The aftermath of Ilwooz's power was enormous. The people of Targayel were somewhat familiar with it, having previously experienced its power at the mansion of Teslaon.
However, most of the private soldiers of the Mapel family did not know that there was a priest of the Church of Ines, nor did they know how powerful the priest was.
Targayel, who was already familiar with it, was also on the front line, but Mapel, who had no idea, needed no explanation. The power of Ilwooz that was displayed before them was truly a miracle of the gods.
The white light was truly warm. The feeling of it gently wrapping around their whole body, swaying, was like a child being held in its mother's arms.
"Ah..."
The commander of the knights of Mapel looked at his arms in a daze. New flesh grew, and the arrows that had been embedded fell to the ground with a thud.
He looked up at the sky. There was a priest wrapped in pure white light. With his colorful eyes and long, fluttering white hair, he was so holy that it was difficult to look at him properly.
In the dazzling halo, the priest slowly descended to the floor. The moment his feet touched the ground, the white light surrounding him began to shake.
And the light began to return to the priest again. When all the light was sucked into the priest, even the burning flames disappeared. Amidst the ashes and ruins, the priest smiled lovingly.
"Ah..."
The commander of the knights of Mapel muttered without realizing it.
“Ines has returned...”
The priest's gaze turned to the knight commander. The knight commander flinched when their eyes met. Those were not human eyes. The pupils were a mixture of many colors. In them, which were not defined by any color, all sorts of things were contained, so he could not look directly into his eyes. The knight commander, who was trembling, froze, and the priest spoke quietly.
“No.”
The priest whispered quietly, smoothing the hem of his robe.
“I am just a servant who follows His will.”
The Knight Commander fell to his knees before the priest. Following the Knight Commander, Mapel's private soldiers began to kneel one by one. Soon, they all knelt and looked at the priest.
God was with Targayel.
"...No."
Elze said in a dazed voice.
“Where did the mansion that used to stand here go?”
Whoosh, the wind swept across the empty ruins.
Leaving Hayden in charge of the Mapel Counts, Shan and Elze returned to Targayel's quarters. The private soldiers of the Mapel family were all powers that Targayel could eventually absorb. They hurried to move because it would be difficult to kill too many of them. Then, Elze, who rode hard with Shan and arrived at Targayel's quarters, was proud.
There should have been a nice mansion standing there, even if it was a little worn... But there was nothing. All that was left on the ruins were broken rubble, burnt vegetation, and scattered earth. Elze blinked several times.
So this situation... No matter how much she thought about it, it seemed like the mansion had blown away. Elze, who had been standing there blankly for a while, suddenly turned her head and questioned the most likely culprit.
“Ivanna, is it you?”
Ivanna, who had been fidgeting next to Elze, waved her hand in surprise. She protested with an expression that seemed as if she was dying from injustice.
“Absolutely not!!”
It was as if she had nothing to do with the explosion. The people of Targayel looked at Ivanna with dumbfounded expressions. They knew how Ivanna had been running wild before the explosion. At least a third of the crater on the ground was made by Ivanna.
Elze sighed and said to Raphine.
“Rapine, explain what happened.”
“Captain, so...”
While everyone in Targayel, including Liv, was watching Elze intently, Eapine began to explain on her behalf.
When they reached the part where the commander of the Knights of Mapel detonated a solid bomb, Elze briefly interrupted Rapine and asked a question.
“But where did he get that bomb?”
At Elze's words, Ivanna, who was in the corner, flinched.
Hoo, look at this.
Elze looked at Ivanna with eyes that said she had been caught. Ivanna flinched even more violently. Elze spoke to her slowly.
“As far as I know, a bomb like that isn’t easy to obtain.”
Alchemists are rare talents. In the first place, there were not many people who wanted to become alchemists. The nobles were not interested in science, and the commoners were more concerned about making a living than science.
So rare that it was said that meeting an alchemist was as difficult as meeting a priest of Ines. They were not rolling around on the streets, and bombs that could blow up an entire neighborhood, including a mansion, were not likely to explode out of nowhere.
“Ivana?”
Elze called Ivanna's name in a long voice.
“Captain, so...”
Ivanna hesitated for a while before confessing in a crawling voice.
“No, that’s true...It’s a little bit my fault...”
Everyone looked at her. With their eyes focused on me, Ivanna blushed slightly and said.
“That solid bomb, I made it.”
“What!!”
Tarkun and the other Targayel people were terrified, but Ivanna simply ignored them and began to explain in detail to Elze.
The solid bomb was developed by Ivanna. The solid bomb, made by absorbing existing liquid explosives into diatomaceous earth, was easier to transport and use than the liquid bomb.
Ivanna used a specially treated bottle when using liquid explosives so that it would not break easily. However, other alchemists often had accidents when breaking bottles containing explosives while transporting them. For that reason, bombs were not easily used in warfare.
Others who realized the convenience of solid bombs also tried to imitate Ivanna and make solid bombs, but they all failed. Ivanna was the only one who knew how to make solid bombs.
