13 (50)

The way the two were competing made Louis think they truly fought over the strangest things. He was not going to entrust it to either of them anyway. He planned to send Marquis Vesk separately to the Papal Court together with the black mage. He inwardly grew curious about just how happily the inquisitors would welcome them.

As far as Louis knew, heretics dragged to the Papal Court could not easily die. Everyone in the world knew that was not meant in a good way, but… In any case, five were dead, and one was nowhere to be seen. Marquis Vesk, who had been hiding behind the goat statue, revealed himself.

His face looked so haggard that he seemed to have aged ten years in an instant. Since he was smiling faintly, it seemed as though he knew some way to survive. Since Louis only remembered him always wearing a forced smile, this was the first time he saw Vesk’s natural expression. At that moment, the murmuring began to grow louder and louder. It seemed to be Vesk’s private soldiers, who had realized something had happened and had begun gathering.

Louis looked around. Torches were flickering everywhere and gradually approaching. There was still enough time. Perhaps they did not clearly know what had happened, because they were approaching slowly, and even if they charged at once, Louis still had about 700 troops.

“D-Do not… approach.”

Hearing the terribly trembling voice, Louis turned his head in the direction of the sound. Marquis Vesk was holding a dagger and had seized two girls.

It was a familiar freckled face and a scrawny body. It was Maria. Maria’s two eyes hesitantly looked toward Louis, and her black pupils soon widened.

“M-Mercenary, sir.”

“………..”

Maria still did not know Louis’s identity. He did not recognize the other girl beside her. In any case, the situation had become somewhat troublesome. When Maria muttered, Vesk looked down as if asking what she meant, then looked back at Louis.

“Y-You know each other?”

“A little.”

“Good. If you come closer, I will kill her.”

“…………”

“I request asylum. I must leave this country.”

“Who decided that?”

When Vesk’s hand pressed against the girl’s neck, blood trickled down. Louis could not help but frown slightly.

“Damn it… My thinking was shallow. I never imagined that thing would fail to put even a single wound on you. I thought if I had just two or three more, I could somehow manage…”

“……….”

“You yourself are enough to drive me mad. Duke Louis, if only you had not existed, this country would have… Almost all my soldiers have arrived. I do not know what relationship you have with this wench, but I do not want to be pursued.”

His legs trembled violently. That was how threateningly Louis’s mana, filled with his emotions, was surging. As though it would tear him apart at any moment. Suddenly, the girl shouted.

“No!”

“……….”

“I hate the idea of this person continuing to live like this. He cruelly pulled out Enya’s heart! Mercenary, sir! Please! Do not mind my life and kill this man as he is.”

“You… you wench!”

“K-Kill… him. Please kill this man.”

“Shut up!”

Vesk threw the other girl to the ground and began striking Maria with his other hand. Despite appearances, Vesk had a sturdy build. It was difficult for a girl who had not yet become an adult to endure it. As Louis’s mana, filled with emotion, grew even rougher, Vesk stopped moving and looked at Louis, even though Louis had not said a word.

“Wh-What are you…!”

Louis had already thrown the dagger at his waist. Thunk. Vesk fell to the ground and twitched… The dagger Louis had just thrown was clearly embedded in his wrist.

Maria barely escaped and was crawling across the ground, and even in the midst of that, Vesk grabbed Maria’s ankle and pulled her back.

“D-Do… do not come!!! I will kill her!!!”

His two terrified eyes were unfocused and wavering. His legs were pushing in place to get farther from Louis, and the hand holding Maria was desperate. His clothes were already rags. Louis smiled gently at him and moved his hand to his waist. He had thrown one, and two remained. He felt the rough surface against his palm. Without hesitation, he drew a dagger and walked forward. He had not even taken a few steps while tossing it spinning into the air when Vesk’s mouth opened wide, and he let go of Maria and ran backward. The sight of him fleeing looked just like a wild boar.

Louis immediately threw the dagger he was holding. Vesk fell. Louis drew another dagger from his waist and threw it at him as he rolled. A single groan. He began convulsing. Blood began seeping from the wounds where the daggers were embedded. It felt as though Louis had played a round of dagger throwing at a wine barrel.

After arriving in front of the fallen man, Louis put his hand into his chest and took out a potion. When he opened the lid, a fragrant scent poured out. He walked a little farther and stepped hard on Vesk’s torso.

“Aaaagh!!”

Pressing down on him turned out to be amusing. When Louis stepped on him a few more times, his eyes nearly rolled back.

“S-Spare me! Your Highness! I have committed a sin worthy of death!”

“You know, I hold grudges.”

“…………”

Louis lowered his hand and leisurely pulled out the dagger embedded in Vesk’s thigh. Another chewy scream burst out. Blood did not simply seep out; it began pouring out in a rush. Louis poured a full potion over it.

New flesh grew over the wound at an astonishing speed and darkly joined together. At least on the surface, the flesh had connected, and at the very least, the bleeding stopped. Louis wiped the bloodstained dagger on Vesk’s clothes a few times and put it back at his waist.

“I-I am sorry. Please forgive me just this once. Please… Your Highness. Please…”

By the time Louis pulled out and recovered the remaining two daggers embedded in him, Vesk had almost reached the point of fainting. He had sweated so much cold sweat that it would have been understandable if he had fainted from dehydration.

“Stand up.”

When Louis gave the order, Vesk used every ounce of strength he had to stagger and try to rise from his seat. After barely standing, his face was ruined by pain. The potion had only healed the outside; the wounds inside remained as they were.

“Go tell your soldiers to stop fighting.”

