Chapter 86 – 086. The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated Into The Baek Family
086. The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated into the Baek Family
The bandits simultaneously threw nets at Nell.
“…Ugh!”
Nell had no choice but to get caught in the net. There were too many nets to dodge or tear through with her sword.
She swung her sword at the net to try and escape quickly. However, the net had small, sharp thorns and sticky slime attached to it, making it difficult to break free even with a sword.
“It’s over.”
Pfrek said, crossing his arms. If she had been wearing armor, it might have been different, but the woman in front of him was wearing a tunic commonly worn by commoners.
The bandits shot arrows and threw stones at Nell, whose movements were restricted. Nell frantically swung her sword, but the tangled net wouldn’t let her go easily.
If her body had been in good condition, it might have been different. Her body, which had become emaciated from not eating properly for a long time, couldn’t exert its full strength.
Eventually, Nell collapsed to the ground.
“Ooh! We got her!”
“Even a knight couldn’t withstand this. Numbers are the answer, after all.”
“Hehe. Now it’s time to have some fun!”
The bandits laughed and approached the woman. They planned to have their fun after making sure she was dead. It would be better to enjoy her after cutting off her limbs… but the boss had ordered them to kill her for sure, so they had no choice.
“I! I’ll kill her first!”
A bandit with a dagger in his hand rushed forward. In Pfrek’s bandit group, there was an unwritten rule that the one who killed the woman got to enjoy her first.
“You crazy bastard! That woman is an aura ex….”
Before the bandit next to him could finish his sentence, the new bandit’s head flew into the air.
The bandits reacted quickly. They all drew their daggers and charged from all directions. Dozens of daggers pierced her body. A dagger was also lodged in her neck, ensuring she was dead.
“…Agh. Damn it. It’s no fun to bang her like this.”
The bandits clicked their tongues.
A bloodied body with dagger holes. And her intestines were spilling out of her abdomen. Even the most depraved bandits wouldn’t think of violating such a gruesome corpse.
“What? Are you guys not going to do it?”
One bandit asked.
“Damn it. Look at that mess. Does it look like I’m in the mood? There are other living women.”
“This one’s face is better. And she’s an aura expert. When else would we get to eat a woman like this? Hehe.”
A bear-like man approached the corpse. He was covered in hair all over his body, even his face. He began to lower his pants in front of the gruesome corpse.
“You crazy bastard. He’s really going to do it.”
Just as the bandits nearby were shaking their heads,
Clatter! Clatter!
The sound of horses galloping was heard. And not only that. The sound of metal clashing was also heard, buried beneath the sound of galloping horses.
The bandits stopped what they were doing and turned their gaze towards the source of the sound. The bandits’ faces turned pale in an instant.
“What the hell!”
Pfrek cursed as he saw the knights charging towards them.
“What are you doing, you idiots! Scatter and run away!”
Pfrek shouted at the bandits again. The bandits screamed and began to scatter in all directions.
‘Damn it! How did the knights get here so quickly? That number of people and warhorses means they’re not just any ordinary knights!’
Pfrek himself was an aura expert. He had the strength to become a knight, but he had never learned proper swordsmanship, and his equipment was poor compared to the knights in full armor. Above all, there were at least 20 knights at a glance.
“Don’t kill them, just capture them!”
Sung Yoo-jin ordered from behind the knights.
“An easy task.”
“As you command!”
The knights replied. And then, the knights’ rampage began.
It was impossible for the bandits to escape. They were knights riding warhorses. There was no comparison in terms of mobility.
“Aaaaargh! My arm!”
The bandits fell. The knights perfectly carried out Sung Yoo-jin’s order not to kill them. They were true specialists in combat.
“Throw the nets! Let’s do it like before!”
It was ineffective. Unless they were surrounded on all sides, the nets could easily be cut or dodged with a sword. Even if they were caught in a net, the strength of the trained warhorses easily tore through them.