Ivanna knew full well that there was no end to the misuse of solid bombs, so she refrained from using them as much as possible.
“But how did the commander of the Knights of Mapel get his hands on this... ah!”
Ivanna, who had been tilting her head, clapped her hands.
“By the way, I left some solid bombs in Heglatan’s laboratory!”
As soon as she heard Ivanna's words, she immediately had a guess. Shan, who had been listening silently until now, spoke right away.
“Is it a Seraph?”
Duke Seraph never underestimates Targayel. He is serious about dealing with Targayel, and he must have thought about how to kill Shan.
Duke Seraph knew very well that Shan was not ordinary. Since he could not be killed by human means, he must have thought of inhumane methods, even reaching the idea of a bomb.
It would have been a simple task for him to work with Heglatan to obtain the solid bomb. Duke Seraph must have sent the solid bomb to Count Mapel and given specific instructions on how to use it.
But the foolish Count Mapel did not follow Duke Seraph's instructions and acted on his own, causing all sorts of farces. Things did not go his way, so he was anxious and sent the Commander of the Targayel Knights to him and gave him a bomb...
“So that’s how the mansion was blown away?”
Elze looked around the ruins, smiling helplessly, and muttered to Ivanna.
“You’re a lot more dangerous than I thought....”
At Elze's words, Ivanna opened her eyes wide and said as if she felt wronged.
“No, Captain! Absolutely not!”
Her round, wide-open eyes looked truly innocent. Her face was slightly flushed, and her body was twisted, just like an innocent girl's.
“The captain was also... Since they attacked from that side, I had no choice but to do that too...”
Ivanna went even further and pretended to sob. The Targayel people gaped at Ivanna, who was writhing in Elze’s arms. It was still vivid in their minds.
"Kyahahahaha!"
...and the sight of her laughing and running wild like a crazy woman. However, the witch in their memories and the girl in front of Elze now were worlds apart. It was ridiculous how she even acted cute and said, “I don’t know anything.”
Liv, who was blankly staring at the sight, poked Rapine next to him and asked.
“Is that hwr original personality?”
Rapine coughed loudly with a slightly embarrassed expression on his face and then answered.
“Yes... What...”
“She only does that in front of Madam?”
“A little bit... I guess.”
“Ugh...”
While Liv and Rapine chatted away, Elze finished talking about the bomb.
“Anyway, let’s say it’s a bomb.”
And this time, he pointed to the private soldiers of the Mapel family and asked a question.
“Why do these people look like this?”
“...”
Elze's question brought silence once more. The people of Targayel began to look at each other again.
The private soldiers of the Mapel family were indeed in good condition. Their armor and weapons were tattered, but upon closer inspection, they were free of any wounds other than soot and dried blood.
Of course, Targayel was the same, as everyone else was unscathed. The problem with the Mapel soldiers was not physical but mental.
They all had lost expressions. Some were even kneeling on the floor and praying. The atmosphere was so pious that it reminded them of the temple of Ines. They couldn't figure out what on earth had happened to cause this.
At that moment, a faint and hazy voice was heard.
“Elze...”
“...Sir Serhil!”
Elze called his name precariously. Ilwooz smiled faintly at Elze and said.
“I guess I should explain that...”
Ilwooz told the whole story in a soft voice. As Elze listened to him, she could feel that Ilwooz had grown. Even though his eyes were covered as usual, she could feel a much stronger divine power coming from him. Even though he was sealed, his power overflowed like water overflowing from a full jar. Elze whispered softly to Ilwooz.
“You’ve gotten stronger.”
Ilwooz whispered to Elze.
“To protect the Savior...”
His appearance, smiling faintly, looked truly mature. At the moment when a touching atmosphere was about to be created, Shan's cold voice separated Elze and Ilwooz.
“You’ve become a bigger monster.”
Shan said crookedly.
“Are you saying that all of the private soldiers of the Mapel family were moved by the divine power and repented?”
Elze could not have been unaware of the slight sarcasm in his words. Elze rebuked Shan.
“Shan! If it weren’t for Serhil, Targayel would have been annihilated.”
Shan made a face of displeasure at those words. But in the end, he said something, even if it was rude.
“...Thank you for saving Targayel.”
Ilwooz seemed a little surprised. Neither Ilwooz nor Elze had expected Shan to express his gratitude. However, Ilwooz soon smiled faintly and accepted Shan’s greeting.
“That’s an exaggeration... I just did what I had to do...”
Anyway, thanks to Ilwooz, everyone was saved. And even the private soldiers of House Mapel, who had experienced a miracle, followed Targayel.
After grasping the situation, they quickly organized the personnel and checked the equipment. This was because the fight with Mapel was not over yet. After confirming that all maintenance was complete, Elze opened her mouth.
“Then now... shall we go back to Count Mapel’s residence?”
Shan held Elze's hand tightly from the side. Targayel's vassals lined up behind the two.
