Chapter 15 - The Weeping Woman (1)

The subjugation force's mission, initiated in the city of Varna, was now reaching its end.

With mercenaries mobilized to reduce the number of monsters in the forest, they would be able to safely release sheep and cows into the fields next spring.

Even if it was a result that would not satisfy Joseph, the commander of the subjugation force.

"Motherfuckers... Those bastards couldn't say a single word to Vlad."

As Vlad naturally departed from the mercenaries by becoming Jager's squire, Got became the new Decurion of Squad Four.

Although it was a squad with only six members left now, including himself.

"I'm only holding it in because this is almost over."

Normally, it would be right for the strongest and most influential person to take the position of Decurion, but since the subjugation was now coming to an end, it had essentially become nothing more than a role for taking on trivial chores.

In other words, Got had been pushed into doing the annoying work.

"It's winter, so why is it so damn foggy?"

For that reason, Got was out standing the night watch in the middle of the night despite being a squad leader.

The final subjugation and the final camp.

Facing the approaching sleepiness, the freezing weather, and the thick fog settling around him, Got found himself missing his sleeping bag back at the encampment.

"Anything to report?"

"Nothing in particular, sir."

A man abruptly approached Got out of the fog just as he was in the middle of a yawn.

It was a man with a strong jawline and short black hair.

"Stay alert and keep up the good work."

"Yes, Sir Roderick."

Knight Roderick.

For Joseph, who had few knights loyal to him, Roderick was the only other knight besides Jager who was worth mentioning.

And that was also the reason why Got, who was far from diligent, had been focusing on his night watch duties.

"Tsk. So stiff you couldn't stick a needle in him."

Once Roderick passed by, Got muttered in a barely audible voice.

Roderick's presence, valuing discipline and rules whenever and wherever, was a burden to the mercenaries.

"Should I get some shut-eye now?"

The patrol had just passed, so he would be able to relax for a while.

The moment Got thought that and tried to close his eyes.

"What are you doing here?"

Roderick's voice rang out from beyond the thick fog.

'Hasn't he left yet?'

Got snapped his closed eyes wide open and tried to find Roderick by relying on the torches scattered here and there.

"You are looking for your child? What does that mean?"

'Who is he talking to?'

The dark night. The thick fog.

Though he couldn't confirm the figure because his line of sight was blocked, Roderick was clearly having a conversation with someone.

But the strange part was that while Roderick's voice could be heard clearly, the voice of the person he was talking to couldn't be heard at all.

"Now I see you are just a crazy woman. I am not your child."

'Child?'

Hearing the bizarre, out-of-context conversation, Got found himself unconsciously focusing on the direction Roderick's voice was coming from.

"..."

However, Roderick's voice from the fog stopped, as if it had been cut off, and was heard no more.

'What is this?'

Feeling that something was wrong, Got left his assigned post and quietly moved toward where the sound had come from.

His sword skills were subpar, but as expected of a swindler, Got possessed a decent amount of stealth when moving.

CRUNCH. CRUNCH.

The only thing he could hear was his own footsteps crunching on the snow; he couldn't even feel the presence of Roderick, who had just been talking to someone moments ago.

'... Where is he going?'

Still, he must have tracked him correctly, as he could see Roderick walking toward the far edge illuminated by the torches.

'What is that?'

But there was something strange.

Something was spinning round and round Roderick as he walked toward the forest.

Got narrowed his eyes and focused to figure out what it was.

'...!

The moment he faintly confirmed its identity, a chill ran down Got's spine.

'What the hell is that!'

A shape faintly visible in the thick fog.

It was a woman with long hair.

The woman's head was spinning round and round Roderick.

As if it had no body attached to it.

* * *

"So, I plan to return to Varna as soon as this subjugation force makes its return..."

Joseph trailed off and looked at the knights around him.

A bizarre atmosphere enveloped them.

The knights could not easily meet his eyes, looking somewhat embarrassed.

And in complete contrast to them, there was Jager, who wore a faint smile.

"I expect you all to prepare accordingly."

"... Yes."

"Understood, Lord Joseph."

"Ahem. Naturally."

After finishing his sentence, Joseph turned his head and looked around at the knights.

To be exact, he was looking at the squires standing behind the knights.

The squires who assisted them stood behind each knight.

"..."

And every one of them looked thoroughly beaten up in some way.

Vordan's squire, whose eye was swollen black and blue, was actually in better condition than the rest.

Black eyes, busted lips, and even somewhat terrified gazes.

Only Vlad, standing behind Jager, stood with a clean face and an expression that feigned complete ignorance.

"Then you are dismissed."

"Ahem. Hem!"

"So violent..."

"As expected of back-alley trash, tsk tsk."

Though it was unclear who they were speaking to, the knights muttered softly to themselves before exiting the tent.

As soon as all the knights except Jager left the tent, Joseph looked at Vlad with a deadpan stare.

"Did you hit them?"

"I'm not quite sure what you mean..."

"I told you I hate liars."

"... There was a brief initiation ceremony last night."

"An initiation ceremony?"

As the hand of Jager, who was standing beside him, started to rise, Vlad answered quickly without hesitation.

"They wanted to be treated like seniors."

Currently, Vlad's official position was Jager's squire.

Though there were various complicated details involved, at least that was how it looked to others.

"And so?"

"Isn't an initiation ceremony originally meant to be a place for the newcomer to introduce themselves? So I just showed them."

Normally, a knight's squire was a position taken by the children of nobles or wealthy families who wanted to become knights, barring special circumstances.

Since it was essentially a stepping stone to becoming a knight, even if a squire's role involved doing trivial chores, it was still a position ordinary people couldn't even dream of.

