Special Side Story 11

“Useless bastard!!”

Thud—

The escort guard’s body rolled across the floor from the magistrate’s kick.

“Do you know how much money I’ve lost because of you!”

But even so, the magistrate’s anger didn’t subside in the slightest.

Was it because he had lost his reason due to dark mana poisoning?

No. He was already taking detoxifying herbs.

That’s right.

The magistrate wasn’t in a critical condition from the poisoning.

Despite this, his urgent search for the mercenary named Lien was for none other than her holy power.

Mercenaries who could use holy power were not common in the Eastern Kingdom.

So if he could capture that mercenary, feed her brainwashing drugs, and use her as a slave, he could make a lot of money.

But this damned escort guard had ruined everything.

To be intimidated by worthless threats and let the mercenary go peacefully.

The more the magistrate thought about it, the more his anger wouldn’t subside, and he continuously and roughly stomped on the escort guard who was prostrating himself.

Thud-thud-thud!

“You should have killed the male mercenary if necessary and brought that woman! How dare you return without even drawing your sword! Can you still call yourself a martial guard?! You’re just a parasite wasting food!!”

But in truth, that male mercenary wasn’t someone who could be easily killed even if ten guards attacked together.

However, saying so would only further provoke the magistrate’s anger.

The panting magistrate drew another guard’s sword.

The razor-sharp blade pointed at the guard.

At this rate, he would die.

The guard urgently shouted at the magistrate:

“I-I can find them!”

“Find them? When you don’t even know where they went?”

“If they left Ilgwang Village, they obviously wouldn’t have gone to the capital. There’s no way they’d cross the mountains at this late hour!”

“Even so, the capital is so vast, how could you find those bastards…”

“The male mercenary’s appearance was extraordinary! I’ve never seen a man as handsome as that mercenary in my entire life!”

“What nonsense…”

The magistrate frowned at the unexpected remark, but the guard didn’t stop and continued shouting:

“With such remarkable looks, anyone who has seen him once wouldn’t easily forget! If you give me half a day, just half a day, I will definitely find them!”

A serious and desperate cry.

It didn’t seem like a lie.

If that mercenary had such striking looks…

So he could find that scoundrel…

A brilliant idea flashed through the magistrate’s mind.

A method to get Lien under his control.

The magistrate looked at the guard silently, then twisted his lips into a crooked smile.

“Very well, find them without fail. That man is a criminal who took your arm, after all.”

“What?”

Just as the guard’s expression clouded with confusion at those words, squelch—the magistrate’s sword pierced precisely through the guard’s shoulder.

The left shoulder that Kylus had grasped.

“Argh!!”

The guard screamed in pain.

But the magistrate nonchalantly pulled the sword from the guard’s shoulder and addressed the other escort guards:

“All of you have witnessed this clearly, so testify. That male mercenary stabbed my subordinate’s shoulder with a sword. That a foreign mercenary attacked an Eastern Kingdom martial guard first.”

Since he dared to mention continental law and threaten him, he would use continental law to bring them under his feet.

The magistrate smiled with satisfaction.

Not knowing that this was a foolish thought that would step on his own foot.

As the magistrate hummed a tune, thinking about the money he would make using Lien, news of Lien also reached the Eastern Kingdom’s royal court.

To the Pope with golden hair, dressed in the most noble clerical robe.

The next day at noon.

Alice, who had spent the morning cuddling with Kylus until late, was having breakfast-cum-lunch in the inn’s dining room.

Temporarily forgetting about sainthood, they were discussing the Lux Empire.

“The Lux Empire, having been founded by a grand magician, has highly developed magic compared to other countries. So there are quite many magical attractions to see.”

“I’ve heard. From magical museums to ancient magical ruins, everything related to magic is there…”

“Yes. Which place would Lien like to visit first?”

“The magical amusement park.”

Alice answered without a second’s hesitation to Kylus’s question.

“…The magical amusement park…”

A place filled with magically operated rides.

It was certainly a fun and enjoyable place, but it wasn’t meant for adults.

It was a place for young children.

Though adults weren’t prohibited from entering, generally adults went as guardians, accompanying children.

Not like Alice and Kylus, going just as adults.

So, Lien, it might be a bit embarrassing if just the two of us go.

He should have told her honestly, but seeing Alice’s golden eyes filled with excitement, the words wouldn’t come out.

If Alice wanted it this much…

They could simply eliminate any embarrassment.

By renting the entire amusement park for a day.

Or by filling the park with many adult couples on the day they visit.

Kylus had enough money and power to do either.

As Kylus was contemplating which method to choose, Alice asked with a thoughtful “hmm”:

“Would it be inappropriate for us to go and play there?”

“Not at all. It’s such a large place that there are many adults too.”

Having calmly told this lie, Kylus decided.

It would be better to plant people there than to rent the amusement park.

