The Former Empress Roughly Hides Her Abilities - Chapter 95
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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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【Chapter 95】
Mollen didn’t even consider targeting Ersen. There was no chance of success against a boy closely guarded by mercenaries.
What he targeted was the woman. Among them.
“A-Assistant?!”
It was Rianel.
Mollen’s threatening bulk was built up with alcohol and meat, and he had never formally learned swordsmanship.
The sword at his waist was used to cause trouble when trying to reduce tavern bills, or to drive away fraud victims who came to confront him.
Mollen himself knew that his appearance was good for intimidating opponents compared to his actual skill.
‘Target one person to create an opening.’
“Uaaaah!”
As soon as Mollen finished his quick judgment, he swung his sword at Rianel. He let out a battle cry to muster what little courage he had.
Benny screamed and the mercenaries drew their swords while rushing toward him.
However, until that moment, Rianel calmly watched him leap forward.
Not because her body had frozen, but to observe him accurately and dodge.
‘A diagonal slash? Then the best option would be to dodge by diving toward his shoulder side.’
The problem was that Mollen was a novice swordsman.
Rianel dodged properly, but the sword’s trajectory was outside her predicted path. The sword tip, which went lower than she anticipated, cut Rianel’s hand.
“Damn it!”
“A-Are you alright?”
“No, why did you dodge forward instead of backward…”
People gasped in shock.
“Haha…?”
Mollen was also flustered at drawing blood, but soon tilted his chin back and laughed.
“Ha! Are you finally getting scared? Then get out of the way! If you keep lingering around, next time I’ll really cut-”
At that moment.
Thwack!
A flying arrow pierced through his right forearm.
“Ugh!”
Mollen screamed and dropped his sword.
Asil rushed in, kicked the sword away, and quickly subdued Mollen.
The moment his head hit the ground, the Duke’s knights who followed pressed down and completely pinned him.
Asil immediately approached Rianel. He took her hand and examined it urgently.
“Was I too late?”
Rianel looked up after seeing a familiar-shaped crossbow disappear from the opposite rooftop.
The man who had resolutely subdued the criminal was nowhere to be seen.
Only a boy remained, confused and worried, not knowing what to do in front of his beloved woman’s wound.
“Please lend me your handkerchief.”
“Ah.”
Only then did Asil come to his senses and begin wrapping her wound with trembling hands.
Benny was incredulous.
“No, where have you been all this time to only show up now?”
She knew he couldn’t prepare perfectly for every situation, but she thought it was too late for him to act like this after being absent during such an important moment.
“I went to handle some business.”
Just then, other knights approached from behind Asil.
“Where should we put this one?”
In their hands was Clom, and behind him, people with similar faces were captured in a line.
“Boss!”
At Mollen’s terrified shout, Benny finally understood his identity.
‘He went to catch the remaining gang?’
That wasn’t all.
The knights were carrying armfuls of luggage, which upon closer inspection were documents like contracts and ledgers.
“What’s all that?”
“I thought the remaining gang would be guarding evidence at their office, so I confiscated everything.”
They had seized and brought back both people and objects, leaving nothing behind.
“Aha…?”
‘You all had a plan?’
Benny reflected on an obvious truth.
‘Indeed, being casual is right!’
Never again would she doubt being casual.
* * *
“In addition to fraud charges, violations of the appraisal law and forgery of official documents will be additionally applied…”
Rianel listed the charges in a bleak voice.
“…”
The arrested gang didn’t resist.
Clom even extended his arms to make it easier for the knights to bind him.
“Tie me up quickly! I don’t want to stay here for even a moment.”
Opleng was a small rural village with no security force. Village problems were generally solved by the village chief, and since they were mostly simple and innocent people, major incidents rarely occurred.
They had no interest in investments and just wanted to live quietly together in their small village.
As such, even when they saw noble soldiers stirring up the village to catch fraudsters and confine them in an empty warehouse, they turned a blind eye.
‘I don’t know what happened, but I don’t want to get involved!’
Two days later.
