SWNOVELXO Chapter 67 - Beyond the Line
Seraphine Bastard, the black sheep of a family born with magical talent.
The Bastard ducal family had been a traditional knight family for generations.
As such, their pride in swordsmanship was extraordinary.
In such a knight family, walking the path of magic alone was by no means an easy task.
There was always an invisible ‘line’ between Seraphine and her family.
Of course, they did praise her as a genius and spared no support.
But all of this was ultimately because they expected Seraphine, with her overwhelming talent, to produce results that would benefit the family.
But what if she betrayed the family’s expectations?
‘I would become a tool to increase the family’s influence.’
She would be sold off in an unwanted political marriage like other noble young ladies.
To prevent this, Seraphine worked tirelessly.
She sought recognition.
As a result.
She succeeded in becoming a member of the Imperial Inspection Corps.
She reached the realm of 5-star at an early age.
From around that time, her family’s attitude towards her changed.
Seraphine was not satisfied with this.
She firmly resolved to climb higher.
And thus, she wanted to be recognized by more people.
She believed she could do it.
Among the noble children of similar age, there was no one more excellent than her.
But the moment she witnessed Loen mercilessly cutting off the Grand Duke’s hand in the imperial banquet hall,
Seraphine’s resolution began to waver for the first time.
‘I’m not sure..’
Could she really make such bold decisions like Loen?
Such thoughts crossed her mind quite often.
Seraphine’s gaze naturally turned to Loen.
“Throw down your weapons and surrender.”
Just then, her words echoed across the frozen mansion courtyard.
Seraphine decided to focus on the situation at hand for now.
After all, the situation wasn’t over yet.
Thud.
As soon as Loen finished speaking, the magic-armored knights struck the ground with their shields, adding force to seize the initiative.
Crackle.
Seraphine summoned lightning spears in the air.
The electricity sparking in all directions displayed a threat to the enemies.
The entire group had been fighting continuously in a confined space.
They had broken through hundreds of troops while wrapped in extreme tension.
As such, their mental and physical exhaustion was considerable.
The ragged breaths of the magic-armored knights could still be heard.
They all only looked fine on the outside.
‘Loen must know this too, which is why she chose to force surrender rather than battle.’
At this point, without even seeing Duke Donnelly’s face, unnecessary battles should be avoided.
They needed to manage their stamina well to exert their full strength in the battle against the duke.
As the standoff dragged on tediously.
A knight who seemed to be a commander shouted.
“What are you doing! Pull yourselves together, ugh.”
Judgment.
Simultaneously with the shout, Loen’s magic struck him directly.
It was an attack without even a moment’s hesitation.
Clang!
Just as the commander-level knight was struggling to block the magic spear. Crunch. Psyche, shot like a cannonball, pierced through his upper body with her fist. It was a perfect joint attack.
Hiss..
As soon as he collapsed with a wheezing sound, the soldiers’ unrest visibly worsened.
They clearly seemed to be deliberating whether to throw down their weapons or not.
The knights were not much different from the soldiers.
‘Indeed..’
Seraphine grasped Loen’s intention.
Her plan was to minimize casualties by selectively killing only those who were burning with the will to resist.
At that moment, the voice of another knight was heard.
“Duke Donnelㅡ gack.”
Similarly, his life vanished before he could finish speaking.
That was the decisive blow.
“I surrender!”
“M-me too..”
The enemies expressed their intention to surrender.
With even the knight commander dead, there were no brave souls to continue a battle that was clearly lost.
In fact, there was such a person, but he just died.
The sound of swords and spears falling to the ground was heard several times.
The soldiers and knights knelt down, watching each other’s reactions.
Only then did the wind push away the smell of blood.
Judging that the situation had ended, Loen immediately issued the next order.
“Knight Captain. Bind them and put them in the mansion prison.”
The magic-armored knights immediately sprang into action.
They subdued those who had surrendered and led them to the basement of the mansion.
Watching this, Loen said.
“Seraphine and Psyche, let’s search the mansion interior with me.”
“Yes!”
“Alright.”
Afterwards, Seraphine searched the mansion interior, which had turned into ruins, with them. And they captured the retainers who were hiding inside.
The duke’s retainers were dragged out with expressions that said they couldn’t believe the Inspection Corps would win.
Well….
‘If even one of the inspectors had lost their combat power from the duchess’s surprise attack…. We might have been defeated.’
Suddenly, Loen’s words flashed through Seraphine’s mind.
That if we don’t do it decisively, in the end, it’s ourselves who will die.
That afternoon.
In the open space behind the mansion, the finance officer, administrator, head butler, and others who had sworn loyalty to the duke were dragged out one after another.
The inspectors stood face to face with them, who were kneeling in a line.
Then the magic-armored knight members surrounded the area.
“Sob.”
“….”
While most remained silent, some burst into tears.
Probably because they sensed their fate.
“Isn’t crying at this point too ugly? Someone might think we’re trying to kill innocent people~”
Psyche spat out sarcastic words while twirling her light blue hair with her hand.
Meanwhile, Loen was silently scanning the documents in her hand.
Rustle.
Eventually, Loen raised her head.
Her piercingly red eyes swept over the faces of the retainers.
Suddenly, Seraphine’s eyes standing beside her began to tremble.
Gulp. She unwittingly swallowed.
