116 – Witch Hunt-2
“Funny.”
The eldest son of the Weather family slowly frowned, as if he didn’t understand the situation.
“Are you just trusting those traitorous mercenaries and holding on?”
You will not be able to understand. From his point of view, the difference in power must be obvious.
No matter how hard the mercenaries struggle, they fall far short of well-trained soldiers. That was common sense and common thinking.
“The request we received has already been completed. We haven’t received much advance payment… We have already fully fulfilled the order to prevent the invasion of looters and promote security stability.”
Wolf snorted, taunting Weather’s eldest son. Even if it was morally contradictory, his words were not wrong.
It was not a big deal for a mercenary whose contract was over to change sides right away. If he was afraid of that, he wouldn’t have hired a mercenary in the first place.
“It’s not even worth talking about. Coward.”
The eldest son, who looked at Wolf with disgust as if he were looking at an insect, immediately turned his head and shouted at William.
“Doesn’t that mean you really want to trust these mercenaries and fight?
As if these mercenaries were not the slightest threat, he said in a confident voice.
“Do you really think they’ll follow you? I don’t know how much gold they paid, but mercenaries are always on the side of the strong. The moment our troops run into them, they’ll drop their weapons and run away!”
I silently kept my mouth shut and carefully analyzed his actions.
From the eldest son’s point of view, his victory would be certain, but he avoids battle and induces surrender.
It didn’t seem like it was simply because he didn’t like the blood shed. More than that, it’s the feeling that I don’t want to consume soldiers with this kind of thing.
“You were ambitious.”
He probably didn’t come with troops to secure the area near the entrance to the middle ground, simply to attack this village and William’s territory.
Attacking the remaining Gnostic Soldiers in Aldguild, fighting a proper all-out war and moving with the intention of winning.
“Well, it’s not wrong. Most mercenaries are on the side of the strong.”
Wolf nodded coolly.
“So, you are on the side of the strong. Your defeat is certain, but there is no reason to hold on to the rotten rope.”
“What?”
It seems that being despised by a human who looked at it like garbage was an intolerable insult to the eldest son.
It was time to give him one last chance. Although I probably won’t accept it.
I took a few steps forward and pulled out the holy sword.
“Stop the war.”
“What, you. My family’s archer can turn you into a hedgehog with one gesture of my hand. Are you kidding me?”
“I’m a warrior. There are people around me who are related to the imperial family. If you don’t have a good cause, your sins will be judged immediately.”
The eldest son’s face hardened for a moment. But it didn’t seem like my thoughts stopped because I seriously believed my words and thought about it.
Rather, I wonder if I stopped thinking because I was dumbfounded because I heard a lie that was so absurd.
“Are you out of your mind? If you lie like that, do you think I’ll run away? I think you’re being witty, but it’s very unpleasant.”
“It’s a fight without a cause. Even if you want to avenge your family, no one will agree with you this way.”
“Agreement? Justification? Why is such a thing necessary? Already, I am the blood of the noble Weather family, and I have stronger soldiers and my own abilities than anyone else.”
“Hmm, I haven’t heard of the Weather family having talent.”
Eleanor, covering her face, muttered in a reproachful way. Few people know more than she does, at least when it comes to knights.
“I am strong. Isn’t that enough?”
Looking at his tilted face, it was getting harder and harder to hold back a laugh.
“It’s not for a little human like you to intervene. I don’t know about the others, but I’ll have to kill you. Disrespect has crossed the line.”
“You don’t even have to make excuses.
“Is that wrong?”
“Of course you’re wrong.”
It may differ depending on what the standard of strength is, but it is just a very variable and meaningless value.
The only regret is that you need to be strong to convince them.
However, it was irrelevant to me.
“Let me teach you something. Why being strong doesn’t make you qualified to kill people.”
A blue light shimmered on the drawn holy sword.
“Oh, this shouldn’t come out.”
-This, after all, is what you choose! It’s not something I can cut down on my own…
It was the first time he had ever pulled out the power of a warrior so naturally. No, it wasn’t even natural. Because it wasn’t something I could control.