The time has finally come to completely wrap up the Mapel family.
After Elze and Shan left for Targayel's quarters, Hayden gathered his supporters within Mapel. Most of Hayden's supporters had been absent from the mission to raid Targayel, so gathering them was easy.
Hayden went to see Count Mapel with Cecilia and armed knights, but Count Mapel had already fled.
"Ha...."
Cecilia let out a hollow laugh when she found out that Count Mapel had run away alone. Cecilia had also used Count Mapel, but when she realized that he had abandoned her, she felt bitter.
After whispering such sweet words of love, Count Mapel ended up buying Cecilia's youth and beauty with money, like a doll that is neatly displayed on a shelf.
Leaving Cecilia behind, who was looking bitter, Hayden gave orders to the knights.
“Search this mansion! He can’t have gone far yet!”
Following Hayden's orders, the knights began to search the inside and outside of the Count's mansion. However, they were having a harder time finding Count Mapel than expected. It took quite some time, so they were anxious that he might have escaped.
“I found the Count!”
Eventually, they were able to find Count Mapel. Following the knight's report, everyone ran to where the Count was.
Count Mapel was in the backyard of the mansion. There was a secret passage leading to the outside from the Count's study, and he tried to escape through it.
However, Count Mapel had never used the secret passage before. He had never used it before, so he wandered around for a long time, and eventually, he was caught because of the delay.
At the feet of the Count, whose arms were tied by the knights, there was a large sack lying. The sack had its mouth open, and the inside was completely visible. The sack contained valuables and gold coins that had been passed down through generations of the Mapel family. Even while running away, he was delayed because he was trying to grab something like that.
Perhaps Count Mapel would have lived if he had only tried to save his life. However, he could not give up his wealth until the end, and his greed caught up to him.
Count Mapel smiled awkwardly, sweat dripping down his face. He called Hayden's name.
“Hey, Hayden...!”
Blood is thicker than water.
It was a common expression used to emphasize the bond between blood relatives. But Hayden never thought of it that way. Many people in the world just fought without any sense of parental responsibility. It was bold, even extreme, but Hayden thought there was no more accurate expression.
Since his mother died, Hayden had never once called him father. To Hayden, Count Mapel was a worse man than anyone else.
“Hayden, my son...!”
So, even though he sees Count Mapel crying and begging right in front of him, Hayden doesn't feel any sympathy. Rather, he just found his wrinkled face distorted and ugly.
Moreover, it was disgusting that he didn't even mention Cecilia, even though he clearly saw that she was being held captive. He had been so cherished and made a fuss about her being the love of his life, but in the end, she was nothing in front of his life.
Cecilia could not have been unaware of this fact. She looked at Count Mapel with a truly vain expression on her face.
"Count."
Hayden spoke to him in a cold voice.
“When my mother passed away, didn’t you shed even half as many tears as you does now?”
“...Hey, Hayden.”
“If that were the case, I would have at least given you my final courtesy.”
Count Mapel's face twisted. He realized that Hayden had no room to maneuver. When he realized that the strategy of appealing to sympathy was also impossible, Count Mapel changed. He shouted loudly.
"Money!!"
Count Mapel kicked the bundle at his feet with his foot. With a clatter, yellow gold coins and jewels poured out haphazardly.
“Money! I’ll give you everything I have!! I’ll give all the gold and silver treasures here to whoever kills that guy and helps me escape!!”
Even the last struggle was truly ugly. The knights, who knew that the tide had already turned, did not flinch at Count Mapel's words.
But wherever you go, there are always fools. Some were shaken by Count Mapel's words, who was stamping his feet and saying that he would give them even a billion. They turned to Count Mapel and muttered.
“Targayel would have been annihilated anyway...”
Count Mapel exclaimed in delight at their words.
"Ues!!"
Count Mapel, barely holding on to his last hope, began to struggle.
“I sent a bomb to the Knight Commander!”
Everyone stopped in their tracks at the shout that sounded like a tantrum. Count Mapel shouted as if driving a wedge in.
“Targayel is annihilated!!”
“...!!”
At Count Mapel's words, the other knights began to waver a little. Even Hayden wavered for a moment but soon regained his composure. Hayden gave the knights a short whipping.
“Don’t be agitated.”
Hayden looked at Count Mapel and spoke in a clear voice.
“They are not the type of people who would collapse to that extent. Please stop talking nonsense.”
But Count Mapel did not miss the gap he had barely found.
“Hehehe...”
He looked around the room with a sinister smile. He met the eyes of each knight and spoke.
“Don’t you all know that? At least when it comes to money, I don’t lie.”
It was true. Count Mapel had certainly provided his men with money. Several more knights turned to Count Mapel. Count Mapel had already been released from his bonds.
Count Mapel, convinced that he had taken control of the situation, became even more arrogant. On the other hand, Hayden's face was filled with impatience.
The standoff started to drag on longer than expected.
