Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 204: Before the Decisive Battle

Prince Eldric hardly dreamt.

The prince’s bed would only have soft pillows, just the right amount of incense, and the warm body of a lover. There wouldn’t be any fragments in his dreams. His day ended when he closed his eyes and began when he opened them. During this period, there was only a dark nothingness left.

He used to dream when he hadn’t seen the world clearly, like an ordinary person. Unfortunately, his head really woke up, and he suddenly realized that he already had everything, and he lost the ability to dream.

In all fairness, Prince Eldric really had the “best” childhood humans could have.

There was no such thing as begging in the world of Eldric Alastair. He wasn’t stupid enough to propose that he wanted the moon in the sky. As for other things, as long as he spoke, he could always get it.

As long as he did it seriously, he could always “succeed”.

Everyone had unparalleled patience, gentleness, and kindness. It was like pampering a precious cat who would never step out of the room. He enjoyed education and the most meticulous care, and his world was full of love and order.

However, over time, Eldric began to feel bored. No matter whether he was serious or unreasonable, the smiling faces always remained motionless. He seemed to be talking to a deep well. No matter whether it was a bouquet or a sharp knife, the scenery in front of him had never changed.

Sad and helpless, he wouldn’t mind, just as he wouldn’t mind the indifference of his brothers and sisters…

Because Eldric Alastair was a pure person, happy and undistorted. Everything that was right and wrong was firmly imprinted in his mind. He knew he could never inherit the throne “reasonably” and knew that this luxurious life was his father’s love and compensation, and he knew it all too well.

Eldric had never been confused. He just had to follow his own ideas. The most fertile soil could always give birth to the most luxuriant plants. His judgment had never been wrong.

It should be like this.

However, today, he did wake up from a nightmare—the crumpled battle report was still scattered on the floor, and it took a full ten minutes for the prince to realize that he had a nightmare.

Maybe he was still in a nightmare.

His arrangements were smart and organized. Gallagher’s army should’ve been annihilated. The “emperor” who cooperated with the Demon King would lose the hearts and support of his people. He would take the lead in beheading the rebel generals. At the same time, he would take care of his brother, who was “starting to have something wrong with his mind” and ascend the throne in a logical manner.

Both father and brother were too obsessed with their own desires. They always couldn’t see the larger territory and indulged in an unnecessary sense of victory. He was different. He was perfect. He didn’t need extra material to prove anything. He would bring true prosperity to Alban.

But instead of destroying the army of the Mad Dog of the Wasteland, it was getting closer to the king. Before he could use the bone jade bomb to blow it up, Marshal Gallagher had already announced a fake heir, making it impossible for him to act honestly and openly*.

*Clarity: In the sense that he can do shady things (like use the bombs) without any scrutiny.

Things shouldn’t be like this, and there should be no mistakes or omissions in his calculations.

Eldric glanced at the unlit sky outside the window, took a deep breath, and called for the servant to help him change his clothes. It was still early and he was already in a bad mood. Often at this time, he had a fixed good place to go…

His niece, the well-behaved Delia, had always been up early. Today was no exception. When he walked into the reception room, Delia was already neatly dressed and was sitting quietly in an armchair.

The young princess’ eyes were tightly covered with a mask, and her beautiful pearl hair accessories decorated her long soft hair, making her gorgeous like a doll. The dead emperor was placed on a couch not far away. Although his body was stiff, magic ensured that his body wouldn’t rot, let alone emit a strange smell.

Ignoring his brother’s body, the prince glanced at the hair accessories on the little princess’ head. It looked a bit familiar; it may have belonged to her mother, Annabelle.

“Delia,” he called softly.

“Uncle.” His dull niece responded in a submissive voice. “You sound like you’re in a bad mood.”

The comfort of his loved ones always made him feel a little better.

“Because there are too many people in this world who can’t see reality clearly.” The prince sighed, found an armchair for himself, and knocked on the armrest of the armchair. “Those useless bastards have all failed. An army of tens of thousands troops was defeated by four people? It’s better to make up stories like this—I should’ve known that my dear brother has been sick for too long that the people below would have such thoughts.”

“Yes,” Delia continued to echo with her calm and gentle voice.

“Obviously he was extremely weak, and there were no descendants who could succeed the throne, but the eldest insisted on dying in that chair. This will only hurt Alban. People say I want the throne, but you know, Delia, I don’t want it all.”

The prince continued, emotionally, “This is just what I was destined for. Waiting for my eldest brother’s recovery would be a long process. The longer it drags on, the more variables there will be from the nobles below, and Alban couldn’t afford a long decay like this.”

Delia sat quietly, pursed her lips, and smiled.

“It would be great if everyone was as sensible as our Delia.”

The prince sighed heavily. “They are too stupid to change their minds. Did you know, Delia? After Willard’s king succeeded the throne, he executed all his siblings of his own generation. In Alban, doing so would be condemned. In fact, it saves a lot of trouble. Willard is getting stronger, but what about me? I even gave them the opportunity to obey.”

In the vision given to the little princess by Cat Whiskers, the prince glanced at the emperor’s corpse melancholically.

“Stupid and stubborn,” he added.

“Including my mother?” Delia asked softly.

“No, Annabelle was very obedient, but like I said, her death was necessary. She was very unhappy, and it was better for her to die than to live and be used by others—” Prince Eldric spoke naturally. “You think it’s better to die than to live like that, right? She also accepted this and didn’t resist.”

“Yes,” Delia answered briefly.

“I sacrificed my relatives to try to ensure the stability of this country. But why are things so bad? It seems that God is against me.”

There was a little more sadness in the prince’s tone.

“Has there been any change in Alban under the governance of eldest brother? Only positive change and war can bring new breakthroughs to Alban. Why don’t they just understand? Did I do something wrong?”

“You’re not wrong.” Delia’s voice was cold and crisp, like thin ice floating in a winter’s cup. “You just lost.”

“You’re right, my dear little girl.” The prince’s voice relaxed a little. “It’s just a setback. Since I’m on the right path, I’ll always succeed.”

“Yes, uncle. You can talk about it as you like. I’m willing to share the burden with you.”

The little princess twisted her lips again, and a weird smile hung on the corners of her mouth. Cat Whiskers was slowly crawling between the beautiful and complicated hair accessories, conveying their message word by word.

“There’s no right or wrong,” she repeated. As she guessed, the prince was too immersed in himself that he ignored the nuances of her words. “…It’s just that you lost.”

Even if her mother was still alive, she would never ask her such a simple question again. To this day, her uncle was still struggling with these unnecessary issues. Her grandfather, the emperor of Alban, hadn’t made a mistake in his judgment. Eldric Alastair was indeed not qualified to become king.

Not one bit.

On the other side of the battlefield, it was much livelier.

Bagelmaurus let out a sigh and spit out the feather in its mouth onto the ground. At that moment, its feathers were thick and beautiful, shining with a healthy luster. The man in front of it passed out, foaming at the mouth, and his head was nearly as bald as the gray parrot.

“How many is this?” Ann frowned at the hair stained with the demon’s saliva. “My dear brother is really anxious.”

As she spoke, she easily picked up the unconscious assassin and dragged him out of the camp.

Marshal Gallagher closed his eyes and covered his face with both hands.

Since the battle reports from the front lines came back, he had begun to enter a strange state of emptiness. If it weren’t for the emblem on Ann Savage’s left arm, he would even be willing to believe that it was just a huge prank or an extremely bad joke. This should have been a bloody and cruel war, which would have determined the fate and future of this country…

But seeing that they were about to reach the capital, the long-standing marshal had now lost his sense of reality.

His reinforcements had been completely useless since the two armies left with the two teams of Tumbleweed members. According to war reports on both sides, the former Knight Commander’s partner, Jesse Dylan, would use the “curse of bad luck”, and the superior demon and his lover were so strong that they had no boundaries, officially turning the battlefield route into a teaching and training trip.

There was too much disparity in strength. Nemo Light’s strength alone may still arouse a desperate struggle on the opposite side, but after another army was kicked away by a stampede of a large group of migrating wild goats in front of Jesse Dylan, even their enemies no longer wanted to take it seriously.

The emperor’s order couldn’t be violated, but it was obvious whether the enemy’s morale was still positive or not.

The situation of the “emperor” was getting worse, and many neutral nobles who had received the news fell on Gallagher’s side, who was holding the evidence of a royal decree. For the first time in his life, the marshal found himself with a surplus of troops at his hands.

The marshal took out a perfume bottle irritably, stared at it for a few seconds, then glanced at the gray parrot who was looking at him with a tilted head. After sighing several times, Gallagher put it back in his pocket bitterly.

Ironically, Gallagher himself didn’t even have the opportunity to set foot on the battlefield in person, let alone protect the princess. During these days, he firmly believed that he needed to protect his mental health from the princess.

“There are not many hard battles left.” After throwing the poor assassin into the cage, Ann returned to the tent carelessly.

“Yes, it’s almost over.” The marshal sniffed his sleeve unhappily. “Now that the matter is almost over, anyone who has a brain should know what’s going on. If I’m not mistaken, those who support the prince will gather in the capital, and those who support us—”

“You don’t have to guess.” Ann shook her fingers. “Delia already gave me the news.”

“Oh.” The marshal responded numbly. “It’s time for you to recall your companions. If they can show their strength in the royal capital, you can win the throne.”

“No.” Ann shrugged.

Marshal Gallagher narrowed his eyes.

“I don’t want it to end with fear. Fear is a temporary means and wouldn’t last long.”

“In war, deterrence is always the most effective.” The marshal’s voice rose higher. “Do you think that giving a moving speech can offset Eldric’s death throes?”

“Who is going to give a speech? Well, let me put it another way. I don’t want to end it with fear of something inhuman.”

“Even I have to admit that after they started, there were almost no casualties in this war. If you don’t rely on their power, my soldiers have died for nothing for your caprice.”

“You haven’t been on the battlefield so far,” Ann said.

“Yes.”

“Neither have I.”

“Yes.”

“Then what makes you think that it can’t be me who deters them?”

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The author has something to say:

Tumbleweed is about to gather again…

——

In fact, the little princess may be the blackest one in the entire royal family…

Ann retained some conscience for her (.

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Kinky Thoughts:

Preorders for Vol. 3 and 4 of Stray are out with the official artwork of Adrian and Jesse. Order them here (Vol. 1 and 2 are also available for order there). Here are instructions on how to order in English. Please buy to support the author, or you can just buy the raws at jjwxc.

Bonus:

Translations of the profiles are here. Credits to GRain.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 203: Two People

The elderly demon warlock could feel very clearly that he was losing his superior demon flesh.

The person in front of him… No, after some kind of creature put his finger on his shoulder, the piece of demon flesh let out a sharp scream in his body, and then it began to disappear slowly, like a mass of snow melting in the sun.

“My contract,” the old man said blankly, his voice hoarse. “My demon.”

“I sent it home.” Nemo hesitated for a moment and took off his robe, ignoring the other man’s eyes that widened with anger and shock.

“Traitor of the Abyss! The Emperor of Alban is accepting us, but you are helping those stupid wastes.”

The meat vines were withering, and the demon warlock’s body was returning to its original shape. At that moment, he was naked, like a lunatic who had escaped from an asylum. He looked around at Nemo’s body, trying to find more traces of deformation, and apparently misunderstood that “going home” meant something worse.

“With that kind of power, you have an incredible demon. Fuck, what a waste!”

The shadow separated the two from the large army, and the clouds caused by the abyssal magic had not yet dissipated. The surroundings were bleak, as if there were only two of them left in the world.

“…Traitor of the Abyss, haa,” Nemo repeated in a low voice, throwing his robe on the naked old man. The latter spit on the ground angrily, quickly grabbed the robe and put it around his privates.

The demon warlock strained his neck and his wrinkled skin turned red with anger. There was no fear of being killed or defeated in his face, only paranoid hatred and resentment. He moved his fingers to try and summon abyssal magic as before, but this time, there was no brilliance in any spell to respond to him.

“Kill me!” he hissed in a low voice, clutching the fabric around his waist. “Since you can kill my demon. Come on, hypocrite—you have insulted me from the perspective of a mage, so why this pretense?”

Nemo silently took out the black badge and summoned the light screen.

“As a demon warlock, you should at least behave like a demon warlock. Even if I’m defeated, I hope to lose to a butcher who is crazier than me, rather than to a pretentious, immature kid… Hey, what are you doing?”

“Looking for a bounty,” Nemo replied sincerely. “You have a lot of blood on your hands. You have killed at least hundreds of people, haven’t you? It stands to reason that there should be a reward.”

Faced with this overly normal answer, the old man didn’t know what to say for a moment. He held back for a few seconds and then let out a sharp smile. “How funny. What do you represent? Justice? To stand on the side of those selfish humans—”

“I’m just short of money.” Having found the information he wanted, he signed his name, and Nemo put the black badge in his pocket with satisfaction.

“How noble and short-sighted it is to exchange the life of a companion for money,” the demon warlock said maliciously. “No wonder you didn’t use devastating spells in the first place. It turns out that you wanted to use my corpse to make some extra money.”

Nemo glanced at the old man lightly, with a slightly bitter exhaustion on his face. He casually stroked the air, and a rift in the space suddenly took shape. The decoration style on the opposite side was distinctive, and the emblem of the Mercenary Guild was very conspicuous.

“First, I am not your companion.” A dark shadow stretched out, wrapped around the old man’s chest, and lifted up the demon warlock who had lost his power. “Second, I never considered myself as a representative of ‘justice’.”

Nemo showed a wry smile. “Third, I won’t kill you. It is your compatriots who will judge you, and this is the price you have to pay.”

“How interesting for you to talk as if you don’t have blood on your hands.”

“Of course I have. I may be more of a craze butcher than you might think,” Nemo responded softly. He used the dark shadow to throw the demon warlock into a cell in one of the mercenary guild branches.

After making sure that he wasn’t noticed by any surveillance magic, Nemo merged the rift and watched the other party’s hateful eyes disappear at the other end.

“…And I am ready to pay the price.”

The other party couldn’t hear it anymore, but Nemo insisted on speaking it out, as if he was vomiting out the rotten flesh that was stuck in his chest. For some reason, he was suddenly relieved—it didn’t feel like he was free from reality, but on the contrary, reality completely overwhelmed him.

Everything suddenly became extremely simple. It had nothing to do with good or evil, nothing to do with position, nothing to do with motivation.

Those questions that made him anxious couldn’t change the facts. If he had sown blood and fear with his own hands, then he was destined to bear the consequences of them.

He never wanted to escape the consequences, and he had even prepared for the worst a long time ago. Nemo was surprised to find that the accusations and curses of the demon warlock didn’t make him feel any tingling or discomfort—he thought he would be upset about it.