“Arrows! Shoot arrows from afar!”
It was a futile struggle. The knights’ reflexes easily deflected the arrows flying straight at them. Even if they missed an arrow, they were wearing armor, so it had no effect.
“Surrender! We surrender! Please don’t kill us!”
“Drop your weapons and kneel.”
The knights said coldly to the bandits. The situation quickly began to be resolved.
‘Damn it.’
Pfrek clenched his fist as he saw three knights approaching him. The situation was already beyond the point of no return. Escape was impossible.
‘The only reason they wouldn’t kill us is that they plan to torture us.’
It was common to torture criminals.
Fighting was pointless, and escape was impossible. There was only one option left.
‘It’s better to just die than to live a life of torture!’
Pfrek raised his dagger to stab himself in the neck. If the sword that flew in front of him hadn’t knocked his dagger away, that is.
“I know your kind’s habits very well, you know?”
It was Hent. He got off his horse and quickly ran in front of Pfrek, punching him in the abdomen.
“Kuh-erk!”
“Give up. It’s already over. Let’s not make things difficult for each other.”
Pfrek raised his dagger. A bluish aura formed on the blade.
“What’s that? A candle? It’ll go out if you just blow on it.”
Hent grinned and puffed air from his mouth.
“You old geezer! Die!”
Hent grabbed Pfrek’s arms with both hands. He twisted them 360 degrees once and then dislocated his shoulder by hitting it. He then kicked and broke the knee joints with his legs.
“Oops.”
Hent grabbed Pfrek’s face as he was about to fall to the ground. With one hand, he tore Pfrek’s clothes and gagged him. This was to prevent him from biting his tongue and committing suicide.
“You dare to rob in the territory of the Prukers? You looked down on the Prukers family. You’re under special management, you bastard.”
Hent knocked Pfrek unconscious by hitting the back of his head and then looked for Sung Yoo-jin. He found him without difficulty. Sung Yoo-jin was being guarded by the head butler, Hasent.
Hent kept a close eye on the head butler.
“I always thought he wasn’t an ordinary butler… but seeing him here, he’s completely flawless.”
Could he win if they fought? He couldn’t be sure. That meant he had at least similar skills to his own.
“Anyway. There are monsters everywhere in this world.”
•••
When the Plun Knights began to deal with Pfrek’s bandit group, I got off my horse and looked around.
‘It was described as a house in the most secluded part of the village, with a forest behind it.’
I found it without difficulty. I was heading towards the house when I stopped.
In front of it was the corpse of a woman caught in numerous nets.
Black hair. A sword lying a little distance away. A thin, emaciated body. Her face was beautiful.
‘…Nell Lins. I guess I’m too late.’
My plan went a little awry. I originally intended to gain the favor of both Nell Lins and Yuria Grace and take them both in. According to the descriptions in the novel, Nell Lins was also an excellent knight.
‘At least it seems like she didn’t suffer as much as in the original story.’
I walked towards the house where Yuria was hiding. The sun hadn’t completely set yet, so she would be hiding behind the house.
I stopped in front of the house without going inside.
I had no intention of threatening Yuria Grace. Forcing her to follow me through coercion would only lead to her betrayal in the end.
I had no intention of deceiving her with sweet talk either. I didn’t have that kind of great eloquence. Also, there was no way that Yuria, a fugitive, would be easily deceived.
“I am Yoo-jin Prukers, the third son of the Prukers Count.”
First, I introduced myself.
At the same time, I glanced back. Hasent was watching me from a short distance away. I couldn’t tell Hasent, who had volunteered to be my guard, to leave.
Hasent must have noticed something strange about me.
‘…Oh well. I’ll just make something up later.’
Hasent was taciturn. Maybe he would pretend not to know even if he heard.
“Yuria Grace.”
I called her name directly. I wanted to give off the impression that I knew her well. But there was still no response.
