Chapter 36
Chapter 36: This Place is Insane. (4)
If it weren’t for Ghislaine, everyone would have died without even knowing what hit them.
While Kaor was watching the mercenaries cheering, he turned to Gillian beside him and asked, “What on earth is that guy? They called him a fool, but isn’t he really Perdium’s secret weapon or something?”
Kaor was quite shocked to realize that what he had seen of Ghislaine’s abilities was only the tip of the iceberg.
“I don’t know either. But one thing is for sure: there’s no one in our age group who’s better than our young master.”
This was the first time Gillian had seen Ghislaine exert such power. Up until now, Ghislaine hadn’t gone all out in his fights against monsters.
He clearly was not just a genius; he was hiding something.
Yet, despite these thoughts, Gillian’s expression radiated excitement and pride as he responded to Kaor.
But not everyone felt joyful and elated.
“Ah, move out of the way! Move, hurry!”
Belinda, startled, pushed and kicked the mercenaries aside as she rushed towards Ghislaine.
“Young master! Are you okay? No, your skills have suddenly increased again! Are you really the young master?!”
Belinda had been the one who had seen the extent of Ghislaine’s skills the longest and most.
In her eyes, Ghislaine’s strength hadn’t been enough to handle the attacking Palors. That’s why she had taken the lead this time.
However, she never expected Ghislaine to show off even more power than anticipated.
“I’m fine. At the beginning, Jin collapsed, but thanks to you, I bought us some time. Let’s take care of the injured first.”
But Belinda, as if she didn’t care for any praise, anxiously flitted about looking at Ghislaine’s wounds.
“You need treatment first!”
“It’s not that big of a wound.”
As Belinda said, Ghislaine was indeed injured in several places from fighting too hard.
Not only Ghislaine but also Gillian and Kaor had cuts all over their bodies.
Though it was a chaotic battle, it was intense enough that they would get hurt.
The fact that numerous fast and strong Palors were involved made this an unavoidable result.
Seeing Belinda fussing, the mercenaries exchanged glances and began to murmur among themselves.
They were all surprised that the maid whom they had thought was just a maid turned out to be far stronger than they had imagined.
“I could tell when she threw that dagger and wrapped mana around it!”
“Are you kidding? That thing was asking for its neck to be chopped off! You nearly got yourself killed.”
As the heated atmosphere from the battle cooled down, the mercenaries started giggling among themselves.
Ghislaine clicked his tongue at their simple-minded behavior.
“Gather up the injured and pile the bodies in one place. The effect of the Light spell will wear off soon, so set up the lamps again.”
The surviving mercenaries began to move immediately, without a hint of hesitation, following Ghislaine’s orders.
‘Muscle Gordon’ was one of them.
“Ugh, disgusting bastards.”
Gordon, tidying up the outer edge of the open space, grimaced at the sight of the Palor corpses.
He had had a rough few days because of them, so even with his muscles, he had surely lost some strength.
‘I need to exercise harder when I get back.’
He carelessly tossed the corpses of the Palors he had hastily gathered into one spot.
As he followed the scattered corpses, Gordon inadvertently approached the darkness of the wooded area.
He had wandered off from his companions and was close to the dark gloom filled with trees.
Without realizing it, he turned his head towards the light.
As the duration of the Light magic was ending, the light coming from the orbs had weakened significantly.
Gordon felt an inexplicable unease and quickly grabbed the leg of a corpse lying on the ground.
He intended to toss it aside and return to his group.
At that moment, the Palor, which he thought was dead, suddenly opened its eyes wide.
“Huh?”
Startled by the unexpected event, Gordon let out a blank sound.
Craaack!
The tentacles attached to the Palor’s arm suddenly extended, wrapping around Gordon’s neck, arms, body, and legs.
“AHHHHH!”
Everyone heard the scream and turned their heads.
Gordon’s figure was being pulled into the darkness.
“Gordon!”
“Damn it! There was one alive!”
“That idiot!”
The mercenaries rushed to chase after Gordon but stopped their steps, unable to cross the boundary of the open space.
They lacked the courage to enter the darkness-filled forest.
“What do we do now?”
“It’s over. He’s gone into the darkness; we can’t save him now.”
“What a shame, we just barely won.”
The forest was dense with trees, so dark that one couldn’t properly see right in front of them.
Palors were monsters that became harder to deal with in the darkness.
Ultimately, what awaited Gordon as he was dragged away was only death.
As the mercenaries wore expressions of regret, Ghislaine drew his sword once more.
Belinda and Gillian, having sensed his intent, grabbed his arm and shouted.
“Young master! Are you crazy?”
“Sir, you can’t go! It’s dangerous!”
Ghislaine wordlessly looked at the two holding him back before surveying the mercenaries again.
The mercenaries shook their heads with bitter expressions.
This wasn’t the employer’s fault. Accidents could happen at any time.
Even if the employer always led the battle, they couldn’t be expected to worry about every possible accident.
If they were accepting money to gamble their lives, misfortunes were simply part of the deal.
Kaor stepped in front of Ghislaine, acting as if it were nothing.
“Just give up. It’s already too late. Losing your life due to your own mistake is a burden that mercenaries must bear.”
Naturally, everyone would try their best to survive, but a death unavoidable must be accepted with composure—this was the life of a mercenary.
Ghislaine closed his eyes for a moment and raised his head.
Dying in battle was something he couldn’t control. It was a risk that came with being a mercenary.
But to leave a comrade being pulled away alive while he stood there was something that he, the seventh strongest on the continent and the King of Mercenaries, could not accept.
If there was even a chance to save him, it was even more so.
Ghislaine quietly murmured, keeping his eyes closed.
“I… ”
The words that followed echoed in everyone’s ears.
“I have never given up on those who follow me, not even once.”