“Oh! Then let’s go to the amusement park first when we reach the Lux Empire! It’ll be super fun!”

Just as Alice was smiling brightly, the inn door burst open.

“Welcome…”

Before the innkeeper could finish his greeting, men in martial attire barged into the inn.

There were more than ten martial guards at a glance.

Lastly, a nobleman wearing obviously expensive silk clothes entered, stroking his barely-there chin beard.

Just as the innkeeper’s eyes widened wondering what was happening, the nobleman spoke:

“I heard that a mercenary who attacked my subordinate and ran away went here…”

At the nobleman’s signal, one of the guards thrust a portrait in front of the innkeeper’s eyes.

“Have you seen a man who looks like this?”

Despite his surprise, the innkeeper immediately recognized the face in the portrait.

Even roughly sketched with ink, that handsome face was not a common one.

“Ah.”

The innkeeper’s gaze turned to a table in the dining room. By then, Alice had noticed who they were.

There was a familiar face among the guards, one she had seen yesterday.

The Donghwa County magistrate’s escort guard.

Then that man with the petty chin beard would be…

Just as Alice’s gaze turned toward the Donghwa County magistrate, a guard with a bandage on his shoulder shouted:

“Magistrate, it’s that man!! That man attacked me last night!!”

What?

Alice thought it was nonsense, but the magistrate dramatically expressed anger, as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“So you’re the one who dared to do this to my subordinate’s shoulder! What are you all waiting for?! Arrest these criminals!”

On the magistrate’s order, more than ten guards quickly surrounded the table where Alice and Kylus were sitting.

Just as the guards were about to reach out to apprehend Kylus, whoosh—Kylus swung his sword scabbard.

“Ugh-“

“Argh!”

Two guards collapsed to the ground, clutching their chests.

They couldn’t even properly see him draw his sword.

To take down two men while still seated, without even standing up.

An incredibly powerful adversary.

The guards instinctively stopped approaching Kylus.

But the Donghwa County magistrate wasn’t the type to stand by and watch.

“What are you all doing?! I said arrest the criminal!”

Yet the guards remained hesitant despite the order.

Unable to contain himself, the magistrate approached the table, and Kylus rose to his feet.

The magistrate faltered as he faced Kylus.

Even while seated, Kylus’s aura wasn’t ordinary, but now that he stood properly, his bearing was extraordinary.

“Criminal… I haven’t committed any crime deserving of such rudeness. You tell me. What crime have I supposedly committed, and how?”

His chilling baritone voice was like the roar of a predator.

Though there was a fear similar to facing a fierce predatory tiger, the magistrate clenched his fist.

Born and raised in a wealthy environment, he had never known defeat.

For someone like him to be intimidated by a mere mercenary.

Preposterous.

The magistrate raised his chin toward Kylus, who was a head taller.

“Didn’t you attack my subordinate who went to Ilgwang Village with a request last night?! There are more than a few witnesses who saw you stab my subordinate’s shoulder with your sword because you were in a bad mood!”

At the magistrate’s signal, the guards began to speak one by one:

“Th-that’s right. Yesterday, this man suddenly attacked Lord Baegun’s shoulder…”

“Yes, I saw him stab Lord Baegun with his sword…”

“I grabbed your subordinate’s shoulder, but I never stabbed him with a sword. Can you stake your life on this being the truth?”

At Kylus’s irritated low voice, the guard’s words trailed off as he shrank back. The magistrate pushed aside the useless guard and stood before Kylus.

“You bastard!! Not content with committing a crime, now you dare to threaten my subordinate?!”

A voice that broke pitch as unimpressively as his petty beard.

Alice frowned but simultaneously realized.

That the magistrate had planned all this and come after them.

Well, she hadn’t expected him to back down easily, but she hadn’t anticipated that he would injure his own perfectly healthy subordinate and come after them so quickly.

And to even dare to frame Kylus.

What a piece of garbage, not even fit for recycling.

Alice gave the magistrate a cold look.

And with people like him, lengthy discussions were pointless.

So Alice planned to use her holy power to knock them all out at once.

And then go to the authorities to resolve the matter.

Pretending to be mercenaries associated with Duke Dearrut, showing the Dearrut family’s nameplate would easily resolve the issue.

After all, there was nothing to gain by messing with people from the Dearrut duchy, famous across the empire and the entire continent.

“Your crime is already clear, so stop this nonsense and kneel immediately! Otherwise, I won’t let you live…”

As the magistrate shouted once more and Alice was about to use her holy power.

“He is not someone who would commit such a petty crime. So please stop this farce.”

A pleasant voice interjected.

“Farce? How dare you speak to me… gasp!”

The magistrate, who had sharply turned his head, widened his eyes and stopped speaking.

Alice also relaxed her power and looked on in surprise.

“…Prion?”

A pristine white clerical robe that seemed out of place in the chaos.

It was Pope Prion.