From the beginning, there had only been one reason why being buried in the unknown gave him pain.

From the start, Nemo thought he wasn’t a person who was obsessed with “living”. After all, reasons belonged to reasons and facts belonged to facts. To make sure that the dark past really existed, if he walked alone in the world as before, he didn’t mind giving up the pursuit of the so-called truth and just walking to the headquarters of the Mercenary Guild and confessing his identity—it didn’t matter what awaited him.

Compared to the endless suffering brought about by the unknown, Nemo Light wasn’t afraid of pain or death. After more than a decade of mortal life, he didn’t believe from the bottom of his heart that he was a strong-hearted person. The “deserved” death could even free him from endless self-questioning.

Perhaps a person could suffer alone and give up asking questions.

But not for two people.

That attachment made him embrace a slim glimmer of hope, cruel and warm. It forced him to find out the truth, not for himself, but to give the other person the exact answer.

That was all.

Even though he was stepping on the battlefield, Nemo suddenly calmed down a lot.

It was like some kind of bad magic. The shadow spread out with the dark clouds, and only the black-haired mage was left in place. The commander rubbed his eyes in disbelief, to make sure this wasn’t an illusion.

They spent a lot of money and even lost dozens of lives to invite the demon warlock they invited was missing, but the enemy’s young mage was unscathed.

The young mage was looking in a certain direction, his eyes soft and sad—in the direction was another monster that was on the move.

Oliver was a bit frazzled.

He was still riding on a horse, leading the poor horse around like a large spinning top, but his movements were so comical that it left a terrifying effect.

No one broke through the gray mist line of defense.

He didn’t want to reveal all his killing moves before the armies first fought, so the enemy commander was patient at first as he planned to clean up these two young people who didn’t know their own strength, but he regretted it ten minutes later. Not to mention the demon warlock, their trump card in this war that disappeared without a trace; now they couldn’t even get around this annoying brown-haired knight.

The sharp blades that poked out were corroded by the mist. Unfortunately, while magic spells were more effective, the knight was as slippery as a loach.

The brown-haired knight clenched his bone sword and stunned the shield bearers who were in the way. He rode his horse and moved strangely among the soldiers, disrupting their formation. After observing for a while, the commander began to be uncertain whether this strange course of action came from the subjective consciousness of the knight or was decided by the excited horse.

Damn it.

In any case, this farce couldn’t continue. Even if they had to break their own arms, they had to get rid of these two annoying monsters early—Gallagher’s army wasn’t stupid enough to break through the mist at this time, which was enough time to deal with those two.

The commander gritted his teeth. “Use the Dragon Breath Stone to burst the formation!”

“But the shield bearers are still there…”

“Just abandon part of the troops! Those two bastards are too weird, and when they react, we won’t have any troops left to abandon—go, activate it now! One aim at those two monsters and the other bombs the opposite side!”

Perceiving the fluctuation of the spell on the opposite side, Nemo had no intention of dissolving the spell on his own, but he wrapped Oliver’s waist with a dark shadow and dragged himself back on the horse.

Feeling the familiar body temperature on his back, Oliver, who was jumping in the crowd with the horse, breathed a sigh of relief. “Nemo, you’re okay…”

“Stay away from here. They are going to make a move. It should be a large-scale spell that strikes indiscriminately,” Nemo interrupted dryly.

“This horse is still not very obedient. Can you use the shadow shield first—”

“No.”

Getting an unexpected answer, Oliver raised his eyebrows.

“Ollie, let’s go to the middle of the battlefield. Such a magic array is very rare, so I’ll teach you to break it.” Nemo took a deep breath. “You can control this horse, Ollie. Recall how you stopped it just now.”

Time was limited. Oliver didn’t say much. He frowned, tried to press his hand on the horse, and waited for that feeling just now. The dim light lit up along the edge of his palm again. The horse snorted, turned its head sharply, and ran towards the open space between the two armies.

Despite his doubts, Oliver would not choose this point in time to ask.

He waved his Rest in Peace vigorously, dissipating the gray mist that obscured his sight, revealing the blue sky. Unfortunately, that clean blue color didn’t last for long, as the next moment, the sky was packed with magic arrays again.

Unlike the abyssal magic array of the demon warlock, this time the magic array exuded white light, obscuring the sky. Two giant arrays overlapped in the air, exuding strong power fluctuations and a majestic aura. From the position of the formation, it was obvious that one was to deal with the two of them, and the other was to attack the friendly forces behind them.

Nemo let go of the arm around Oliver’s waist, leaned forward, and held up Oliver’s right wrist with one hand. He sighed slightly, but his voice was calm and steady.

“Ollie, pay attention to the spelling node I point out to you, and remember that feeling. Any kind of structured magic array needs to prepare a path for the power in advance. They require power to circulate first before they can stimulate the effect of the spell.”

Oliver quickly glanced at Nemo’s slender fingers that were holding his wrist. Nemo’s breathing was extremely close, and the hot air sprayed onto his ears. It took Oliver several seconds to fully concentrate.

“As long as you find the spell nodes and destroy them, the power cannot circulate according to the original route, and the magic array will collapse by itself—but the position of the spell nodes isn’t fixed. They will gradually change with the activation of the magic array, so you need to grasp the feeling of that moment, Ollie.”

“Got it.” The horse obediently remained motionless, and the knight’s answer was equally smooth and powerful.

“Attack, now.” Nemo didn’t let go of his hand.

A gray beam of light shot at the magic array in the sky, and with a harsh tearing sound, the rotation speed of the magic array suddenly slowed down.

“Next is this side—do you remember?” Nemo exerted a slight force and turned Oliver’s hand that was holding the sword in the other direction.

Oliver smiled slightly. He raised his wrist and broke free of Nemo’s fingers.

Then dozens of gray beams of light lit up at the same time. In the next moment, the two huge magic arrays emitted a burning white light into the air that was enough to blind people for a short time. When everyone was finally able to open their tearful eyes, there was nothing left in the clear blue sky.

The generals of Gallagher’s army completely gave up thinking.

He watched as the magic array broke, and countless huge icicles rose up. Although the opposite side continued to bombard them with countless spells, they were all destroyed before they even reached halfway. Occasionally, one or two that were missed would cross through and hit an invisible barrier like the original abyssal magic and have no practical effect.

Before they rushed forward, the army on the opposite side completely collapsed. The huge icicles disrupted the opponent’s formation, and the icy land made it impossible for the knights to move forward. The enemy’s commander was wise, and he chose to retreat at the last minute. The army, which was extremely aggressive just now, scattered and fled.

‘The battle report can’t be written,’ the commander thought numbly as he cast his eyes on the two Black Chapters in the center of the battlefield—they were even sitting on the same horse, for goodness sake.

“Thank you,” Oliver said in a low voice, his tone seemingly unintentional. “I think I still have a lot of things to learn from you. Don’t run away after teaching a trick, Your Majesty.”

Nemo was taken aback for a moment, then smiled back. “Of course.”

In any case, he would accompany Oliver to witness the final answer.

“But I have to explain about that demon warlock later. Ollie, just in case, we’d better keep our distance first—” Nemo said cautiously, after glancing at the general on the opposite side.

“Huh?”

“After all, it is true that I defeated a demon warlock, and Marshal Gallagher will definitely notice me. If his loyalty to, ahem, Zenni prevails, we should keep our distance more—”

Unfortunately, Nemo’s lips were sealed with a kiss before he finished speaking. Without scruples about the uneven large-scale pumping sound behind him, Oliver kissed him very naturally. He turned around, pressed the back of Nemo’s head firmly with one hand, and kissed for a long and thorough time.

“What did you just want to say?” It felt like a century before Oliver finally let him go with an ambiguous smile hanging from the corner of his mouth.

His lover was definitely asking knowingly. Nemo rolled his eyes and shook his head helplessly.

“Nothing,” he whispered. “Go back, Ollie.”

After saying that, he was silent for a few seconds and then repeated it.

“…Let’s go back.”

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The author has something to say:

However, in the end, the Demon King and the Hero… cannot calm down.  (ψ°▽°)

Ehhehe (?

——

Jesse: Adri, look, look. Don’t you think I’m very low-key in comparison?

Adri: …

Jesse: And very innocent.

Adri: (Turn around and walk away)

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 201: The Lost Future

Four in the morning.

Even if he was familiar with Jesse Dylan’s weird personality, Adrian still felt deeply ridiculous about what they were doing.

It was still far from the expected battlefield, but Jesse woke him up in the middle of the night—not so much woke him up, but touched him ambiguously on his chest. As soon as Dylan’s hands were about to move down, the tip of the metal bow was pressed against his throat.

“Oh, you’re awake,” the blond young man said with a grin, as if he wasn’t surprised by the reaction of the former Knight Commander. “It’s time for us to leave, Adri.”

The fuller goat was obviously also the victim of Jesse Dylan’s weird plan. The goat was carrying large bags of debris, obviously overloaded, and was nibbling bitterly at the hard grass by the tent. The soldiers who were supposed to be guarding outside the tent had already drifted off to sleep, and it didn’t take much thinking to figure out who was responsible.

“Actually, I’m enough by myself, but you see, I agreed not to hide any plans from you.” Noticing the helplessness in Adrian’s face, Jesse’s smile grew wider.

The Knight Commander didn’t ask much. He sighed softly and carried his bow and quiver.

Before leaving, Jesse Dylan asked Marshal Gallagher for a lot of strange things. It wasn’t until everything was shipped that Adrian realized why Jesse wanted the fuller goat to follow.

This bastard didn’t want to carry all this pile of miscellaneous things by himself.

Even if he didn’t see Gallagher’s face, Adrian could see the marshal’s blank expression from looking at this pile of things that Dylan asked for…

Strong metal wire, hemp rope, small iron beads, straw traps, flares, a mixture of grease for lubricating wheel axles, simple reels for maneuvers, and other items stuffed in the cloth bags as if they had just robbed a country grocery store.

There was even a bundle of good-quality carrots and a bag of honey cookies. The Knight Commander wasn’t quite sure if their destination was to a battlefield or Dylan’s stomach—especially those bags of cookies.

“It’s troublesome to buy these things yourself.” After checking the items on the goat’s back, Jesse muttered. “We’re helping our puppy marshal with things, and I don’t want to spend my own money.”

Adrian watched numbly as Jesse stuffed a honey cookie into his mouth. The overwhelmed fuller goat bleated with suffocation, as if it was cursing at him.

They teleported near the battlefield using a simple teleportation scroll. The sky was still dark blue and full of stars. Jesse led the goat to the forest.

“Set up here first and then we’ll go to the lawn.” Jesse snapped his fingers, and the cloth bag on the goat’s back fell in response.

“What are you going to do?” The Knight Commander finally spoke.

“Win this battle.” Jesse rubbed his hands together and stuffed the bag of snacks into Adrian’s arms. “You don’t need to do anything yet, Adri. Just watch.”

Having said that, he waved his hands as if he was conducting an unseen orchestra in the darkness.

Metal wires and hemp rope snaked out of the sack and burrowed into the darkness of the grass. A few sections wrapped around carrots and dragged them up to the branches. For a while, the rusting sound brushed through the bushes, through the branches, and into the soil.

It was a strange preparation for the event.

Adrian held his arms, leaned against a tree on the edge of the woods, and stared at Jesse, who was humming.

He hid a bunch of rope in the woods and dangled the carrots from the branches. Jesse patted his hands and instructed the goat to change places. The fuller goat nibbled on the bag and obediently dragged the remaining bags towards the grass. As he passed Adrian, Jesse stretched out his hand and took out a piece of honey cookie and held it in his hand.

“Aren’t you hungry, Adri? In the middle of the night, it’s good to eat some sweets.”

“Not very hungry.” The knight frowned. “Compared to this, you…”

Before his voice fell, the sweet and greasy cookie was stuffed into his mouth. Jesse’s movements were too fast, and Adrian didn’t react until his tongue tasted the sweetness, and just as he was about to take the cookie out his mouth, Jesse’s face quickly approached and bit half of it away.

“Since you are not hungry, I’ll take a piece to go,” Jesse said mufflely, with a mischievous smile on his face.

Adrian didn’t spit out his half of the cookie or put it back in the bag. He just frowned and finished it.

“Why are you doing this?” Carefully brushing away the crumbs from the corner of his mouth, the Knight Commander looked at Jesse, who was digging a pit with magic.

“To win. I guess you don’t like blood-splattered battlefields, so I decided to use a cleaner way,” Jesse said matter-of-factly. “Now that you have seen everything I have done—don’t worry. Wait until tomorrow, and you’ll know. Adri, I’m going to need your cooperation then.”

“…But you didn’t set up any arrays. In the face of a heavily armed army, these types of things will not play much role.”

What Jesse set up were all inconspicuous traps, and the places where they were placed were also extremely scattered. Adrian couldn’t figure out what effect the other party planned to achieve with these rough traps. Judging from the crudeness, they weren’t even traps; they were more like some kind of prank.

“Surprises are always accompanied by suspense,” Jesse hummed.

After more than an hour, Jesse used up all the props in the cloth bag.

The blond young man tied the goat to a thin tree, sat down on the softest part of the lawn, and then patted his thigh affectionately. “It’s done. That’s all the preparations. Adri, do you want to sleep a little longer?”

He patted his thigh loudly.

Adrian glanced at him faintly, inexplicably feeling that Jesse’s action was like summoning a pet at home. He ignored Mr. Dylan, who patted his legs and looked expectant, then chose a different area on the ground to lie down. He shrank up vigilantly and began to take a nap.

Jesse huffed sadly, moved himself over, and then forcibly stuffed his thigh under the knight’s head.

Adrian: “……”

“It’s softer like this.” Jesse’s tone was very sincere. “Don’t run, okay?”

This tone was like coaxing a cat. The Knight Commander let out a sigh of amusement. He wanted to leave, but an inexplicable sense of familiarity stopped him.

Jesse Dylan had a very good smell on his body.

Unlike his flamboyant appearance, the blond young man had never used perfume that would choke his nose. When he got close enough, the fine aroma would appear. It was extremely light, sweet, and warm—like freshly ripe berries, warm water mixed with honey, or silk with the temperature of skin.

It was inexplicably… nostalgic.

Although he had noticed it the night before in the Clementine Cathedral, the faint fragrance was quickly obscured by the ambiguous smell of sweat. And at this moment, in this quiet early morning, it inexplicably appeared and became distinctly real.

With warm fingers sticking into his hair and gently massaging his scalp, Adrian finally closed his eyes and didn’t struggle.

“It doesn’t make sense,” he whispered. “You are a diviner. You can see the future, right?”

