Chapter 44
“Gasp?!”
“Ack?!”
The bandits struck by my spear collapsed one by one, screaming in agony. Revulsion toward killing? Hesitation? I’d left those half-hearted emotions back on the battlefield. If I didn’t kill them, they’d kill me.
Whoosh—crack!
“Guh?!”
The bandit who took a direct hit to the crown of his head from my spear shaft crumpled, his skull caving in.
“You bastard...!”
Another bandit targeted my back, ignoring his comrade’s death. It was a perfect sneak attack, timed for the moment of impact—but the problem was, that exact same trick had been the decisive cause of my death last time.
‘Am I really gonna fall for the same ploy again!’
I’d regretted and reflected on it as I died. If only I’d paid a little more attention to my surroundings, I wouldn’t have fallen for it.
Whish—I swept it aside and pivoted my body like a top, using my forward-stepping right foot as the axis.
“Hup?!”
The bandit who’d raised his dagger to stab my back gulped in vain, eyes bulging wide. Right after—slash!
The sharp spear tip raked across his throat.
‘Next!’
I had no time to steady my ragged breathing or check my wounds. We’d been outnumbered from the start and now surrounded to boot. And we had two non-combatants to protect.
“Grab the women!”
“Come at me if you wanna die...!”
The two women had pulled crossbows from the carriage cargo and now stood back-to-back, surrounded by bandits. But none dared approach them carelessly...
“Hurry up and grab ‘em!”
“You do it!”
“Don’t push me!”
Even a single shot from a pre-loaded crossbow was easy for a woman with no strength—just pull the trigger with your finger. Meaning the first two idiots to charge were guaranteed dead! In other words,
“Come on!”
“Try it!”
Once those two were down, the crossbows would be useless, and they could subdue the women for sure. But despite the women’s taunts born of desperation, the bandits couldn’t budge. Their own necks were too precious.
Amid that standoff—thud! Thunk! I punched a hole in their encirclement and swung wildly, turning the tide.
‘Lucky.’
We weren’t combat-specialized mercenaries or professional soldiers, so we were bound to have gaps. And the bandits targeting us weren’t any better off! A weak kid can only bully another weak kid his age.
“Damn it! Someone block him!”
“What the hell is this guy?!”
“Eek?! Spare—guh?!”
The fact that no ranged attacks had come since the fight started was proof. Plus, time was on my side. Everyone but me, with my superior stamina, was tiring fast. Even my spear blade was dulling before they did.
Whish.
I boldly discarded the spear and snatched one from a fallen bandit.
‘A bit heavy.’
But it was enough to finish off these exhausted, wobbly bandits.
“Hey! Help!”
“Deal with those bitches later!”
“They can’t run anyway!”
The bandits still deadlocked with the two women all rushed me at once. They hadn’t moved much, so they were fairly quick—but how strong could these cowards who targeted helpless women be? They folded like rotten straw bales.
“Huff, retreat!”
“No way!”
“Run!”
I chased the demoralized, scattering bandits and cut them down.
Alone? Of course not.
Twang! Twang!
“Guh~?!”
“Aaaagh~?!”
Thanks to the crossbows the women had saved like their own lives.
“Mercy—!”
Stab!
I ended the fight by thrusting my spear into the neck of the last bandit, who’d given up fleeing to kneel and beg.
“Yay! We won!”
“Oh God! Thank you!”
“We’re alive...!”
But the joy of victory was fleeting, soon turning somber.
“Cough, cough...”
“Hang in there just a bit longer!”
“......”
“Hurry with bandages for the bleeding...!”
“Too late.”
“Ah...”
Our group of fourteen when we’d left Chimac County was down to just six survivors, including me. And one of those was so badly wounded he might not see tomorrow’s sun.
The youngest boy in the group burst into sobs.
“It’s my fault Uncle...!”
“We’ll gather his belongings and return them to his family. That’s our duty as survivors.”
