Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Lady Scarlet
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* * *
“For the Captain!”
“For the Black Armor Company!”
“And for the Vice-Captain, who got his ass kicked by the Captain!”
“Shut up, you bastards!”
They had achieved an overwhelming victory against the bandit alliance and the mercenaries, a victory that could not have been more complete.
Afterward, they dismantled the toll collection post and removed the chain blocking the waterway. What awaited the Black Armor Company was the feverish excitement of a festival.
Here, in what could be called the great artery of continental trade, everyone in the Imperial Free City of Hamburg was celebrating and praising the victory of the Black Armor Company, chanting its name.
The valor of the Black Armor Company, and even more so, the absurd performance shown by their captain, Dale.
The infamy and cruelty of the ‘Black Prince.’ It wouldn't be long before his reputation, carried by merchant ships, spread throughout the empire along the waterways.
Amidst the festive fervor, Dale was lost in quiet thought, leaving behind his subordinates who were preoccupied with women, drink, and meat, each man with two or three ladies on his arm.
He calmly reviewed the results of his battle that day.
‘The combination of formulas wasn't half bad.’
The formulas added during the battle… “Black Barrel,” “Gatling-style,” “20mm.”
They were practically weapons from several centuries in the future when facing a cavalry charge, and not even a high-circle mage could easily display such destructive power.
Furthermore, the performance of the shadow parasites that resulted from it was an added bonus.
Although it couldn't be compared to that of the true ‘powerhouses beyond the standard,’ the growth Dale was showing was also of a nature that far exceeded the norm.
It was at that moment.
“Come to think of it, Captain, I haven’t seen you drink.”
Lord Yones, thoroughly drunk, asked Dale.
“Hey, how old do you think I am?”
At his words, Lord Yones tilted his head in confusion.
“I promised not to touch alcohol until I’m twenty.”
“Oh, is there a particular reason?”
“Just because.”
There was no way to explain the rules of his world to someone from this one.
“Haha, is that so.”
Lord Yones tilted his head again, still not understanding, and downed the rest of his drink.
“Kuhahaha! This is what I live for! Ahhhh!”
Watching him, Dale muttered as if it were someone else’s problem.
“The drink is drinking the man.”
* * *
It was an impossible defeat.
The mercenaries, who had so confidently promised victory, had all fled without a trace. Worse, while fleeing, they had looted and plundered various parts of his domain, inflicting irreparable damage upon his land.
For Count Robert, the leader of the bandit alliance, it was the worst possible outcome imaginable. It went without saying that the core of the bandit alliance would crumble and disintegrate.
To think he would be defeated by a mere company of a hundred mercenaries. No, that wasn't it. He hadn't lost to just a hundred mercenaries.
He had lost to that monster. The infamy of the ‘Black Prince,’ as gossiped by the idle talkers, was not a lie in the slightest.
Just as Count Robert bit his lip, leading his defeated troops back into his territory.
“Oh, my.”
An unexpected shadow blocked the path of Robert and his soldiers.
“Making a lady wait… This will tarnish the name of the nobility.”
It was a mysterious woman with long, flowing crimson hair. She wore a crimson robe that clung seductively to her body and a crimson pointed hat. A woman drenched in crimson.
“I thought I might have come all this way for nothing, but you’ve arrived just in time.”
Seeing her, Count Robert’s expression froze.
“I was so bored waiting, I could have died! Honestly!”
The crimson-haired woman flashed a bright smile.
“N-No way…”
Count Robert glanced back. Though they were a defeated army, he could still see cavalrymen capable of fighting on horseback. The archers still had arrows left.
“...ra!”
And so, from his horse, Count Robert muttered.
“She’s a witch from the Red Tower! Kill that witch now!”
He shouted without a moment’s hesitation.
It wasn't difficult to guess her identity. She had to be a subjugation force from the ‘Central Government.’ An enforcer of the Empire, a Red Mage from the Red Magic Tower.
“Attack now! Kill her before she can cast a spell!”
Count Robert yelled. The distance was only a few meters. The knights spurred their horses, and the archers rained down arrows.
“A witch? Such rude words to a lady.”
The red-haired woman paid them no mind and extended her arm. At the same time, red mana swirled at her feet.
Simultaneously, the world was dyed in blood.
But he soon realized. It wasn't the world that was stained with blood. Count Robert’s retinas had burst, and tears of blood were streaming down his face.
“Aargh, ahhh!”
Count Robert screamed in agony.
“My eyes, I can’t see!”
“It burns, it burns! Please, save me!”
Tears of blood were pouring from everyone around him. Their retinas had either burst or been burned, and they writhed in agony.
“Oh, brother, really.”
Watching the scene, the red-haired woman shrugged as if it had nothing to do with her.
“Sending me to deal with vermin like this… It’s truly too much.”
* * *
The festive atmosphere continued boisterously for several days after that.
And for good reason—the city had been saved from a threat that could have wiped it out. Thus, the courtesy the Imperial Free City of Hamburg showed the mercenaries of the Black Armor Company was beyond words.
The mercenaries themselves were out of their minds with a level of luxury they had rarely experienced.
