SWNOVELXO Chapter 551
Chapter 551: ‘Empathy’ is Enough (2)
Kwah-chik! Kwah-chik! Kwah-chik!
“Uaaaah!”
Ghislaine swung her arm, and with each slash of her axe, a member of the Revolutionary Group was struck down.
The other mobile army members didn’t even need to move. They just took care of the scoundrels running towards them.
No matter how rough the Revolutionary Group was, most of them were just bandits. Their only skills were ambush and plunder.
Even with five hundred men, they couldn’t stop the formidable Ghislaine.
Kwah-chik!
One slash, one enemy.
Most died without even letting out a proper scream. For Ghislaine, this was just a warm-up.
Of course, there were exceptions.
Kang!
“Oh? You’re blocking?”
There were some skilled opponents sprinkled throughout.
Kwah-chik!
Just two hits and they would go down.
When the members of the Revolutionary Group realized they couldn’t escape, they screamed in frustration.
“Uaaaah! At least kill that guy!”
“These cocky bastards are just blocking our way and watching! Let’s all rush him!”
“Do you think we’re a joke?!”
Indeed, these were guys who had killed quite a few people through banditry. They charged at Ghislaine with bloodshot eyes.
They instinctively felt they had to target the leader.
But that feeling ended up being just that—a feeling.
Kwah-chik! Kwah-chik! Kwah-chik! Kwah-chik…
After a short while, there were no surviving members of the Revolutionary Group left, except for Tarim.
Ghislaine wiped the blood from her chin, which was splattered with the enemies’ blood.
Compared to Yulien, she knew how to fight without getting blood on her clothes. But Ghislaine didn’t care about that.
“It’s more satisfying this way.”
She enjoyed the battle itself. And she knew that her ferocity sometimes had a significant impact on the combat.
So she didn’t force herself to maintain cleanliness.
Thinking of cleanliness suddenly brought up an unpleasant memory.
“Aidan was even more fastidious than Yulien.”
If Yulien’s neatness came naturally to her, then Aidan was obsessively clean to a pathological degree.
Maybe that’s why he really liked his alias, ‘The Noble Knight.’
It was amusing that his mad obsession was what elevated Aidan to superhuman status.
For a moment, Ghislaine thought of her old foe and chuckled.
“I’ll probably meet that guy again soon.”
According to intelligence, Aidan was fighting in the Kingdom of Grimwell. He would probably gain considerable fame there as well.
He was hilariously sweet, but Aidan and the White Silver Knight Order’s skills were ‘real.’
That’s how the former Mercenary King got played.
“That despicable bastard… If it had been one-on-one, I would have won.”
Even just after her reincarnation, she felt her blood boiling again. How could she be defeated by such an annoying guy?
She was tired from the continuous battle, so she couldn’t help it, but she was still furious.
“This time, I’ll take your head, so wait for it.”
Having been defeated once, she’d never fall for it again.
Ghislaine reaffirmed her resolve and pushed the unpleasant memory away.
There was so much to do right now.
Ghislaine approached Tarim, crouched down, and placed the axe against his neck.
“Listen carefully. This axe is named ‘Empathy.’ I’m telling you this because I want you to empathize with my feelings right now.”
“Ugh…”
“If I had known you’d come at us in such small numbers, we should have divided our troops as well.”
She felt a bit regretful. While she knew they’d move secretly, she had no idea how much they’d split up.
Still, it was more important to minimize the damage to her allies. She had to be satisfied with this much.
“Anyway, you guys must have a meeting point. We can go there and catch them all, right? Am I wrong?”
“U-uh… ugh…”
Tarim trembled, drooling in pain. He couldn’t comprehend why he was caught in such a ridiculous situation.
Ghislaine swung the axe again, hitting Tarim’s leg.
Kwah-chik!
“Uaaaah!”
“Speak.”
“Ggaaaaah!”
Tarim screamed. Shouldn’t she ask questions first before swinging the axe?
Instead of asking right away, she began with a swing. This guy was definitely off his rockers.
Yet one thing was certain.
If he played tricks, he’d really be dead.
“I-I’ll talk! Stop! Just give me a chance to speak! Please ask me anything!”
“Hm, okay. What do you want to say?”
