4th Chapter: This Insult Feels Familiar. (4)
After suddenly using muscles and tendons that had been still, it was no wonder that his whole body creaked.
Ghislaine discreetly counted the remaining orcs.
‘Wow, there are still five left?’
If everything had gone according to his initial plan, he should have handled them all by now. But his body was more pathetic than expected, making it hard to even stand, let alone kill all the orcs.
“Grrk, grrukk.”
Fortunately, Ghislaine’s bravado seemed to have worked as the orcs began to slowly back away.
Although orcs are well-known as a combat race, wandering orcs valued their lives more than combat.
As soon as they realized they couldn’t handle the human in front of them, they completely lost their fighting spirit.
‘Ugh, I can’t let them escape.’
Feeling urgency, Ghislaine attempted to attack the orcs.
But his legs momentarily gave out, and he stumbled down.
“……?”
Seeing Ghislaine’s flustered expression, the orcs’ eyes lit up.
“Graah!”
One quick-witted orc immediately charged at Ghislaine with an axe. Skoban, witnessing this, was shocked and rushed out.
“Grand Duke!”
With Skoban’s horrified shout, the orc’s axe came crashing down towards Ghislaine.
Boom!
As Ghislaine rolled on the ground to dodge, the axe barely missed, striking the earth instead.
Seizing the moment, Ghislaine sprang up and swung his sword toward the orc’s neck.
Swoosh!
Blood splattered as the orc collapsed. Skoban, who had been rushing over, stopped in his tracks.
With a relaxed smile, Ghislaine brushed his hair back.
“Ha, operation success.”
“Grrukk!”
The orcs started to retreat once more, thinking Ghislaine had deliberately exposed a weakness to lure them in.
But Skoban looked at Ghislaine with a confused expression.
‘Is it real? Did he really fool them? But why are his legs trembling like that?’
It wasn’t just his legs. The hand holding the sword was also subtly shaking.
That was a sign that his muscles were not responding properly.
Yet, Ghislaine’s expression was as relaxed as someone out for a leisurely stroll.
If that was truly an act, he could be a successful actor on the grandest stage.
While the orcs and Skoban hesitated, suspicious of each other, Ghislaine made a resolution.
‘This won’t do. It’s embarrassing, but it can’t be helped.’
Earlier he had confidently told them to just watch, but now it was time to get the soldiers moving.
Honestly, moving my body was a real struggle. But I couldn’t show any weakness here.
The moment I did, the enemies’ momentum would go through the roof.
Ghislaine turned to the soldiers with a seriously stern face.
“With your skills, you should be able to handle this! Now attack the remaining orcs!”
“…….”
But the soldiers only blinked, showing no intention to move.
Sure, Ghislaine had shown impressive skills, but it was so unexpected that they couldn’t adapt.
Ghislaine stared at the soldiers, blinking just like them.
‘Not a single one of them is moving…?’
I suddenly realized how utterly insignificant I was treated back in those days.
No matter how reckless I was, I never thought the soldiers would ignore me like this.
It couldn’t be helped. In situations like this, I had to give precise commands.
“Ricardo! You too, come out! Block the front!”
I called out the one I knew, but handsome Ricardo screamed in panic.
“No! No way! Don’t do this to me!”
“Seriously, what the heck? Why is there not a SINGLE one of you listening to me?”
With the soldiers ignoring me, I had no choice but to go after the ‘real’ commander.
“Skoban! What are you doing?! The orcs are escaping! Aren’t you going to move? Do you want to die, you idiots?!”
Skoban, who had been dazed, snapped to attention after hearing Ghislaine’s furious roar.
“What? Yes! Yes! Everyone, attack now!”
Now that was a REAL commander. The moment he gave the order, the soldiers moved like a well-oiled machine.
“Waaah!”
Skoban rapidly blocked the orcs in no time.
The orcs were already turning to flee, but he was a knight who could use mana.
