Chapter 12

Chapter 12 – Count Arsene (2)

“.......”

Perfect silence followed.

Silence so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

“What kind of bullshit did I just hear?”

“.......”

The harsh voice pierced my eardrums, and I clenched my teeth.

Of course, this reaction wasn’t unexpected.

‘How refreshing. When was the last time I heard someone going on and on about bullshit in my previous life?

I laughed to myself.

I’ve experienced this a few times, so I’m pretty used to it.

Of course, I knew from experience.

For people like them, a beating was the best medicine.

However, this time I’m going to take a slightly different approach.

Because I am no longer Ancelot Heil Edenberg, the empire’s commander of the east.

I’d be nothing more than a killer if I kill every opponent I encounter.

What’s more, the masked man watching from the tree will record everything I do right now.

“Let’s go nicely. I’m not in a bad mood today.”

“Hey, you. Someone take off his pants. Don’t you think we should at least check to see if he’s the slave we’re going to deliver to the lord or not?”

Now it really seemed like they were treating my words as the barking of a stray dog.

“Then I’ll give it a try, sir!”

At the knight’s command, one of the privates stepped forward gallantly.

“Sure, I’ll allow it. Try me.”

“Heh heh heh. Enough of your nonsense. This senior of yours needs to see if there’s something there or not.”

Bam!

I let the rock in my hand fly toward the approaching soldier.

It hit the soldier squarely in the face, and he fell down with a loud thud.

The three knights there all saw the scene.

“......I swear, any bastard can become a foot soldier these days.”

“These bastards need a beating when we return, sir. Pathetic good-for-nothing. Taking a stone to the face and getting knocked out by a child of all things......”

Was it because they had heard their conversation?

At this, the dozens of soldiers stiffened.

“I-I’ll do it, sir! Please give me a chance!”

Another soldier threw his hands up in the air and shouted.

He was the youngest of the group.

“Really?”

The knight gestured to me with his chin.

“Do well this time.”

“Yes, sir!”

This time, it was a young soldier with a burning passion for whatever reason.

“......This is my chance. I’ll impress the knights, and I’ll be sure to become a squire.”

Count Arsene allowed his knights the privilege of selecting a personal squire from the family’s private soldiers once every three years.

For the private soldiers, being chosen as a knight squire was a promotion of sorts.

For one, the pay would increase.

And on the other hand, the workload would decrease significantly.

There’s no guard duty, no daily drills, and, in the unlikely event of war, no need to be at the front of the line as a meat shield.

The squire’s only concern is the convenience of the knight he serves.

Sometimes a bad knight will make life difficult, but that’s bad luck.

On the other hand, if you meet a good knight, your life will blossom without difficulties.

“What have you been muttering to yourself since earlier?”

“Shut up!”

Was he trying to subdue me first before pulling down my pants?

The young soldier lunged at me, spear in hand.

“Aaaaaaah!”

Whoosh!

I easily dodged the clunky blow with a yawn.

Then, I snatched the spear out of his hand.

“Huh......?”

The soldier, whose weapon had been taken from him in an instant, opened his mouth in confusion.

“That’s not how you use a spear.”

I looked at the spear in my hand for a moment.

Though he was a foot soldier, the spear itself wasn’t in bad shape— as expected of a weapon from a high ranking noble family.

A balanced weight was more important than anything else for a spear.

In that sense, the weapon in my hand was at least average grade.

“......This will do.”

Step.

In a moment, I took a stance.

I didn’t particularly like the way the knights stood there, arms crossed, looking on as if watching a bonfire.

What sin did the weak soldiers commit?

“Heub.”

I inhaled lightly.

The arm holding the spear pulled behind my back.

Every muscle in my body contracted tautly, like arrows on a bowstring.

Woosh!

Soon afterward, the spear in my hand shooted to one side like a thunderbolt.

“Gasp!”

Was its speed that unexpected?

I nodded.

They had no choice but to believe me.

Because if they didn’t, they had no way to explain the recent events.

