Chapter 263
Chapter 263
Jacob responded casually.
“She is a woman with an oracle of becoming the Empress. There’s no way I wouldn’t be interested.”
“Do you think you could become emperor if you kidnapped her and made her your wife?”
said Lawrence.
Jacob’s face was distorted, although his tone wasn’t particularly sarcastic.
He was fifty this year. Even if Lawrence didn’t mean it, to say so of a young woman who was barely twenty or so put him to shame.
Even if he really wanted to.
“Because I have an eligible son.”
He said it as an excuse.
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Lawrence shook the glass.
“Well. There is a shortcut, do you really need to pass her along? Maybe, you will have another great child.”
“It’s your younger sister’s matter, aren’t you being too much of a stranger?”
Jacob frowned and looked at him.
Jacob also had siblings. It wasn’t a very affectionate relationship. In fact, Jacob was a tyrant to them, too.
However, he still had a strong sense of belonging to his family. He saw them as burdensome, but he knew he had to help or rescue them when they were in trouble.
But the one in front of him didn’t even seem to have that awareness.
Lawrence laughed softly.
“What you feel is pride, not love for your siblings.”
“…….”
“In that sense, I can say that it is not hurting my pride because I know you have no chance.”
Jacob tried to ask what he was talking about.
Before that, Lawrence’s hand moved.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out.
Jacob remained silent for a moment, not knowing what had happened.
Soon after, a terrible pain arose in his stomach.
“Kuh, kuuhkk…… !”
Lawrence put down his drink and slowly got up from the sofa.
Jacob groaned and rolled to the floor. For some reason, gunfire and screams were heard, but nobody came running.
“How…… , ugh…….”
How did he get rid of the escorts that would have been guarding outside the study?
How did he bring in the weapon?
He gave Lawrence a lot of leeway. However, he did not allow weapons to be brought into the study.
And so far, Lawrence doesn’t seem interested in getting his hands dirty.
He didn’t even have to. Because there was nothing to gain from doing that.
Lawrence had no interest in this castle.
Jacob offered Lawrence quite a bit of convenience. He also lent his troops. In return Jacob was given wealth and information.
This was a pretty decent deal.
He couldn’t make a sound. Jacob groaned, taking in his breath, mixed with bubbles of blood.
“‘Why?’ could have been a more interesting question and response.”
Lawrence responded, waiting for the barrel to cool.
The revolver was not reliable. If he had the time, he’d rather use a single-shot firearm than risk an explosion.
“If you ask me how, it might be because you have reigned like a king for too long.”
Then, the door opened and a man entered.
Lawrence turned around and shrugged his shoulders. It was Jacob’s son Alben who came in.
“It’s not over yet?”
Lawrence didn’t bother answering. Instead, he aimed at Jacob’s head.
Bang!
That was the end.
Alben shook his hand in excitement. His face was red, and cold sweat was forming.
Lawrence looked at Alben with a blank look.
People are evil. In that respect, his belief was exactly like Artizea’s.
Self-control is what circumstances create.
If given an opportunity to reveal the ugly inner desires, people always threw off their human skin.
In a boring life, that alone was quite a bit of fun for Lawrence.
“Come on then.”
Lawrence opened the revolver’s cylinder and checked his bullets.
The greedy guy looked at his father’s body and Lawrence alternately with a gaze mixed with greed and fear.
An intense agony crossed his pig-like face.
Lawrence grinned.
“Why? If you betray me and blame me for this crime, do you think you will be able to take over power as an innocent victim?”
“I, I didn’t say that. For the price…….”
Alben stuttered.
Lawrence pointed the barrel towards him. Alben widened his eyes.
But Lawrence didn’t pull the trigger again and threw it on the floor.
“I don’t need it. You do the rest.”
And he left the study as if nothing had happened.
Since Alben had cleared the guards ahead of time, the hallway was quiet even as the gunfire rang out.
At the end of the hallway stood a middle-aged man with sentry guards.
“There was an attempt to assassinate the Lord.”
“Thank you for letting me know.”
The man answered with a heavy voice.
He beckoned. Reliable guards rushed to the study to catch the assassin.
Lawrence slowly left the castle.
There was one more thing he learned from Artizea.
He had to trust the situation rather than trust the opponent.
Alben was not the only one who sought power in this castle. Those who tries to seize the real power by setting Alben as a puppet and those who tries to become the Lord of the castle by driving him as a murderer will be fighting each other.
