Volume 8 Chapter 48 Saying Goodbye to Rachel
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
He found a tree about thirty centimeters thick behind the estate and checked the area. No one was around.
Klock reached to the holster at his waist.
A blade like dusk itself slid into view—a knife-shaped darkness, as if it had given form to her old obsession. The moment he held it, he felt an odd thrum, like a heartbeat under his palm.
He swept sideways once.
Like slicing butter, the air took the cut as if it were a line on paper.
A black arc cursed a trunk fifteen paces away.
The gash bit as deep as the knife was long. The blade creaked—pleasure, almost—like it ground its own teeth.
”Are you feeling unwell?”
”Huh?”
The sudden voice made Klock start. He turned.
Suzette stood there, watching him with a puzzled look. Who knew how long she’d been there.
”I’m fine.”
”I see. When Sir Klock starts battle training out of nowhere, I worry you’ve come down with an illness of the brain.”
”Harsh, don’t you think?”
Suzette’s eyes slid to the black blade. The Cianie Knife’s warped presence—anyone could feel it, not just Klock.
She knit her brows, at a loss for words. (T/N: A notorious cursed blade.)
Klock sheathed the knife, stepped in, cupped her neck, and kissed her.
No one would see them here. Suzette accepted it, a quick peck like a greeting.
He didn’t let it end in an instant. He drew her closer and savored the soft warmth of her lips.
”Anyway, what’s up?”
”Lady Rosalie has arrived. Lord Kreis is calling for you.”
So the new boss had summoned him. Fresh headache.
He pursed his lips. He had no real complaint, but the thought alone made him feel tired. That’s what it means to work under someone.
”Why the training all of a sudden?”
”It’s not much of a regimen. I just figured I should walk through the motions so I won’t freeze when it counts.”
”That’s smart. In battle, experience drives your response. Think it through all you want—people still blank out in the moment.”
When they returned to the estate, Rosalie waited in the entrance hall.
She’d been standing there on purpose, it seemed. Meina kept her company—thoughtful, not to leave a guest alone.
”G–good morning… heh.”
”‘Sup.”
Klock fought the twitch tugging at his face. She was an important person, so he forced on a serious look.
”Um… a–are you settling into the estate?”
”Yeah. Not bad.”
He tossed back her greeting a little too casually.
Suzette jabbed him from behind. Klock scratched his head and looked away.
After House Borges took them in, Klock’s group received an estate to live in—this very building they’d just returned to.
It was an old manor that once served as a lord’s residence. They started living like minor nobility, or close enough.
”W–well then, shall we go to Lord Kreis? …Heh.”
”‘Sup.”
Borges also handed the Brigante soldiers quarters—empty houses, barracks, places to stay.
It was generous treatment. Easy to grant, though, with so few people left to claim anything.
In Conro, many never came back from the front.
Plenty must have fled north, too. People were gone, and land and buildings no one used were losing value fast.
Food, shelter, clothing—off to a good start.
But the biggest worry about joining up with Kreis is this one right here. Why does she creep me out so much?
Klock disliked Rosalie. It wasn’t her face—he didn’t want to look away because she was ugly or anything.
She looked fine. Cute more than stunning. A bit country, which made her approachable.
She had the kind of vibe men go for. At first, Klock had tried to deal with her normally.
Rosalie was uncommonly gloomy.
A timid girl, through and through. She moved in flustered little starts, and whenever he asked a question, she panicked—in a way no noble lady should—fluttering like a trapped bird.
Exactly the kind of woman who got on Klock’s nerves.
”By the way, what’s this about?”
”Eep! Ah—um—I… don’t know… heh.”
If he tried to lead the talk, she stuttered. Conversation went nowhere.
She chuckled at odd times. A faint, dark pall clung to her. Something uncanny.
A frightened fawn of a girl.
That was Rosalie Fennec.
”If… if anything is hard, um, please tell me…”
When he fell quiet because she was hard to talk to, she started watching his face for cues.
It only made her more annoying. Because she read as a hassle, his mood always frayed around her.
In short, Rosalie and Klock were a bad match.
No—wrong. They were too good a match, you could say.
”Settling into the new house?”