The knights were at a loss as to what to do and wavered between Hayden and Count Mapel. Some of the knights turned to Count Mapel, while those who remained by Hayden's side drew their swords. Some were still hesitating and unable to make a choice.
In this tense war of nerves, Count Mapel shouted again.
“Targayel are all dead! Dead!!”
It was then. The sound of horse hooves could be heard from afar. The sound of the ground shaking gradually came closer. Count Mapel shouted as if he had been waiting.
“Look! It’s the sound of Mapel’s private soldiers returning!”
He looked at the dusty place with eyes full of anticipation. But as he got closer, Count Mapel's eyes grew wider.
"No...?"
The waving flag was not the fish symbol of House Mapel. There, where a black flag with a crow on it fluttered in the wind, stood the Count and Countess of Targayel.
Behind the two men in the front were Targayel's vassals and knights. What was even more terrifying was the fact that behind them, Mapel's private soldiers were also following obediently.
They soon stopped in front of where Count Mapel and Hayden were facing each other. Against the pouring backlight, a clear voice was heard.
“I guess it’s not too late.”
Hayden smiled brightly and called her name.
“Elze!”
And then he shot straight at Count Mapel.
“Who on earth died, Count Mapel?”
Count Mapel's face turned leaden. He muttered again and again.
“This is impossible... This is ridiculous...”
Does this make sense? Throwing him into a lion's den, poisoning him, or detonating a bomb didn't help. He even used some kind of magic to turn Mapel's private soldiers to his side and come back. Count Mapel really felt like he was dreaming.
But the Targayel that appeared before his eyes was vivid and moving. Count Mapel watched Elze and Shan dismount from their horses side by side. Then his eyes met Elze's. Elze smiled brightly and greeted him.
“Have you been well, Count?”
“Countess...”
“It would be fortunate if you didn’t have any.”
But even though Elze's mouth was smiling, her eyes were fierce. Elze spoke with great sincerity.
“I’m going to make you a special treat from now on.”
At Elze’s words, Count Mapel’s legs gave out, and he collapsed. Count Mapel’s scream rang out. At that moment, Hayden was wiping away his chest in relief that everything was over. Cecilia, who had been held captive until now, spoke for the first time.
“...I want to atone.”
All eyes were on her. Cecilia spoke softly with a gaunt face.
“I want to make a final atonement to Hayden.”
Then she bowed her head deeply.
“Please, Countess Targayel.”
The one who was most shaken by her bowing her head and asking for something was Hayden.
Of course, Elze had no intention of atonement at all. She was going to arrest her and drag her away to question her on her crimes. But when she looked at Hayden, it seemed like he wanted to hear what Cecilia had to say.
Elze decided to give Hayden a chance. Cecilia, freed from the knight's bonds, approached Hayden with a swaying stride. And then she almost knelt down...
“!!”
She thrust a sharp knife into Hayden's neck. It was the same knife that had stabbed Shan in the shoulder.
“What do you mean it’s over!!”
Cecilia held Hayden hostage with a knife raised. At that sight, Elze put her hand on her forehead. It was not as if human nature could change so easily as turning over the palm of one's hand. She wondered why Cecilia was reflecting, but it was as expected.
Cecilia screamed as she thrust the knife into Hayden's neck.
“Don’t come any closer!! I’ll stab him! I’ll stab him!!”
Her hand holding the knife trembled. The blade lightly cut Hayden's neck due to her shaking hand. As the blood flowed, Cecilia became more excited and started screaming. Elze calmly asked her a question.
“What do you want?”
“What do I want?”
Cecilia shrugged her shoulders. She said with a sobbing laugh.
“I’m going to kill you.”
Cecilia looked at Elze with mad eyes.
“If I kill this guy in front of me, you will suffer too! You will be stuck in the dark and suffer like me!!”
It was a cruel and sadistic remark. Even as she said such horrible things, she was smiling happily. With a broad smile, Cecila spoke to Elze.
“Isn’t that right, Erzenes?”
However, Hayden and Count Marpel were frightened by Cecilia's madness, but Elze's reaction was extremely indifferent.
“Oh, I see.”
All she could do was give a lukewarm answer. Elze had dealt with so many crazy people recently that she had become an expert. To Elze, someone like Cecilia was quite cute. Elze folded her arms and opened her mouth.
“But I’m sorry, but I can kill you right now.”
Elze said, nodding to the knife she was holding.
“Before you swing that toy around with your poor skills.”
"What...?"
Only then did Cecilia realize the cold sensation on her neck. She shivered and glanced behind her.
“...”
There, a masked man was holding a dagger to Cecilla's neck. The man who had approached without a sound was Epen, the master of assassins.
No one except the people of Targayel noticed Epen's approach. While everyone was belatedly surprised, Epen aimed his dagger with an extremely cold gaze.
Unlike Cecilia's dagger that was trembling in vain, his dagger was calm. It was just waiting for Elze's order. In front of the pale Cecilia, Elze smiled coldly and said.
