The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 163
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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 163. Subjugation Campaign (3)
“You want us to secretly follow behind the Adamant Extermination Force?”
“Are you saying we should drive the monsters toward our side first?”
Edwin nodded at the knights’ questions.
“Yes, we’ll lure some of the monsters that Adamant drives over toward our direction first.”
“Hmm.”
The red-haired knight, Pinet, scratched his head as if he couldn’t understand at all.
“Then it’ll be hard to maintain formation. If we split the 3rd Knight Order into two units, it’s the same as dispersing our forces, and we might lose the monsters we worked so hard to drive over.”
Bata, who had been arguing just moments before, also nodded as if agreeing with his words.
“I heard this was an operation directly ordered by The King of Adamant. There’s no need to go against the king’s wishes on foreign soil.”
Before Edwin could respond, other knights also threw in their objections.
“What if we divide our forces and something goes wrong?”
“I also think Pinet is right. The Prince could be in more danger too!”
I watched the knights who were now holding a full debate among themselves.
‘I’ve felt this before, but while their bodies are useful, they’re overly passive.’
It wasn’t incomprehensible.
Unlike noble-born knights who joined knight orders to prove their family honor and swordsmanship skills, all the knights here in the 3rd Knight Order were commoners.
Their goal was to receive knight wages for as long as possible to feed their families until the end.
‘An honorable death only applies to those who have honor to protect.’
Those gathered here were people who would choose desperate survival over an honorable death.
‘I actually like that aspect.’
In the sense that their values are similar to mine.
‘But survival on the battlefield is harder to achieve than an honorable death.’
In battlefields like this, those who retreated for safety often lost their lives faster than those who boldly stepped forward. Every battlefield I experienced during my assassin days was like that.
“The King of Adamant.”
When I quietly spoke up, the knights’ gazes instantly focused on me.
The action of stabbing a dagger into the table earlier seemed to have made quite an impression.
“He only said to hold the formation, but he didn’t say not to follow them.”
The knights looked at me with stunned expressions.
“Five people would be enough for the unit following the Adamant Extermination Force. The rest will be holding the formation, so there’s little chance we’ll lose the monsters.”
Five knights who rode well and were good at improvising.
That would be enough to chase after the Adamant Extermination Force.
“What, just five people?”
Then Pinet asked with a frown.
“What can just five people possibly do?”
“They’ll become bait.”
I placed five finger-sized glass bottles on the table.
Yellow liquid was sloshing inside the glass bottles.
“If you spray this liquid on your horses and saddles, you’ll be able to attract all the monsters’ attention.”
At my words, Pinet picked up a bottle with a curious expression.
“What is this?”
“Female monster pheromones.”
It was something I had difficulty obtaining after asking Somnia for it.
‘Originally, it’s something that costs whatever price they ask.’
Female monsters of any species had small populations and were more vicious than males, making them difficult to capture alive.
Moreover, monster pheromones were substances only released during mating season.
No matter how much money you had, if the timing wasn’t right or there were no goods available, it was difficult even to see.
‘If it weren’t for a wealthy merchant with connections everywhere like Somnia, I never could have obtained it.’
Meanwhile, the 3rd Knight Order guys also seemed to recognize the value of what I had brought out.
“My goodness, pheromones. I never thought I’d see the real thing.”
“This amount must be incredibly expensive, right?”
The knights whispered among themselves and glanced at me.
“But how did you get this?”
“Even if you’re a guard, suddenly joining a strategy meeting is a bit…”
“Maybe he’s from some noble family?”
Just as the encampment was about to become noisy again with suspicions about me.
Edwin shouted loudly.
“Everyone stop!”
The knights seemed surprised when a loud voice came from the always shy and gentle guy.
“I, the 3rd Prince, will vouch for my guard’s identity! So I’d appreciate it if you’d refrain from such strange talk!”
Edwin lightly pulled my wrist and continued speaking.
“Sorry for the late introduction. This is Kayl Angella, a former mercenary who specialized in monster extermination, and he became my guard through The Housekeeper’s introduction.”
It was the moment when our efforts to coordinate our stories before departure paid off.
‘Technically, I specialized more in human extermination than monsters…’
Well, saying I specialized in monster extermination wasn’t wrong either.
The Organization sometimes deliberately used monsters to assassinate targets.