Belinda and Gillian exchanged anxious glances at Ghislaine’s unusual declaration.
Slowly opening his eyes, Ghislaine looked at the two and said, “Stay with the mercenaries. I’ll go alone.”
Belinda’s expression twisted in shock.
‘I knew it would come to this! I never once heard him listen since he was a kid!’
She quickly took out the dagger she had poisoned beforehand.
She didn’t want to hurt him, but if she didn’t knock this troublemaker out, he would run off without knowing when to stop.
“Sir, can we stop this? You know what happens when I get angry, right?”
The title had changed. Belinda, who rarely lost her temper, was genuinely angry now.
Ghislaine, realizing this, only shrugged at her.
Swoosh!
Before Belinda could even react, Ghislaine vanished into the dark forest in an instant.
“Sir… ? Hey! Where are you going!”
With Belinda incredibly angry, she jumped about, looking at Gillian.
“You stay here and guard this spot!”
Throwing that remark, she immediately chased after Ghislaine.
“You keep watch.”
Gillian also followed after Belinda, throwing a flat expression at Kaor.
Kaor stared dumbfounded at the empty spaces where the figures had just vanished and scratched his head.
“Ha, really? Why does everyone think they can just play me for a fool? Who do they think they’re ordering around? Ha, seriously. Just ha.”
Ever since meeting Ghislaine, Kaor felt his dignity had been completely trashed.
“Damn it! Seriously! It’s gross! Should I just wipe them all out?”
Kicking a random stone out of frustration, Kaor glared at the mercenaries with an intimidating gaze.
“Are you just going to stand there? Hurry up and clean up. For now, let’s just wait. Anyone slacking off will lose their neck.”
To the mercenaries, Kaor was still a terrifying mad dog.
They nodded nervously and hastily got to work again.
Kaor slumped down, tearing open some jerky and savoring it.
“Tsk, what a pity.”
It seemed like it would be fun to chase after the three, but if he left his post too, there would be no one to lead the mercenaries.
Meanwhile, Ghislaine was chasing after Gordon at an incredible speed.
Chasing a Palor blending completely into the darkness wasn’t easy. It disappeared entirely from view.
You could sense its movements when they were close, but as the distance grew, even that became impossible.
This was why even the Master of Viscount Balzac in his previous life had struggled fighting against Palors.
But now, the situation was a little different.
Gordon was caught by a Palor, and he was human, so he couldn’t blend into the darkness.
— AHHHHHH!
From a distance, Gordon’s scream faintly reached Ghislaine’s ears.
Chasing after that sound, Ghislaine shouted loudly, filled with mana.
“Gordon! Keep screaming! I’ll follow you!”
His voice was loud enough to shake the trees in the forest.
This volume should have reached Gordon.
In fact, making noise like this in the Forest of Monsters was dangerous.
Other monsters could awaken or take notice and come chasing after him.
But this was the domain of the Palors and it was night.
The monsters didn’t yet know that most of the Palors were dead, so they wouldn’t be moving easily.
— AHHHH! HELP ME!
As if he heard Ghislaine’s call, Gordon kept screaming at the top of his lungs.
Following that sound, Ghislaine, while gauging direction, suddenly realized he could no longer hear Gordon’s voice.
‘His mouth might be covered.’
Ghislaine gritted his teeth and pushed out more mana.
‘Or he’s already dead.’
Still, he wouldn’t give up until he saw Gordon’s corpse right before his eyes.
Swoosh!
Ghislaine pulled out a Light scroll from his bosom and tore it open, illuminating the surroundings.
He quickly scanned the traces on the ground and gauged the direction, then raced ahead madly.
’Gordon, hold on!’
Just as Ghislaine expected, Gordon’s mouth was covered by a tentacle.
The Palor, sensing someone was closing in, thought Gordon’s screams were the problem and instantly shut his mouth.
“Ugh! Uhhh!”
Gordon heard Ghislaine’s cries.
He needed to scream to let Ghislaine find him, but the quick-witted monster had clamped down on his mouth.
‘Ugh, if I can’t breathe properly, I’ll lose muscle!’
With tears welling in his eyes, Gordon struggled but it was futile.
‘Is this how I die?’
In this dark forest, it would be impossible to find any trace of himself.
Gordon gradually lost hope for life.
‘By the way, the employer mentioned something about teaching me to read…’
If he managed to return safely after the expedition, he might have learned to read.
Of course, he would have probably rejected it because he needed to focus on working out.
‘It’s over. This is how it ends.’
Everyone would think he was dead or give up looking for him.
As if to prove his thoughts right, Ghislaine’s voice also ceased.
Contrary to Gordon’s resignation, Ghislaine kept chasing after him.
However, the speed of his pursuit gradually slowed down.
It was because Gordon could not make a sound to help him gauge the direction.
In the complete darkness where nothing could be seen, tracking something that left no discernible trace was cumbersome, even for Ghislaine, who had vast experience.
“Young Master!”
“Sir!”
While Ghislaine’s speed slowed, Belinda and Gillian caught up with him.
“Find the traces! Search the ground and the area around us!”
At the urgent cry, Belinda and Gillian immediately began to search for any signs.
Both were skilled in tracking, but the traces became harder and harder to find.
Eventually, they reached the point where they could barely find a solid direction.
“Young Master, let’s go back. It’s too dangerous to wander around the forest any longer.”
“Belinda’s right. He’s probably dead by now.”
Despite their persuasive words, Ghislaine didn’t easily budge.
Even in that moment, he remained on high alert, scanning his surroundings.
Just once, he hoped to hear a sound.
As he stood there, unable to erase his anxious feelings, he suddenly heard a sound from Gordon that he couldn’t quite understand.
“—!”
The three shot toward the direction of the sound like a lightning bolt.
