2.2

Julian immediately opened the visor of the helmet and stabbed a dagger into the knight’s face. The knight’s knees and elbows trembled and then stopped moving. Red blood gushed out from the seams of the armor.

Only then did Vanessa breathe a sigh of relief. Exhausted, Julian lay down next to the corpse.

“Phew, that was damn hard.”

“Julian, is this the only place you’re hurt?”

Vanessa asked, pressing a handkerchief to the wound on his thigh to stop the bleeding. Julian sat up with a surprised look.

“You said this was precious.”

Vanessa’s hand flinched. But she didn’t stop wrapping the handkerchief tightly around his thigh.

“Can you walk?”

“It’s just a scratch.”

A mere scratch wouldn’t have stained the handkerchief red. She decided to pretend she didn’t notice Julian’s bravado.

Donnie looked puzzled as he held the damaged breastplate against Julian’s body.

“It seems like it can be repaired, but it might be a bit small for you.”

“I’ll lose weight to fit.”

“When?”

“I’ll quit drinking.”

“When pigs fly.”

Pierre, who couldn’t stand it any longer, finally chimed in.

After dealing with the corpses, they gathered with the villagers. The half-bald village chief didn’t look very bright.

“We have a bandit we captured as a prisoner. He said this isn’t all of them. The one who died earlier was just one of the wandering knights…”

“How many are there?”

“All together, he said there are forty or fifty, but that sounds like a lie. From what I found out, there are about two wandering knights and a dozen or so bandits.”

According to the village chief, the bandits were those who had crossed over from the Boldren area after the war. Unable to settle in the village, they hid like rats upstream in the valley, extorting tolls from merchants passing by, insignificant scoundrels.

However, things changed after the wandering knights joined the bandits. They committed atrocious acts, killing people for fun rather than plunder. Their crimes had escalated to attacking villages after merchants.

“So you’re saying the rest of them are hiding in a fortress upstream in the valley.”

“Yes! We couldn’t do anything about them, but now that you knights are here, we can breathe a little easier!”

“We’re not knights, we’re mercenaries.”

Julian coldly dismissed the village chief’s words. The village chief looked puzzled.

“Not knights, what do you mean?”

“We’re not Earl Hendrick’s soldiers, but mercenaries under his command.”

“Then, when will the knights…”

“I don’t know. They’re not likely to come to a backwater like this.”

The village chief was dumbfounded by Julian’s indifferent attitude. They couldn’t attack the fortress with just four mercenaries.

Donnie unfolded a map and pointed to a spot with his finger.

“Let’s seek help from the nearest lord. The Earl Plar’s domain is right next door…”

“Oh no, don’t even mention it. Do you think we haven’t already been there? But we were chased away without even meeting Earl Plar. You must have heard the rumors about Vanessa Cloet, the Viscountess who poisoned her husband. They say Viscount Sven and all the reserve forces left the estate to catch that damned woman!”

The village chief pounded his chest in frustration. The villagers each added a word, expressing their anger.

Vanessa, startled like a deer bitten on the heel by a hunting dog, hurriedly pulled up her hood. She hadn’t expected her reputation to have spread to such a remote place. Fortunately, no one seemed to recognize her face, but she couldn’t feel at ease.

It wasn’t just that Earl Plar had issued a warrant; he had personally dispatched his vassals. It seemed he was determined to capture the traitor Vanessa.

Sven, who had served as a squire to Earl Plar, was granted the title of Viscount and knighted for his achievements in the Holy War. He had gained trust by taking on all sorts of dirty work and had risen to become one of Earl Plar’s closest aides. With such a person directly ordered, it was only a matter of time before she was caught. It felt like the guillotine was right in front of her, making her dizzy.

At the mention of Sven’s name, the group’s faces hardened. Especially Julian, who rarely wore a cold smile on his lips. It was a smile befitting an inquisitor who would slowly and painfully kill a sinner by cutting away their flesh piece by piece.

If Viscount Sven was after Vanessa, there was no time to delay.

“If that’s the situation, there’s nothing we can do here. I’ll return to the castle and request help from Lord Hendrick.”

At Julian’s ruthless words, the village chief’s face turned pale.

“You can’t leave! They’ll come back for revenge, and then we’re all dead!”

“That’s right! We’ll be mercilessly slaughtered!”

The people cried out from all directions like frightened sheep.

They didn’t have enough forces to attack the fortress, and waiting for them to come out and attack the village risked Viscount Sven arriving at any moment. But if they left the village to request reinforcements, the villagers would be sacrificed.

