I’m Hunting My Enemy - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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10. Hiring Mercenaries (5)

Since he was a mercenary who possessed holy relics, I wondered if he had connections with the priests. It seems I was wrong. Glem was radiating an aura that suggested he found the priests even more disgusting to look at.

Then the priests should equally hate Glem or something like that. But their attitude toward him was quite awkward. Should I say they were restraining themselves to avoid revealing what kind of relationship they had? It seems I need to observe a bit more for now.

“You knew that the human who went to the swamp was the Crown Prince, didn’t you?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Even if the villagers don’t know, to become a priest you must come to the capital at least once to take an oath, right? Then naturally you would have heard stories about the Imperial Court. If you had heard even by ear what the Crown Prince looked like, you should have been suspicious when Joshua appeared in the swamp. Do you think men with such appearance are common?”

The priest was still smiling. As if what Ryuie was saying didn’t sound like fabrication and threats. Instead, an older priest spoke on his behalf.

“Most people who went to the swamp had their faces covered. They didn’t particularly want their identities revealed. As is usually the case with people who want something.”

“Really? The villagers recognized him even from a crude portrait, didn’t they?”

The artists who drew the pictures were slightly hurt, but the effect was good. A silence that could be guessed as the old priest making excuses had emerged.

“I don’t know exactly what the human they ‘mistake’ for the Crown Prince did. Probably incitement. The villagers originally had no intention of going to the swamp anymore. To change that with stimulating enough talk, he would have used any means necessary.”

“That man promised to return it to us!”

“True freedom that we had never been able to enjoy!”

Suddenly the villagers shouted out competitively. Ryuie was also slightly surprised.

“Wow. The trend spread all the way here? That’s faster than I thought.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Free will. I thought it was only popular in the capital.”

Glem briefly made a bizarre expression.

“…You call that sort of thing a trend?”

“I know. It’s surprising. Human tastes aren’t really that diverse after all.”

“No, what I mean is.”

Glem briefly looked at Ryuie’s profile, which was as solid as a wall, then closed his mouth.

“No, never mind.”

“Hmm. Anyway, if the chatter among educated scholars spreads all the way here, it wouldn’t be strange at all for rumors from this place to reach the capital.”

Unlike Ryuie who was leisurely making such remarks, the villagers were bursting with anger that had been delayed.

“To think he was actually the Crown Prince when he made such oaths to us!”

“No wonder! Since he’s the Crown Prince, he must have made that oath knowing he wouldn’t receive severe punishment for breaking such promises!”

“Only the other people who were fooled and followed him to the swamp died for nothing!”

“We don’t want to be manipulated anymore! Pack all this up and get out right now!”

‘What on earth was Joshua trying to use those people for when he incited them?’

Ryuie couldn’t understand them.

It only felt like they were blaming Joshua for no reason, shocked by the damage they had suffered.

Rather, weren’t they acting like this to play innocent after they had harmed Joshua first?

“Please stop.”

Bendam struggled alone, trying to restrain the villagers.

With Ryuie and the knights watching with wide-open eyes, if they continued cursing the Imperial Court like that, they would really face summary execution.

Then Bendam would have to write all the paperwork, and since he was already busy enough to die, he wanted to avoid that situation at all costs.

‘How strange.’

Even though they had such resentful feelings, not a single word of blame toward the Temple came out. Even though the priests had directly said that the Temple was originally responsible for managing the swamp. If the Temple had done its job properly from the beginning, there would have been no incident of the Crown Prince going missing, and no reason for the villagers to resent anyone.

There was definitely a priest who pretended to be gentle but was skilled at politics.

‘Who could it be?’

Ryuie’s shoulders already twitched as if she had received a challenge. She liked groups with many secrets. That way, the fun of discovery would be greater when Ryuie thrust her harpoon and tore them apart.

“I’ll investigate all of that together with you.”

“Pardon?”

“I told you. I came to catch the Crown Prince. Whether it’s a ghost or a fake, I can’t let anyone who dares to call themselves Joshua go unpunished.”

Ryuie turned her head toward the priests.

“So what did you come here for? To stop us? Or to help?”

“We tell the same thing to everyone who tries to go to the swamp.”

Multiple priests spoke as if they were one entity.

“If you have committed no sins, do not go to the swamp. Even if you have committed sins, do not go to the swamp. What you seek can never be found. Though you may avoid prayer, you cannot avoid God.”

