Ch.116116. Alright, Let’s Proceed Immediately!

“Lu, stop Luna!!”

“Argh! I think my ankle’s broken!!”

“Aaaah! Luna, what’s wrong with you?!”

I rushed to the training ground at Federicks’ urgent call.

Already, three or four knights were writhing in pain on the sandy floor.

‘Eye of Insight!’

After checking with my Eye of Insight, I confirmed that Luna’s Blood Massacre mode was activated.

I’d been constantly monitoring her affection deficiency level even after returning to Lake Territory, so how did this happen?

One fortunate thing was that Luna was holding a wooden sword.

If it had been a real blade, the knights rolling on the ground would have lost their lives several times over.

I grabbed a wooden sword from the rack as well.

“Luna.”

“Young Master…”

“Snap out of it. How long are you going to let the bloodlust consume you?”

“Why did you do this to me?”

With pained eyes, she spoke those words and instantly charged at me with her sword.

Clang-!

Bang!

Now I could see it clearly.

The trajectory of Luna’s sword that I couldn’t see the last time her Blood Massacre activated.

Claaang-!

If this were a real battle, I could have handled her somewhat easily, but regardless, I couldn’t hurt Luna.

She was not only a talent needed for the monster wave but also the protagonist’s companion.

Therefore.

Fighting with the intention to save her rather than harm her made this more challenging than expected.

Claaash-!

Luna’s unfocused eyes were chilling to see as always.

Since I still had no idea what triggered her Blood Massacre mode, I couldn’t clear up any misunderstandings. The best I could do now was block her attacks.

‘How can she have such strength…’

It was as if her bones were made of steel—the force behind her delicate wrists was incredibly heavy.

If even I was struggling this much, no wonder the knights were quickly taken down.

‘Still, she’s no match for me now.’

Spotting a momentary opening, I slipped behind Luna.

Before she could react, I struck the back of her neck sharply with the side of my hand.

Thwack-!

Luna made a choking sound and collapsed unconscious to the ground.

Seeing this, Federicks, who had been watching nervously from behind, rushed over.

“Y-Young Master, are you alright?”

“Why did she suddenly act like that?”

“I don’t know. I was in my office when I heard the commotion outside and opened the window…”

“Ah, right! What about Brother Leonard?”

“As you ordered, I escorted him to safety.”

It seemed Luna’s Blood Massacre activation was triggered not by me but by a third party.

I looked at one of the knights on the ground who seemed relatively unharmed.

“Hey, your name is Challen, right?”

“Y-Yes, sir.”

“Follow me to the study immediately.”

“Understood.”

As I beckoned to Challen and started walking, Federicks urgently grabbed my arm.

“W-What should we do with Luna?”

“Tie her up with Fail fruit rope just in case, then come to the study.”

“Yes, I’ll follow your orders.”

After entering the study with Challen, I narrowed my eyes and spoke.

“From now on, you need to report everything that happened with Luna, without omitting a single detail, understood?”

“Yes, I’ll tell you the truth.”

“So, how did Luna end up in that state?”

Challen seemed guilty about something as he tightly closed his eyes, then opened them while swallowing hard.

“Earlier, when I went to the market, I heard strange rumors from the villagers.”

“What rumors?”

“That Sir Rio had settled down with a woman.”

“Huh? Luna heard that and became like that?”

Honestly, if Challen’s words were true, this was excellent news for me.

It meant that Luna’s feelings had shifted from me to Rio.

Do you know how important this is?

It was an indescribable achievement.

If I could just hand Rio over to Serion Lykus, wouldn’t Luna naturally follow?

However, that sliver of hope quickly vanished.

“No, it’s not that. We kind of let our imaginations run wild.”

“What do you mean by ‘let your imaginations run wild’?”

Challen suddenly dropped to his knees on the study floor with a thud and continued.

“We said the Rio we know would never do such a thing. So we speculated that you must have brought a woman from Alphonse Territory.”

“Ah… because I’m a scoundrel?”

