ghislaine.
A firm resolve blossomed once more deep in her heart.
‘I will protect it without fail.’
She would not allow the Perdium Territory, nor her family, to fall into ruin again.
*
Crash!
“How is it possible! How could they not kill a single one!”
The teacup thrown by Amelia shattered into pieces and rolled on the floor.
Meow!
Bastet followed Amelia’s lead, letting out a sharp sound.
Bernap could only silently watch the two without saying a word.
“It probably wasn’t even a warning. If anything, it must have seemed laughable.”
Meow!
Amelia’s eyes were bloodshot, veins throbbing ominously.
It was unimaginable for her to look like this when she always maintained such grace and composure.
Bernap was quite shocked.
‘Even like this, she’s pretty!’
She always looked pretty, but seeing her this angry was a first. It was genuinely frightening.
If he told Amelia to calm down now, the teacup wouldn’t hit the floor but his head instead.
A teacup will come flying at his head.
He firmly shut his mouth. Then Bastet shouted at him like a reprimanding teacher.
Meow!
“That damn cat. Does she think she’s my superior? Ugh… That little furball is going to slap me silly.”
He liked Amelia, but he couldn’t stand Bastet, who looked down on him and acted just like her.
“Sure, you can drag my honor through the mud, but that’s just too much. You’re rolling it in the muck! How on earth do you manage your duties? Thirty of them went and not a single one was killed? Ghislaine, that punk must think I’m a joke.”
Meow!
“Shut it, Bastet!”
When Amelia glared at her, Bastet immediately hung her head and scampered behind Bernap.
“Serves you right.”
Seeing the pesky cat getting scolded made Bernap feel a bit pleased.
He quickly lowered his head and replied, taking advantage of a slight shift of the arrow.
“I apologize. The skills of those paladins were better than expected.”
They had no idea that Ghislaine had joined forces with Ghislaine’s group.
The tie they had set was already captured, and all the assassins they had sent were wiped out, leaving them with no one to report the news.
Amelia glared at Bernap with bloodshot eyes.
“You should have gone to the Perdium Territory and killed Ghislaine. I mean, what can a bunch of trash do who couldn’t even kill that pathetic loser?”
Bernap couldn’t respond immediately.
Attacking Ghislaine as he was escaping the Raybold Territory was a completely different matter from attacking him inside the Perdium Territory.
No matter how shabby the territory was, Ghislaine was the Grand Duke of Perdium. Killing a key figure from their base was not an easy task.
If they messed up, the truth could be uncovered, and a full-scale territorial war could erupt.
Amelia was well aware of this, but right now, she was just venting her fury.
“For now, keep those wildcats on standby. They should be ready to move at any time. I’ll figure out how. When that time comes, make sure they know to do it right.”
Amelia clicked her tongue in annoyance.
“Let me tell you, if you keep making a fool out of me, you better be ready for the consequences. You too, Bernap. Do you understand what I mean?”
At her cold words, Bernap, who was used to being favored, suddenly felt blue.
“…Understood. I’ll prepare them properly.”
She took a moment to collect herself, then picked up Bastet and said,
“It’s better for you to fight than those pathetic losers. Should I have just risked it back then and killed Ghislaine? What a useless bunch.”
Meow.
Seemingly forgetting that she had tucked her tail in fear, Bastet snuggled up to Amelia, rubbing her face affectionately.
Bernap, glancing at this scene with disdain, suddenly made eye contact with Bastet. She looked like she was laughing at him, and he couldn’t help but curse inwardly.
“…That little brat is smart, that’s for sure.”
Bernap, who felt humiliated and was even mocked by a cat, retreated from the scene with a bitter expression.
‘I’m going to end this engagement anyway, why am I even bothering with someone like her?’
He figured it might be best to just treat the 20,000 gold like a parting gift and let it go.
Yet, Amelia, having sustained a massive blow to her pride, couldn’t bear it.
‘What an idiot, why did he have to mess with that woman?’
Even though all the assassins had returned as corpses, Bernap had no doubt Ghislaine would end up dead.
In the end, what Amelia wanted would always come true. That was an absolute truth for Bernap.
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