“If you want to kill, then try killing.”
However, most of the private soldiers of the Mapel family did not know that there was a priest of the Church of Ines, nor did they know how powerful the priest was.
Targayel, who was already familiar with it, was also on the front line, but Mapel, who had no idea, needed no explanation. The power of Ilwooz that was displayed before them was truly a miracle of the gods.
The white light was truly warm. The feeling of it gently wrapping around their whole body, swaying, was like a child being held in its mother's arms.
"Ah..."
The commander of the knights of Mapel looked at his arms in a daze. New flesh grew, and the arrows that had been embedded fell to the ground with a thud.
He looked up at the sky. There was a priest wrapped in pure white light. With his colorful eyes and long, fluttering white hair, he was so holy that it was difficult to look at him properly.
In the dazzling halo, the priest slowly descended to the floor. The moment his feet touched the ground, the white light surrounding him began to shake.
And the light began to return to the priest again. When all the light was sucked into the priest, even the burning flames disappeared. Amidst the ashes and ruins, the priest smiled lovingly.
"Ah..."
The commander of the knights of Mapel muttered without realizing it.
“Ines has returned...”
The priest's gaze turned to the knight commander. The knight commander flinched when their eyes met. Those were not human eyes. The pupils were a mixture of many colors. In them, which were not defined by any color, all sorts of things were contained, so he could not look directly into his eyes. The knight commander, who was trembling, froze, and the priest spoke quietly.
“No.”
The priest whispered quietly, smoothing the hem of his robe.
“I am just a servant who follows His will.”
The Knight Commander fell to his knees before the priest. Following the Knight Commander, Mapel's private soldiers began to kneel one by one. Soon, they all knelt and looked at the priest.
God was with Targayel.
***
"...No."
Elze said in a dazed voice.
“Where did the mansion that used to stand here go?”
Whoosh, the wind swept across the empty ruins.
Leaving Hayden in charge of the Mapel Counts, Shan and Elze returned to Targayel's quarters. The private soldiers of the Mapel family were all powers that Targayel could eventually absorb. They hurried to move because it would be difficult to kill too many of them. Then, Elze, who rode hard with Shan and arrived at Targayel's quarters, was proud.
There should have been a nice mansion standing there, even if it was a little worn... But there was nothing. All that was left on the ruins were broken rubble, burnt vegetation, and scattered earth. Elze blinked several times.
So this situation... No matter how much she thought about it, it seemed like the mansion had blown away. Elze, who had been standing there blankly for a while, suddenly turned her head and questioned the most likely culprit.
“Ivanna, is it you?”
Ivanna, who had been fidgeting next to Elze, waved her hand in surprise. She protested with an expression that seemed as if she was dying from injustice.
“Absolutely not!!”
It was as if she had nothing to do with the explosion. The people of Targayel looked at Ivanna with dumbfounded expressions. They knew how Ivanna had been running wild before the explosion. At least a third of the crater on the ground was made by Ivanna.
Elze sighed and said to Raphine.
“Rapine, explain what happened.”
“Captain, so...”
While everyone in Targayel, including Liv, was watching Elze intently, Eapine began to explain on her behalf.
When they reached the part where the commander of the Knights of Mapel detonated a solid bomb, Elze briefly interrupted Rapine and asked a question.
“But where did he get that bomb?”
At Elze's words, Ivanna, who was in the corner, flinched.
Hoo, look at this.
Elze looked at Ivanna with eyes that said she had been caught. Ivanna flinched even more violently. Elze spoke to her slowly.
“As far as I know, a bomb like that isn’t easy to obtain.”
Alchemists are rare talents. In the first place, there were not many people who wanted to become alchemists. The nobles were not interested in science, and the commoners were more concerned about making a living than science.
So rare that it was said that meeting an alchemist was as difficult as meeting a priest of Ines. They were not rolling around on the streets, and bombs that could blow up an entire neighborhood, including a mansion, were not likely to explode out of nowhere.
“Ivana?”
Elze called Ivanna's name in a long voice.
“Captain, so...”
Ivanna hesitated for a while before confessing in a crawling voice.
“No, that’s true...It’s a little bit my fault...”
Everyone looked at her. With their eyes focused on me, Ivanna blushed slightly and said.
“That solid bomb, I made it.”
“What!!”
Tarkun and the other Targayel people were terrified, but Ivanna simply ignored them and began to explain in detail to Elze.
The solid bomb was developed by Ivanna. The solid bomb, made by absorbing existing liquid explosives into diatomaceous earth, was easier to transport and use than the liquid bomb.
Ivanna used a specially treated bottle when using liquid explosives so that it would not break easily. However, other alchemists often had accidents when breaking bottles containing explosives while transporting them. For that reason, bombs were not easily used in warfare.
Others who realized the convenience of solid bombs also tried to imitate Ivanna and make solid bombs, but they all failed. Ivanna was the only one who knew how to make solid bombs.