Jesse’s movements paused.

“This is the most interesting thing.” The beautiful blond young man lowered his head and muttered to himself. The tips of the cool hair swept across Adrian’s face. The knight’s long breaths gradually became even and long, and he fell asleep, soundly.

And Jesse just stared at the other’s sleeping face. His ice-blue pupils became obscure in the night.

“You had no future a long, long time ago, Adrian Cross.”

In the evening of the next day, Gallagher’s army reached the vicinity of the battlefield where the conflict might break out. Even if the two assigned Black Chapters disappeared in the middle of the night, the soldiers wouldn’t stop their advance.

The target city wasn’t far away. They could already see the high stone walls clearly. The enemy was approaching, and the dust flew with their flag. The horses ran through the sparsely wooded area, and the vast grassland ahead was very suitable for fighting.

It was just that there were two people on the grass, plus a white goat.

What are those two Black Chapters doing there?

“Adri.” Jesse ignored the approaching friendly forces behind him. “It’s time. Aim at that carrot… I mean, aim at the rope on the carrot and I’ll give you an interesting show.”

Adrian shook his head helplessly as he pulled back his bow. The carrot Jesse was referring to was too far away to be seen. Even the former Chief Justice of the Knights of Judgment had to use a surveillance array to see it.

The sharp arrow broke through the air and accurately shot off the fragile hemp rope.

Fresh carrots fell from the treetops, and with the help of a simple surveillance array, the Knight Commander could see all the details of what was happening in the distance…

The enemy knight was driving his horse towards them when suddenly a carrot fell from the sky and stopped the horse.

From this moment on, the whole battle changed in flavor.

Marshal Gallagher’s army had already formed their formation, ready to wait for the enemy knights to rush out of the woods, and then immediately move forward, but after a long time, no knights rushed out.

“What’s the matter?” The commander general frowned.

“You… See for yourself.” The scout handed the general the monocle with a surveillance array.

The enemy was collapsing.

Everything was comical and bizarre.

A knight on the opposite side was hit by a teammate behind him because of the horse’s abnormality. The location was also coincidental, just between two trees. The companion behind him didn’t have time to turn, and the horses collided directly into each other.

This was followed by a chain reaction.

The two knights seemed to have broken their bones, causing the healers and nurses to rush up. As a result, the two who came up ran too fast when they suddenly tripped over something and flew forward. They slammed their heads into a boulder and fainted. The soldier next to them hurriedly went to get a healing scroll, only to find that the scroll was thrown into a nearby stone pit at some unknown time. When the poor soldier tried to climb down to get it, the stone by the pit loosened, causing the soldier to fall into the bottom of the pit and fall unconscious.

And this was just one place.

The horses were frightened and broke some of their legs. The cavalry collided and were stabbed by friendly weapons. The healers seemed to be caught up in some kind of maze created by fate, as there was always some kind of messy accident in front of them. When the last healer reluctantly rushed to where the most injured were, a decayed tree suddenly fell and smashed into them directly.

The sudden incident caused chaos in the opposite camp. Before encountering a fight with a real battle, they took the lead in encountering another strong enemy—inexplicable doom.

There were two-thirds fewer enemy troops rushing out of the woods, as could be seen from their formation. The knights on the opposite side were obviously also surprised by their situation.

But what was waiting for them wasn’t a normal battlefield.

When their horses stepped into the pit, the knights they were carrying were thrown off. The soldiers didn’t even know why they had slipped off and fell to the ground, but the heavy shield they were carrying broke their ribs. The same comical tragedy kept repeating, and a few enemy soldiers began to retreat instead, unwilling to rush to their death in front of the army of the “Mad Dog of the Wasteland”.

“This is a curse… No, this is evil magic.” Marshal Gallagher’s general couldn’t help shivering.

Before their army could do anything, the opposite side had already taken the lead in self-destruction. He had followed Marshal Gallagher for many years and had never seen such a ridiculous battle.

When the last enemy figure fled back into the woods, the setting sun had just touched the horizon.

“This… Is this man-made?” The adjutant general swallowed. “No, is this a level that a human can do?”

There was no sign of any guided spell. It should be a purely physical trap, but even if they relied on calculations and chain reactions to trigger it, it was impossible to achieve such a level. There was no sudden thrust of steel spikes or a sophisticated mechanical mechanism. By all accounts, just by looking at the materials of the traps, the other party shouldn’t have been injured to this extent.

Usually, even if one were to take the lead in setting up a trap of this magnitude, it would only cause one or two people on the opposite side to be injured. No person with a normal head would take such a chance against the enemy—as if they were using intricate cause and effect as a weapon rather than the fate of a sharp blade.

The randomness, combined with all the factors, was terrible. This was no longer within the scope of human calculations.

The two generals looked at the backs of the two Black Chapters at the center of the grass field.

The cause of the farce was just a single arrow. If all this had been planned in advance…

The last soldier was running towards the forest when he tripped to the ground. He seemed to have triggered some mechanism as a row of flares rose into the sky, exploding like a shower of golden shavings of light covering the gradually darkening sky. The shavings of light were like confetti that fell during the curtain call at the closing of a drama. It flew all over the sky and was dyed red by the setting sun.

Adrian looked at the blond young man in front of him in silence.

“You see, I don’t want to use force to solve a problem that a few bags of rags can solve. No one died. You like this, don’t you, Adri?”

The Knight Commander stared at Jesse quietly, covering up the stormy waves in his heart with a calm expression. This was the first time he had thoroughly understood the horror of Jesse Dylan.

It was a completely different horror from Nemo Light.

He didn’t know why, but he wasn’t afraid of it. In the floating light shavings, Jesse opened his arms with ill-intention but had a pure smile on his face.

“A comedy, dedicated to you, my star.” The blond young man raised his tone and sounded extremely happy. “Do you like it?”

“Let’s go back.” The Knight Commander took a few deep breaths, glanced at the woods entangled with doom, and tried to suppress the heartbeat that was accelerated by the shock.

“Do you like it?” Jesse didn’t move. He puffed up his face in dissatisfaction, like a naughty boy who didn’t get candy.

“…Well, I’m glad this is not the war I’m familiar with.” The Knight Commander turned around and began to advance towards Marshal Gallagher’s army.

“What about today? Do you like me a little more today?” Jesse still didn’t move.

Adrian stopped and turned his head.

Jesse Dylan stood in place. His long blond hair was slightly swaying from the wind. The setting sun was behind him, making his flawless face and person felt a bit too ethereal. His face was full of smiles—sly and satisfied, with a hint of expectation.

Adrian couldn’t understand the other party’s obsession.

He considered himself an extremely boring person, and he didn’t even have much “character” at all. Whether it was appearance or personality, there were many others in this world who were better and more interesting than he was. Before, he could stand on top of the surface with his strength, but now he had even lost that strength.

Now, he was just a ghost wandering for atonement and upholding a promise, but he had no complaints about such a fate, but someone kept insisting on stuffing him with flesh and blood, reminding him that he was still alive like a “human”.

And that person was unreasonable, extremely self-centered, stubborn, childish, but powerful enough to be terrifying.

The Knight Commander thought that the other party approached him due to curiosity, and then after that night, Jesse Dylan’s purpose would begin to lose interest, but rather than losing it, the other party’s interest was obviously growing.

No matter what the purpose was, if what Dylan wanted was a sincere relationship, Adrian firmly believed that the other party would fail.

How could he give someone a heart that wouldn’t beat passionately with affection and love?

“No,” the Knight Commander replied, as always.

“Oh.” Jesse didn’t seem discouraged.

“Then smile. Otherwise as a comedy script writer, I’ll be very hurt,” the blond young man said casually.

Jesse tugged at the goat’s reins with one hand and hooked Adrian’s neck with the other. They stepped on the bloodless grass with small iron beads left over that glistened in the sunset, like pearls left among the field.

He felt the other party’s body temperature was odd and real.

Adrian stiffened subconsciously, turned his head, and looked at the carefree smile at the corner of his mouth. His heart was suddenly sour, but it wasn’t due to frustration, but a kind of… pain closer to emptiness and bewilderment. The strange emotion grabbed him, entangled his tongue, and he couldn’t help but speak out.

“…But I don’t hate you, Dylan.”

Was what he said.

---

The author has something to say:

Knight Commander: Come to think of it, I think the person who owns a cat is actually me.

Jesse purrs (.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 202: Ride the Dust

At this moment, the heart of Turner, a demon worshiper, was full of joy.

Alban’s attitude towards demon worshipers had always been extremely strict, and capital punishment was often imposed. However, taking into account the special abilities of some demons, there were still many people who weren’t as firm in their faith and would secretly cooperate with subordinate and intermediate-level demons. They use abyssal magic to manage farms and dispose of waste and other unmotivating aspects, or do serious work like guarding against thieves, and they keep demons under their beds as pets.

Turner had never looked down on this group of people. He firmly believed that demons are called demons for a reason.

They were tools.

Since people could smear poison on their blades, it wasn’t a big deal to use demons. It was nothing more than old diehards of the Laddism Church who insisted on this for the sake of bullshit doctrines and stable rule. What they really wanted was just the silver coins that represented piety in the pockets of their believers.

People were truly stupid. The upper echelons of various countries were clamoring not to cooperate with demons while they held the strongest source of abyssal magic, jade bombs, in their own hands.

Abyssal magic was unique in its effect of destruction and damage. It consumed the same power and often gained much better effects than the same surface magic. The wounds they caused were difficult to heal, and they were extremely difficult to deal with in battle. There was no weapon more suitable for thugs than this.

Since there was a shortcut, only fools wouldn’t take it. There were so many who would agree only in face but disagree deeply. As a notorious bandit, Turner didn’t think he would be troubled by so-called “morality”.

Well, those idiots who were using demons to diligently do stupid things had no chance. In order to eradicate the ungrateful rebels, the emperor of Alban issued a temporary amnesty order, allowing “people with special skills” to join the army. Dissolving slop with abyssal magic wasn’t considered a combat skill. What the army clearly wanted was people who could “really use” abyssal magic.

It’s just that Emperor Ettram had always been old-fashioned, and this sudden amnesty order was destined to cause an uproar.

The people of the Laddism Church had made a lot of noise, so much so that Turner had caught wind of it. Prince Eldric even spoke up for the Laddists, hoping to advise his brother, who “has something wrong with his head”.

However, the emperor’s attitude was very determined.

But this had nothing to do with him as a bandit. As long as someone was willing to give him gold, even if it was the Demon King himself, he would dare to stuff those golden coins into his pockets.

Demon worshipers were easy to find, but Turner never thought that there was a veritable demon warlock in this army. Looking at the remaining human parts, the host should be about fifty or sixty.

Countless bulging and stout flesh tubes stretched out from the shriveled body of the old human, and vines wrapped around him like he was a tree—the demon warlock didn’t even need to wear clothes. The black and red flesh tubes wrapped around his body tightly, looking like a strange heavy armor from a distance.

Dozens of flesh vines had flower-like organs overgrown with tiny sharp teeth at the end. Viscous liquid dripped down from the sharp teeth, making people’s breathing numb and their spines tingle.

Just looking at the degree of deformation and aura, this demon warlock was definitely considered strong.

The old man was usually silent and didn’t bother talking to them. Before, a demon worshiper who didn’t believe in his strength directly went to challenge him and was stabbed in the head by one of the strange fleshy vines, which directly sucked out his brains. Even his subordinate demon wasn’t spared.

Through the horribly dead body, Turner saw the flash of gold coins. With the help of such a monster, they would be able to happily kill all of the army of the Mad Dog Marshall; a rare legal opportunity to kill…

It would be a carnival.

At least, that was what he thought until he set foot on the battlefield. The shield bearers took the lead, and many demon worshipers marched forward with the only demon warlock, while the heavily armed cavalry and mage regiments followed in the back.

They would use the power of the abyss to deliver a merciless blow to the opposite side, and then let the army behind them clean up the remnants.

Even if Gallagher Salter’s army looked impressive and imposing, in Turner’s eyes, they were no different from the meat that was ready for grilling. The more regular the army looked, the less flexible they would be to deal with enemies related to the abyss.

After receiving instructions, the demon worshipers took the lead. Spells and poison glowed ominously as they flew towards the opposite side.

Then it was gone.

For a moment, Turner thought he was hallucinating.

It was as if an invisible wall had swallowed everything, as various groups of spells disappeared in the blink of an eye. The demon worshipers looked at each other as if no one knew what was happening.

Even if the opposite side had a dragon breath stone defense to block, at least there should be some big explosions caused by the impact, but…

“There’s really no color. Well done, Nemo.” Oliver quietly applauded a few times.

He was riding on a horse, following the general. The general obviously didn’t really plan to let them go to the battlefield. Instead of letting them fight, it was more like leaving them in the safest position to give Ann some face.

The general even left only one horse for them.

But Nemo wouldn’t be dissatisfied with this as he wouldn’t be able to ride a horse anyway.

The Great Demon King was sitting nervously behind Oliver. One arm was tightly wrapped around Oliver’s waist, while the other hand stretched out the staff nervously. It wasn’t so much that he was concentrating on the shadow shield, which should have filled his entire field of vision, but he was struggling to control its color.

“Actually, I want to turn it white,” Nemo muttered, a little lost. “Does it look okay?”

“I can see a little bit, but those on the opposite side shouldn’t be able to see it. That’s enough. At least it’s not pink.”

Oliver clenched the reins with his left hand and pulled out the Rest in Peace from his ukulele with his right hand. He was hesitant to scabbard the sword again because of some sweet attachment in his heart. The leader of Tumbleweed added a concealed slot in the back of his armor and carried the ukulele directly behind his back as a substitute for a scabbard.

But now Nemo was sticking to his back, so Oliver had to hang the ukulele on the saddle.

“If it’s white, maybe they’ll misunderstand and think it’s some kind of powerful surface magic… But it’s almost impossible in effect.” Nemo couldn’t stop talking, obviously still worried about the color of the shadow shield matching its surroundings.

The general glanced at the mage who had the wrong focus without saying a word.

The experienced general was a little confused by this sudden change. Before the impact of the opposite spell arrived, they had actually let the shield bearers in the front row burn protective scrolls at the same time. As a result, the parchment had barely had time to burn when the pile of ominous spells flew halfway and disappeared like sparks falling into water.

Unbelievable.

The general had always prided himself on his ability to read people well. After all their periods of contact, he had a good impression of the two young sidekicks of the princess. The two young men didn’t rely on their connection with the Alban princess. On the contrary, they were well-behaved and polite, well-educated, and didn’t cause any trouble for the army.

