Chapter 36
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The man looking down at them with a bewildered expression was the commander of the guards, who had retrieved the head of the one-eyed crocodile.
“Young master! What on earth have you done?”
“Go get my brother, Sir Doran, and if possible, bring Father as well.”
Declan, who had stopped, said calmly, as usual.
Doran’s face was deeply flustered.
“Y-You need to explain why you’ve done something like this! Right now, this seems nothing more than a rebellion against the Lord!”
Among the commanders of Orundel, he was the closest to Declan.
This was partly due to being at the front lines and frequently encountering each other while traveling between settlements.
Declan smiled, sensing the concern in his voice.
“It’s actually the opposite. Our Lord and Brother have betrayed not only the people of Orundel but also the kingdom itself. They have even betrayed the gods and fallen from grace.”
“F-Fallen…?!”
Doran’s complexion turned pale.
It was a subject he couldn’t handle.
“W-Wait! I won’t allow any further approach like this!”
He quickly turned away.
Declan, with his arms crossed, calmly observed the soldiers on the castle wall.
Ironically, it was the guards who seemed more anxious.
Everyone gathered in front of the castle was looking up at them in silence.
Moreover, most of them were familiar faces.
If this was a rebellion, it meant they had to aim their weapons at them.
Before long, someone climbed up the castle wall with a slight limp.
A middle-aged man with a long black staff and a gentle demeanor.
It was Marquis Burchard.
‘That bastard played the role of a father who lost his son quite well in the game.’
I should’ve not been fooled. I should have killed him.
Amidst the sinking gaze of Ian.
“You’ve come, Father.”
Declan slightly bowed.
The Marquis, looking around, spoke.
“Why did you do this, my son?”
“To reveal the corruption and injustice of Father and Brother.”
“Radiant Lou Sola watches over us. Why do you say such blasphemous words?”
“I already know everything. That Father ordered the relocation of the people to provoke the kingdom… and the soldiers of the domain were offered as sacrifices to the demons. The list of those sacrificed by Father and Brother is in my hands.”
Declan took out a scroll from his chest and began to read out the names.
Sadness and anger appeared on the faces of the Orundel citizens, and even among the soldiers on the castle wall, there was confusion.
They recognized the names too.
“On what basis are you making such groundless claims?”
The next voice was not Marquis Burchard.
It was Mason Burchard, the eldest son, who had gone up the castle wall.
His soldiers with armor followed him, holding crossbows.
“Even though Father knew your humble lineage, he accepted you as his child. And now you repay his kindness with false accusations. Is that all your list of names can do, calling Father a traitor and fallen, based on that?”
A voice full of vitality.
His cool blue eyes swept across the audience.
Amidst the freezing air, Declan smiled calmly.
“Nice to see you too, Brother. Of course, I have evidence. Bradley, your confidant, confessed everything to me.”
“What…?”
“He even revealed his own corrupt nature before me. Shall I show you?”
Declan flicked his finger.
The crowd split, and Yukson pulled a cart forward.
The cart stopped in front of the castle wall.
Followed by a few mercenaries carrying a large coffin.
The lid of the coffin was opened, and its contents spilled onto the ground.
“Ugh…!”
The faces of the people and soldiers who saw the contents twisted.
Because there were torn pieces of corpses and flesh scattered around.
Even the nauseating rotten odor.
Among those who turned their heads to vomit, Declan shouted.
“Look carefully. This monster is Bradley!”
Even those who had been avoiding their gaze were forced to look at the bodies again.
A form more monstrous than human, closer to a demon.
“Bradley confessed to everything. Father and Brother have fallen, and he himself has as well! He also said that all the corruption he committed was carried out by Father and Brother’s orders!”
Declan shouted loudly.
Mason’s face turned red as he burst into laughter.
“You’ve prepared quite well! Yes, you have to make accusations to make false charges! But how will you prove that it’s Bradley, a fact that can’t be confirmed by my eyes? To me, it looks like nothing more than a demon’s corpse.”