Ivanna knew full well that there was no end to the misuse of solid bombs, so she refrained from using them as much as possible.
“But how did the commander of the Knights of Mapel get his hands on this... ah!”
Ivanna, who had been tilting her head, clapped her hands.
“By the way, I left some solid bombs in Heglatan’s laboratory!”
As soon as she heard Ivanna's words, she immediately had a guess. Shan, who had been listening silently until now, spoke right away.
“Is it a Seraph?”
Duke Seraph never underestimates Targayel. He is serious about dealing with Targayel, and he must have thought about how to kill Shan.
Duke Seraph knew very well that Shan was not ordinary. Since he could not be killed by human means, he must have thought of inhumane methods, even reaching the idea of a bomb.
It would have been a simple task for him to work with Heglatan to obtain the solid bomb. Duke Seraph must have sent the solid bomb to Count Mapel and given specific instructions on how to use it.
But the foolish Count Mapel did not follow Duke Seraph's instructions and acted on his own, causing all sorts of farces. Things did not go his way, so he was anxious and sent the Commander of the Targayel Knights to him and gave him a bomb...
“So that’s how the mansion was blown away?”
Elze looked around the ruins, smiling helplessly, and muttered to Ivanna.
“You’re a lot more dangerous than I thought....”
At Elze's words, Ivanna opened her eyes wide and said as if she felt wronged.
“No, Captain! Absolutely not!”
Her round, wide-open eyes looked truly innocent. Her face was slightly flushed, and her body was twisted, just like an innocent girl's.
“The captain was also... Since they attacked from that side, I had no choice but to do that too...”
Ivanna went even further and pretended to sob. The Targayel people gaped at Ivanna, who was writhing in Elze’s arms. It was still vivid in their minds.
"Kyahahahaha!"
...and the sight of her laughing and running wild like a crazy woman. However, the witch in their memories and the girl in front of Elze now were worlds apart. It was ridiculous how she even acted cute and said, “I don’t know anything.”
Liv, who was blankly staring at the sight, poked Rapine next to him and asked.
“Is that hwr original personality?”
Rapine coughed loudly with a slightly embarrassed expression on his face and then answered.
“Yes... What...”
“She only does that in front of Madam?”
“A little bit... I guess.”
“Ugh...”
While Liv and Rapine chatted away, Elze finished talking about the bomb.
“Anyway, let’s say it’s a bomb.”
And this time, he pointed to the private soldiers of the Mapel family and asked a question.
“Why do these people look like this?”
“...”
Elze's question brought silence once more. The people of Targayel began to look at each other again.
The private soldiers of the Mapel family were indeed in good condition. Their armor and weapons were tattered, but upon closer inspection, they were free of any wounds other than soot and dried blood.
Of course, Targayel was the same, as everyone else was unscathed. The problem with the Mapel soldiers was not physical but mental.
They all had lost expressions. Some were even kneeling on the floor and praying. The atmosphere was so pious that it reminded them of the temple of Ines. They couldn't figure out what on earth had happened to cause this.
At that moment, a faint and hazy voice was heard.
“Elze...”
“...Sir Serhil!”
Elze called his name precariously. Ilwooz smiled faintly at Elze and said.
“I guess I should explain that...”
Ilwooz told the whole story in a soft voice. As Elze listened to him, she could feel that Ilwooz had grown. Even though his eyes were covered as usual, she could feel a much stronger divine power coming from him. Even though he was sealed, his power overflowed like water overflowing from a full jar. Elze whispered softly to Ilwooz.
“You’ve gotten stronger.”
Ilwooz whispered to Elze.
“To protect the Savior...”
His appearance, smiling faintly, looked truly mature. At the moment when a touching atmosphere was about to be created, Shan's cold voice separated Elze and Ilwooz.
“You’ve become a bigger monster.”
Shan said crookedly.
“Are you saying that all of the private soldiers of the Mapel family were moved by the divine power and repented?”
Elze could not have been unaware of the slight sarcasm in his words. Elze rebuked Shan.
“Shan! If it weren’t for Serhil, Targayel would have been annihilated.”
Shan made a face of displeasure at those words. But in the end, he said something, even if it was rude.
“...Thank you for saving Targayel.”
Ilwooz seemed a little surprised. Neither Ilwooz nor Elze had expected Shan to express his gratitude. However, Ilwooz soon smiled faintly and accepted Shan’s greeting.
“That’s an exaggeration... I just did what I had to do...”
Anyway, thanks to Ilwooz, everyone was saved. And even the private soldiers of House Mapel, who had experienced a miracle, followed Targayel.
After grasping the situation, they quickly organized the personnel and checked the equipment. This was because the fight with Mapel was not over yet. After confirming that all maintenance was complete, Elze opened her mouth.
“Then now... shall we go back to Count Mapel’s residence?”
Shan held Elze's hand tightly from the side. Targayel's vassals lined up behind the two.
The time has finally come to completely wrap up the Mapel family.