The marshal didn’t mention Tumbleweed, but after knowing Ann Savage’s true identity, most of them thought that the rumors were used as a cover-up and didn’t think these young people were truly terrifying. The general didn’t intend to let these two beautiful young men enter the battlefield, where they would only be defeated, so he placed them both directly behind him and facilitated the guards of the army to protect them.

Now he was beginning to be unsure of what exactly he was protecting. He didn’t understand what was going on in the young mage’s hand from start to finish.

Who was the backer behind the princess?

“How about you let out some momentum? It should be useful to dampen their energy… Uh, can you put the momentum at a fixed point?” Oliver pulled the reins and lowered his voice.

“If there’s no demon warlock on the opposite side.” Noticing the shocked eyes cast by the general, Nemo cautiously lowered his volume. “I’m not quite sure what his knowledge reserve is… If my identity as a superior demon is recognized too early and word gets out, it’ll only cause trouble for Marshal Gallagher.”

“Well, you just make sure that the abyssal magic won’t disrupt the situation, and I’ll be the army.” From this angle, Nemo couldn’t see Oliver’s face clearly, but he could hear the tension in his voice. The tension was mixed with an eagerness to try.

Nemo tilted his head slightly and looked at the densely packed enemy forces on the opposite side. He took a breath and decided to let Oliver’s head continue to block his vision, leaving himself a few more minutes to calm down.

Even if the expeditionary force at the bottom of the abyss was much larger than the number of people on the ground, at least most of the people in the expeditionary force were hidden by the darkness. After all, perceiving and seeing were still two different things. Nemo’s heartbeat accelerated for an instant because of the tension, and he swallowed with difficulty.

“It’s starting,” Oliver whispered. “I may need your assistance then, Nemo.”

“Anytime,” Nemo said, burying his face in Oliver’s armor.

“What are you two doing?” Perceiving the restlessness of Oliver’s horse, the general’s voice was a bit broken.

“We’re going to drive away the opposite side.” Oliver let out a long exhale. “Thank you for your care, sir. If you can, can you leave us for half an hour?”

“What are you talking about? The opposite site has already started to attack—”

The young leader of Tumbleweed showed a slightly restrained but bright enough smile, and directly broke through the guards in front of him. The horses crossed the heavy shields of the shield bearers and ran straight to the opposite side.

Turner, the demon worshiper, almost thought that Gallagher’s army had gone crazy—even if it was a move to show off a strong play, this wasn’t the way to fight.

The horse was even holding two people on it. It was impossible to tell whether they had come to fight or to defect.

“Go!” the commander behind him ordered discontentedly, obviously very dissatisfied with the inaction of the group of demon worshipers. Even if the emperor’s amnesty order was there, it would be difficult for the general of Alban, who was accustomed to the old days, to accept this group of people who were involved with demons.

For the sake of gold coins, Turner readily shot again…

The spell was interrupted again, but this time the distance of the interruption was much closer than last time.

It was done by the two people on the horse.

The person who was controlling the mount looked like a swordsman, and behind him was a mage holding a staff. Although he didn’t see any magic brilliance, even now, everyone could guess there was something fishy with the mage.

The magic of the demon worshipers had a clear goal. The grotesque intermediate demons shifted their focus and began to attack the lone horse running over. This provocation was so arrogant that even demon worshipers, who were used to being arrogant, got angry this time. However…

Ineffective, ineffective, ineffective.

Sweat began to pour from Turner’s forehead, and he subconsciously looked behind him. Finally, the demon warlock who was standing in the middle, surrounded by them, sneered. He raised his hands and set up a spell-casting posture.

In fact, their target was far less powerful than they seemed.

“Too fast!” Nemo yelled. “Ollie, Ollie, slow down this horse—I’m getting nauseous and I’m going to puke!”

“It’s out of control!” Oliver shouted desperately in the violent wind that rose from its movement. “Hold tight, Nemo. You won’t puke over this little thing—the enemy is right in front! Oh god.”

“We’ll run into the opposite shield bearer!” Nemo’s eyes were already dead shut, although he was still holding his staff up. He didn’t know whether to be helpless or thankful. The chaotic battle in front of him made him completely unable to match the battlefield in Ulysses’ memories.

“We won’t!” Oliver clenched his sword tightly and hugged the horse’s neck with both hands. “Buddy, please, calm down—”

A dim light flashed, and the horse calmed down inexplicably. Its speed gradually slowed down, and it stopped in front of the enemy shield soldiers, with a little doubt in its big eyes.

Oliver trembled and exhaled, just in time to stare wide-eyed at the enemy’s shield bearers.

“Uh.” Oliver shook the Rest in Peace in his hand. His expression was a little embarrassed. “Good afternoon?”

Nemo hugged Oliver’s waist tightly and took a few deep breaths to suppress his puke and almost broke his lover’s waist.

The two of them were too close, and most of the demon worshipers didn’t dare to continue shooting, for fear of hurting the friendly force. It was just that they didn’t need to do it now…

A black light suddenly bloomed.

The demon warlock leaned on the flesh vine to support his body and moved to the front of the formation like an insect with long feet. The spell was wrapped in sharp arrows and rushed towards the two of them. Everyone watched as the two not-so-sturdy figures were completely engulfed.

Turner’s spirit was shocked, and the other demon worshipers, who were confused and bewildered, also raised their heads. Indeed, even if the other side really used some strange protective prop, they couldn’t resist the power of the flesh of a superior demon. Although their trump card wasn’t pleasing, he had more than enough power to destroy a city, let alone two young boys who broke away from the army.

Suddenly, a new change occurred.

A weird gray mist filled the air and the spell disappeared. The sharp arrows made a hissing sound, turning into fragments before falling to the ground. The gray mist completely blocked the army’s path forward and dryly separated the two armies.

“I don’t know how to say this more appropriately, but please withdraw your troops.”

Ignoring the approaching demon warlock, Oliver raised his voice. The gray mist wrapped around the Rest in Peace. “Your allegiance is not with the Emperor of Alban—he’s already dead!”

He knew it was useless, but he still had to say what needed to be said.

“Arrogant boy.” The elderly demon warlock batted away a shield bearer to create an opening for himself. “It’s you who should stand down, but since we are here, there’s no need to do such a thing.”

A piece of flesh vine shot towards Oliver and was caught by Nemo, who snapped out his hand.

“You deal with the army.” Nemo pulled the flesh vine in his hand and jumped off his horse, forcing a smile. “Leave this to me.”

“Don’t take the enemy lightly!” The commander of the enemy raised his sword and shouted loudly. “Kill these two first!”

It was a pity that his order wasn’t implemented.

The demon warlock was dragged directly in front of him by the young mage, who was extremely angry. The clear sky was suddenly overcast with clouds as dark magic arrays descended from the clouds one by one, looking like they were about to blast this young man who didn’t know better.

But the black-haired mage only did one thing.

After the shadow that obscured his vision rose, Nemo’s fingers pinched directly into the shoulder of the demon warlock, deep into the flesh and blood. Then something screamed across the sky. The scream didn’t come from the mouth of the demon warlock, but from inside the shriveled and deformed body.

The old demon warlock opened his eyes wide and stared at the cross-shaped pupils on the opposite side in horror.

“Shh.” Nemo used his spare hand to make a silent gesture in front of his lips, his expression more nervous than that of the demon warlock himself. “Sorry, but I have to put a silencing curse on you.”

This absurd war, which was later recorded in the annals of history, had officially begun.

---

The author has something to say:

Demon worshiper: Betraying mankind is nothing. Even if the one who gave me the gold coins was the Demon King, I dare to take it!

Nemo: (Bleakly) …No, I don’t have any gold coins.

Ollie: No, baby, I don’t think that’s the point…

——

In fact, Ann’s task is over. They theoretically… aren’t so poor! ……Theoretically.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 200: Indifference

“At lunch, I heard Peter mention it. Hey, guess what? The marshal lost to the princess.”

“It must have been intentional. After all, it’s the blood of the Alastair family. Also, wasn’t it a woman? Even if it wasn’t Her Royal Highness, it’s still a woman at the end of the day. Didn’t she also insert two of her own pretty boys into the team? She probably wants to give her own people some merits.”

“Well… Tumbleweed has been in the news a lot recently. Those two boys may really be capable.”

“Forget it. There must be someone behind them. When have you ever seen a sea scorpion level with such a soft attitude?”

Oliver and Nemo, the ones with the soft attitude, sat in the tent slightly embarrassedly and were forced to listen to the soldiers outside the tent talking in low voices. After their senses became keener, this kind of embarrassing thing became more prevalent.

“To be honest, I prefer to go to the battlefield in the west.” The conversation outside the tent continued. One of the voices became a little depressed. “There are many demon worshipers among the enemies here. If the rumors are true, we might even run into a demon warlock. Recently, Alban’s side has become more outrageous… actually putting those evil things on the battlefield!”

Oliver looked at Nemo in silence—the evil Demon King was right next to him looking at him inexplicably. He stretched out his arms understandingly, circled Nemo’s shoulder, and patted it soothingly.

“If the first emperor was still there, he wouldn’t allow such a ridiculous thing to happen,” another voice sighed.

“Yes, to put it bluntly, the prince isn’t fit to be emperor.”

The guard lowered his voice. “When the old emperor was still alive, he was favored, and he was in charge of the land in my old hometown. Haa, you don’t know. He’s always spouting messy policies all day long, and our governor was going crazy with all the things he piled on. The rules change once every three months or so. Before you even remember the changes, they will change again next month. The prince changes his mind all the time and makes it look like a joke.”

The other one cooperated with a toothachingly huff.

“Compared with the first emperor, although His Majesty hasn’t done much, things have been stable for many years. As far as the prince’s temperament is concerned, it’s estimated that he has long been dissatisfied with his brother. You see, His Majesty’s death hasn’t spread yet, and demon worshipers could openly participate in the battlefield. It’ll really be like a living hell.”

“There must be 20,000 or 30,000 on the opposite side this time, right? It’s fine if they’re all people, but in case there’s a demon warlock…”

“What else can we do? We can only trust the marshal. The marshal always has a way.”

“I thought His Lordship would get us some dragon breath stone weapons, but only two Black Chapters were sent. I don’t think they are of any use and would only get in the way. Man, could it be that the princess is making trouble for the marshal? I hope the marshal doesn’t get wound up by her. How can a woman manage the affairs of a battlefield? Where do you think the princess has been all these years? It’s not like a dragon really kidnapped her, right?”

“…Kidnapped by a dragon,” Oliver repeated in a low voice. “I think Ann is more likely to become drinking buddies with a dragon.”

“Yeah… but speaking of this, I have to pay attention to the method of casting spells. If the identity of a superior demon is completely exposed, Ann won’t forgive me even if she wants to.” Nemo pressed his forehead. “Since it has spread among the soldiers, it seems that Marshal Gallagher isn’t an alarmist. The news that there’s a demon warlock on the opposite side is most likely true.”

The soldiers continued to chat. The treatment given to them wasn’t all that bad.

There was hot pea-ham soup, the bread on the plate was still soft though it was cold, and there were large pieces of grilled chicken drenched in sauce lying next to the bread, but Nemo couldn’t afford his appetite right now.

When they left the camp and moved forward a bit, the two armies were likely to meet. Even if he had part of Ulysses’ memories before his death, Nemo still had a lot of resistance to war.

Although during their adventure, similar thoughts occasionally swept through his heart, this time the feeling was particularly strong…

Unlike those described in epics or biographies, there was no war that looked “tragic” on the surface. There would only be madness, ugliness, blood, and despair on the battlefield. People died for their beliefs, or worse—they had already lost their lives before they knew what exactly they were fighting for.

There would be no overcast clouds in the sky on the battlefield, there would be no lightning or thunder to accompany it, and the weather could very well be perfect. Blood would seep into the land silently, and the killing continued in a different pattern, but the poets could always make it seem like it was the most compelling thing in the world.

Perhaps from a human point of view, this was indeed the case, but for Nemo, it would only bring him back to Ulysses’ perspective.

He didn’t like that feeling. It was like standing on the edge of the cliff and stepping out into the void in front of him.

Even if he didn’t have much memory, Nemo could still feel what the war was like in Ulysses’ eyes. It was like sweeping away the dust from a bookshelf or shooting a hornet’s nest with a burning arrow soaked in oil.

Small, trivial, perhaps occupying a corner of memory, but it was still an ordinary day. Thinking about it, humans probably didn’t think it was such a great battle if they were sprinkling pesticides on a garden to kill insects.

For a long time, in his subconscious, the Demon King was regarded as the most dangerous “enemy” of the surface. The relationship between himself and the surface couldn’t be separated from the scope of love and hate.

But as the battlefield approached, Ulysses’ memories became more vivid. Nemo began to become uncertain about what he had thought. As the vague feelings in his memories became clear, his heart rolled not with hostility, killing intent, or hatred.

Only calm indifference.

If you could think like humans, then for insects in the garden, humans were probably also a “Demon King”—destroying everything regardless of age, destroying their nests, and crushing their corpses. And their “evil deeds” were nothing more than following their instinct to eat, reproduce, and survive, while the humans just wanted to make their flowers bloom better.

Nemo even wanted to become flustered and brutal—it was much better than this dead silence. If his forgotten feelings were truly hate, then when he regained his memories, maybe he could use his love for Ollie to neutralize part of that darkness.

Love and hate from the heart were born of subconscious equality, and equality meant that reconciliation was possible.

But if the truth was “indifference”, if the relationship between the “Demon King” and the surface really had nothing to do with love or hate, things may have become… more desperate.

“What are you worried about?” Oliver used a fork to lift up a piece of chicken the right size and held it to Nemo’s mouth. “Nemo, you’re so pale. Would you like something to eat?”

Nemo subconsciously bit the chicken, but his reaction was still a bit slow.

“I guess you are worried about something else,” Oliver said softly. “Do you want to rest for a while? Even if there is a demon warlock, I alone am enough—if I just defend, I can still control that power.”

“No.” Before the mind could react, Nemo’s mouth gave the answer by itself. He grabbed Oliver’s arm. “I’ll go with you… Ann will forgive us later. This time I don’t have to hide too much power. To deal with the demon warlock, I am more suitable.”

“Okay.” Oliver kissed the tip of his lover’s nose. “Whatever you’re worried about, Nemo, I believe this war won’t be a problem.”

The once sentimental young man was making promises before him that he once couldn’t imagine.

“To be honest, I’m still a little nervous… but I think we can repel them without killing anyone on the battlefield.”

Nemo looked at Oliver’s soothing smile and took a deep breath.

“Yes,” he repeated in a low voice. “…At least this time, no one needs to die on the battlefield.”

“Have you two finished eating?” A guard who was just talking about the weather opened the tent curtain and said, “It’s time for us to move forward.”