They passed through the gates of the Borges manor, and a man greeted them with the words he’d just heard—this time in a man’s voice. Klock bowed his head and offered the proper salute, almost like a retainer.
”You provided everything. I can only say thank you.”
The estate was old. The beds were old.
He pictured the complaints, but kept them to himself. Even he wasn’t rude enough to go that far.
Klock’s manner made Kreis lift his brows and nod. The best part of giving a gift is seeing the recipient satisfied.
A single line of thanks was enough. Between grown men, this level of response was best.
”As of yesterday, the paperwork for your transfer is complete. From here on, you walk under the banner of House Borges.”
”That wrapped up faster than I thought.”
So the main worry—the reassignment—had worked out.
Less than two hundred people now wanted to enlist in Conro’s army.
Under normal circumstances, that wouldn’t be an easy ask. But the Conro steward agreed, framing it as a request accepted from House Borges.
The nobles who held lands in Conro kept their own troops.
For the Sanrid Liberation, the nobles were summoned to muster. House Borges, citing defense, hadn’t sent soldiers.
The Valture District sits on Conro’s west side—the keystone of its defenses.
If Borges left it empty, who would guard it?
Borges asked to take the entire Brigante so they could “join the front” themselves.
If that were the only goal, they could have marched out as the Conro Army. The city had no real reason to hand anyone over.
”Most of the Brigante volunteers are unarmed farmers the Demon Lord’s Army drove off their land. When I relayed your points, the other side got a little irritated. Said they’d be useless.”
”That’s good.”
Klock had already laid out Brigante’s situation to Kreis on purpose: no weapons, all gear must be issued, zero battle experience.
High cost, low readiness—exactly the kind of unit a government wants to shed. He nudged them to let Brigante go.
In the end, Conro passed Brigante to House Borges. Maybe they wanted to shove the burden away.
Maybe they wanted to claim generosity. Either way, Klock’s people moved under the Federation’s umbrella while working outside its leash.
”A hundred fighters is plenty. Dragging the unfit onto a battlefield only racks up casualties. The ones we returned to farming won’t count as combat strength anymore. They’ll focus on the fields.”
”Got it.”
Valture had lots of farmland with no hands to work it. People either marched to war or fled to the Empire.
The district’s population had dropped hard. At its peak they’d had over thirteen thousand. No one knew how many remained now—maybe seven or eight thousand, by estimate.
Brigante soldiers received empty houses. The women and elders from Polet Village received plots to till and a plan for the work.
Realistically, sending people with no battle experience to war is madness.
The old men of Polet would stay off the field. Rachel and Kaitney wouldn’t face danger.
”Now, about what comes next.
”You’ll fight the Demon Lord’s Army as planned. If we could, we’d drive straight west from Mostal into the Elenai region.”
”That’s…”
”Impossible. The western great plain is their base. With our numbers, no bold thrusts. You’ll have a hundred under you. Valture contributes three hundred more. The Demon Lord’s Army outnumbers us by a hundred to one. We’d just walk in as lunch for monsters.”
There was no bridging that gap. If Valture’s troops numbered so few, recruitment still ran by volunteers.
Far too little strength. House Borges alone couldn’t carry the ideal. It sounded like a doomed fight.
Unless a Hero appeared.
”House Borges will move alongside the city forces. Conro’s asked the same. Note that we’ll line up in the rear.”
”City forces,” “Conro Army”—they weren’t one body. You had the government troops that ruled the city, and the nobles’ private soldiers rooted in that city. In short, the Conro Army was a host under the steward as commander-in-chief, and Klock’s group would join as one troop within it.
They’d file in behind a row of nobles. Latecomers don’t get to throw weight around. Don’t expect any say over the plan.
They might not even get to voice an opinion in council. They could be handed the dangerous jobs. To stay alive, they’d have to mind their footing inside the host.
”In two days, a newly assembled force from Conro departs for Orrid. We’ll move with them. You’ll lead the troop in my place.”
”Roger.”
They now had a date to join the Sanrid Liberation.
From here, the war truly began. There’d be no turning back.
I don’t mind fighting.
But is it just us getting sent out?