The man who’d quietly taken the leader role comforted him.
“Yes. Sob, sob!”
“Don’t rush, even if it’s hard.”
We collected the dead companions’ belongings, buried them, looted the bandits’ corpses for anything valuable, and declared most of the spoils would go to the families of those who’d fought beside us...
“Thanks. You saved our lives.”
“No, it’s because everyone fought so bravely.”
“Still, without you, we’d all be dead. And even if alive, we’d have suffered every humiliation under the sun from those bastards.”
“We got lucky.”
If I hadn’t traded my life for real combat experience, I couldn’t have performed like this.
“You can’t drop that many bandits on luck alone.”
“......”
Honestly, I hadn’t known I could fight this well either.
“Have some confidence.”
“...I’ll think about it.”
“Stubborn.”
The man, who’d promised to take responsibility for the survivors’ families once we reached our destination, patted my shoulder.
“......”
“......”
After that, we lay quietly in the carriage cargo for rest.
Clatter, clatter.
Lucky the bandits hadn’t targeted the horse pulling the carriage. Probably left it unharmed to sell.
“Kang Moon-soo.”
“......”
“Are you asleep?”
“...No.”
I cracked open my weary eyes at the call from the woman driving the carriage.
‘Suspicious.’
She was the one who’d agreed to pay the bandits’ outrageous toll. With that much money, she could’ve hired mercenaries for safe passage to Somac Duchy.
She spoke cautiously.
“I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
“If something happens to me, please deliver this letter to Duke Somac.”
* * *
The protagonist is the youngest daughter of the count’s family, just like the novel’s title. Her older brothers and sisters get tons of screen time, but in the original story focused solely on her romance, they’re just background props or passing mentions...
“I’m the nanny to Lady Anmirina Chimac, third daughter of Count Chimac.”
“That explains the money.”
The reason she could afford the bandits’ absurd toll was simple.
‘Lady Anmirina Chimac...’
When analyzing the novel Became the Youngest Daughter of a Count Family, investigating the protagonist’s family was essential! Anmirina Chimac, the third daughter, is a widow who lost her husband young. She makes a brief appearance as someone jealous of her little sister, loved by countless men...
“The prenatal betrothal between the two houses was conditional on the Somac Ducal House having a son and the Chimac Count House a daughter.”
But when no son was born to the ducal house, the betrothal dragged on endlessly... The count’s daughters couldn’t miss their marriageable age, so they wed, and by the time word came of a son in the ducal house, only the youngest was left unmarried.
“Why tell me this...”
“It means Lady Anmirina has a claim too.”
“But it’s already broken, isn’t it?”
The two houses had completely fallen out over the protagonist’s repeated blunders. Could it be mended?
The woman who’d introduced herself as the nanny replied in a slightly somber tone.
“It won’t be easy. But Lady Anmirina is so stubborn... She often laments that if she’d been born just a year earlier, she’d be the fiancée, not the youngest.”
“Why?”
“......”
“A secret?”
“The young master said he dislikes older women or those his age, and the two are the same age.”
“Aha!”
Tastes are tastes! Gotta respect that.
“Any noble with a marriageable daughter knows this, but please don’t spread rumors.”
“Of course.”
I’m not out to fry my own brain cells.
‘One variable on top of another.’
But a good one. A rebellion from a side character with zero weight in the original! For me, who’d planned to meet the fiancé right upon arriving in the duchy, this was a welcome opportunity.
‘Perfect! I’d even thought of working part-time at his favorite restaurant...!’
It’s not easy for a commoner of unknown origins to meet the heir of the kingdom’s sole ducal house. I’d brainstormed all sorts of tricks, but if I played this right, I wouldn’t need them.
I said magnanimously,
“Got it. If trouble arises, I’ll deliver the letter responsibly.”
“Thank you!”
“In return, let me tag along to the end even if all’s well. Chatting with nobility is my dream.”