His speed was unmatched by anyone present.
As Skoban weaved around to slow the orc’s escape, the soldiers started surrounding them.
Ghislaine also tried to move to deal with the remaining orcs, but his body wouldn’t cooperate.
‘Ugh, it feels like my bones are twisted.’
In the end, Ghislaine gave up moving and sat down dramatically on the ground.
Fighting is about momentum and confidence. You must never show weakness.
This was the fundamental essence of mercenaries, “bluster” and “showiness.”
Fortunately, Skoban was a rather competent knight, so dealing with the remaining orcs wasn’t too challenging.
“Graaah!”
Boom! Thud!
Before long, all the leftover orcs were defeated.
Ghislaine, pretending to chill and watch, chuckled.
“We got them all. No one dead or injured, right? How was that? Wasn’t it manageable for everyone?”
In response to Ghislaine’s question, the soldiers merely nodded silently.
Honestly, they felt like they had to say something but couldn’t find the words.
To them, Ghislaine was pathetic trash.
He hadn’t done proper training or even basic exercise, yet had been full of himself.
But now, that trash suddenly showcased astonishing swordsmanship, single-handedly slaughtering nearly twenty orcs.
If word got out about this level of skill, they wouldn’t have treated him with such disdain before.
“Y-Your Highness, are you alright?”
Skoban glanced back at Ghislaine with trembling eyes.
His feelings were no different from those of the soldiers.
This made no sense.
Even the commander of Perdium’s knight order probably couldn’t showcase such swordsmanship.
He wanted to grab Ghislaine and demand to know what the heck was going on, but Ghislaine cut in first.
Skoban wanted to grab Ghislaine and ask what was going on, but Ghislaine beat him to it.
“Ah, it’s okay. By the way, are we going back to the castle now?”
“Yes, we should return since we’ve taken out all the orcs.”
“That’s good. Then let’s head back to the castle right away.”
“Excuse me?”
He felt something strange about the urgency in Skoban’s tone but couldn’t ask Ghislaine why.
“Move my body to the castle as quickly and safely as possible. I can’t die again, you know.”
Thud.
As soon as he finished speaking, Ghislaine collapsed, losing consciousness.
Even a mercenary’s bravado has its limits.
*
As Ghislaine opened his eyes, he let out a sigh of relief at the sight of a clean ceiling.
“I’m alive.”
Having exhausted all his physical strength without any mana, he had passed out.
As a result, his body still ached in many places. It was solid proof that this situation was not a dream.
“Oh, this place is….”
It wasn’t very large, but it was neatly and elegantly decorated, resembling a room where nobles would stay.
Somehow feeling a sense of familiarity with the surroundings, Ghislaine tilted his head. Memories seemed to be on the brink of resurfacing.
“Looks like I’m back at the castle. Was this my room?”
It seemed some time had passed since he lost consciousness.
Clatter.
Suddenly, a person burst through the door, and upon seeing Ghislaine in the room, she exclaimed in surprise.
“Younger Master! You’ve awakened!”
“Huh?”
A woman dressed neatly with her black hair tied up clapped her hands in delight.
Her face seemed familiar.
Ghislaine exclaimed in surprise, calling her name.
“Belinda?”
The woman standing in front of him was definitely Belinda, his personal maid and governess.
No matter how much everyone at Perdium cursed Ghislaine, she was always on his side.
What a reunion it was.
“Belinda!”
Ghislaine sprang out of bed and hugged her tightly.
“Why are you suddenly doing this? Did I do something wrong again?”
With a soft tone, Belinda comforted him. Ghislaine pulled back and smiled brightly in response.
“No, I’m just really glad to see you.”
“You see me every day, so what’s there to be so glad about all of a sudden?”
Meeting Belinda’s suspicious expression, Ghislaine spoke seriously.
“Actually, I died and came back to life….”
“Yes, yes. You got killed by an orc and resurrected right here in this bed. Wow, how amazing.”
