My Disciples Became Scoundrels - Chapter 65

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Seven-year-old Bella held Dein’s hand.
Twenty-five-year-old Bella could not bring herself to let go.
Bella was led by Dein into the Carriage Rental Station. Jenia was speaking urgently to the shop owner.
“We rented a carriage earlier. We need to leave right now.”
“Yes, I’ll just check the register and have it ready for you.”
The rental agent picked up a quill pen. In that instant, his eyes changed.
The pen flew toward Jenia. As the nib was about to pierce through the crown of her head—
Bang!
The rental agent collapsed, struck squarely in the head by a tentacle. Screams erupted around them.
“Ahhhhh!”
“What is that?”
The customers recoiled in panic, stumbling backward. Jenia’s face fell with dread.
She’d hidden the tentacles, but it was too late. The coachmen and stablemen drew bladed weapons.
Was it anger at their employer being attacked? Yet something felt wrong. Even some of the customers were drawing arms.
“Dear. Why are you suddenly—!”
“Mother, what’s gotten into you?”
Even as others tried to stop them, they did not relent. Bella cried out urgently.
“Run! They’ve drunk García’s blood!”
Dein recalled the iron scent that had emanated from his wine glass. Cesare kicked away a lunging customer with visible irritation.
“What? Are they being controlled?”
“Yes. Don’t engage—it’ll only complicate things. Get out of here. Now!”
The horses were also rearing wildly, making the carriages impossible to use. They fled the rental station in panic, but it was far from over.
Grimel was a city where lights never dimmed, even in the dead of night. The streets were choked with people.
Armed figures were appearing one by one among the crowd.
“Seize them!”
Nobility in gowns, street children, ordinary-looking couples—the suddenly transformed pedestrians surged toward them.
In moments, the scene descended into chaos. Among those fleeing, the armed assailants continued their relentless assault.
Crash!
The attackers were contained within Arkel’s Ice Barrier. But this was the Plaza.
On the unblocked opposite side, people swarmed thick. Arkel clicked his tongue in frustration.
“It would be simpler if they were all enemies.”
There was no way to distinguish the controlled from the innocent.
However deeply brainwashed, they could not bring themselves to kill ordinary people. Jenia lashed out with her tentacles, forcing back the crowd as she shouted.
“Cesare. Still can’t use Teleportation?”
“Not yet! Damn it, I’d rather face demons—!”
The sudden onslaught had turned the Plaza into pandemonium. Dein struck down a man lunging at him, his voice cutting through the chaos.
“Dealing with them one by one will take forever. It’s faster to kill García. Clear me a path!”
“I’ll come with you.”
“Go alone. Moving with this many only draws attention.”
At that, his students immediately repositioned. Just as Dein was carving out an escape route, Bella approached from the side.
“Take me with you.”
“Your injuries are severe. Stay here with the others.”
Bella’s wounds had not yet fully healed. They were the sort that would rupture if touched, yet she did not back down.
“I’ve set traps in the Mansion as contingencies. I know García better than anyone. So take me.”
She wiped the blood smeared across her face roughly.
“I don’t want another funeral.”
Dein met Bella’s gaze. A funeral. How many times had this girl presided over one? A chief mourner no one remembered.
At last, Dein nodded. Master led the way, student following in his wake. Dein knocked down a bystander blocking his path as he called out.
“What’s García’s weakness?”
“Controlling such large numbers slows his movements. But he won’t be easy to approach.”
Bella pressed her hand firmly against her bleeding flank, her brow furrowed.
“There will be many protecting him at close range. Long-range attacks offer the best chance.”
“Should have brought Arkel.”
“No. Magic Detection would have made it difficult for him. Instead…”
Her words trailed off as she looked at Dein. Her eyes held both reluctance and fear.
“Master, do you trust me enough to stake your life on a gamble?”
“I do.”
All around them, thunder roared. Fleeing crowds, pressing attackers. In their midst, Dein smiled gently.
“I stake everything on my faith in you.”
Light seemed to flicker across Bella’s eyes in an instant. She smiled faintly and changed direction.
“Then shall we make a wager, Master?”
* * *
From somewhere distant outside, the confused voices of people, shouts, and screams drifted in.
García sat at the head of the dining room table, holding a wine glass aloft. He was looking at the empty chair across from him.
“It would have been better if Beatrice had drunk the blood.”
Had she done so, that seat across from him would not be vacant. He had been quite careful, knowing that forced consumption would render the brainwashing ineffective, yet she had still managed to slip away.
Just then, someone entered the dining room. A hulking subordinate bowed deeply.
“Master, Dein and Beatrice have both escaped and are currently heading this way.”
“They won’t be able to breach the mansion’s defenses regardless.”
García sipped his wine and set the glass down. His expression remained utterly composed.
“Besides, for a man in love, one might even open a door…….”
—Boom!
At that moment, a thunderous explosion erupted from deep within the mansion. It was not just one. A succession of blasts echoed through the air before an explosion tore through the dining room itself.
The air grew instantly scorching. Watching the kitchen burst into flames, García chuckled softly.
“She was always thorough in her preparations.”
How docile she had seemed during her stay at the mansion. It appeared she had been plotting her betrayal all along.
As flames shot up from every corner of the mansion, servants rushed about frantically trying to extinguish them.
