Chapter 14

Yuichiro brought his face closer to Lord Weldham who was raising his voice and placed his index fingers to his lips as if to say, ‘be quiet’.

“Lord Weldham, I’d like to greet you properly, but we don’t have much time. So, let me ask you straight. Either I slit your throat right now and kill you, or you give up all information and serve your country from now on with a clean slate. If you choose the latter, I will overlook your transgressions.”

The moment Evelise heard Yuichiro’s last words, she pursed her lips in disapproval. His words were deceptive. There was no justification for dismissing Lord Weldham’s crimes. The man in front of her had only two options: die or spend the rest of his life in prison. Yuichiro had purposefully included some sugar-coated words to reassure the criminal.

Lord Weldham’s lips quivered up and down like an oxygen-deprived goldfish. “Which would you prefer?” Yuichiro squinted his eyes, slightly tilting his head.

“A-Anything… Let’s discuss anything…”

“Good,” Yuichiro nodded, and continued speaking, “When did you start selling weapons to Goldar and the 1st prince?”

“…Recently. About three months ago.”

Yuichiro could hear Temeraire flipping through the papers. “That’s a lie. According to this ledger, the firearms lent to Goldar started around 7 months ago. It was around the time the previous king’s physical condition began to deteriorate.”

[In other words, he had been bribing the enemy since the previous king’s reign began to wane. Isn’t he quite a traitor?].

Yuichiro chuckled as he picked up a discarded scrap of cloth from the floor.

“I hate lies,” Yuichiro grumbled. Lord Weldham immediately opened his lips, as if to make an excuse for himself, but Yuichiro pushed a piece of cloth into his mouth before he could say anything.

Then, without saying anything, he extended his hand to Evelise and placed a slim knife in his palm. He plunged the knife into the man’s right shoulder without hesitation. He could feel the tender flesh ripped apart through his grip.

Within that moment, Lord Weldham’s muffled wails could be faintly heard. Inaudible shrieks were absorbed by the cloth and quietly reverberated in the air. Yuichiro then whispered calmly as he watched Lord Weldham’s coat dyed crimson.

“Lies are no good. At times like this, lying is the worst thing you can do. It’ll only shorten your life,” he nagged as if reprimanding a child and quickly yanked the stuffed cloth from the man’s mouth. The sound of Lord Weldham’s teeth clattering incessantly could be heard instantly. His teeth trembled and bounced.

“I’ll cut off your nose the next time you lie. Then, your ears and eyes,” Yuichiro whispered gently while the man nodded, drenched with sweat.

“How did you get the supplies to Goldar and the 1st prince?”

“…Erm, Lieutenant General Gadelman’s subordinates come once a month to pick up the weapons. T-Then they hand them over to Goldar and Edward-sama.”

Evelise’s face tensed into a grimace. Yuichiro recognized the name ‘Gadelman’. He was the balding, fat old man who confronted him the other day, yelling ‘fake goddess.’ Was the first prince’s name Edward?

“Is he a traitor too?” Yuichiro almost sighed. If a traitor remained at the heart of the military, it would be a nightmare. He shook his head from side to side and added, “Where are the 1st prince and his group? Which territory are they in now?”

“A month ago, I heard they were in Keyne’s territory… but now, I really don’t know.”

“Really?” Yuichiro examined the man’s face, which bore an obvious fearful expression.

“I-It’s true. Edward-sama and his companion are constantly moving irregularly between the territories of nobles who are on their side Nikolai Folg-Goat is the only one who knows where they are.”

Yuichiro turned to Temeraire when he heard the word ‘Folg-Goat.’ Temeraire answered while holding his forehead in a frown, “Nikolai is Goat’s elder brother.”

[You mean that traitor who survived the massacre in the royal capital?]

“Ni-Nikolai serves as an intermediary between the people of the royal capital and Edward-sama, while disseminating information about the royal capital” Lord Weldham roared, implying that the Nikolai was far worse than him.

Although the capital was the stronghold for general army, in reality it was a den full of traitors. Yuichiro wrapped his head in the dilemma and concluded that information had been leaked to the enemy’s side until now. No wonder the underground cave where the goddess appeared was attacked so quickly. As he remained silent, Lord Weldham stammered out a series of broken words with a choked throat.

