Chapter 811
Chapter 811
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 811
Chapter Title: Reincarnated as the Plum Blossom Swordsman in a Count's Family
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Terius thrust his wooden shield forward and charged ahead.
A dull thud echoed from the shield along with the impact. An arrow from the front lines had embedded itself in the wood. Terius gritted his teeth. He didn't stop advancing.
"Gah!"
An arrow pierced the neck of an ally beside him. Instant death. Not even a potion could save him. Glancing at the man's face, Terius recognized it from memory. They weren't close—just someone he'd run into a few times on guard duty or at meals. He recalled the guy saying he had a wife waiting back home and wanted to survive to return to her.
Terius gripped his shield tighter. He pressed on. His feet hit the ground. It squelched, nearly sucking him in. A quick glance down revealed hell itself. A bridge made of rocks and human corpses. The once-clear river water had turned red with blood, human entrails and eyeballs bobbing on the surface.
This is insane.
He clenched his teeth and kept moving.
Crossing the bridge brought him to the walls. Towering battlements. Allied soldiers hooked ladders against them and began climbing.
The Marvelot soldiers countered by pouring boiling water and sand. They jabbed at the climbers with long spears. The enemy stayed calm and methodical, unflinching. Allied troops fell one by one.
"Get out of the way! I'm going up!"
"Don't lose your cool! Lose your head here, and it's over!"
Knights who couldn't stand by any longer sprang into action. They scaled the walls and hauled themselves over the top. The clash of swords rang out. Marvelot knights defended the battlements as well.
Terius grabbed a ladder and started climbing. Normally, he'd have waited, gauging the danger before making a move. Protecting his own life had always been his top priority. He avoided risky plays whenever possible.
But not today.
I need to kill enemies and rack up merits!
He needed money. Ten billion Ner would free Nepia from slavery.
Until a few years ago, Terius had been a slave himself, so he knew firsthand how brutal that life was. Many slaves he'd seen had chosen suicide over enduring it.
Nepia...! Nepia...!
Reaching the top, Terius swung his sword at an archer. The man screamed and collapsed. Terius mounted him and sliced off his nose with a dagger.
One nose.
Proof of a kill. Worth 150,000 Ner. A drop in the bucket.
Terius rummaged through the soldier's body. A coin pouch. A necklace with a small gem embedded at the throat. As he frantically looted, his eyes caught the writing on the enemy's white handkerchief.
To my dear daddy, from Jenidep. Come back safe!
"......"
Terius froze. His hand trembled.
"Terius! What the hell are you doing standing there?! Wanna die?!"
A knight bellowed at him.
The knight blocked a sword strike from Terius's attacker. Snapping back to reality, Terius grabbed his sword and shield and stood.
"Sorry! I'll help right n—"
"Gurgh!"
An aura-infused blade plunged into the knight's chest. Terius gripped his sword hilt hard. Blue aura flared along the blade. It slashed down at the enemy's neck. A sickening slice, and the hostile knight's head came off.
Terius seized the severed head and hung it from his belt. Killing an enemy knight was worth at least five million Ner.
He glanced at the fallen allied knight. Eyes still open in agony. Terius reached out and closed them. As he turned back to the fray, his gaze snagged on the knight's sword.
...A knight's sword could fetch good money.
This man had just saved his life. Selling the sword felt dishonorable. Better to bury it with the body later, when he could make a proper grave.
But what's the point? He's already dead.
After a moment's hesitation, Terius pocketed the sword and charged at the enemy.
Boom rumble rumble.
The gates burst open. Cavalry waiting outside surged in.
"Hahaha! We won! Victory is ours!"
"Loot! Time to loot!"
"Stand down, soldiers of Baron Prucker! Sir Kyle hasn't permitted pillaging!"
"Our lord is Eugene Prucker!"
"Heh. Think we don't see through your ploy to hold us back and hog the loot? Don't worry, we won't touch the women. Mess with them carelessly, and... damn, just thinking about it scares me."
"You filthy bastards! Is that how Prucker soldiers act with any pride?!"
"Pride? Does pride put food on the table? Screw that!"
Their argument didn't last. They'd seized the momentum, but the battle wasn't decided. The enemy fought on without surrendering.
Trophies...! I need trophies!
Money was everything. Seeing Yujin's troops break into homes and ransack them drove Terius mad with envy. He slipped into a house when no one was looking. Empty—evacuated. He searched every corner for valuables. Nothing pricey.
Damn... Even years of this won't get me ten billion Ner...
Terius jittered anxiously. Nepia might be suffering right this instant.
Nepia...
One idea flashed through his mind.
Kill Baron Marvelot, the lord of this castle. Kyle was fair—he rewarded merit properly.
No idea exactly what the boss'll give, but at least a hundred million Ner? Or equivalent rewards.
Terius bolted outside.
He ran panting down the path cleared by the cavalry.
At the castle's heart, behind improvised wooden barricades, Baron Marvelot made his last stand.
