Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: The Cliffside Flower
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"Hmm, hngh."
A humming sound echoed from the bathroom. Petals carrying a sweet fragrance floated thickly in the water, rippling with every movement of her body.
"Today I asked Gadia sister to grab a meal somewhere other than the academy cafeteria, but she turned me down saying she had to head to the training room."
"She dared?"
Verbut smiled as if lightly biting her tongue at the agreeing voice, then continued.
"What a shame, really."
Gadia's name, first on the list of those to recruit.
Even on that sweltering summer day, the ice arrow with frost creeping over the embedded spot.
Attribute traits were a rare occurrence, so they had tried planting people from the church around her, but every single one had been rebuffed.
Everyone except Verbut herself.
Verbut patted her fluffy, cute brown wet hair, then let out a soft sigh.
"What's so regrettable?"
The girl in the academy senior uniform rubbed Verbut's back with a wet towel as she spoke, prompting Verbut to sigh softly once more.
"Because she's the most precious body among the noble bloodlines we could pull to our side."
That impossibly cold beauty, a body like white jade carved by master hands.
Superior lineage, exceptional intellect. Even a rare trait.
On top of that, the key point was that those on her level or higher usually had ironclad mental fortitude with no cracks to exploit, but Gadia only seemed strong on the surface—her spirit was fragile.
The situation didn't yet allow for bold proselytizing, making it hard to approach those under family protection.
'But she's different.'
Resentment toward her father, hatred for her sibling. Distrust of men born from it all.
Combined with her innately chilly disposition and the overbearing personality from her innate trait.
She softened once close, but everyone shied away before that point—not even the other female students talked to her.
'So I figured a little gentle coaxing would make her, starved for affection, fall right away.'
She had recruited nearly all the students in similar straits but inferior bloodlines.
The senior attending her bath right now was no exception.
But Gadia, with the highest bloodline value, was talent too regrettable to let slip.
"Why reject it so stubbornly? It's so wonderful."
She would even find her a fitting man. Beautiful, strong, with peerless traits.
Their child could form a knight order serving her. As the future bishop, that much ambition was hardly excessive.
Splash—
Verbut leaned back in the tub and gazed down at her chest.
A red scar spread across the center. She traced the wound, which looked healed after once piercing through, with her fingertips and pouted her lips.
"If sister learned of His grace, she'd become even more devout."
The senior's hand trembled at Verbut's voice, hazy as if lost in memory.
Grace, the church's power essential to see her beloved mother again.
The girl, who had declared herself Verbut's servant for that alone, smiled with quivering lips and whispered.
"Of course. Who wouldn't become a fervent believer after receiving grace?"
Devotion was required to fulfill one's wishes, and she aimed to leave her mark on Verbut's influential family in the church.
Her hands rubbed Verbut's back.
"I'd love to let her experience grace just once, but..."
The right to request grace was granted to only a few among the Church of the Holy God's followers, so she couldn't speak of it lightly or grant it casually.
Was gathering the flower atop the cliff, unharmed, into the Holy God's bosom truly so difficult?
"No helping it."
She had to walk in on her own two feet to serve the church's growth with true faith.
The sooner she came, the sooner they could select a church member to pair with Gadia and raise their bloodline for the church.
Things would get far too busy after that day arrived.
Verbut submerged up to her nose in the water and blew bubbles.
If the carrot failed, then the whip.
What if they isolated the lofty cliff flower even more?
What if they made it seem she had done things she hadn't? Smeared her nobility and let everyone subtly condemn her?
Amid that, if Verbut alone believed in her, wouldn't Gadia crumble and follow her lead into the Church of the Holy God's embrace?
She would cling even harder if she knew how precious Verbut was to her.
Out of fear of abandonment. Fear of condemnation.
"Hehe."
They were already preparing to sow chaos into the world bit by bit, so they could shake Gadia's standing alongside it.
Verbut wrinkled the bridge of her nose and smiled brightly.
* * *
"Kicho, you bastard!"
"Kek! I-I'm a victim too!"
Raylen grabbed the rat-like, hunchbacked man Kicho by the throat and shook him wildly as Kicho flailed and shouted.
"We all got duped. What happened to that first scout who reported?"
Vincent, dressed in shabby priest robes, spoke, and Kicho dramatically slapped at Raylen's arm choking his neck.
"Whew. Out with it."
"Kek."
Raylen shook off his arm like dust and tossed Kicho to the floor. Kicho rolled once, scrambled up, and opened his mouth.
"I did some digging."
He rubbed his neck, exaggerating his pain, then got serious.
"That scout who reported just one ogre? She's been gone for ages, they say. Kiki."
Vincent and Raylen's gazes converged on him.
