The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations Chapter 782

Episode 782: I Want to Talk (2)

Giselle looked at Lionel. The others quietly observed his reaction.
Then Lionel waved his hand frantically and said,
“I-I don’t know! I really don’t know!”
Lionel felt wronged. It was true that he was reporting on the group, but he really didn’t know the Pope would send someone like that.
“Why, why did you send people? Does he not trust me?”
Lionel was confused. The Pope had clearly entrusted him with everything.
But sending someone like this without even notifying him seemed to imply that he didn’t trust him.
Giselle narrowed her eyes. Judging by Lionel’s confused expression, it seemed like he wasn’t lying.
He called Lionel closer and asked,
“How far did you report?”
“Ma, the last time I reported was when the Valscrum incident was over.”
“Hmm…”
In that case, the Pope hadn’t heard about the acquisition of the Dwarven Stone yet. It was too early for that news to reach him.
However, the news of securing the Holy Stone in the Elven Forest must have been relayed.
Giselle didn’t particularly care that Lionel had reported their whereabouts.
She’d expected it from the start when Lionel joined forces with them.
He asked the masked woman again,
“Okay. You do know we have someone from the Pope on our side, right? So you can’t say we’re strangers. Explain who you are and why the Pope sent you.”
The masked woman hesitated for a moment. Her expression was deeply troubled.
But she couldn’t hold out any longer. Finally, she sighed and said,
“We… belong to ‘Cripps,’ a group operating within the Empire.”
“Cripps?” ”
You can think of them as a group specializing in assassinations and espionage.”
Giselle glanced at Lionel.
Lionel, apparently familiar with the group, immediately answered.
“Oh, yes. That’s the kind of group they are. They mainly ask for information from here and there. But, the Vatican doesn’t use them much. It’s more like the Empire’s nobles and merchants.”
Giselle nodded.
There were countless assassins and thieves in the world. He couldn’t pinpoint which group they were.
However, if the Pope was entrusting them with a task, he could guess it must be quite capable.
“Go on.”
“The Pope’s task is… your escort and surveillance.”
“… Escort?”
“… Yes.”
“Do the escorts steal these days?”
“…”
At those words, the masked woman simply lowered her head and remained silent, seemingly speechless.
Giselle narrowed her eyes. She wondered how she could persuade the masked woman, but this seemed like a chance to exploit her.
“What’s your name?”
“…Marika.”
Marika spat out with a look of despair.
Giselle, not ruling out the possibility that the name was fake, asked again.
“Okay, Marika. Why did the person assigned to guard us try to steal our belongings? And what about the comrades waiting outside the village?” ”
…You already knew?”
“Yes, I knew all along. I just left them alone because I wasn’t sure they were enemies.”
“Those outside the village… are probably different groups.”
“Probably?”
“We move separately in groups. So that we can respond if something happens to either group.”
“How many groups are there?”
“I don’t know exactly. But it’ll increase. We’re just one of the groups that left in a hurry.”
“Hmm…”
Giselle frowned. If Marika was right, there were countless people chasing them right now. And secretly.
It was funny that they were all gathered together like that to provide escorts(?). She could
roughly guess why the Pope was acting that way.
“Since we’ve succeeded in obtaining the Holy Stone, it’s understandable why he’s excited.”
The Pope was probably anxious to seize the Stone immediately.
But there was a possibility that other Holy Stones could be secured as well. Teasing them rashly at this point could lead to missing out on something bigger.
“It’ll be difficult to send the Imperial Army to overtly escort and monitor them.”
If that was going to work, the delegation would have already procured the holy stone.
They probably thought it was better to leave it to the Yulien Mercenaries, as they would only be a nuisance if they got involved.
‘Still, they must have been anxious.’
The Pope also needed someone to monitor the Yulien Mercenaries from afar. That’s why they sent a group to secretly follow them.
If the Pope learned that they had also obtained the dwarven holy stone, he might faint with joy.
The situation was roughly understood.
“There will be more guards. At this rate, the Imperial Army and intelligence units will soon be mobilized to guard the surrounding area.”
But questions still remained.
Why would Marika, who had been given such an important mission, do something like this?
“Should I finish speaking? If what you’re saying is true, then you’ve disobeyed orders.”
“…Yes.”
“Why?”
Marika hesitated for a moment, then slowly spoke.
“As I said at the beginning, we came here to urgently determine your location and monitor you. Those who will truly monitor and protect you haven’t arrived yet.” ”
So?”
“Our captain, vice captain, and other key executives… are all scheduled to arrive.”
Giselle nodded.
This was a mission given directly by the Pope. Knowing the gravity of the situation, the entire team would be mobilized.
At that moment, Marika lowered her head and muttered softly.
