Chapter 27
**BACKTICK**CHAPTER_TITLE: Desperate Struggle (1)**BACKTICK**
The butler's eyes, filled with murderous intent, forced a dry swallow down his throat.
Assassinating Adrian had already been attempted once.
There was no reason he couldn't do it a second time.
“Yes, then it works. No need to complicate things, right?”
No matter how much I thought about it, removing Adrian was the most certain and backstabbing-free method.
“But if that happens, the relationship with Lord will become irreparable. Besides, the mass media’s attention is already focused on the young master….”
“Butler.”
I knew this was wrong, but the butler still spoke up against Anna’s words out of compassion for Adrian.
The butler lowered his head even deeper when Anna’s cold gaze turned on him.
“Yes, my lady.”
“How long have I worked under you?”
“This will be the 30th year this year.”
“Then you should know. You know how much I hate being scolded, don’t you?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
The man in front of me was the one who had poisoned a seven-year-old child.
Considering Anna’s personality—full of suspicion and caution—this was something he absolutely should never have done.
Naturally, the butler’s face paled.
And when Anna approached with the wine bottle on the table, the butler’s entire body began to tremble.
-Whoosh.
“Do you think I don’t know what you’re trying to do? But after thinking it through, there’s no way I can do it any better than this.”
I thought he might swing the bottle at me.
But Anna simply poured the contents of the wine bottle onto the butler’s head.
“Why are you acting like a smarter version of me lately?”
-Tick, tick.
But when Anna tapped his head with the wine bottle and the impact was too strong to ignore, the butler had no choice but to kneel and beg.
“I’m sorry. My thinking was short-sighted. I just felt sorry for the young master….”
“Compassion?”
“Yes. I have no other thoughts.”
Did she like my honest answer?
Or was there still another plan in her mind?
She set the wine bottle back on the table, helped the butler to his feet, and spoke.
“Then you shall wear this hat.”
“Huh?”
“Not just some lowly commoner. Even if the young master dies, someone must pay the price for it.”
Anna’s next words made the butler’s face drain of all color.
“You committed a betrayal without my permission. Understand?”
After thirty years of faithful service, you dared to betray me for a simple mistake?
A fire raged in the butler’s chest, but…
“Are you refusing?”
The single word “refusing?” cooled his head completely.
If Anna had made up her mind, no matter how he denied it, he would have to wear the crime.
It was terrifying, but nobility was a disaster to commoners.
If they thought of their families, it was best to follow her without question.
“I understand. I shall bear the responsibility. I will prove my loyalty to my lady.”
“Hoho, good. I like that answer.”
Seeing Anna return to her usual self, he sighed in relief—his family would be safe at least.
“Handle this properly this time. If you fail again, I’ll order the assassination of your two lords.”
With that, Anna left the room.
The butler cursed his past self, but it was already too late to regret it.
If Adrian somehow survived this crisis, there might be a way out.
But the odds were infinitely low.
---
[As of this moment, the Lheinhatz Kingdom declares the end of the war with the Croisen Empire and promises to forget past mistakes and cooperate for peace.]
Ten days after the ceasefire negotiations finally concluded.
The endless war had finally come to an end.
In the division command room of the Duke of Otis, I watched the king’s declaration alongside the commanders of each noble house.
I let out a sigh of relief.
Even after the ceasefire information had been public for quite some time and negotiations dragged on, the mood in the camp had been tense and gloomy.
Rumors of possible renewed fighting had circulated, and yesterday they had even held a farewell ceremony just in case.
If another war broke out, it would be fiercer than the last one—no doubt.
But today the end was declared without a single twist, and every commander in the room, including myself, let out a breath of relief.
“Come on, everyone, have a drink. It’s a happy day.”
Duke Otis popped the expensive champagne he had prepared to celebrate the ceasefire and personally poured a glass for each commander.
I had always thought he was a lazy senior officer before the war, but after it started, he turned out to be an excellent superior who didn’t complain about anything.
“To the victory of the 23rd Provincial Army Division!”
-Clink!
