Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Phantom Thief Dauphin (15) - If You Touch My Little Guard Soldier
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It all started as a petty squabble over pride between two lords.
If only one of them had stepped back even slightly.
Or if the kingdom had been in even remotely better shape, with someone capable of mediating between them, it would have been nothing more than a minor spat that ended easily.
But once the blood began to flow, it demanded even more blood. As pride, vested interests, grudges, and all sorts of other factors became tangled together, the two lords charged ahead recklessly, as if they had no idea what brakes were.
Young men were forcibly conscripted, taxes skyrocketed under the pretext of war levies, and families who had barely scraped by on their food rations now faced the dire choice of abandoning one member just to survive.
The young men of what had once been neighboring villages—villages that shared laughs and chatter together—now stood on opposite sides, spears pointed at one another, solely because they served different lords. Those who rebelled, shouting, "Why the hell do we have to fight?" were beaten by the lords' direct subordinates until they shut up, or in worse cases, outright killed.
In their desperation, unable to endure the hardship any longer, the people approached "him" like drowning men grasping at straws. They knelt and begged.
The knight of the lowliest birth.
The true knight who fights for the common folk.
Please save us.
Put an end to this senseless war we don't even understand.
The knight could not turn away from their sight: ragged clothes clinging to emaciated frames, heads bowed low, tears streaming down their faces.
Word spread that the knight of the people had risen to save them. One by one, the lords' subjects turned against their rulers. The lords, true to form, tried to crush the rebellion with violence, but they failed due to the presence of that formidable knight.
Of course, the common folk weren't without losses.
No matter how mighty the knight's prowess, he was just one man. Wherever he wasn't, the people shed rivers of blood.
Yet unlike before, the common folk no longer went down easily.
In the past, if one in ten was made an example, the other nine would bow their heads. Now, they chose to fight back instead of submitting.
Because the knight existed.
Because he had shown them it was possible to stand against the nobles and rulers.
Because they now knew he wasn't some invincible being they could never defy—he was simply a man with power.
The knight warned the two lords.
Your tyrannical rule is what has brought such suffering upon the people.
So please, end this fighting and fulfill your duty as lords to care for your subjects.
But the lords ignored the knight's counsel and instead called in other noble houses for support. Outraged, the people cried out to the knight.
Knight of the lowliest birth.
Knight who fights alongside us common folk.
They've rejected the hand we've offered, so now there's only one way left: to strike at their necks.
We must repay those wicked tyrants for the pain they've inflicted on us.
This wretched kingdom is full of people suffering just like us, but they don't know how to fight back—they just endure. If we show them our will and our victories, we can change the kingdom itself.
Rather than spend the rest of our lives suffering as we did before, we'll stake it all on this greater cause.
The knight was taken aback.
He finally realized what spark his actions—wielding his sword to aid the weak and rescue the forsaken—had ignited in people's hearts. His deeds had turned into the people taking up arms against the nobles from his side.
If only he had been a bit more ruthless.
Or if he were the sort who could accept small sacrifices for a grand dream.
He could have led the people he inspired straight into plunging the kingdom into full-scale war.
But the knight, who had fought for the weak his entire life, could not choose a path that would drown countless people in pools of blood, even if it was for the right cause.
Nor could he abandon those who had followed him in faith, fleeing with only his daughter in tow.
As the knight agonized, a messenger from the old king—who had not yet lost his spirit—arrived and declared:
Offer only the knight's head before this escalates into an even greater war and more blood is spilled, and no responsibility will be placed on the others involved. This I guarantee in the name of the royal family.
Ignoring his wailing daughter, the knight raised his own sword—
"—8th Squad Leader Dalia. You are under arrest for colluding with the thief Dauphin!"
The Sarnos Knight Order.
At the vice-captain's shouted declaration, the inside of the guard post erupted in chaos in an instant.
"What? Colluding? The 8th squad leader?"
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
Thud!
As over a dozen knights simultaneously stomped forward, a massive shockwave echoed through, silencing the guards' clamor in a heartbeat.
It sounded like a giant boulder had crashed into the ground, making everyone instinctively shrink back.
Dalia furrowed her brow but forced herself to stay calm as she countered.
"Collusion? That's absurd. I've never done such a thing."
"Denying it won't help. We've seen through your scheme: you leaked internal guard information to Dauphin to aid his crimes, and in return, he pretended to lose on purpose to boost your reputation."
"Then what evidence do you have for such suspicions!"
"There are testimonies from within the guard post."
"What?"
At the vice-captain's gesture, a few guards from the corner stepped forward and spoke.
"I saw the 8th squad leader deliberately let Dauphin go when she could have finished him!"
"Dauphin attacks everyone else relentlessly, but he went easy only on the 8th squad leader!"
"Even after the knights arrived, I saw the 8th squad leader talking to a man suspected to be Dauphin in the middle of the night!"
When something is so outrageous, people are left speechless for a moment.
As Dalia stood stunned, her 8th squad vice-officer raised his voice in her stead.
"Don't spout such bullshit!! You bootlickers fawned over the company commander before, and now you've found new masters!?"
Only then did Dalia realize who these guards were.
Originally, she had been an outsider in the guard post, but after Dauphin appeared and she rose to prominence, many guards had flipped their attitudes and shown her favor.
