Chapter 61
61. Torn Robes
Ellaroiden let out a shriek and tried to close the door again. Bang! But it was no use.
“You were being loud.”
Tiwakan's leader drawled slowly.
“Thanks to you, I heard it all. Even from outside.”
“Wh-What...? What?”
Black didn't reply to that and kicked Ellaroiden in the chest. Thwack!
“Ugh... Ack!”
Ellaroiden screamed long and painfully as he collapsed. As he clutched his chest and writhed, Black silenced him with a single sentence.
“You better not move. Your ribs are probably broken. If you move wrong, they'll puncture your lung.”
“……!”
“It'd be easier for me if you just died, though.”
“…….”
At those words, Ellaroiden couldn't even scream anymore. He froze in that position, only his eyes darting around.
“M-Master… What should we do….”
The Rosadel family's butler fussed over his master, at a loss. Rosadel was terrified and couldn't even stand properly on his own two feet.
“Wh-Why… Why in my house… Wh-What to do… Wh-What….”
Black moved towards Rosadel, who was staggering and leaning all his weight on his butler.
“D-Don't come closer… Ugh…!”
Rosadel stumbled backward and fell again. As Rosadel made a loud noise and sprawled out, Black sat down leisurely in front of him.
“Wh-Why are you sitting….”
As their eye levels got closer, Rosadel seemed to find it even more unbearable and shuddered. But he was too scared to run away anymore. Black stared impassively at Rosadel, who was only floundering in his seat, and slowly opened his mouth.
“Two hundred and eleven. Sixteen… No, fifteen are missing, so one hundred and ninety-five.”
“……? H-Huh! H-How do you know that…!”
Rosadel screamed, his voice cracking. The numbers Black recited were the number of Rosadel family's private soldiers. Rosadel couldn't believe how Tiwakan knew the exact number, down to the last digit. But Black, on the other hand, couldn't believe how Rosadel thought Tiwakan wouldn't have figured out the numbers of the six families' private soldiers by now. Knowing the enemy's troop size was the most basic thing in battle.
“About twenty of them are worthy of being called knights. The ones here now are probably four or five of them. All together, there are only about fifty.”
“H-How!”
The more Black spoke, the more grotesque Rosadel's expression became.
“You can count, so tell me. How many Tiwakan are here today?”
“Wh-What… What?”
“Don't ask. All you have to do is answer.”
“U-Uh… Uh… Th-That….”
Rosadel was too frightened and faltering, so the butler, unable to watch any longer, counted the number.
“There are eight, Master.”
“E-Eight….”
Black asked Rosadel again, who was blankly repeating the butler's words.
“Then do the math. There are eight people who can take on sixteen humans alone. How long will it take to deal with the fifty in your house?”
“Th-Th… Wh-What?”
Calculation was impossible. It was probably safe to assume that they would all be beheaded in the blink of an eye. Black tapped his cheek with his index finger, like someone watching a boring show.
“Are you done calculating? Call them if you want.”
“N-No….”
Rosadel shook his head weakly. Even if he gathered the private soldiers in the mansion, they would die anyway. Even if he pushed the private soldiers into a desperate situation and ran away alone, the result wouldn't be much different. It was better to listen quietly to what he had to say than to be chased in vain.
“Why… Wh-What do you want from me….”
“It's simple. You just need to make sensible statements at the upcoming Grand Council.”
“Se-Sensible…? …Like….”
“That anyone who harms the royal family should be punished for treason, something so obvious.”
“Hngh….”
Then Rosadel couldn't say anything, as if his lips were glued together. Black let out a small sigh between his words, as if on purpose.
“You guys are lucky. I'm in a good mood today, like I'm a little crazy.”
“……?”
“I won't needlessly take your heads. Just answer.”
“Th-Then….”
“You can coordinate with each other. I'll pretend that Kleinfelter did it all on his own.”
“……Ah!”
Rosadel finally fully understood what Black was saying. He meant that he would only punish Kleinfelter through the Grand Council. Thankfully, he had come first and created a way out.
“Ah, I understand! I will do so!”
“Lord Rosadel!”
As Rosadel nodded frantically, Ellaroiden screamed in horror, but it didn't last long. He was too busy gasping for breath with his tongue sticking out because of the pain near his ribs.
“Good.”
Black nodded once. And he held out his hand to Rosadel as if asking for a handshake.
“……?”
Rosadel hesitated and took Black's outstretched hand. It was his left hand. So he just thought that Tiwakan's leader was left-handed. But the moment their hands met, his wrist was twisted sharply backward.
“……Ugh!”
His left wrist snapped cleanly.
“I left your right hand intact because you have things to sign. If you ever don't want to sign, think about why that hand is still attached.”
In other words, it was a threat that his right hand would also be broken if he didn't sign.
“Ugh, ugh… Ugh ugh…!”
“Oh dear, Master….”
Black turned away, leaving Rosadel behind, who was sobbing while clutching his broken wrist. He turned towards Ellaroiden.
“I broke three of your bones.”
As Black approached, Ellaroiden swallowed hard.
“Calculate carefully. It'll be hard to heal if more than that are broken.”
“…….”
“I can't believe I'm even saying this… But I'm really in a good mood.”
Ellaroiden wanted to say that he wanted to say something sensible to the man who was in a good mood and broke three of someone else's ribs without hesitation, but he held back. His ribs hurt too much.