He glared at Declan.
“Didn’t you kill the innocent Sir Bradley and frame him? Just like you are doing right now to both father and I!”
“I have witnesses.”
“I am one of those witnesses!”
“I am too! I saw it with my own two eyes!”
Mercenaries, including Paton and YuKson, raised their hands.
Mason chuckled.
“So they’re all your mercenaries. Can their testimonies be considered true?”
Amidst the mercenaries’ distorted expressions.
“Well then, what about my brother?”
A girl who had walked out among the people suddenly shouted.
“Why was my brother’s ID, which was said to be living well in Agellan, discarded in the woods?”
Ian had retrieved the ID.
She was Dave’s younger sister.
“Is my brother alright?”
“How about my friend?! There’s been no contact!”
Starting from there, cries erupted from various places.
Mason’s face turned crimson.
“I know your minds well. I know why you came to suspect this.”
The Marquis stepped forward and spoke.
Different from his son, he spoke with a more lenient tone.
“Truly, if they were sacrificed due to events unknown to me, I will form an investigation team and send them. I will even request an investigation from His Majesty regarding the suspicions about my intentions. The preposterous claim that we are fallen… I will request the Empire’s church for inspection and judgment.”
As he calmly continued speaking, he glanced at the crowd and added.
“Will this be enough to quell your anger?”
“….”
“….”
The people, who seemed ready to rush the castle wall at any moment, flinched.
They didn’t know that their requests would be met.
“I-I suppose so…”
Someone murmured.
‘The phrases of politicians do not cover the world.’
Ian chuckled.
Because the situation he feared earlier was unfolding as it was.
“Of course. Now, return! Those who continue to stay here will be considered traitors from now on!”
Mason shouted, raising his hand.
The soldiers aimed their crossbows.
Fear appeared on the faces of the citizens.
The situation had completely shifted.
But Declan’s face, on the contrary, was adorned with a satisfied smile.
He calmly opened his mouth.
“Just now, you said that you would accept an investigation by His Majesty and the church, correct?”
“Yes. That’s what I said, my son.”
The Marquis smiled back.
Declan’s smile deepened.
“Very well. I happen to know the person who fits that role perfectly.”
“Appropriate figure…?”
The space between his brows narrowed.
Declan looked at Phillip.
“That thing you did before, can you do it again? Just the back part, if you don’t mind.”
“That thing…? Ah, you mean that.”
A smile appeared on Phillip’s face.
If it’s that, it can’t be.
As Ian’s brows narrowed, Declan winked at him.
“We’re almost there. Just a little more cooperation, please.”
“……”
Ian, whose taste had returned, took a step forward.
“Mercenary…?”
“Someone like him defeated the monster in the underground sewer.”
The soldiers who recognized him nodded.
Ian’s reputation had already spread throughout Orundel.
“An appropriate figure, they said. He’s a mercenary once again.”
Mason suppressed a chuckle for a moment.
“Let me introduce myself formally.”
Standing beside Ian, Phillip shouted out with a spirited voice.
“Sir Ian Hoff, the sole and official agent of the Executor of the Southern Border, a divine knight of Tyr’En, Maeve Liurel, the revered judge favored by the stern goddess! The sword of Agellan”
….There are more added to the back right?
“And I am Philip, his servant.”
“…”
The mouths of Mason and Marquis opened for a moment.
Same with other soldiers.
Declan nodded at Philip and added.
Ian’s gaze remained unmoved, while Phillip respectfully lowered his head.
“Furthermore, Sir Hoff personally witnessed the fall of Bradley and served judgment. It seems your qualifications are more than sufficient, wouldn’t you agree?”
“…This is unbelievable.”
Marquis Burchard spat out the words eventually, his face contorting slowly.
His previously lenient expression seemed like a lie.
