Surrender

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The rope ladder was lowered, and soldiers from the Noza Household descended holding the rope.

The moment their feet touched the ground, Vilan Tomin himself leaped with the agility of a beast, landing on one foot around the waist of a descending soldier, using him as a stepping stone. With the finesse of a triple jumper, he swiftly reached about halfway down the rope ladder and firmly grabbed onto the rungs.

‘Impressive.’

He must be desperate. He climbed the ladder as if propelled by sheer force, quickly reaching the top, but just as he did, he was kicked in the chest by a soldier above and fell to the ground.

‘Is he dead?’

The rope ladder, to prevent it from being pulled back up and retrieved, was being held by the soldiers below, but the rope was cut and it fell to the ground. After that, there was some commotion, but it was obscured from view. Being downhill, we couldn’t see anything clearly.

‘Perhaps they’re using the first person who descended as a hostage.’

“Messenger! Go again. If they attack, come back.” (Yuri)

“Yes!” (??)

The obedient messenger ran off. As expected, Vilan’s soldiers attacked, and the messenger returned.

“No choice, let’s charge in. Liao, what do you think? If the supervisor at the checkpoint is a stubborn fool, we might not just get shot at.” (Yuri)

Liao, being the heir, it wouldn’t be good if he died.

“Let me do it.” (Liao)

“Understood. Then go.” (Yuri)

‘If he says he’ll go, there’s no reason to stop him.’

“All right, let’s go! Everyone, be alert with your bows, shields ready!” (Liao)

Liao raised his spear and led the 300 men from the Rube Household, including the combined unit.

Perhaps angered by Vilan’s tyranny, the checkpoint supervisor didn’t shoot any arrows and made contact with Tomin’s army. Cheers and the sound of swords clashing began.

‘They’re really going at it. But still, even though it’s the duty of a commander, it feels odd just watching the battle from afar. Until now, I’ve always fought on the front lines, so it feels strange being passive like this.’

Being downhill, I couldn’t grasp the actual situation of the battle at all.

“Oh…” (Yuri)

The clashing of swords suddenly ceased.

‘Is it over?’

After watching for about ten minutes, a man emerged, pushing his way through the soldiers of the Rube Household. It was Vilan Tomin. With his hands tied behind his back, the rope was held by a knight as Vilan walked towards us.

‘Had his comrades given up on him and handed him over?’

“Your Excellency Yuri, the Tomin Household’s forces have surrendered and offered this man.” (??)

The knight of the Rube Household said, saluting. It seemed Vilan had been sold out.

“You… from that time…” (Vilan)

Vilan looked at me and spoke.

‘Was it Lulu? He had glared at me when I used a random alias.’

Seeing him up close, he reminded me of Dolla from his wild dog days. After I broke his nose in a fight during initiation, he became more introverted, but if that hadn’t happened, he might have grown up like this.

As I was pondering this…

“Orraa!!” (Vilan)

Vilan suddenly freed his hands. The ropes that were supposed to bind him snapped, and he was free.

‘Oi oi oi.’

Vilan reached into his pocket with his right hand and thrust his left hand towards me. I instinctively drew my dagger, but I couldn’t defend in time and he grabbed my right shoulder. He pulled my shoulder towards him, twisting my body.

“Damn—” (Yuri)

In a flash of superhuman strength, my body was flipped around. My back was now facing Vilan, and I was pulled snugly into his chest.

‘Is he trying to take me hostage?’

Vilan tried to press a dagger to my neck. I grabbed his fist holding the dagger with my left hand, preventing him. At the same time, I maneuvered my dagger between my arm and Vilan’s, trying to cut his arm. The blade scraped against something metal with a screeching sound but didn’t cut through.

‘Chainmail?’

During this struggle, Vilan’s free arm clamped down over my left arm.

‘This is bad. If my left hand, which is holding the dagger, comes loose, it’ll be seriously bad. If I end up just being a hostage, that’s one thing, but ultimately, I’ll probably be killed.’

Switching to thrusting, I lowered the dagger once and thrust it upward, aiming for the gaps in the chainmail. The tip of the blade dug into the links of the chain, and I could feel the sensation of tearing.

I thrust the dagger firmly into the upper arm holding the dagger, slicing and wrenching it out, then stabbed towards where Vilan’s thigh would be behind me. It was a blind stab, but I definitely felt the blade sink deep into flesh. After stabbing twice with a crunching sound, I kept hold of the dagger and slammed my elbow into his side.

“Ugh—!” (Vilan)

Vilan’s grip loosened. I threw my weight backwards, shaking my head vigorously, and with a motion akin to a shrimp, I headbutted him with the back of my head.

“Pu—” (Vilan)

His hand released me, and I was free. When I turned around, I was being restrained by soldiers from the Hou Household.

‘That was close. It was a hair’s breadth away. My heart is pounding. Was there a cut in the rope? This was definitely planned. Liao, you bastard, this wasn’t intentional, was it?’

“Hey, don’t kill him!” (Yuri)

I hastily stopped someone who was trying to spear him out of anger.

‘What do you think I stabbed his thigh for, not his side?’

“Tie him up properly. We’ll use him later.” (Yuri)

“Damn it! Let go!” (Vilan)

Vilan’s hands were forced behind his back by the soldiers, and his arms were tightly bound with a new rope.

“Give me that.” (Yuri)

“What are you doing?!” (Vilan)

Taking the rope, I cut off a length and tightly bound his injured arm and leg, the ones I stabbed earlier. The bleeding from the thigh seemed severe, but it appeared to lessen slightly once bound. Just to be safe, I applied pressure to the wounds with the bindings. It wouldn’t matter if his limbs rotted away, but keeping him alive was crucial.

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—

 

“Enrique! Come here and check his face!” (Yuri)

When I shouted, Enrique, who was at the rear, slowly made his way through the soldiers.