Nemo patted his grayish-black robe and picked up the light pole staff on one side.

“We are ready.” he whispered, then paused for a moment and raised his voice slightly.

“Let’s go.”

At the same time, Marshal Gallagher was sitting in the room of the base camp, holding his forehead with both hands without saying a word. His whole person was exuding a faintly lifeless aura, and the guards who came to deliver the refreshments didn’t dare say a word.

After the battle with the princess, the marshal solemnly ordered all the guards to withdraw and talked back and forth with Tumbleweed several times.

As the number of negotiations increased, the guards watched their commander’s face gradually turn blue. The “Mad Dog of the Wasteland”, who had always been at ease with everything, was like a frost-beaten eggplant* at this moment.

*Withered eggplant. Metaphor to describe someone as listless or shriveled up due to loss of energy. It comes from how eggplants are susceptible to frost, and if they freeze, they become withered.

And the culprit was also in this room.

The female warrior was still wearing her leather armor, half leaning against the sofa in the room, eating grapes very happily while feeding the parrot. Intimidated by Her Royal Highness’s too grandiose sitting posture, the guards didn’t dare stay long, put down the refreshment, and quickly left the room.

“Can you share some with me? Seriously, Salter, the lunch you provide here is no different from what cats eat and I’m still a little hungry.” Ann pointed to the plate of snacks with hope.

“Your lunch is the highest standard here.”

“For a plate that size, I got a mouthful of meat, a small few pieces of broccoli and a little sauce… I haven’t tasted its flavor yet when it’s already gone! Your soldiers are eating baked meatloaf. I saw it.” Ann pointed out solemnly. “If it weren’t for your insistence on some bullshit image, I’d go and grab a piece of it to eat. Seriously, is there still more in the back kitchen? I mean the baked meatloaf.”

“Although it’s not bad meat, it’s made from cheap scraps!” Marshal Gallagher murmured in a broken voice. “I can’t give the princess that kind of food.”

“Yes, because when I was a Black Chapter, a palace chef fell from the sky every day when I was hungry.” Ann angrily spit out the grape seeds on the dish. “You can’t let a warrior starve.”

Having said that, she seemed to have thought of something, pulled a confident smile from the corner of her mouth, and rushed out of the room quickly. Within a few minutes, the slightly greasy scent of roasted meatloaf overwhelmed the elegant aroma in the marshal’s room.

“It’s so delicious, I’m going to cry.”

Ann mumbled as she chewed on the cold meatloaf, her voice really choking up a bit. “Not bad, Mr. Mad Dog. You’re pretty good to your soldiers—it’s tasty and filling.”

“The cook just gave it to you?!”

“I said I was going to use it to feed my magical beast. I can’t live without it and it would go crazy when it’s hungry.”

“…Where did you get such a magical beast?” Gallagher subconsciously looked at the gray parrot who was frantically stealing grapes.

“My stomach,” Ann said dryly. “It really eats like this.”

Marshal Gallagher strained his face in silence for a moment and let out a crumbling groan, while Ann happily ate the meatloaf and hummed contentedly.

“Give me a break, Your Highness.” The marshal returned to his position. “At least don’t make such a joke. If the identity of that mage is also…”

“That’s not a joke. You heard what he said.” Ann shrugged. “You have to thank Nemo, Mr. Mad Dog. He told you to allow you to better arrange your troops.”

Gallagher would rather have amnesia…

Time reversed back to the formal meeting with Tumbleweed.

“A group of two people? That’s your army? There are likely to be demon warlocks on the battlefield to the east! This is not the time for jokes, Your Highness. I know you want to help your companions, but this is not a good opportunity. My soldiers are ready to sacrifice. Your people…”

“Oh, demon warlock,” Ann quietly repeated. “That’s a really nostalgic word.”

“I disagree,” Marshal Gallagher said coldly. “There’s no negotiation on this.”

“What if we could minimize casualties?” The black-haired mage of Tumbleweed suddenly opened his mouth. “Ann, Mr. Salter should be a trustworthy person. Since he’s an ally, I think he needs to know something.”

“He’s a trustworthy nuisance.” The Princess of Alban shrugged. “It has nothing to do with loyalty. The Salter family has completely torn their faces from the prince. As long as we’re willing to help him, he won’t be stupid enough to throw himself on the prince’s side at a time like this.”

“Mr. Salter, uh, your faith…?”

“Laddism.” Marshal Gallagher grunted. “But not a fanatic, if that’s what you’re implying.”

The black-haired mage and the head of the Tumbleweed exchanged glances.

“I can deal with any demon warlocks.” He raised his beautiful silver eyes.

“As far as I know, Mr. Cross is the only Knight of Judgment in your team. If it’s Mr. Cross at his peak, I can believe this—with all due respect, young man, I don’t feel any powerful aura in you…”

Gallagher suddenly felt something was wrong.

Not to mention the powerful aura, this young man had no aura at all. He was like a phantom that didn’t actually exist, and this was the first time he really noticed him.

“We have two superior demons,” the young man said. “That should be enough.”

“People from the Abyssal Church?” Gallagher’s expression darkened.

“No.” Nemo shook his head.

“If not, where do you plan to find the superior demon?”

“It’s me,” the black-haired mage sighed. His pupils split into inhuman crosses.

…It wasn’t a good memory at all.

Gallagher stroked his long blond hair sadly, feeling that he had a tendency he would lose it in just one day.

“Yo, still thinking about Nemo?” Ann quickly finished the meatloaf and licked her fingers enthusiastically. “How high did you jump at that time? You don’t know how relieved I was when I saw you jump directly onto the table. Finally, someone else could understand my trouble with those little bastards.”

Gallagher hummed weakly.

“Nemo Light really doesn’t have a bad record. Since there is Mr. Cross’ guarantee, I can bear him for the time being, but your other demon… To be honest, I’m a little worried.”

He rubbed his temples hard. “Jesse Dylan… His character is closer to people’s description of a superior demon. If he suddenly reverses his stance…”

Ann fell back on the sofa and laughed until she was out of breath.

“Why didn’t I record this sentence in the crystal! I really want to show it to Dylan.” She rubbed her stomach. “Wrong, he’s not a superior demon. Although I don’t know what he is, Cross has always taken him seriously.”

“Oliver Ramon is obviously not, and Cross can’t be either. You are more…”

“This.” Ann grabbed the gray parrot who was devouring grapes. “Bagelmaurus, say a few words.”

“My heart is hurt. Don’t talk to me,” the gray parrot grunted. “Wait until my feathers grow back! Nemo refused to treat me. He forgot about me, and doesn’t even hold me in his eyes—let me go, Savage, I haven’t eaten enough yet.”

Gallagher stared at the parrot. In Ann’s lively gaze, sweat began to ooze from his forehead.

“You’re not saying…”

“Yes, this is it.”

“I’m the great Lord Bagelmaurus,” the gray parrot emphasized. “Are there any more grapes?”

“……”

“So even if an army falls from the sky now, don’t worry too much.”

“No, I’m starting to worry.” Marshal Gallagher’s face paled. “Can Mr. Dylan and Mr. Cross really handle it? It was my error of judgment, I must immediately—”

“Oh. Don’t worry. Although Dylan is unreliable, he hasn’t had a problem with major events.” Ann let go of the parrot she was holding in her hand.

“Are you sure? This is what he asked me for. It’s all written on it. I made a copy.” Gallagher stood up angrily, handed a roll of parchment paper in both hands, and tried to avoid Ann’s oily hands.

Ann unfolded the paper roll indifferently, and as her gaze moved, her brows furrowed tighter and tighter.

“…Well, now I’m starting to worry too,” she said dryly. “Let’s pray together, Salter.”

---

The author has something to say:

Jesse: I don’t want to pay for things by myself. Let me get some wool (……

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 199: The Distribution of Combat Power

He was carrying a sword in his right hand, but it was still in its scabbard.

The ground in the backyard was covered with dense grass, so the opening wasn’t at all serious with wind and dust. Gallagher’s guards stood on one side of the field, with one nervously holding a steaming snow-white cloth towel, and another holding a glass jug with lemon slices in it. In contrast, the people on Ann’s side were a lot less particular…

“Is Ann okay?” Nemo’s nervousness was directed elsewhere.

Both he and Oliver could feel the strength of the other creature’s magic power, but unfortunately, usually magic didn’t represent real combat strength. Experience, reaction speed, combat skills, awareness, and the like determined the true strength of a warrior. There were many factors.

In terms of magic power, Gallagher’s was comparable to Ann’s. Since he was respected as the First Marshal of Alban, the emperor’s confidant, his combat experience and brains must be good as well.

“I don’t know, but she looks very confident. It shouldn’t be… a problem,” Oliver responded honestly.

Then the two looked at Jesse together.

Jesse somehow managed to find a cup of tea. At that moment, he was holding a saucer in one hand and a teacup in the other, tastefully sipping tea. The Knight Commander was standing next to him, staring at the field solemnly, without any intention of letting up.

“Although he’s known for his tactics, Marshal Gallagher was also a strong swordsman when he was young,” perceiving the anxious eyes of the other two, the Knight Commander explained.

“Don’t look at me. Knowing everything will take a lot of fun away. Even I, sometimes, am happy to leave some suspense in my life.” Jesse put the teacup back on the saucer and spoke lightly.

As soon as he finished speaking, the two moved.

Once in combat, Gallagher didn’t pay the slightest attention to the meaning of obsessive-compulsive disorder. He didn’t draw his sword but directly waved the sword with its scabbard and rushed towards Ann without hesitation. As he charged, a whirlwind suddenly expanded around him, centered on his sword—

“I get it,” Nemo said deeply, subconsciously setting up a shadow shield for everyone. He didn’t know where, but an insect molt was swept up and almost smacked him in the face. “If this is the Marshal’s style in every battle, his stress… may be because he eats too much dust.”

Gallagher’s guards were prepared for this, and the moment the Marshal rushed forward, a translucent protective cover was propped up.

But Ann stood steadily, as if there were invisible roots under her feet. The smile on her face didn’t dissipate, and the lightning wrapped around the tip of her spear.

“Your Highness, move. This is the sixth form of the Salter’s Family Thunpelt Hurricane Sword Technique—”

“Sorry, I don’t like to explain myself while fighting. It’s embarrassing.” Ann propped the ground with her spear and avoided the sharp wind blade with a high jump.

The invisible air blade left deep marks on her leather armor. Her short hair fluttered out of sight. Her neat leather armor didn’t have a cloak, so her vision wasn’t disturbed by the wind, and she dodged just in time.

While she was moving, the brilliance of thunder and lightning swept through the air, and the unique scorching smell was almost instantly blown away by the wind.

“Good skills, but it’s nothing more than that,” Gallagher said coldly. “Your accuracy is questionable.”

“Really?” Ann sneered. “Your eyesight is also quite worrisome.”

Gallagher discovered the problem in the next second.

His weapon was completely scorched, and the exquisite scabbard that was instantly ignited by lightning turned into charred, black, and brittle useless junk. What had once been a scabbard peeled off with the wind, revealing a sharp blade encased within.

Gallagher’s expression changed.

On a real battlefield, rashness could easily invite destruction. The impatience on the Marshal’s face turned into solemnity. He lowered his body’s center of gravity and looked at Ann vigilantly.

“Yes, that’s the look,” Ann hissed. “To be honest, I spent a bit too much time with the boys on my team, so my concept of normalcy has gone to hell—Thank you, dear Mr. Mad Dog. I’m going to get a little confidence back from you.”

“I don’t remember that Thun… something about the swordplay of your house, but as a courtesy, I’ll also telegraph my moves too—Salter, next I’ll kick your ass with my ‘self-created technique’.”

This time she didn’t hold back.

“It’s true that Ann Savage doesn’t stand out in person,” Jesse commented with a smile. “But don’t forget, our Miss Savage has survived the destruction of so many Black Chapter teams, and it’s not just because of her luck—”

“On the one hand, it’s to control her Black Chapter level, and on the other hand, she couldn’t use Alban’s royal spells in front of others?” Oliver guessed quickly.

The lightning was more magnificent than any they had ever seen.

The female warrior bared her white teeth as lightning wrapped around her, making her look like some ominous magical beast. The metal hunting spear became her means of controlling the lightning at this moment. The sharp tip of the spear broke through the storm, and the lightning guided by the tip of the spear kept making hissing sounds like millions of snakes lurking in the dark.

“Those aren’t standard royal spells. She rewrote and perfected them, and now Mr. Salter should know the level of his opponent.” The former Knight Commander showed a rare smile at the corner of his mouth.

Gallagher panted heavily, and an electrocuted wound appeared on the back of his left hand. It was very conspicuous.

He took a deep breath, and the storm rose again.

The marshal pushed his body with the wind, rushed all the way to the sky, and then rushed down at full speed at Ann.

At the same time, several air bullets hit Ann’s chest mercilessly—Ann stepped back a few steps after being hit, spit out some blood on the ground, and then wiped the blood from the corners of her mouth.

The hunting spear drew a semicircle as she stood in place. The grass was scorched by lightning, causing ashes and smoke to rise together. The figure of the female warrior disappeared in the smoke and dust. Marshal Gallagher didn’t continue to rush in blindly but slowed down and used a storm to blow away the smoke.

A figure gradually appeared. Marshal Gallagher was about to advance, when he was surprised by a sharp pain in his back as he turned around—

“I caught you.”

The female warrior’s whole body was covered with wounds drawn by the wind blades. Black and red blood seeped through the cracks of her leather armor.

She grabbed the Marshal’s back collar with one hand, then locked his throat with her arms, and put her knees on his back.

But the Marshal didn’t intend to stop. The wind enveloped the dust and sand and struck Ann in the eye. He let out a roar. Relying on his size advantage, he rolled over and tried to fight back.

But when his fist was about to connect to Ann’s ribs, Gallagher hesitated for a moment. He was pretty sure that if he punched her, his opponent’s ribs would be broken and it would pierce her lungs, so he hesitated for half a second and changed direction.

This reaction was also expected by his opponent.

Ann closed her eyes, arched her back, and pressed the body of her spear, which was entwined with lightning, against the Marshal’s throat. The opponent’s fist only struck the female warrior’s abdomen, but she didn’t utter a sound, while letting a sharp stone hit her cheek…

She pressed her entire body against Marshal Gallagher’s chest and abdomen as blood dripped on the Marshal’s face.

The tingling caused by the electric current paralyzed his throat. Gallagher looked at Ann’s bloody face in shock.

“Tie,” she said coldly, opening her eyes. It was lined with blood, and she looked like a carnivorous beast.

“No, I lost.” Marshal Gallagher glanced at the dirt and blood stains on his body and looked away unbearably.

