In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 272

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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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This Life, I Will Become the Clan Head

 

Side Story Episode 15

 

“In, inspection?”

 

Commotion spread among the people like wildfire through a dry forest in an instant.

 

“Stop the ship immediately!”

 

The soldier’s booming command echoing across the quiet river froze the atmosphere on deck.

 

Only the torches illuminating the Sersheu warship burned ominously.

 

“Dr, drop anchor!”

 

“Prepare the ladder!”

 

The cruise ship’s crew seemed completely unprepared for the appearance of the Sersheu warship.

 

Their actions as they ran back and forth across the deck were filled with confusion.

 

Meanwhile, the cruise ship was slowly reducing speed, but the warship couldn’t wait even that brief moment and threateningly closed in on the vessel.

 

“Hey, isn’t this dangerous?”

 

“They’re going to collide at this rate!”

 

People cried out with pale faces.

 

To make matters worse, the width of the river, which had seemed as wide as a small sea just moments before, was gradually narrowing.

 

The narrowing terrain of the river located within the Sersheu family’s territory.

 

A familiar piece of information brought the name of a region to mind.

 

“This is… Tamal.”

 

This was the place where Chanton Sersheu had failed to open a port, and had recently begun construction to narrow the river width even further.

 

Of course, the purpose was to increase Sersheu’s influence over the eastern trade led by the Lombardi family.

 

“Ahhh!”

 

“Kyaa!”

 

Eventually, the cruise ship had no choice but to reduce speed so abruptly that it tilted to one side, and screams from startled passengers erupted everywhere.

 

However, the Sersheu soldiers who caused all this showed no sign of remorse.

 

They simply tied the warship close to the cruise ship according to the orders of the soldier standing at the bow and climbed onto the deck one by one.

 

And the soldier who appeared to be in charge, climbing up last, shouted loudly.

 

“There will be an inspection from now on, so everyone cooperate! Any resistance or non-cooperation with the inspection will be considered defiance against Lord Sersheu!”

 

Such thuggish behavior.

 

I’d never heard of anything like this.

 

Stopping a perfectly normal tourist ship without asking for understanding and suddenly conducting an inspection.

 

If the Tamal region’s river narrowed as Chanton Sersheu intended and such incidents became frequent, the cruise business would obviously suffer a major blow.

 

“Really, this is…”

 

“How unreasonable!”

 

The surrounding nobles voiced their complaints, but that was all.

 

Though it was clearly unfair treatment, the atmosphere among the Sersheu soldiers was so menacing that they too were afraid to step forward.

 

“Larita, stay behind me for a moment.”

 

Peres called me by my alias and hid me behind his back.

 

At the same time, I saw him habitually reach for his waist and then slightly harden his expression.

 

It was because he had left his usual sword in the cabin.

 

I stood behind Peres and looked around.

 

As the identity checks proceeded one by one, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.

 

But strangely, I wasn’t scared or anxious.

 

It wasn’t baseless peace.

 

The fake identity Violet had obtained for us wouldn’t be exposed so easily.

 

And even if the fugitives they were talking about were us, and our identities were somehow discovered.

 

‘What could they possibly do?’

 

Just touching a finger of Peres would be treason.

 

Of course, my plan to move secretly in the east would be ruined, but that would be all.

 

Moreover.

 

‘Peres is protecting me.’

 

His broad back was shielding me from the soldiers’ gazes.

 

Though it was just one person’s back, I felt as if I had hidden in the safest place in the world.

 

Having thoughts unsuited to the situation, I unconsciously grabbed Peres’s sleeve, and however he interpreted it.

 

Peres reached one hand back and firmly grasped mine.

 

Instead of saying I was fine and pulling my hand away, I just poked my head out slightly to assess the situation on deck.

 

Behind the soldiers scattered everywhere checking identities with stern eyes, I saw a group of about twenty people separately heading down to the cargo hold below.

 

It was strange.

 

Searching even the cargo hold?

 

Did they think we were stowaways or something?

 

Just as I was tilting my head in confusion.

 

“I said I’m going to my cabin to get my identification!”

 

A man nearby shouted loudly.

 

Everyone’s attention, including mine and Peres’s, naturally turned in that direction.

 

The man’s flushed face seemed to be due to more than just dissatisfaction with the inspection.

 

He was confronting the Sersheu soldier while intoxicated.

