Chapter 244

Chapter 244: Test Run
Test Run
Chapter 244. Test Run

Olivia felt bewildered only for a moment, then smiled radiantly and answered.

— “I threw it away.”

— “Is that so?”

— “Yes.”

— “Understood.”

Ferda said nothing more.

The corners of Olivia’s mouth trembled slightly.

Ureas died.

When she heard those words, Olivia thought.

“Who will do politics in my place now?”

“Who will take the abuse, who will go out of control and cut that annoying bastard’s throat?”

“If he hadn’t harbored useless greed, I could have let him play emperor for a few days.”

It was truly unfortunate that a useful tool had disappeared.

That was all.

There was no affection toward her blood relative.

That was her true feeling, but Olivia desperately acted like someone devastated by the loss of her older brother.

As if she couldn’t hear anything properly.

— “Regent Ferda has left the castle!”

Upon hearing those words, Olivia subconsciously raised her head.

Like the light reflecting in a sky covered in dark clouds, the fact that he had returned alive made her reflexively and overwhelmingly happy.

— “Is the Regent safe?”

— “He is not completely uninjured. It seems he returned to camp with his right hand cut off…”

The right hand?

— “His right hand was cut off? Is it confirmed information?”

— “Yes. When the Dragonspawn maid flew carrying Regent Ferda, an archer confirmed it with his own eyes.”

His right hand was cut off?

That person’s right hand?

Who, exactly?

What did he do to suffer such a thing?

That hand, what kind of hand is it for…

— “Ah…”

Tears welled up in Olivia’s eyes.

Her tears, which always flowed cold, were noticeably warm this time.

She was inwardly surprised to be able to shed such tears, and at the same time she was consumed by emotion.

— “Aaaah!!”

Olivia let out her voice and began to wail.

— “Y-Your Highness the Princess?!”

It was the moment her dignity collapsed; however, everyone solemnly bowed their heads along with her.

In anyone’s eyes, it was the reaction of a younger sister who had lost her older brother.

Only Olivia herself knew the trigger for those tears.

After wailing for a long time, Olivia composed herself and went looking for Ferda’s tent.

Ferda’s hand was different from what she had heard.

Thanks to Odograsado’s scale, his hand seemed to have been restored.

Olivia, who did not believe in miracles, was grateful for that miracle at this moment.

She repeated inwardly that she was grateful he had been returned with a whole body.

— “Olivia.”

Ferda called her by her name.

Not Princess, but Olivia.

Her joy was only momentary.

Ferda’s eyes were strange in some way.

His eyes were always cold and straight.

But they had never pierced her with such sharpness.

— “What happened with the handkerchief I gave you?”

She felt bewildered.

It was a truly trivial object, and Ferda hadn’t cared either.

Since she couldn’t have prepared an excuse for it, Olivia couldn’t answer immediately.

“I threw it away.”

She answered like that.

She felt she shouldn’t say she had kept it to return it.

She didn’t want to hear him say: “Then return it.”

Ferda did not insist further.

As if nothing had happened.

Was it because of that?

When she left the tent, Olivia’s mind seemed to go completely blank.

Thus, she returned to her own tent.

When she felt completely alone, Olivia reached into the pocket inside her skirt and took out an object.

An object she kept as close to her body as Alte’s necklace.

The source of this faith in her chest.

At the same time, a black handkerchief that did not suit her at all.

She was keeping that object.

Olivia squeezed the handkerchief with appreciation and thought.

“Why did Ferda ask that?”

“Was this handkerchief an important object?”

“No, that can’t be.”

“It’s just a handkerchief.”

“Ferda doesn’t cling to such trivial things.”

“There is definitely a reason why he is suspicious.”

She delved into the root cause.

The reason why Ferda would suddenly ask about the whereabouts of the handkerchief.

The conversation with Ferda, the events prior to that.

She expanded her thoughts, and no matter how much she delved, there was only one likely factor.

“Ureas.”

Ferda said that Ureas had become inhuman and gone out of control.

“Don’t tell me…”

A flashing possibility.

“If Ureas knew about this handkerchief…”

“Everything connects.”

Although the links seemed insufficient, when she remembered things she had vaguely ignored, they fit perfectly.

That Ferda knows about Olivia’s handkerchief.

That Ureas tried to kill Ferda.

At the same time, she faced the truth she had not noticed and had pretended not to know.

— “Ha.”

A hollow laugh broke out.

— “Haha…”

Her face distorted unnaturally.

Hatred and anger intertwined with futility, a face hard to describe.

Olivia looked at her own face reflected in the mirror.