He’d assumed Kreis’s own subordinates would go along. Kreis had no reason yet to trust Klock.
Normally, you’d send your own men too. Yet he only told Klock to depart.
Kreis wasn’t betting on results. That’s how it looked. He wasn’t even using his direct retainers.
He was sending a mere hundred and saying, do your best. He wasn’t aiming for a solid outcome. He was checking the “dispatch” box.
For House Borges, Brigante didn’t matter much.
If the troop got wiped out, the loss barely stung. They hadn’t “had” these people to begin with.
Lose and it’s fine. Win and it’s better.
That sounded like Kreis’s true stance.
Figured it’d shake out like this.
They gave us an estate. Of course the job won’t be easy.
Whatever. We’ve got Cianie.
With no one in the way, it might even be easier.
A restless thrill rose in him.
War at last. He’d have to get back, form up, and prep to march.
* * *
”Hey.”
He called out to her under the sun as it baked her in place.
Weeds had run wild over the fields. She’d been walking the land, checking things.
In overalls, Rachel frowned the moment she saw Klock.
”On the clock? Where’s Kaitney?”
”Out shopping with Mom.”
”Got it. So what’re you doing?”
”Walking the farm. Checking the soil, where the water comes from. We’ve got to till this whole stretch, but we don’t know the land, so we have to build the workflow from scratch.”
Rachel said it and started moving again—busy, or keen to look it.
He fell in beside her. When he saw no one nearby, he took her shoulder.
She stopped, turned, ponytail swaying. He drew her slender shoulders in and aimed for her lips.
”Mm—what are you doing?”
”Come on. Let me have a kiss.”
He pulled her close again and kissed her. She’d grown used to it already and didn’t resist.
Quietly, she offered him her lips. To a passerby, they’d look like lovers.
”We leave for the front the day after tomorrow.”
”Already?”
He’d dropped war into the middle of the moment.
Rachel’s face tightened. She looked from the weed-choked dirt to Klock and back again.
”Tell me sooner next time. We haven’t even started here. The river’s far—we need storage barrels. If I’d known, I’d have handled the heavy work first. Am I supposed to dump all this on Mom alone?”
”No. You’re staying.”
Rachel froze. She looked up at him like he’d started speaking nonsense.
”I’m taking adventurers and former soldiers—the ones with battle experience. Everyone else works the farm.”
”…So that means—”
”You won’t have to step onto a battlefield.”
He thought he was giving good news.
The air tightened instead. Rachel’s face went hard.
No hint of relief. She turned with a flick and showed him her thin back.
”You’re not used to city life. Watch yourself in town. When you go shopping, stick with your mom. Robbers are worse than the Demon Lord’s Army. If something happens, I won’t be there to help.”
He took her hand, turned her palm up, and pressed coins into it.
She frowned at the weight—ten gold coins. She looked at Klock with a face he couldn’t read.
Even with that much money, she barely reacted. Maybe the thought of being cut loose had rattled her.
”You heard we’re living in an estate now, right?”
”I heard. You and your lot got the nice place.”
”If you think that, come see it. I’ll show you our dusty, busted-up old estate.”
”…Maybe. If I feel like it.”
Whatever the path that led here, he had done her wrong.
The money wasn’t meant to buy forgiveness, but it would keep the three of them secure for a while. He wanted her to be okay.
Klock turned his back. “See you,” he said.
”Hey.”
”Hm? What.”
”Am I not Brigante anymore?”
Brigante? The word threw him for a beat.
Brigante wasn’t a club of friends.
It was a resistance. By that logic, if Rachel left the fight, she stopped being Brigante.
She and her family would live here now, become part of the city. Klock’s group only used the city as a staging ground.
Their tie to House Borges wasn’t forever. They’d leave Conro someday.
”Hard to say.”
”Don’t dodge me. You just don’t care about us anymore, is that it?”
”Huh?”
He turned at the sudden bite in her voice. Rachel stomped up, chin lifted, glaring up at him like she owned the ground.
”You did what you wanted with me—over and over—and now you’re bored, so you’re tossing me, is that it?”
”…That’s not it at all.”