“You didn’t do your best,” Ann said lightly. “You hesitated with the last punch. If this was a real battlefield, you would be a corpse by now, Mr. Mad Dog.”

“How can I dare hurt Her Royal Highness.” The Marshal’s long, well-groomed hair was scattered in a ball and spread out on the grass, creating a wretched scene.

“How can I dare hurt an important leader of the resistance,” Ann sneered. Instead of getting up, she raised her fist. “This in itself isn’t a terrible exchange.”

Gallagher stared at the fist and the old scars on it. He thought in advance that her Royal Highness would need to do her best to fight against him. He didn’t notice that his opponent didn’t use her left hand at all—in a sense, he had lost this match completely.

“Don’t underestimate people,” Ann said in a deep voice as the blood still slid down her cheek. “You may be a real gentleman, Mr. Mad Dog, but I’m a fugitive.”

She slammed down her fist, swiped it across Gallagher’s temple, and punched heavily into the soil.

“Listen, I held back because this isn’t a form of combat, you’re familiar with, which meant I have an inherent advantage while you’re only holding back because you’re arrogant as hell. It’s strange that with your tail cocked that high, you’re still able to win on a real battlefield. I almost wonder which bastard son of Zenni’s you are.”

Jesse choked on the tea he was drinking, while Adrian glanced at him with some doubt.

“Sorry,” Gallagher grunted in a low voice.

“Speak up.” Ann wiped the blood from her face.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. You have given enough proof that you are indeed a real warrior.”

Although Marshal Gallagher looked reluctant, with shock and resistance in his voice, his tone was serious.

“…As a soldier, I pay tribute to all true soldiers.”

“Very good. That look is more like it.” Ann stood up and loosened her grip on the Marshal. “Now we can get down to business.”

Two hours later.

“Fuck,” Ann yelled, nearly overturning the table in front of her. “I’m not a rotting corpse. Did you need to fucking wash your hair one by one? How about using a cleansing spell?”

“Then I will feel uncomfortable, Your Highness.”

The Marshal washed for more than an hour before showing up. He had changed into his dark robe again, only this time, the smell of perfume was much lighter.

The two looked at each other very unpleasantly for a few seconds.

Marshal Gallagher looked quite uncomfortable. He seemed to be entangled in maintaining respect for the royal family, contempt for vulgarity, and praise for the strong, so he wasn’t sure what kind of attitude he should put on.

Ann’s attitude was much more obvious. The left side of her face was full of “where did this asshole come from” and while the right had “I really want to kill someone” written all over.

“I’ll do it,” Oliver said sincerely, trying to break the deadlock. “Lord Marshal, we have bad news about the prince’s side. This matter is a long story…”

The “new bone jade bomb” and “Trent Plague reappearance” weren’t trivial matters, but when Oliver finished talking, it was still shorter than the time it took for Marshal Gallagher’s bath.

“I see. Thank you for your information.” The Marshal looked serious. His long blond hair was no longer messy. “If you have no opinion, I’ll announce tomorrow that the princess has been found.”

“Next, I will increase the speed of advance of the frontlines. The prince has never experienced a real war. Before he reacts, I will swallow this part of the territory south of Alban as soon as possible.”

Marshal Gallagher tapped a corner of the map with his finger.

“If my father closed Clementine Academy, the lords here shouldn’t bother me, but thanks to all of you, the closure will not last long. We may have to endure several unplanned conflicts. War is no better than fighting alone. Maybe Horizon helped you escape the maze last time, but I’m not as kind as Godwin Lopez.”

“Huh?” Oliver didn’t respond for a moment.

“Thank you very much for taking care of Her Royal Highness.” Gallagher nodded. “But you can all leave now. I can see that the princess cherishes you very much, and I don’t want you to get hurt. Mr. Cross, I didn’t mean to target you. I respect your former glory very much, but you know your current condition…”

In a rare move, the Knight Commander looked away with a blank face without comment.

“I have to correct your two misconceptions.” Ann stretched out her legs and folded both feet unceremoniously on the edge of the table.

“First, they take care of me? But forget it, the other way around is more like it. I’ve been tossed around by them that I’ve aged thirty more years. Second, you’d better keep them, Mr. Mad Dog.”

Gallagher was obviously not used to the name “Mr. Mad Dog”, and it took a long time to react.

He frowned and looked at Ann. “I already understand your strength, Your Highness, but like I said, war and adventuring are completely different. No matter how strong the individual strength is, it can’t withstand tens of thousands of people together. To be honest, after announcing your news, the two neighboring armies will be mobilized to deal with us. I must carefully measure their strength. There is no room for any mistakes on the battlefield.”

“Oh,” Ann said. “Isn’t that just right? We have three armies here.”

“Armies?” Gallagher politely raised the tone at the end of the sentence.

“Yes—the leader of Tumbleweed, it’s mission time, and your employer is going to make a request.” Ann narrowed her eyes.

“Oliver and Nemo, you two are on the same team. Cross and Dylan, you two are on the same team. I think this should be able to handle two battlefields—Dylan, to be honest, right now I still have no idea about your strength. Do you need me to leave the parrot with you?”

Jesse saluted exaggeratedly. “Of course not, Your Royal Highness. I just need that goat.”

“Then Bagelmaurus follows me. Let’s keep an eye on the Marshal’s ass in case a female assassin is sent across the street to make this guy’s severe arrogance relapse again. How about it, commander?”

Gallagher’s expression was like he had seen a ghost. “Two men on each side of the battlefield. You call this an army?”

“Trust me,” Ann said. “If you don’t want to damage your relationship with the nearby lords, they’ll handle it better than anyone else.”

“There may be tens of thousands of troops on the opposite side.”

“I know.”

---

The author has something to say:

Ann: I can finally share with the majority of the people what I held in my heart all this time. I’m very happy.

Nemo & Ollie: No!

Jesse: It’s time to make a big contribution again. I feel that I haven’t made any money since joining Tumbleweed.

Adri: …

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Fuller goat!!!

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 198: Tit-for-Tat

As soon as Ann stepped into the room, she made an earth-shattering sneeze.

The female warrior herself wasn’t averse to fragrance. In fact, Ann preferred the smell of thyme. She would deliberately choose soap mixed with this kind of essential oil and wash her clothes with it.

But the aroma was extremely light. Except for Nemo, whose sensory acuity was beyond the scope of humans, normal people had to be very close to smell it, but the female warrior usually didn’t allow others to approach that level.

The aroma in the room was completely on another level. The fragrance was elegant and heavy, and it felt a bit cold among the arrogant sweetness.

Unfortunately, after long-term activities, the sensitive noses of warriors couldn’t withstand the smell of this rich perfume. Ann kept sneezing so that tears couldn’t stop gushing from her eyes.

Adrian reacted first and handed over a handkerchief in silence. Ann quickly grabbed the lifeline, nodded gratefully at the knight, and then blew her nose vigorously.

“My God, did they blow up a perfume shop here?” Ten seconds later, she finally moved her nose away from the handkerchief and muttered in a low voice. The impact of a series of sneezes was still there, as her voice sounded a bit muffled.

Unfortunately, Marshal Gallagher’s hearing was apparently good, as his face turned a few shades of blue to the naked eye.

Since the five members of Tumbleweed entered the door, Gallagher had subconsciously moved back. He conducted an investigation as soon as the soldier reported it. A sea scorpion-level team—since they were at that level, they shouldn’t have any financial difficulties even if they scratched at the bottom of the barrel as a Black Chapter.

Most Black Chapters above the snake level were wicked people with exquisite costumes and had dog-like appearances.

It wasn’t like Gallagher had never seen a high-level Black Chapter before. He had even been exposed to a spider level that was more dangerous than a sea scorpion level. Hearing such an arrogant declaration, he thought he would see some amazing madmen.

It was a pity that, apart from the blond-haired one and the former Knight of Judgment, the other two men looked more like they were temporarily pulled from a farmer’s market than dangerous rebels. The weapons barely qualified, and they didn’t look like high-end goods. The coat was full of damage and scratches, and there was almost no hostility or anger between their eyes. Instead, it was mostly just tension.

The leader, Oliver Ramon, was cautiously looking at his surroundings. When he found that the soles of his muddy boots had stepped on the edge of the incense blanket, Mr. Ramon shivered almost at the same time as Gallagher.

And since the black-haired mage on their team entered, he began to concentrate on counting the small mud spots on his deerskin boots. He held a normal black staff on one hand, and a half-bald parrot on the other, which kept whispering something. Gallagher listened for a moment before forcibly holding back the urge to wash his ears because of the string of unsightly swearing.

Ironically, among the relatively less decently dressed trio, only that woman still felt like a bit of a high-level Black Chapter.

Unfortunately, as soon as this thought passed through Gallagher’s mind, the incessant sneezing of the female warrior began.

Gallagher’s gaze moved from the mud on the soles of Tumbleweed’s members to the grass clippings on their clothes. The parrot’s whispered cursing and Ann’s nose blowing echoed in his ears—the famous “Mad Dog of the Wasteland” of Alban almost lost his breath.

What the hell is this?!

However, the woman’s age and physical characteristics were right, and her appearance was even quite similar to the late Annabelle.

A few less disguised illusions would be more convincing, and this female Black Chapter didn’t look like she was forced to come by anyone, so she must have done so willingly.

When Ann finally calmed down from the series of sneezes, Gallagher opened his mouth angrily. “Ann Savage. I’ve checked on you. A little-known female warrior with a habit of walking alone… Since you’re not kidding around, I’d guess you know my purpose and you’re standing in front of me now—come on, Miss Savage, how much do you want?”

There was a very uncomfortable, contemptuous smell in his tone, and Nemo, who was counting the mud spots, couldn’t help but raise his head and look.

Ann obviously also noticed the arrogance in the other party’s tone. She raised her arms and smirked as she sniffled.

“I can give you enough money to make anyone you care about worry-free for a lifetime. For a female Black Chapter, selling a life at that price is already a good deal.”

“I’m not kidding,” Ann said in a deep voice.

“Want to experience an illusory power? Even if Delia Alastair is still underage, I will not let a dirty straggler touch the throne—even if it is just a hollowed-out puppet.” The contempt in Gallagher’s voice became more obvious. “Make an offer, Ms. Savage.”

Ann shook her head with a smile. She slowly untied her left shoulder armor and tore off her left sleeve neatly. With the unpleasant sound of fabric being torn apart, the female warrior’s left arm was exposed from the shoulder.

Nemo suddenly understood why Ann wanted to dress up as a man at the dance… because she couldn’t wear women’s dresses.

Unlike the delicate and soft arms of aristocratic women, the exposed arms had beautiful muscle lines, were strong and powerful, and covered with scars.

The traces of burns, claw marks, and corrosion were extremely obvious. These scars weren’t difficult to get rid of, but warriors were usually willing to keep them as medals, as a reminder, or as a tombstone for friends.

The most noticeable thing was the huge scar on Ann’s upper left arm. It looked like a complete piece of flesh was directly cut off, but the technique wasn’t very skilled.

Throwing away the torn sleeves casually, the female warrior ignored the thick, fragrant blanket under her feet, stepped on it mercilessly, and strode to the edge of the long table in front of Marshal Gallagher.

Holding the table with her left hand, Ann took out a delicate crystal bottle from her pocket with her right hand, bit it open with her teeth carelessly, and poured the seemingly expensive potion on her left shoulder.

The dust fell onto the velvet carpet, and the shimmering liquid spilled a little on the table. Gallagher stared at the female Black Chapter in front of him, and his entire person looked like he was on the edge of an outbreak. The guards standing on the other side of the room noticed the Marshal’s unhappiness and looked at each other, all hesitant about whether they should step forward and pull this bold woman away…

Then they froze.

At the same time, Marshal Gallagher also froze.

The skin slowly healed wherever the potion content went; all the ugly scars gradually disappeared. The raised scars evened out, while the sunken ones gave birth to new flesh.

The huge scar that was particularly conspicuous and uneven was slowly distorted and a ray of soft silver light was faintly revealed from the flesh and blood. As the skin gathered, a complex emblem gradually appeared on her shoulder.

“You’re looking for a woman in her thirties with chestnut hair and amber eyes and intend to let her pretend to be Andrea Alastair, who’s been dead for many years—it’s easy to make a fuss about because her whereabouts are unknown.” Ann put the empty medicine bottle on the table and whispered nonchalantly.

“But it’s a pity, Lord Marshal. Andrea Alastair is indeed still alive, and now she wishes to take back the ‘property’ that belongs to her.”

The royal emblem flickered on her shoulders, and the guards didn’t hesitate to kneel and salute while Gallagher frowned. His face became a little ugly.

“A very beautiful trick,” he said coldly, “but since His Majesty can give us props for temporarily disguising the emblem, others can also give it to you. A princess? …Someone like you?”

He chuckled. “Many years ago, I met Her Royal Highness Annabelle and Her Royal Highness Andrea. With all due respect, those two Royal Highnesses are delicate and obedient, and Her Royal Highness Andrea was still young when she disappeared. She can’t be alive—even if a miracle happens, and she’s still alive, she wouldn’t be like you.”

“Yes, yes. I should wear a fluffy skirt, tighten my girdle, wipe my tears with a handkerchief, and cry to you about my tragic experiences over the years. Is that so? You have it all written on your face, Lord Marshal.”

“You don’t have the slightest royal femininity in you.”

“You said the same thing, ‘delicate and obedient’. If this is the royal femininity you want, I’m afraid you can only see my bone scraps now. Oh, now that I think about it, I remember saying that.”

Ann bared her teeth, and a disgusted smile slowly appeared on her face. Nemo subconsciously took two steps back—when the female warrior laughed like this, nothing good would happen.

“I remember you too. I wondered why this obnoxious, strange smell was so familiar. Put away that look, I don’t plan to make up stories temporarily based on existing information. At the birthday party held in a church 21 years ago, you wore a particularly pretentious wig, didn’t you? Well, let me think about it… If I remember correctly, you should have been sixteen years old at that time.”

“Not making stories up on the fly, huh? Who would remember what happened 21 years ago so clearly?”

“If that person was one of the factors that ushered in a major life change for you, of course you will remember.” Ann licked her lips. “Your father pointed to me and Annabelle and asked if you liked it? If you like it, you can plead with His Majesty and make one your fiancée.”

“Oh, since you ‘remember’ so clearly, then tell me instead, did I agree or refuse at that time?”

“You didn’t say anything.” The female warrior propped her hands on the table. “You just sneered softly and glanced at one, as if looking at the decorations in the palace, without the slightest intention of looking at ‘the other one’—I should thank you, Salter. You made me realize at that time that ‘the palace is completely an unbearable place’.”