***
After Elze and Shan left for Targayel's quarters, Hayden gathered his supporters within Mapel. Most of Hayden's supporters had been absent from the mission to raid Targayel, so gathering them was easy.
Hayden went to see Count Mapel with Cecilia and armed knights, but Count Mapel had already fled.
"Ha...."
Cecilia let out a hollow laugh when she found out that Count Mapel had run away alone. Cecilia had also used Count Mapel, but when she realized that he had abandoned her, she felt bitter.
After whispering such sweet words of love, Count Mapel ended up buying Cecilia's youth and beauty with money, like a doll that is neatly displayed on a shelf.
Leaving Cecilia behind, who was looking bitter, Hayden gave orders to the knights.
“Search this mansion! He can’t have gone far yet!”
Following Hayden's orders, the knights began to search the inside and outside of the Count's mansion. However, they were having a harder time finding Count Mapel than expected. It took quite some time, so they were anxious that he might have escaped.
“I found the Count!”
Eventually, they were able to find Count Mapel. Following the knight's report, everyone ran to where the Count was.
Count Mapel was in the backyard of the mansion. There was a secret passage leading to the outside from the Count's study, and he tried to escape through it.
However, Count Mapel had never used the secret passage before. He had never used it before, so he wandered around for a long time, and eventually, he was caught because of the delay.
At the feet of the Count, whose arms were tied by the knights, there was a large sack lying. The sack had its mouth open, and the inside was completely visible. The sack contained valuables and gold coins that had been passed down through generations of the Mapel family. Even while running away, he was delayed because he was trying to grab something like that.
Perhaps Count Mapel would have lived if he had only tried to save his life. However, he could not give up his wealth until the end, and his greed caught up to him.
Count Mapel smiled awkwardly, sweat dripping down his face. He called Hayden's name.
“Hey, Hayden...!”
Blood is thicker than water.
It was a common expression used to emphasize the bond between blood relatives. But Hayden never thought of it that way. Many people in the world just fought without any sense of parental responsibility. It was bold, even extreme, but Hayden thought there was no more accurate expression.
Since his mother died, Hayden had never once called him father. To Hayden, Count Mapel was a worse man than anyone else.
“Hayden, my son...!”
So, even though he sees Count Mapel crying and begging right in front of him, Hayden doesn't feel any sympathy. Rather, he just found his wrinkled face distorted and ugly.
Moreover, it was disgusting that he didn't even mention Cecilia, even though he clearly saw that she was being held captive. He had been so cherished and made a fuss about her being the love of his life, but in the end, she was nothing in front of his life.
Cecilia could not have been unaware of this fact. She looked at Count Mapel with a truly vain expression on her face.
"Count."
Hayden spoke to him in a cold voice.
“When my mother passed away, didn’t you shed even half as many tears as you does now?”
“...Hey, Hayden.”
“If that were the case, I would have at least given you my final courtesy.”
Count Mapel's face twisted. He realized that Hayden had no room to maneuver. When he realized that the strategy of appealing to sympathy was also impossible, Count Mapel changed. He shouted loudly.
"Money!!"
Count Mapel kicked the bundle at his feet with his foot. With a clatter, yellow gold coins and jewels poured out haphazardly.
“Money! I’ll give you everything I have!! I’ll give all the gold and silver treasures here to whoever kills that guy and helps me escape!!”
Even the last struggle was truly ugly. The knights, who knew that the tide had already turned, did not flinch at Count Mapel's words.
But wherever you go, there are always fools. Some were shaken by Count Mapel's words, who was stamping his feet and saying that he would give them even a billion. They turned to Count Mapel and muttered.
“Targayel would have been annihilated anyway...”
Count Mapel exclaimed in delight at their words.
"Ues!!"
Count Mapel, barely holding on to his last hope, began to struggle.
“I sent a bomb to the Knight Commander!”
Everyone stopped in their tracks at the shout that sounded like a tantrum. Count Mapel shouted as if driving a wedge in.
“Targayel is annihilated!!”
“...!!”
At Count Mapel's words, the other knights began to waver a little. Even Hayden wavered for a moment but soon regained his composure. Hayden gave the knights a short whipping.
“Don’t be agitated.”
Hayden looked at Count Mapel and spoke in a clear voice.
“They are not the type of people who would collapse to that extent. Please stop talking nonsense.”
But Count Mapel did not miss the gap he had barely found.
“Hehehe...”
He looked around the room with a sinister smile. He met the eyes of each knight and spoke.
“Don’t you all know that? At least when it comes to money, I don’t lie.”
It was true. Count Mapel had certainly provided his men with money. Several more knights turned to Count Mapel. Count Mapel had already been released from his bonds.
Count Mapel, convinced that he had taken control of the situation, became even more arrogant. On the other hand, Hayden's face was filled with impatience.
The standoff started to drag on longer than expected.
