Chapter 61: Furious Knights
As Roderic sat back, he watched on with much anticipation.
The knights moved between bodies, pulling the dark cloths from the enemies’ faces before going through their weapons and armor.
Gradually, the faces of those who’d attacked them were revealed everywhere.
At first, nobody said anything.
But Roderic quickly noticed several expressions beginning to change.
Some of the knights were staring at the corpses longer than necessary. Others couldn’t help but exchange strange glances with each other.
’Mhm,’ Roderic thought with a satisfied smile. ’It seems like they are starting to realize...’
Just then, one of the knights suddenly stopped beside the brute Roderic had killed at the start.
The knight crouched down and pulled the black cloth away from the man’s face.
Then, for several seconds, he... simply stared.
His eyes gradually began widening as disbelief flooded in.
’’Wait...’’ he muttered, glancing up at another nearby knight. ’’Quick! Come take a look!’’
The other knight quickly hurried over.
’’What is it?’’ he asked immediately.
But as he glanced down at the corpse, he rapidly blinked several times.
After a moment, he couldn’t help but lean in closer, seemingly making absolutely sure of what he was seeing.
’’I recognize him,’’ he said, glancing up at the first knight. ’’You too, right?’’
The other knight nodded slowly as the color drained from his face.
As they uncovered the second, much smaller corpse, whatever doubt remained immediately disappeared.
’’Fucking hell...’’
The two knights exchanged glances, both having mixed feelings.
’’It’s the Voss brothers,’’ one slowly said. ’’Two of the most promising knights from the Deres Barony.’’
Several nearby knights and soldiers looked up immediately.
Some of their faces went pale instantly, understanding exactly who these people were and what this meant.
Others, who didn’t know them, sensed something wrong just from their reactions.
’’Deres Barony?’’
’’What the hell are their knights doing here?’’
’’Especially those two... they were going to be knights with two aura seal in the future!’’
As murmurs spread through the group, Roderic slowly walked closer.
He quickly forced the satisfied grin off his face, replacing it with a somber expression once more.
’’Unfortunately, I think I know the answer,’’ he said, coming to a stop.
The murmuring gradually died down as all gazes turned towards him.
’’What do you mean, young master?’’ one asked respectfully.
Roderic remained silent for a moment, truly preparing himself.
’’During the fight, one of the traitors said something to me,’’ he started somberly. ’’He told me Margaret sent her regards...’’
The area around him went deathly silent.
But Roderic wasn’t done just yet.
’’Every bit of me wants to believe that isn’t the case,’’ he continued, lowering his head. ’’But with the Baroness’s recent behavior and these knights that only the lord of the Deres Barony can move... I simply can’t.’’
For several long seconds, nobody said a word.
Though slowly, two of the younger knights began clenching their fists.
’’I can’t believe it... James died because of this!’’ one said.
The other didn’t even say anything, his fists clenched so tightly that blood began dripping from his hands.
Hearing their reactions, the others around them unfroze.
’’To think the Baroness would do something like this...’’
’’Then those traitor knights must’ve been sent by her!’’
’’Is she trying to start a damn war?!’’
Anger rapidly replaced their initial shock.
But who could blame them? They’d literally almost been killed because of one stupid bitch!
Roderic allowed it to continue for nearly a minute before raising his hand.
"However, I sincerely ask that all of you keep what happened here a secret for now," he said seriously. "At least until I’ve discussed everything with my father once we return."
The knights exchanged glances before gradually nodding.
That was when Edmund turned towards him.
"We’re continuing on, young master?" he asked, wiping away the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.
Roderic nodded immediately.
"Of course."
His gaze fell on the corpses around him as a brief silence fell.
Roderic knew he needed to plant one more final seed for his plan to work, and now was the perfect time.
"My father entrusted me with the important mission of finding new allies for our territory," he continued. "If there’s a reason Margaret is willing to go this far to stop us..."
Roderic’s expression hardened.
’’Then I can only assume the worst.’’
A few of the knights exchanged uneasy glances.
Nobody needed Roderic to explain what he meant.
Having said his piece, Roderic finally turned to Edmund.
’’Have the wounded treated first,’’ he ordered. ’’Then we bury our dead and move somewhere that doesn’t reek of blood to set up camp.’’
Edmund nodded immediately.
’’And the attackers, young master?’’
"Search them first," Roderic replied. "Anything that can prove who they are or where they came from, we take with us."
Edmund nodded again.
"I’ll see to it."
He quickly turned away and began giving orders to the remaining soldiers.
Roderic watched them scatter before finally allowing his shoulders to relax.
’That should do it.’
Everything had gone far better than he could’ve expected.
Not the deaths, of course.
But Margaret had practically handed him the perfect excuse to move against her.
’Though my previous plans have to be altered a bit now,’ he thought. ’I can only see this as a big win and wake-up call.’
Originally, he’d wanted to buy as much time as possible to increase their strength to the limit.
But now, that was no longer the optimal path.
A sickness like Margaret needed to be rooted out before she could deal more damage to the barony.
That brought him to only one conclusion.
’Once we get back, I’ll make the final preparations,’ he thought, his expression gradually turning serious.
With the evidence they’d gathered and the testimony of everyone here, keeping Margaret confined to the estate shouldn’t be difficult.
That would buy him the little bit of time he still needed.
Roderic glanced at the road ahead before letting out a deep sigh.
’And then,’ he thought. ’It’ll be war.’