There will be fools who are truly loyal to Jacob.
It was impossible for his rival, the neighboring Counties and bandits, to stand by and only watch.
What Lawrence needed was chaos.
A subordinate came.
“What about over there?”
“Information has been given. It will start soon.”
“Let’s go.”
He spurred the horse.
＊＊＊
Lysia was staying in the temple.
She could not cope with the plague without her divine power.
Purifying the land could make it unnoticed. But people didn’t.
However, Lysia wanted to hide her divine powers.
After Artizea announced that she was the Saintess, she needed to hide it even more.
So Lysia borrowed an old relic from the temple. The ruse was modeled after how Artizea rescued Mielle and disguised it as the grace of Saintess Olga.
She was concerned that the prestige of the temple would grow too much. As Lysia herself had experienced as a Saintess, she had to be vigilant about the temple.
She thought it was not right for the future to make the sick turn to faith instead of a doctor.
It took too long. Because she had to bring the sick to one place, and to purify them using the holy relic one by one, the work could be finished in hours.
In the meantime, some people would get sick and die.
Nevertheless, Lysia had no choice but to do so.
Because the confusion that will arise when she reveals herself as the Saintess could cause a bigger problem.
When the time comes when she needs to come out as the Saintess, Artizea will give her a call.
Until then, she had no choice but to be patient.
The last patient thanked her several times. Lysia replied only to thank God and let them go.
And she sat down on the chair.
Suddenly, the sun was setting slowly.
“Go back.”
Lysia said, extremely tired.
Now that they were used to it, the priest and escort quietly retreated without a word.
No one questioned the identity of her healing powers, and no one doubted Lysia.
As she wanders the West and fights the plague, they are the only one left who believes in her sincerity.
Finally, Alphonse left and closed the door.
With her eyes closed, the divine power burst out as if she was shooting it up.
The light of purifying power that started from under her feet spread out as if exploding.
Lysia felt her own cleansing power spread outside the village. She stopped in an area just over the quarantine line.
‘There’s nowhere else left to go in this neighborhood, right? It’s because of the brutal control…….’
Now, she has to go back and rest.
Early in the morning, when the sun rises, she will get up and move on to the next place. There were more than ten villages waiting while closing and maintaining the quarantine line.
It was when Lysia lifted her heavy body up.
The ground trembled.
Lysia jumped out in surprise. As Alphonse was about to rush in, he ran into her.
“What happened? Is it an earthquake? A monster?”
“No. Mountain bandits!”
Alphonse exclaimed.
Lysia looked blankly over Alphonse’s shoulder. A cloud of dust from the horse came approaching like a storm.
In the village, those who were terrified shouted and ran to and fro.
“Lysia! This is not the time to space out!”
“What happened? What about the Count’s army?”
There will be no one in the vicinity to stand up to Jacob.
Even if they are the mountain bandits, there is no way they would attack like this without fear of Jacob’s retaliation.
Lysia and Alphonse did not know.
There was no room for retaliation, as Jacob was suddenly murdered and there was going to be a strife in his stronghold.
Those who heard the information disguised themselves as mountain bandits and sent troops.
The goal is looting. They rob people and property, and burn villages.
It was to increase their own power and at the same time to weaken Jacob’s power.
Alphonse said,
“Whatever Count Jacob may do, we must flee now!”
“Are we leaving the village like this?”
Lysia clenched her teeth.
“If they aren’t real mountain bandits, it might be better for us to stay and negotiate.”
“Your life is not determined by ‘if’!”
“The Knights of Evron and the officials of the Empire have abandoned their people and fled. Besides, even if we ran away from this plain, would we be able to avoid that horde?”
“You should avoid it!”
Alphonse grabbed Lysia’s arm. That doesn’t mean she can’t be sacrificed here without a meaning.
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But Lysia was right. She barely managed to get out of town. But the exit was already blocked.
Clank!
Fifty gun barrels gleamed coldly in the sunlight.
The ten knights who were closest to the vicinity intercepted Lysia. But she frantically pushed through the crowd and stepped forward.
She couldn’t breathe. Lysia grabbed her chest as if her lungs were torn and her heart was about to explode.
Lawrence smiled softly.
“It’s been a while, Lysia.”
“Are you crazy?”
“I’m here to pick you up.”
He held out his hand.