Translator: Wuxia Dog Editor: Wuxia Dog
Han Jin and Reg looked silently at Paul. Neither of them had the heart to kill him, though Guevara had made it clear that killing him would be a mercy.
The black spots on Paul’s face started to spread even quicker. Even without a mirror, he could feel the changes on his own face. He reached out his hand, but a slight touch would make the black spots fester and cause a piercing pain. The more painful he was, the more he wanted to figure out what had happened to his face, and the more eager he was to touch it.
Finally, Paul suddenly darted out straightly to the guards, who were all scared out of their wits and quickly picked up their spears against him.
“What happened? What’s wrong with me?!” Paul roared. He entirely neglected the spears and frantically tried to seize someone. The soldier closest to him neither dared to fight back nor to let Paul grab him, and could only continuously retreat with his spear raised.
“Kill him,” Reg ordered through gritted teeth.
The soldiers being threatened all thrusted their spears at Paul. Even though Paul was a seventh-grade grand knight, he made no reaction to the oncoming spears, and instead kept screaming, “What happened to me? What happened to me…”
As all the spears thrusted into his body, his eyes were still staring at one of the soldiers. His voice turned lower and lower. “What happened to me…” He staggered forward while asking the same question. The spears pierced through his body, but he felt nothing, and instead kept on trying to grab one of the soldiers.
The soldier couldn’t bear it anymore. He loosened his hands and ran away screaming. He didn’t dare turn his head back until he was dozens of meters away. The other soldiers also dropped their spears and retreated aside.
Paul turned around, looking at the generals who were all familiar to him and finally focusing his eyes on Reg. “Young Marshal… what happened to me…”
“General Paul…” Reg choked with grief, his teeth grinding.
Life crept out of Paul’s body and he fell forward as if his bones had gone soft. However, several spears were still supporting his body. His corpse slid down their poles but stopped at a strange angle right before touching the ground.
“Guards, bury General Paul,” Reg ordered. “Make sure to stay vigilant! We have reasons to believe someone powerful from the Abyssal Race is lurking in the vicinity.”
“Understood, young marshal. You take care too!” one of the generals replied.
“I’m still a high-grade thief. They won’t surprise me that easily,” Reg’s voice was filled with resentment. “In fact, I would be quite glad if they tried!”
The rumor quickly spread in the camp. All the soldiers went into panic. The army could not move on under these circumstances. If the one who had died was just a squad captain, the situation might not be difficult, but Paul had led a whole cavalry brigade. He technically held the same rank as Ronning, even though he was not as influential. In fact, his ten-odd personal guards were also infected at the same time. If the cause could not be found out, the morale of the whole army would be greatly damaged.
Han Jin returned to his tent. Sunier and the others all came up. “Is everything alright? I heard someone scream over there just now,” Sunier asked with concern.
Paul was a powerful seventh-grade grand knight, thus even his scream could be heard from a long distance. It was quite a pitiful death for a high grade professional, as he could do nothing but scream in the end. Han Jin felt sad and murmured, “General Paul died.”
“How?”
“A curse. Touch of Corrosion,” Han Jin said. “Sunier, how much do you know about this curse?”
“The Abyssal Race’s curse? What did… what did Guevara say about this?”
“He said nothing and left.”
“I don’t know much about the Abyssal Race, but… how was General Paul cursed?” Sunier said astonishingly. “Did professionals from the Abyssal Race sneak into our camp? How is that possible?”
“Why not? Raphael had also snuck into the Zaganide’s military camp once, didn’t he?”
“Raphael is different. He has his special magic,” Cessacioun argued.
“General Paul? He was not a good man any…” Little Joseph suddenly interrupted.
“Hush!” Cessacioun snapped. None of them held any ranking in the army, and it would be extremely improper for them to spread unfound gossip about a general. That would surely cause conflicts.
Little Joseph was greatly startled and immediately hid himself back into the tent.
“He is just a boy. No need to scare him,” Han Jin said smilingly. “Before we find the nearby hidden Abyssal Race, we must be careful. None of us should leave our tent without a good reason. Do you understand? Moxinke, stop curling your lips! The Abyssal Race excel at launching ambushes. Paul was a seventh-grade knight, but he didn’t even know what killed him!”
