The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations Chapter 651

Episode 651 Just listen to me. (3)

Astion came to his senses again and screamed.

– What the heck are these crazy guys!

– What the heck! They are the new owners of this body!

– Shut up! This is my body!

– It’s not your body!

Dark, who was competing with Klopoi in the territory, continued to tease Astion.

Jiselle pressed her temples. The sound of the two people arguing echoed in her head, making it too loud.

‘Dark, be quiet. Are you Astion?’

― Yes, this is my body! How could you take over my body without my permission!

‘I don’t know. It just works?’

― Ugh… … .

Astion was speechless with shock.

He briefly lost consciousness during a fight with bandits. It was something he was used to. It was a process of accepting other beings that had spread throughout the world.

But when I came to my senses, another being had already taken over my body and was moving around.

I saw the situation in a hazy state, but at the time, it felt like I was just dreaming.

Other beings only acted as advisors. Never before had they taken over a body like this.

– Joe, okay. Who are you?

‘Me? I am Giselle Ferdium, Grand Duke of Rutania and Ruler of the North… … .’

Giselle gave a grandiose self-introduction. However, Astion still had doubts even after hearing Giselle’s words.

– Where is that? There is no such kingdom. How long ago did it come from?

‘I’m not from the past, I’m from the future.’

– Um, you’re from the future? Is that possible?

‘You must have seen me coming, right? Anyway, I’m from the future.’

― …….

Astion was speechless. It was the first time a being from the future had entered his body.

But I didn’t believe it easily. Seeing the strange black guy attached to the person named Giselle, there was a high probability that Giselle was also crazy.

In fact, among those possessed by Astion, there were more who were not in their right minds. This was because most of them were wandering ghosts with lingering attachments to the world.

Soon Astion’s cool voice rang out.

– It won’t work. You guys are weird.

The true owner of this body is Astion. After years of training, he has acquired the ability to drive out possessed beings.

Unless they were mentally controlled, no being that Astion did not want could go against his will as the master of his body.

– Now get out of my body.

Astion said in a firm voice. Now you will regain control of your body.

‘……hmm.’

– What, what is it? Why aren’t you chasing me?

‘Something seems wrong? Can you help me?’

– T-This is my body? This has never happened before? Get out! Get out!

Dark nagged at the flustered Astion again.

– I told you, it’s not your body anymore.

– Ugh, euaaaah!

Astion’s screams rang out loud. Giselle frowned and tried to calm him down.

‘Don’t be too surprised. Since it’s come to this, let’s stay together for a while.’

– What are you doing together?

‘Then what should I do? It won’t go out.’

Jiselle was at peace. She was sure that she would eventually wake up in the real world.

Astion spoke in a troubled voice.

– Oh, no. I, I have to help those guys grow… … .

‘Isn’t that something I can do?’

– What do you know! I had it all planned out!

‘Oh… … I like that too. I have plans for everything too.’

– Those guys are the ones who will save the world! We need to lead them on the right path and not do useless things!

At those words, Giselle paused. That was in the future. How could Astion know that?

Jiselle thought quietly and then asked.

‘How do you know that? They are the ones who will save the world.’

– Why should I tell you that?

‘If you don’t tell me, I’ll jump off the cliff?’

― …….

Astion swallowed dry saliva. His own body had been taken hostage.

Basically, the possessed have eccentric personalities. It was natural since only their spirits remained.

If you try to do it for no reason and then actually jump, Astion will be the only one who suffers.

― … … When I was young, a great prophet came into my body. That’s what he told me.

‘Do you believe that?’

― I didn’t believe it at first either. But it’s true. He predicted many futures.

‘What did you get right? Is there a prophecy that I can believe in and understand?’

– They all become debtors.

‘…….’

– Joe, okay. I admit I find it funny. But it’s just one of the trials. To become a hero who saves the world, you have to go through many trials. He said so clearly.

Having debt is painful, but… … it’s really a rough test for a warrior.