The war had been a pointless slugfest with no winners or losers, but the men of the 3rd Division under the 2nd Legion had no hesitation using the word “victory.”
The reason was simple: every single one of them here would certainly rank at the top of the official records.
Of course it was Duke Otis, but the commanders receiving the glasses all wore bright, satisfied expressions.
“I never thought I’d get to enjoy the fruits of my subordinates’ labor. Thanks to Captain Lawrence, my family’s title prospects are looking promising.”
“Haha, you’re right. Captain Lawrence, I’m truly grateful. Thanks to you, my position within the house has improved dramatically.”
“I’ve secured my successor’s position even more solidly. Come visit our house whenever you can. We’ll receive you with open arms.”
And their joy returned to me as well.
Naturally.
If these men had mostly earned their titles thanks to me, that wasn’t an exaggeration.
“This is all thanks to Your Highness’s excellent leadership for trusting and supporting your subordinates.”
“People really are humble, aren’t they?”
If I hadn’t kept my achievements to myself, our division’s atmosphere would never have been this warm and cozy.
Yet Duke Otis said something unexpected.
“Maybe it would have been better if the war dragged on a little longer for you.”
I tilted my head in confusion, not understanding his meaning, and he laughed, patting my shoulder.
“If you had stacked up more achievements, you could have become a lord. It’s a pity, but with the current results, the title of Earl of Dawn is your limit.”
The difference between holding the hereditary title of lord as a marquis and being a non-hereditary Earl of Dawn was enormous.
Even if the title was high, without an actual fief, unable to pass it to your children, you were essentially a half-noble at best.
Of course, even as a half-noble, you could stack up fortunes that commoners could never dream of while still alive.
But by the time your children reached adulthood, you would become a fallen noble.
That was exactly why Duke Otis was reacting this way.
“It’s fine. I didn’t fight specifically for the achievements anyway.”
As the duke who didn’t know my true intentions, I gave a wry smile at his oblivious concern.
“It’s a shame. Your talent is overflowing, but you’re in an environment where you can’t unleash it.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“It really is fine. Don’t give it another thought.”
After all, once I eliminated Cedric, I would become our family’s official successor.
But even after I waved my hand and said it was okay, these people still looked uneasy.
“Hmm. This time, I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea for our house to take you in. I have one daughter. Come visit our place whenever you like. I’ll prepare a proper welcome.”
The duke’s favor was particularly excessive.
To suddenly suggest marrying his daughter.
I could only smile and vaguely say I would think about it.
“Yes, seriously consider it. I’ll always welcome you.”
But wasn’t he talking about the young lady of the Duke of Otis’s house?
The one known as a madwoman?
It didn’t concern me anyway, so I turned my gaze out the window of the division command room.
‘Finally, I’m going home.’
Once I returned to the family, Anna and Cedric would face situations they had never imagined.
I brought the champagne glass to my lips, feeling a strange mix of tension and anticipation.
---
The day after the Lheinhatz Kingdom and Croisen Empire declared the ceasefire.
The provincial army made up of lords and soldiers was immediately disbanded.
I bid farewell to the comrades I had fought alongside, packed my luggage, and set off on the road back to the Lawrence marquisate.
The distance to the estate was five hours.
Naturally, I had no intention of wasting even those few hours, so I logged into the game and continued hunting on level 3.
“Hoo… Slowly, it’s starting to feel heavy.”
To clear Quest Step 8 of the Adrian Quest, I needed to reach level 250.
But my current level was only 202.
I had reached level 200 ten days ago, yet despite that I had been stuck in place, unable to level up smoothly.
I believed our party’s combat power had improved greatly after the last Death Knight fight.
But as we grew stronger, the monsters we faced grew stronger too, and the experience points required for leveling up increased, making it impossible to level up more than once a day as before.
This wasn’t our problem.
It was the problem of our poor party composition.
Looking at the monsters we were facing right now, even basic five-person parties were considered normal.
‘Should I play crazy and recruit party members?’
No, that definitely wouldn’t work.
It was best not to do anything flashy.