“Understood. But you might be disappointed.”
She smiled faintly as she said it.
“Why?”
“I can’t say—noble honor’s at stake.”
“Ah, got it.”
But I could guess what she meant.
‘Nobles are human too.’
I’d just played innocent to get a reason to meet nobility. No expectations, no disappointment.
“Take care.”
“You too.”
Somac Duchy was drawing near.
* * *
Couldn’t I just meet the protagonist-possessed patient right away and talk him out of it? Simple, right?
...Anyone might think so. But for me, who’d tried that on Choi Kang-min and suffered a gruesome death, it was off the table!
So I chose the detour, even if bothersome.
‘This is foolproof.’
It was the method that even made the Magic Boy—who had no equals in the dream world—kneel. The bitter taste of failure, namely!
Make him fail at the life of being surrounded by hotties like the protagonist Anjilina Chimac. Make him want to escape this world where things weren’t going his way! Just like he escaped Earth (reality).
That was my goal.
“I’ll never forget you all until the day I die! Thank you! Thank you!”
“Be happy.”
“Farewell!”
The boy, who’d been moping all the way to Somac Duchy, was the first to leave. The critically wounded survivor? Regrettably, too injured to stay till the end.
“My parents have run an inn for four generations. If you need a place to stay... no, please come. I want to treat you to a great meal.”
“Stay strong.”
“I will.”
The woman whose younger brother—caught in the war between the two houses—had died after returning to her parental home from Chimac County. Being from Somac Duchy made him prime draft material, and he never came back alive... That explained her persistently dark expression.
“Huh?”
“What?”
“No way, is the leader going to meet the duke too?”
I’d thought it was time to part, but the leader accompanied us right to the ducal estate gates. He scratched his head and said,
“Know your enemy to win the war, right?”
“...You’re a spy.”
“Bingo.”
I was mildly shocked by the true identity of the man disguised as a traveler swept up in the two houses’ war.
‘No one’s trustworthy!’
The woman’s unsurprised, expectant reaction hit harder. Was I the naive one? Maybe more in the group had hidden identities, including the two who’d already left.
“Halt.”
“State your business.”
Clack! Clack!
The guards at the estate entrance blocked our path with crisp precision.
“I bring a letter from Lady Anmirina, third daughter of Count Chimac, to Duke Somac. Here’s her seal as proof.”
The woman finished her introduction and pulled a ring from her bosom to show them. It bore an embossed rooster, symbol of Chimac County.
Immediately after,
“I’m a merchant delivering goods ordered by the duke.”
The leader lied again.
“What goods?”
“Beer. But not ordinary beer.”
“Poisoned?”
“Something more potent than poison—a bit of liquor mixed in.”
“How much?”
“Enough to knock you out in one gulp.”
I belatedly realized their exchange was clicking together like a scripted play.
Clack!
“Welcome home, hero!”
“Grateful for the warm reception.”
The leader grinned back at the guard’s salute laced with respect.
And now my turn!
“......”
“......”
The two guards turned expectant gazes my way.
“...I’m Kang Moon-soo. These two will vouch for my identity.”
I glanced at the woman for backup.
“Sorry. This is a crucial moment for the lady and her house’s fate—I can’t bring you.”
“......”
Things had gone too smoothly; I hadn’t expected betrayal at the very end.
“Haha! Chimac County trains even their dogs the same!”
“Wh-what...!”
The woman gasped at the leader’s insult cutting between us. Whatever,
“It wasn’t my promise, but Kang Moon-soo saved my life. I’d appreciate if you let him join.”
“Hm. Please wait a moment.”
Judging it beyond his authority, the guard entered the estate. Moments later—creak—the gates swung wide.
“Thanks, leader!”
“If you’re grateful, use that strength for Duke Somac.”
“I’ll consider it.”
I came here planning that from the start.
‘And now it begins?’
I’d become the King-Maker.