Tarim was momentarily dazed but quickly regained his composure. The answer lay in what Ghislaine had just said.
“Our meeting point! We’ve decided to gather in Stonebrook Village! Everyone will be heading there!”
“Really? Where is that?”
Ghislaine took out a map and examined it. It seemed she recognized the place. However, there was a slightly strange point.
“How can you hide such a large force of around ten thousand in a village like this?”
“T-that’s our occupied village! There are underground tunnels for large troops to hide in, plus many hideouts nearby!”
“Oh, ho.”
This was new information. In her past life, the Revolutionary Group’s base had barely been revealed.
A clever ruse indeed. They probably engaged in underhanded dealings while paying their taxes properly. There must be a few more strongholds like Stonebrook.
No wonder it had been so challenging to root out the Revolutionary Group in her past life. Everyone was busy, not paying enough attention.
Ghislaine nodded and swung the axe again.
Kwah-chik!
“Ggaaah! I don’t know anything! I swear!”
“…I haven’t even asked the next question yet.”
“You were going to ask where our leader is! I know it’s obvious!”
“This bastard…”
Ghislaine widened her eyes in admiration.
This guy was surprisingly bright. He provided the answer before she even asked.
Had he figured out what kind of person she was? She had never encountered anyone who could read her so quickly in her past life.
Though he was an enemy, someone this perceptive was hard to come by. It truly pleased her.
“Really, you don’t know where your leader is?”
“Honestly! Our leader is too crafty! He never reveals his destination for fear of traitors. You know we have no loyalty!”
“Yeah, he’s very suspicious. His name was Leonard, right?”
When Ghislaine nodded affirmatively, Tarim blinked rapidly.
He knew the name of a leader who kept his identity a secret even from his own subordinates? That was suspicious.
“D-do you know our leader?”
“Well, kind of. He’s the one who backstabbed the former leader and took his position, right? A guy like that can only be very suspicious.”
The Revolutionary Group wasn’t originally led by Leonard. He had started a rebellion to take control of the group.
He had killed even those executives who shared the original leader’s ideals.
Since then, the Revolutionary Group had lost its original purpose and transformed into a band of plunderers.
Tarim stammered and asked, “H-how do you know all this?”
“I know everything.”
Ghislaine had fought the Revolutionary Group several times in her past life. They had shown their faces quite a bit while taking advantage of the chaos of war.
With so many of their members captured, information inevitably leaked.
However, the details of the Revolutionary Group, acting as a covert organization only focused on plunder, were not known by anyone at this moment. For someone to rattle off such details made her suspect he was a former member of the Revolutionary Group.
But all the mobile army members around were nodding. Tarim was at a loss for words.
“I’ve heard rumors that you might be a Saint… Are you really receiving divine revelations?”
It seemed that the rumors were true, given how they had been waiting in ambush. The observant Tarim made a swift decision.
Someone like this shouldn’t be deceived. How could anyone deceive a figure who receives divine revelations?
He immediately knelt and pleaded, “I did not recognize you, Saint! Please spare my life, and I will serve you with loyalty! I’ve never killed indiscriminately! I mainly train our members!”
“You guys have no loyalty, right?”
“Ah! That’s not it! Ah!”
Taken aback, Tarim quickly recovered, true to his perceptive nature.
“I’m a member of the Revolutionary Group, but I genuinely serve the Goddess Deana! I would never deceive or go against the Saint!”
This bandit claims to believe in the Goddess of Light and Justice. Ghislaine chuckled.
Encouraged by her reaction, Tarim spoke vigorously.
“Because of that, I can tell you everything! I won’t hide a single thing! I’ll become the proud knight of my Duke! Although I’m just a junior, I’m originally from a knightly background! No, I can even be a soldier!”
Kwah-chik!
“Ggaaah! I’ll be a slave!”
Kwah-chik!
“Ggaaah! I’m a beast that can speak!”
“…This guy is seriously amazing.”
In Penris, not just anyone could become a slave. For someone like him to want to be a slave was an insult to other slaves.
Ghislaine frowned at his ignorance but couldn’t help but think he would have been something if he had learned in a proper environment.
Ghislaine lifted the axe again.
“My name is Tarim!”
“Alright, Tarim. Then…”
“I’ll guide you through the quickest route! Faster than what’s shown on the map!”