 

But that courage didn’t last long.

 

“Then I’ll accompany you to your cabin.”

 

The Sersheu soldier said, placing his hand on the hilt of the sword hanging at his waist.

 

“Th, then do so.”

 

The man who gulped answered with a face suddenly drained of his drunken courage.

 

But no one mocked such a man.

 

There were few who could remain confident and dignified before multiple soldiers who seemed ready to draw their swords at any moment.

 

And then it was Peres’s turn.

 

“Show me your identification.”

 

A short Sersheu soldier extended one hand toward Peres.

 

His other hand gripped his scabbard.

 

“Here it is.”

 

Peres presented Chaser Gloa’s identification with an indifferent expression.

 

“Hmm.”

 

I unconsciously gripped Peres’s sleeve tightly as the Sersheu soldier examined the identification more thoroughly than expected.

 

Though I knew we had changed hair color with dye and there were no problems with the identification.

 

My nervousness was a separate matter.

 

Flip, flip.

 

The soldier quite carefully examined the pages of the identification, which was like a small booklet.

 

It was a procedure to verify things like eye color that couldn’t be artificially changed and whether the seal of the office that issued the identification was genuine.

 

“Where are you from?”

 

“Rant of the Lombardy territory.”

 

The people before us hadn’t taken this long.

 

The soldier began asking Peres various questions.

 

Of course, Peres answered without hesitation.

 

The problem wasn’t Peres.

 

“Wait, who is that hiding behind you?”

 

The soldier pointed at me and asked sharply.

 

“She’s my wife.”

 

“Wife?”

 

The soldier narrowed his eyes and soon frowned as he spoke.

 

“I need to verify her face, so step aside.”

 

“…”

 

However, Peres did not move.

 

Instead, he gripped my hand even tighter and merely looked down at the Sersheu soldier.

 

The atmosphere instantly turned deadly.

 

“Hey, are you daring to refuse inspection right now?”

 

“From what I’ve observed so far, the wanted person appears to be an adult male. Women aren’t even subject to inspection, are they?”

 

“I’m saying I need to verify whether the person you claim is your wife is actually a woman or a man in a dress!”

 

“Verify?”

 

Peres’s demeanor, which had maintained a reasonably polite facade until now, instantly turned fierce.

 

Peres took a half-step toward the soldier and asked in a low voice.

 

“Tell me, how exactly do you plan to verify?”

 

“Th-that is…!”

 

The soldier even stumbled backward, overwhelmed by Peres’s crushing presence that burst forth like an unsheathed blade.

 

After staring coldly at the Sersheu soldier for a moment, Peres slowly opened his mouth.

 

“You’ve confirmed that there’s nothing wrong with my identification and that I’m not the wanted person you’re looking for. Let’s not waste any more time and move on to the next person.”

 

Though his tone had returned to politeness, his expressionless face remained unchanged.

 

“…H-here you are.”

 

Unable to withstand the silent pressure, the soldier finally returned Peres’s identification.

 

That’s when it happened.

 

Someone shouted loudly from the staircase leading to the cargo hold.

 

“Catch him! It’s the wanted man!”

 

“The wanted man is escaping!”

 

Soon after, loud crashing sounds began echoing up the staircase, growing louder.

 

And moments later, what emerged from the lower deck as if bursting upward was.

 

“That man is definitely…”

 

Familiar.

 

Though his current wretched appearance with disheveled hair and torn clothes was worlds apart from before, I knew what this man looked like a few years ago.

 

“Clus.”

 

The man who had tried to storm the Lombardi estate chasing Cleribane at Lavinia’s single command.

 

The Angenas knight captain who had struggled desperately to help Lavinia escape from the Imperial Prison until the very end.

 

“Idan Clus.”

 

His name unknowingly slipped from my lips.

 

It was a very small voice compared to the Sersheu soldiers’ shouting, certainly.

 

But at that moment, Idan Clus’s movement stopped as if by magic.

 

He stood perfectly still, frozen in the exact position where he was about to jump off the ship.

 

“We got him! Restrain him immediately!”

 

Not missing this opportunity, a Sersheu soldier quickly knocked Idan Clus to the ground and shouted.

 

However, Idan Clus wasn’t looking at them.

 

Through his disheveled hair, his bloodshot eyes were directed at only one place.

 

Right at me.

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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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