It was because she sensed that the time had come to carry out the execution, which she had been putting off, with her own hands.
Soon, the retainers’ crimes flowed from Loen’s mouth one after another.
Despite noticing the duke’s betrayal, they not only failed to reveal the truth but cooperated with him, and even went so far as to turn a blind eye to the process of the duchess’s corruption.
“…… Lastly, the crime of kidnapping innocent commoners’ children and aiding in the contract between the duchess and demons.”
Loen delivered the final judgment.
“You are all to be summarily executed on this spot.”
Along with the retainers’ screams,
the death throes of those meeting their end echoed.
At that moment when Loen and Psyche were mercilessly carrying out the executions.
“P-please spare me! I only did as I was told!”
A woman ran to Seraphine and desperately begged for mercy.
She was the head maid who managed the mansion.
The head maid looked at Seraphine and continued.
“Sob, I knew I should have revealed the truth, but my family’s lives were at stake.. So I really.. had no choice..”
Seraphine’s hand, which was about to move swiftly, suddenly froze.
It was exactly the same situation as before.
Except back then, the enforcement department senior had carried out the execution instead.
Seraphine knew well that this was contradictory behavior.
What on earth was the difference between being fine with killing from afar with magic, but hesitating to behead someone directly?
However, knowing it in her head and putting it into action were two different matters.
After pondering for a moment, Seraphine lifted her head and looked at Loen.
Loen, meeting her gaze, uttered just one word.
“Seraphine.”
Everything was contained in that one word.
As Seraphine lowered her gaze, she saw the headless corpses lying around Loen and Psyche.
Blood flowing from there was soaking their shoes.
In contrast, around herself was only the head maid begging for mercy.
Not even a small drop of blood was visible on the ground.
Just as there was an invisible line between her family and herself,
there was also an invisible line between herself and them.
They stood beyond the line that must be crossed once one becomes a member of the Inspection Corps.
“….”
The human heart is truly fickle.
That’s what Seraphine thought.
No matter how wicked people are, they change their attitude when death approaches.
Perpetrators transform into victims without a moment’s hesitation and beg for mercy.
Even knowing this, one can’t help but waver when hearing their expressions and words of resentment.
That’s why one must establish their own standards.
To avoid being swayed by what’s visible in front of them.
After long deliberation.
Seraphine closed her eyes.
And she stretched out her hand and shouted.
“Mana Sword.”
A sharp sword with electricity flowing down it appeared in her hand.
Clearly it was light, yet feeling the not-at-all light weight of the sword, Seraphine finally opened her eyes.
Her blue eyes directly faced the head maid.
Seraphine, with her lips tightly closed, swung the sword without a word.
After the execution ceremony was finished.
Loen sat in the office chair and read through the documents found in Duke Donnelly’s safe.
For reference, they learned of the safe’s existence while interrogating the retainers.
After roughly skimming through the lengthy documents.
She was able to obtain results beyond expectations.
‘They really gorged themselves.’
The Donnelly ducal family’s business spanned the entire southern region.
Actively utilizing his position as duke and corps commander, he had secretly made agreements with various nobles. Based on this, he had reached into diverse fields.
The war-related business that was visible on the surface was only a part of it.
‘There are too many things worth absorbing?’
However, no matter how she thought about it, the scale was too vast.
It would be unreasonable for the Franz family to absorb all of this intact.
They could do it if told to, but then they would face concentrated checks from other ducal families.
It could even draw the attention of the imperial family if they’re not careful.
‘But, rather than watching others divide up what the Franz family couldn’t absorb amicably….’
Rather than that, how about handing it over to a family that could become a potential ally?
With that thought, one family came to mind.
The Bastard ducal family.
The family Seraphine belongs to.
Befitting a knight family, their relationship with the Franz family, a mage family, had always been subtle.
Not bad, not good, just that awkward middle ground.
Just enough to not intrude on each other’s domains.
Well, there wasn’t much of a point of contact to begin with.
There would have been pride as families representing each group, making it difficult to reach out first.
But now that I have a close relationship with Seraphine, it might be different.
If she and I build a bridge, cooperation between the two families might not be just a dream.
This might be….
Much faster than expected, we might gain enough influence to not be swayed by our surroundings.
‘When the eradication of Duke Donnelly is over, I should cautiously bring this up to Seraphine.’
Having finished her thoughts, Loen soon gathered the documents and headed to her room.
And after finishing preparations, she went straight to bed.
The next morning.
Loen’s group, gathered in the mansion courtyard, headed towards the corps fortress where Duke Donnelly was hiding.
“It looks like they’re really determined~?”
After arriving at the plains where the fortress was located, Psyche offered her impression of the scene unfolding before her eyes.
The scale of the corps commanded by Duke Donnelly was about 50,000 men.
It’s far less compared to the eastern or northern corps engaged in war, but that number can’t be called small.
That many troops were now densely arrayed around the corps fortress.
Although not in battle formation, judging by the hundreds of tents outside the fortress and the multiple layers of wooden fences, they seemed ready to sortie at any time.
Silence fell among the group.
Soon, everyone’s gaze turned to Loen.
Their eyes contained the question ‘What are we going to do?’
Loen opened her mouth while meeting those gazes.
In fact, the answer was already decided.
“We’ll go according to the original plan.”
Everyone nodded at her words.
Loen’s group slowly walked towards the corps fortress where the duke was staying.