Chapter 356
Chapter 356
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 356
Chapter Title: Reborn as the Plum Blossom Sword Master in a Count's Family
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In the room of Makellos Helbritt, the prime minister of the Rapelli royal capital, four people had gathered.
The atmosphere was far from pleasant.
Two were trembling in terror, one had resigned himself to fate, and one stood coldly.
Makellos shifted his gaze to the side. His wife and cousin, Katrin, was clutching their son Harlios, trembling and shedding tears instead of her usual cold demeanor. Harlios was in the same state as his mother. Except he had already lost his right arm.
Makellos looked straight ahead.
Standing expressionlessly before the pile of corpses of twenty escort knights, stacked like fallen leaves, was a woman with the same hair and eye color as him.
Makellos remembered that it had taken less than thirty seconds for the twenty escort knights to become cold corpses. The woman before him was already a monster with power beyond common sense.
He wiped the cold sweat trickling down his forehead with the back of his hand. No matter how much he thought, no way to escape this room alive came to mind.
"Is this Baron Prucker's order?"
Makellos recalled Baron Prucker, who had maintained an insolent attitude before him. At the time, he thought the baron had some backer he couldn't touch recklessly. He had planned to uncover it after the banquet.
But there was no backer. Baron Prucker had intended to kill him and his family from the start.
"...A long time ago. On the day my mother passed away. I made a deal with my master."
"I see. So Baron Prucker saved you back then. I can guess what the deal was. You wanted my head... no, the downfall of the Helbritt family."
"Yes. In exchange for avenging my mother with my own hands, I vowed to give everything to my master."
"Your revenge has succeeded. Congratulations. But why are you hesitating? With your skills, you could kill us in an instant. What do you want from me?"
Yuria looked at Makellos. At first, she had wanted to kill him the moment she saw him. Restraining her surging killing intent had been agonizing. But now, with the end of her revenge right before her, she felt calm.
"I want information on the nobles who follow you. More precisely, their weaknesses that you hold."
"...Do you think knowing their weaknesses means you can control them?"
"Are they any better than you, who are about to die?"
"...No, they're not. Fine. I'll tell you."
"If you cooperate, I won't torture you. I'll give you a clean beheading."
It was the moment Makellos was about to speak the information on the nobles. His son beside him shouted.
"Father! Are you giving up just like that?! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"
"There's no other way. Isn't this better than being tortured to death?"
Harlios gritted his teeth and glared. Fear made his body tremble, but he couldn't lose everything and die like this.
"I know you're my half-sister. I'm sorry about what happened to your mother. But it's not too late. You and I are family! Return to your birthplace, the Helbritt family, your home! I will take you as my wife! We can rule this kingdom together and live well, guk!"
A dagger flew into Harlios's chest. It pierced his heart precisely. Harlios collapsed to the floor.
"Kyaaak! Harlios!"
Another dagger embedded itself in Katrin's screaming throat.
The surroundings fell silent. Makellos tore his eyes from his family's corpses. He had already accepted his own death.
Yuria memorized every piece of information he uttered without missing a single detail.
As Yuria approached right in front of Makellos's nose, she asked.
"Do you regret it?"
"Yes. I regret it. I should have definitely tracked down and killed Nel Rins..."
She raised her dagger. A black aura blade, like thick shadows, extended like a longsword.
"...Are you satisfied?"
"Yes. I am satisfied."
She smiled silently without hesitation and swung the dagger, severing Makellos's head.
Yuria glanced at Makellos's rolling head on the floor and closed her eyes for a moment.
"Mother..."
"Uwaaaaaah!"
At dawn as the sun rose, a soldier standing guard at the royal palace let out a scream.
Because the heads of the Helbritt ducal family were hanging at the top of the royal castle.
The second most powerful man after the king had been assassinated.
The royal castle was naturally thrown into chaos. The nobles couldn't leave the capital, and knights and soldiers moved to surround the capital and hunt for the culprit. As time passed, news of the massacre at the Helbritt main estate also spread.
Various conspiracy theories circulated.
A secret assassination squad from another kingdom had infiltrated and wiped out the Helbritts, or an assassin guild that had a grudge against Duke Helbritt had struck—groundless rumors spread.
People murmured that perhaps there was only one assassin. No one knew where it started, but the rumor spread quickly. People who loved legends and heroes even treated the assassin as a kind of hero and gave it a nickname.
Dark Emperor.
It was the moniker of the worst assassin whose existence was unclear.
"Now I understand what you said before. To think you'd use an assassin to take down the prime minister."
Marquis Heollis said, looking at me. He was trying to sound as calm as possible, but I could instinctively tell he was tense.