“I'll leave your right hand intact too.”
“……? N-No way!”
At those words, Ellaroiden grabbed his left hand and shook his head. But Black didn't mean he would break his left hand. Black turned his head and gestured to the mercenary holding the axe.
“Ankle. Either one. Make sure it can heal.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“A-Ankle? Wh-What are you doing…! No!”
Resistance was already too late. The Tiwakan mercenary grabbed the axe upside down in a very cheerful manner and struck Ellaroiden's ankle bone.
“Ugh, Aagh! Ugh! Ack!”
Saliva splattered from Ellaroiden's screaming mouth. Still, his ankle wasn't cut off or completely unusable. Unfortunately, Ellaroiden perceived that as even more terrifying. Tiwakan could have easily made his legs unusable. But he didn't. He said it was because Tiwakan's leader was in a good mood today. Ellaroiden didn't know how to deal with such an unpredictable man. On the other hand, for Black, who had been rolling around on the battlefield for 10 years and only knew how to win, dealing with a man like Ellaroiden was very easy. Black nodded once to the Tiwakan mercenaries with an unusually gentle expression, although others would jump up and deny it, of course.
“Remember well until you sign. There are still many parts of your bodies that are useless except for signing.”
“……!”
“Hoo….”
Black's method was very effective. Rosadel was ready to sign even if Black handed him a certificate saying he would strip him naked and sell him to a slave trader.
“Tell the other three families too.”
“…….”
“…….”
There was no answer, but everyone felt as if they had heard one. Black, having finished his business, turned lightly and left the Rosadel estate. As he made his way back to the castle, his mood became even more frighteningly pleasant. Because Liene would be there. * * *
“Come this way, Princess.”
Madam Flamvard excitedly pulled Liene along.
“It looks so magnificent hanging on the rack. You must see it for yourself.”
The Madam couldn't hide her excitement, saying that Black's wedding attire was complete. Just as Liene had said, the Madam was thrilled to be handling such splendid attire after so long.
“You can't tell everything just by holding it. It's best to have him try it on, but since that's not easy, we'll have to make do with the rack.”
The Madam's hurried steps were both amusing and endearing. At first, she seemed to dislike that man even more than I did. I guess not anymore. She looks like she's more excited about the wedding than I am.
“Hurry, Princess. Do you know how eager I was to show you this?”
The Madam, with a flushed face, opened the door to her room.
“Ah…!”
And she screamed. There was someone in the Madam's room, which should have been empty. Someone thin and pale, like a ghost. The reason for the scream was that the woman, whom she had never seen before, was holding scissors. The very scissors that Madam Flamvard used for sewing. Snip! The woman, not caring whether a scream was heard or not, plunged the scissors into the dress before her. Rip! The fabric tore in a long line. It was the wedding dress that the Madam had just finished and was so delighted with.
“No! What are you doing!”
Too shocked, Madam Flamvard belatedly regained her senses and lunged at the ghostly woman.
“What kind of dress is this! Who are you! Why are you doing this!”
The woman continued to tear at the dress even as Madam Flamvard held onto her. The more she did, the more horrified the Madam became, and the struggle threatened to become violent.
“Stop it! It's dangerous!”
Liene was afraid that the Madam might get hurt. She approached the two entangled figures and grabbed the ghostly woman's wrist.
“...Let go!”
The woman shouted.
“Drop the scissors. Now.”
Liene twisted the woman's wrist with all her might. In the meantime, the Madam pushed the woman's chest, and the scissors finally left her hand. Clatter! As the scissors fell, the woman also collapsed to the floor.
“...Hic!”
A suppressed sob burst from the woman's lips. Her hair looked strangely sparse compared to her appearance. Madam Flamvard burst out.
“What are you crying about! I'm the one who should be crying!”
Liene quickly stepped between the two, afraid that the Madam would lose her temper and pull the hair of the woman who had ruined the dress.
“Who is she?”
She felt strange. She still couldn't quite believe that the wedding dress had been ruined like that. It felt unreal, like a dream without beginning or end that you have when you're dozing off.
“Who is she, and how did she get into the castle?”
“……”
“Why did you do this to the dress? Did you know what kind of dress this is when you did it?”
“……”
“Answer me. I am someone who can punish you.”
“...Then, ...cut off my head.”
The woman finally opened her mouth.
“...? What did you say?”
“I said, cut off my head.”
The woman lifted her head sharply.
“Kill me. I have nothing to fear anymore. The life where I couldn't even die even if I wanted to is now over.”
“...?”
Madam Flamvard stomped her feet behind Liene, as if she was dumbfounded.
“Where did such a person come from…? She must be crazy, Princess. Don't do this and call the guards to drag her out.”
“I need to know the reason. ...Why do you have nothing to fear?”
The last words were directed back at the woman. The woman kept her mouth shut and glared at Liene. Madam Flamvard was about to faint at the impudence, but Liene somehow felt like she knew the reason. ...She looks like her. It's really strange, but she looks like her. The woman resembled Klima. Her large brown eyes, which looked gentle and frail but somehow broken, were similar.
“That means you were afraid of something until now. What were you afraid of?”
The woman didn't seem to want to answer. So Liene, who had asked the question, answered instead.
“Kleinfelter? Or your son being ruined because of it?”
“...? What...did you say?”
The woman, who seemed like she would never open her mouth again, mumbled blankly.