The knights were at a loss as to what to do and wavered between Hayden and Count Mapel. Some of the knights turned to Count Mapel, while those who remained by Hayden's side drew their swords. Some were still hesitating and unable to make a choice.
In this tense war of nerves, Count Mapel shouted again.
“Targayel are all dead! Dead!!”
It was then. The sound of horse hooves could be heard from afar. The sound of the ground shaking gradually came closer. Count Mapel shouted as if he had been waiting.
“Look! It’s the sound of Mapel’s private soldiers returning!”
He looked at the dusty place with eyes full of anticipation. But as he got closer, Count Mapel's eyes grew wider.
"No...?"
The waving flag was not the fish symbol of House Mapel. There, where a black flag with a crow on it fluttered in the wind, stood the Count and Countess of Targayel.
Behind the two men in the front were Targayel's vassals and knights. What was even more terrifying was the fact that behind them, Mapel's private soldiers were also following obediently.
They soon stopped in front of where Count Mapel and Hayden were facing each other. Against the pouring backlight, a clear voice was heard.
“I guess it’s not too late.”
Hayden smiled brightly and called her name.
“Elze!”
And then he shot straight at Count Mapel.
“Who on earth died, Count Mapel?”
Count Mapel's face turned leaden. He muttered again and again.
“This is impossible... This is ridiculous...”
Does this make sense? Throwing him into a lion's den, poisoning him, or detonating a bomb didn't help. He even used some kind of magic to turn Mapel's private soldiers to his side and come back. Count Mapel really felt like he was dreaming.
But the Targayel that appeared before his eyes was vivid and moving. Count Mapel watched Elze and Shan dismount from their horses side by side. Then his eyes met Elze's. Elze smiled brightly and greeted him.
“Have you been well, Count?”
“Countess...”
“It would be fortunate if you didn’t have any.”
But even though Elze's mouth was smiling, her eyes were fierce. Elze spoke with great sincerity.
“I’m going to make you a special treat from now on.”
At Elze’s words, Count Mapel’s legs gave out, and he collapsed. Count Mapel’s scream rang out. At that moment, Hayden was wiping away his chest in relief that everything was over. Cecilia, who had been held captive until now, spoke for the first time.
“...I want to atone.”
All eyes were on her. Cecilia spoke softly with a gaunt face.
“I want to make a final atonement to Hayden.”
Then she bowed her head deeply.
“Please, Countess Targayel.”
The one who was most shaken by her bowing her head and asking for something was Hayden.
Of course, Elze had no intention of atonement at all. She was going to arrest her and drag her away to question her on her crimes. But when she looked at Hayden, it seemed like he wanted to hear what Cecilia had to say.
Elze decided to give Hayden a chance. Cecilia, freed from the knight's bonds, approached Hayden with a swaying stride. And then she almost knelt down...
“!!”
She thrust a sharp knife into Hayden's neck. It was the same knife that had stabbed Shan in the shoulder.
“What do you mean it’s over!!”
Cecilia held Hayden hostage with a knife raised. At that sight, Elze put her hand on her forehead. It was not as if human nature could change so easily as turning over the palm of one's hand. She wondered why Cecilia was reflecting, but it was as expected.
Cecilia screamed as she thrust the knife into Hayden's neck.
“Don’t come any closer!! I’ll stab him! I’ll stab him!!”
Her hand holding the knife trembled. The blade lightly cut Hayden's neck due to her shaking hand. As the blood flowed, Cecilia became more excited and started screaming. Elze calmly asked her a question.
“What do you want?”
“What do I want?”
Cecilia shrugged her shoulders. She said with a sobbing laugh.
“I’m going to kill you.”
Cecilia looked at Elze with mad eyes.
“If I kill this guy in front of me, you will suffer too! You will be stuck in the dark and suffer like me!!”
It was a cruel and sadistic remark. Even as she said such horrible things, she was smiling happily. With a broad smile, Cecila spoke to Elze.
“Isn’t that right, Erzenes?”
However, Hayden and Count Marpel were frightened by Cecilia's madness, but Elze's reaction was extremely indifferent.
“Oh, I see.”
All she could do was give a lukewarm answer. Elze had dealt with so many crazy people recently that she had become an expert. To Elze, someone like Cecilia was quite cute. Elze folded her arms and opened her mouth.
“But I’m sorry, but I can kill you right now.”
Elze said, nodding to the knife she was holding.
“Before you swing that toy around with your poor skills.”
"What...?"
Only then did Cecilia realize the cold sensation on her neck. She shivered and glanced behind her.
“...”
There, a masked man was holding a dagger to Cecilla's neck. The man who had approached without a sound was Epen, the master of assassins.
No one except the people of Targayel noticed Epen's approach. While everyone was belatedly surprised, Epen aimed his dagger with an extremely cold gaze.
Unlike Cecilia's dagger that was trembling in vain, his dagger was calm. It was just waiting for Elze's order. In front of the pale Cecilia, Elze smiled coldly and said.
“If you want to kill, then try killing.”
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