Kyle, unusually, hung back, observing rather than joining. Terius found it odd. Normally, Kyle would lead the charge.
"Boss!"
"...Terius. You've come too."
"Boss, you look awful. You okay?"
"Tired, but no problem."
"Good to hear."
Terius eyed Baron Marvelot at the enemies' center and moved to join the fight, but Kyle grabbed his shoulder.
"Hold on, Terius. This isn't for you. Baron Marvelot will surrender soon."
"Boss... I need to earn merits."
"...Why the sudden change? You've never cared about that."
"Until now. But I need money now... To save Nepia, I need cash!"
"...Nepia. Yujin's slave..."
"I'll save her, no matter what."
Terius spoke with heavy conviction, like a vow, then dashed into the enemy lines. Kyle couldn't stop him. His mind swirled with thoughts of Yujin.
Terius advanced with allies swarming the foes, closing in on Baron Marvelot. Morale was sky-high. Everyone eyed the baron for glory. His comrades felt like rivals.
"Kill him!"
"Marvelot Castle won't fall."
"I... I surrender! Spare me!"
"It's hopeless..."
"You gonna let Marvelot get ravaged?! Get up and fight!"
Shouts erupted everywhere. But Terius tuned them out. He focused solely on the baron.
A gap opened. A knight by the baron collapsed from exhaustion, clearing a path.
Dangerous. Baron's not worn out enough. Wait for a surer shot...
Then his eyes locked on a wooden figurine at the baron's waist. A carved knight on horseback.
An old rumor surfaced. Baron Marvelot had a special relic that let him summon a hundred wooden knight puppets every two days.
A relic like that? Priceless. Ten billion Ner? Laughable. Easily over a hundred billion.
"I won't go down like this...! I'll call reinforcements and wipe out House Prucker!"
The furious baron spun away mid-rant and hurled himself into a sewer channel on the ground.
"Baron Marvelot's fleeing!"
"Catch him! Don't let him escape!"
"After coming this far?!"
Allies roared and jumped in after him. But they flailed, unable to move. Their armor weighed them down.
Glory-blinded, Terius hurled his armor aside, clenched a dagger in his teeth, and dove in. He was confident in swimming. As a mercenary slave, he'd caught fish in lakes and rivers to feed the crew.
The baron fled like a fish. Was it from earlier? Blood trailed from his side.
The pursuing allies gave up and surfaced. Uncomfortable in water. Lungs burning, Terius kept chasing.
Money! I need money! Nepia! I'm coming for you!
The channel led outside the castle. Baron Marvelot and Terius surfaced, gasping. The baron drew his sword from the water.
"You chased me? Foolish pup. Or maybe foolishness makes you a pup."
"Baron Marvelot! That head's mine!"
Aura gathered on the baron's sword and Terius's dagger.
"You crave this neck so badly? But the one rolling will be yours."
The baron propelled himself through the water with mana, closing in fast. Terius gritted his teeth.
Afterimages from the dagger dazed the baron. His sword whistled past harmlessly as Terius's blade sank into the man's throat.
"Grgh!!"
Sensing death, the baron wouldn't go quietly. He mustered his last strength for a swing.
"Argh!"
Terius's right arm severed. He reached for it instinctively, then stopped. The baron's corpse was drifting away with the current.
"No! The money!"
Terius abandoned his arm and grabbed the body. The limb floated off into the distance. He let it go. Nepia mattered more than an arm.
He dragged the corpse to shore. Used an emergency potion to staunch the stump. Inspected the baron.
I... I killed Baron Marvelot! This is my merit...
He pulled the wooden knight relic from the baron's waist. Up close, the horse part was cracked. Still usable, probably.
...No clue how it works, but selling it'll make me rich.
Clutching it in his left hand, he collapsed on the ground. Exhausted. Eyelids heavy.
Good thing it wasn't my left arm. Can't shield anymore... but I can swing a sword left-handed.
He was ambidextrous.
Terius raised his left arm. The iron ring on his ring finger glinted in the sun. Lucky he'd worn it on the left.
Nepia...
Nepia's face appeared in his mind. Childlike. How had she grown? Surely into a beauty.
Terius thought of her daily. Even enduring abuse as a mercenary slave, the ring reminded him of her, helping him survive. He'd trained solely to meet her one day. And now, soon...
I'll save you, Nepia.
???
The Battle of Marvelot ended.
Cleanup brought me and Kyle at odds.
I proposed enslaving all Marvelot citizens except soldiers. Kyle insisted on freeing the civilians—only capture the troops.
Absurd.
I brought up our fallen men. We'd suffered losses; we needed gains. In the end, Kyle handed over the captured enemies to me. He still planned to release the civilians.
"Marvelot's citizens are innocent."
"They're part of the war. Being Marvelot citizens is crime enough."
"They didn't start this war. We did."
"......"
Kyle seemed even more rigid. I held my tongue. No point arguing.
Later, I'll have Floyd kidnap the beauties.
Once cleanup wrapped up, I summoned Scarlett before Kyle.