The Husband I Thought Was Dead Has Returned - Chapter 96

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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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The Husband Who Should Have Died Returns Episode 096
About an hour after leaving the Black Market, Ryukan muttered in a low voice.
“I believe someone is following us.”
Ryukan turned around with an anxious expression. I recalled Sesef’s gaze just before leaving the tent. In a Black Market rife with deception and betrayal, it was hardly surprising if Sesef harbored different intentions.
Ryukan swallowed hard.
“I know.”
Dorpin answered coldly without breaking stride.
The path we were walking ran between the Coastal Town and the Mountain. Rocks scattered on both sides, and shrubs grew sparsely. It was ideal terrain for concealment.
The moment Dorpin stopped, Ryukan stopped as well.
“Whoosh!”
Three men blocked the road. They were the lawless sort commonly seen in the Black Market. Five more lurked behind them.
“Hand over everything you have. Then we might let you walk away alive.”
Ryukan’s legs trembled.
‘Sesef, you rat bastard!’
Ryukan drew a sharp breath.
Ryukan stepped backward with a frightened expression, ready to flee at any moment. Dorpin seized him firmly by the nape of the neck. He leaned in close to Ryukan’s face and spoke savagely.
“Abandon any thought of escape. The moment you do, both you and your wife will forfeit your lives.”
Ryukan quickly nodded.
“Lose what’s in your possession, and you die all the same. Do you understand?”
This time, Ryukan nodded as though his head might snap off. Dorpin hurled him forward.
“Hide yourself. When I signal, come out.”
“Yes!”
Ryukan quickly crawled along the ground and concealed himself among the shrubs.
Dorpin drew his sword. The sharp metallic ring made the pursuers furrow their brows. It was a well-honed blade. Moreover, the scent of blood seemed to emanate from Dorpin himself.
“You seem to have some skill with a sword, but you’d do well to back off before you suffer serious injury.”
“Come all at once.”
Dorpin spoke without emotion. Such things barely registered as fear to him. I had spent considerable time alongside Cherez, facing Demons and Beasts. Compared to those creatures that ground humans between their teeth, these men were nothing.
I remembered the moment when a comrade who had shared meals with me vanished as prey for a Demon. Fear was something I felt only then.
“One man against eight? You must possess considerable skill. Come on, all of you attack! What are you doing standing there!”
In that instant, Dorpin vanished from where he stood. By the time one of them raised his club, it was already too late. A severed arm fell to the ground with a dull thud, cleanly sliced by Dorpin’s blade.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
It was merely the beginning. The next moment, a blade pierced through the belly of the man beside him, and the man next to that one watched in horror. And Ryukan witnessed it all—the entire battle concluded in a mere five minutes.
Ryukan looked up at Dorpin, who had ended the fight with merciless efficiency. Dorpin looked down at him. His cold face betrayed no emotion whatsoever.
“Get up.”
Ryukan quickly rose to his feet. His legs were trembling. Mercenaries lay strewn across the ground. He had been prepared to flee at the slightest opportunity.
But now I understood. There was no escape. Dorpin’s words about killing me if I fled were sincere. I must never flee.
Ryukan swallowed and fell into step behind Dorpin.

* * *
Late summer.
Time flowed on, unstoppable by any mortal hand. Yet upon the earth, the scorching sunlight had given way to the crimson glow of the Red Moon Palace’s light.
In days past, a scar had been etched into Count Bruarte’s face.
The long scar that ran from beneath his left eye to his jaw had transformed the once-gentle visage of Count Bruarte into something altogether different.
And that scar had proven invaluable in allowing Count and Countess Bruate to infiltrate the Rebel Forces.
‘It seems I’ve lived quite a harsh life. The world is so unreasonably unjust, isn’t it?’
Two months prior, Count and Countess Bruate had infiltrated the Rebel Forces at Borgus’s request. Countess Malate had designed the infiltration route.
Currently, the Rebel Forces were sweeping through the Southern Region.
They resembled bandits more than anything else. Farmers who had lost their livelihoods to war, deserting knights, criminals and mercenaries from villages whose lords had vanished—all had banded together to form this collective.
They had justification. Their roots lay in resistance against the Imperial Court that had abandoned the South, and in fury toward the nobility who had fled during the war to save themselves.
But the problem was simple: they engaged in plunder.
They roamed villages, seizing grain and setting fire to those who resisted. Territories without military forces were defenseless. The Rebel Forces had exploited this gap mercilessly.
Their leader was a man named Gallo, a former mercenary who had worked as a bodyguard along the Southern Coast before the war. As the conflict dragged on, he had turned to pillaging.
Count and Countess Bruate had infiltrated their ranks.
“The next target has been decided.”
Gallo spoke before the campfire. Ten rebel officers sat in a circle around him. Count Bruarte was among them. His rise to an officer’s position within two months was owed entirely to his medical skills.
“Belon Village to the west. They say the grain storehouse there is substantial.”
Grain was precious in these times. It sold for prices higher than gold itself, so seizing grain would mean acquiring considerable wealth.
Count Bruarte opened his mouth.
“But isn’t Belon Village quite close to the Red Moon Palace?”
Count Bruarte spoke with evident concern.
“True enough. Then where would you suggest? You’re more educated than I am, so you likely know more.”
“Dros Territory would be better.”
Count Bruarte spoke with apparent composure.
“Dros? Wouldn’t that also be close to the Red Moon Palace?”
Gallo spoke while crossing his arms. Count Bruarte deliberately adopted a grim expression.
“Dros Territory is governed by Baron Dros. But before I left the Red Moon Palace, I heard that the Baron had withdrawn his forces. He’s searching for the Duchess.”
Gallo’s eyes gleamed. He glanced at a subordinate seated beside him.
“Dros, can you verify this?”
“If I send scouts, two days should suffice.”
Gallo nodded. Count Bruarte swallowed hard in silence.
Wherever the Rebel Forces struck, plunder followed. But drawing the Rebel Forces into the sight of the Red Moon Palace’s military forces—that was the mission Borgus had entrusted to Count Bruarte. It was to suppress the Rebel Forces with a smaller contingent of soldiers. Count and Countess Bruate had willingly become Borgus’s instruments of war. To crush those damned Hejest bastards.
It was to suppress the Rebel Forces with a small number of troops. The Count and Countess Bruate willingly decided to become soldiers under Borgus. Damn it, to smash those Hejest bastards.

* * *
A week prior, a letter arrived for Cassian informing him of Rita’s death. It came from the Physician who had been caring for her. Rita had not survived the spring.
[To Priest Cassian,
Rita passed away peacefully at dawn last Tuesday. I assure you she went without suffering. Rita wished me to convey her gratitude to you, Priest Cassian.]
The words about her passing without pain should have brought comfort, yet they did not. I had devoted my entire life to Rita, and she had departed without hesitation or regret.
I had even abandoned my own convictions and sense of justice for her sake.
“How could you die? Why did you?”
I muttered the words aloud.
Perhaps this was divine punishment. A God who had delayed so long had finally found Rita.
I felt as though my chest was being torn asunder. Pain surged through me like my very organs were being wrung dry.
Yet I could not weep. I spent the night staring at the ceiling with dry eyes. After seven days of sleepless torment, I set out on the road.

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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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