Mages began casting to summon water, but they needed time.
Yet García remained unhurried, standing his ground as if waiting for something. Moments later, a scream pierced the air.
“Damn it, an intruder……! Ghk!”
After the shout and scuffle fell silent, the door burst open.
Dein stood there, his blade drenched in blood. García’s expression hardened.
“You weren’t who I was waiting for.”
—Clash!
The moment Dein lunged forward, an armed subordinate stepped into his path. A fierce bloodforce radiated from the man.
But his opponent was Dein, who wielded a sword.
—Crack!
As Dein twisted and snapped the blade, the subordinate lost his footing. Blood sprayed as his thigh was laid open.
Yet he still could not reach García. By then, people had swarmed before his master.
Some carried weapons, others carried nothing. Among them were servants and staff of every rank.
The distance between Dein and García would not close. García twisted his lips into a grin.
“How many people do you think work in this mansion?”
They came like an ebbing tide. The fire spreading from the kitchen became a wave that began to reach the dining room.
Dein knitted his brow once and slipped out of the dining room. As his subordinates gave chase, García rose as well.
He walked very slowly. It was because of a magical restriction. The moment García emerged alone and saw Dein, a sense of wrongness struck him.
‘That’s not the direction of the exit.’
Despite being covered in blood, Dein had his back to the way out. The direction he was heading was toward the stairs. García’s eyes gleamed.
“He’s heading for Beatrice’s Chamber. Get there first and block the entrance.”
If Bella had prepared explosions, she would certainly have left something dangerous hidden in that room.
After his subordinates hastily rushed after him, García himself climbed upward to assess the situation.
Dein stood motionless in the second-floor corridor. Both ends of the passage were packed with people. There was no way to escape or advance.
Meanwhile, the mansion’s flames were gradually being brought under control. García stood at the very back and spoke with ease.
“One shouldn’t enter a lady’s chamber uninvited. I myself have never been invited.”
“Do you know why you were never invited?”
García did not answer. Dein taunted him directly.
“Bella despises hiding behind others. Unlike some people.”
The moon slipped behind a cloud. In the dark, enormous windowpane, García’s reflection flickered.
Even under Dein’s provocation, he maintained his smile. García stepped backward.
“What I found most beautiful was the way Beatrice loathed me.”
The subordinates surged forward. In that instant, García retreated to the very back, to the safest position.
—Shatter!
With the sound of breaking glass, blood sprayed. A bullet pierced García’s ear in an instant.
He turned in alarm to look beyond the window. He could see nothing. Bella stood on a distant building, training a rifle.
Dein had never intended to escape in the first place. He had only drawn García up to the second floor for her sake.
Now the task fell to her alone.
A shot rang out. Though aimed at his head, the bullet tore through García’s shoulder instead. The darkness made the target harder to see.
Blood continued to seep from Bella’s flank. Dizziness crept over her.
She thought she might lose consciousness while waiting for the moon to break through. Yet she did not fall.
Endurance was what Bella did best.
—Bang!
García’s left arm was pierced. He twisted toward the stairs to evade, but he moved too slowly. He couldn’t run. Magical Restriction bound him.
The bullets came faster than his men could chant defensive Incantations. He couldn’t throw himself down. His pride wouldn’t allow it. García clenched his teeth and roared.
“Cover the window!”
His men froze in panic as they reached for the curtains. They couldn’t cover it.
The curtains were already burning.
The clouds parted, and the moon emerged. Light flooded the room. Moonlight glinted off the rifle barrel.
Bella pulled the trigger.
—Bang!
With the shot, García went rigid. A hole had appeared in his forehead.
Blood streamed down his face. Something like a smile lingered at the corner of his mouth—or perhaps something else.
“To the very end….”
García stared beyond the window. But Bella remained invisible to him. Even as he collapsed.
When García fell, some of his hired men suddenly came to their senses. But his subordinates still held Dein in their sights.
“Master García!”
The Brainwashing had broken, yet they remained García’s men. They raised their weapons and advanced on Dein—when—
—Bang!
Another shot rang out from outside. The men faltered and stepped back.
In that moment, Dein slipped out of the Mansion. In the distance, he saw Arkel, Jenia, and Cesare running toward him.
“Master!”
Dein staggered and dropped to one knee. Arkel caught him, supporting his blood-soaked frame.
“I’m sorry, sir. We used up all the Recovery Potions.”
“It’s manageable. Don’t worry yourself too much.”
Looking around, the area was chaotic but the fighting had ceased. With García dead, the Brainwashing on the ordinary people had lifted, and the brawl had stopped.
As Dein steadied his breathing with Arkel’s support, he saw someone running toward them in the distance.
It was Bella. She was breathing hard, one hand pressed to her side, before she came to a halt.
She was staring at her wounded family. At those who had been hurt because of her.
Bella couldn’t move closer or step back. She froze, hesitating to retreat, when Dein spoke.
“Bella, remember the wager we made? I won, didn’t I?”
“A wager?”
“Yes. And since I won, I should collect my prize properly.”
Dein extended his hand toward the motionless Bella. His hand was soaked in blood, yet steady, without tremor.
In Bella’s eyes, Dein was reflected. He smiled quietly.
“Bella. I want your time.”

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