Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Splendid Retirement Ceremony
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Providence Kingdom's northern territory of Cridel.
It was a domain where alchemy had flourished thanks to its abundant herbs and unique rare earths.
However, Cridel's alchemy truly began to blossom after the Providence dynasty was established and a new lord took office.
During the Eschric Kingdom era, this territory had been focused on producing gunpowder and poison gas.
That was because the lord back then was obsessed with territorial wars.
But after the guillotine of Providence—Duke—executed that lord, the new one who took over was proactive in developing the territory.
And with good reason: in the powerfully centralized Providence Kingdom, bolstered by Rex's system abilities, there was no need to excessively raise private soldiers.
The moment you started actively building them up, a chilling question would come from above: "Are you preparing to rebel?" No one would risk that.
Naturally, Lord Cridel shifted alchemy from military use to territorial development.
Under that policy, the one that stood out was Valdr's merchant company.
The Vinka Merchant Company, run by the alchemist Valdr—who alone remembered the imperial-era lost technologies—and her children.
The Vinka Merchant Company had greatly contributed to the territory's growth.
They spread knowledge to the ignorant populace about how useful alchemy was,
distributed various alchemically produced goods free of charge throughout the territory,
and generously taught aspiring new alchemists who sought knowledge.
So when news broke that the Vinka Merchant Company had incited a rebellion in the territory, the lord felt more bewilderment than betrayal.
"The Vinka family isn't the type to do that. There must be some circumstances behind it."
The lord of Cridel Territory politely explained the situation to Jane, who had been dispatched from the capital, actively defending the Vinka family.
And with good reason: he had some personal interactions with the family head, and it didn't seem like those regenerating freaks with wriggling worms and tentacles were their handiwork.
Once the lord finished explaining, Jane nodded.
"We know that too. We've grasped the Vinka family's situation, so don't worry. We won't hold you accountable for this incident."
This meant they wouldn't reprimand him for failing to suppress the rebellion at the lordly level.
And rightly so—this incident was as unfair to the lord as it got.
Since the Providence dynasty began, each lord's private soldier privileges had been curtailed, and they suspected another kingdom was behind this rebellion.
The lord had done his utmost, so blaming his incompetence wouldn't be fair.
"Evacuating the populace before the capital fell was a wise move."
The lord had prioritized evacuation over defending within the capital.
Not just because he valued his own life, but because a decisive battle inside would cause irreversible damage to the territory.
"Without knowing the enemy kingdom's intentions, prioritizing people was the right call."
Cridel's resources weren't veins of ore or herbs—they were its alchemists.
Prioritizing people was only natural.
"Once the war ends, His Majesty will commend you."
"Thank you, Knight. What should we do?"
At that question, Jane raised her evaluation of the lord by a notch.
He showed no interest in claiming credit and was willing to hand over full authority to her.
She wasn't sure about him as a monarch, but as a civil servant, his mindset was impeccable.
Jane nodded as she glanced at the territorial army preparing for a siege to reclaim the seized capital.
"Prepare for the siege. Make it as flashy as possible."
The top priority of the operation led by Jane was rescuing the Vinka family.
Suppressing the rebels was secondary.
Under her command, the knights successfully infiltrated the capital.
The infiltration wasn't particularly difficult.
For Jane, with her 100 years of vigilante experience, and knights who could turn into shadows, slipping in under cover of night was child's play.
Moreover, the rebels who had seized the capital were even more undisciplined than the Tang army.
The knight at the southern gate slept all day, allowing them to center their infiltration there.
The real problem came next.
"We've located Valdr and the Vinka family. However..."
"The security is tight."
Even while locked in a siege with the territorial army, the enemy had spared manpower to guard the hostages.
With their undead's overwhelming regenerative power, they suffered negligible losses from the siege,
and since they didn't need sleep, there were no gaps during shift changes.
Thanks to that, Jane and the knights had gone a week in the city with no gains.
"What now?"
The knights asked Jane from beneath the city's sewers.
"It's been a week, Commander. You need to decide."
The territorial army drawing attention outside was also reaching its limit.
It seemed absurd to tire after just a week, but Jane's order to "make it as flashy as possible" was the issue.
To be flashy, they needed aggressive assaults, but as a smokescreen, allied casualties couldn't exceed what's necessary.
In a mission to save people, grinding them down felt contradictory to her.
The problem was that minimizing allied losses while maximally drawing enemy attention was like asking a tiger to thresh rice in its den.
Of course, there was one way to break the impasse.
"Intensifying the assault even at the cost of casualties..."
"No, I don't want that."
She thought of an old butler and shook her head.
- "Leave the enemies to me."
If she followed his last words, her job now wasn't to feed more people into the grinder.
"To fool the enemy, fool your allies first."
