My Demons

Chapter 150

My Villains Chapter 150

38. Golden Mire (7)

Even kings and nobles with powerful armies feel terror from daggers entering their bedrooms or poison placed in the kitchen. Even great warriors or Mages cannot resist attacks that catch them off guard.

Yes. An invisible blade is more frightening than a visible sword before one’s eyes.

Among those commonly called assassins, a woman who belongs to the most dangerous category opened her mouth.

“I, I…”

I knew very well how dangerous this woman, once called Mung, was.

A level 23 swordsman who primarily learned medical-type skills and focused all her stats on agility.

If this were a game, I would have scoffed at such an opponent. But what if such an opponent existed in reality?

…What is she? A disaster.

I can confidently say that among all the lords in the kingdom, no more than ten would survive her assassination.

The woman who would become a lord’s disaster and the kingdom’s terror stammered,

“I apologize… Please don’t do anything harsh… I won’t…”

Seemingly uninterested in the dagger in my right hand, the woman kept her eyes tightly shut, shedding tears.

I hesitated for a long time before extending the dagger.

“Uh…”

The woman’s shoulder suddenly shrank.

“It’s okay. Stay still.”

Comforting her like this, I cut her bindings. I released the disaster of the lord and the kingdom with my own hands…

Ah, what can I do? How can I endure this innocent girl, with an idol-like face, crying and apologizing!

Though unbound, the woman remained seated, head bowed, continuing to cry. The only difference from before was that her hands, previously bound behind her, were now fidgeting near her thigh.

“…Uh, well.”

As I was about to bring up some dry topics, her meaningless gestures made me feel sorry for her.

I scratched my eyebrow and gave a bitter smile.

“Um, can I hug you?”

Her small head trembled slightly and nodded, and I pulled her to my shoulder.

The woman clenched her fist, closed her eyes and lips, trying desperately to swallow her tears. However, her efforts were in vain, and her crying grew closer to wailing.

Only after almost 30 minutes of consoling did her crying subside.

“I… Are you okay?”

“Ye, yes, I am.”

She wiped her face with her sleeve and then touched my tunic.

“This, I’m sorry…”

Where her hand touched was a mess of tears and snot. I shook my head and held her hand.

A large, callused hand touched a small hand covered in scars.

“I’m sorry. I had the life-saving benefactor tied up completely.”

The woman gave no response to my apology. Her fingertips seemed somewhat stiff, unfamiliar with the sensation.

“Um, Wuming?”

“…Yes?”

“Can I call you Wuming? I have a few things to ask, can you answer?”

After looking up at me with a dazed expression for a moment, she shook her head.

“No, no.”

“Oh, if there’s something you don’t want to answer…”

“I…”

Beneath her swollen eyelids, her jet-black eyes glistened like stars.

“Mung.”

“…What did you say?”

“I, Mung.”

Her tone was quite decisive.

In the lord’s hall.

In the chair with the cross-shaped armrest where Baron Malory used to sit, Dionea was now seated. With the Baron missing, it was natural for his wife Dionea to sit there.

Dionea seemed to have suffered considerable mental anguish, with her eyes deeply sunken. In front of her, who looked like she might collapse at any moment, six vassals were gathered.

“Sir Phoenix.”

“Baroness.”

I briefly paid my respects and then spoke directly.

“I heard you called.”

“Yes. We’ve gathered the vassals’ opinions and wanted to hear your advice.”

“Opinions, you say?”

“It’s about the mercenaries.”

Though the Anupad forces had retreated, Longville is still precarious.

This was because around a hundred skilled mercenaries centered on Randall, who claimed inheritance rights to the territory, were causing a disturbance, demanding their rewards.

“Randall, that ruthless man said that since the Baron is absent, we must quickly establish a successor as soon as possible. He said we must unite around the successor to confront the Anupad people everywhere.”

When I maintained a listening attitude, Dionea smiled faintly and continued her words.

“But thanks to your achievements, the monsters have retreated, so Randall’s justification has weakened. He can now only wait for the Baron’s return.”

Return.

It seems she doesn’t expect her husband to return alive either. Should I be glad that she doesn’t harbor futile hope?

“…Are you perhaps expecting the mercenaries to wait quietly?”

“Of course not. The damage they’re causing to the nobility is already considerable, so I plan to order their withdrawal from the territory.”

“Withdrawal…”

I barely suppressed a bitter laugh.

“I’m not sure if that’s a good choice.”

“Do you have concerns?”

“As I said yesterday, to expel the mercenaries now—”

“It’s not an expulsion.”

The one who interrupted my words was an elderly man who appeared to be the oldest among the vassals.

“It’s a withdrawal request, sir. As the Baroness said.”

“…Yes, well, a withdrawal request.”

As I corrected my words, the elderly man, document manager Tollrumi, withdrew with a dissatisfied expression.

“In any case, driving out the mercenaries could be seen as, well, a form of breach of contract.”

As soon as the words ended, the middle-aged woman, steward Edita, countered with a surprised voice.

“Breach of contract? Our territory has not entered into any contract!”

“Isn’t there a hunting reward? You promised to reward those who eliminate monsters.”

“We have rewarded. Didn’t Sir Phoenix receive 700 silver coins?”

I had submitted the troll heads through the clerk Beldin yesterday and received 150 points for the male leader troll and 75 points for the young trolls.

That means I added 225 points, bringing my total hunting reward points to 705. So I would have received 705 silver coins.

