Chapter 85: Hair

“Woooooah!!”

After the one-sided violence that barely qualified as a war ended, I raised my head and looked around with Wolffang, surrounded by thunderous cheers.

The green plain remained unchanged, except for the scar left when I annihilated the enemy’s left wing.

Thanks to Wolffang devouring every last corpse, not a single body nor drop of blood stained the verdant field stretching before us.

‘At least we won’t have to worry about cleanup.’

Leaving corpses unattended could lead to epidemics, necessitating their removal after battles. But this time, we could avoid that trouble entirely.

After surveying the plain, I turned my gaze to the city walls where the Ponpon mother and daughter were.

Gritting my teeth at the thought of the Ponpon duo, who were likely watching this battle through some magic tool, I spoke to Wolffang.

“Let’s go, Wolffang.”

“Okay!!”

With an energetic reply, Wolffang transformed into a katana and returned to my waist.

As I stroked Wolffang, who had worked hard, I was about to call for Silence, who would be waiting in the distance.

“Well done in the duel.”

Marina descended slowly to the ground, her snow-white hair fluttering in the sky.

“Though no one’s likely to object to this result, I’ll declare it as a matter of procedure. Ian, you are the victor.”

“Yes, then now…”

“The Pierre… No, that name will be stripped from them after this incident, so it’s not appropriate anymore. Anyway, their fate is yours to decide. The Royal Knights will prevent them from committing suicide, so hurry over.”

Nodding with a satisfied smirk at her pleasing response, I called for Silence, who would be waiting in the distance.

At my forceful shout filled with aura, Silence approached my side in an instant, without a moment’s delay.

“Let’s go.”

Silence began sprinting towards the city at a speed even faster than when it approached me.

As we galloped towards the city, I heard numerous hoofbeats behind us. Looking back, I saw most of the nobles who had been observing the war now racing towards the city in carriages or on horseback.

It seemed they too wanted to witness the demise of those frauds who had impersonated the hero’s descendants.

Arriving at the base of the walls encircling the city, we found the gates – tightly shut before the war – now wide open, with my companions waiting nearby.

Seeing me, they all bowed respectfully and cleared the way. As I advanced along the path they opened, I said:

“Let’s go.”

“…Yes.”

The eyes of those following me were filled with a chilling murderous intent, as if looking at their parents’ killer.

Seeing those spine-chilling gazes, I felt I had made the right choice in selecting them as assistants for this punishment.

“It’s him!! That’s him!!!”

We had just passed through the city gate and buildings were starting to come into view when a shabbily dressed man appeared, shouting while pointing at me.

Starting with that man, people in equally impoverished attire, regardless of gender, swarmed around me, raising a clamor.

From their respectful speech and behavior, it was clear they weren’t hostile, but I couldn’t understand why they were welcoming me so enthusiastically.

I shot Karn a questioning look, to which he calmly replied:

“For the past few weeks, we hired some agitators to spread word of Ian’s intentions to everyone gathered in the city.”

“…You went that far? But why are these people dressed like this?”

Just by looking at their attire, I could roughly guess their standard of living. As the saying goes, you can tell ten things by looking at one.

I doubted they had deliberately spread rumors in the slums, so this must be the average appearance of the city’s inhabitants.

When I asked about this, Karn gripped his horse’s reins tightly and spoke through gritted teeth:

“It’s all because of those whores. They’ve imposed such heavy taxes to fill their own bellies that the common folk have been reduced to this state.”

Considering the city’s considerable size, it was easy to imagine how severe the taxation must have been to result in this.

The money used to maintain thousands of knights and scrape together thousands of troops in just two weeks must have all come from squeezing these people dry.

Looking at the commoners, dried up like salted fish, I couldn’t hide my feelings of sympathy.

These poor people have probably never even touched a katana in their miserable lives, deprived of the freedom to practice Baldo from birth.

Seeing them, my anger towards the Ponpon mother and daughter and Pierre grew stronger.

“This mess happened because that idiot didn’t kill those slutty b*tches in the first place.”

“……”

Unable to agree with the insult to the hero they revered, Karn and his companions bowed their heads in silence, avoiding my words.

“Savior!! Please kill those b*tches!!”

“My daughter starved to death because of them!!”

“Those f*cking whores deserve to have their guts ripped out!!”

Their resentment towards the Ponpon duo was so intense that everyone blocking our path screamed for them to be killed in the most horrific ways possible.

Wondering if the entire city was like this, I asked Karn, who shook his head.

“The prime areas of the city near the whores’ mansion don’t have this atmosphere.”

The prime areas, where nobles and wealthy commoners like guild masters resided, were lined with various guild shops and had a completely opposite atmosphere to this place.

Although they too were extorted heavily by the Ponpon duo, in return, the mother and daughter granted them many conveniences.

Thus, they secretly hoped for my defeat, fearing they might lose all the privileges they had enjoyed if I won against the Ponpon duo.

“I heard some even provided aid when those whores were scraping together troops, thinking they’d write off their debts.”