Even with such a disfigured expression, Olivia was noticeably beautiful.

Eyelashes like eaves.

Skin like white jade.

Red, small lips as if they contained cherries.

A slender face.

The Rose of the Empire, a jewel.

“If there was one more person like this,”

“I would envy that person,”

“and I would willingly love them.”

“Even I think like this, what difference would family make?”

— “Disgusting bastard…”

What sprouted from her mouth was a cynical insult.

Alexander was a beast, and Ureas is also a beast.

Beast blood flows in this body, not golden blood.

Olivia thought.

“Will I really be able to shed a single tear at that beast’s funeral?”

Ferda went out and saw the Kingdom of Heinkel stretching beneath the ridge.

A dead kingdom.

But now it had become a pile of rubble, and many soldiers were being deployed to clear the stones.

Autumn arrives soon.

Before autumn arrived, the sunlight poured down like in a final struggle.

“I could summon clouds with magic to block the sun, but…”

Until just a few days ago, this was a land of black magic and demons.

All black magic weakens under sunlight, and even if undead appeared during the cleanup, they could be quickly eliminated.

So collapsing from dehydration was the safest option.

— “Wow, aren’t you Regent Ferda?”

Jed’s voice was heard.

Now that he thought about it, the most visible place was this bastard’s tent.

Ferda turned his head to look at Jed.

He was wrapped in bandages all over his body.

In that state, he stood calmly on Ferda’s right side.

— “I heard your right hand has been restored.”

— “Yes.”

— “You have escaped the life of a one-armed man. Losing a hand is a pain.”

— “It is.”

He acts as if it were nothing, but Ferda knew.

This bastard has been through worse situations than him.

— “Are you okay?”

— “Yes, well. Not bad.”

— “I already heard that’s not the case. They said you were between life and death.”

Several priests joined him, and administered various top-quality healing potions.

They said to give up since there was no hope, several times.

But, seeing his current state, it’s hard to believe.

A human who was on the verge of death is here scratching his head so calmly.

— “Haha, as expected, one shouldn’t do things that exceed their station. You just end up falling pathetically.”

— “I heard that from Sir Arwen. He said you fell following Arwen when he collapsed.”

— “Well, that’s how it happened. The person who should have protected Regent-nim pathetically fell into a trap and did that…”

— “Sir Arwen said the same.”

Jed put on an expression of regret and guilt.

Ferda observed Jed’s face.

— “But I don’t think it’s that.”

— “Huh?”

— “My conclusion is that you fell there on purpose.”

Arwen said this.

— “A human body cannot be constant, and when vitality decreases, the body becomes sluggish, but Jed showed no such appearance. So… I didn’t notice at all until the moment I heard that Regent-nim had escaped.”

Jed, who struggled between life and death.

Arwen, who was relatively fine.

Ferda asked him again.

— “Can you tell me the truth with your own mouth?”

— “…”

Jed scratched his head and answered.

— “Did I say I am the son of the leader of the Red Eyes Clan?”

— “I think I’ve heard it.”

— “Our Red Eyes Clan runs a traveling circus company and lives in the hidden world. My father was a genius assassin who appears once every 200 years, and the leader. He saw through human psychology, and his skills were extremely outstanding.”

Jed smiled.

— “Do you know what it is to grow up under a genius father?”

— “I heard it’s a hard job.”

— “Yes. No matter how outstanding one is, if he doesn’t surpass his father, he’s simply mediocre.”

Why bring up this story?

It’s not like he was trying to talk about a conflict with his father.

— “An existence that surpassed that father appeared as an enemy. That human, who had no reason to hold a grudge, killed my father in three moves and massacred the entire clan.”

— “…”

— “I was the guardian who protected the priestess. My older sister was the priestess. Protecting that girl to the end was my job. Since I couldn’t win, I resolved to take him with me. But I failed.”

— “You fled?”

— “I took a hit to the back of the neck. From my sister.”

— “How so?”

— “That monstrous brat injected me with beast anesthesia. I couldn’t even resist.”

Swallowing the bitterness, he continued the story.

— “With that small body, she put me in a jar. Do you know what she said?”

— “…”

— “‘Live.’ That’s what she said. And so, only I survived.”

I heard that the Red Eyes Clan disappeared like that.

— “It was certain there were no survivors. Everyone’s corpses remained just as they were. But only one person was not visible.”

— “Is that the younger sister?”

— “Yes.”

— “So you believed your sister was alive until the end.”

— “She is alive. For sure.”

Not speculation, but conviction.

Garnet, who was the leader of the Black Bandana, also said there was no hope, but he was stubborn.

