81
My Villains Chapter 81
22. The Witch (1)
Lord Ariad asked while wiping the bloodied dagger.
"Are you ready to talk now?"
"Ugh..."
Ubar ground his teeth while rubbing his forehead on the floor. Then he raised his bloodshot eyes to glare at the old man.
"Ah, hehe. I get it. So you're that one. The old viper of the Silver Prince..."
"That's not what I want to hear."
As Lord Ariad clicked his tongue and adjusted his grip on the dagger, Ubar's complexion became slightly pale.
"What I want to hear are the names of your collaborators."
"Heh, collaborators? What collaborators?"
"The thieves outside wouldn't be holding out just trusting in a mere thug like you. There must be someone who's playing a crucial role."
The wrinkled hand grabbed the disheveled hair. The blood on the old knight's hands trickled down Ubar's forehead. Lord Ariad looked down at the bloodshot eyes and said, "Tell me about them. Royal Guard Captain Kunrid? Gatekeeper Usen? Military Affairs Director Alfrid?"
"Hehe."
Ubar, his face covered in blood, gave a distorted smile.
"I will negotiate with the prince. Not with a viper."
"...Seems you still haven't learned your lesson. Eiser, remove his shoes."
This old man really seems determined to go all the way. He's ruthless, truly ruthless.
"Just a moment. Lord Ariad, may I have a word with him?"
"You?"
When the old knight gave me a dubious look, I shrugged my shoulders.
"I have some personal business with him. It won't take long."
Lord Ariad, who had been quietly looking up at me, soon nodded.
"Hello. This is our first time meeting like this."
"The bloody swordsman..."
"I received your gift well. That little rat was quite quick, wasn't it?"
When I sneered with a smirk, the veins bulged on his scarred face. But he showed no signs of opening his mouth.
"I've been thinking about that gift."
"I wondered why you went that far. Just because I beat up a few of your lackeys, you set fires in your city and even killed people? And on top of that, you even sent your trusted subordinate in case you might miss?"
"Bullshit-"
"Don't interrupt and listen. So I had a question. Why did you try to kill me? What reason would you have for wanting me dead?"
"Hmph."
This bastard's sneering, he must have a death wish.
"I finally realized it. You're nothing but a mere thug. Just an errand boy who does whatever they're told from above."
"You dirty mercenary-"
Slap.
Blood sprayed from his mouth at my fierce slap.
"I said shut up and listen."
"...urgh,"
"The person who gave the reply to 'Swift-footed Tobald', L.C is your master, right?"
"Heh, heh."
Slap!
"No answer?"
"You knew the lord would assign me the task. That I might escape through the sewers. Because it would be troublesome if the letter reached Prince Ulkar. Right?"
Ubar, true to his nature as someone who lived in the gutters, had a stubborn streak. Even with his hands reduced to rags and his face swollen, his eyes were still filled with venom.
I squatted down and quietly looked into Ubar's eyes. Then I whispered softly.
"Lady Camilla. Countess Camilla, right?"
Ubar's eyes twitched.
"This bastard, look at how his eyes are rolling."
"I-I-"
"Hey, listen well."
When I roughly grabbed his dirty hair, Ubar tried to say something but let out a suppressed groan instead.
"Urgh."
"You have two choices right now. The first choice is... To keep your mouth shut tight."
Lowering my voice a bit more, I continued in a whisper.
"Then I'll have to persuade that ruthless old man back there... But actually, I don't have any clear evidence. So I'll have no choice but to force my way into Salt Castle. The conclusion will be the same, but it's a waste of time and mental energy."
"Hehe, you fool. You're clearly showing your weakness."
"To persuade someone, you need to be honest. But, aren't you curious about what happens if you choose the first option?"
"I'll go through hell, against the knights' opposition, to take the Countess's head. But you know? The Countess will have to reveal her true identity. That hideous form. Then I'll become a hero who rooted out the city's traitor. You? You'll just die. Without any chance."
Ubar was still glaring at me with wide eyes.
Ah, how tiresome.
"Now, the second choice. Forget about that nonsense about negotiating with the prince and quietly confess. Say 'I only did what Countess Camilla ordered me to do.'"
"Then the story will resolve quite easily. The knights will immediately march to Salt Castle with their soldiers. They'll take the Countess's head and root out the traitor. You? You're just a mere underling, and you cooperated with us, so there's room for leniency. I'll put in a good word with the prince too. Tell him we caught the witch thanks to you."
By now, Ubar was rolling his eyes. I found it quite amusing and let out a small laugh.
"Now, decide. First choice or second choice?"
"...Give me time to think-"
SMACK.
"Kuhok,"
Ubar's head was pushed down, his face scraping against the floor as he spat out blood-mixed saliva.
"First or second?"
"J-just a moment-"
SMACK.
"Kkeuk,"
"First or second?"
SMACK.
"Urghh-"
With all his front teeth broken and his nose caved in, Ubar let out a moan as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
"I get it, I get it. I'll talk."
"What was that? You'll talk?"
He nodded with his eyes half-glazed over.
Ugh, finally. It's ridiculously hard to persuade someone.
