Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: I Want to Drive You All Crazy - 2
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Assassins might sound terrifying, but they really weren't all that scary in practice.
They killed you before you even had a chance to feel afraid.
The people who actually got scared were the ones who stumbled upon the corpses afterward.
But what if you found out an assassin was targeting you specifically?
From the assassin's perspective, that was a boneheaded mistake.
The best time to strike was when your target was off guard, and knowing about the threat ruined that perfect window.
Killing someone desperately fighting for their life was never easy.
Still, without a time limit, it made for some entertaining viewing.
"My master said the not-knowing when or where the next attempt might come is what really chokes you!"
"Exactly. That's how it felt for me too."
Back in the days before I had solid escorts, foiling the cult's big drug scheme had left me exhausted day after day.
I kept thinking they might send an assassin after me any moment.
Unlike now, back then I wasn't even on their radar as a threat, so there was no real need to worry.
I'd just been overreacting because Heinz was fated to die by assassination.
"So what'd you do?"
"Today I was strolling the corridors, so I threw a dagger adjusted to just graze past her nose!"
"Good girl."
Coco had successfully carried out her mission to threaten from spots where Megarea wouldn't notice.
Not once, but ten times.
The fact that no one had spotted her deserved high praise.
I patted Coco's head and pulled out my telescope.
From a high vantage point overlooking the estate's interior, I scanned the activity inside through the lens.
The consistent threats over the past two days had clearly worked. The retainers and knights of Viscount Beld's house were bustling about in a frenzy.
Even though it was just feigned assassination attempts, the viscountcy was on high alert, tightening security.
Our main target, Megarea, had holed up in her room and wasn't coming out at all.
Dozens of knights guarded her door, and meals were brought in by a servant.
Even the servant got frisked by the knights for hidden weapons, and they made him taste the food first.
"Perfect. Time to move to the next phase."
The real fun was just beginning.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ On the third day, Megarea spent another sleepless night, eyes wide with terror at the thought she might die any moment.
Even with knights standing watch at her door and windows, she couldn't calm down.
Assassination attempts had come relentlessly, no matter where she was or who was guarding her.
Even in the fully sealed bathroom, a dagger had dropped down, sending chills down her spine.
"What kind of bastard is this?! One of the guys I trampled on? Or some dude whose nuts I kicked?"
The attempts had started right after the party ended and everyone went home.
Megarea racked her brain for who might hate her enough to seek revenge.
But pinpointing one person was impossible.
She'd been tormenting men long before this party too.
To identify the culprit, they'd have to catch the assassin and interrogate them.
But the knights couldn't nab them, and the assassins hired by the family had gone silent after chasing Kizen.
That was why, despite multiple attempts, they hadn't even gotten a glimpse.
"Useless bunch! Can't even catch one lousy assassin, making me go through this humiliation...!"
Megarea vented her rage on the knights and servants at every turn.
Watching them grovel eased her fear a little.
When they made aggrieved faces, she piled on the abuse, savoring the thrill.
What could they do, even if they were pissed?
She was the one on top here.
Megarea recalled the expressions of the men she'd tormented before drifting off to sleep again.
The next day, she wanted to stay barricaded in her room as usual, but that wasn't an option anymore.
An imperial decree had come: report to the capital for investigation into her misdeeds.
Noble sons she'd victimized had filed complaints against her.
Megarea threw a fit, insisting it was absurd, but she had no choice but to board the carriage.
Not even she could ignore a direct imperial order.
"Ugh, so annoying! Reporting me like petty little bitches! Just you wait, I won't let this slide...!"
She vowed to get revenge somehow.
But she needed an outlet for her anger right now, so she eyed the knights escorting her.
Her sly smile and narrowed eyes brimmed with malice.
Megarea didn't care about their hard work; they were just emotional punching bags to her.
"That one's kinda cute."
Among the escort troops was a young boy soldier.
He still had that innocent look, not yet hardened by tough experiences.
Licking her lips at the sight, Megarea started scheming.
She'd always sneered at her brothers playing with young female slaves, but deep down, she was just as vile.
Just a radical feminist blissfully unaware of her own filth.
"U-um, I heard you called for me."
The boy, well aware of her notoriety, was already trembling in fear.
He knew he'd end up tormented like the others.
Gazing at the quivering boy ignited Megarea's sadism.
This time, she planned to use him for sexual release—a worse nightmare in some ways.
The moment she casually reached for him...
"Eek?!"
Boom-!
The carriage halted abruptly as a tree crashed down in front of it on the forest path.
Megarea's hefty body couldn't withstand the jolt and tumbled out of the carriage.
It was a ridiculous sight, but no one laughed.
Not out of fear of her retaliation, but because the situation was genuinely dire.
"O-orcs!"
"Everyone, battle stations! Form up!"
The culprits who felled the tree to block the road were orcs.
Pig-headed, bipedal potbellies of monsters.
They knew how to wield weapons like humans and emerged from behind the trees, armed with axes.
"Eek...!"
Megarea shrieked at the sight of the snorting orcs.
They looked exactly like the kind of appearance she despised most.
Even though she herself wasn't much different.
"What are you idiots doing?! Kill those disgusting things already!"
"Miss, forgive me, but we're surrounded. Charging out recklessly could be dangerous."
"I don't care about that! Clear them out of my way now!"
Megarea even shoved the knight who was directing the troops from behind.
The orcs raised their axes high toward him, now plunged into the heart of the enemy.
He drew his sword and parried frantically, but one man couldn't hold them all off.
He took a blow to the side and rolled across the ground.
"Sir Alfred!"
A knight who seemed to be Alfred's lieutenant rushed over and helped him up.
The orcs, tasting blood, went berserk, while the knights and soldiers stared in shock.
They shot resentful glares at Megarea, but...
"Totally useless! A knight who can't even take down a few pig spawn? Pathetic!"
Shamelessly, Megarea was blaming Alfred.
Blind to her own fault in forcing sacrifices and botching the fight.
Already outnumbered, she'd handed the orcs a morale boost.
"Gr, grrrk?!"
The orcs surged forward with momentum, but suddenly hesitated and fell back.
A gap had opened in their encirclement around the carriage.
Alfred's lieutenant pointed to the escape route and ordered a retreat.
"Everyone, fall back!!"
Abandoning the carriage, they all bolted for the single escape path.
Even the coachman cut the horses free and rode off.
Megarea tried to flee too, but the pain from her earlier tumble hit her late.
Her legs gave out, and she collapsed.
"W-what are you doing?! Help me up! Come back here!"
Isolated and unable to reach the escape route, Megarea cried out.
A few knights glanced back, their eyes ice-cold.
Not one turned to save her; they all walked away.
"Come back right now! W-wait! This is a joke, right? You're all just messing with me?"
Her shouts grew increasingly desperate.
What started as furious yelling turned to pleading.
Eventually, she was begging.
"I was wrong! I mean, I'm sorry! Please come back! Please! Ah... no!"
The orcs, snapping out of their hesitation, closed in on the lone Megarea.
Having bungled letting a whole group of humans escape, they were determined to snag at least one.
And so, Megarea vanished en route to the capital, lost to an orc ambush.
Orcs were monsters that didn't shy from interspecies breeding.
But even they rejected her outright, shipping her off to their pet wild boar pens.
Surrounded by the filthiest boars in unsanitary conditions, she received an abundance of "love."
Witnessing her end firsthand might make your stomach acid back up.
"Even orcs have standards..."
Heinz had watched the whole thing from a tree with Coco.
He covered her eyes with his palm.
For her mental health, he didn't stick around to see Megarea's finale and turned away.
There was one more person left to break.