“I-If we don’t hand over the weapons to Goldar and Edward-sama, this city would be destroyed. Therefore, it’s inevitable and I had no choice…”

‘Was it an excuse or a plea for his life?’ Yuichiro reflected as he heard these pathetic words. “Then why didn’t you ask the king for help when you were threatened?” he asked.

“The king is a mere child and… in name only, isn’t he?” The excruciating pain had already rendered it impossible for him to express himself properly.

Yuichiro’s grin broadened in response to the man’s candid remark. At this point, no nobles trusted Noah. They all saw him as a king only in name. In general, Lord Weldham’s words were accurate.

“I get your point, but is that really an excuse for treason? Do you think a traitor who groveled instead of fighting the enemy and stuffed his own pockets will be forgiven?!”

Yuichiro glanced through the room. The room he was in was embellished with a plethora of extravagant decorations. The criminal had clearly received a large reward for the weapons he had supplied to the neighbouring country of Goldar and Edward’s faction. Lord Weldham’s eyes widened and he gulped. The man’s bloodshot eyes were visible to Yuichiro.

“W-Why are you blaming me?”

“What??”

“The ‘fake goddess’ who appeared unexpectedly in this country has no right to blame for my actions.”

[Ah… Another one]. It was the same phrase as that Lieutenant General Gadelman.

Yuichiro openly guffawed in response to Lord Werdum’s rebuttal-like remark. Sir Werdum’s face darkened to a reddish-black when he saw Yuichiro’s smirk. He jerked his body back and forth, irritated by Yuichiro. The moment Evelise noticed his movement and extended her hand to grab the rattling chair, it fell with a loud noise. At the impact, Lord Weldham’s bound hands broke free and he immediately dashed toward the door like a rabbit.

He yelled, “Guards! Guards!” his wailing voice echoed down the corridor. Following that were several hurried footsteps from downstairs.

“This sucks.”

“Really bad.”

“I apologize.”

Yuichiro spoke first, followed by Temeraire, and Evelise mumbled an apology filled with shame. Yuichiro, on the other hand, had no intention of blaming Evelise and lightly waved his hand left and right as if he didn’t care, declaring, “We already have the evidence and information. We’re retreating now.”

They fled the room as soon as he finished speaking. When they entered the corridor, he came across two guards and struck one of them on the side of the head with the stock of his AK47, which he was carrying in one arm, knocking him out. Evelise knocked out the other guard by hitting him in the solar plexus and neck with the bottom of her gun. They proceeded to run through the crowd as if on a suicide mission. Later, they descended the stairs, and Yuichiro bulldozed his way through a swarm of guards.

“Intruder!!!”

“After them! Don’t let them escape!!!”

The castle, which had previously been enveloped in silence, suddenly buzzed with excitement as word of their presence spread throughout the caste. Yuichiro realized there were countless steps following them as they exited the castle gate and ran into town. As he continued to run along the winding road, he turned his gaze backward. There were dozens of shadows.

“It’s only a matter of time before they catch up with us,” Yuichiro muttered as if it were someone else’s problem, as Temeraire glared at him from behind.

“You, are so…!” Temeraire shouted angrily while out of breath. It was as if he hated Yuichiro from the bottom of his heart, as the man carelessly treated his life and the lives of others as if it were a game.

“This world, is not your dream!” Temeraire’s words rang hollow when they reached Yuichiro. ‘If this is not a dream, then what is it? Aren’t we going to die?’ This ridiculous thought ran through his mind. When they were crossing the bridge in the city, he suddenly saw a figure at the end of the bridge. Yuichiro raised his gun, expecting to see an enemy, but the figure shouted, “Hurry up and cross!” before he could pull the trigger.

It was Belz’s voice. Yama, who had been standing beside Belz, ran toward Yuichiro. In his hand was a flare gun. As soon as Yuichiro and the others crossed the bridge, Yama, stood in the middle of the bridge, and shot a flare into the sky. A red light brightly illuminated the sky. Afterward, Yama threw away the flare gun and immediately jumped into the river.

Immediately after that, Belz heard something cutting through the air. When he looked up toward the sky, When he looked up at the sky, he noticed cannonballs raining down from the dimly lit sky.

“Get down!”