As expected, he was an extraordinary guy.
Kwah-chik!
“Uaaaah! Why?!”
This time, Tarim couldn’t understand what was happening. With tears welling up, he looked at Ghislaine.
Ghislaine said nonchalantly, “You empathized with me too much, and it’s making me uncomfortable. It feels like you’re invading my space.”
“…I’m sorry! Ugh!”
Tarim realized he had messed up terribly.
When she asked him to empathize, it was one thing, but now she was slashing at him for empathizing too much. Matching this crazy person’s mood seemed incredibly difficult.
No wonder the Duke of Penris was rumored to be a demon. Memories of him being a notorious scoundrel came rushing back.
Ghislaine straightened up and said, “Yeah, I don’t usually spare my enemies unless they seem useful, so I’ll let you live for now. To help with capturing those Revolutionary Group bastards. Got it?”
“Yes! Understood!”
“Hey, someone bring him a potion and heal him.”
She had to use potions as she hadn’t brought any priests. Though they were pretty expensive, in Penris, potions were somewhat abundant.
Despite pouring the potion, Tarim had to limp. His outer layers healed, but the bones Ghislaine had stomped on hadn’t healed properly.
Still, since he knew how to use mana, he could muster enough strength to move around.
Ghislaine summoned Dark again and said, “There’s no need to pursue the enemy separately. We’re going to where they’re gathering.”
The other side probably defeated the Revolutionary Group without much trouble. The ones they had missed would inevitably gather in Stonebrook, so they would wipe them out later.
Soon, the mobile army began to move on horseback, guided by Tarim.
*
Stonebrook Village.
It was larger than most villages but wasn’t quite big enough to be called a town.
Due to the surrounding mountains and rugged terrain, there was a limit to the population flow.
Aside from occasional merchants, not many came and went, so there weren’t many who would raise suspicions. They paid their taxes dutifully, so they didn’t attract the lord’s ire.
Recently, several groups of young men had been steadily arriving at Stonebrook. Once they entered the village, they scattered and entered their homes. Even those who had been wandering the streets vanished at some point.
Then, from a short distance away, a man was quietly observing this scene.
A taciturn man, the leader of the Revolutionary Group, Leonard.
He was hiding here with only one subordinate, carefully surveilling the village.
Despite not being very high up, he could see parts of the village excellently. Moreover, with plenty of trees around, it was easy to conceal his presence.
“Hmmm…”
After watching for several days, he asked his subordinate beside him.
“The 17th Division has arrived. They took the longest route. It’s unacceptable for any unit to arrive later than the 17th Division. Yet, only ten units have arrived. That means half are still missing.”
“…It seems there’s a problem.”
“No contact has come in. There hasn’t been any information from other routes either. What do you think this means?”
“…If they were perfectly wiped out without anyone knowing, then that could explain it. But it’s realistically impossible.”
There was a slim chance that one or two units had been detected by the Allied Forces. That’s why they had split into twenty units.
Even if the Allied Forces noticed their movements and pursued them, ten units being lost would normally result in some kind of news reaching them. They had received orders to flee at all costs if they encountered regular troops.
Yet, no one had approached, and there was no news at all.
“Being done in so completely that they can’t even react… Could that even happen? It’s impossible to understand.”
Leonard frowned. He had carefully crafted a plan that had a high probability of success.
Yet if it had failed, there could only be one reason.
“Could information have leaked?”
But who would have leaked the information? He hadn’t told anyone until the operation started.
“There must be something I’m not aware of.”
Clearly, something was happening that not even Leonard knew about.
In moments like this, it was best not to move. His instinct for danger was telling him so.
“We retreat.”
“W-what about the divisions that have gathered?”
“Go and inform them. Tell them to withdraw quietly. We will gather information and then move again.”
The Revolutionary Group had not been suppressed until now due to Leonard’s cautious character.
Just as his subordinate was about to move, a piece of the puzzle that could clarify Leonard’s doubts appeared.
Dudu-du-du-du!
In the distance, a large contingent of troops approached like a violent storm.
Leonard was well aware of the identity of that army, brimming with an aura that seemed ready to tear everything apart.
“The Ruthania Army? No way… The Duke of Penris?”
An unexpected army had appeared in Stonebrook Village.