Chapter 119: A battle of Sincerity
“Break time!”
The break had come while I was lost in thought. I got off the horse. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
Let’s go find Eunice.
When I reached her carriage, she was nowhere to be seen. The attendant, who was busily taking care of the horses, mentioned that she had gone for a short walk.
I sighed silently. It was dangerous for her to be alone, especially with mercenaries in the procession.
While the procession was organized carefully, with the mercenaries placed in the back row, I knew there were always one or two rotten apples among any group of people. That was a certainty.
Besides, not everyone knew Eunice’s face.
As I feared, when I found Eunice, a couple of unscrupulous mercenaries were surrounding her.
“Let go of me! Let go!”
“Are you playing hard to get? How cute!”
The men around her giggled as they watched her struggle to break free. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“Stop.”
As I spoke, their eyes turned in my direction.
“Ah, look, there’s another pretty girl.”
These punks didn’t even know my face.
“Let go of this girl and go back to your place.”
“What? Why are you giving orders all of a sudden?”
“Because it’s my right to do so.”
“What nonsense… Hiiikk!”
Suddenly, someone appeared behind me, and the mercenaries looked terrified.
I glanced back for a brief second. “Gunther, please cut me some slack.”
“I hope you don’t run around alone.”
To be honest, I didn’t really need Gunther’s help unless I was fighting monsters. On the battlefield, even though I was a mage, I still required his support because my physical abilities were lacking compared to a trained battle mage. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“Who are these guys?”
The mercenaries didn’t know my face, but they seemed to recognize Gunther. As a result, they tried to retreat.
“Uh-hum… We didn’t know it was Gunther’s woman.”
Gunther looked tired. “She’s my employer.”
“I-I see… Then, excuse me…”
“You want to leave? How daring.”
They were bold enough to assault Eunice and yet expected to be excused? It wasn’t up to them to decide!
Gunther seemed to share my sentiments. He grabbed one of the mercenaries by the shirt collar with one hand and lifted him effortlessly, as if he had done it countless times before. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“It seems I need to teach you the manners required for this line of work through your body. That way, you won’t forget them, right?”
“We won’t do it again—hukkk!”
“Wait a minute, Gunther.”
“Well… is it too much for a noble lady?” Gunther seemed to be trying to be considerate.
“No, my heart is not that weak.”
I approached Eunice and spoke softly. “Lady Eunice, you’d better close your eyes.”
Eunice’s eyes were wide open in shock, but when I asked her to close them, she nodded.
“Yes, yes…”
Seeing her close her eyes tightly, I covered Eunice’s ears and nodded to Gunther.
“Now, do it.”
“Is it kindness? Or cruelty?”
Gunther had an absurd expression on his face for a moment, then he immediately swung his fist at the mercenary he was holding. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
Bam!
A loud hit echoed through the air, and then the other mercenaries were struck one by one, their cheeks swelling from the blows.
Once the hitting stopped, I released my hands from Eunice’s ears and stepped in front of the mercenaries. “Now, look at my face.”
“Y-yes…”
“When carrying out a request, you should remember who you shouldn’t bite.”
I was accustomed to this kind of work. The Knights of Heilon always said, “The miss at that time was so…” every time they recalled when I was in charge of the second and fourth walls. How could they speak of me like that for no reason?
“If this happens again, we could try this on your end.” I smiled and pretended to slit my throat.
“…” The mercenaries’ shoulders trembled.
I vaguely heard Gunther mumbling in the back, “Is blackmail Heilon’s specialty? This is really similar to Duke Heilon.”
Right, he muttered something like that, but I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
***
After many twists and turns, we finally arrived at the Marquis estate.
The area that had suffered substantial damage was a small village at the edge of the marquis’s territory, close to the forest. This proximity was also why other villages had experienced casualties; the monsters in the forest had gone wild after the appearance of the Dead Land. The villagers lived in close proximity to the forest.
After resting for a day at the Marquis’s castle, we set out for the most affected village.
“Oh my…”
A man clicked his tongue at the sight of the devastated village. He must be one of the researchers sent by the Academy to study the Darkness.
I looked around. The soil was black and appeared lifeless. It was a startling sight. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“Ah…”
As expected in a village, there were human bodies. When I touched one lightly, it crumbled to dust and scattered. It seemed they barely maintained their shape.
“Ughh—”
From a distance, I heard someone throwing up. When I turned my head, I saw Eunice curled up, holding an earthenware bowl.
Seeing this for the first time must have been overwhelming for her.
“We can’t recover the bodies,” I muttered as I watched the ashes scatter.
“That’s one of the problems,” Sigren said as he approached.
“Your Highness, what is our plan next?”
“We will use this place as our base and subdue the monsters in the nearby forest.”
“I’m going to participate, right?”
“I think it would be better for the researchers to have Lady Fiona on their team.”
Eunice and the researchers from the academy were tasked with investigating the Dead Land. Now, the researchers were diligently exploring their surroundings. I hoped they would uncover something useful. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
Meanwhile, Sigren and the other troops needed to subdue the berserk monsters in the forest.
I looked up at Sigren and smiled. “Your Highness, we must distinguish between private and public matters.”
Then I whispered softly in his ear, “This is not where I should be. You know that, right?” Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
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