Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Accomplices
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Meanwhile, at the inn where Kudo and his men were staying...
*CRASH!*
Marder kicked the door open as if to break it, waking the soundly sleeping Kudo.
“Yip!”
The fox yelped in surprise and leaped up, but Marder paid it no mind.
“Hey! Get up! Now!”
“...What is it?”
Kudo slowly opened his eyes.
“We're fucked.”
“What...?”
“I'm telling you, we're really fucked.”
“Is this the first time we've been fucked? Serving in the Blood-Soaked Land means our lives were screwed from the start.”
Just then, Wilson, who had been passed out sleeping nearby, mumbled in his sleep as if in agreement.
“That's right, we were fucked a long time ago. What's all this bullshit now, acting like it's something new?”
Seeing Kudo and Wilson's lukewarm reactions, Marder raised his voice.
“Hey, you crazy bastards! It's not like that! We're really, truly fucked!”
“What in the world is going on? Ugh.”
Kudo said, frowning as if still hungover.
“It's about the mana stone traps we set. The ones that Carlyle guy commissioned.”
“Thanks to that, we ate and drank our fill, didn't we?”
“Do you know who those mana stone traps were meant to attack?”
“Don't tell me... you went snooping around the scene?”
Kudo's face hardened.
“I-I was curious, so I just watched from a distance. I have this friend, you know.”
Marder pointed to Huginn, who had flown to the windowsill.
“Haaah.”
Kudo let out a deep sigh, as if the ground might swallow him up.
“Corporal Marder.”
“Y-Yeah?”
“Didn't I tell you? Don't get involved. I said we just do what we're told and take the money.”
“Y-You did.”
“I'm sure I told you that too much curiosity will get you killed early.”
“You were right.”
Marder said, his face crumpled as if he were about to burst into tears.
“We're... going to die an early death.”
“...?”
“That bastard Carlyle completely screwed us over. We're going to die now. We're gonna die.”
“What exactly did you see?”
“What happened was...”
Marder told Kudo what he had seen.
“Hmm.”
After hearing the story, Kudo nodded as if in agreement with Marder.
“We are well and truly fucked. I wondered what he was planning, but I never thought he'd pull something like this.”
“Now we're all going to die... We're going to die...”
Marder tore at his hair in anguish.
“What the fuck are you talking about? The traps we planted were for the roy— Hmph!”
“Shh.”
Kudo quickly clamped a hand over Wilson's mouth.
“Watch your mouth. From this moment on, assume there are eyes and ears everywhere. Understand?”
Wilson's eyes went wide like a startled rabbit's as he nodded.
“So... are we going to die?”
“We will die. The question is who will kill us.”
“Who will kill us? Obviously...”
“We should be more worried about our mad Young Master than them.”
“Carlyle?”
“He might try to silence us, you know.”
“Gasp.”
“First, pack your bags.”
“P-Pack our bags?”
“If we stay here, we're all dead.”
Kudo moved quickly, starting to shove his belongings into his pack.
“Fuck! I knew something was up!”
“We're going to die... We're all going to die!”
Wilson and Marder followed Kudo's lead and began to pack.
Just then.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
Someone knocked on the door from outside.
“...!”
Kudo, Marder, and Wilson froze as if time had stopped.
“An assassin... in broad daylight?”
Kudo muttered in surprise as the door creaked open.
“Going somewhere?”
Carlyle, who had arrived with Maranello, asked Kudo and his men.
A chill ran down their spines.
To Kudo and his men, Carlyle looked like the Grim Reaper himself.
Indeed, he had brought the man once known as the Grim Reaper of the North, so it would be no exaggeration to say he had come to claim their lives.
“Maranello.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
Carlyle looked back at Maranello.
***
Grand Duke Guntram remained in the spire late into the night, watching the royal procession in the distance.
They were too far away to be seen clearly, but in truth, distance was not much of an issue for the Grand Duke.
As the universally acknowledged strongest sword on the continent, his eyesight was far beyond what ordinary people could even imagine.
For him, seeing dozens of kilometers from a high vantage point with a clear view was not a difficult task.
‘Why are they cleaning up the scene?’
The Grand Duke was quite surprised to see the knights cleaning up the scene.
If such a terrible incident had occurred, the normal response would be to request support from Decaron or quickly leave the area.
But they were collecting the bodies and tidying the site?
No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like an attempt to cover up the incident.
Which meant...
‘Did they truly fail to foresee it? Such a major accident?’
Of course, there was still a possibility that this was a royal conspiracy.
Historically, the royal family had often feigned being cornered only to manipulate the vassal families.
However, after hearing the truth from Maranello, he couldn't help but feel suspicious.
‘If what that boy said is true... if we've all been deceived by the royal family...’
To have been played by the royal family's lies for the past few hundred years should have filled him with rage, but strangely, hope blossomed instead of anger.
‘If what he said is true... then the complete independence of the North and freedom from subjugation to the crown might not be just a dream...’
The Grand Duke's thoughts trailed off, and he found himself laughing without realizing it.
“Hahaha!”
It was truly laughable.
Who would have thought that his second son—the very definition of a troublemaker, the one who made him viscerally understand the saying that having no children is a blessing—would be the one to plant a seed of hope?
And to think he was the successor carrying on the legacy of the Chaos King...
“If all of this turns out to be a lie, I will make him pay the price. I swear it.”