As Ghislaine showed signs of rambling again, Belinda quickly interrupted him.
“…No, that’s not it.”
She gently leaned towards Ghislaine and whispered in his ear.
“You do realize you’re in a dangerous state, right? If the maids hear about this, you could really get locked up.”
“….”
At those words, Ghislaine nodded with a resigned expression. Indeed, it was hard for someone in bad credit to effectively convey their feelings.
“By the way, where exactly is this?”
“Where else? It’s your room, Younger Master. But I’m just glad you’ve woken up.”
He looked around again. It was definitely a landscape that stuck in his memory.
A space that was both familiar and distant, evoking feelings of nostalgia. This was surely the room he used when he was young.
As he marveled at the room anew, Belinda continued speaking.
“You seem to be okay now… but since you’ve sweat a lot, you should take a bath first.”
She turned around and rang a golden bell on the table a few times.
Ding, ding.
Soon, a few maids rushed in through the door.
Belinda rushed in.
“Young Master, it’s time for your bath.”
“Yes, Head Maid.”
The maids swarmed towards Ghislaine, tugging at him as if they were ready to carry him off.
“Uh? Uh?”
Ghislaine, flustered, was dragged away.
*
After finishing his grooming, Ghislaine stood in front of the mirror once more.
His reflection appeared sharp and vivid, different from the blurry image in the water.
‘…I can’t believe it.’
The mirror showed him as a true nobleman.
The scars covering his face, the cruel gaze, and the fearsome expression were all gone. Only the handsome and bright past version of Ghislaine remained.
As he gazed vacantly at the mirror, Belinda chuckled softly.
“Seems like you really like your face, huh?”
“Yeah, I love it.”
His bold answer, devoid of any embarrassment, made Belinda raise her eyebrows momentarily.
Looking closely, Ghislaine was simply lost in the mirror.
It couldn’t be easy to be so captivated by one’s own face.
‘Wow, he really must love it. Well, it’s better than causing an accident, I suppose.’
The atmosphere felt a bit odd today, but considering Young Master’s quirks, it wasn’t anything new.
“You should rest a bit more.”
With that, Belinda shook her head and left the room.
Even after she exited, Ghislaine continued to stare at the mirror for a long time.
Creeeak.
How long he had been looking into the mirror, a girl peeked her face through the slightly opened door.
“Onii-chan?”
“Elena?”
Seeing her face, Ghislaine exclaimed in surprise.
A blonde girl who looked about sixteen or seventeen years old.
It was his younger sister, Elena.
Seeing her, Ghislaine felt as if his heart had dropped.
He had returned to the past, still sorting through memories of the battles.
However, catching sight of his sister’s face triggered a vivid memory among the tangled thoughts in his head.
‘Wait, how many days are left?’
In his previous life, after the annihilation of the expedition, Ghislaine was bombarded with immense blame.
Although he had caused many accidents, it was the first time so many people had died because of him.
‘If only I hadn’t given such terrible commands back then.’
His retainers had insisted that the Grand Duke should be imprisoned, and unable to bear it, Ghislaine resolved to leave his family.
‘Right, that’s when the battle with the orcs began.’
His heart began to race faster and faster.
While he was grappling with his complicated feelings about leaving, an incident occurred.
The accident that befell Elena was a turning point that made Ghislaine decide to leave his family.
“Elena!”
Calling her with a terrifying expression, Elena jumped and replied.
“Huh? Why?”
“How many days until the festival?”
“Uh, a week?”
Ghislaine covered his face with his hands, silently laughing. He couldn’t hold back his amusement.
If he had decided to leave his territory after being blamed for failing to eliminate the orcs.
The day his life changed was a different one.
Even though decades had passed, how could he forget?
An ominous rage filled his eyes, hidden behind his hands.
‘The day I wished most to turn back. The memory that haunted me my entire life.’
In a week, Elena will die.
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