Maybe she had already escaped into the forest and wasn’t behind the house.
…I hoped that wasn’t the case.
“I propose a deal.”
All I could do was make a deal.
It wasn’t unusual. Rather, it was the standard. The relationship between a lord and his vassal was originally a transactional one. The vassal pledged loyalty, and the lord granted them land befitting their loyalty.
And fortunately, I knew what Yuria wanted through the original story.
“I will help you with your revenge. Of course, you will have the rights to these captured bandits, and also revenge against those behind them.”
“……”
There was no response.
Did I fail? Or was she not there from the beginning?
What should I do? It would be a waste to lose Yuria now, given her talent. Should I just capture her and slowly brainwash her…? All sorts of absurd thoughts ran through my mind. That was when I heard the voice I had been waiting for.
“…Do you know who my targets of revenge are?”
Her voice was calmer and more pleasant than I had expected.
“I know. Even though I look like this, I’m confident in my information.”
I said that while mouthing the words. Hasent behind me couldn’t see it.
-The Helbrit Dukedom.
Yuria Grace was the illegitimate child of the Helbrit Dukedom.
An illegitimate child born between Duke Helbrit, who was also the kingdom’s chancellor, and the knight Nell Lins.
The Helbrit Dukedom was so obsessed with cleanliness that they eliminated anything that could cause controversy in advance. This was also the reason why Nell Lins and Yuria Grace were being chased by the Dukedom.
And fortunately, the Helbrit Dukedom knew about Nell Lins, but they didn’t know Yuria’s name or appearance at all.
“How… how do you know so much about me?”
“I’ve done some research in various ways. About your bloodline. Nell Lins, the knight who escaped from a noble family a little over ten years ago… If there are clues, it’s not difficult to make assumptions.”
I made it sound like I had found out about her by chance while investigating Nell Lins.
A moment of silence passed.
“I want to achieve my revenge… entirely with my own hands.”
“Of course, you have to do it with your own hands. That’s what revenge is.”
Yuria would succeed in her revenge even without my help. That’s how it was in the original story. But Yuria didn’t know the future.
Her target of revenge was the Helbrit Dukedom, who was the kingdom’s chancellor. Logically, there was no way a woman with nothing could take on such an opponent.
If Yuria really wanted revenge, she would need my help.
“The price… what price do I have to pay you?”
“Yuria Grace. It’s you. If you give me everything you have… I will help you achieve your revenge within 20 years. If you fail to achieve your revenge within 20 years… you can take my life.”
I said confidently. In the original story, Yuria completed her revenge within 10 years from now. 20 years was more than enough time.
‘…Hmm. But asking for everything might be a bit too much. Should I have asked for loyalty?’
There was something I had overlooked for a moment.
“Is that all the price is?”
This wasn’t the modern era, but a medieval fantasy world.
Human rights? They didn’t exist. Slavery was legal. Even commoners could own slaves if they had money.
A healthy young male slave was sold for an average of 100 million Ner. Women were about half that price, but it varied depending on their beauty and background.
Yuria was a commoner, but she was a fugitive. If you ignored her future value and considered her current value, she wouldn’t be worth even 30 million Ner.
Objectively speaking, I was the one who was losing out, not Yuria. Except for the fact that Yuria was destined to become an aura master.
“Is that all? I’m telling you to give me not only your body, but also your heart and soul as the price.”
“If I can achieve my revenge by giving this worthless existence… I will gladly give myself to you.”
“Then is the deal made?”
“Yes. From this moment on, everything I have except for one thing is yours. Master.”
“Good. Revenge is yours alone. Now I want to see your face. May I go there?”
“Yes, Master.”
That worked out well.
I planned to hide her identity for now. I didn’t think it would happen, but considering Helbrit, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Fortunately, the knights were busy dealing with the situation and weren’t paying attention to this side. They didn’t know about Yuria’s existence. Except for one person.
“Head Butler Hasent.”
