Chapter 653
Chapter 653
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 653
Chapter Title: Reborn as the Plum Blossom Sword Guard in a Count's Family
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I stepped down from the carriage and headed toward the sound of battle, the female knights and Yuria Grace at my side. For now, we concealed our presence. I'd get a read on the situation first before jumping in. If it looked boring, we'd just ignore it and keep moving.
I figured it was probably just a skirmish between a merchant caravan and some bandits. One of the most common fights in this world.
But the actual battle was between knights and mercenaries. Three knights were holding off twelve mercenaries. The bodies of other fallen knights and soldiers littered the ground nearby.
The knights didn't look good. Their faces were ashen black, sweat pouring down despite the chill. Their arms and legs trembled unsteadily.
"They seem poisoned,"
Yuria Grace whispered quietly.
Come to think of it, there was no way mere mercenaries could take on knights in a fair fight. And these knights were fighting to protect someone.
"Young master... We'll buy you time. Flee while you can."
"F-Flee? You think I can escape these bastards on my own?! I need your protection!"
The young master looked pathetically frail. Average build, with mysterious purple hair and red eyes, but he was trembling like a cornered rat.
"Young master, doing nothing will only get you killed. You're not someone who can die here. I'll give you a signal—time your escape then. We'll hold them off as long as we can to keep them from chasing you."
The knight said it with grim resolve.
"Sir Berol...!"
The young master began edging away, preparing to bolt.
I eavesdropped on their conversation, and my curiosity deflated instantly. I could already picture the story from their words. Someone had hired those mercenaries to kill this young master.
"Boring. Let's head back."
I turned to leave without a second thought. That's when Floyd spoke up, eyeing the mercenaries.
"My lord. Those mercenaries are from the Haltier Mercenary Corps."
"...For real?"
"Fangs and a dagger on their clothes. The emblem of the Haltier Mercenary Corps. Unless they're deliberately trying to hide it, they're the real deal."
I turned back around.
Attacking openly without hiding their faces or affiliation? One of three possibilities. Either they were idiots, they were confident they could wipe us all out, or they had powerful backing.
"Haltier changes everything. I don't like those guys anyway—shall we stir things up?"
"My lord. You're intervening in this?"
"Yeah. Got a problem?"
"Just confirming your will again. Nothing more. We knights follow your orders, nothing else."
"Capture half alive, kill the other half."
"Understood."
Floyd and the female knights charged into the fray.
The mercenaries' faces twisted in rage.
"Damn it! Fall back!"
The mercenaries scattered and bolted. Smart move.
'Not that it'll raise their survival odds from 1% to 2%.'
The Golden Rose Knight Order might be made up of inexperienced female knights, but their average skill level was mid-tier Aura Expert or higher. With the elixirs I'd provided and Yuria's training, they outclassed most knight orders. No way a bunch of mercenaries could escape them just by running.
"Gaaarghhh!"
I approached the young master amid the dying screams of the mercenaries. The poisoned knight stepped in front of him.
"I don't know who you are, but thank you for the aid."
"You don't know me?"
I narrowed my eyes. Rumors of the Prucker family succession struggle had made me famous too. Not just among nobles—even commoners recognized me on sight.
"Master. We're in the Rapelli borderlands."
Yuria Grace said from beside me.
"Ah."
This was the border region. Where Rapelli Kingdom and Balt Kingdom met. We'd wandered here while hunting nomads.
"A noble from Balt Kingdom?"
"Yes."
The knight eyed me warily. Rapelli and Balt were neighbors but not friends. War would break out in a few months.
"I'm Baron Eugene Prucker of the Prucker Count family."
I frowned. They still hadn't revealed their identities.
As Sir Berol hesitated, unsure how to respond, the young master stepped forward from behind him. Legs shaking, he desperately hid his fear and spoke to me.
"I-I'm Jerdin Hisfield from Balt Kingdom! Eldest son of the Hisfield Count family!"
"Of Hisfield Gate?"
"Y-Yes."
Hisfield Gate.
One of Balt Kingdom's key fortresses. Nestled between mountain ranges, it guarded the central road to the capital. Any Rapelli invasion of Balt would have to face Hisfield Gate.
"Why's the guy supposed to defend Hisfield Gate out here? An invasion?"
"No! Absolutely not!"
I knew it wasn't an invasion.
"Then why are you here? And why's the Haltier Mercenary Corps after you?"
A smile tugged at my lips. Like finding gold on the ground.
Running into these guys was lucky. Handing them over to Count Prucker would rack up easy merit. I could even spin it as Balt invading Rapelli first—create a perfect casus belli for Rapelli.
"That's..."
"You don't have to say. But then I'll judge based on what I see."
"What you see...?"
"I'll assume it's a Balt invasion as it stands."
"...!"
Jerdin's face drained of color. The heir to a count's family—a military house, no less—and so damn naive.
"First I'll kill the knights, then interrogate you. As the eldest son of Hisfield Count family, you're the heir, right? I'll make you spill everything."
"Young master! We'll hold him off!"
