Chapter 134
“What’s going on?”
A barely perceptible wave of energy swept past the camp. Akshuller noticed it, and he looked in the direction where it had come from.
The campfire had been extinguished, and only Joshua remained standing amidst the darkness.
“...”
The mercenaries around Joshua were sprawled on the ground, and they were drooling with unfocused eyes. They looked as if they had lost their minds.
“B-Branch Manager!” exclaimed Beo. He had departed before Joshua appeared.
When the clouds scattered and the darkness was vanquished by the moonlight, Beo’s eyes widened upon seeing the scene.
“T-This…”
Akshuller slowly approached Joshua. He could already see what had happened, so he said, “Thanks.”
Joshua nodded and said, “I just don’t like being harassed, and you’re here as well.”
Akshuller smiled as well. However, his smile disappeared the moment he turned toward the mercenaries.
The good-natured man next door vibe he was giving off was replaced by a terrifying demeanor as he said toward the mercenaries, “From now on, you lot are expelled from the Mercenary Guild.”
“B-Branch Manager!” Greg woke up before anyone else, and he pushed his trembling legs up.
“In addition, you will be put on a blacklist wherein your crimes will be listed. The headquarters of the Mercenary Guild as well as its subsidiaries, along with the related noble families and high-ranked members of the guild—they will know the crimes you have schemed to perform today.”
The Mercenary Guild operated throughout the entire continent, expelling them from the Mercenary Guild as well as putting them on a blacklist was basically a death sentence. After all, who would be willing to employ the services of a mercenary who violated a taboo?
Thud!
Greg fell to his knees and bowed in front of Akshuller.
“I’m married with children. Please…” Greg started slamming his head into the ground. He slammed his head so strongly it produced dull noises as it made contact with the ground. “Please pardon my wrongdoings!”
Akshuller responded, “You’re asking for my permission?”
Greg momentarily stopped slamming his head into the ground. His eyes widened when he heard footsteps. He started trembling upon recognizing the owner of the footsteps.
Akshuller turned and said, “I shall let you punish them, dear customer. However, I have no intention of letting them go, even if you decide to forgive them. After all, the taboo they had violated was something even God will not be able to tolerate.”
“...” Iceline remained silent at Akshuller’s words.
Akshuller was right. Trust was necessary for any transaction. In addition, who would employ the services of someone who had once colluded to commit a heinous crime against their client? It was an issue that affected the entire Mercenary Guild.
“...!” Akshuller's eyes widened upon seeing Iceline’s surprising actions. Iceline was removing her robe, which meant that she was now going to reveal her figure behind the robe, which she had revealed only to Akshuller and Joshua.
The robe dropped to the floor, revealing Iceline's stunning features.
Aside from Greg, who didn’t dare to even raise his head, the other mercenaries stared at Iceline, agape. It seemed Iceline’s beauty made them forget their predicament.
“I have been chased all these years, and I was forced to remain silent. However, there’s one thing I learned from all those years.” Iceline broke the ice with her icy voice.
She sounded so cold that even the air itself was shivering as her voice traveled through it, but despite the coldness, it still captivated the listeners.
“Indecisiveness will be the end of me.”
At that, Iceline lifted one hand.
“Silence.” A translucent barrier with a radius of fifteen meters enveloped them. Silence was a 2nd Circle Spell, but its power would grow depending on the caster’s capabilities as well as the amount of mana they used to cast the spell.
However, Silence would usually only be six meters in diameter, so the fact that she was able to make Silence cover an area thirty meters in diameter proved that she was a capable and talented mage.
“This is a wasted effort…” Akshuller turned away with a bitter smile.
“Ice Spear.” Spears made of ice manifested for each mercenary present. The ice spears were powerful enough to rival a 3rd Circle Spell, but these spears didn’t actually manifest with the help of a spell.
Greg came to his senses and stood up. “This is crazy…”
“...” Iceline stared coldly at Greg and waved her hand softly.
The camp was silent.
A few mercenaries were crying out in agony, but no one could hear them.
***
It was currently deep in the night, and everyone was sleeping.
Joshua was leaning on a tree, away from the camp. He was in deep meditation when he suddenly heard faint noises.
Step, step, step.
Such light footsteps most likely belonged to a lady.
Joshua instantly recognized the owner of those footsteps.
With their backs to each other and a tree between them, Iceline whispered, “You never said anything.”
“I don’t have anything to say.”
“Aren’t you curious why I changed?”
Joshua was silent as he mulled over it. ‘Am I curious? Surprised? Honestly, I would have been rather startled if this had been my first life.’