Even if it was a scene no different from daily life for the eldest son of a ducal house, it wouldn't be the same for the mercenaries. That was why Dale had left the festive fervor and was walking alone through the city’s night streets.
“Oh, my heavens!”
A woman's voice reached him. It was an incredibly familiar and utterly ominous voice.
“Could it be Lord Dale?”
Dale turned his head.
On the bridge crossing the river that ran through the city, he saw the silhouette of a woman wearing a crimson pointed hat. A crimson robe clinging seductively to her body, crimson hair. A woman drenched in crimson.
‘Lady Scarlet…’
Scarlet Yuriseu. The younger sister of the Master of the Red Magic Tower and Lord Crimson, Marquis Yuriseu. There was no way he wouldn't know her infamous name and identity.
“…May I ask for the lady’s name?”
“Oh my, how cute.”
But Dale played dumb and asked politely, and Lady Scarlet burst into delighted laughter.
“I heard that the world’s renowned Snow Elf has been so bewitched by a man she’s lost her senses…”
She continued, clearly amused.
“Just like an elf, I suppose. Who knew she had a taste for such a young boy.”
“…”
“It’s practically a crime.”
At those words, Dale’s expression instantly turned to ice.
“Do you have other business with me?”
“Hehe, of course.”
Lady Scarlet smiled and nodded.
“To think I’d meet the young lord of House Sachsen here.”
She made no effort to hide her overt sexuality, loosening the front of her robe.
“I simply can’t help but be curious about the techniques you used to bewitch that uptight Snow Elf.”
“…”
“I suppose a man’s worth can’t be judged by his appearance?”
Glancing at Dale’s lower abdomen, Scarlet smiled seductively.
“Perhaps some nightly skills unbecoming of your young age…”
“I don’t understand the intent behind your words.”
Dale answered nonchalantly.
“Oh my, was there another ‘Blue Whore’ fawning over House Sachsen?”
“...Any further.”
Finally, at Lady Scarlet’s continued provocation, Dale spoke with cold fury.
“Insults toward Teacher Sephia will not be forgiven.”
“Teacher Sephia, you say…”
At that, Lady Scarlet laughed with delight.
“There’s no relationship more likely to ignite with passion than that of a teacher and student.”
“Watch your mouth.”
“Hehe, I heard the stories the city folk are chattering about.”
However, Lady Scarlet ignored Dale’s warning.
“I hear you led the Black Armor Company and single-handedly defeated the main force of the bandit alliance?”
Lady Scarlet shrugged theatrically.
“It’s a gallant and wonderful tale of heroism that would make any lady swoon.”
Like brother, like sister.
“…”
“So I can understand why she’s so head over heels for you.”
Closing the distance, Lady Scarlet reached her arm toward Dale’s cheek. Her slender, white fingers danced like a snake, as if trying to flirt.
“I don’t know who’s calling whom a ‘whore’.”
At her movement, Dale sneered coldly.
“Hehe, before the young lord of House Sachsen, any woman becomes a back-alley whore.”
Lady Scarlet laughed coquettishly.
“She’d cast aside her ladylike grace and pride… put on the face of a bitch in heat, and willingly spread her legs for you.”
Lightly biting Dale’s earlobe, Scarlet continued.
“How about it? A night of ecstasy that the Blue Whore couldn’t hope to compare to—”
But the conversation went no further.
A chilling wind swirled, originating from Dale’s feet. In an instant, Dale had pressed the sharp edge of the frost against Lady Scarlet’s cheek.
“Oh my, how cold.”
But Lady Scarlet was not flustered.
“I don’t mind a cold man.”
Instead, she pressed her cheek against the blade of frost pointed at her, without a shred of hesitation.
“...!”
A drop of blood trickled from the wound, and Dale hastily backed away. Lady Scarlet let out a moan of ecstasy.
“…The night is late. I’ll be taking my leave.”
There was no point in exchanging any more words with this woman. With that, Dale turned his head.
Focusing his senses on the magical presence behind him, he gradually increased the distance. When he glanced back after getting far enough away, Lady Scarlet was gone. Only then did he take a deep breath, thinking.
“…Why the hell did that crazy bitch come here?”
He voiced the unadulterated fact.
* * *
Sometime after that, around the time the Black Armor Company returned to the Sachsen Duchy after their great victory in Hamburg.
An unexpected guest arrived.
It was a messenger who had come to the Sachsen castle as an ‘Imperial Special Envoy’ to hire the Black Armor Company.
“Have you heard the rumors from the Isle of Britannia?”
The special envoy spoke, smiling gently.
“Are you referring to the story of the Holy Maiden?”
At Duke Sachsen’s question, the envoy nodded.
“Hehe, a Holy Maiden? How can one believe such a thing without spreading her legs to check?”
It was the woman in the crimson pointed hat, smiling seductively.
“Furthermore, His Majesty the Emperor wishes to make that ragged whore pay the ‘price’.”
Lady Scarlet, a high elder of the Red Magic Tower, a 7th-circle Red Mage.
Seeing her, only one thought came to Dale’s mind.
‘…Why the hell did that crazy bitch come here?’
Once again, it was an unvarnished fact.