Chapter 73
“But if something happens to the Duchess later…”
“You’re worried I might clash with the ducal house?”
“…Yes.”
The way she nodded firmly was oddly pleasing.
It seemed she thought that if my relationship with the ducal house soured, she, having sworn loyalty to them, wouldn’t be able to take my side.
Well, in a world where unjust laws are still laws and even a tyrant is still king, such concerns were natural.
If this were modern times, I’d have just said, ‘your job matters more’…
But here, having even one more person on my side was better.
“Remember that shepherd tale you told me? Did you know it has a sequel?”
“…What?”
“The shepherd who got rich lies to his friend the wolf, saying he has no money, and refuses to give him food. Angry, the wolf betrays him. Since people complained the first story was too human-centered, the sequel was rewritten from the animals’ point of view.”
“……”
“The betrayed wolf returns to his pack, becomes their leader, and spreads knowledge of the shepherds’ village and the traits of their sheepdogs. In the end, the ‘wolf of justice’ defeats the lying shepherd. The story finishes with the wolf leaving behind the famous line: A liar who is rich must never be forgiven.”
“T-that’s… a little intense.”
“The rights got bought up by a commoner’s publishing house. That’s why the sequel turned out that way. It ended up being banned as prohibited reading—so even my library doesn’t have it.”
I remembered laughing over it when I read it at the academy. It was like a fantasy-style black comedy.
“Just because you swore loyalty doesn’t mean you have to keep begging for justice until you starve to death. If it gets too much, run away. If you’re fed up, quit. Workplaces are like that.”
With everything happening, people sometimes made the worst choices.
But sometimes, instead of crashing into despair, running away was the best option.
My mind and health mattered more than loyalty or money. And if I could still look out for a friend along the way, even better.
“Even our dear Nata here threw her resignation letter at the Western Army and came to me.”
“…Big Madam.”
Ignoring Nata’s grumbling voice, I looked straight at Jane.
“So Jane, if you ever feel you really can’t keep going, run away and come to me.”
“……”
“I’m not so poor that I can’t afford to hire one more person.”
The main family might frown, but I’d made them a fortune with my business. I could push this far, at least.
My answer must have been unexpected, because she just froze with a blank face.
“Ah, Duchess. Can I eat the last cookie?”
Only when Illina approached, saying something unforgivable, did Jane finally move.
She bowed her head to me and mumbled,
“…always by your side.”
“Hm? Eating’s fine, but swallow what’s in your mouth first—huh? What was that?”
“No, nothing at all.”
When she raised her head, her face was brighter than ever.
“You’re so bland.”
Before Illina could gobble everything down, I stuffed the cookie into Jane’s mouth.
Her expression—half laughing, half crying—as she took it in all at once was priceless.
‘I will forever stand by the Duchess’s side.’
Hearing Illina sigh sadly, I burst into laughter at Jane’s ridiculous, puffed-up cheeks.
“Huff, huff!”
Yulkes was running, gasping for breath.
His heavy body wobbled under him, his ankles aching, but he knew if he didn’t escape now, there would be no other chance. So he forced his legs to keep moving.
The forest path was dark, its roots tangled. He nearly tripped again and again.
Each time, the mercenaries protecting him clicked their tongues and swore.
“Run properly, damn it!”
“D-damn…!”
He wanted to curse them back—mercenary trash!—but all he could do was glare, breathless.
The mercenaries he’d hired with all the jewels he’d stashed away had great skill, but no manners whatsoever.
They were vultures in human form, outlaws who would do anything for money no matter who the target was.
Still, their skills aren’t bad.
It had been a month since the evaluation hearing ended.
His terrified sons had confessed every secret under pressure from the knights, and Yulkes’s sentence grew heavier day by day.
When even his old embezzlement of military rations came out, he felt certain he wouldn’t rot in a mine—he’d end up hanging from the gallows.
Then one day, a coded message reached him.
Inside the morning bread he was served, he found a note: Open the gate at the appointed time.
The sender was obvious.
Of course—it’s my adjutant!
The man was a secret aide, his name never written in the Golden Rail merchant ledgers.
He had been Yulkes’s right-hand since before he became a noble, closer than family.
When Yulkes was taken to the duke’s household and contact broke, the aide sold off all of Yulkes’s hidden treasures to hire the infamous outlaw mercenaries—the Raven Skull.
All Yulkes had to do now was open the prison gate at the given time.
To do that, he used his two sons.
They’d gladly sacrifice themselves to save their father!
The two were kept in separate cells, but during questioning they were allowed to gather briefly.
When a knight stepped away for a moment, Yulkes told his sons of the escape plan.
The second son would fake stomach pains. When a doctor arrived, the first son would take the doctor hostage and use him to get out.
When the sharp firstborn asked, “Won’t we just get caught again?” Yulkes pretended to have a hidden trick.
That’s the plan. They’ll lead you to a solitary cell. That cell has a secret passage. I’ll come for you with mercenaries. Wait there.
The sons believed him completely… and were betrayed.
When the doctor came to treat the younger son’s stomach pain, mercenaries hidden at the entrance stormed in and whisked Yulkes away.
W-what about our sons?!
The job pays for one. Shut up and get on the horse!
And so, he abandoned his two sons and escaped.
He could still faintly hear their desperate screams calling for him in the distance, but he forced himself to ignore it.
The guilt of betraying his sons quickly twisted into hatred toward Jane.
Jane, you damn wench!
It was her fault he had been thrown from his horse fleeing knights, her fault he had to run for his life through this cursed forest, her fault he had to endure mercenaries cursing at him like dirt.
I will, I swear, take back what’s mine.
His aide would, as always, lead him to victory.
Vengeance on Jane and reclaiming the Golden Rail—that was now his only purpose.
He no longer cared for noble titles. He resolved to devote the rest of his life to revenge.
“Huff… hah!”
But first, he had to escape Leighton.
The mercenary band was skilled enough to match their exorbitant price.
They chose paths knights couldn’t follow, and even deployed detachments to delay pursuit.
If things kept on this way, they would surely shake off the chase. That was why Yulkes, though breathless to the point of collapse, forced himself to keep running without complaint.
“Hold it. Stop.”
Seeing Yulkes near his limit, the mercenary captain called for a break.
Yulkes almost wished they’d just carry him, but the captain scoffed—“transport fee” would be extra.
He handed Yulkes a canteen.
As Yulkes gulped down the water greedily, the captain looked at him coldly and laid out the plan.
“First we head south. Once we leave the forest, we ride for three days straight. So keep your wits about you.”
“Th-three days without rest?”
“There’ll be a wagon waiting after the forest, so stop whining. We’ll disguise as merchants. And you’d better drop that pompous noble tone too. We’ll prepare a new identity.”
The words were humiliating, but Yulkes had no choice but to obey. His life was in this man’s hands.
Still, once he reclaimed the Golden Rail, he swore never again to deal with such barbarian mercenaries.
“…?”
Just as the captain reached for the canteen again, he suddenly sensed movement beyond the trees.
From a direction where he hadn’t stationed any men, came a faint presence.
At first he thought it a wild animal—but the steady sound of footsteps made him frown.
“Pursuers. Hide.”
“W-what? Shouldn’t we run?”
“Not with your legs. If they’ve followed us this far, we’ll have to fight.”
A chill crept up his spine. If the pursuers were this close, it meant they had broken through every detachment he had set up.
There had been twenty in all, each strong enough to stand against a knight.
“…Hey. Notice how we haven’t heard a single sound so far?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Not a clash of swords, not a shout. Nothing.”