"Pardon?"
"It's about time to start."
No sooner had she spoken than her firefly spirit, which had been quiet, marked a golden dot on the minimap.
While the other knights panicked at the sudden appearance, she smiled and stood up.
"Let's go."
"No way, this whole thing was..."
"Sir Dominique's plan. Now we rescue the Vinka family."
She equipped eight swords on her back.
Her armor was light unlike the other knights', and she finished arming herself by attaching spare hand axes and daggers to her waist.
It went without saying who she'd learned this armament style from.
"We are the guardians."
Slashing is for others.
A week into the siege.
The group that had once seized the Vinka estate and then the capital was holding a modest banquet at the Vinka mansion.
"Cheers to sweet revenge."
"Cheers to the revival of the Karognar Count family."
The freaks tilted their wine glasses amid two rounds of toasts.
They called themselves descendants of the Karognar Count family.
Of course, only one among them was actually from Karognar territory, but since he was the representative, they claimed full legitimacy.
"Finally, cheers to Kubel Karognar's grace."
Clink.
They were trying to act refined as a noble house, but dignity isn't built overnight.
Anyone watching would have pegged them as parvenus.
And they wouldn't be far wrong.
"Man, feels like just last week we were scraping by in the back alleys. This is the life, m'lord."
A man decked out in clinking jewels, in typical nouveau riche fashion without any coordination, bared his yellowed teeth.
A woman in a red dress equally festooned with gems recoiled and shifted her chair away from him.
"We agreed not to bring that up. You're pretending it never happened."
"Hmph. Says the one playing queen in the brothel until last week."
"Excuse me?! Brothel? Such vulgar words!"
"Call a brothel a brothel. What else?"
"There's a thing called 'red-light district'!"
"Tch tch. You philistines always fuss over words. Total parvenus."
Whether it hit a nerve or not, the woman raised her voice shrilly.
"Who's a parvenu?! You were a beggar's spawn!"
"You never said a word when I ruled the back alleys. Got uppity just 'cause the angelization blessing suits you."
"Hmph. This proves I'm chosen."
"Rely on regen and strength too much, and you'll die mouthing off."
"Oh? Wanna fight me?"
"Bring it. I've eaten more blade fodder. I'll carve you proper today."
The yellow-toothed man pulled out a massive butcher's cleaver and hook from the meat shop.
The woman calmly prepared a stiletto under the table, her expression unchanged.
Just as their fight was about to erupt—
"Enough."
The one-armed knight seated closest to the head of the table stopped them.
"Lord Kubel permitted fighting anywhere, but now's not the time. Don't forget we're still at war."
At the one-armed knight's icy warning, the two quelled their rage and sat back down.
The one-armed knight turned away from the pair, who were about to bury their faces in their plates.
"We showed ugliness, Lord Kubel."
"Nah, it's fine. They're just going through the motions."
Kubel Karognar patted the one-armed knight's shoulder.
"By the way, where's your prosthetic?"
"I'll use it only when fighting that one."
"Duke, you mean? The shoulder Duke ripped off was that side, right?"
The one-armed knight shut his mouth.
Memories flickered of getting on the wrong side of a junior knight, having his shoulder to collarbone utterly crushed.
He'd only warned the junior because his insolent mother was inflating his status,
but the knight took offense and ripped off his left arm.
For a normal superhuman, it would regenerate naturally.
But no matter how much time passed, the wound showed no sign of healing.
It took a long time to realize a strange curse afflicted it.
And when he learned only the Holy Kingdom could cure it and went there...
- "Pardon? Money? Well..."
He couldn't afford treatment.
Without his arm, he couldn't knight anymore, and with no savings from his dissipated life of drinking and whoring, he lacked the funds.
In the end, he amputated the left arm and replaced it with a prosthetic.
But by the time he returned to the territory with it, the territory was gone, and he was wanted.
He ended up wandering for nearly a decade.
Grind.
The knight ground his teeth recalling the past.
"Ah, sorry. My lack of consideration."
The knight shook his head at the crude lord stripping meat with bare hands.
"No, my lord."
"But Duke's dead, right? Doesn't that mean you'll never use the prosthetic?"
"It's not Duke."
The one-armed knight's target was his junior, Matthew.
That insolent junior bore much responsibility for his state.
It absolutely wasn't evasion because he couldn't imagine beating Duke head-on.
But it wasn't something to boast about openly,
and he doubted the utterly irresponsible Count Kubel would understand even if explained about Matthew.
So in such conversations, the one-armed knight always just denied it was Duke, never mentioning vengeance on Matthew.
"Whatever, do as you like."
Kubel continued eating in his usual unceremonious manner.
As if compensating for the gutter life before revival, Kubel's gluttony far exceeded his previous life.