If we kept hunting steadily like this, no matter how slowly, we would eventually reach max level.
‘And real combat experience will turn our bones and flesh into something useful, so I’ll take the hardship as a good lesson.’
Didn’t I learn from the last Adrian Quest?
No matter how similar our stats were, how we used them could greatly improve our combat power.
When we faced the named monsters of the next Adrian Quest, simply leveling up wouldn’t be enough to clear it.
So I decided not to rush and to refine myself. It would be much more comfortable this way.
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
I was resting against the corpse of the giant dragon Elden Drake when I suddenly stood up to resume hunting.
But it wasn’t just me.
Arsia, who usually followed me silently, was staring blankly into empty space.
“Hey, why are you like this?”
But the strangeness wasn’t limited to her.
Black Eagle, the black bird that usually soared through the sky, had charged straight at me like it was on a mission, landed on my shoulder, and was flapping its wings wildly with no apparent reason.
This had never happened before, so I was startled and asked Black Eagle just in case.
“Could something have happened outside?”
-Kiiik!
In response to my question, Black Eagle nodded its head vigorously as if saying yes.
I froze my expression and examined the still motion of Arsia before immediately logging out.
[Chronicle Online is terminating.]
As I closed the game, my senses grew distant, then a tingling sensation ran through my body as if I had received an electric shock.
This was the phenomenon that occurred when the VR goggles connected to the virtual reality handed control of the body to the brain.
-Drrrdrd!
And the moment reality returned, I was greeted by a full-body vibration.
-KWAAANG!
And the explosive sound that assaulted my eardrums.
“W-What the—?!”
I threw off the goggles and raised the ring-shaped artifact I had received from my father before the expedition, rolling my eyes to assess the situation.
“Ugh!”
What first caught my eye was Arsia standing protectively in front of me, channeling Aura through her Great Shield to deflect the incoming Force.
“Great Shield!”
Emergency situation.
Rather than investigating the situation, I immediately activated the 7-circle defensive magic embedded in the ring to support Arsia.
The barrier formed around the ring expanded, neutralizing the blue Force that was meant to replace her.
Thanks to the relief, she began reporting.
“It appears to be assassins. They have the same aura as the ones I dealt with last time.”
But what she said next was unexpected.
Assassins attacking like this?
What kind of assassination was this loud?
“Are these assassins equipped with Force Swords these days?”
“I don’t know that far. But the enemies are definitely equipped with Force Armor and Force Swords, and there are three of them.”
Three Vanguard units could instantly vaporize an injured train.
“But the surrounding area is too intact for a surprise attack from three Vanguard units?”
“Fortunately, it seems William Knight was prepared in advance. While he was holding them off, the remaining friendly Vanguard quickly deployed and engaged the enemy.”
That was good.
With five friendly Vanguard, they would be no problem to handle.
“But it doesn’t look like things will be that easy.”
But the problem was that it wasn’t just the Vanguard.
-KWAAAANG!
The ceiling of the injured train that included my room was torn open, and a massive metal spider appeared.
“Armored Golem?”
That was the weapon of a previous generation that had been phased out along with the advent of Vanguard.
Thick armor, a mass of 100 tons, and agility far beyond what its mass should allow.
It was the perfect expression for a close-range tank.
“There are six of them in total.”
Six Vanguard and six Armored Golems.
I understood that the opponent wasn’t just some random assassin group.
It had to be a high-name organization.
I sighed as I watched the Armored Golem tearing through the wall of the injured train like paper.
“Grandmother must have decided to switch the target from William Knight or Pessius Knight to me.”
Yeah, that was the easiest choice.
Looking at the enemy’s scale, I could feel their strong determination not to let me enter the estate.
“Arsia.”
“Yes.”
“Even one Force Sword should be enough, right?”
“Of course.”
I took out the exclusive equipment I had acquired while clearing Quest Step 5 of the Adrian Quest from the inventory.
---
**BACKTICK**
[Quest Step 8 Cleared: Level 202 / 250 required.]
[Party Status: Adrian (202) | Arsia (??) | Black Eagle (??)]