And children from poor villages like that had a high probability of becoming debtors. It was a very common occurrence.

Even if Jiselle herself took the picture, she would be able to get it to this level.

It was a bit too much to believe that he was a prophet just because he said that the warriors’ party had become debtors.

‘……flaw.’

– Don’t laugh! And I am the one chosen to be the guide who leads my friends in the right direction!

Jiselle nodded. She knew the outcome, so she could accept that as true.

But if I didn’t know the future, I would have thought it was really cute.

While Giselle was absentmindedly conversing with Astion, Yulien spoke to her.

“Astion, what’s wrong? Are you awake?”

Astion often showed this behavior when talking to the possessed. Yulien was hopeful that perhaps he had regained his original consciousness.

Jiselle shook her head and answered.

“Oh, I talked to your friend.”

“With Astion?”

“huh.”

“What, what are you talking about? Why are you doing that now?”

“I don’t think he knows why either. Anyway, he asked me to take good care of you guys.”

“Oh, really?”

Julian gave a suspicious look.

Astion has always been a gloomy and reserved friend. That’s why he doesn’t speak softly to me.

He always said only what was necessary and muttered to himself.

Even though she knew full well that Julian was suspicious, Giselle said with a big smile.

“Then. He asked me to help you grow up quickly. He asked me to guide you properly.”

– When did I!

Astion went crazy, but Giselle ignored him. Yulien and his friends still looked in disbelief.

Julian asked again.

“Astion really said that?”

“That’s right. I also heard that becoming debtors was one of your trials.”

“ah…….”

It was something I had heard before. Only then did the three of them nod. It really felt like they had had a conversation with Astion.

Kyle said to Deneb, as if he found it curious.

“Astion, who talks to the possessed in his consciousness, seems to be very talkative.”

“That’s right. He even asked us to lead him in the right direction. I didn’t know Astion could say something like that.”

In reality, I was really angry because of Jiselle and Dark, so I was talking a lot, but there was no way my innocent friends would know the truth.

Although their suspicions had eased a little, the three friends still could not rule out the possibility that Astion had a mental problem. They all only half believed Giselle’s words.

Still, it was easier for Giselle to be persuaded than she had expected. Could it be because the world was still less tainted by it?

Jiselle spoke to Astion again.

‘So what were you planning to do next? I’ve decided to help, so let’s get started.’

– What should I do? I have to guide those guys so they can become stronger quickly.

‘So what did you plan to do next? Suppressing bandits?’

– That, that’s still… … .

Astion said in a troubled voice. In fact, he had thought of several methods, but it was still too much for the party’s skills.

Those who gave me a lot of knowledge did not give me step-by-step goals. They just gave me the information they knew.

It was Astion’s job to rack his brain to achieve his goals based on that information.

– Right now, I’m planning on wandering around and training. I need to get a little stronger.

‘So what I’m saying is that I have to become stronger anyway.’

– Yeah, yeah.

‘Okay, leave it to me for now.’

– I, I have to do it… … .

‘There’s no other way right now, right? Let’s just talk things over with me for the time being. If you have anything to tell them, just let me know.’

― Ugh… … Who cares… … .

Astion ground his teeth. It sounded like he was being asked to hand over his knowledge, even though his body had been taken away.

But now there was no other way. First, I had to find a way to get my body back.

– You won’t do anything weird, will you?

‘What the heck?’

– Whatever. Don’t harm my friends. You have to get stronger quickly.

‘I told you not to worry. Cultivation is my specialty. You just have to listen to me.’

– Oh, don’t make me laugh. I’m just giving myself to you for a while. I’ll get it back to you in no time.

‘Okay.’

In fact, Giselle had nothing to regret. Astion was the only one who was upset by Giselle’s calm answer.

Astion was anxious, but he did not doubt Jiselle’s skills. Even when he saw her in a dazed state, she seemed like an incredibly skilled person.

― Then… … I’ll just take a short break and come back… … .

Astion slowly fell asleep after saying those words. His voice sounded somewhat comfortable, despite his grumbling.

