Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Outbreak
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Su arrived in Bratz territory after running day and night without rest. She sneaked into the manor at dawn, slipping through the darkness just as the sky began to lighten.
She climbed a tree and carefully observed the guards' movements.
‘Those guys are the imperial investigation team. They’re using the main house as lodging, and security is tight around the annex. Isn’t that the building Ian and we stayed in?’
Soon, she spotted Deruga’s silhouette by a window. Finally, it was time to set down the grisly severed head strapped to her back. Su leaped down from the tree in one fluid motion and circled to the back of the annex.
Swish!
Just like that day she’d clashed with Berik.
She effortlessly scaled the wall and reached the floor where Deruga was staying. The latch was firmly secured—not locked from inside, but nailed shut from outside. Su drew a dagger and smashed the wooden board to pieces.
Crack!
“Oh my!”
Lady Mary, who had come at the sound and was pulling back the curtain, startled and retreated with a gasp.
The Count Deruga rushed over right after. He looked a mess after days of confinement.
Click.
Su easily opened the window. Deruga frantically gestured for her to come inside, but she just dangled precariously from the railing.
“Aren’t you one of the subordinates who came with Nerthorn?”
“Where’s the knight? Where did Knight Bell go...?”
“You look a real sight. They won’t even let you open a window?”
Su chewed on jerky as she untied her bundle. The butler had escaped, so the investigators had nailed it shut. Deruga took the small box she handed him without question.
“Take this too. It’s Kakan’s reply.”
“What did the chief say? Ian? You killed Ian, right?”
But Su didn’t answer. She glanced at Chel, who was huddled trembling in the corner, then jerked her head and dropped below.
“Kyaa!”
Lady Mary squeezed her eyes shut and screamed, but that was it. There was no sound of a fall or any vibration. Su, who had come like the wind, vanished like the wind.
“What in the world...”
“Dear, read the reply quickly. I’ll open the box.”
“Mom, the Cheonryeo Tribe is helping us, right? Right?”
“Hush, Chel. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Something must have happened to Bell, but hadn’t a Cheonryeo Tribe emissary come in person? She’d even torn open the window for them.
Mary wrapped her arms around her son’s head and offered a prayer of thanks to the gods. Had Deruga not hurled the bowl, the prayer would have continued.
Crash!
“I’ll, I’ll kill them!”
“Dear?”
“Father, why, why are you...?”
“I’ll kill them! Rip them apart! I’ll crush their throats with my own hands! Arrrgh!”
Deruga swept everything off the table in a rage. Chel, who had scurried into Mary’s arms, began sobbing in fear. The count threw a chair against the wall and started smashing everything he could grab.
“Break the alliance? Break it? You filthy, ugly barbarian bastards. Your lowly bloodline’s rot has spread all the way here, shaking me to my core! You’re no better than mongrel dogs that only know how to take what’s given. Fine. Let’s see you try! Once I clean up here, I’ll wage war right away—tear you to shreds and feed you to the beasts!”
“Dear!”
Blood dripped from Deruga’s hands. Mary finally pulled her husband away with her body amid his incoherent shouting. The wounds were one thing, but any more noise could arouse the investigators’ suspicions.
“Calm down. Break the alliance? We can’t do that. If they act like this, won’t it just put us in a worse spot later? I know that much—why would the chief make such a decision...”
They had no justification. No justification.
This kind of behavior was tantamount to announcing themselves as barbarians. Mary checked the torn reply with trembling hands. She gasped in shock, covering her mouth.
“Is this true? Gurut Leaf smuggling?”
“Damn! Damn it!”
Boom!
The alliance termination cited two reasons.
Ian’s refusal to register and an attempt to smuggle Gurut Leaves.
The latter was treated as the grave offense. The count had directly instigated Ian, the very target of the marriage alliance, to smuggle contraband, which severely damaged trust and made continuing the alliance impossible.
“That bastard Ian...”
What had happened? Didn’t they think it was his mother Philia pulling the strings? They’d arranged it so they could cut ties if exposed—how did they know he was behind it?
Deruga ground his teeth and spat curses.
“Open that box.”
“Oh, right!”
At Deruga’s command, Mary quickly untied the string. Hope was shattered, but still, just in case.
“Kyaaah!”
“Uwaaah!”
But inside was the horribly mutilated head of Knight Bell. Opened upside down, the gruesomely severed neck stump faced upward.
Knock knock.
“Count. Is there a problem?”
Just then, an investigator knocked from outside. The tension snapped in an instant. If word got out that they’d contacted the Cheonryeo Tribe to stage a revolt, summary execution was possible. They’d be reduced to begging for mercy from the captain’s leniency.
“...N-no, it’s nothing.”
“May I come in?”
Mary whipped her head around at the investigator’s words. The broken window was obvious. She shrieked in refusal.
“N-no, no! I’m undressing right now!”