“I will surrender the pig I caught to the state according to the laws of the nation. If I do, I’m sure neither the Marquis of Foltaine nor your Count Arsene, who tried to buy the slaves, will be able to avoid responsibility.”

Shiver.

At this, the three knights began to tremble.

Then, once again, they whispered among themselves.

“We can never allow that to happen. If our lord finds about this, we won’t make it out unscathed, either.”

“Let us just kill him. Dead men tell no tales, no?”

A wry smile tugged at the corners of my mouth.

I can hear you, you assholes.

I saw this coming, and I prepared a trump card.

I also happened to have a debt to pay to someone else.

“Hey, mask! Stop watching and come out already.”

“.......”

As expected, his only response was silence.

“If you don’t come out now, even if I take care of them, you’ll never find out where the missing item is. You don’t want that, do you?”

“.......”

For a moment, the treetops shook, then something dropped from the branches.

“This is...... troubling.”

Mister Mask scratched his head, as if genuinely troubled.

“M-Mask of Night?”

The knights’ eyes widened at the sight.

That mask on his face was no different than the symbol of their organization.

“I didn’t think you’d summon me at a time like this.......”

“If you had fun watching, you should pay for your ticket.”

“Pay... for a ticket?”

“Didn’t you say earlier that you were curious about the contents of the letter I sent? I’ll tell you now.”

Flinch.

The masked man stiffened.

He was quite sharp-witted.

“Was the content of that letter...... perhaps this?”

“Bingo.”

“Who in the world are....... Did you anticipate all of this when you wrote that letter?”

The masked man asked, his voice trembling.

“No, I didn’t. I was just hoping to be rewarded by the country for the head of someone who broke the law, that Thomas guy, and the pig’s identity. Who would have known that these so-called knights would be so rotten?”

To be honest, I did.

Since a given part is often reflective of the whole.

“And you expect me to believe that?”

“I’m being serious, though.”

“So keeping me tied down here was also all part of your plan.”

With a sigh, the masked man turned to look at the knights.

Since they had been glaring at him all this time.

“......I should introduce myself. I am Green No. 4 of the Mask of Night.”

“Why in the world is the Mask of Night helping a slave?”

“He is no slave to me, but rather a client.”

“A client......?”

The masked man nodded at Hans’s half-question.

“I accepted a request from this client here. While it’s a policy to keep the contents of the request private, it seems the client wishes me to......”

The mask glanced at me for a moment with a look of resentment, then continued.

“......As you have heard, the events that have transpired here in the past days will reach the royal palace, even if something happens to my client here.”

“......!”

The faces of the knights, and even the soldiers, turned pale.

Again, the letters that were supposed to go to Count Arsene were destroyed in the fire.

The letter to the Marquis of Foltaine was altered and handed to the Mask of Night.

I didn’t write about the appearance of a mysterious killer or whatnot, but the truth as I experienced it.

That a normal citizen had been taken as a slave.

That their family’s knight, Thomas, had died by the hands of the slave he was trying to sell while trying to fulfill his own selfish desires.

And that the family’s blood relative would be handed over to the palace according to the law of the land.

The letter I sent to the palace said the same thing.

If I revealed my identity, they would likely face even worse punishment, but I didn’t, for the chance that the wicked queen would send assassins after learning of my whereabouts.

“What are you going to do? If you’re going to kill me to silence me, you’ll have to do the same to him.”

This was the Mask of Night.

A mega-intelligence organization that spanned over an entire continent.

Again, they’ll do whatever it takes to keep their organization’s credibility.

Only a fool would turn the Mask of Night against them over something like this.

Moreover, this was not a matter for them to decide.

So, in the end, the answer they had to give was predetermined.

“......First things first...... we’ll take him to the lord.”

Defeated, Hans muttered.

In the end, I got the answer I’d wanted.

“You should’ve done this from the start.”

The masked man’s eyes were once again critical as he watched me mutter.

“I knew you weren’t a normal person, but...... I never thought you would dare to use me.”

“Do you know what my seventh ironclad rule is?”

I finished without waiting for him to answer.

“Take advantage of everything you can. Especially on the battlefield.”

From now on, this was my battlefield.