Louis turned his gaze to the side and whistled. Mark Jay, who had been sniping from atop a tall tree, jumped down to the ground and ran to Louis. His mana was surging. Sweat had formed in beads on his forehead. His eagle-like eyes gathered on Louis.

“I have already given instructions, so take this man to the front and make him stop the battle. If he says anything else, shoot both his legs again at once. I will personally educate him again.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Louis watched the two of them walk forward when a young girl’s voice flowed from beside him.

“M-Mercenary, sir. Thank you.”

Did this girl still not know who I was? Louis replied, “You’re welcome.”

“You really were an amazing person, mister. Back then too, and now too.”

“……..”

“Your name… is Sir Jaco, right? I heard people whispering back then. They called you Jaco, leader of the wolves.”

Louis thought it would be better if she understood it that way.

“That’s right. My name is Jaco.”

“I’m sorry… for causing you trouble like this.”

Louis spoke coldly.

“No. I simply happened to have business catching Vesk. There is nothing to thank me for. By the way, with one gold coin I gave you, you could have bought a house and not worked for a while, so why were you caught all the way here?”

“That gold coin… Someone saw it. I gave the gold coin to Omer. If I had not given it to him, something terrible would have happened. In return, Omer gave me plenty of bread and the right to rest for several days, but… while I was going to see flowers with Enya, this happened…”

Louis gave a wry laugh.

“Wait. Who did my gold coin go to…?”

“O-Omer. He is someone who has looked after me since I was young. He is not a bad person. Please do not be angry.”

“Omer. Hm. Understood. I will not be angry.”

He was already angry. He felt he might only feel somewhat better after separately summoning Omer, tying him to a pillar with the black mage, and beating him thoroughly. In any case, the battle had stopped. Since they were private soldiers on the outside, some were mentally contaminated and some were not, and it seemed the ones who were had not understood what Vesk was saying.

Louis turned around. An enormous mansion spread out behind him. It was a fine mansion made of antique, luxurious wood, with various bricks and marble laid on top, but now that he knew the situation, it somehow looked gloomy, and it seemed as though the scent of blood was flowing thickly from it.

A feast sumptuous enough to bend the dining table was placed before Louis. It was so much that it was excessive compared to what he usually ate. After his body changed, Louis actually ate extremely simply. Though, in fact, the food on this table was not decreasing at all either. Strictly speaking, it was because the man right in front of him had paid excessive attention. The man’s name was Omer.

His left eye was bruised blue, and his cheek was swollen. If he had been one of Marquis Vesk’s subordinates, Louis would have sent him along with the others, but Omer was actually one of the figures who maintained neutrality in this red-light district. His position was fairly large, and he managed several prostitutes, including Maria. Despite his fierce impression, he was excessively cowed. He barely managed to say one thing to Louis.

“Um… is it not to your taste?”

“Yeah.”

“I-I apologize. I will immediately have the food made again.”

“No need. By the way, the matter I instructed?”

“It is progressing as Sir Jaco wishes.”

He knew Louis as Jaco. Louis rather liked this new identity. A mercenary with money was a fairly free occupation. At times, it was better than being a lord. A lord could never stay still for even a moment, but if a mercenary had no work, he could rest endlessly.

“Go. I will regularly send the children to monitor you. Every time you waste my money, one finger, understood?”

“Yes… yes!”

“Well, as long as you listen, you will also gain side income, so it is good for you too. By the way, do your best for Maria. There is something about that child that bothers me every time I see her.”

“D-Do not worry.”

Since Louis had kidnapped him and beaten him thoroughly without killing him, Omer was in a state of absolute obedience. There were two conditions placed on him. Do not ask or question the reason.

Keep his relationship with Louis secret. It was not a bad deal for Omer either. The main point was that Louis would help his business, and Omer, gradually growing on this side, would fully cooperate, openly and secretly.

When Louis raised his hand and gestured for him to leave, Omer bowed repeatedly and barely left his seat. Louis lowered his gaze to the steaming duck meat, cut into it deeply with a knife, and put it into his mouth. Then he poured ale beer down his throat.

As he stirred the meat soup round and round with a spoon, people slowly began entering the tavern. Since it was around evening, it seemed people who wanted to drink were gradually gathering. The tavern quickly became noisy. Louis listened to the murmuring. Just then, four or five men sat down behind him, ordered beer, and began talking about various things.

“The world really is coming to an end. To think Marquis Vesk had touched black magic.”

“I heard he was the main culprit behind all those missing-person cases.”

“When is the public execution?”

“More importantly, do you have any money borrowed from Marquis Vesk? An official notice came out. They say debts judged unreasonable will disappear. The taxes he was separately collecting were abolished too.”

“You… Who doesn’t know that?”

“It really was a good thing the king changed. I was someone who had sincerely hoped Duke Louis would become king long ago. Look at that. How long has it been since he took office, and he is already shaking down the ghosts that sucked people’s marrow. His Highness Louis will become a wise king unlike any other.”

“Exactly. But the world really is frightening. I had no idea they were doing such things right under our noses, and not long ago, because I had no work, I was about to apply to become one of their private soldiers.”

“Don’t. It’s fortunate you failed. At times like this, being incompetent is a good thing.”

The men behind him laughed noisily. Soon, a girl came trotting over to Louis. It was Maria. Maria greeted Louis, and Louis said he had ordered food for her as well and told her to eat. Maria, who had gained some weight over the past few days, had a pleasant-looking face. Listening to Maria talk about how Omer’s behavior had changed recently, Louis leisurely closed his eyes.