Grand Duke Guntram glared menacingly at the royal procession as it finished cleaning up and departed, then quietly descended from the spire.
‘I must be cautious. A rash move could lead to the ruin of not just our family, but the entire North. For now, I have no choice but to watch his actions carefully.’
The Grand Duke did not act rashly.
He was a man who did not lose his composure, even in the face of a terrifying truth that could plunge the entire continent into chaos.
***
‘So this is how I die.’
‘Fuck!’
‘This fucking life!’
Kudo and his men anticipated death and squeezed their eyes shut.
If their opponent had been Carlyle alone, they might have tried to fight or run.
But with Maranello, the man known as the Grim Reaper of the North, standing right there, escape was not even a dream.
If Maranello wished it, he could slaughter Kudo's entire group in the blink of an eye.
“Give it to me.”
“Understood.”
At Carlyle's command, Maranello slid a hand into his coat.
Cold sweat trickled down the backs of Kudo and his men.
But what Maranello actually pulled from his coat was a pouch full of gold coins.
“You've all worked hard.”
Maranello handed a pouch of gold coins to each of them.
“...What is this?”
“Can't you tell? It's gold.”
“I mean, why are you giving this to us?”
“It's because you carried out the request splendidly. Why, you don't want it?”
“How could I not?”
Kudo grinned and tucked the pouch of gold into his coat.
Marder and Wilson, however, were not as composed as Kudo.
“P-Please spare us!”
“Please, let us live! We don't want to die like this!”
Without a moment's hesitation, Marder and Wilson dropped to their knees and began to beg Carlyle for their lives.
“Hoo.”
Kudo squeezed his eyes shut and let out a deep sigh from the bottom of his gut.
It was obvious what Kudo was thinking: *These fucking idiots.*
“Hmm.”
Carlyle narrowed his eyes at Marder and Wilson's reaction, then glanced at Maranello.
“It seems they saw something they shouldn't have.”
“This old man thinks so too.”
“Can't be helped, then.”
The color drained from the faces of Kudo's men.
“Are you going to silence us?”
“Who? Me?”
Carlyle replied to Kudo's question as if he had no idea what he was talking about.
“You're going to kill us.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Huh...?”
“What's the point of killing you? You can't snitch anyway.”
“Why do you think we can't snitch?”
“We're accomplices now. Who's going to kill whom? If we die, we die together. If we live, we live together. Surely you don't think they'll spare you if you go and tell on me. If you did, I'd be a little disappointed. That's just too naive.”
“Mmm.”
“I can guarantee you, if word of this gets out, I won't be the only one to die. They'll annihilate every last person involved in this incident, down to the last ant—including me, of course.”
“Now that I think about it, that's true, but...”
“Don't worry. Just take this matter to your graves. I only came by just in case, not to silence you, so you can relax.”
“That's a relief, then.”
“I look forward to working with you in the future.”
“...?”
“We're in the same boat now, so it would be nice to work together from time to time. I'll make sure you're paid generously, so don't worry too much.”
“Private Carlyle.”
“Yes?”
“You are... truly, completely insane.”
Kudo said, clicking his tongue as if utterly fed up.
He prided himself on having been through hell and back, but what Carlyle had done made his own experiences seem like child's play.
“Is that a compliment?”
“Maybe, maybe not.”
Kudo replied with a wan smile.
“Doesn't matter to me either way, so I'll just go with it.”
“Heh.”
“Anyway, rest well and return safely. I still have more leave, so I'll be staying a bit longer. See you back at the base.”
With that, Carlyle left Maranello behind and walked out of the room.
“I hope you understood the Young Master's words clearly. I'm telling you this just in case, but don't do anything foolish. As long as you stay quiet, there won't be any problems.”
“Is that really so?”
Kudo retorted in a somewhat provocative tone.
“As you know, my lord, they are the ones who know everything.”
“Well. Who can say for sure?”
“...?”
“You seem to have a good head on your shoulders, so I trust you won't do anything stupid.”
“Hmm.”
“I'll be on my way now. Rest easy and return safely. I wish you luck on the battlefield.”
Maranello left them with those parting words and followed Carlyle out of the room.
“W-What just happened?”
“What was all that about?”
Marder and Wilson asked Kudo.
They lacked the insight to accurately grasp the situation, so it was only natural for them to be bewildered and confused.
“How should I know? All I know is that from now on, we need to watch our mouths, awake or asleep.”
“W-Well, obviously.”
“I don't mind dying on the battlefield, but I don't want to be tortured to death.”
Marder and Wilson shuddered, the mere thought horrifying them.
“But will just keeping our mouths shut be enough?”
“They... they must already know everything.”
Marder and Wilson couldn't hide their anxiety and trembled.
Even for men who lived with death as a constant companion, they were not immune to the terror inspired by the royal family.
“I don't know either.”
Kudo shrugged.
“The only thing I'm sure of is that we've gotten ourselves mixed up in the most dangerous and interesting business in the world.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You think this is fun?”
Marder and Wilson stared at Kudo in disbelief.
“We're going to die one way or another anyway, so we might as well live a little, don't you think?”
With that, Kudo began to chug vodka as if it were water.
“Khaaah.”
Kudo wiped his mouth and said.
“Still, a path to success has opened up for us, so let's celebrate. Even if he is a complete mad dog, we've basically become the personal guard of the Sigmund family's second son. Hehehe.”
A chilling madness glinted in Kudo's narrow eyes.