Chapter 42
“Count….”
Perhaps the gods were listening to her words.
To Bella, Tristan, who had suddenly appeared before her eyes, felt like a miracle from the gods.
But it couldn’t have been a benevolent god.
It was impossible for Tristan alone, without any guards, to turn this situation around.
The first to react was the thug closest to Tristan.
“What? You lowlife? You crazy pig bastard….”
The large thug drew a dagger.
The gleaming dagger threatened Tristan.
No, it tried to threaten him.
Swish-.
“…Huh?”
With a strange sound, the man now held a stick that had been a dagger just moments ago.
It happened in an instant.
But Bella saw it clearly.
The moment the dagger was thrust forward, Tristan’s hand sliced through the air at an unbelievable speed.
“Ugh… Aaaah!”
The scarred thug in front of Bella suddenly grabbed his leg and screamed.
The broken blade of the dagger Tristan had shattered was embedded in the thug’s thigh.
“You damn pig bastard!! My leg!”
“I’ll give you a chance.”
A cold voice cut through the man’s cries of pain.
“Turn yourself in to the authorities immediately and stand trial for kidnapping, smuggling, and attempted murder of a noble, and face execution. Or….”
“Bullshit!”
“Count! Behind you!”
By the time Bella shouted, the thug behind Tristan had already lunged at him.
Tristan couldn’t react to the ambush.
He merely turned his body as if to look behind him.
Crack-!
A sound like something breaking echoed.
Tristan’s elbow had slammed into the charging thug’s waist.
“Guh!?!?”
Whether his spine was broken or not, the man rolled on the ground with a strange motion.
Bella’s eyes widened at the sight.
Even though she saw it, she couldn’t believe it.
‘Was the Count… this strong?’
Moreover, Tristan was unarmed, bare-handed.
Only someone like Blanshe, who had trained for years, could possibly wield such martial prowess….
Since when had he been hiding this level of skill?
After neutralizing two men in an instant, Tristan spoke.
“…Choose. Die here at my hands, or surrender.”
“You damn bastard! He’s alone!”
“Fuck! Let’s all rush him at once!”
Each thug, armed with a weapon, charged at Tristan simultaneously.
The situation was dire.
In this confined space, there seemed to be no way to avoid them.
But Tristan merely clicked his tongue.
“Not even worth the opportunity. Filthy lowlifes….”
“?!”
At that moment, Bella had to shrink back.
She felt an unusual aura emanating from Tristan.
His gaze, as if it could burn everything, his emotions, seemed to threaten her.
“What, what is this?!”
“I, I can’t move?!”
Bella wasn’t the only one who felt it; the charging men also froze in place.
Tristan simply stared at them with cold eyes.
But the sharp terror in his gaze overwhelmed them.
Then, Tristan moved.
His fist shattered the jaw of the defenseless thug.
Another thug, who tried to swing his fist too late, collapsed with a sickening sound of his arm breaking.
And when the last thug looked up, Tristan was already leaping.
A sharp kick, disproportionate to his size, struck the thug’s chest.
The man, with broken ribs, clutched his chest and fell.
It was a mere ten seconds or so.
When the men’s screams and the sickening sounds of bones breaking ceased, only Tristan remained standing.
“……Are you alright, Bella?”
“Yes… but Count… what on earth-. Ugh?!”
From behind, the scarred thug grabbed Bella.
“You, you pig bastard! If you take one more step, I’ll slash this bitch’s face! Got it?!”
He threatened Bella by holding a knife to her face.
The situation, which had turned against them, was reversed again as the desperate man took Bella hostage.
“Tsk.”
Clicking his tongue, Tristan pulled out something glowing silver from his pocket.
A small metal object, about the size of a palm.
The scarred thug recognized it.
“Huh, a gun? Carrying such an expensive imported item, you really are a noble, huh.”
But the thug was smug.
“But I deal in smuggling, so I know a thing or two about that stuff.”
He sneered, as if he had finally gained the upper hand over Tristan.
“From the looks of it, that’s a revolver made in Felik. Expensive and powerful enough to rival magic. But… its accuracy is the worst of the worst.”
“…….”
“Do you really think that gun can hit me from this distance? Or are you confident you won’t miss and put a hole in this bitch? Huh?”
At that moment, Bella locked eyes with Tristan.
He was looking at her with a face full of melancholy.
It was a nostalgic gaze.
From a time long ago, when Tristan was Bella’s knight in shining armor.
Cynical, but if you kept looking, there was something reassuring about it… that same gaze from back then.
“I clearly gave you a chance.”
“Fuck! A chance? The only chance you gave us was to die!”
“So you expected a chance to live for vermin like you?”
“You, you bastard….”
The man’s face twisted with humiliation.
Tristan aimed the gun at the man’s ugly face.
The silver barrel pointed at Bella and the man.
“Ha! Go ahead! Shoot! Shoot, you dog! Let’s see who dies. Huh!”
“Count….”
In that brief moment, Bella understood.
The certainty in Tristan’s face.
She didn’t understand how inaccurate his weapon was.
But she knew Tristan would kill this man.
Because his face showed he truly could.
‘Please… don’t.’
Ironically, Bella found herself hoping.
That this lowlife man holding a knife to her wouldn’t die.
That Tristan wouldn’t dirty his hands by killing such a vile man.
‘For my sake… you don’t have to.’
She wished he wouldn’t stain his hands with blood for her sake.
Tristan’s hand tightened on the gun.
In that fleeting moment, Bella’s senses, heightened by the life-threatening situation, felt the surge of power in his hand.
Bang-!
A single gunshot echoed in the room.
Immediately after, a horrific scream followed.
“Gaaaaah!!”
The thug screamed and collapsed.
He clutched his leg, where the dagger was embedded, and howled.
Tristan’s bullet had struck the dagger’s blade, driving it deeper into the man’s leg.
“My, my leeeeg!!”
The man screamed in agony as if his leg were being torn apart.
“I see. As you said, the accuracy isn’t great.”
Tristan walked over slowly.
He aimed the gun at the writhing man and spoke.
“At this distance, I won’t miss. This time, I’ll blow your head off.”
“W-wait! Stop!”
The gunshot rang out.
“……Gaaaaah!!”
Blood spurted from the man’s other leg.
“Missed again.”
Tilting his head, Tristan stomped on the man’s bloodied leg.
“Aaaaaah!”
“Indeed… it seems you moved.”
“P-please stop!”
“This way, I won’t miss.”
Another gunshot.
Blood gushed from the man’s leg.
“……!”
“Missed again.”
“P-please!”
“This time, I won’t miss.”
“Stoooop!!!”
Another gunshot.
Now, even Bella could see.
Tristan was deliberately missing.
She had never seen him this furious before.
Another gunshot.
The cruelty made Bella want to turn her head away.
Then, she suddenly realized the presence clinging to her.
“……Alice!”
Alice, who had woken up at some point, was tightly hugging Bella.
She was trembling, burying herself in Bella’s arms.
Yes. For the young girl, this was far too cruel a scene.
Bella shouted.
“Count! That’s enough!”
The gun clicked.
She didn’t know it was the signal that the bullets had run out.
The man, in excruciating pain, was already foaming at the mouth and had passed out.
Tristan slowly turned to her.
His cold eyes looked down at her.
In that gaze, Bella wanted to question him.
No, she had to question him.
“Count, why… did you hide it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“…Are you going to play dumb?”
With a trembling voice, Bella voiced her doubt.
“Can you… use magic now?”