"Why do you think I did it? Before the banquet, I did say that if the prime minister were gone, the problem would disappear. But how could I kill the prime minister?"
"...Which assassin guild did you hire? Can't you tell me? Or did the real Dark Emperor assassin take out the entire Helbritt ducal family alone?"
"I didn't expect Your Excellency Marquis Heollis to believe such nonsense. Duke Helbritt was in the royal castle, and the massacre at the main estate happened at the same time. How could one person do it?"
"If they used spatial transfer magic..."
"You know spatial transfer magic is impossible in the capital."
"...It really wasn't you?"
"If you want to frame me as the culprit, bring evidence. Or do you have any?"
"...I've learned something in my years of living. Most criminals talk about evidence."
"So, do you have evidence?"
"...No."
Marquis Heollis sighed in response.
"Then, since His Excellency the Prime Minister no longer exists, we can gather war supplies together now."
"...Baron. Just one question. What if I make a mistake? Will you kill me too?"
"No need to kill you if you're not an enemy."
"...Was the prime minister your enemy?"
I smiled.
"Yes. He was an enemy."
Leaning my elbow on the armrest of the chair and propping my chin, I looked down at the blond man kneeling before me.
It was Prince Aiden, who had lost his supporter, the prime minister.
Now that the prime minister was dead, he had two choices.
One was to give up the throne and step down. He would have to abandon all the power he had enjoyed so far and live quietly like a dead rat. With the prime minister gone, no noble would support a wastrel like him.
The other was to find a new supporter. Not on the level of the prime minister, but someone with top-tier power in the kingdom.
'Even if he finds a supporter, he'll need the support of other nobles too.'
Finding a supporter in a short time was impossible.
'Aiden isn't a complete idiot, so he doesn't think I killed the prime minister. I met him before the prime minister died to make him think that.'
He was kneeling before me, fearing me. He would think I had the power to wipe out a ducal family overnight. At the same time, he would think I was the one who could make him king.
"This is your last chance, Your Highness."
"I know. That's why I'm begging like this. Help me. Make me king! Baron Prucker!"
"I assume you haven't forgotten the conditions. It hasn't been many days since then."
"Of course. I haven't forgotten. The day I become king, I will gladly give you Airin. I won't care what you do to her."
"That's not the only price, Your Highness."
"......"
Aiden fell silent.
He rolled his eyes and finally bowed his head in resignation. He couldn't give up the throne or power.
"I... submit to you."
I extended my hand to him. I patted his shoulder and smiled brightly.
"Good choice, Your Highness. I don't usually trust verbal contracts, but this time I will. Well, I believe you know what happens if you break it. Looking forward to working with you, Your Highness."
"...Understood. Looking forward to working with you, Baron."
The night before leaving the capital.
I took out my smartphone.
A few days ago, when Yuria killed Duke Helbritt and achieved her revenge, the expected notification window appeared on my smartphone.
Time of Genius (Character Shared Skill: Yuria Grace)
For 10 seconds, you gain Yuria Grace's genius talent.
Can be used once every 10 days.
Seeing the cascade of notification windows, before returning to reality, I asked Yuria.
"I heard you accepted the contract. Who did you make the contract with?"
"I'm not entirely sure. A voice... no, it was more like a will that suddenly appeared in my mind. I wanted to be with my master, and the contract was formed."
Yuria knew about me.
That I was from another world and could frolic in other worlds through the Playful Life app. She wasn't greatly surprised. She said she had guessed it from the beginning.
"I was surprised that this world is from a created work, but it doesn't matter to me. The only thing important is that I can be with my master in other worlds too."
"I'm glad you say that, but... reality right now is..."
I told Yuria about the situation in reality. To overcome the crisis there, her help was absolutely necessary.
Yuria nodded readily.
"An unforgivable monster. Just give the order, and I'll handle your enemies, master."
Returning to reality, I was slammed against the wall, holding my smartphone.
Before me was a white monster bleeding blue blood. Its head was split in half, brain exposed, but it seemed to feel no pain at all.
"Is that your ability? Nothing happened. I don't know how you died and came back to life, but this time I'll kill you for sure."
The monster was slowly approaching to kill me.
A blue-haired maid appeared before me. Black lightning crackled on the dagger in her hand.
The white monster flinched in surprise, assumed a combat stance, and charged. But Yuria moved faster.
I couldn't properly see Yuria's movements. I just confirmed that the white monster was electrocuted by the black lightning, unable to resist properly, and sliced to pieces helplessly.
Just 5 seconds.
That was how long it took for the white monster to become hundreds of chunks of meat.
Yuria greeted me over the blue bloodstains.
"Even in this world, I will serve you unchangingly, master."
A stream of red blood trickled from Yuria's mouth.