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The people who came to the place had expressions of ignorance. Johan smiled satisfactorily. Soon they would also know how silent Repiata-gong is.
You guys should suffer too!
The knights and mercenary captains were cautious with tense faces. They had already heard the rumors. They had to be more careful, especially since it was the duke’s lineage.
However, Johan missed something. This was not a private meeting, but a banquet to be enjoyed with others.
After Repiata briefly praised and the wine went around a few times, the mercenary captains started talking among themselves. They praised Repiata, the Brduhe family, and insulted the traitors of the city.
Repiata didn’t need to speak. The mercenaries did the talking for him, agreeing and responding among themselves.
‘𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘪𝘵.’
There was no reason to be angry about this, but Johan felt unfairly aggrieved. Caenerna kicked his foot and asked.
“Is there a problem?”
“No. It’s nothing serious.”
“Then it would be good to talk a bit.”
“It’s a place where it doesn’t matter if you don’t talk.”
Johan’s words sounded arrogant, but they were true. All the mercenaries and knights present knew who had crossed the city walls.
People with less to their name talked more here, while those with more accomplishments sat quietly as praises came to them naturally.
‘𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨?’
Johan was puzzled. The magistrate sat next to him, looking like a major criminal.
Normally, such a person should be imprisoned, at least under house arrest.
‘𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮?’
Johan couldn’t know the discussions within the family. If the Brduhe family intended to keep the magistrate alive to govern the city, that must be the reason.
The magistrate had lost most of his possessions, but cooperating was still better than dying completely.
━𝐆𝐫𝐫𝐫.
Karamaf, who had been rolling around in the corner gnawing on meat, came over and tugged at Johan’s pants.
Initially, Johan thought he didn’t like the meat, but it seemed like he wanted to say something. Johan excused himself and stepped outside.
“Is there something strange?”
━𝐆𝐫𝐫𝐫.
Karamaf growled and kept walking forward, indicating the direction of the smell. It was towards the kitchen.
The kitchen of such a mansion was large, with many people working. Over a dozen servants were busily moving between the storeroom and kitchen.
“?”
Karamaf stopped in front of a maid and started barking fiercely. Johan didn’t know why but he trusted Karamaf.
“Hmm. Let me have a look at you.”
“What? What is it?”
The maid was short and had rough skin from long labor. She trembled as if terrified by the sudden approach of a knight.
‘. . .𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵?’
Johan was slightly confused.
Johan had confidence in his instincts too. If Karamaf had his sense of smell and hearing, Johan had his unique animal-like intuition.
But he felt no threat from the person in front of him. She seemed like just an ordinary maid.
‘. . .𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘒𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘧 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦?’
“Come here for now.”
The maid, terrified, looked around, but there was no servant who dared to obstruct a knight, especially one recognized by the duke. Johan pulled the maid closer to the fireplace to get a better look at her face.
“S-Sir Knight.”
“?”
One of the servants, who seemed to hold a higher position, spoke up.
“If you want this, I’ll send it separately, so here. . .”
“No. That’s enough.”
The servant grumbled internally and stepped back. What a fuss in the kitchen. No matter how much one brightens the colors.
Johan was deep in thought. He wanted to force an answer through strength, but he was not sure about the other party.
‘𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘒𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘧 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭?’
It made sense for Karamaf to bark if the maid was emitting a suspicious smell. But could that smell have been a misunderstanding? Working in the kitchen handling various ingredients, one could get smells on them.
“?”
Staring intently at the maid, Johan hesitated. The flesh showing through her torn sleeve, where a snake-like mark appeared.
Johan almost instinctively whispered.
“Nessus?”
At that moment, the maid’s eyes transformed. Karamaf fiercely barked, attempting to sink its teeth and claws into the maid’s neck.
But the maid’s movements were much faster. In her hand, which should have been empty, was a needle-shaped dagger.
‘<𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯>!’
Recalling the technique he learned from Kaegal, Johan grabbed the maid’s wrist. The enemy’s eyes turned to astonishment.
If Kaegal had seen it, he would have scolded, ‘𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺,’ but Johan was not Kaegal. He had no intention of just killing the opponent.
“I swear to God, I don’t intend to kill you. I have something to ask!”
The maid’s face melted away, transforming into that of a middle-aged man, similar to a servant’s face nearby. Johan realized that face belonged to the servant next to him.
‘𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦?!’
Kaegal hadn’t taught him that!
Johan, feeling a bit wronged, tightly gripped the assassin to prevent escape. The assassin was shocked by Johan’s strength. He had tried to dislocate his joints to escape, but there was no chance for that.
Is this really human strength?
At that moment, mercenaries wielding swords burst into the kitchen.
“Nobody move! Move and you’ll be killed.”
“. . .Who are you guys?”
“Shit. . . Didn’t I say there’s no need to deal with this?!”