Honrary Count Hardt, famous for having been bestowed the title directly by the Emperor.
Even there, an attendant stepped into the forest behind the mansion, which was deserted.
Anxious gestures, trembling pupils. He looked around several times, as if his intentions were not pure, and soon raised his head and whistled lightly.
Flap, flap.
A bird that you would normally see anywhere landed on his hand.
He lightly petted the bird, tied a white piece of paper around its ankle, and sent it flying into the air without delay.
He was in a hurry because he thought if he took his time and got noticed by others, he would only end up in trouble.
"Is it all over?"
"!"
He was startled and turned around. An old man dressed in a neat tailcoat, who had been around for some time, was standing next to a tree and looking at him.
It was a face that anyone who was at the mansion could recognize.
Remember, the butler of the mansion, was characterized by silver-blue eyes and silver-blue hair that was fading to white.
He looked at the bird flying in the distance with an expression that did not tell what he was thinking, and then lowered his gaze to face the servant.
"I expected it to some extent, but I never thought you would really be the traitor. Deacon Ji."
The embarrassment was short-lived. The attendant closed his mouth as he was about to make an excuse.
What he saw was too clear to make excuses. So the only way left was to kill him.
Fortunately, this was a deserted forest and there were no other witnesses.
Even if he was a strong man, the opponent was an old man, so even if he was just an ordinary person, it would be no problem to kill him.
Of course, he knew that the old butler in front of him was an unusual person who overturned and overpowered the Revolutionary army, but since he planned to use weapons, there wouldn't be a big problem.
The attendant, making a quick decision, grabbed the handle of the dagger in his pocket.
The two eyes that looked at Remember as if they were watching him were suddenly filled with life.
"Behind the scenes..."
"Aaaah!"
"...I should know."
Slice!
The attendant's head was cut off.
The head fell to the ground first, and the body that was running behind fell over.
Remember stood in the same place as before and looked at the collapsing body.
Even though his attendant suddenly died, he did not back down. There wasn't even a scream. There was no sign of surprise or embarrassment.
He just looked at it with calm eyes and slowly moved his gaze behind it.
He didn't know when or where he appeared, but a man dressed in black is standing behind where the attendant was.
Remember slowly spoke as his eyes focused on the blood-stained sword in his hand.
"It's obvious even if you don't look at the person behind it."
At most, it would be a member of the noble faction, a hostile kingdom, or the Revolutionary Army.
Among them, the most likely one would be Duke Stave Illuster, the leader of the noble faction.
It was difficult to instill a secret influence inside the Count's residence unless you had considerable influence.
In that sense, the hostile kingdom was too far away to have a strong influence, and it was difficult for the Revolutionary Army, which had to go into hiding because it did not even have a proper foundation, to plant a treasure in the Count's mansion.
Of course, Remember couldn't be sure based on that alone, but since the bird that just flew away gave him another person to dig up information from, there was no need to obsess over this servant.
'It might be a little dangerous, but...'
He might be alone, but since the Count will be with the knights, it was a luxury to worry. Rather, he should hope that the blood-drunk people don't kill all the attackers.
He waved his hand towards the man who was standing still as if waiting for orders.
Without paying the slightest attention to the man who disappeared in an instant, Remember looked down at the red corpse that was soaking the forest floor.
As if it was natural for this to happen, there was not a single emotion in his silver-blue eyes.
"I will use my authority as a butler to fire you."
***
"They say Deon Hardt went to the border area to subdue monsters. And that's with only one group of knights."
Duke Stave Illuster slowly curled the corners of his mouth as he burned the note in the candlelight. Eyes full of leisure moved slowly to Cruel.
Cruel responded at once to the eyes urging him to answer.
"I will place an assassination request."
"That's that answer again."
"..."
"It was like that last time too. At the time, I thought you had simply forgotten the option of the Revolutionary Army..."
Now it seems like that wasn't the case.
A sharp look passed through the purple eyes. Cruel silently accepted the gaze with his eyes slightly lowered.
The Duke, who was carefully examining Cruel's expression in the suffocating silence, opened his mouth as if he wanted to think a little more.
"Why? It would be much more efficient to use the Revolutionary Army than to submit a request."
It is natural that those who try to kill with a clear sense of purpose will be more eager than those who try to kill just because it is a request.
You can save money and kill more reliably.
Nevertheless, Cruel was pushing towards submitting the request.
"...It looks like you have no intention of explaining."
"I was thinking."
"No way."
"..."
The duke sighed as if he was sick of the lack of response.
He spoke in a casual tone, casually brushing away the crumbled ashes that had fallen on the desk.
"Well, it's fine. Please feel free to do whatever you want. What matters is the result."
"...Thank you."
"But you'd better not be clumsy. It just looks funny."
"I'll keep that in mind."
The conversation was over.
The Duke glanced at Cruel's expression while holding up a new document and thumbing through it.
As always, that man was standing there without showing any emotion. Knowing that he couldn't get anything out of that face, he fixed his eyes on the document again and muttered softly to himself.
'I like a dog that listens well.'
Let's wait and see.
Whether or not you are using a useless trick.
***
"Are you serious?"
A man who had silently assisted Cruel during his battle at the border of the demon realm opened his mouth without realizing it.
Even though he knew it was rude to ask again, he couldn't help it.
"Okay."
"Are you sure you don't mind? Your Excellency is definitely..."
There is no way the Duke wouldn't know this.