Imperial knights arrived to escort them to the Imperial Capital.
The victims who had been waiting for the investment briefing looked at Clom’s gang in dismay.
They had heard about fraud at Ersen’s temporary tent, but until then they were only half-believing.
Seeing the fraudster gang arrested, they couldn’t deny it.
“W-Was it really fraud?”
“Then what about my severance pay?”
“My money! I’m the most urgent! I even took out loans for my retirement pension!”
Few people could maintain their sanity when their rosy future was shattered and their investment money was completely converted into damages.
Moreover, in such fraud crimes, it was often too late when the damage was recognized.
In most cases, the criminals would flee and the damages couldn’t be recovered.
“The suspects attempted to flee after converting cash to gold, but were subdued at the scene. Funds that couldn’t be withdrawn are deposited in the bank and have been frozen, and all gold has been recovered. We also confirmed there are no additional hidden assets.”
Rianel calmly added.
It was truly a perfect resolution with complete explanation.
People were shocked beyond admiration.
‘The bank money aside, how did they recover the gold?’
‘How did they know there were no hidden funds? They couldn’t have just believed what the fraudsters said…’
However, they couldn’t bring themselves to question Rianel or Asil.
Both had a noble atmosphere, and since they seemed busy talking to each other, it was difficult to interrupt.
“Your hand…”
“It’s just a minor laceration. There’s no functional damage, so it will heal quickly.”
They were actually flirting, but since Rianel was so expressionless, they couldn’t guess in that direction.
Fortunately, there was someone to satisfy their curiosity.
“That person over there is Duke Novantium, and those fraudsters confessed their crimes obediently knowing that. Since opposing the head of a great family is unnecessary, they chose not to waste their energy.”
A man dressed in the same armor as the other knights and wearing a steel helmet kindly explained.
“I see!”
Most people were convinced by this tailored explanation.
But someone was puzzled.
‘Still, would they really give up all that money for just that reason?’
Logan, who had become Asil’s faithful errand boy in exchange for saving his life, was secretly carrying out Asil’s orders away from the temple today as well.
Of course, he had to wear an iron helmet to hide his identity.
Since he didn’t want to get involved in various troublesome matters, he quietly ignored the questioning gazes.
‘There’s no reason to tell them the inside story.’
Too much truth was poison.
Logan’s explanation wasn’t entirely wrong either, as it was partially true that those fraudsters had surrendered because of Duke Novantium.
More precisely, it wasn’t the background that mattered, but they had surrendered to ‘Asil’ himself.
‘Because he’s a lunatic who goes crazy when it comes to anything related to his master.’
Logan didn’t know what those bastards had endured in the warehouse.
Even Logan, who shared rather intimate secrets with him, had been forbidden from entering.
What he knew was just one thing.
Those guys and Asil had been together for two whole days, and during that time, screams never stopped.
[That’s right. This is personal revenge.]
[He’s the type who can’t tolerate even a small scratch on Master’s hand.]
Every time he recalled Asil laughing alone while looking at the unconscious bastards, his spine felt chilled.
Even ghosts would probably be less scary than that guy.
At the same time, his thought was.
‘Thank goodness I hit that bastard’s leg back then.’
If the arrow had accidentally pierced Rianel’s leg instead, he might not have existed in this world.
Logan watched Asil, who was holding Rianel’s hand while whining pathetically.
Rianel was dealing with him calmly. At first glance, she seemed annoyed, but that was her way of showing affection. She was someone who would never tolerate it if she truly disliked it.
‘I hope the Professor never learns about that lunatic’s true nature.’
It was important for the Empire’s peace.
Logan sincerely prayed for it.
* * *
Meanwhile.
As the fraud case was revealed, the Empire became bustling once again.
While some people talked about Rianel’s greatness, many others chattered about the criminals’ wickedness.
“Those rotten bastards should all be ruined, shouldn’t they?”
“How dare they try to make easy money.”
Yuna, who was one of those rotten bastards, roared.
“Why is my name coming up there?!”
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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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