“…Please let the forces behind you leave.” After a long while, Marshal Gallagher said with a flat face. “I will tentatively acknowledge your identity, Your Highness. I have to say that the idea of pretending to be a Black Chapter is very clever. Whoever is the person behind you, he has taught you well.”

He paused, and his suspicious eyes swept across the other four people behind him.

“It seems that Ann Savage’s so-called ‘preference to act alone’ is to cover up the fact that you are not the one performing the task. I should have known a long time ago that the temperament of these people from Tumbleweed had an air not unlike a Black Chapter. Are they accompanying you to protect you? …This bitter trick worked well, Your Highness, but the farce should always end. It’s time for me to talk to the real representative.”

Marshal Gallagher’s attitude was very obvious. As a veteran Black Chapter who had been in the business for many years, Ann was very confident in her eye for people.

This pretentious bastard thought that she couldn’t possibly have her own mind, and she was negotiating with him according to a script from who knew where. He was looking for the so-called behind-the-scenes force planning to negotiate.

Even if he reluctantly recognized her status as a princess for the time being, the “Mad Dog of the Wasteland” didn’t let the soldiers step down and talk about business. Although his words were polite, the Marshal obviously didn’t intend to take “the Princess of Alban” seriously. In this way, it wasn’t so surprising that Gallagher Salter didn’t send anyone to contact Delia.

The smile on Ann’s face got bigger and bigger. She slowly raised her right hand—

Then she gave the standard middle finger to Gallagher.

“Fuck you, Salter. I am the representative.”

Marshal Gallaher seemed stunned by the female warrior’s skillful gesture and expletives. He narrowed his eyes and flushed angrily. “Your Highness, please pay attention to your identity and don’t say such… indecent things.”

Although the marshal’s voice was a little more serious this time, there was still a bit of condescending coaxing in his tone.

“…The marshal is quite unlucky,” Oliver whispered to Nemo. “Uh, this feeling… Ann’s really angry.”

“Yes.” Nemo took another half step back and dragged Oliver back together. “Be careful.”

“I’m not just going to mouth off. I’m going to kick your ass,” Ann spoke while she raised the middle finger of her other hand. “I hate the way you talk to me, Salter. Since you don’t understand human speech, there’s a better way to explain it—”

Marshal Gallagher looked at the two middle fingers in front of him, and his face flushed with anger. He took a deep, cultivated breath. “Please, since you must be so emotional…”

“Fight me, Lord Marshal. One-on-one, weapon of your choice.” Ann squeezed these words out between her teeth.

“I don’t hit women, Your Highness.”

“I don’t bully the mentally handicapped, but this time I decided to make an exception.”

“Don’t deceive others too much…!”

“Stop talking nonsense. Fight or not?”

“If this is your order, I hope that when the time comes, you will not capriciously—”

“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t kill you.” The female warrior quickly buckled her leather armor and drew her spear from behind. “When will it start? Why don’t we just do it now?”

Gallagher looked at the female warrior across the table with a cold face and stood up slowly.

She smiled sarcastically. “Oh yes… ‘I forgive you for offending House Alastair.’ You’re waiting for this sentence, aren’t you?”

Jesse whistled, and just halfway through the whistle, Nemo slapped his mouth shut. The soldiers began to make a commotion while Gallagher stretched out his hand to signal the guards to remain calm.

“It will be over soon anyway,” he said. “Your Highness is just impulsive… You need to promise me, Your Highness. If I win, you’ll be honest and reveal the force behind you, and play your role as a princess; things like war are not for women to meddle in.”

“Yes, it will be over soon.” There was still a smile on Ann’s face that made people’s hair stand up. “You have to promise me too, Mr. Mad Dog. If I win…”

“Mad……?! Ahem, please continue.”

“If I win, please stop being such a dumbass, okay?”

---

The author has something to say:

Ann: (Angry) I’m already very polite. To be honest, what I actually want to say is you [expletive], [expletive]? [Muffled swearing] —

Marshal: (Miserable) Praise Zenni, what kind of excessive words are these! This absolutely, positively can’t be true. Your Highness, it’s simply too… rude and impolite!

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Ann’s so badass. Teach this sexist a lesson.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 197: Remuneration

“All the bone jade stored in Alban was made into bone jade bombs?” Ann almost dropped the half-chewed bread to the ground.

Nemo put down the cloth bag in his hand and nodded heavily. “Each one carries a weight monitoring array. I adjusted and peeled it off, and finally scraped out these… According to Mr. Medes’ request, this should be enough.”

The mouth of the bag was open, revealing some fine snow-white particles inside, which looked a bit like crushed pearls. Even if they were grouped into a whole, they were barely the size of an apricot.

“I will give these to Medes. Thank you, Nemo.” Ann carefully patted the breadcrumbs between her fingers, and then wiped her hands on the clothing exposed behind the leather armor, before picking it up with both hands. Even though she knew that Nemo had done enough protection, she couldn’t help but close the opening of the silk bag.

Nemo tried to pull out a smile, and his eyes fell on the tip of his dirty boots.

Ann’s gratitude made a sharp residue of bitterness and guilt mix in his heart.

Ann took a long breath, took out the task paper roll directly, and signed it neatly.

“I can give you my personal account directly.” The female warrior smiled slightly bitterly. “Of course, I have deducted your debt from it.”

“You can keep a fifth of it. You’re also a member of Tumbleweed, Ann. You have been acting with us, and you deserve it. The usual rules apply. Half goes to the team fund and half is kept,” Oliver responded calmly.

“Thank you.” Ann nodded gratefully, her voice dropping in seriousness. “Now we need to continue to talk about the bone jade bombs. Nemo, what the hell is going on? You’ve seen that thing before?”

“Actually, I saw one at Withered Castle, but… well, it failed to explode successfully.” Nemo explained in a low voice.

In fact, it exploded very normally, but at that moment, Nemo’s heart was on Oliver’s safety, so he didn’t control his strength and completely suppressed it, and it only released a light sound.

This directly led to Nemo having no idea about the power of the bone jade bomb. He had only read the corresponding data in books.

“In addition, I saw a document in the storage room,” Nemo continued uncomfortably. “There are two copies; one is a strike plan for important cities in Willard, and the other is a ‘treatment plan’ for the southern border of Alban. The former is prepared for a full-scale war, while the latter—”

“He wants to use this thing against Gallagher Salter.” The former knight commander clearly pointed out, “Mr. Light, do you remember the bomb? Is the model number on the bomb?”

“Model?” Nemo was taken aback. “According to the information from the Abyssal Church on the bone jade bomb, there’s only one type of bomb.”

“’Cleaner’, I know. The relationship between Garland and Alban is quite friendly. When I was still in the position of Chief Justice, I heard a bit about it—Alban had borrowed heavily on the manpower of the Gatekeepers to promote a new bone jade weapon research,” Adrian said in a quiet voice.

“Cleaner?” Oliver asked. In his life, he had heard that the most complex magical explosive was a bomb enchanted by fire discs worth ten gold coins each. People usually use it to blow up mines.

“Not surprising. It should be the kind I encountered at the Withered Castle,” Nemo explained immediately. “Completely stimulate the power of the bone jade with an instantaneous burst of energy to erase all things. The bone jade which… uh, is part of the origin of abyssal magic, will continue to exert its influence. In the next few decades, demons will only continue to appear at the explosion site, and surface creatures won’t be able to survive there.”

The bone jade must be related to the Demon King. Nemo could feel the familiar fluctuations in it. That was his power, but there was a significant difference between the bone jade and the skull fragments of Ulysses…

The power in the bone jade was relatively docile and gentle, and more concentrated, as if it had been pre-processed.

It was like a voluntary surrender of power.

But now that he was determined to explore with Oliver to the end, Nemo wasn’t in a hurry to worry about this issue at the moment. “If you say that a new type has appeared… I did find an incomprehensible word.”

“What is it?” Adrian’s expression is very serious.

“In the plan used for combat in the territory of Alban, the ‘Philanthropist’ was mentioned. At the time, I wasn’t sure about its meaning, but now that I think about it, its nature is close to that of ‘Cleaner’.”

“It seems they have completed it.” The knight pinched the bridge of his nose with a headache.

“Have you heard of it?” Ann pulled Jesse, who was about to stick to the knight commander, aside and leaned forward to him.

“Well, I heard my teacher mention it once. The ‘Philanthropist’ will only have an effect on living things—it will ignore houses and cities, but all life with flesh and blood will be turned into dust. Although it consumes more bone jade, its impact is easier to deal with than the devastating ‘Cleaner’,” Adrian explained as he almost pinched the bridge of his nose until it turned red.

“Don’t be sad, love. You know, humans have always been very aggressive and extremely talented at this sort of thing.” Jesse finally glued himself over.

The knight sighed, too lazy to avoid the palm of his hand.

“Damn it, the prince will do it soon.” There was more hesitation in Ann’s voice.

“What do you mean?” Oliver noticed the uneasiness of the female warrior.

“Let’s put it this way: as far as I understand it, the smartest thing for our Mad Dog Marshal to do right now is to forge a successor and rely on the evidence of the emperor’s legacy to go to war with the prince.” Ann spoke quickly. “But he can’t just pull someone off the street to pose as his heir. Long-term grooming isn’t realistic, and the longer it is delayed, the more trouble it brings, and short-term preparation will take at least a week.”

“According to what I know about Ettram, he probably gave the Mad Dog Marshal a fake royal emblem—Gallagher must find a suitable person and brand this fake emblem. Not counting the time to find someone, it takes about a week to cast the spell alone. It’s estimated that he’s already looking for someone now.”

“So… Once the Mad, no, Marshal Gallagher introduces the legitimate heir who ‘has royal bloodline’, it will be hard for the prince’s side to act, right?” Nemo asked carefully.

“Yes, after all, the Mad Dog is watching. He can’t strike from a long distance and then find an excuse to muddle through… Just like what he did with the emperor and Annabelle.”

Ann let out a sneer. “But now it seems he has chosen a more extreme way. To strike the Marshal and tear his and that of all civilians of the border cities, faces off and bury them all together. Although it will have a violent reputation, it is a border area after all. As long as he can come up with beautiful excuses, there will be room to maneuver on this matter.”

“The Marshal has been on the battlefield for a long time, so he should be unaware of what the ‘Philanthropist’ is.” The Chief Justice added.” No one would use ‘Cleaner’ within their own country, which is why this isn’t something Marshall Gallagher would consider.”

“Time?” Oliver then turned to Nemo and asked dryly.

“It’s not written in the plan, but I guess the prince has stored the schedule somewhere.”

Then the entire Tumbleweed suddenly fell silent.

Their goal was originally one thing—to rescue Delia.

Now that they got the remedy to cure Delia, they just needed to give her the medicine regularly and pick her up after she recovered. With the young princess and Cat Whiskers inseparable, Nemo could easily find her.

Tumbleweed’s mission could even be said to be over. Ann even gave them the remuneration in advance, but…

“Let me contact Delia,” Nemo said suddenly.

Ann raised her eyebrows at him.

“Delia is a smart girl and has her own view of the overall situation. She is not a deadweight waiting for me to carry things out. I think it is a good thing to ask her for her opinion at this time.”

Facts proved that Nemo’s considerations were quite right.

“Thank you for your respect, Mr. Light.” Although a little suppressed trembling could be heard, Delia’s voice was cold and calm. “Thank you also for your prescription—since you’re subordinates to Gallagher, tell the Marshal that I will not leave.”

“Why?” Ann cried in disbelief.

“I have Cat Whiskers, Miss. My uncle is so unsuspecting of me that he thinks I’m stupid enough to not even know what disease I have.” Delia’s breathing became short, and there was still some struggle in her tender voice. “I… I can easily obtain information.”

Ann stood in place, a little bewildered.

“Even if the Marshal takes me away, I have no legal right to inherit as a minor. This will not be the reason that will hinder Uncle from acting.” The young princess still mistook them as Black Chapters who were hired by Marshal Gallagher.

“Tell Marshal Gallagher, over the years, I have understood my uncle’s character. He’s not a wise or wicked man. Even from my point of view, he’s naïve and ignorant—he will not be a qualified king. If he does reach that position, many people will pay for his idealism. Believe me, many people… and he killed my mother.”

For the first time, there was an eerie hatred and darkness that came from the princess’ voice.

“Marshal Gallagher can’t lose. From any perspective, he cannot possibly lose. Even if we do whatever it takes, we will win.”

“You don’t want to leave, is that right?” Ann murmured.

“I never said I wanted to leave! If I remember correctly, the last time we met, I said, ‘I will go to Salter’s side immediately’, not ‘I will escape from the palace with you”—I am from the Alastair family. Although I have never loved this family, I at least carry the blood of this maniacal family.”

She raised her tone, and suddenly it revealed a bit more distorted obsession.

“In a sense, I also carry this country on my shoulders. I want to prove it, I will prove it… I must prove it.”

The young princess’s declaration of her determination came through the connection made from abyssal magic and scattered in the air.

Ann suddenly burst out laughing, sad and hoarse but filled with a little relief.

“Okay, don’t go,” she said softly, after laughing. “If you want Gallagher Salter to win, I will let him win for you.”

The communication terminated.

Everyone looked at Ann together. There was still a little smile on the latter’s face.

“Gallagher Salter needs a legal heir. Well, he has one now.” The female warrior moved her wrists and her eyes brightened alarmingly. “When I successfully hand over the medicine to Delia, I may need to leave the team temporarily, Oliver.”

“You’re going to participate in a war.”

“Yes, but this is a matter for the Alastair family.”

“…A very dangerous war.”

“The favor between us has long been clear.” As if perceiving the other’s subtext, the female warrior narrowed her eyes.

“Yes, I know.” There was a soft smile in Oliver’s voice. “So I’m asking for payment.”

“Little bastard, I have no money anymore.”

“If Marshal Gallagher wins this war, will you recognize Delia?”

“Of course, she needs a relative.”

“I want a promise,” Oliver said. “If… The queen succeeds to the throne.”

“Huh?”

“I want a pardon from Tumbleweed. I want the new king to grant civilian status to everyone by then. How about this deal?”

Ann looked into Oliver’s emerald eyes speechlessly, and after a few seconds, she showed a big smile.

“Very good. I like it very much,” she said. “It’s really gratifying. You’re already a qualified leader, Oliver.”

Gallagher was still unaware of the “disaster” he was about to face.

“This woman won’t do.” He glanced coldly at the young woman who was paralyzed on the ground. “Haa, let me guess, her family was taken by the reward and directly ‘sold’ her to us.”

The brown-haired woman on the ground let out a sob of fear.

“Do you think there are not enough flaws?”