Dozens of torches burned fiercely, driving away the darkness. Under the waves of smoke emitted by the torches, soldiers holding weapons were emanating an ominous presence.
Leading them at the front, Lord Langbolt muttered as if in disbelief.
"I heard the Countess had her coming-of-age ceremony two years ago. It's hard to believe such a young lady could be a conspirator."
In this world, the coming-of-age ceremony happens when one turns fifteen or sixteen... So she's eighteen this year.
Hmm, was the 'Unveiled Witch' that young? I didn't know that.
I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Indeed. It's quite mind-boggling."
"I'm worried we might be making a mistaken assumption based on just one thug's testimony."
"With the confession and... The circumstances being clear, shouldn't we believe it?"
"Circumstances? Were there other circumstances?"
"Well, there's the initial L.C in the correspondence letter, and how the guard's operation was leaked last time..."
"Hmm..."
Lord Langbolt still wore a dubious expression. But doubt alone isn't enough to go against the majority.
Meanwhile, Lord Ariad said 'we'll know once we interrogate the Countess'.... Though it sounds more like 'we'll know once we pull out all her fingernails.'
No, even if I know the Countess's true identity, this old man thinks she's an eighteen-year-old girl.... Ugh.
Around the time I was thinking this, I saw flames burning ahead. Like our side, dozens of soldiers were holding torches, and ‘Oh, that?’.
Among dozens of soldiers, Salt Castle stood tall.
Salt Castle serves as both the lord's residence and a subsidiary castle.
Thinking back to the scenery I saw before.... There were arrow towers with white tiles at each corner, looking like they had merged four small circular towers around a square tower center.
But on the day when a violent earthquake hit the city, Salt Castle was also swept up in the disaster. Due to the ground splitting nearby, two of the arrow towers broke in half from the middle.
Additionally, the entire castle was slightly tilted, looking so precarious that it seemed like it would fall backwards if a giant pushed it.
In front of that precarious Salt Castle, a large pillar of fire was rising. Looking closely, what was burning was a huge wooden staircase. The very staircase that served as the only entrance.
"Damn it."
Lord Langbolt let out a small curse before shouting.
"Why are you just watching! Put out the fire quickly!"
Despite the Blue Knight's shout, the soldiers surrounding Salt Castle only hesitated, with no one stepping forward.
As it turned out, arrows would rain down from Salt Castle whenever anyone approached to tackle the flames.
Lord Langbolt, upon learning the situation, immediately looked for Lord Liam. The knight decorated with feathers at the tip of his helmet was easy to spot, and we were able to join him.
"Liam, what's all this commotion about?"
"The lord's royal guard suddenly appeared."
"The royal guard?"
"Yes. They slaughtered the forces that were monitoring, no, guarding Salt Castle, and set fire to the stairs."
"Are you saying they struck first, knowing we would attack?"
"Probably."
The old knight, who had been silently watching the two knights' exchange, spoke up.
"Did the information leak?"
"Information leak? Nonsense. My elite soldiers had the Salt Castle completely surrounded."
"Was there no one who went in or out?"
"Of course not. Even things like food and candles were all delivered by my soldiers. The only people who went in were two nuns called because of the Count's son."
...Huh, this makes me uneasy. Sister Olga, you didn't get the letter discovered, did you?
The letter mentioned that if things went well, we would attack Salt Castle along with Prince Ulkar's soldiers. I advised them to open the doors and surrender then to earn merit...
Ah, come on. With my experience as a mercenary, surely that couldn't be it.
Feeling anxious, I picked up Hrunting and a shield (I had sneakily taken Ubar's) and said, "Isn't that not important right now? Let's hurry and go in."
Sergeant Gilbert, who had been listening to the conversation one step behind, interrupted and advised the knights.
"We can clear the stairs somehow, but the portcullis is down, so it'll be hard to enter."
"Can't we just bring axes or hammers and break it down?"
At my question, Gilbert gave a hollow laugh.
"Easy to say, friend. But what about the murder holes in the ceiling? Think you can split open an iron-studded door while taking arrows and boiling oil?"
"...Ah, that would be difficult."
Lord Liam, who had his arms crossed, shook his head.
"I wasn't planning to go in through the front either. There's a path that formed when the arrow tower at the back of the castle collapsed, we can target that. Everyone, this way."
Saying that, Lord Liam led us to the back of Salt Castle.
Salt Castle was tilted towards this side, and one pair of arrow towers was half-destroyed. Due to more than half of the roof and outer walls having collapsed, a room that could have been either the third or fourth floor was clearly visible.
Archers were positioned around, and soldiers with shields were preparing ladders.
"Preparations are almost complete. I'll take the lead."
As Lord Langbolt said this while tightening his cloak strings, Lord Liam frowned.
"What are you saying? This is my assigned area, so I should lead."
"Don't you know I'm perfect for situations like this with my quick movements?"
"They have many crossbowmen. You're going to take the lead without even bringing a helmet?"
At that question, Lord Langbolt's young squire quickly took off his own helmet and handed it to his master. Lord Langbolt chuckled softly, ruffled the squire's hair, and put on the helmet.
"Is this better now?"
"...How annoying. Stop being stubborn and step back."
Watching the two knights bicker, Lord Ariad let out a small sigh.