Trying to shake off the gloomy mood, he forced a laugh.

— “Anyway, I was lacking. If I had somehow surpassed my father… that shameless option of my sister protecting me wouldn’t have existed.”

— “Is that why you threw yourself into hell to save Arwen?”

— “Arwen, that bastard is getting married this autumn, right? He’s even going to have a child, so I thought about who his wife would resent the most if he couldn’t even celebrate the wedding. I figured I would be the easiest target.”

— “Disqualified as a knight.”

Choosing a friend over his lord.

— “True. This doesn’t seem to be my calling.”

But there was no resentment.

Because he made that decision, Arwen is alive, and the relationship with Count Consillus will also be maintained.

— “Well, you just need a face.”

— “Haha! Thanks for saying that.”

Jed stretched, then stopped because his body hurt.

— “Anyway, I’ll be going now. I haven’t slept well since last night, so I need to wash my face.”

— “Alright.”

Jed withdrew, and Ferda turned his gaze back toward the royal palace.

It seems the allied forces found a corpse.

The knights rushed en masse, throwing heavy stones left and right, excavating intensely there.

‘The imperial army’s side will also finish soon.’

Since they testified that he died in the audience chamber, they will excavate that whole area and confirm he is not there.

What remains is probably just the head of Count Rooster.

Thus they will return.

It was then that it happened.

Clack-clack!

At the sound of something spilling, Ferda turned his head reflexively.

An unexpected person came into view.

Garnet Swallow.

She, who came as the supply captain, was coming out carrying an armful of objects.

From behind Jed’s tent.

— “…”

— “…”

An awkward silence continued, their gazes crossing.

— “R-Regent-nim, I greet you.”

— “…Yes.”

— “As you know, Sir Jed’s condition is not good, so I tended to him.”

— “I understand.”

Tended to, huh…?

Her current appearance was far from usual.

Garnet usually dresses neatly.

The buttons of her shirt couldn’t find their place, barely hanging off her shoulders, and her hair clinging down; whichever way you looked at it, that wasn’t the explanation.

Even if Ferda didn’t know much about men and women, he wasn’t blind.

‘Impressive bastard.’

They say a man will chase skirts as long as he has the strength to lift a spoon, but even while injured?

Garnet seemed to want to avoid this topic and tried to change the conversation.

— “It’s not something that interests you anyway, I think I was too sensitive. I’ll take my leave now—.”

— “I’m curious.”

— “Huh?”

— “I said I’m curious.”

Not about sex between man and woman, but why Garnet made this decision was extremely curious.

How that rational and cold-hearted woman let herself be carried away by sentiment and made this decision.

— “So that is…”

Garnet could not answer easily.

Her dark skin turned noticeably red.

Her hands, not knowing where to go, tried to cover her face several times, and her words tangled.

— “Sir Jed was suffering inside the tent… so I took care of him a little.”

— “I understand.”

— “And then, naturally, old memories came up, so we talked about that…”

— “…”

— “As you know, that Swallow guy’s body is his asset, right? I had to check everywhere to make sure there were no problems…”

— “So you also did a test run.”

— “…”

Ferda directed his gaze toward the royal palace of Heinkel.

— “So, how was the run?”

Garnet bit her lip hard.

She felt she wanted to die right then of embarrassment.

Blood sprang from her lips, and she made an expression as if she were drowning, barely managing to answer.

— “It was… usable.”

That’s right.

Collapse site of the Royal Palace of Heinkel.

— “Vice Commander William! The allied forces say they found the kings’ corpses!”

It was truly joyful news.

The kings were the 4 that had not been found, and that meant the Second Prince was also there.

— “Ugh, this shitty job can finally stop too.”

— “I just want to go home quickly.”

The mourning for the death of a comrade was brief.

The smell of corpses mixed with dust was now simply nauseating.

They stretched and prepared to retreat.

— “We continue the work!”

William had no such intention.

— “Yes?!”

— “That is that, this is this. I said we work our way!”

— “There is no reason to keep digging here…”

— “No objections accepted. To work!”

At William’s order, the soldiers returned.

Since the commander himself took the initiative and moved, no one dared to complain.

William had no intention of harassing the soldiers.

‘Someone could be buried down there waiting to get out.’

In reality, there were people trapped underneath who couldn’t get out.

Since they had come prepared to die, he thought it was his duty to send home even one more person.

William did not abandon that hope and made his subordinates work until the end.

And even if they curse him, he is the only one who bears it.

If it came to that kind of villain role, he could do it anytime.

At the end of digging to the bottom, William could hear a voice from inside.

Weak, but certain.

They were voices of children.