“While there was still time, I… tried to pick a fight between you and us.”
“…Huh?”
Everyone tilted their heads. What do you mean, trying to start a fight out of the blue?
The conversation was going off the rails.
Giselle asked calmly.
“Okay, just tell me everything honestly. I’m really curious why you’re doing this.”
When Giselle showed her curiosity, Marika gave her a desperate look and said,
“If I tell you… will you let me go?”
It was obvious that the headmaster, not the Pope, would not remain silent since
she had touched the subject of her request. Her only option was death. She
needed to run far away, even now, to survive.
Giselle nodded readily.
“To be honest, I’ll let you go.”
“Really?”
“Then why would I kill you when you’re not doing much harm? Don’t you see how I’ve been so forgiving?”
Marika nodded. In truth, she knew Giselle had been forgiving, so she spoke with a last hope.
She took a deep breath and said,
“I have a grudge against the headmaster.”
“Grudge?”
“Yes, he’s my enemy.”
“Hmm…”
“Well, that’s not important. At first, I thought you were just honored guests. But then I found out…”
While preparing for her mission, Marika learned that the Yulien Mercenaries had secured the Holy Stone.
Even if it was top secret, the Pope’s dispatch of a delegation was well-known.
Furthermore, the news that the Salvation Cult had invaded the Elven Forest and that the Yulien Mercenaries had repelled it was spreading.
If you pieced together this chain of events, the conclusion was clear:
the Yulien Mercenaries possessed the Holy Stone.
Rumors were slowly spreading across the continent.
The Empire was doing its best to suppress information, but many had already heard the rumors and speculated in the trading cities.
So Marika decided to take advantage of this opportunity.
“…If I succeeded in stealing the Holy Stone, the Pope wouldn’t remain silent. I thought that would allow me to exact revenge.”
Giselle nodded.
I entrusted them with guarding and surveillance, and they stole the Holy Stone?
Even if the Cripps were a powerful group, they would be swept away by the Pope’s wrath.
But this was a plan full of loopholes.
“There’s no way such an important item could be in our luggage, right? Did you not know that and simply try to steal it?”
“No, I know that much. I originally planned to lure you out while stealing your luggage.”
“Lure?”
“Yes, because I know you’re quite strong. After dividing our forces like that, I planned to sneak up on that priest, Deneb.”
“Why… are you so certain that Deneb has the Holy Stone?”
“…Because there were orders to monitor and protect that low-ranking priest as a top priority. And in the worst case scenario, there were orders to retrieve the necklace at all costs. Isn’t that obvious?”
“I see.”
Giselle nodded in understanding.
Since it had been reported that Deneb had obtained the necklace in the Elven Forest, from the Pope’s perspective, Deneb was inevitably the most important.
Marika sighed and continued.
“No matter how strong you are, I thought it wouldn’t be difficult to steal a few items from a low-level priest in a chaotic situation.”
“But you failed?”
“…I didn’t know you could move so quickly.” ”
And after you failed?”
“…”
“You must have had a plan after that, right?”
Marika nodded quietly.
Of course, she wasn’t confident she would succeed right away.
No, the presence of the superhuman increased the likelihood of failure.
“If I just stole the Holy Stone… I could definitely destroy Cripps. The Pope wouldn’t stay still… But if that failed, I was planning on trying another method.”
“What method?”
“I was going to leave a trail while I ran. So you could come retrieve your luggage. That way, they’d fight the other group… and use that opportunity to sneak up on that priest.”
“Are you trying to kill Deneb?”
“No, no. I was just going to steal the necklace, or if that didn’t work, injure them a bit and run away. That way, even if the other group tried to make excuses, the Pope wouldn’t let it go.”
It wasn’t a bad plan.
If this happened, Cripps would incur the Pope’s wrath no matter what excuse he made.
The Julian Mercenaries would no longer trust the Pope. And
that would be the end for Cripps. The Pope and the Empire wouldn’t let them off easy. In this day and age, taking down a group of assassins would be a trifle.
Marika had intended to sow discord between the Yulian Mercenaries and the Empire, thus destroying Cripps.
Giselle smiled faintly.
“Good, good. I was wondering how to take him with me, but that’s what happened?”
Whether it was Cripps or the Pope, Giselle was on Marika’s side. If she wanted, she would destroy both sides.
It was a natural course of action for Giselle, who knew the future.
She knew what was more important, and that’s why she could act so decisively.
But Marika couldn’t even imagine Giselle taking her side. She kept thinking about running away from here.
Giselle put away her sword and said,
“Can’t you tell me what your grudge is?”
“It’s just… nothing. It’s just a personal grudge. Anyway, since you told me everything honestly, now let us go.”