“...Pardon?”
“If you’re not thinking of insulting me, do not, absolutely do not open that door!”
“Madam. I’ll give you a moment.”
“Wait! Please wait! I beg you!”
Mary shouted as she shut the window. She not only swept the scattered wood shards under the bed but also neatly straightened the curtains. Meanwhile, Deruga stood frozen in rage, and Chel in fear.
“...Hic.”
She covered the box with shaking hands and shoved it into the wardrobe corner.
“I’m coming in now.”
“W-wait a second!”
Creak.
The investigator entered, hand on his sword hilt. The awkwardly standing couple and Chel huddled sobbing in the corner.
“What were you doing?”
“Doing what?”
The captain glanced at the shattered chair and debris. It looked like they’d had a fight they couldn’t contain. He slowly scanned the room before bowing crisply.
“My apologies. Please refrain from making a commotion—it could lead to misunderstandings.”
“Get out, you worthless cur.”
“...Rest well.”
Even at Deruga’s blatant insult, the captain didn’t blink, just smiled. After all, Deruga was a dead man walking, while he’d rise with his lord.
Creak.
“Damn it.”
Deruga gripped the table, desperately wishing this was a nightmare. Mary and Chel slumped in heavy silence. Suddenly, Deruga ground his teeth and muttered.
“Fine. Good.”
Let’s do this.
If they came at him like this, he had only one path. Stand up on his own. Cheonryeo Tribe’s help or not, this was his territory—he’d leverage it fully to drive out the investigators and central army.
And thus, secede from the Variel Empire.
He was already branded a rebel. What was there to hesitate over?
If successful, no more sending scraps in taxes to the center. How good would that be?
“...Dear?”
“Madam, you stay in the manor with Chel. You know the secret storeroom, right? Hide there and don’t come out until I fetch you.”
“...What about you, dear? I’m, I’m coming too.”
“Yeah, Father.”
“Quiet!”
His calculations were done.
Without the Cheonryeo Tribe’s aid, his only card left was ‘time.’ He had to eliminate the investigators before the central reinforcements arrived for any chance of reversal.
Shhh!
Deruga tore down all the curtains and twisted them into a rope. Mary and Chel stood back, swallowing hard in bewilderment. He was going outside.
“Ah...”
But as the moment to actually go arrived, reality crashed in, heightening the tension. Deruga draped the roughly tied curtains down the window.
“You first. Go hide in the basement storeroom.”
“And you, dear...”
“Hurry!”
At Deruga’s barked order, Mary and Chel tearfully climbed onto the sill like swallowing bitter herbs. They clung to the fabric, fumbling hesitantly. While they descended, Deruga gathered papers and lit them with the lantern.
Whoosh.
The flames grew bit by bit. Deruga fanned them vigorously to make them blaze. When thick smoke billowed up, he looked down from the window.
Lady Mary and Chel were gone.
They must have reached the secret storeroom.
Thud!
“Ugh. Damn it all.”
Deruga dropped down the curtain too. Limping on his throbbing ankle, he headed for the stables. Blackening smoke mixed with kitchen fumes, filling the sky.
Thud thud thud!
“Big trouble!”
Erika, sorting documents in the main house, frowned at the sudden uproar. But seeing her subordinate’s panicked face, she bolted up.
“The count set fire to the annex and fled.”
“He’s hastening his own execution.”
“Draw your swords!”
“Kill him if you have to. Don’t let him escape the manor.”
“Philip! Inform the central reinforcements of the situation.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“The rest, with me.”
Erika tied her hair tightly as she dashed down the stairs. Once things were sorted, this would be her manor.
And he dared set it ablaze?
“Aaah!”
“S-spare me! Please spare me...”
“Fire! Fire!”
“W-water! Sand too!”
“Find Deruga! He can’t have gone far!”
Splash!
The annex’s lower floor housed the servants’ rooms. Like Deruga, they were confined, so they couldn’t escape easily even with the fire.
“Save me! Please, please!”
“Aaah! People trapped here! Over here!”
“I’ll do anything you say! I’ll tell you everything!”
Desperate cries echoed everywhere, but Erika couldn’t issue orders lightly. Deruga had vanished, scattering her team’s forces. If rescued servants rioted, it could spiral out of control.
“W-what do we do, Captain?”
Amid subordinates hauling water and sand, the flames surged fiercer. Erika bit her lip, agonizing over the decision.
“They’ll die with Deruga anyway.”
They’d likely be sold at the slave market to cover missing taxes, but same difference either way.
Erika turned toward the main gate.
“Suppress the fire just enough. It’s the annex—no important documents there. Prioritize capturing Deruga if we have the manpower.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Everyone, pursue Deruga!”
“Leave a few at the manor—the rest, out!”
“Hurry!”
Erika turned away coldly. Behind her, hot, sticky, desperate screams rose with the flames.