Chapter 185: Rescuing the Viscount’s Daughter
“Damn it! Where are we?”
“Where can we find a boat?”
“What's the point of finding one now? The Church has already landed on the island, hasn't it?!”
“Hurry! Hurry! They're catching up!”
...
Over twenty mercenaries sprinted down the mountain road.
After the Earl's death, the remaining troops had scattered in complete disarray under the threat of the so-called "Church Navy."
In their panic, they had rushed toward the harbor, shoving one another in a disorderly scramble to board the ships.
The crews had set sail as soon as enough sailors were aboard.
As a result, many people either fell into the sea or were left stranded on Arend Island.
Unable to leave through the harbor and unable to return the way they had come, these scattered survivors had no choice but to flee toward the eastern side of Arend Island along the mountain road.
However, they knew virtually nothing about Arend Island.
They had no idea what lay on its eastern side.
From their perspective, their situation was utterly hopeless.
Behind them were Fenrir's pursuers—the very man who had defeated the Earl.
At sea, the Church Navy was closing in.
Without ships, there was no escaping from the island.
Even if they managed to seize fishing boats after reaching the eastern shore, the Church's ships would probably already be nearby.
No matter what they did...
There was no escape.
Running frantically along the mountain road, they eventually arrived atop another hill without even realizing it.
“What is that?”
The man in front suddenly shouted.
Ahead of them, the mountain road stretched gently upward toward a picturesque hilltop with an excellent view.
Standing there was an imposing mansion.
It was obviously the residence of some wealthy local family—or perhaps the island's lord.
“I think Arend Island does have a lord...”
Someone suddenly remembered.
“They'll definitely have boats!”
“If we take the lord hostage, maybe we can escape!”
“There has to be good wine and fine tobacco in a noble's cellar!”
“We've got to enjoy ourselves before we die!”
“There might even be women!”
“We're going to die anyway...”
“Let's go inside!”
Everyone spoke over one another.
Very quickly, they reached the same conclusion and gathered their courage.
Under normal circumstances, they never would have dared trespass into a grand estate that likely belonged to nobility.
They were mercenaries.
Not bandits.
But now...
With wolves before them and tigers behind them...
Death seemed to be their only remaining path.
They no longer cared about anything.
Sometimes...
Despair could force a man to become a beast.
At that moment, inside the study on the mansion's upper floor, Hayley—the Maid Attendant hired by Adele—peeked through a gap in the curtains while holding a Hunting Shotgun.
She quickly spotted the approaching mercenaries.
There were at least twenty of them.
Fully armed.
Their equipment was so well-made that they looked scarcely inferior to the Church Knight Orders.
Had these men politely rung the bell at the gate and presented official documents or tokens of identification...
Hayley might even have mistaken them for government troops.
Instead...
Without saying a word, they immediately began smashing apart the lock on the courtyard gate.
Every one of them had bloodshot eyes.
Their murderous aura made them look even more vicious than ordinary bandits.
“Damn it!”
Hayley felt a splitting headache coming on.
She was only supposed to be serving as bodyguard to a noble young lady.
Why did she always end up caught in disasters like this?
But now...
She had nowhere to retreat.
The mansion stood atop a hill with only a single road leading away.
The previous Viscount Arend had been nothing more than an honest merchant.
Pirates had never plagued this place.
When the mansion had been built, no one had ever thought about constructing a secret escape tunnel.
With a tremendous crash—
The courtyard gate's lock shattered.
The mercenaries surged inside.
Having no other choice, Hayley threw open the window and raised her Hunting Shotgun toward them.
“Stop right there!”
“You've broken into the residence of the local lord, Viscount Arend!”
“Leave immediately!”
“Otherwise we'll open fire!”
If they had merely been ordinary robbers...
Realizing they had invaded the estate of a lord protected by guards...
They might have retreated.
Unfortunately...
The Viscount's family could no longer even afford household servants.
Naturally, there were no guards.
Hayley herself had only been hired as Adele's personal bodyguard using Adele's own savings.
All Hayley could do now was bluff.
She prayed she could scare them away.
But even she had little hope of succeeding.
These men all possessed a strange...
Madness.
“Women!”
“There are women here!!”
“Charge!”
Far from being intimidated, the mercenaries became even more excited upon hearing Hayley's voice and immediately rushed toward the mansion entrance.
Seeing no alternative, Hayley aimed at the man in front and fired.
He collapsed instantly.
Yet one death failed to deter the others.
Instead, they all raised their guns and returned fire toward the window.
Hayley immediately ducked behind the wall beside it.
Glass shattered everywhere.
“Ahhhhhhh!!”
In the corner of the room, Adele hugged her head and screamed.
Hayley rushed over, grabbed her by the arm, dragged her into another room on the opposite side, locked the door, shoved furniture against it, then stuffed a Flintlock Pistol into Adele's trembling hands.
“They've broken in, Young Lady!!”
While Hayley had been pinned down by gunfire...
The remaining mercenaries rushed straight to the mansion's front entrance.
The sound of the front door being smashed apart echoed from below.
“Th-This...”
“You want me to use this?”
Adele's hands shook violently as she held the Flintlock Pistol.
It was as though the weapon itself were burning hot.
She had never learned to hunt.
She had never fired a gun before.
“We have nowhere left to run!”
“Those men are insane!”
“If we fall into their hands... it'll probably be worse than dying outright!”
Hayley replied while reloading the Hunting Shotgun.
Even her own voice trembled.