Nom nom. "This body's so convenient. I'd have been a pig by now eating like this before."
Superhumans inherently maintain ideal physiques.
But not to the extent of letting a man stuff 20 kilos of greasy food daily without exercise.
Yet Kubel's figure remained perfect.
Because his body fundamentally didn't absorb nutrients like fat.
"Everything about this body is great, but the hunger won't quit."
At Kubel's mutter, the one-armed knight nearly blurted, Isn't it because you're so vulgar?
Unlike others, Kubel's intense gluttony was psychological.
Proof: the other retainers weren't so gluttonous.
Though the yellow-toothed one and red-dress woman were obsessed with treasures instead.
Vulgar.
The one-armed knight sighed looking at the retainers and his lord.
Then he stood.
"Done eating?"
"Patrol time."
"Right. Do well."
Holding back a sigh at his lord, who already tasted assured victory, the one-armed knight left the banquet hall.
Once out, a bald hunchback looking unwell rubbed his hands and followed.
"M'lord. Report?"
"Yes."
"No issues at the walls. Knights are in top form."
The one-armed knight glared at the hunchback.
"Tch."
"M'lord?"
"How am I supposed to trust those dregs? Just the other day, remember."
He recalled the knight dozing at the southern wall.
"An angelized blessing recipient sleepy? You think that makes sense?"
The hunchback opened his mouth.
Not all blessings suit everyone perfectly!
He himself suffered from the sensation of bugs crawling under his skin as a side effect.
But the hunchback didn't retort.
The blessed fear no blade.
But they fear losing the blessing.
Even feeling bugs under the skin,
I never want to go back to that despised life.
He didn't want to lose what he had.
But even as the hunchback swallowed his complaints, the one-armed knight read it in his eyes.
"Tch. That's why dregs are dregs. No gratitude."
The rebellion required some forces, so they shared blessings with slum and alley folk.
But the blessed weren't all successes; they all had flaws like this hunchback.
Success rate was a mere 1%.
And unstable growth at that.
Normally, they'd storm to 4th rank, but most stalled with issues before 3rd.
Well, not like I'll stick with these forever.
The one-armed knight half-listened to the report and headed to the lord's residence.
He regretted not capturing the fleeing lord when going there.
"That left arm looked useful."
Harboring such thoughts, the one-armed knight proceeded inside the lord's residence.
The lobby was piled with corpses, and at the center, a white-masked figure draped in white cloth tinkered with them.
"Priest."
"Oh, you're here."
"Any word from headquarters?"
"Mission accomplished, so they'll arrange an escape route soon. Hold the siege another week, then slip out via sewers."
"Good. Finally leaving this damn place."
The one-armed knight smiled for the first time in ages at the news of departing the city.
Count family's revival?
Sure, the count family was revived.
But the count family was people, not a place.
Kubel, himself, and the retainers.
Where they went, the count family followed.
Territorial wars were like that from the start.
Grind down your territory's people, abandon the ruined land, and move to the next.
And though Kubel and the one-armed knight savored victory's sweetness without drunken complacency.
Objectively, their forces weren't a match for Providence's royal family.
Assassinating Duke succeeded due to coincidences, not their skill—they could self-assess that.
Time to build strength still.
Thus, they wouldn't foolishly cling to this territory.
"Priest. Hear anything from headquarters about the next blessing?"
"Ah, that. Congratulations in advance. You've proven worthy of the archangel's blessing. An archangel will descend on the next territory."
"Heh heh..."
The one-armed knight couldn't hold back laughter.
Yes. Keep climbing like this, and someday... Sera...
Then it happened.
A voice came from the scrying orb linked to the eavesdropping spell in the enemy camp.
An old man's voice.
Unfamiliar, yet somehow known.
The one-armed knight and priest's gazes locked on the orb.
The vulgar banquet-goers at the Vinka mansion were likely hearing it too.
The lord questioned the old man.
The old man who introduced himself as Dominique.
The priest's mask twitched, and the one-armed knight stared at the orb in a daze.
Finally, the old butler replied to the lord with a hearty, good-natured laugh.
"Damn it!"
No sooner had the words ended than the one-armed knight bolted for the east gate.
He arrived at the gate with mana fully deployed.
Climbing the wall, he saw in the distance the man he least wanted to see.
An lightly armored old man parting the territorial army left and right, crossing his arms to loosen up as he approached.
The one-armed knight muttered in horror.
"He's alive!"
The old butler, reading his lip shape, muttered back.
"To survive to this age, one must be cunning, after all."
With that line, Dominique glanced behind him.
The historian has just arrived.
Equipping swords, spears, muskets, axes across his body, Dominique smiled.
Let's begin.
A splendid retirement ceremony.