Chapter 374 374-Slaying
The door was violently flung open, not pushed from the outside, but forcefully pulled from within.
The first maid, gripping the handle, was met with the sight of a man clad in iron armor, his eyes ablaze with a fierce bloodlust, prompting her to scream.
A mercenary thrust his sword, instantly killing the maid.
The maids and servants outside reacted swiftly, their nerves already on edge, scattering in panic like frightened mice.
However, mercenaries, numbering five or six, appeared at both ends of the corridor.
Clad in chainmail or lightweight iron armor, wielding broadswords or single-handed swords, they appeared nonchalant, viewing those before them as lambs to the slaughter, unprotected and unarmed.
A maid, in tears, knelt before Nora's now shut bedroom door, pleading for mercy.
They claimed to have been deceived by Howard's orders, hoping for Nora's forgiveness.
Nora, inside, chose not to respond, acting as if she heard nothing.
The mercenaries quickly slaughtered most of the maids and servants outside.
Ideally, Nora would have preferred to have these individuals taken outside the villa to be killed, to avoid contaminating the interior.
However, pressed by Howard's coercion, fearing further complications, she had previously ordered their execution within the villa itself.
Inside, two more individuals were bound and kneeling in a corner of the room: Nora's nephew and the instigator of the internal revolt.
Tied up, they trembled, listening to the massacre unfolding outside.
The mercenaries could quell the immediate threat, but they were powerless to address the underlying family strife with violence alone.
A mercenary, his head adorned with an antiquated helmet, raised his sword and effortlessly disarmed a male servant, whose grip on his weapon was feeble at best.
With a swift inversion and thrust, he ended the servant's life.
With this death, all the maids and servants involved in the upheaval on this floor were eliminated.
These mercenaries were bound by a long-term contract.
In terms of salary, they earned significantly less than their counterparts on the battlefield, but the trade-off was stability and the general absence of life-threatening combat.
Essentially, their role was similar to that of outsourced family guards.
However, starting from Nora's father, Fritz, the family recognized the unique mentality and the system of mercenaries, dissolving the conventional family guard in favor of recruiting these long-term contract mercenaries as the family's protectors.
Fritz believed that family guards, if left too comfortable within the family's confines for too long, would lose their martial edge and become indistinguishable from the male servants in the villa.
Thus, he opted for a rotational mercenary system to ensure his family's security.
Today, that decision proved its worth.
The leader of the mercenaries knocked on Nora's door, informing her that all the intruders outside had been dealt with.
Nora acknowledged this, instructing them to wait outside, before removing the gag from her nephew's mouth.
Choking and coughing at first, her nephew then hastened to affirm his loyalty to his aunt.
Hearing her nephew's words, Nora couldn't help but smile.
It wasn't a smile tinged with sarcasm but one of genuine happiness.
As a clan leader, she harbored no grandiose desires; her primary wish was for her family to avoid descending into chaos.
She didn't want to approach the situation with undue severity.
Given her nephew's praises, she genuinely felt pleased.
After issuing a few cautionary words to her nephew, she released him.
The door opened once more, and Nora's nephew stepped out, his eyes red with emotion.
Next was the son of a distant relative of Nora's.
She removed the gag from his mouth but showed little interest in his flattery, quickly growing irritated by his words.
The man was baffled, wondering why a few kind words from Nora's nephew had secured his release, while his own, seemingly more eloquent praise, only earned Nora's disdain.
The leader of the mercenaries remarked, "Miss, this man is no good."
Coming from someone sworn to protect the family, such a statement clearly indicated his stance.
As the head of the mercenaries, he hesitated to suggest murder directly, fearing Nora might not give the order and inadvertently forge a vendetta between himself and a member of the Habsburg family.
Nora, however, remained unyieldingly cold, handing the man over to the mercenary leader with the words, "This man isn't one of our family. It might be best to kill him."
The mercenary leader's grim smile was chilling as he dragged the man outside and executed him with a single stroke.
In theory, internal family conflicts could often be resolved amicably, yet different individuals favored different approaches.
Nora chose death as her solution.
The following day, unease permeated the Habsburg family.
Firstly, there was an insufficient supply of breakfast; the white bread slices meant for sandwiches were notably scarce.
More conspicuously, many noticed a significant reduction in the villa's maids and servants.
A child, missing a family servant who used to play with him often, caught snippets of adults' conversations, stirring a sense of panic within him.
Clutching his mother's skirt, he inquired, "Mom, where is Rayvadi? He usually comes to play with me early in the morning. Why hasn't he shown up today?"
His mother's heart sank as she stroked her child's hair, attempting to soothe him, "He probably overslept today, dear. Just wait a bit longer; he'll come."
At five or six years old, the child had developed a degree of discernment.
Breaking free from his mother's grasp, he protested, "You're lying! Rayvadi is a servant; he would have been up before us. It's not like him to not visit because he slept in!"
The child's father, noticing relatives directing their attention towards the scene and considering the relationship between his child and Rayvadi, feared the worst.
If Rayvadi had indeed been involved in the rumored upheaval from the previous night, he was likely dead by now.
Furthermore, if Rayvadi had participated and failed, there was a slim chance his family, including his child, could be implicated.
Scolding his son, the father commanded, "Shut your mouth, will you? Enough with these questions!"
The child burst into tears, crying out, "You're all lying! Rayvadi must be dead! Wuu wuu wuu..."
With a clatter, the door swung open, and a tall man with a face full of stubble barged in, carrying a weapon.
His entrance and subsequent actions incited the anger of the entire Habsburg family.
It wasn't his intention to provoke such a response; he was a man not known for his tactfulness.
He had intended to comfort the child, but his words, laden with grisly details and shockingly blunt, were too much for everyone present to bear.
Not just the child, but also his parents and other Habsburg family members dining in the hall felt a wave of discomfort wash over them.
Bending down, he forced a smile and gently patted the child's head, saying, "Kid, Rayvadi was very brave yesterday. Despite having no formal combat training, he faced his opponent with all the courage he could muster."
"He lunged at me with his sword, nearly causing me a great deal of trouble.
Fortunately, I managed to flick away his sword with a thrust and then killed him with the next blow."
The child, already sitting on the ground, began to sob uncontrollably.
The child's mother rushed over, quickly knelt beside him, and wrapped her arms around his head, whispering, "It's okay, my dear, don't cry, please don't cry."
The child's father approached the mercenary with a stern demeanor, asking, "Why did you kill a servant who served us last night? Do you have the authority to do so? I demand an explanation!"
The atmosphere among the Habsburgs present turned tumultuous.
The merciless reality, carelessly uttered by the mercenary, struck a nerve.
They began to demand answers from the bearded mercenary, as the situation gradually spiraled out of control.
Accompanied by Nora herself, the leader of the mercenaries entered the hall.
Observing the crowd's positioning and briefly listening to their conversations, Nora deduced that the issue stemmed from the mercenary who had killed Rayvadi the previous night.
The mercenary leader, believing his subordinate had acted foolishly at such a critical moment, kicked him fiercely.
The man was knocked to the ground, and Nora approached the child, squatting down to speak to him.
However, despite his young age, the child knew enough to resist.
He struggled vehemently, refusing to listen to Nora and even mustered his limited vocabulary to utter a curse word in his childish, ineffectual language.
Nora, slightly angered by the child's defiance, clenched her teeth and stood up, towering over the child with a look of displeasure.
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