Chapter 052: At the End of the Subjugation (2)
I wanted to rest, so I just lay flat on the ground.
A loud pop rang in my ears, and then the noises of the world crashed over like a tidal wave.
Only then did I hear my own breathing.
I gasped for air, staring at the dusty, hazy sky.
My head felt a bit dizzy too.
At so point, my eyelids slid shut, and I let them be.
I must have fallen asleep as is.
It was Clyde who woke .
He had Bonnie slung over his back, her limbs dangling limply, either asleep or unconscious.
“Bihen! H-Here you are. I’ve been looking everywhere. Are you okay?”
“I’m not dead yet. How’s Bonnie?”
“She seems to have passed out. Her breathing’s fine, though.”
“That’s a relief.”
“…….”
Clyde’s lips twitched, like he had sothing to say.
Oddly, his face looked like he was the one who’d seen a dream.
When I sat up, Clyde flinched and stumbled back.
“……?”
“……N-No, sorry. Keep resting. I’ll handle getting the others out.”
“How are they? The others?”
“Sa as Bonnie. But sothing’s a bit strange……”
“What is it?”
“There are people mixed in who aren’t rcenaries.”
What’s that supposed to an?
I got to my feet, brushing off my backside, and followed Clyde.
The area was an absolute wreck.
It was as if a massive landslide and falling rocks had hit all at once, with firebombs thrown in for good asure.
Gnarled, tangled roots and vines were strewn everywhere, making it a complete chaos.
Amid this ss, the people Clyde had pulled from the cocoons were laid out neatly on one side, on a relatively clear patch of ground.
“These people here, they’re not rcenaries.”
An old man.
Among those with pale, flaky residue caked on their faces… there was even a child.
Was my face hardening with anger?
Clyde glanced at nervously before speaking cautiously.
“They seem like people who were brought here before we arrived…….”
I couldn’t bring myself to respond and silently scanned the surroundings.
Clyde had laid out roughly a dozen or so people side by side, and nearly half of them appeared to be non-rcenaries.
Like bundles of radishes spread out on a market stall, countless uncut cocoons still littered the area.
I carefully sliced open a nearby cocoon with my sword.
As I cleared away the cloudy, foreign substance, a young woman erged.
Her face, utterly drained of color as if sleeping in a coffin, made my legs feel like they were giving out.
Clyde, standing beside , glanced between and the woman in the cocoon, muttering hesitantly.
“Her dark hair… doesn’t look like soone from Conwell. Could she be…….”
“…….”
I could feel it in my bones.
Even though she was a complete stranger, I sohow knew where she was born and raised.
Her black hair, loose like scattered ink, was a trait of people from the eastern Empire.
Her delicate, fine features weren’t unfamiliar to either.
‘…….’
What kind of story led to this?
She couldn’t have co all this way just to end up lying here.
My lips tightened on their own.
I tried to ignore the sound of a corner of my heart crumbling.
“No ti to rest. Let’s get them out quickly.”
* * *
As Clyde and I were nearing the end of our cocoon-breaking work, just the two of us,
The rest of the group, including Adeline, arrived.
They all stood blinking, apparently speechless at the chaotic scene before them.
When Clyde stepped forward to explain what had happened, shock rippled through the group.
They all stared at with incredulous expressions, their mouths agape, looking at as if I were so monster who’d devoured a demonic beast.
Their gazes were tinged with awe.
A heavy silence mixed with groans lingered for a while.
As I carefully laid down the last boy we’d freed from a cocoon, Adeline tugged at the hem of my clothes, almost pinching it.
“Bihen, are you hurt…….”
“I’m fine. No injuries.”
“……I never imagined there’d be abducted Imperials here.”
“Even if we’d known, what would’ve changed? It’s not your fault, my lady, so don’t dwell on it.”
As I spoke, my eyes instinctively flicked toward Adeline.
Eugene had been with her, so nothing serious could’ve happened… but still.
There was a crack on the gauntlet covering her wrist.
That gauntlet had been perfectly fine when we set out.
It ant she hadn’t just hidden in the back but had done her part, and then so.
She really isn’t an ordinary woman.
Sowhere, a wail broke out—it was Ramba.
He was bowing his head before the unconscious beggars, sobbing as if sending off the dead.
“Waaah! My friends, open your eyes! How can you lie there in such a state!”
“Ramba, calm down. Didn’t Roland say they’ll wake up soon?”
“They’re such timid kids, how scared they must’ve been! It’s all my fault! I shouldn’t have left these fools behind!”
Kendrick and the other rcenaries who’d barely escaped were being carried on stretchers.
They didn’t seem fully lucid yet.
I approached Kendrick, who had his eyes open.
“Hey, you alright?”
“……Bihen Benkou.”
“Yeah, you recognize ?”
“What happened? My head’s all blank. I can’t rember anything.”
I’d half-expected him to start ranting about how we’d lured them into a trap or so nonsense… Hmm, maybe this is for the best.
I looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps—it was Eugene and Roland.
Standing to face them, I felt an odd sense of exhaustion.
Maybe it was the tension finally easing.
“You’re late again. Feels like I’m the only one doing the fighting.”
Eugene tilted his head slightly.
Following his gaze, I finally noticed the scratches and marks on my body.
The combat uniform Henry had supplied was completely tattered.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“I keep putting you through the wringer. I owe you.”
“……Don’t ntion it.”