“I’ve committed a grave sin.”

“So, Luna heard that and ended up like that?”

“It seems so. Right after that, she suddenly started swinging her wooden sword at us.”

Their guess was so accurate that I couldn’t find the right words to respond.

Still, I tried my best to maintain an authoritative atmosphere.

“Don’t you know that spitting on my face also means spitting on the faces of those who follow me?”

“I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to…”

“You and the rest of the knights will have your wages cut for three months. I’m being lenient, so if you have any complaints, look for another job.”

“No, sir. I’ll accept the punishment.”

“You may go.”

After dismissing Challen, Federicks entered the study and bowed.

“I’ve moved Luna to her bedroom for now. I tied her up as you ordered.”

“Good work.”

“…May I ask you something?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Do you remember when Luna was kidnapped before?”

“I do.”

Federicks seemed to be recalling something, moving his eyes back and forth as he continued.

“At that time, I heard something from Knight Commander Rain Breaker. When they raided the hideout, Luna had killed all the assassins…”

Now that he mentioned it, I remembered.

It was the first time Luna’s Blood Massacre activated.

I was so shocked to see in person what I had only read about in the original story…

Especially since I couldn’t defeat her by force back then.

I slowly nodded at Federicks.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“It was hard to believe until I saw it myself, but after witnessing it today, Luna’s condition seems very concerning.”

“Her condition is concerning?”

“If I may venture a guess, it seems like a case of split personality.”

“Hmm, there’s some truth to that.”

“I know you care for Luna, Young Master, but if we continue to leave this unaddressed, it could become problematic.”

Sigh…

He’s not wrong.

Until now, I thought that as long as I managed her affection deficiency level well, nothing serious would happen.

But this time was different.

Even if it was related to me, she went berserk just from hearing rumors, didn’t she?

What if her Blood Massacre activated during a monster wave and she couldn’t distinguish between allies and enemies?

There would be tremendous casualties.

I rested my forearms on the desk and crossed my hands firmly.

“So, do you have any good solutions?”

“Nothing specific comes to mind, but thankfully you were in the mansion today. If you had been absent, it would have been truly terrible.”

If the Blood Massacre activates, the only people in Lake Territory who could stop Luna now would be me, Rio, and perhaps Lucien.

With the monster wave approaching in just three months, we definitely needed to find a solution.

“Why can’t we have even one peaceful day?”

“By the way, I just heard the full story from the injured knights. Did you really bring a woman to Lake Territory?”

“Didn’t you hear properly? Rio is the one who settled down.”

At my words, Federicks gave me a contemptuous look and smirked.

“Sir Rio wouldn’t just settle down without a wedding ceremony, would he?”

“Then what about me?”

“You’re certainly capable of it, Young Master. Didn’t Baron Byron beat you before for bringing a woman from the pleasure district into the mansion…”

Wow, Father must really love “Selden Alphonse.”

I can tell just from the fact that his lower half wasn’t cut off.

I awkwardly checked if everything was still intact down there, then gave an embarrassed smile.

“Half right, half wrong.”

“Half right, half wrong… So as I suspected, you did bring someone.”

“Yes, but I didn’t bring her as a woman, but as a comrade.”

“A comrade?”

I narrowed my eyes at Federicks, who crossed his arms with a dubious expression.

“You don’t believe me?”

“To be honest, I don’t. A comrade? Don’t we have enough knights in Lake Territory?”

“The more the better, right?”

“We’re not starting a war, so there’s no need to overdo it. Besides, you even provided a house for her—as your steward, I’m concerned.”

“War…”

If it were just a war, I could try negotiations in advance and do my best to prevent it, but the problem is that a monster wave is coming.

The more trained knights and comrades we have, the more cleanly we can block the monster wave.

Despite his advice, when I showed a lukewarm response, Federicks raised his voice.

“At this rate, will you be recruiting mercenaries too?”

At Federicks’ words, my mind started racing.

I stood up from my chair, my eyes flashing.

“Good idea! Make it happen right away!”