After stroking the holy sword, which had been out for the first time in a while, and then tapping the sword, the blue light somehow disappeared.
I turned to the eldest son again and walked again as if nothing had happened.
“Let’s see who’s stronger.”
/////
The eldest son smiled confidently.
It wasn’t the first time I’d seen a psychopath who believed he was a hero. If you include the impostors you don’t believe in yourself, you’ve probably seen them more than five times.
There were not a few people who deceived others by painting them with blue paint, pretending to be the strength of a warrior, and buying a reasonably antique-looking sword from somewhere and then committing fraud.
“…what?”
However, this time it was a little different. That self-proclaimed warrior was no different.
People around me are weird. As if he had been deceived by his lie, the self-proclaimed hero ran to this camp alone, but he was just looking at him without any worries or anxiety.
To shake off that anxiety, he gave the order as usual.
“Kill that lunatic!”
“All right!”
Although threatened with archers, there was no need to waste arrows. It’s a valuable consumable, and spending dozens or hundreds of arrows to kill one lunatic was a terrible waste.
It was a loss to have time dragged on by these idiots. Hurry up, defeat the Aldgild family, and avenge Weather.
“…What?”
But his hopes were quickly dispelled.
The self-proclaimed hero, who had lightly struck a soldier with his sword, briefly supported the fallen man’s head to prevent injury.
It doesn’t matter if it’s one person. A famous mercenary or adventurer could be stronger than an ordinary soldier.
Weather’s eldest son could have done that much. It was the fault of that soldier who went too far ahead.
But, it didn’t end there.
“Sah, I can’t compete with you!”
“Sword against sword, but our sword bounces and cuts like cheese!”
“There is no chance of winning by putting in soldiers!”
The confused report from the noncommissioned officers made the eldest son’s head hurt.
“Shut up! You incompetent bastards!”
He was watching too. Watching Weather’s soldiers simply fall like fallen leaves before the wind.
The swordsmanship of that self-proclaimed hero was not noticeably fierce or outstanding. However, he was physically superior.
“Inject all soldiers! Stop it somehow!”
Even while surrounded by soldiers, he carefully orchestrated the situation so that no one was injured or killed.
Anyone can see that it is arrogant, and anyone can see that it is presumptuous. However, that self-proclaimed hero had the ability to do so.
“…Are you a real hero?”
“It doesn’t matter now. Other soldiers may not be able to stop him!”
“Tell me. Are you a real warrior?”
“No… it won’t.”
The fact that the princess was a fake hero was revealed to everyone, but the real hero was wrapped in a veil.
However, the swordsmanship of the person who killed the demon king could not be at that level.
“I can’t be in a place like this…”
A man who rejected all offers from the emperor and high-ranking nobles and went into hiding.
Opinions were divided as to where he had gone, but there was no way he would enter such an unimportant town and walk with mercenaries.
“It can’t be helped. Call the wizard.”
“Bur, are you talking already?”
He is an unlicensed wizard. There is a good reason why such people are despised.
Their magic is dangerous and uncontrolled. The derogation of black magic is an insufficient word to fully explain its instability.
Even if there are rumors that it has appeared, it is like a monster that the church’s witch hunters are tracking. Of course, I had to save it until I went head-to-head with Aldguild’s army.
“Maybe it’s better to run away right now…”
“It’s one man. Not a real hero, but a psychopath who claims to be a hero! Who do you think will be afraid of us if we run away from a guy like this?”
“that…”
“Even the farmers who were plowing the fields would grab a pitchfork and run at it, thinking, ‘Wouldn’t this be worth trying?’ In that case, it’s better to do everything you can, even if it’s a bit risky.”
Weather’s eldest son may be cruel and irresponsible, but he was no fool. His lieutenant nodded and ran to call the wizard before the rest of the men collapsed.
“Let’s try it somewhere…”
The advance of the self-proclaimed hero had no intention of stopping. The eldest son bit his lip hard enough to bleed.