Of course, Ryuie didn’t heed the warning.

“Hey you there. Isn’t there anyone among you who will follow? How about you, Mos, was it?”

“I’m sufficient for guiding the way.”

Mos, who had stepped forward as if to follow, stopped awkwardly at Glem’s restraint. He seemed to want to go more, but the villagers around him tried to dissuade him.

“What are you doing, Mos!”

“What are you going to accomplish by following them? You’re just a shepherd.”

“…But the Duke’s daughter needs help.”

When Mos looked at her, Ryuie immediately returned a smile, so his courage quickly swelled.

Even with Glem sending piercing glances and knights surrounding them.

The great Duke’s daughter was paying attention to him.

“Glem isn’t a villager either, so he probably doesn’t know well what oath the Crown Prince made. And our curse too.”

“Ha, really. Do whatever you want.”

“We clearly tried to stop him.”

“Mos. If you happen to find anything in the swamp. Anything at all, bring it back. Okay? If there’s something that hasn’t sunk into the mud yet.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Catsy openly sighed at the commotion caused by just one village youth joining them.

“He’ll obviously just be a hindrance, miss.”

“It’s interesting though.”

“Not ‘he’s cute’?”

“He’s cute too.”

Ryuie giggled and raised her finger.

“To catch not just one but two decent men already, even if we don’t find Joshua, isn’t this quite a useful trip?”

“Not at all. I’m here.”

“Oh my.”

When Catsy made a cutely resentful expression, Ryuie tried to soothingly touch her shoulder but was struck by a small black lightning.

Crack!

“Not bad. The curse is still intact, isn’t it?”

“Oh, I don’t know.”

To think they were using a curse meant to prevent touching for their own affection confirmation. Glem was so dumbfounded he let out a hollow laugh.

If her fiancé had been in front of her, it would have been a scene where he would have immediately pushed them apart telling them to separate. But even while thinking this, Glem unconsciously looked down at his own palm once.

‘It only activates when there’s mutual desire?’

Glem, who had wiggled his fingers, hurriedly hid his hand behind his back. Because Ryuie, who had finished playing around with Catsy, was coming this way. He hid his arm tightly in case it might touch Ryuie, and only Glem’s innocent hair fluttered above it. His head was complicated.

“By the way, can you handle it?”

“What?”

“Taking this many people to the swamp.”

Glem, who had been briefly lost in other thoughts, immediately became calm.

“As long as you follow exactly what I say, there’s almost no chance of an accident.”

“Not ‘completely none.'”

“I was originally on the side telling you not to go in, you know?”

Glem gave a brief rebuke.

“Do you think we’re going on a picnic? Once we arrive at the swamp…”

“I got it. I got it. Go ahead and tell me what I need to be careful of. Seeing even the priests coming forward like that makes me look forward to it even more.”

Glem and Ryuie bickered.

Mos, who had joined with some anticipation, was a little disappointed.

He had naturally thought that as soon as he joined, Ryuie would talk to him like before. Instead, what greeted Mos was Bendam, Ryuie’s subordinate.

“Can you write?”

“…Pardon?”

“If you can’t write, I’ll set times for you to come and give oral reports…”

“Oh, no. Um. Wasn’t I supposed to speak directly to the miss?”

Bendam tried to maintain a polite expression for a moment. It was already the expression he had worn countless times whenever Ryuie tried to make a lover.

While Ryuie is quite famous in the Capital, there’s no need for this country youth who knows nothing to suffer from fever for no reason.

“It’s best not to get too excited just because the young lady showed you some interest.”

Mos’s face was instantly filled with suspicion. After all, Bendam also appeared to be a handsome young man of proper age, so Mos thought Bendam was now keeping him in check.

‘Heh heh. How grateful I am.’

How long had it been since someone saw him as competition? Usually people just saw him as a subordinate worn down by work. Bendam continued somewhat sadly.

“She’s originally someone whose mind changes often, and she also dislikes people who can’t keep up with her… If you worry about every little thing, it’ll be hard to endure. Noble people originally have many others to work for them, so it’s best to get used to it quickly.”

“…Then what about that mercenary?”

Mos’s grumpy voice hit the core of the matter.

When you think about it, Glem was also a mercenary, so his status was even lower than Mos’s.

Yet the sight of him explaining about the swamp to Ryuie was unexpectedly well-matched.

It was difficult to explain with just the fact that they both had long hair and were outstanding beauties.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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