Therefore, common knowledge and countermeasures regarding monsters were essentially required education for assassins belonging to the organization.
“But Kayl will not only be my guard but also serve as a strategist for this subjugation campaign. He knows more about monster extermination than anyone here.”
Edwin made his threat with a fairly confident voice.
“So you should listen to Kayl’s words as if they were my own!”
The 3rd Prince’s brief speech ended.
The knights made displeased expressions but soon obediently nodded.
“Understood, The Prince.”
“Tsk, if Prince Edwin says so…”
When the knights’ grumbling subsided.
I placed my hand on Edwin’s shoulder as he was panting from his own excitement and spoke again.
“I fully understand that the knights gathered here view me with suspicion. It would be unreasonable to ask you to trust and follow someone you’ve just met unconditionally.”
Making people truly follow you required considerable time and effort.
Of course, there was no guarantee that you could gain true trust just by investing time and effort blindly.
“But all the knights here know this too. This subjugation campaign isn’t just for monster extermination.”
No matter how common they were, these people belonged to the Gloria Knight Order, which was directly under The Emperor. There was no way such people would be ignorant about Imperial Palace internal affairs.
“The prince who performs best in this subjugation campaign will gain The Emperor’s trust.”
So we absolutely had to achieve notable results.
“I am someone who works as much as I’m paid. Therefore, I intend to make The 3rd Prince the person who achieves the greatest merit in this subjugation campaign.”
The knights’ expressions actually became more favorable at the mention of working for money rather than flowery rhetoric.
‘A materialistic person seems more sincere than someone whose intentions you can’t read.’
I deliberately set my previous occupation as ‘mercenary,’ which has the prejudice of doing anything for money, for that reason.
“So, whether you trust me or not, I will promise you this one thing.”
I calmly made eye contact with each knight one by one.
“I will protect Prince Edwin with my life, and if you understand my intentions well, your lives will also be safe until this subjugation campaign ends.”
Edwin’s introduction as a former mercenary specializing in monster extermination and my confident attitude, though the basis was unknown.
The knights of the 3rd Knight Order seemed subtly convinced by my words.
“Then let’s continue the discussion.”
I was about to move the glass bottles containing pheromones aside when I hesitated.
I almost forgot to convey the most important precaution.
“Oh, let me tell you in advance, you must never spray this on clothes or your body.”
I showed my teeth and grinned.
“Unless you want to become especially close with male monsters.”
I said it jokingly, but the atmosphere in the encampment turned cold.
Suddenly, I remembered Catherine’s words that I seemed to have no talent for jokes.
“Then.”
The knight who resembled a large rock face, Bata, spoke in a low voice.
He was the one among the knights who listened most attentively to my words.
“What should we do after sprinkling this?”
“It’s simple.”
I pointed my finger at one spot on the map.
“The area where monster herds mainly appear is here, and Adamant’s extermination force will drive the monsters from here toward the Imperial Army’s formation.”
But just before reaching the formation, what if our pursuit team overtakes and runs past the Adamant Extermination Force?
“The driven monsters will react to the pheromones and follow the pursuit team instead of the extermination force.”
“Will that really happen?”
The knight, Bata, raised a question with a serious expression.
“The driven monsters will be in an extremely frightened and excited state, so in a life-threatening situation, I don’t think they would react to female pheromones…”
“When fear reaches its peak, they become angry to resist it.”
Monsters and humans weren’t different in that regard.
“Extreme anger will be expressed as aggression.”
Like when a cornered mouse sometimes bites a cat.
“And most animals, including monsters, cannot distinguish between aggressive behavior and sexual impulses.”
Humans were the same.
It was not uncommon for survival instincts stimulated by the fear of possible death to transform into sexual desire.
“In the case of monsters with strong instincts, such tendencies would be even stronger.”
“It’s not an impossible story.”
Pinet shrugged his shoulders.
“When I was young, I saw a small monster in our neighborhood, and even though it was obvious it would soon be caught and killed by humans, it was passionately, very earnestly making love.”
He hastily changed his word choice, seemingly concerned about the young prince.
His behavior and manner of speaking seemed frivolous and I didn’t like it, but this was unexpected.
“Then I’ll assume everyone agrees with my words and proceed with the operation.”
I looked around at the knights and smiled slyly.
“I’ll inform you of the pursuit team members at dawn.”
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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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