However, some had never accepted her and harbored hostility—and now they were fabricating testimonies on the knights' side.
"Don't listen to them, Captain!! It's obvious—they're trying to shift blame onto you to protect their own reputations!!"
"Typical lowborn scum. Even their speech is filthy."
As the vice-captain grimaced, one knight stepped forward and reached toward the vice-officer.
The moment the knight sneered at the vice-officer, who hadn't even noticed the incoming attack—
Crunch.
"—Don't lay a hand on my subordinate."
Before the knight's hand could reach the vice-officer, Dalia's grip clamped down on the knight's wrist like iron.
The knight flinched and tried to shake her off, but no matter how violently he struggled, Dalia didn't budge an inch.
"Wh-what!?"
The vice-officer, realizing the attack a beat late, yelped and stumbled back. The vice-captain's eyebrow twitched.
"Are you committing mutiny now?"
"The knights aren't even the guards' direct superiors to begin with. And even if they were, there's no law allowing unjust violence against subordinates."
"What nonsense. I was merely about to discipline a mutt who interrupted a superior mid-sentence without knowing his place. It's a crime worthy of execution for insubordination."
"That's not—!!"
True law.
At least not compared to the laws of the world where she had spoken with "him."
But Dalia couldn't finish her sentence.
Even if she had forged her own sense of justice and order in her heart, it meant nothing in this reality.
The vice-captain declared.
"Whether the suspicions are true will come out in the investigation. Will you obey obediently, or resist to the end? 8th Squad Leader."
Dalia hesitated.
Even someone as rigid as her knew that going along quietly would lead to nothing good.
But if she refused?
She glanced at her 8th squad comrades.
Each gripped their spear shafts tightly, gazing at her with resolute eyes.
As if saying they'd fight alongside her if she chose to.
And at the same time, Dalia noticed.
Their legs trembling faintly, cold sweat seeping out, breaths coming in harsh gasps.
Regardless of their will, their bodies were already gripped by fear.
It was inevitable.
The 8th squad guards were skilled even among the guard post, but few could properly wield mana.
The physical gap between those trained in proper cultivation methods and those without was like that between a beast and an ordinary person—not to mention their opponents were human weapons clad in proper armor, masters of swordsmanship who could freely unleash sword aura.
Once a fight broke out, Dalia might manage somehow, but her squad members had no chance of surviving unscathed.
And that was a result Dalia refused to accept.
With a short sigh, Dalia released the knight's arm.
The knight swiftly retreated and glared at her, clearly humiliated at being stopped by a mere guard.
Dalia turned to the knight order's vice-captain.
"I've never colluded with anyone, but I'll cooperate with the investigation."
"A wise choice."
"On one condition."
"...Condition?"
"Declare here, in front of all the guards watching, that you won't touch any other guard members. And allow me a daily visit with one of my 8th squad members."
The vice-captain's face twisted openly.
"You think a criminal like you has the right to make demands?"
"You said it yourself earlier, Vice-Captain. 'Whether the suspicions are true will come out in the investigation.' Jumping to conclusions before it's even over seems premature. Unless you've already decided I'm guilty and are rigging the outcome."
"You bitch!! Are you mocking me now!?"
"I had no such intent, but if that's how it felt, I apologize."
Watching the vice-captain's face cycle through colors, Dalia suddenly thought.
When did I get so eloquent?
The answer was obvious, no need to ponder.
It had to be from spending every day chatting with that sly fox "him."
Even in this depressing situation, thinking of his face somehow lifted her spirits, and Dalia gave a wry smile.
"You little—!"
The vice-captain looked deeply conflicted.
Accepting Dalia's demands outright would bruise his pride.
But suppressing her by force without agreeing? Her movement against the knight earlier nagged at him.
In the end, he clicked his tongue and spat it out like a bitter pill.
"Fine! I'll grant your petty demands, so cooperate with the investigation now!"
Dalia held out her hands, and the knights bound them before dragging her away.
The 8th squad members tried to stop her.
"Captain!"
"I'm fine. Just keep visiting steadily. I need to know what's happening outside."
The squad looked like they had a lot to say, but nodded reluctantly at Dalia's unexpectedly calm demeanor.
That afternoon.
A strange rumor began spreading through Levruk.
"Heard about it? The 8th squad leader of the guards got hauled in."
"What? Why?"
"Turns out her exploits were all because she was in cahoots with Dauphin behind the scenes."
"Come on, that can't be right."
"Think about it—it was kinda suspicious, right? How could a single guard shine against Dauphin when even the knights couldn't catch him? She teamed up with him to build her rep by faking fights, then leaked info to sabotage after the knights showed up. Makes perfect sense."
"Hmm. Uh-huh."
"I always thought she was fishy. If she was that good, why didn't she make a name before Dauphin appeared?"
The rumor was blatantly biased toward the knights and distorted facts about Dalia, but as it spread uniformly from various sources, people began casting suspicious glances, great or small.
And one man who heard the news muttered this.
"How interesting. What a brilliantly absurd joke."
Despite his words, the man's lips weren't smiling at all.
Watching from the shadows, the archdemon thought.
Oh, he's pissed. Big time.