Joshua was already familiar with her title as the Cold-Blooded Slaughterer, so he wasn't very surprised by her changes.
“Not really. The environment shapes one’s behavior, after all,” replied Joshua.
“...” Iceline didn’t know what to say. Joshua had just used her words from earlier against her.
There was a momentary silence. The only noises that could be heard were the noises from the grasshoppers and crickets. Eventually, Iceline softly said, “You helped me twice already; first at the inn back then, and today...”
“...” Joshua didn’t respond.
“Can I ask why you need the artifact I made?” asked Iceline.
“Well…” Joshua momentarily paused before continuing as if he didn’t care. “It seems convenient. That's it.”
“Haaah.”
“...?” Joshua glanced at Iceline. He seemed unsure if he really heard her let out a sigh.
“It doesn’t matter, I’ll make you another Reipon.”
“...!” Joshua's eyes widened slightly.
Iceline continued. “However, it will take time. It’s not something one can easily construct, even if one put their mind to it. Moreover, the necessary materials to create one are quite difficult to procure as well.”
Joshua chuckled at that.
“I guess I have to accomplish the request before anything else. If anything happened to the creator, the item I need would be gone too.”
“Do you really have to phrase it that way?”
Joshua bowed his head and changed the topic. “May I ask you one question, then?”
“I’m not sure,” Iceline replied rather ambiguously.
Joshua couldn’t help but pause upon hearing her reply. Nonetheless, he asked, “I want to learn more about your family.”
“...”
There was a lengthy silence.
However, Joshua had already expected this to happen, so he remained patient and sat there, waiting for her to speak.
It was difficult to recall painful memories.
In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising if Iceline directly stood up and left without answering him.
“If it's hard for you to tell—” Joshua started.
However, Iceline interrupted him in a soft voice. “My father… he was slain the same day our family was consumed by flames.”
‘I had my suspicions, but it’s still different to hear it from her.’
Joshua remained silent as Iceline’s voice echoed gently.
“All of his knights were slain, even the best of the best. Everything was razed—the documents, the furniture, the wheat my father stored for the citizens, all gone without a trace. All that remains is the portions of the family’s mansion that were spared from the fire.”
“Usually, a territorial war between nobles would stop the moment the patriarch of the opposition family surrendered, but…”
“We already surrendered when the war had just started.”
“...!” Joshua's eyes widened.
“My father cherished his loved ones above all else. He humbled himself and raised the white flag to protect his family. Unfortunately, it was useless because the enemies didn’t even declare war on us.”
“Is that so?” Joshua’s eyes narrowed. If it really had been a territorial war, Joshua would have heard some rumors from the Imperial Palace at some point. And if the results had been so terrible, the rumors should have spread like wildfire.
The fact that it didn’t happen meant that someone was controlling the spread of information.
To be able to prohibit the spread of information from an entire region meant that the mastermind had the authority and the power to do so. As far as Joshua was concerned, there was only one person who could do such a thing.
Joshua became confident in his theory.
In addition, it was already clear that the Imperial Family stood behind Marquis Crombell.
'Emperor Marcus. What are you trying to do?’
Joshua was upset by the lack of knowledge.
In his previous life, Emperor Marcus had unexpectedly vanished without taking any action.
‘I can’t just watch all this without doing anything.’
Joshua knew that even though he had knowledge of what was about to come as a regressor—he knew that the future could still change. Actually, it was already changing, and it was proven by what was going on right now. In that case, the events Joshua had seen in his previous life could drastically change as well.
Joshua recalled the relief goods in the carriages of their caravan. He cleared his mind up and spoke, “The estate's inhabitants have been suffering from the aftermath of war for decades now. The nobles are also sucking the inhabitants dry to repair the damage they caused. The people have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes, yet they are the ones paying for the incompetence of the nobles.”
“The environment shapes one’s behavior, but one’s nature does not easily change. You are definitely Count Rebrecca's child,” said Joshua before standing up. “It’s not really shocking that you’ve changed because of what you experienced, but—”
Joshua glanced at Iceline leaning on the tree before continuing. “I liked you more back then. Not the ice-cold Iceline, who was shaped by the reality of her situation, but Iceline zin Rebrecca—I liked the past version of you more than you are right now. Back then, you were so full of life…”
At that, Joshua walked away into the darkness, leaving a deafening silence in his wake.
Iceline was left alone, leaning on a tree beneath the moonlight.
“The past me…” Iceline’s muttering was buried by the incessant noise of crickets.
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