“Hey…”

As usual, her mood was depressingly low, similar to a patient with depression. She had her hands in the pockets of a women’s coat and wore a scarf around his neck, looking completely out of place.

“What’s with you since the day before yesterday… still not feeling better?” (Yuri)

‘I didn’t expect her to rescue me, but what’s up with this woman?’

“…I told you… after being excited, my mood drops…” (Enrique)

Her voice was so faint it was barely audible.

‘How low can her mood get? It was like dragging a shut-in outside.’

“Just check his face, okay? Then, you can go back.” (Yuri)

‘I don’t know what her problem is, but…’

“You—Chelmia! What are you doing here?!” (Enrique)

Vilan’s voice rang out. His face was twisted in shock as he stared at Enrique, crawling on the ground.

“Yeah, that’s Vilan. Can I go now?” (Enrique)

“Chelmiaaa! Help meee!!!” (Vilan)

The contrast in their reactions was stark.

Seeing Vilan’s desperate expression, I realized how much he had been fixated on Enrique.

‘It’s only been a month or so. For someone to make a man this desperate in such a short time is terrifying.’

“Chelmiaaaa!!!” (Vilan)

“You’re noisy…” (Enrique)

Enrique looked at him like he was trash.

‘It’s ironic, but I almost felt sorry for the guy who had just tried to kill me.’

“This woman is my subordinate. What a shame.” (Yuri)

“No—You’re lying! Don’t lie!! Chelmia! It’s me, don’t you recognize me?!” (Vilan)

“Hmm, at this rate…” (Enrique)

Enrique muttered to herself as she walked closer to Vilan.

‘Wasn’t he supposed to be leaving?’

“Too bad. You got tricked. You spilled everything… and now look at you. Though even without that, we would’ve managed somehow…” (Enrique)

Enrique continued to add insult to injury.

‘That’s harsh.’

“That’s… a lie, right? Tell me it’s a lie…” (Vilan)

Vilan looked like he had lost all hope in the world. If this were filmed, it would serve as essential reference material for aspiring actors.

“You’re such an idiot… Marry me~, was it? Haa~… so pathetic.” (Enrique)

Enrique was mercilessly taunting him.

‘Anyway, I wonder what Enrique wants to do. Did she enjoy tormenting those he had trapped? Given that Tillet had allowed her to do what she wanted, I supposed this was par for the course.

Originally, Enrique was supposed to kill Vilan in bed, but I had thwarted that plan. After receiving the report, Tillet suddenly asked if the assassination could proceed, and I gave the go-ahead. However, Vilan became too busy preparing for the war to spend any time with Enrique. So, the assassination opportunity never came.

If Vilan had decided to enjoy his last night, Enrique would have killed him then. Perhaps Enrique was taking out his frustrations now.’

“Going to be king~, were you? And this is what happens in less than a week… haha, so funny! Vi-kun! Maybe you should have aimed to be a comedian instead!” (Enrique)

‘Stop kicking a man when he’s down.’

“…–ll you.” (Vilan)

Vilan’s face contorted as if he would cry tears of blood.

“I’ll kill you! I swear I’ll kill you! Chelmiaaa!!!” (Vilan)

Vilan began thrashing about, trying to escape his restraints with surprising vigor for someone so badly injured. The large knight pressing down on him with a knee ensured he couldn’t break free, but Vilan seemed oblivious to the pain. His voice was impressively loud, given his chest was being compressed.

Chelm—no, Enrique stood up.

“He’s weak… no good.”

‘Weak? What did Enrique mean by that?

“What th—” (Yuri)

“Chelmiaaaa!!!” (Vilan)

‘Shut up.’

“Someone, pin his head down with your knee.” (Yuri)

During a brief lull in the shouting, I instructed one of the knights, who looked annoyed but complied, pressing his knee against Vilan’s temple. I approached Vilan and stomped down on the root of his lower jaw. The heel of my boot shattered his jawbone.

“Argh! Aaaaah! Awaaaiiaaaa!!!” (Vilan)

“Take him away and stitch up his leg wound. Every citizen in Oregano is waiting to see him hanged.” (Yuri)

As I spoke, three men bound Vilan’s hands behind his back and grabbed him firmly by the arms, dragging him away. Despite his violent thrashing, he was no match for three men.

“That’s pretty harsh.” (Enrique)

‘Look who’s talking.’

“Once his rage passes, despair will set in. I can’t have him biting his tongue.” (Yuri)

‘Besides, with his jaw broken, he can’t muster the strength. Though, given how energetic he seemed, it might not affect him much in his heightened state, but it would make restraining him easier once he calmed down. Escaping would also be more difficult. Releasing a vengeful maniac like that into the wild would be terrifying.’

“…Yeah…” (Enrique)

‘Her mood was down again… what’s with this woman?’

“So even that was weak to you? That was pretty dark.” (Yuri)

‘You don’t see that kind of rage every day.’

“…That was just someone being angry. Sure, it was a lot of anger, but I’ve seen plenty like that.” (Enrique)

‘That’s… scary. How many times have you seen something like that? So maybe this woman is a little crazy.’

“…Well, I wouldn’t want to be killed by someone like that. It doesn’t give me a thrill at all.” (Enrique)

“What kind of person would you want to be killed by, then?” (Yuri)

‘I mean, normally no one would want to be killed by anyone.’

Enrique stared at my face intently.

“…Well, if the opportunity arises…” (Enrique)

“Hey.” (Yuri)

I felt a terrifying chill.

‘Maybe I should deal with him now.’

“Anyway, can I go now?” (Enrique)

“Yeah, thanks for your hard work.” (Yuri)

“Alright then…” (Enrique)

Enrique trudged away, disappearing among the soldiers.

 

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