The moment Sir Berol stepped forward and aimed his sword at me, Yuria moved. A knife appeared in her hand, tracing a clean arc. Berol's blade snapped in half and clattered to the ground. His face twisted in horror a beat too late. He hadn't even reacted to her strike.
"I-Impossible...! With skill like that, at least...!"
Berol's expression crumpled in despair. Yet he didn't retreat.
"Stop!"
Jerdin stepped forward. He dashed in front of the knight, knelt before me, and bowed his head.
"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything—please spare us!"
"Let's hear it. If anything seems off, you're dead."
Right on cue, Floyd returned with the captured Haltier mercenaries. Their faces were bloody messes—they'd resisted and gotten beaten down.
I gave orders to Floyd and Yuria.
"Interrogate the mercenaries. I'll handle this one."
Jerdin just trembled under my gaze.
???
The interrogation went smoothly. Jerdin was terrified, and his guarding knights passed out midway from the poison. I left them alone. Whether they died from it or survived, I didn't care.
"Assassins ambushed you on the way back to your family from the capital?"
"Yes, Baron. Half my escort died then. Thanks to their sacrifice, I escaped... but the attacks kept coming."
"Why here? Your family seat's pretty far from this border."
Not all borderlands were the same. This was the outskirts of the outskirts.
"I suspected who was behind the assassins, so I couldn't go home. There'd definitely be an ambush on the direct route."
"Who?"
Jerdin clenched his fists and bit his lip. Rage boiled off him. But not at me.
"...My younger sister."
"Oh."
The picture formed in my head.
Jerdin's sister was gunning for the family head position.
Women nobles existed in this world. But they rarely inherited formally—usually only when circumstances forced it, like the eldest son dying suddenly.
"What's Hisfield Count doing, letting this slide?"
"...Father's gravely ill, too weak to handle affairs. That's why I was heading home."
"And your sister showed her ambition?"
"Yes. No proof, but I'm certain."
Diona Hisfield.
That was her name. Near in age, but their relationship had been sour since childhood.
"And Haltier?"
"Pardon?"
"Why were Haltier mercenaries hunting you?"
"Diona! That venomous bitch must've hired them to kill me!"
"Haltier Mercenary Corps operates out of Prucker territory in Rapelli Kingdom. You think it makes sense for your sister to hire Rapelli mercs?"
"B-But no one else would target me except Diona."
"Maybe you just don't know."
I stopped questioning Jerdin. Interest waned. I'd hand him to Count Prucker for credit and deal with the Haltier mercs somehow.
"......"
As I fell silent and stared into space, Jerdin fidgeted anxiously.
"B-Baron..."
"What."
"C-Can I ask what you plan to do with me?"
"Hand you to my father. He'll decide your fate. Probably negotiate with Hisfield family. If it goes well, you'll go back to them."
"N-No, please!"
Jerdin's face grew desperate.
"Returning like that weakens my position! Worse, Diona might kill me on the way!"
"Not my problem."
"Baron!"
Jerdin crawled forward on his knees and grabbed my leg. Tears streamed down like a child's as he begged.
"Please! Help me! I need your aid! I don't want to die pointlessly at my sister's hands! Baron!"
My face soured instantly.
Thwack!
I kicked him. He rolled across the ground, blood trickling from his nose. Yet he crawled back and clung to my leg again.
"F-Fuck."
"Baron! Baron! Please! Help me! I'll do anything!"
Thud!
Jerdin flew back, slamming into a tree. Despite the impact to his back, he crawled toward me again.
"B-Baron...! P-Please help me...!"
"Do you have any idea how pathetic you look right now?"
"I-I want to live. If I go back like this, Diona will...! Baron, help me!"
Why was this guy, who seemed so composed moments ago, suddenly losing it?
'No way. Did he assume I'd help him all along? Now that I'm cutting ties, he's groveling.'
This seemed like his true colors.
"Anything, you say?"
"Yes! Anything! If you help me, Baron, I'll do whatever!"
"Kill your knights with your own hands. Then I'll spare you."
"...!"
Jerdin's eyes widened at the unexpected demand.
"Slow reaction. Didn't hear me? Fine if you won't. Guess 'anything' was a lie after all."
"N-No! I can do it! Just spare me...!"
Jerdin stood, grabbed a sword from one of his fallen knights, and approached them. Surprisingly well-trained—his stance was decent.
"Baron..."
"Can't do it? Fine."
"N-Not that. Just one... Can you spare Sir Berol?"
Unexpected.
"Why?"
"Sir Berol's the most loyal knight..."
"Fine."
"Thank you!"
Without hesitation, Jerdin drove his sword into the necks of the other two knights.
"Gurk!"
"Gah!"
I hadn't expected him to kill his own men without a second thought.
"I did as you wished, Baron!"
Jerdin dropped the sword and knelt before me, eyes darting to gauge my reaction.
He'd obeyed, but I had no intention of helping him.
"Good. I'll help."
By handing him to Count Prucker.
"Master. Interrogation's done."
Yuria Grace approached right on time.