”Liar. You’re the Hero’s lover, aren’t you? You toyed with me and Kaitney and now you’re throwing us away? That was the plan from the start, right?!”
No, it wasn’t. “Orders from a noble. That’s all,” he said, trying to cool things down.
Rachel stood, cheeks puffed, silent and stubborn.
She didn’t look away. She stared straight at Klock.
The split did come from Kreis’s orders.
But he had planned to leave them somewhere safe eventually. Maybe Rachel had always known it would end like this.
”You’re the worst. I hope a monster eats you alive. Suffer and die, jerk.”
”What’s that supposed to mean? You hated being dragged around by me anyway, right?”
”What?”
She grabbed his shirt and yanked.
”After all the times I slept with you, you expect me to be fine with this?”
She swung her thin arm down. The hit landed with a soft thump—more sound than pain.
”I asked the village girls. No one else said you touched them. I hated that it was me and Kaitney both, but I figured… you actually liked us.”
”…”
”Or was it just because we were easy? Now we’re in the way, so we’re trash to toss?”
Eyes damp, she drove in close. The tough girl finally looked hurt.
”You bastard. Say something.”
”Ah… right. How about you work for us?”
Rachel’s brow pinched. She drew back a fist—then stopped cold.
”…You mean at the Hero’s place?”
”Yeah. Maid, whatever. I’m headed to war. If you stick to the farm, we split. But if you’re staff, I can take you along.”
He offered it knowing it shouldn’t be possible.
She had a mother and a little sister to protect. She couldn’t just leave them to follow him.
And if she refused, it would be her decision to end things. That would be their goodbye.
”Okay.”
”…Huh?”
Silence slipped in—so quiet the nearby leaves sounded loud.
”What?”
”I said I’m coming.”
”You are?”
His confusion made Rachel snort.
”I’ve never been a maid. I’ll break all your stuff, and I’m not paying for any of it.”
”Don’t do that.”
She turned away with a huff. She played at being angry, but she didn’t look that mad.
Cianie already knew about her. Whether they needed the help or not, hiring her for odd jobs was doable.
But was she really going to come? He’d meant to end it here, and now—somehow—it was an extension.
”…Right. For this battle, I can’t take you. We’ll free Sanrid, then I’ll come back to Conro. I’ll send for you then. Until that, help your mom.”
”Got it.”
Give it a little time and she could think it through. That was the idea.
She nodded without argument. A faint smile touched her lips—as if the chance to stay with him steadied her.
I’ve spoiled her too much. What started as convenience turned into something real. But… fine. I don’t dislike girls like Rachel.
The problem was what to do with her if he did take her.
They didn’t need more servants, and she wouldn’t help in a fight. What could she even—
”…Oh. Right. Want to be my apprentice?”
Notes:
• Suzette – The older maid from Viscount Fennec. The head maid at the Viscount Fennec’s villa. She is confident, clear-spoken, and professional.
• Cianie – A noble girl with a fluffy white and light blue dress, indicating her high status. She has a hesitant and flustered personality but is kind and courteous. Her relationship with Klock begins as an accidental encounter and develops into a romantic interest. She has a fiancé but expresses feelings for Klock, complicating their relationship.
• Kreis – Baron of Valture and district chief. A middle-aged noble weighed down with gold chains and jeweled rings, yet it’s his hawk-like eyes and sly smile that mark him as dangerous. He meets Klock at the Borges family’s social gathering, greeting him by name as Maria’s son before Klock can even introduce himself—like a predator that already knows its prey.
• Rosalie – Daughter of Viscount Albert Fennec, district chief of Basselow. Formerly weak and bedridden under Suzette’s care, she recovered after escaping Basselow’s fall to the Demon Lord’s Army. Now sheltered by House Borges, she stands as the surviving heir to the Fennec title.
• Meina – She is a golden-haired catgirl employee of the beastman (Larana the cat woman) Inn, appeared performing fellatio, desperate and tear-streaked, with an inexperienced yet earnest approach to her work.
• Valture – A district within the Conro Federation, administered by Baron Kreis Borges. Outwardly it appears stable and prosperous, but its politics run on favors and hidden bargains, making it a place where strangers like Klock can be measured as assets or prey the moment they arrive.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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