It’s as if I’m taking a break for the first time in a long time.

* * *

“Ugh, gasp… … .”

“Julian asked as he climbed the cliff, out of breath.

“Hey, does this really work?”

Jiselle, who was climbing beside me, frowned and answered.

“That… … Right. Oh… … Why is this body so weak?”

Now they were on their way to raid a bandit den, hanging from a cliff.

This time, the target was a group of bandits operating in a small baronial territory. Their mountain fortress was built along a cliff, so the territory army was unable to hastily subdue them.

Because of that, bandits were running wild around like fish in water.

After failing to subdue them several times, the Yeongji Army finally reached an agreement with the bandits along reasonable lines.

Surprisingly, instead of collecting taxes from the bandits, they decided to leave them alone to attack the surrounding travelers and villages.

Julian was indignant when he learned of this.

“The lord who is supposed to protect his people made such a decision! I can’t forgive him!”

“Even if you don’t forgive, there’s nothing we can do.”

Deneb nodded at Kyle’s words. They were still young and weak, so there wasn’t much they could do.

Deneb said with a pitiful expression.

“Astion, what should I do in a situation like this? I can’t ask the other lords for help. I can’t ask the villagers to join me in the fight.”

“Call me Giselle.”

“… … Yes, Giselle.”

Jiselle nodded with satisfaction and immediately gave a solution.

“Just get rid of the bandits. That’s why you came here, right?”

“But there are over 100 of them. They say there are a lot of knight-level figures.”

There was one thing that surprised Jisel in this era. Even among the bandits, there were many who were as skilled as knights.

As I had seen in my dream, the overall level of the soldiers was extremely high. This was because they had become stronger by constantly fighting the demonic realm.

And these regular soldiers and knights formed the backbone of the bandits. It is said that most of them were deserters due to the endless war and greedy nobles.

In short, this was a time of never-ending chaos.

Jiselle was filled with doubt as she listened to such stories.

‘But how were they able to create such a strong army?’

The human union I saw in my dream was strong. It was because the powerful soldiers moved together as one that they were able to confront their adversaries.

But in the current situation, organizing such an army was nearly impossible.

‘Hmm, is it thanks to Yulien and Deneb?’

Someone has to be the center. In the dream, two people were playing that role.

But looking at the two of them now, who were so innocent, it seemed like it would be difficult for them to do something like that again.

No matter how great the two people were, uniting humanity was not an easy task.

‘It might be possible if it’s a dragon.’

Dragons also participated in the war. If they had participated, it wouldn’t have been difficult to form an alliance.

If you watch a little longer, you will know. For now, training is the priority.

“It’s okay. I can handle it. Just trust me. Just listen to me.”

Jiselle said that out of the blue and led the group to the cliff. They planned to climb the cliff and launch a surprise attack.

But everyone got tired before they even reached the top of the cliff.

Deneb and Kyle spoke in labored voices.

“Cheer… … Cell! I’m going to lose all my strength before I can even fight!”

“If we fight like this, we’ll die!”

Regardless, Jiselle climbed the cliff diligently.

“Originally… … if you fight while giving your all to your limit… … your senses will become sharper and your skills will improve quickly. Just… … go up.”

Jiselle was also about to die. Astion’s physical ability, which had only been studied, was really poor.

The four of them climbed the cliff using only the bare minimum of mana and divine power. This was because they couldn’t afford to run out of energy when they actually fought.

When we finally reached the back of the mountain, everyone was completely exhausted.

“Ugh!”

The four of them fell to the ground screaming as soon as they touched the ground. But they could not remain lying down any longer.

“What are those kids!”

“How did you get up here!”

“Catch him now!”

The bandits who had been standing guard were startled and came running.

Jiselle stood up, trembling, her cane pressing against the ground.

“Get up… … . The surprise attack… … has begun.”

The three looked at Giselle with despairing expressions.

It was a completely meaningless surprise attack that was a waste of energy.