Hearing Belz’s warning, Yuichiro’s group all got down on the ground at once. A violent roar echoed at the same time, shaking the ground and the air. Stone fragments blown away by the blast made a crackling sound and collided with their bodies. He noticed the bridge had been shattered in half when he looked up through the thick dust.

“It’s from Klaus. It was worth carrying such a heavy small cannon,” Belz muttered with a wry smile. Certainly, some of their luggage was unusually large, so they dismantled the small artillery and brought it with them. Afterward, Klaus fired it at the exact place where the flare was shot.

“Well prepared,” Yuichiro praised while spitting out the dirt in his mouth, with Belz replied in affirmation as if it was natural, “It was an order from Lieutenant Goat.” At Belz’s reply, Yuichiro distorted his mouth with a grin.

Yama crawled up from the river, drenched in water. “What are you dilly-dallying about?” he said, shaking his body like a dog and staring at the falling water droplets and continued, “We need to run away quickly.”

Beyond the dust, Yuichiro detected shadows of guards who were scurrying left to right after the bridge severed in half. It was obvious that the moment the dust settled, they would be bombarded with bullets. He pulled up Temeraire and Evelise who were still lying prone on the ground. As they were about to run, they were stopped in their tracks by the sound of hoofbeats coming from the direction they were heading. A large number of soldiers on horseback approached them.

“This sucks.”

Yuichiro couldn’t believe that he encountered such bad luck twice in a day. In contrast to Yuichiro, who was shaking his head from side to side, Temeraire calmly responded, “Maybe it’s not as bad as it sounds,” while pointing to one of the soldiers approaching them. The figure was a man with medium build and height with white hair parted in three parts and a serious-looking face. Gauze and bandages were wrapped around his face and body.

“It’s platoon commander Marcos,” Temeraire remarked.

When Marcos reached Yuichiro’s side, he dismounted from his horse sluggishly as he was still in pain from his injuries. Immediately, he knelt on one knee on the ground, greeting, “Goddess-sama, I hope you are safe. I apologize for the delay in my arrival.”

Goat and Luca peered out from behind Marcos, who was formally greeting Yuichiro. Goat, with a sly grin on his face, waved his hand lightly to Yuichiro, “Captain Ogami, it’s become quite flashy.” Yuichiro looked at him, who muttered shamelessly with a dismayed expression on his face.

“You’ve been preparing to blow up the bridge, haven’t you?”

“Well, I knew Goddess-sama will be reckless, so I should be ready for anything.”

Yuichiro faintly smiled at Goat’s gesture of shrugging his shoulders. Goat was an excellent but shrewd adjutant.

“Hmm, I don’t see anyone badly injured,” Luca confirmed as he observed the platoon commanders.

Soon after, Yuichiro’s gaze was drawn to the man who had dismounted from his horse following Marcos. He was a beautiful man with shoulder-length white hair that waved slightly. His eyes are large and framed by eyelashes as long as a camel’s. His face, unlike Temeraire’s serene beauty, were somewhat bewitching. Later, the man instructed the soldiers he had brought to point their muzzles at the opposite bank. As the dust settled, Lord Weldham’s guards who had guns pointed at them from the opposite bank raised their voices in bewilderment, “Giselle-sama…?”

“Why, Giselle-sama!”

Their voices were filled with astonishment and bewilderment. The man called Giselle-sama glanced at the opposite bank, then quietly knelt down facing Yuichiro, “It’s my first time seeing you, Goddess-sama. My name is Giselle.”

Giselle was, Yuichiro believed, Lord Weldham’s first wife. “I’m truly sorry for my husband, Lord Weldham’s treachery,” the man said as he kept her gaze downcast, “It is unforgivable for an individual to supply weapons to the enemy of this nation. I am equally guilty for knowing this and failing to stop him. I have come here to ask the Goddess-sama to pass judgment.”

At Giselle’s solemn words, Yuichiro threw a glance at Marcos. As if prompted, Marcos opened his mouth and said, “However, Giselle-sama had secretly gathered a private troop to stop Lord Weldham’s treachery. I was also Giselle-sama who rescued me when I was imprisoned,” explaining the situation to him. Yuichiro loosely shrugged his shoulders and gazed down at Giselle, who was kneeling.

“There are a few things I’d like to confirm.”

“Yes, Goddess-sama. Ask anything.”