“Still, we can’t kill them. We’ll need their money to make this city somewhat livable again.”

“…I understand.”

As we entered the prime area, several nobles in luxurious attire came forward to greet us, unlike before.

They knelt on one knee and bowed their heads as if I were their lord.

During the two weeks or so given before the duel, an investigation into the Pierre family tree revealed no one with enough legitimacy to inherit the family name.

Records showed that Pierre’s siblings and cousins had all either died in battle or in mysterious accidents, making the culprit obvious.

Likely, Pierre’s wife had killed them preemptively, fearing discovery of her adultery by her blood relatives would end badly for her.

With no clear hereditary legitimacy, it was now a foregone conclusion that I, who had driven them out through war, would inherit this domain.

They seemed well aware of this fact, bowing their heads even lower as they spoke:

“We are those who have long awaited the day when a hero like yourself would drive out those tyrannical whores.”

The man who spoke first, apparently representing the nobles, delivered his lines with such sincerity that he must have taken acting lessons.

Had I not been briefed by Karn beforehand, I might have believed him to some extent.

“Though it was against our will, we have lived in luxury under those whores until now. It would be difficult for you to trust our loyalty immediately.”

“Yeah, a bit difficult.”

“…Yes, we understand. Therefore, we are prepared to work tirelessly to earn your trust, even if it means breaking our bones and crushing our bodies!!

And this…”

At his clap, two sturdy men waiting in the distance brought over something like a large banner.

“We prepared this, believing you would surely emerge victorious. Please use it when punishing those whores.”

As they unfurled the banner from both sides, I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw what was written on it.

“Huh… It’s as if you’ve read my mind. What did you say your name was again?”

“…Liam Balea, sir.”

“I’ll remember that. Bring the banner and follow me.”

“…Yes, sir.”

—
Raei  Translations
—

After losing the duel and the trial, we were stripped of the Pierre name based on the evidence he submitted and demoted to commoners.

Though they had treated us as nobles during the trial, albeit reluctantly, the knights’ attitudes became overtly rough now.

While they might not have drawn their swords if we had resisted before the verdict, now they seemed ready to behead us at the slightest sign of defiance.

“Ha, hahahaha…!!”

Mother had been laughing intermittently like that since father’s death, like she’d lost half her mind.

Her state filled me with anxiety, seeming to foreshadow my own bleak future.

‘…What now?’

No answer came, even when I posed that question to myself. Should I throw myself out the window before facing a worse fate?

That might at least grant me a somewhat human death, I thought. But the chances of evading the knights’ watch and successfully jumping were practically zero.

Even if I tried to commit suicide by biting my tongue, they had brought a priest to prevent such situations, rendering it meaningless.

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t see any way out. I could only tremble silently when…

-Thud, thud, thud.

As multiple footsteps approached from beyond the door, my body began to shake more violently.

When the owner of the footsteps reached the door and opened it, even mother, who had been laughing continuously, came to her senses and turned towards the door.

“……”

He entered with several familiar faces, frowning when he saw mother and me seated on the sofa.

“Since when were commoners allowed to greet nobles so comfortably?”

Almost simultaneously with his words, the knights dispatched by the royal family forcibly lifted mother and me, making us kneel on the floor.

“Ugh…!!”

Forced to my knees, I reflexively looked up at him.

For some reason, he was looking down at me with cold eyes, his hand resting on the hilt of his trembling sword.

Thinking it might be easier to just end it all at once, I closed my eyes. But no matter how long I waited, I felt no pain of flesh being cut or bones being severed.

Instead, I felt a tickling sensation on my shoulders, and my head suddenly felt lighter.

“…Huh?”

Opening my eyes to check my shoulders, I found them covered in my own hair.

Turning to look at mother, unlike me who had the sides of my hair cut, the center of her head had been shaved, making her look ridiculously like a balding man.

Seeing her absurd appearance, I could easily imagine what I must look like, and my legs gave way.

The one responsible for turning our hair into this state spoke in a cold voice:

“Did you think I would show you mercy? Even an honorable death, let alone a normal one, is too good for the likes of you.”

“……”

What on earth did we do to deserve such a miserable fate?

This man doesn’t even revere our ancestor… Pierre, like other magic swordsmen. So why…!!

I wanted to unleash my frustrations at him, feeling so wronged, but I lacked even the courage to do that now.

“Well, I have some business to attend to, so you guys take these two.”

“Yes, sir!!”

With a vigorous response, several men behind him forcibly lifted mother and me, dragging us out of the room.

Judging by the rapiers and staffs at their waists, they seemed to be magic swordsmen who revered Pierre.

Their grip on our arms was tight, betraying their deep-seated grudge against us as they dragged us outside the mansion. There, a banner caught my eye.

“…Ah.”

Seeing the words written on that banner, mother and I were too shocked to utter a word.

Unable to even scream, we could only lower our heads, anticipating the shameful death that was about to begin.

[We are whores who impersonated the hero’s descendants and sucked the blood of the people. We will pay for our sins with death.]

—