In this godforsaken backwater, incidents like this were usually monster-related, but this one was on a different track entirely.
"Married woman, famous for doting on her husband and kid. But get this."
Even Kicho, who had been smirking, ground his teeth as if burning with rage over his group's wounds.
"It's been a whole month since she last set foot in her home."
A woman who cherished her family that much skips home, does scouting duty, and files a false ogre report?
"What do you all think?"
"What're you saying? Then who was scouting and reporting all this time?"
Raylen snapped sharply at Kicho's words. The ogre subjugation wasn't just about the payout—it was a play to boost their influence in this borderland, and it had collapsed too spectacularly.
"Trap from the start. Don't know the motive, but someone disguised as her fooled us and the army."
"Disguise that convincingly? Don't they do artifact checks?"
Raylen stroked his flower-decorated hair and continued after Kicho's retort.
"No matter how I turn it over, it's fishy. Make any sense? What's the gain? This place is neutral ground no kingdom wants—starving for scraps."
The nearest empire sent nobles and soldiers to handle basic security and monster culls, but it wasn't legally their territory.
Had most of the borderland not bordered empire lands, the empire might have washed their hands of it.
"Kukuku, exactly. Pushing us out here nets monster guts, coin, or honor at best. And they went far enough to impersonate a scout."
Vincent slowly opened his mouth amid Raylen and Kicho's back-and-forth.
"Or maybe the opposite."
"Opposite?"
Raylen fanned himself angrily in the heat, shaking his colorful patterned shirt as he asked.
"Kuhihi. Yeah, maybe the opposite."
"Spit it out plain, Kicho."
Prodded by Raylen, Kicho straddled a chair and scratched his head with grimy nails.
"Flip it. No intent to gain here. No coin, no fame."
"Flip it. The goal is ruining this place."
This fiasco had slashed the forces of the borderland's top subjugation leaders—Vincent, Raylen, Kicho—by about thirty percent each.
Thanks to that shady party and Rachel's heroics, it wasn't worse; without them, the whole crew including regular mercs would've been wiped out.
So who would remain? Even jacking up pay, shattered trust meant deserters beyond control.
'Leaves this place in ruins.'
Moths chasing money would flock back in time, but the borderland would be close to collapse for a while.
'And per intel only I know, the cyclops is emerging from dormancy.'
Regular subjugation squad alone against that, with mercs gone? Good luck.
Vincent eyed Kicho and Raylen.
"What're you planning?"
"Hmm, I'll... stick around and rebuild for now. Damage is rough, but my boys still need to rake in more coin."
"Ki hit. Same here. If more had died, I'd grab compensation and bail. But still more to squeeze here."
Heavy losses, but recoverable with some elbow grease.
Vincent nodded deeply.
"They coming to tomorrow's meeting?"
"Has to be—only that party knows the full story of what went down."
"Kuhng, jealous. Real jealous. Kuh i. They'll claim the big glory."
Raylen snorted as Kicho rubbed his belly like it ached.
"We gotta pitch our side too. Gotta send some coppers to the dead guys' families."
"Kuhng, damn right. How about padding our take a bit?"
"If that's the talk, I'm out."
Vincent shook his head and headed outside at Kicho's words, but Raylen perked up and peeled off to sidle up to Kicho.
"What's that mean?"
"That party surviving? Rachel's doing, right?"
Word was one twin-headed ogre was a mage, even.
"Kihihit. Picture that party. Pretty-boy young master, cocky bastard in a rag cloak. Two cute girls tagging along."
Weaklings top to bottom. The ogres they supposedly bagged? Doped on potions for sure. Else how'd they kill and live?
"Best case, they hitched a ride on Rachel's back outta there. Kuhuhu."
Raylen mulled it, then curled his lip.
"Better funnel the credit to Rachel."
"Then we rework Rachel."
That violence-junkie with the wild hair—once split from the party, easy to bleed her dry on booze and bets.
"Stubborn Rachel sticking with them for what?"
Kicho bared his teeth in a grin at Raylen's question.
"Money, duh. Kuh."
"That handsome tall noble young master. Looked loaded."
Rachel hadn't budged for the money or terms from Vincent, Raylen, or Kicho so far.
Too fat a stack for her to turn down.
Plus, noble young master puffed up on adventure novels—surely scared shitless after this.
"So we bully the young master and miss into silence."
"Kihi. Snag lone Rachel after, done."
Kicho and Raylen clasped hands, united after ages.
...Or so they'd thought yesterday.
'No way.'
'Kuh, damn. Jinxed the handshake.'
"Finally here?"
Neither the regular subjugation squad reps nor the three merc leaders.
A blond, blue-eyed man sat at the head seat, smirking arrogantly.