Since some random, unheard-of bastard had wormed his way into a world filled with such precious young masters, from their perspective, it must have been an issue they felt the need to address.

"Well... it's a hundred times better than him coming back beaten up from somewhere."

When Joseph's gaze turned to him, Jager shrugged and replied.

"Boys around that age naturally grow up fighting each other, after all."

"For some reason, you seem to be in a good mood."

"Isn't it natural to want the dog you raise at home to be better than another house's dog?"

Vlad had suddenly been turned into a dog, but the presence of the two men in the room was far too imposing for him to dare express his dissatisfaction.

"Well... I suppose that's true for me as well."

Joseph nodded in agreement with Jager's words.

SMACK!

"Ugh!"

In that moment, Jager's palm flew right into the back of Vlad's head.

"Right. Just like now, don't go getting beaten up by anyone other than me."

"Is that a compliment?"

"A knight must always be as tense as they would be in a real battle, whenever and wherever. You just died right there."

Unable to tell whether Jager's action was picking a fight or offering praise, Vlad had no choice but to simply rub the back of his head.

"Will you have any use for this guy..."

"Not right now."

"You heard him, right? Get out."

Unlike ordinary knights, Jager was the knight who guarded Joseph as his closest aide.

"... Then I'll take my leave."

Those words also meant that, unlike the other squires, there was no need for him to stick by Jager's side all day long.

Leaving the tent, Vlad muttered in a quiet voice that no one could hear.

"He sure acts high and mighty just for sparring with me twice a day."

[Greenhorn. That is a golden opportunity in itself.]

The voice spoke to Vlad, who was scratching the back of his head and quietly spitting out his complaints.

[Other people would bring money just for a chance to spar with Jager. He is a knight who is worth that much.]

"It just seems like he only wants to hit me, though."

[And that is exactly why the quality of the sparring has increased. Motivation is important wherever you go.]

"..."

Morning and evening. Sparring with Jager was Vlad's only set routine.

Other than that, everything was essentially free time for Vlad.

Now that he was no longer a mercenary, he had no reason to go out into the forest for subjugations, and there were plenty of mercenaries around for him to boss around instead of doing the trivial chores himself.

"I guess I should go see Priest Andreas."

[It is convenient in many ways to build relationships with influential figures.]

Right after the mask of Rhimann was stripped away and his true self was revealed, Vlad confessed his sins like a little lamb in front of Andreas.

"There are times when being honest is the right answer, it seems."

[A head-on approach is indeed the cleanest method.]

A connection with a renowned priest was well worth swallowing his pride for.

"God forgives all things. Just as I am here now to listen to what you have to say."

Even though Vlad had deceived him, Priest Andreas listened to all of Vlad's confessions and forgave him.

In fact, he even thanked him for coming to him and confessing all his sins.

He was truly a priest worthy of respect.

[If you consistently show your face, there will come a day when you earn his favor later on.]

Although there had been various crises over the past few days, he had eventually become a knight's squire and strengthened his relationship with Priest Andreas once more, so Vlad had essentially walked away with the best things he could gain from this monster subjugation force.

"Then should I try chopping some firewood?"

To properly make a good impression on Andreas, Vlad began chopping the firewood he would use.

"Boss! Rhimann... no, Boss!"

Just as Vlad was about to swing down on a piece of firewood, someone's urgent voice reached him.

"When did you get back?"

Got could be seen urgently calling out to him from among the gathered wood.

"I don't think the subjugation force has even arrived yet?"

Despite Vlad's nonchalant reaction, Got looked around and spoke in an urgent tone.

"Boss."

"Why am I your boss? I'm not a Decurion anymore."

"Then, Vlad."

"Don't act like we're close."

"No, then what do I call..."

Got protested in a somewhat wronged voice, but as if realizing this was no time for that, he carefully approached Vlad's side where he was chopping firewood.

"What is it?"

"I'm running away from here tonight."

"Why?"

"Don't forget that me telling you this is entirely out of goodwill. It's goodwill so we can see each other with a smile later on."

Vlad couldn't help but chuckle at the goodwill shown by a swindler.

"Alright. What is it you want to say?"

"... You can't just brush off what I'm saying. I saw it with my own eyes."

Due to Got's completely unusual atmosphere, Vlad finally put down the axe he had been using to chop firewood.

"What's this all about?"

Seeing that Vlad was finally ready to listen, Got spoke in a quiet voice.

"That forest. The forest we've been subjugating."

A trembling voice and wavering eyes.

"That forest is cursed."

"What?"

Those elements were adding sincerity to the swindler's words.

"There have been a few deserters so far, you know. Even though the pay is good and the working conditions here aren't bad."

"There were."

Seeing Vlad gradually getting drawn into his story, Got whispered.

"The forest took them all. They aren't deserters, they're actual missing persons."

"What, you're saying there's some kind of ghost snatching people away in the forest?"

It was true that there had been deserters despite the decent working environment.

But since the nature of mercenaries was to desire freedom, with the majority of them just moving as they pleased, Vlad had just brushed it off, thinking that was the case.

"There is a ghost. I'm telling you I actually saw it."

"Crazy bastard. Just get lost."

He had listened thinking it might be a plausible story, but as soon as such complete nonsense popped out, Vlad rapidly lost interest.

"Even a knight went missing during this subjugation! I'm not lying!"

Until Got's next words came out.

"What?"

"And I did some digging when I got back."

At Got's claim that a knight had gone missing, Vlad sensed that this was no ordinary situation.

"The guys who went missing so far."

When does a swindler tell lies?

It is only at the moment when they stand to benefit.

"They all had black hair."