“Money aside, the additional rewards haven’t been distributed.”

“Well, the hunting reward hasn’t ended yet—”

“The mercenaries see it differently.”

I shrugged and looked around at the vassals.

“They see the current situation as delaying the additional rewards, something like a deliberate stalling. In this situation, a withdrawal order would sound like a call to fight.”

Steward Edita let out a groan.

“From the beginning, promising inheritance rights for something like this was absurd. Granting a family heirloom to mere mercenaries is nonsensical—”

Is this woman going to cause trouble?

I gave a bitter smile and snapped.

“Ah. So it wasn’t a breach of contract, but fraud?”

“What? Fraud?”

“Meaning the promise of additional rewards was a lie. That would mean you lured the mercenaries by deceiving them, and that’s fraud.”

“No… Sir, how can you say such a thing!”

The steward, about to blurt out something in panic, was restrained by Dionea.

“That’s enough. Please withdraw.”

“My lady! Sir Phoenix has insulted the Baron!”

…Me?

Dionea forced a smile and shook her head.

“That’s not it. I’ll explain, so please calm down.”

“My lady. This knight is no different from other mercenaries. Blinded by the desire for additional rewards, he’s trying to paint the Baron as a fraudster!”

Looking at the woman glaring at me and spouting nonsense, Dionea let out a deep sigh.

“Edita.”

“Look, my lady. He’s a knight of Ulkar. He completely ruined your husband’s reputation, that cursed—”

Slap!

“Edita!”

When Dionea slammed the armrest, the steward who had been foaming at the mouth suddenly shut up.

“Leave. Right now.” Unlike her usual powerless attitude and tragic impression, it was a quite authoritative command.

Only then did the steward realize her mistake, hardening her face as she left the hall. After a moment of silence, Dionea, who had been keeping her eyes closed, turned to me.

“I understand what you said.”

Her face was full of fatigue, but her deep green eyes still held a light.

“But we are not in a position to distribute additional rewards right now. Having lost the lord and the territory, we cannot carelessly distribute the territory’s inheritance rights or the family’s treasures.”

“But aren’t you representing the Baron?”

“That is…”

As Dionea trailed off, document manager Tollrumi stepped forward again.

“According to kingdom law, a territorial proxy cannot arbitrarily handle the territory and family assets. We can discuss it with the vassals, but naturally, we cannot allow this.”

The old man, who had started speaking towards me, was now looking at Dionea by the end of his statement.

“…Thank you, Mr. Tollrumi.”

The document manager withdrew without a response.

The vassals don’t seem very cooperative. I can understand why Dionea is having a hard time.

Feeling somewhat sympathetic, I quickly spoke up.

“I understand the situation, my lady.”

“…I must look quite pathetic.”

“These are difficult times. You must endure. So, do you have no plans to negotiate with the mercenaries?”

“Negotiate…”

“There are definitely some among them who would prefer silver to a knight’s title with a tiny piece of land or a worn-out heirloom.”

Dionea nodded with a still dark expression.

“…You’re suggesting bribery.”

“That’s the standard approach. They’re mercenaries, after all.”

At that moment, a young man who had been watching from behind the vassals carefully raised his hand.

“…Excuse me, my lady. May I speak about the ongoing discussion? On behalf of Edita.”

“Go ahead, Beldin.”

With Dionea’s permission, the clerk Beldin carefully stepped forward.

He was the lowest-ranking among Longville’s vassals, and originally would have stayed silent during the meeting and returned to the records room.

Apparently, his voice had grown somewhat louder due to the incident of bringing me here two days ago. Anyway.

“As you know, my lady, we’re almost out of silver coins. We don’t have money to bribe the mercenaries, let alone maintain the hunting reward—”

As Dionea closed her eyes, Beldin carefully added,

“Speaking on behalf of Edita, if we don’t end the hunting reward immediately, the territory will go bankrupt. So…”

Well, after spending so much money, there’s likely nothing left. This is becoming a headache.

Her logic was ‘since the hunting reward hasn’t ended, we can’t give additional rewards’. But in this situation, ending the hunting reward would give the mercenaries a reason to rebel.

As another seemingly endless silence descended, a soldier rushed into the hall in a panic.

“The mercenaries are moving!”

At the soldier’s unexpected statement, the training captain Chester became angry.

“Which mercenaries?”

“Randall, Regan, Sorgil, Norman – they’re all there! Together, they’ll be over a hundred.”

“What are they doing?”

“They’re still gathering, but they look like they’re about to rush over here any moment,”

“Damn it.”

Chester, a middle-aged man with a rough beard, gave a slight nod to Dionea before rushing out of the hall.

“Gather the non-commissioned officers—!”

Following his urgent shout, the vassals began to argue noisily.

They should drive them away with the dignity of the territorial proxy, they should retreat to the fortress for safety, they should use the remaining money for a final negotiation…

“Enough!”

Dionea, who had been keeping her eyes closed, stood up and kicked her chair.

“I’ve heard everyone’s opinions, now all of you, withdraw.”

“But my lady.”

“Hurry. They might violate the lord’s hall.”

Her words made document manager Tollrumi’s face turn pale.

“Surely not, no matter how ruthless they are, surely they wouldn’t…”

While the vassals, including the old man, fell into confusion, Dionea left the hall.

Having read something in Dionea’s eyes, I hesitated for a moment before following her.