“Alright, I didn’t say I was going out,” Moxinke grumbled. “I was just having a toothache and moved my cheeks to relieve the pain.”
The day went on with nothing special happening. The guards in the camp became extremely strict. In order to monitor the two restless fellows, and to prohibit them from making trouble, Han Jin had to sit in the tent the whole day.
At dusk, Reg slowly walked in. Moxinke immediately came up to him. “What’s going on? Have you caught the damn bastards who released the curse?”
Han Jin cast a glance at Reg and saw his sullen expression. He could tell they had come up empty handed.
As expected, Reg shook his head. “Guevara went out the whole day, but he found nothing.”
“What did he say?”
“He said… this is odd.”
“Humph… I think he’s just getting old,” Sunier sneered.
Reg shrugged but didn’t say anything else. Unlike Knight Conrad, Reg was much more flexible in terms of both personality and dealing with things. Knight Conrad would have immediately become angry if anyone had judged Guevara with impolite words, but Reg simply ignored it. He must tolerate certain behaviors to avoid deepening any conflicts.
“This is for you.” Reg took out a small golden flag.
“What’s this for?” Moxinke asked curiously.
“Guevara said that the professionals from the Abyssal Race would likely sneak in at night, so we have to increase the camp’s defences. If any of you want to leave, you’d better take this. Otherwise, the soldiers won’t let you walk around.”
“Can I make the soldiers salute me if I take this flag with me?”
“If there is nothing else, I will go now,” Reg said, flat out ignoring Moxinke. He was used to Moxinke’s irrational train of thoughts at this point. He ignored him like he ignored Sunier’s pointed comments.
Reg turned around and left the tent. Moxinke waved the little flag in his hand. “I want to give it a try.” He grinned.
“Give it back,” Han Jin said with a look of frustration.
Moxinke’s pulled a long face. He was quite happy when he had finally gotten something interesting to play with, but Han Jin had immediately forbade him from going out! Unfortunately, a man had to bow under a low roof. Moxinke reluctantly threw the flag back to Han Jin.
Han Jin took it and cast a glance at the giggling Little Joseph. An idea popped into his head. “Come here, boy.”
“Yes, My Lord.” The boy immediately came up to him.
“You said this morning that General Paul was not a good guy. Did he do anything bad?”
“Eh…” Little Joseph hesitated and looked around.
“Tell us. We are all friends here. What you say stays with us,”
Little Joseph looked at them one at a time. All of them looked trustworthy. Until he saw Moxinke. “Can Lord Moxinke promise?”
“You little bastard!” Moxinke first felt embarrassed, then greatly irritated. “What is that supposed to me?! Do you think I have a big mouth?”
Han Jin coughed. “Moxinke, just promise,” he said.
“You really should.” Cessacioun immediately took advantage of the situation and said, “Even we can’t trust you, let alone the boy.”
“If you refuse to make a promise, then get out!” Sunier sounded even harsher, as if she truly wanted to kick Moxinke out immediately.
“You… Fine, fine! I promise! I won’t tell anyone about what I hear today! Is that enough?” he angrily said. He should have left without turning back to preserve his dignity. But if he really did so, he would miss a secret, and his heart would be itchy for a long time!
“Lady Sunier, I… think it’s best to ask Lord Moxinke to leave,” Little Joseph said with hesitation.
“I…” Moxinke angrily glared at Little Joseph. Though he was never one to back down from an argument, he found himself at a loss for words. After a long time, he finally took something from his shirt. “Take it! Damn it, I knew it was because of this!”
Little Joseph immediately took it and stopped insisting on Moxinke to leave. He moved his tongue and said, “A few days ago, when we were still in Nuremberg, I saw General Paul beating a prisoner. He looked… so mad.”
“Beating a prisoner? Tell us more details.”
“He made an Abyssal Siren kneel in front of him! She was completely naked! I saw it with my own eyes! He slapped her back and butt, hit her with his own body, and even bit her. God! The poor Abyssal Siren! She cried so loudly that even her voice was hoarse. And I also saw Paul grasp her hair and…”
“Wait, wait. Did you see what part of his body hit the Abyssal Siren?” Moxinke’s expression was weird.
“Moxinke! You are so obscene!” Sylner screamed and blushed.
“What do you mean! This is an important question. Right, Raphael?”