Marshal Gallagher almost laughed at his subordinates. “How do you want me to disguise such a… thing, huh? Not to mention etiquette education, it’ll take three and a half weeks for her to look at a person without shivering. I understand your suffering. Women are indeed fragile creatures, but at any rate, at least find someone more decent. Even if I don’t like women, I won’t close my eyes and force them to die. Find someone who is really willing to come.”

He emphasized heavily on the word “really”.

“But…”

“If the refugees can’t do it, then it has to be criminals. At least they’re bolder. If that doesn’t work, then we can hire a Black Chapter. There are also many female Black Chapters who have family to support. I don’t believe we can’t find anyone who’s not willing to change the lives of their loved ones.”

“Yes, Lord Marshal.”

Gallagher snorted, poured himself a glass of sweet wine, and sat back in the soft armchair. While shaking his glass, he carefully watched the map on the table.

“Lord Marshal…” It was a pity that Gallagher couldn’t enjoy his peace for longer than half an hour when his subordinate, who had just left, came back.

“What’s the matter?”

“Found one.”

“…Are you playing with me?”

“No, it was delivered to our door. They seem to have guessed what we wanted. There is a woman in that group, and the basic characteristics are all in line. Except, uh—”

“Except what?”

“She doesn’t look like a compliant person and seems a bit crazy. We asked her about remuneration, and she—she…

“It’s just a young woman.” Gallagher impatiently put down the wine glass and adjusted the angle of his collar. “Don’t look like you haven’t seen the world before. What does she want? Just give it to her.”

“…She said…‘If you really want to talk about remuneration, I want all of Alban.’”

---

The author has something to say:

The young princess isn’t necessarily good, maybe neutral at best, but more suitable to be king than Ann. It’s just she’s still too young XD

Ann… In a sense, is still too conscientious. _(:з”∠)_

Tumbleweed is going to the battlefield!

The fuller goat can finally have a name! ……Legendary mount (×

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Kinky Thoughts:

Fuller goat!!!!! You’re coming back! How could Tumbleweed abandon you like that!

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 196: The Expensive Remedy

For the part of the truth that finally surfaced, it was Ann who had the most intense reaction. The female warrior cursed a rather unpleasant expletive and gritted the back of her teeth to a crisp.

As one of the protagonists of the tragedy, Medes’ memories looked like a fragile life of rotten meat—Oliver tried to calm his breathing. A slightly sad blankness rose from the soles of his feet, slowly devouring his body like a cold swamp.

“…I’ll try,” Oliver said as he clutched Nemo’s hand. “Mr. Medes, I need some time to calm down. Ann, you can tell Mr. Medes about Delia’s situation first. I’ll be back later.”

The female warrior turned her sad and grateful eyes.

“You intend to continue,” she said softly.

“I have no intention of abandoning the mission,” Oliver said softly. “Mr. Medes has become like this, and I think he has paid enough of a price. And the late Emperor Sampson is dead. Even if I stormed the royal cemetery and plowed him out, it wouldn’t change anything… I just need time to digest.”

‘How simple they used to live,’ Oliver thought numbly.

If the Abyssal Church people hadn’t summoned the deadwood jellyfish in Roadside Town, he and Nemo might still be continuing their normal civilian life. The biggest worries would be demanding customers and deflated pocketbooks. They would even sigh at the bad weather, buy more bread and vegetables after work, and finally end the day in a familiar room for a peaceful and mundane day.

Until they die.

Yes, it was just that kind of pure life as an ordinary librarian and the son of an innkeeper.

But now Oliver had never been so clear about how much blood and darkness was hidden under that trivial and unworthy life.

Unlike the Withered Castle, this time he wasn’t dragged halfway to hell, but had been living in a carefully constructed tender dream since birth.

He never thought that his father could still show such a desperate expression.

“Do you want to stop here?” Gently pulling Nemo out of the room, the two leaned against the dark tomb as Oliver asked in a low voice. “Uh, I mean the exploration of the past… Do you want to stop, Nemo?”

“Maybe that sounds a lot like I’m defending myself,” Nemo said, his voice low enough to be inaudible as he stared at the shadowy flames leaping from the corridor lampstand. “I… I did destroy the Tin Soldier. From the time I met your father to the time Ulysses died, I have all these memories, but Oliver, I still don’t understand why your father would…”

“I know,” Oliver said softly, tapping the back of Nemo’s hand soothingly with his fingertips. “I know you won’t hide it from me.”

Nemo buried his face in the palm of one hand and took a long breath.

He pulled the gentle lover who trusted him wholeheartedly, despite him possessing the power to destroy the world. If he only looked at this, he shouldn’t have any trouble.

But Nemo could faintly feel that everything was inexorably slipping towards darkness.

He understood the meaning of Oliver’s question very well.

After a long time, the concept of “escape” once again crossed his mind—everyone in Tumbleweed would act separately. Except for appearing when doing necessary tasks, he and Oliver would find a small place to live in seclusion. For just a cooper he would hesitate for a few days whether to use it to buy bread or a new book.

God knew how much he wanted to propose something like this.

But he couldn’t.

The facts that have been known were turned into memories, and memories only fade, lying dormant in the shadows but never completely disappearing.

Nemo knew that if he nodded at this time, Oliver wouldn’t continue to pursue the secret of the bottom of the Abyss.

But it would become a poisonous thorn, stuck in a certain corner of his lover’s heart. Oliver wouldn’t say it, but the doubt in his heart couldn’t be erased. Maybe one day, he would take this unanswered question to the grave…

From now on, it would drag his soul like an invisible shackle, getting heavier and heavier, and would never free him.

Nemo knew this very well because this problem was already torturing him like this. Oliver did promise that if things changed, he would kill him with his own hands. Under this premise, escape may make his own future easier, but for Oliver…

“I don’t want to stop.” Nemo heard himself speak with a bit more despair in his voice. “I want to know the truth, and I also want you to know the truth.”

Even if that meant the end of their relationship.

No one knew how much pus and blood would flow out of this ancient wound after it was pierced, but at least he knew that even if it seemed okay on the surface, it would never heal at this rate.

“Good.” Oliver let out a sigh. “We continue to investigate. If there is no choice by then… It seems that we are likely to go against Mr. Medes’ last advice.”

Nemo didn’t say a word. Oliver’s breathing still hadn’t stabilized, so he stretched out his hands and touched his cheeks. Oliver, as always, never reacted with any subconscious rejection.

This was his light.

Nemo drew the other party closer and kissed him gently. Oliver tasted a little cold now, but the temperature meant that “he was still there”, and it made him feel at ease. Soon, the kiss turned into a sad and fierce bite. A few minutes later, Oliver’s breathing became more rapid, but it was no longer a drowning shortness, which might be a good thing.

“Let’s go back.” Oliver adjusted his breathing. “Look on the bright side, now we simply need to find one more answer.”

Nemo nodded. His fingers wiped the gold pendant under the cloth on his chest unintentionally.

“We have a conclusion.” Seeing that the two of them finally returned to the room, Medes didn’t ask much. “Miss Savage has already said everything she has to say. Whether it’s the situation of that little girl or yours.”

“Nn.” In order to keep his mind calm, Oliver didn’t plan to look directly at Medes for the time being.

“I only have one question now, Oliver.” Medes’ tone became focused. “Are you sure you and Mr. Light were in some kind of contractual relationship when you were pierced through the heart at the Withered Castle?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm… How long did it take you from being injured to waking up?”

“It’s not easy to record the time in that place, but at least for a whole night.”

Medes pondered for a moment, then picked up the empty ink bottle, walked to the stone cylinder by the wall, and took out a little dark liquid from it. As the lid opened, the rich smell of blood broke through the pickled smell, and the strange odor went straight to the nose.

“What’s in there?” Nemo couldn’t help asking. “I feel a little breath of life.”

“My blood, internal organs, and skin. They are still alive in there. I just stripped them off.” Medes responded calmly. “No one can ‘live’ with just bones.”

“But those in the corridor…” Nemo’s scalp went numb.

“Those are all pre-set spells. After all, it’s too quiet to be here alone…” Medes waved his arm and made a gesture. The illuminated skulls floating in the room gathered in unison in front of the stone table and were neatly arranged in a straight line.

The area around the stone table became extremely bright in an instant.

Medes put away the blood-filled ink bottle, picked up the quill pen, and nodded to everyone. “It will be too messy to demonstrate in the air. It’ll be faster on paper.”

Except for Jesse, who was carrying the gray parrot, all four of them leaned in.

“You were too young when you were sick. Considering your physique, Flint exhausted all his strength and suppressed the curse in your heart.”

Medes quickly drew the outline of a heart, and then circled it in a blood-red circle.

“In the years you have survived, your father’s power has been sealing the curse and forcibly kept your heart beating. Flint likes to use fire magic. You subconsciously like ice. It’s likely that you subconsciously wanted to maintain the balance of power in your body, but your father’s powers have always been stronger than yours before. If I’m not mistaken, you used to be afraid of the cold, right?”

Medes drew a small red circle next to the other red circle.

“Yes,” Oliver admitted calmly.

“Mr. Light is a superior demon. If I’m not mistaken, he should be considered strong among the superior demons. At least his power is much stronger than the curse of the Trent Plague. Well, according to Miss Savage, the contract between you two should be strong enough to be mistaken for a knight’s oath—but Mr. Light has no malice towards you, and you are strong enough yourself, so the abyssal magic brought by the contract only existed in your body and wasn’t used by you and wouldn’t hurt you.”

Medes drew a huge triangle next to the circle representing Oliver’s power.

‘In fact, that was really a knight’s oath,’ Nemo thought bitterly. Smart people were prone to overthinking sometimes, and this helped them save energy to find some lame excuse.

“Although the power brought by the demon contract is very strong, under the premise that your father’s power sealed the Trent Plague, the two abyssal magics were separated, and were at peace with each other. When your heart was destroyed in the Withered Castle, the sudden change in the situation caused your father’s power to fluctuate, giving priority to treating your heart. During this period, the Trent Plague took the opportunity to slip out and collided with Mr. Light’s power.”

Medes made a cross in the heart.

“According to the current situation, Mr. Light’s power swallowed the Trent Plague, and then continued to be at peace with your power. Without the constraints of the curse, Flint’s power completely healed your heart, and the remaining parts merged with your power.”

He used the pen to draw a line between the two circles.

“To be honest, abyssal magic devouring each other is quite scary. That is, your physical fitness is good, plus the fact that you and Flint’s power combined was considerable, allowing you to withstand the side effects of the devouring. Now you should only have Mr. Light’s harmless power left in your body. Your power has swallowed the rest of Flint’s spare power.”

“But this method can’t be used for that little girl.” Medes sighed. “I said from the beginning that medicine inhibition is another way. The medicine will not completely seal the power of the curse; at most, it will delay the spread of the curse. Her heart is beating on its own, and the curse has already spread, so Flint’s method can no longer be used.”

“What about sending in some more abyssal magic?” Nemo asked.

He was the origin of abyssal magic, so there should be no so-called “devouring each other” side-effects.

“Even if you make a contract with that little girl now, she will die first because she can’t bear your power. Miss Savage told me that that girl’s magical talent is very ordinary. Her curse has also spread, so when your power sweeps through her, it’s enough to kill her.”

“That…”

“There is indeed a way.” Medes quickly wrote a formula. “Since the girl is already taking medicine, we can solve this problem from the perspective of medicine. Mr. Light is a living demon, so his power is too pure, but if Oliver can survive in this form, it means that there is a prescription that can be precisely controlled and weakened, while also ensuring that the curse can be swallowed.”

Ann stopped breathing nervously.

“Bone jade and the dragon breath stone.” This time it was Adrian who spoke.

“Yes.” Medes glanced at Adrian quite unexpectedly. “The dragon breath stone contains pure surface magic, and the abyssal magic in the bone jade has the power of origin. The power of bone jade can be quantified. As long as the bone jade is treated with a large amount of dragon breath stone, reducing its power to a level acceptable to humans, it can be taken as medicine—to ensure that its power and the power of the curse are evenly matched.”

“So we need to get some bone jade,” Ann said dryly.

“I have a dragon breath stone here. It should be enough, but I need the bone jade and that girl’s blood.” Medes filled out the whole parchment paper and tapped twice with his quill pen at the end of the formula. “It should be feasible.”

Ann sighed fiercely and bowed. “I see. Thank you. I need to discuss it with my companions.”

Everyone squeezed out of the narrow stone gate one by one and returned to the corridor. Jesse let out a huge yawn.

“Alban has enough bone jade.” Ann got straight to the point, “But they’re all stored in the deepest underground, and the outermost part is set up with a magic array that needs to be personally confirmed by the royal bloodline. This has nothing to do with everyone’s strengths or weaknesses. If you unlock it, it will attract the attention of the prince. When he finds out, we’ll probably still be heading underground, so we’ll definitely be caught.”

“But since you still said it anyway, it shows that you have other ideas about this matter.” Jesse shook the half-unconscious parrot in his hand.

“Yes, it may take longer and countless hours of energy, but I can find a way to explore the storage room of the bone jade. With Nemo’s ability to open rift space… If I can get the exact coordinates, it should work.”

“Yes.”

“Then, I’ll find a way to get into the palace and figure it out as soon as possible.” Ann’s expression was very solemn. “At least within this month, I’ll get that coordinate.”

“It won’t take a month,” Nemo said cautiously, trying to wave away the death of Abbas in his mind, and looking into Ann’s eyes. “As long as Delia is willing to cooperate, one day is enough.”

“No, you don’t understand. Under the supervision of the prince, we can’t contact Delia, and I heard my family mention that the storage room is very…”

“It’s okay,” Nemo said. “Actually, the last time we snuck into the palace, I left something behind.”

“What?”

“Cat Whiskers.”

The next night, Delia was leaning near the entrance, pretending to be lost, while Cat Whiskers wandered happily around the bone jade storage room. Relying on the positioning of the Cat Whiskers, Nemo smoothly split the space and successfully reached the storage room.

According to Ann, he should have seen rows of uncut bone jade—they should have looked like opaque clumps of white crystals, properly placed on cushions embroidered with countless magic arrays.

But he only saw one thing.

Nemo had seen this thing in the Withered Castle; he even destroyed one with his own hands.

Rows of bone jade bombs. The bombs lay quietly on the clip, emitting a suffocating aura of slaughter. Nemo swallowed and carefully stretched out the dark shadow and began to gather information about all the paper products in the room into his head.

…He knew this task wouldn’t end so simply.

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The author has something to say:

Fastidious Marshal: I have enough troops. I can take 40,000 first. These are our numbers… How about you? How much force is behind you?

Ann: …I have four here.

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