It was a troublesome situation where they couldn’t do anything.

A brilliant idea suddenly flashed through Vanessa’s mind to solve the problem.

If they couldn’t fight head-on, they had to make them self-destruct.

Vanessa pulled Julian aside and whispered in his ear for a long time. Julian, who quietly listened to Vanessa, suddenly changed his expression.

“I can’t do something so cowardly.”

“There’s no other way.”

“Don’t just whisper between yourselves. If you have a good idea, share it with us.”

Pierre intervened between the two, placing his hand on his waist. With Julian not siding with her, there was no way Pierre would say anything positive. As Vanessa hesitated, the quick-witted Donnie sent the village chief and the villagers out.

“We need to discuss something, so please step outside for a moment.”

The people were dragged out without knowing why.

Shortly after, loud voices arguing could be heard from inside.

“It’s indeed a petty trick that could only come from a woman’s mind.”

“You said you were innocent, but you’re just a liar!”

Pierre and Max said one after another. Despite the men’s criticism, Vanessa did not relent. It wasn’t the time to show unnecessary pride. They needed to quickly eliminate the bandit knights and request a trial by combat from the King.

“I think it’s a good idea. We have nothing to lose, right?”

Donnie broke his long silence and shared his thoughts. Vanessa looked at Donnie with a surprised face. Pierre’s face immediately frowned.

“This is why you can’t talk to archers. They lack chivalry.”

“Pierre, my arrows saved your life twice, yet you treat me like this?”

At those words, Pierre clamped his mouth shut.

With Donnie defending Vanessa, Julian quickly changed his mind. He couldn’t tolerate Vanessa’s favor turning to someone else.

“I agree too. Then, it’s decided by majority vote.”

Julian immediately burst out the door.

“You said you captured a prisoner. Where is he?”

Following the village chief’s guidance, the mercenaries rushed to the barn where the prisoner was confined.

The prisoner, sitting on the ground with his hands tied behind his back, looked at the sudden intrusion of rough mercenaries with surprised eyes. Realizing his fate, the prisoner quickly knelt and pleaded.

“Please have mercy and hang me instead of beheading me after the confession. I don’t expect the last rites…”

The mercenaries couldn’t help but laugh at the brazen request.

“Who said you could die comfortably? If you’ve committed a crime, you must be punished.”

Julian grabbed the prisoner’s collar and lifted him into the air. The prisoner’s feet barely touched the ground. The prisoner, whose throat was choked, trembled with a blue face.

“I’m innocent! I didn’t hurt anyone and opposed attacking the village from the start. It’s all because of the bandit knights! If it weren’t for those bastards…”

“Aren’t you on the same side?”

“Don’t compare us to those who should be shoved up the devil’s asshole. They’re butchers! We had no choice but to follow them because they kill people on a whim.”

As expected, most didn’t get along well with the bandit knights.

Julian released the prisoner’s collar with a sardonic smile, causing him to fall to the dirty ground and wriggle like a worm. Julian flipped the prisoner over with his boot to face him.

“About those bandit knights. There are still some alive, right?”

“Are you talking about Bram and Peter?”

“Yes, their infamy has spread even to the Arenshen County.”

“Could it be? Are you a knight of the Arenshen family?”

It was the second time today he had heard that question.

Unlike before, Julian couldn’t easily answer. Unlike the disgraced squire Sven, who was expelled from the Arenshen family and later became a knight for Earl Plar, Julian had wasted all those years and had nothing to show for it. Being a mercenary felt like being leftovers that hadn’t become a knight.

“We’re chasing the bandit knights on the orders of Earl Hendrick, but they holed up in the fortress, which is a headache.”

“What can I do to help?”

Perhaps mistaking him for a knight, the prisoner’s attitude became much more compliant. Julian cut the prisoner’s bonds with a dagger. Then he handed him a small vial of potion with a cork stopper.

“Just a few drops of this in their soup, and they’ll never wake up again. Simple, isn’t it?”

The prisoner carefully accepted the potion. Hope gleamed in his eyes.

“If I kill just Bram and Peter, will you spare us?”

“Yes, the merciful Earl Hendrick wishes to take in lost lambs as his subjects. If you confess, repent, and swear to live faithfully.”

“Of course. You can count on me.”

“If you betray us, you won’t die easily. Max here learned a special torture technique from the infidels during the Holy War. You’ve heard of the stake punishment, right?”