Chapter 429

Chapter 429

— Eup! Eup!

— Euuup! Eup!

— Euuuuuuup!

The family members of the Rebel Faction’s high-ranking officials were standing behind Siegfried.

The General’s daughter, the knight captain’s wife, one of the feudal lord’s sons, and a few other valuable hostages. Moreover, he was even holding hostage the wife and daughter of Duke Taranis’ loyal subject, Count Oslo.

In other words, Siegfried had decided to forego the enemy’s bases, which had iron-tight security, and instead go for those related to the high-ranking officials of the Rebel Faction.

Why?

Because it was way easier than the former...

All he had to do was make the Huracan hover above his target’s location. Then, one of the Adventurers would cast anti-gravity magic to make them float all the way up to the airship, just like how aliens would abduct humans in movies.

Once the target was on board, the Huracan would zip through the air undetected.

Of course, there were times they had to fight, but those were just minor skirmishes with some guards. Most of the powerful people in the Rebel Faction were fighting the war, so only the bare minimum number of guards was left in the nobles’ estates.

‘Damn it!’ Duke Taranis gritted his teeth after realizing his mistake. Burning key military facilities was one thing, but he did not expect them to resort to kidnappings.

Count Oslo rushed toward the communication device and shouted, “R-Rachel! Are you alright, Rachel?!”

He could not maintain his cool after seeing his beloved daughter in the hands of the enemy.

“Rachel! Racheeel!”

— Eup! Euuup!

Siegfried flashed an absolutely evil smile and looked at Count Oslo.

— Your daughter is quite the beauty!

“W-What are you—?!”

— I’m sure you have heard of my reputation, have you?

“Y-Your reputation...?” Count Oslo muttered while racking his brain, and then he carefully asked, “Are you talking about you backstabbing people...?”

Pop!

A cross-shaped vein popped up and bulged on Siegfried’s head.

— Not that!

“T-Then, what are you talking about...?”

— You know! That one!

“...?”

Count Oslo racked his brain once again, trying to think of what the kidnapper was trying to say.

“N-No way!”

Siegfried van Proa was infamous for a lot of things. A few examples of his ill repute were his habit of backstabbing people, being classless despite being royalty, and his love for money.

However, the worst one was..

“You sex fiend!”

Yes, it was the rumors of his never-ending sex stamina, which he took advantage of to sleep around with multiple women. Sex Fiend, Lecher, and Seggs Stamina King—these were some of his infamous nicknames.

It seemed that the rumors of him being an absolute lecher had spread not only among the Adventurers but even among the NPCs, too.

“N-No way! M-My daughter...?!”

— Ahuehuehuehue!

Siegfried let out a laugh that made him look and sound like an absolute sleazebag.

— I love how milky white your daughter’s skin is!

“N-No! Don’t!”

— Ahuehue! Nice to meet you, Father-in-law!

“Who’s your father-in-law?! I’m not your father-in-law!”

— Don’t worry... I will make sure to give your daughter a lot of love. Slurp!

Siegfried slurped his tongue a few times and brought it close to Rachel’s face.

— Eup! Eup! Euuuup! Eup!

Rachel screamed and thrashed despite being gagged and bound just to get away from the tongue inching toward her.

Count Oslo’s heart dropped and broke into a thousand pieces.

“N-No! Noooo!”

— Mehehe! Mehehehe! Soft and smooth!

“Please! Please don’t do that! I beg you! Not my daughter... Please... Argh!” Count Oslo rubbed his hands together and begged. Then, he continued to beg until tears started welling up in his eyes, “P-Please... Don’t do this... Please...”

— What happens to her is up to you, Father-in-law. Ahuehue!

“...!”

Siegfried looked like the perfect combination of a scumbag and a sleazebag right now, and he looked at Duke Taranis behind Count Oslo.

— Hey, bro. Why don’t you pull your troops back?

“Ahem!”