Senzer was very worried about how the Duke would react to Cruel's actions.
The duke was a smart man but also a very suspicious person.
It was obvious that Cruel's life would come and go depending on how he accepted this.
Therefore, Senzer hoped that he would only do what the duke told him to do, but...
"I'm not saying I won't ask for a murder, so it'll be okay."
Cruel was adamant.
"Put in a request, but add conditions. I'll give them half of the promised amount even if they only injure him."
"Costs arising from additional conditions..."
"I will cover them with my own funds."
He couldn't tell what he was thinking.
What did he want to do with Deon Hardt?
Senzer, who was observing Cruel's expression because he could not even infer the true nature of his feelings for Deon Hardt, soon gave up his thoughts and quietly lowered his head.
***
Silence led to misunderstanding. However, even if I explained, they wouldn't believe me, and it would be difficult if the monsters disappeared like this, so I quickly changed the topic under the pretext of putting monster subjugation first, and I was watching the subjugation side by side with Sir Lien on horseback.
Sir Lien had her own reasons for not fighting.
First of all, the skills of the Murderous Knights were as good as crazy, and more than anything, I, who was weak, really needed at least one bodyguard.
It was sad to be brought to a place like this, but it would be truly unfair to end up dead. You may not be able to understand it and end up becoming a vengeful spirit. And another reason would be that would it not be appropriate for Sir Lien to intervene in that scene?
"Hyaaa!!"
"Hey you bastard! What're you doing! Monsters are coming this way!!"
"Is it my fault that you're easy on me?!"
"That bastard is going after me!!"
"Shut up and kill them!"
Slice! Slice!
Blood splattered everywhere and the monsters were torn apart.
They were chopping up the monster so finely that I thought it would look something like that if you crushed red pudding with a spoon.
Sir Lien goes with those guys and fights with them?
It doesn't suit her at all.
Sir Lien is the kind of person who can be said to be the epitome of a knight.
She is the type of person who cleanly kills enemies by blowing their heads off. If she gets caught in that gap, she will quickly become covered in blood without having to do anything special.
That must be quite an unpleasant experience. As long as it was likely to lead to a resignation letter, I had every reason to stop her. It was a time when I was lost in thought for a long time.
"You guys! What are you doing!?"
"...Hmm?"
I suddenly raised my head when I heard a voice full of anger.
I tried to ask why she was angry, but my gaze was blocked by a huge barrier and could not reach Sir Lien.
Instead, my gaze met a pair of eyes located in front of my nose.
"..."
"..."
I stopped thinking for a moment.
Black face, huge body, eyes glaring at me with resentment and anger. In addition, it was grinning and its fangs were exposed as if they were going to bite me at any moment.
So this is...
'What the fuck is this?!'
I was so surprised that I didn't even scream.
I froze, turning white, staring into the monster's eyes.
In my heart, I just wanted to faint, but this body, which has never moved as I wanted, betrayed my expectations once again. Usually, it falls down easily, so why is it holding up so well this time? Was it fortunate that I didn't scream in an unsightly way?
I tried to relax my frozen body and licked my stiff lips.
"What is this?"
"It seemed like we were the only ones having fun."
"When I came to my senses, this was the only thing left. Most of them ran away."
"Almost all means of attack will be cut off, so it won't be fun, but it's better than nothing. The Count should enjoy it too."
"Are you just watching out of consideration for us? You didn't have to hold back, but I'm touched."
What kind of bullshit is this? What do you enjoy, you crazy people? Do you think I am the same as you?
I would understand if it was a joke, but it was even more confusing because I could clearly feel that it was all serious.
Even Sir Lien's reaction was even worse.
"Oh, is that so?"
Why are you agreeing?!
If you combine the members' conversations, you can quickly get an answer to what they want from me.
So I'm not telling you to kill this monster.
They said that the Count should also enjoy it, so that probably means killing him as cruelly as possible, just like they did.
It's not difficult to follow.
Since I didn't come here to have fun, I was fully armed. All I had to do was take out one of the daggers tied to various parts of my body and tear into the monster that cannot resist in front of me.
'But I don't really feel like it.'
I feel like if I do that, something inside me will collapse. No, should I say it will be broken?
That was why I was hesitating for a moment.
'...?!'
I turned my body reflexively, feeling goosebumps rising on the back of my neck.
I just instinctively turned to find the source of the chills, but luckily it saved my life.
Slice!
"Ugh!?"
"Count!"
I thought I felt a shock to my shoulder, but then a burning sensation spread through me.
Following my instinct, I wrapped my arms around my shoulders and turned my head to see what was causing the pain.
"An arrow?"
Looking at its location, it seemed like it was originally aiming for my neck.
The monster wouldn't be shooting arrows, so was this a surprise attack?
By who? Unless they wanted war, the other kingdoms wouldn't have targeted us since we hadn't even crossed the border.
'...Calm down.'
It was not for nothing that we survived eight years on the battlefield.
My senses from the battlefield returned and my head began to spin.
You can figure out the front and back later. First of all, what was important was the number and location of the attackers.
I quickly rolled my eyes and glanced at the location where the arrow had come from.
'You've come a long way.'
They chased after us on horseback, but I didn't know I was within reach of the arrow.
Ah, I had to cover my ears and eyes while subduing monsters. These guys should be a little bigger and louder.
'Then...'
What should I do...
That was where my thoughts ended. The world turned white and the accident stopped.
And when things returned to normal, everything was over.