Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Hardworking Scoundrel - 9
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“Ugh?!”
The jolt of the carriage heading to the capital woke me up.
Even in that brief nap, I’d managed to dream.
The details were fuzzy, but it was about me racing across vast plains to become someone’s hero.
The idea of a pufferfish like me being a hero was utterly ridiculous.
But then a thought crossed my mind.
What if Lena, disguised as me to fend off the monster wave, could pull it off?
It felt entirely possible, though I worried it might lead to unnecessary misunderstandings piling up.
I’d told her to just pretend to command until Gerrick arrived with reinforcements—what if she wasn’t sticking to the plan?
“Why’s it so dark in here, anyway?”
“Ah! You’re awake!”
“Hm?”
A soft sensation pressed against my head, and a sweet floral scent tickled my nose.
The Twin Peaks that had been blocking the sunlight peeking through the curtains were talking to me.
As I twisted my body slightly, Maribel brushed her hair behind her ear and checked on me.
“Sleep well?”
“...Yeah. Were you giving me a lap pillow this whole time?”
“Yes! You started dozing off midway, so I figured I’d let you rest comfortably.”
“Thanks. I slept great because of you.”
I figured it was the most luxurious pillow in the world.
Soft, smelled amazing, and even came with natural curtains to block the sun.
Crude as it sounded, it was the perfect sight to pitch a tent between my legs.
“Want me to do it more often?”
“Nah, your legs must be numb.”
“I can handle that much.”
Tempting as it was, I decided to hold back unless I was truly exhausted.
Getting too dependent on Maribel might regress my mental age to that of a baby.
“Let’s see, how far are we?”
“We should be arriving soon.”
“Yeah.”
I did some light stretches to wake my muscles and peered out the window.
We were nearing the imperial capital, Bratenia.
“Three days until the trial. We’ve got to settle this by then...”
“Don’t worry! I’ll protect you with my life, Master Heinz!”
“Yeah, thanks.”
The moment the merchant guild retaliated, I halted all activities and went into hiding.
In the meantime, I disguised Lena as me to fool them into thinking she was Heinz, then slipped out of the territory with Maribel in secret.
To avoid tracking, I didn’t take a single item linked to the Altesia name.
If the cult found out I was heading to the capital, they’d interfere somehow.
Preventing me from attending Bratenia’s retrial was likely their ultimate goal.
That’s why we’d snuck ahead incognito, striking while the cult was off guard.
“They have no idea we’re heading to the capital, right?”
“...Hope so.”
Unfortunately, we couldn’t shake the cult’s pursuit entirely.
Recalling how they hounded players relentlessly in the game, they probably had tracking relics.
Leaving the territory early was to minimize their schemes.
We’d reached the outskirts of Bratenia without issue, but I couldn’t be sure the final stretch would be smooth.
My worries soon proved founded.
“Hey, you knight standing there like an idiot! Move—it’s dangerous!”
A shout from the coachman outside.
Someone was blocking the middle of the road.
I was about to tell him to stop when—
Kwachak—!
A headless corpse flew past the window, flesh crunching.
The horse’s hooves stuttered to a halt, stranding the carriage.
I grabbed my adamantium dagger and stopped Maribel from rushing out.
Heading outside without knowing the enemy’s numbers was suicide.
“Pardon the intrusion, but we need to conduct a quick inspection!”
Knock knock knock—!
A blood-soaked man knocked as we waited.
His squinting eyes and grinning face peeked through shaggy brown hair.
Ruhan, the kind of guy who’d make a perfect recurring villain.
Actually, as one of the Nidhogg Cult’s seven elite knights, he fit the image perfectly.
“Ignore the inspection, and we’ll have to get forceful. Think you can handle that?”
“Aren’t inspections these days just excuses to slaughter people indiscriminately?”
His blatant threat left no choice—I opened the door and stepped out.
Glare at him with annoyance, and he just smirked smugly.
“It’s the latest trend. Didn’t you know?”
“One or two checks like this, and no one’d have a head left.”
“Cooperate nicely like now, and we won’t take your life.”
“What’d that coachman do to deserve death?”
“He tried to run me over—self-defense.”
“Bullshit.”
What justice could a guy have who ignored warnings and killed without question?
True to the Nidhogg Cult, Ruhan was just a murderer who killed on whims.
Revulsion made me want to lop off his head right then, but I lacked the power—regrettable.
Sensing my killing intent, Ruhan started mocking me.
“Pro tip: don’t resist. Those weak punches of yours wouldn’t even tickle me, but my friends might take it personally.”
Cultists in black robes symbolizing the group appeared behind him, blocking the road.
Not that we could go further without a coachman or horses anyway.
Good call keeping Maribel inside.
Even facing Ruhan head-on would be tough—what chance against twenty-plus more?
“For a scoundrel, you’ve got impressive patience. Thought the girl with the dagger would come at me screaming ‘Die!’”
“Unlike you, I value life.”
“Noble mindset befitting a lordling!”
This bastard wouldn’t stop needling me.
I knew why he was provoking nonstop.
A slaughter-happy psycho, but orders from above kept him from killing me outright.
Make me attack first, though, and he’d claim self-defense after offing me and Maribel.
“On the flip side, you reek of vulgarity. Stay back—I’d appreciate it.”
“Shame. Meet earlier, and we might’ve been great pals.”
He wasn’t wrong.
In the game, Heinz and Ruhan were buddies.
Drinking, killing, gambling together.
But that was the utter scoundrel Heinz.
“Scram. Sleazy types like you aren’t my taste.”
“Same here. Hate fragile braggarts.”
Scratch that—turns out Heinz was the only one who thought they were besties.
Ruhan probably just saw an easy mark to exploit.
Used from start to finish.
A hollow laugh escaped as I shook my head in disbelief.
“Powerless, brainless you—what can you do here? What do you even have?!”
Ruhan howled with laughter, mocking me to the hilt.
I blinked, and his head was rolling on the ground.
Not just him—the other cultists blocking the road were headless too.
With their necks gone, I saw a man in golden armor sheathing his sword.
A massive sun emblem of the imperial family adorned his chest.
“Drawing and firing sword beams at speeds I couldn’t follow... Who is he?”
“Sir Caladin Dvern, the empire’s strongest knight.”
Only one person could bring such a legend to this backroad.
High heels clicked behind him.
A woman of such authority that even Caladin stepped aside and bowed waved at me.
“Asked what a powerless, brainless guy like me has?”
Ruhan’s head rolled to my feet.
I squatted, meeting his glassy eyes.
To the already-dead Ruhan, I whispered with a sneer.
“Connections.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The day of the trial to decide ownership of Arachne silk.
Sam lounged smugly in the plaintiff’s waiting room.
Soon, he’d claim Altesia silk, second only to elixir in value.
And his ally promised the elixir recipe too—how could he not be ecstatic?
Sam grinned, envisioning a rosy future.
“They said the scoundrel young master won’t show—so victory’s assured!”
As retrial neared, he grabbed his doctored evidence and strode to court.
Sam entered grandly through doors held by the famously impartial imperial knights.
His ear-to-ear smile plummeted to despair upon seeing someone.
“Welcome! Friend!”
“H-Heinz Altesia...?”
“We go way back, right?”
That’s when cold sweat began trickling down Sam’s back.