I’m a strange guy when it cos to emotions.
When older n, like fathers, give praise or encouragent, I just want to hide.
It was the sa with the supply officer in my past life.
A yearning for fatherly affection? I don’t know.
I turned away, scratching my head, when Ramba suddenly rushed over and threw himself flat before .
“My lord! Thank you so much! Because of you, my kids are alive! How can I ever repay this kindness……!”
“Kindness, my foot. I just did what needed doing.”
My brows furrowed slightly without realizing.
It was because a sudden, radiant glint sparkled in Ramba’s teary, waterlogged eyes. …What’s that? Am I imagining things?
Ramba bowed his head again and declared,
“This beggar knows how to settle debts and favors! No matter how you brush it off, it’s no use! I’ll repay you in my own way, I swear it!”
Feeling uneasy, I turned my head—only to lock eyes with Jewel, who was brushing dust off my cloak.
Uncharacteristically, her large eyes darted downward as if caught, and she quickly pressed her lips shut.
“Don’t start nagging. I checked, and there really weren’t any Imperials among the people I brought.”
“Let’s save that talk for after this is all over.”
I thought she’d back off, but she suddenly stood on her tiptoes, grabbed my shoulders with both hands, and whispered softly.
“It’ll sound like a la excuse, but the Imperial Court was the one pushing for the human tribute. Of course, my father… no, our trading company’s head started it, but I wasn’t exactly keen on it from the beginning.”
“Funny. Now you say that? It doesn’t erase what happened.”
“I know. I don’t want it to, either.”
“Good. Then keep doing what you’re doing. Don’t try to fish for cheap sympathy.”
Your cris in serving the Imperial Court are far from small.
I muttered to myself inwardly and shook off Jewel’s hands.
My face suddenly stung—Adeline was staring at and Jewel, approaching with an oddly stern expression. I didn’t know why.
At any rate, once Roland confird that she and the key figures had gathered, he spoke.
“My lady, only the Mana Core remains now.”
“Let’s put an end to this tireso fight.”
“Yes. However, our current available forces…….”
Roland trailed off.
His face, like his lusterless hair, seed to have aged years in monts.
The entire rcenary coalition that had bolstered our numbers had deserted the front lines.
In warti, this would be grounds for a full retreat.
I spoke up.
“I think it’s best if just Sir Eugene and I go.”
Adeline’s eyes widened sharply.
“No. I can’t let you shoulder the burden again. We’ll leave the rcenary coalition and the injured here and move with the remaining forces.”
There were no objections, but no eager agreent either.
Was it because we’d been fighting unstoppable demonic beasts? Morale was rock-bottom.
To be fair, without Eugene and , these battles wouldn’t have even been possible.
Eugene broke the silence.
“My lady, please reconsider requesting cooperation from the Archduke’s side.”
“Eugene, that topic……”
“With demonic beasts of this scale appearing, the Mana Core is beyond imagination. The Archduke’s side must recognize the gravity of the situation.”
“That’s overly optimistic. They could use this as leverage to sche sothing. You know that, Sir Eugene.”
“……This concerns Conwell’s survival. You must judge coldly.”
The sage, who’d been sighing heavily, finally spoke.
“Demonic Corruption has a kind of resilience, so normally, I’d advocate pushing forward regardless of remaining forces. Now is the pri ti for subjugation. However, as Eugene says, this matter requires caution. How about preparing counterasures for potential fallout and then proposing to the Archduke’s side?”
So he agrees with Eugene.
Who else here has the authority to speak?
“This is a different matter.”
It was Jewel.
She didn’t flinch under Eugene and Roland’s gazes.
“I staked our trading company’s fate on joining hands with the lady. Setting aside compensation, my position is fundantally different from the rcenaries who pledged loyalty and honor to her and now, you want to step back and seek help from the Archduke? That’s an insult to our Gunbel Trading Company. It could even escalate to foreign interference, giving the Archduke an excuse to target us. Never mind the contract differences.”
“Look, deputy head. This concerns your subordinates’ lives too. My proposed counterasures include provisions for the Gunbel Trading Company. Being stubborn like this……”
“Stubborn? If this was the plan, you shouldn’t have involved us in the first place. Does the sage think business is a ga? We ca here prepared to abandon years of work in Zephyros. Let’s see this through properly, Lady Adeline.”
Setting aside personal feelings, Jewel wasn’t wrong.
With that, opinions split sharply, two for and two against.
Was there anyone else to weigh in…?
“…….”
…?
Subtly, or outright, all eyes turned to .
I thought it over.
Before coming here, this wouldn’t have been worth considering.
But now, why was I hesitating?
Maybe because the two people I trusted most in terms of skill were on opposing sides.
I closed my eyes.
I thought of the Slash-and-Burn Farrs of Ludglen.
They played a decisive role in getting this far and the Imperials trapped in those cocoons.
How did they end up in such a state? A sigh escaped .
They’re all Imperial exiles.
If the Archduke takes power? I can’t even imagine the humiliation they’d face.
To protect them…
‘I have to protect Adeline.’
Even I, with my lacking political sense, knew this.
There’s no half-hearted compromise in tis like these.
Either solidify my position in Adeline’s camp, securing the exiles’ treatnt, or fall.
One or the other.
I made up my mind and opened my eyes.
“I’ll follow the lady’s opinion.”
The two won gave strange smiles, while Roland and Eugene quietly bowed their heads.
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