“An official representative? An apostle of Tyr’En? Can he even be considered a divine knight?”
“Well, you see, but one thing is certain. The judgment for both of you will be directly from the stern goddess herself.”
Declan looked at Ian.
It seemed as though everything was in place now.
Ian, with a faint smile on his lips, drew the Sword of Condemnation.
The blue divine power surged like flames through the Sword of Condemnation.
“Ah… ah…”
“A divine knight. He’s truly a divine knight…”
In the form of a sword wielding a radiant aura, soldiers and citizens sighed in awe.
Some even fell to their knees and began praying.
As the shock spread across the Marquis and Mason’s faces.
“…”
Ian narrowed his brows.
His divine power surged more than usual.
Cold anger emanated from within the Sword of Condemnation.
…Ah, yes. You can see this much from it.
Ian lifted his gaze to Marquis Burchard, seemingly unimpressed.
Just as the Marquis’s eyebrows twitched, Ian moved forward.
The steps soon turned into a sprint.
“Fire, fire! Are you all just going to watch?”
Marquis Burchard belatedly shouted.
But even the soldiers wielding crossbows hesitated.
“But, but he’s a divine knight of the gods…!”
Someone muttered, almost sighing.
Mason’s face contorted.
“Do not forget whom you serve! Stop him at once!”
He drew his sword and added.
“Those who do not follow my orders will have their throats cut on the spot!”
Only then did the soldiers aim at Ian with their hands trembling.
“Fire!”
Purrr-!
The crossbows were fired all at once.
Most were poorly aimed, but some flew right at Ian.
Chuk-!
However, the bolts that flew close to Ian were caught in the invisible wind and scattered in all directions.
Swaying barriers.
Before they knew it, Ian, who had wind all over his body, reached the castle wall like a shotgun.
That’s right-!
Ian flew like a bird after successively climbing the wall.
The wind tossed his body hard.
Ian, who paused in midair, met Mason’s eyes as he looked up at him.
“The judgment given by the goddess… .”
He added, raising the Sword of Condemnation filled with divine power above his head.
“It is the death penalty.”
A blinding flash of light fell on Mason.
A blue trail etched into the air split the sword Mason held up, piercing his forearm beyond.
Mason’s right arm was severed in a splatter of blood.
“Haaahh-!”
Amid Mason screaming.
Ian’s gaze was directed to the Marquis standing a few meters away.contemporary romance
‘I wish the author would go crazy. Can it be so?’
A tingling sensation was felt in his fingers.
The Curse of the Swamp that was abhorred by divine power.
His anger spread towards the Marquis through Ian’s blood.
Of course, the outward appearance was much more shabby than the reality.
Because the one who turned into a ghost and flew towards the Marquis appeared in the form of a thread snake and bit the scruff of his neck.
The Marquis was surprised by Ian’s intrusion, and didn’t seem to even feel a sting.
“You bastard-!”
Ian tilted his head back.
Mason stepped backwards, grabbing his severed forearm.
“What the hell are you doing!” Come and protect me!”
“….”
Ian looked around at the soldiers. Eyes filled with fear.
As he held the Sword of Condemnation, covered in divine power, he spoke.
“The blood shed today might be sufficient with just the fallen.”
“…Yes, you’re right.”
Clang. The soldier nearest to Ian dropped his spear.
Other soldiers followed suit, dropping their crossbows and spears.
“Sir Doran! Clear out the soldiers!”
Declan’s shout followed.
The commander of the guards, who had been dazed, yelled.
“Guards, fall back! Regular troops, fall back! This isn’t a fight we can win!”
The soldiers started withdrawing as if they had been waiting for the order.
Mason’s face twisted.
“These wretched…! I should retreat using my defenses, Father!”
Shakily backing away, he turned his head.
“Father…?”
As he assessed the Marquis’s condition, his eyes widened almost like they were about to burst.
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Translator; ippo
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