“If you tell me that much, I’ll let you go.”
Marika bit her lip several times.
It wasn’t easy to reveal her grudge to someone she’d never met before.
But with no other option, she spoke in a sharp voice.
“The leader and executives of the Crips killed my family. They don’t know I know. Is that enough?”
“Hmm…”
Giselle stroked her chin.
Marika’s eyes. There was no hesitation or deceit in them. They were filled with a burning hatred. It was a look
Giselle knew well. It was
a feeling she had harbored countless times in her past life. It was the color of a dream of revenge she could never forget.
That’s why he felt even more for Marika.
He wanted to know more details, but he could learn more slowly. For now, this much was enough.
Giselle turned her head slightly and asked,
“What are you going to do about those outside the village?” They
couldn’t be seen, but they were probably hiding everywhere, spying on them.
Marika, too, scanned her surroundings and said,
“The other groups are probably panicking right now. They probably never thought I would do something like this.”
“They’ll probably chase you down and catch you, right?”
“Not now. Their priority is to keep an eye on you. They’ll only send a pursuit team after the other teams arrive. So, we need to run quickly.”
Marika’s eyes were clearly exhausted. She held no grudge against the Yulien Mercenaries. She
was simply using them to vent her personal grudge.
“I’m sorry I messed with you, but I never intended to kill you or anything.”
She spoke with genuine remorse, a weakness uncharacteristic of an assassin.
Giselle nodded several times and then said cheerfully,
“Yes, a promise is a promise. Now, go.”
“…You’re really letting me go, right?”
“I said so. I’m not that cruel.”
Marika took a small step back, relieved.
“You said Astion, right? He’s a pervert, but I think he’s not bad at heart.”
If Giselle knew, she would be extremely resentful.
Marika had six subordinates. All of them had been raised by her.
As they slowly retreated, surveying their surroundings, Giselle blurted out,
“I know a safer way than running away.”
Marika stopped and asked,
“…What do you mean?”
“How about coming with us?”
“What?”
“If you run away now, you’ll be on the run for the rest of your life. Do you think you can do that?”
“…”
“Your leader will never leave you alone. You’ve already messed with us. We have to catch and kill you somehow to avoid the Pope’s censure, right?”
That was true. The Crips leader would never forgive Marika.
But Marika had no choice. She asked with a mocking expression,
“So? What difference would it make if I stayed? Wouldn’t it be more dangerous?”
Joining the Yulien mercenary group meant constant exposure to Crips’ assassins.
They would tirelessly pursue Marika, hunting for her life.
In that case, it would be better to flee to a faraway place, out of sight.
Giselle laughed, her shoulders shaking at Marika’s sharp reaction.
She felt the laughter was almost mocking, so she questioned him again.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Fleeing out of fear of a powerful enemy isn’t bad. As long as you can always get revenge. But if you run away now, will you really have a chance to get revenge? This plan was a bit flimsy, wasn’t it? The chances of success were incredibly low.”
Marika bit her lip in silence.
True enough. This was her only chance.
And it had failed.
Now she would be forced to spend the rest of her life on the run. Revenge was practically impossible.
She admitted her strategy was clumsy. But she had no other choice.
Giselle, unaware of her feelings, laughed at her like that, and she hated it.
Marika turned away, as if she had no intention of continuing the conversation. Right now, she just wanted to get out of here.
At that moment, Giselle’s voice came from behind her again.
“I’ll help you.”
“…?”
Marika slowly turned her head.
Giselle continued with a relaxed expression.
“You can become stronger and take revenge yourself.”
“You… do you think that’ll be as easy as it sounds? Our leader is a superhuman. It’s not like I was trying to exploit the Pope’s request for nothing.”
“What? You can become a superhuman too.”
Just as Marika was about to flinch at Giselle’s carelessly thrown remark,
Giselle lightly raised both hands.
Whewwww… …
Dozens of daggers scattered on the floor slowly began to rise.
And not only that. Marika’s daggers, whose strings had been severed, also rose.
Soon, countless daggers began to circle around Giselle.
Moving like black shadows, they soon imbued themselves with blue magic and emitted a soft light.
“Paaaaaaah!”
Soon, the daggers took over the space, creating trails of light.
They moved in precise circles without colliding, sometimes altering their trajectories in a straight line like comets.
Like a cluster of stars floating through the dark universe, it was incredibly beautiful and dreamlike.
A movement so wondrous it sent shivers down my spine.
Marika stared in rapture, her mouth wide open.
The onlookers around her were no different.
They all forgot to breathe, lost in the ecstasy.
Amidst the movements of the shining daggers, Giselle spoke, still smiling.
“I will make you… the continent’s greatest assassin.”