— I’m sure you’re smart enough to know what’s going to happen to them if you don’t, right?

As expected, Siegfried was spot on...

“My lord, I will give up my wife and daughter for our cause,” Count Oslo said while crying tears of blood.

“Oslo...”

“I can have a wife and daughter again, but this is the only opportunity to realize my lord’s grand ambition! I will not become my lord’s stumbling block just because of my own flesh and blood!”

“You are truly my most loyal subordinate, Oslo,” Duke Taranis said as he could not hide his awe. Then, he exclaimed, “To think you would abandon your own flesh and blood for my cause! Though, are you really fine with it? Everyone in the kingdom knows how much you doted on your daughter!”

“I strongly believe that the Kyiv Kingdom has only one rightful ruler, and that is you, my lord!”

“Ahem!”

“Our soldiers are dying on the battlefield as we speak, and they are also someone’s father, son, and husband.”

“Yes, they are.”

“How can I choose not to make sacrifices when they've sacrificed their own lives?”

“Ah...”

“My lord, I implore you not to get distracted by small matters like these and focus on our cause!”

“Thank you. I truly thank you from the bottom of my heart, Oslo. I will never forget about your loyalty,” Duke Taranis said as he grabbed the count’s hands with both hands. Of course, this was one big fat lie.

‘Ah... My heart aches at the thought that I have to eliminate you in the future...’ Duke Taranis was already thinking of killing Count Oslo once he seized power.

Why?

Because that was what power was all about...

Needless to say, anyone who had greatly contributed to seizing the throne was going to have too much influence, and eliminating them was inevitable to strengthen the crown’s authority.

“You must keep this hidden for now, my lord. This must be kept under wraps for as long as possible until we achieve our goal. If not, our officials might waver.”

“Thank you, Oslo. I will do as you say.”

In the end, Duke Taranis was able to cover up the kidnapping incident thanks to Count Oslo’s willingness to maintain his silence.

“Please order our troops at the southern front to launch a full-scale attack tomorrow, my lord.”

“Alright,” Duke Taranis accepted the count’s advice to launch a full-scale attack tomorrow.

***

The next morning, Duke Taranis called the commander of the southern front to issue the order for a full-scale attack, but...

— Where are your commander and vice commander?

“T-That is...”

The adjutant could not respond to Duke Taranis’ question.

— Put the commander and vice commander on!

“M-My lord...!” the adjutant squealed before he reported in a weak voice, “The commander and vice commander are unable to answer my lord’s call...”

— Why?! Does it make sense that the commander of the southern front can’t answer a call for more than twenty-four hours?!

“T-There is a reason, my lord...”

— What is the reason?

“Last night, the commander and vice commander had...”

— Have they been assassinated?

“No, my lord...”

Duke Taranis made a wild guess, but he was fortunately off the mark.

— Then what is the reason?

The adjutant started profusely sweating before he replied, “The commander and vice commander has... deserted last night...”

— What? Des—what?

Duke Taranis failed to understand the adjutant, so he asked once again.

“T-They have... deserted...”

— Deserted?

“Yes, my lord...”

— Are you telling me the four-star general and three-star general have deserted? Not a conscript or a private, but a general?!

“Y-Yes, my lord!”

— Those sons of...!

Duke Taranis’ anger exploded once again, and he was currently what people would call fucking pissed right now.

— Why?! Just what is the reason?!

“That is...” the adjutant muttered while stealing glances at the duke.

Then, he cleared his throat and said, “Based on the letter that they had left... They claimed that they are not willing to fight for somebody who treats their subordinates like stray dogs...”

— What did you say?!

“It says here that they felt sick after finding out that my lord had decided to hide the fact that their families had been kidnapped, so they have decided to defect to the Royal Faction rather than fight for someone like my lord...”

The adjutant's words had yet to finish echoing, but...

Snap!

The final strand of string holding Duke Taranis' reason together had already snapped in half.