“Either we hold them off together... then jump out the window...”
“Or we might as well...”
Rather than falling into the hands of those beast-like madmen...
A bullet to one's own head might actually be the kinder ending.
“Why is this happening...”
Adele broke into sobs on the spot.
As the Viscount's daughter...
The greatest hardship she had ever faced in her life had merely been her father's debts.
How could she ever have imagined something like this?
“I'd like to know the same thing!!”
Hayley shouted in near desperation.
She was only earning an ordinary salary as the Viscount's daughter's bodyguard.
She had originally expected nothing more dangerous than running errands or scaring off a few street thugs.
Instead...
Not only had this young lady encountered that terrifying Inquisitor twice...
Now an entire group of crazed pirates had inexplicably appeared.
At this rate...
Even she was probably going to die here!!
Footsteps thundered up the stairs.
They were accompanied by the sounds of drawers being overturned and furniture being searched.
“Over here!”
Someone discovered the tightly shut room and immediately began kicking the door.
The doorframe quickly groaned on the verge of breaking apart.
Hayley and Adele pointed their guns at the entrance with trembling hands.
The final flicker of hope in their hearts was beginning to die out.
Just as the door was about to be kicked open—
Gunshots suddenly erupted outside in rapid succession.
They were accompanied by waves of agonized screams.
“Huh?”
Hayley froze.
From the sound of it...
Fighting had broken out outside?
Had the pirates started killing one another?
“They caught up!”
“It's over!”
“That monster!”
The very men whose madness had terrified them now screamed in fear outside.
The kicking against the door abruptly stopped.
The gunfire and shouting drew nearer and nearer, quickly climbing from the first floor to the upstairs hallway.
The men outside the door cried out in alarm.
Several gunshots rang out from the staircase in quick succession.
Then...
The shouting stopped abruptly.
Accompanied by the dull thuds of bodies collapsing outside the door...
The mansion suddenly fell silent.
Adele and Hayley stood frozen in place.
Then they stared in horror as blood slowly seeped beneath the crack under the door.
After that...
Steady footsteps echoed along the hallway, gradually approaching.
The bandits outside appeared to be dead.
Yet neither woman felt any relief.
They had no idea who had killed them.
Those bandits had charged in like lunatics, fearless even in the face of death.
Yet the cries they had just uttered were filled with terror...
As though whoever had come to kill them was even more terrifying than they were.
The footsteps stopped beside the door.
Apparently, the newcomer had noticed that it had nearly been kicked open.
“Is someone inside?”
A calm voice called from outside.
The voice sounded strangely familiar to both women.
But in their panic...
Neither of them could remember where they had heard it before.
“Who's there?”
Hayley asked nervously.
“That voice... Miss Hayley?”
Standing outside the door, Leon relied upon the extraordinary memory granted by his Blessing to recognize the voice immediately.
It belonged to Hayley, the bodyguard who had previously accompanied Adele.
“Is Miss Adele Lovelace safe?”
“I'm Inquisitor Leon Set.”
“I hope you still remember me.”
“Leon Set?”
Adele blinked several times.
She finally recognized the voice.
It belonged to the Inquisitor who had nearly left her traumatized.
Yet hearing his voice at this moment...
Both Hayley and Adele let out simultaneous sighs of relief.
An overwhelming sense of having survived a catastrophe welled up within them.
Leon was certainly frightening.
But...
He was still a member of the Church.
An official.
At a moment like this...
There was nothing more reassuring than soldiers who had come to rescue them.
The two women finally lowered their guns.
“Miss Adele, are you alright as well?”
Leon asked after hearing Adele's voice.
“I'm... I'm alright...”
“Have you come to rescue us?”
Adele asked cautiously.
“Yes.”
“We happened to be stationed on the island.”
“We discovered a group of intruders and came here immediately.”
“The people outside have already been dealt with.”
“If possible... would you please open the door?”
Leon replied.
Hayley glanced at Adele.
Adele nodded.
She hurriedly handed the Flintlock Pistol back to Hayley.
After putting it away, Hayley and Adele walked over together and opened the door, which had already been kicked badly out of shape.
“Thank you for coming to—”
As Hayley opened the door, Adele had already begun expressing her gratitude.
But the moment the shocking sea of crimson outside entered her field of vision...
Her voice stopped abruptly.
Even Hayley had never witnessed such a gruesome scene.
She froze in place.
Blood covered the floor.
Blood stained the walls.
There were even bits of what looked suspiciously like brain matter splattered against them.
Two corpses lay sprawled upon the ground, soaking in pools of blood.
One of them had its skull completely shattered.
Leon stood calmly beside the bodies, dressed in his Inquisitor's uniform as though none of it bothered him in the slightest.
His boots stood in the blood.
He held a sword in one hand and a gun in the other.
Fresh blood stained both his clothes and the blade.
“Ah... ah...”
Adele's mouth opened and closed in mute terror.
The overwhelming sight blasted her consciousness completely away.
“Miss Adele?”
Leon looked at her in confusion.
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!”
Adele suddenly let out an ear-piercing scream.
Her eyes rolled back.
She collapsed straight forward.
“Young Lady!”
The stunned Hayley failed to catch her in time.
Fortunately, Leon reacted first, reaching out to support Adele before she hit the ground.
“Hey, what's wrong with you?”
Adele lay limp in his arms.
She had completely lost consciousness.
Leon couldn't help staring blankly.
The Viscount's daughter...
Had actually fainted...
Just from seeing a little blood?