The Failure Marquis Is A Genius [EN]: Chapter 15

Thud!

Finally, the Ragged Mercenary Captain Gavin collapsed.

I quickly looked around. The situation was urgent. The soldiers were dying, and Zion was struggling to deal with three mana users [individuals capable of manipulating magical energy].

To turn the tide, I grabbed the back of the unconscious Gavin’s neck and shouted loudly,

“Gavin is down!”

“Henon defeated Gavin!”

I poured mana into my voice, making it echo loudly across the field.

Both sides, tangled in battle, looked at me.

Henon, whom they thought was a good-for-nothing, was holding the limp Gavin, and the expressions of joy and despair crossed the faces of both sides.

“Oh my god! The young master caught the skin collector [a derogatory term for Gavin, referencing his cruel reputation]!”

“Good! Keep pushing!”

The soldiers were invigorated and attacked more fiercely.

“How can this be? The captain is defeated.”

“Is that good-for-nothing bastard this strong?”

“Even the maid is strange. This is wrong. Let’s get out of here.”

The Ragged Mercenary group, shocked by the defeat of their leader, already showed signs of disintegration.

I decided to save Zion first.

I put Gavin down on the ground and rushed towards the nearest mana user.

The guy seemed very flustered and clumsily swung his sword horizontally, but I easily dodged it and stabbed him in the heart.

“Kuh-erk!”

The hitman spat out blood with a short scream.

He was a mana user, but he was terrible compared to Gavin.

With this, another user-level mercenary disappeared.

As 3 vs 1 became 2 vs 1, Zion also stepped up.

She, who had only been defending, suddenly rushed in and harvested the neck of another one.

Now there’s only one mana user left.

He lost his will to fight and ran away without looking back.

And this became the trigger.

“Run away!”

“Ah, I don’t know!”

“Is this where the mercenary group ends?”

The guys scattered and fled.

Now is the time for hunting and harvesting.

The soldiers shouted and plunged their swords into the backs of the fleeing mercenaries.

Zion and I joined forces to take as many heads as possible and capture them.

That’s how the battle with the Ragged Mercenary group ended.

It was our victory.

“I… I’m alive…”

“Oh my god! We won! We won!”

“Hooray! Uwaaa!!”

Of course, reversing a battle that anyone thought they would lose is a hundred times more thrilling than winning a battle that was sure to be won.

The soldiers, who tasted the sweetness of victory and the relief of survival, hugged each other and jumped around.

And then they praised me, the MVP [Most Valuable Player] of today’s battle.

“Thank you, sob sob…! We would have all died if it weren’t for you, young master.”

Starting with the sobbing soldiers.

“I think I’ve been misunderstanding you, young master. How could such a wonderful person be called by such a terrible nickname.”

Even a sasaeng fan [an obsessive fan] who said he would become a fan from today.

They each showed various reactions, but the common point was that they all thanked me.

I nodded roughly and approached Zion.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m not hurt.”

“I see.”

Even though she was a few levels below me, she managed to hold out against three warriors of the same level.

She was indeed a great woman.

“Good job, Zion.”

Out of admiration, I stroked her purple hair without realizing it.

Zion looked up at me with a surprised expression, and then quietly received the patting.

Now that the battle was over, it was time to clean up.

First, we counted the number of people.

Twelve out of thirty soldiers died in that short time. Eighteen remained.

Out of fifty Ragged Mercenaries, twenty died, twenty fled, and ten were taken prisoner.

The captured people included the mercenary captain Gavin.

“Young master, why aren’t you killing the captain?”

A soldier came and asked.

“I’m going to take Gavin and show him to the Marquis [a nobleman of high rank].”

“But that guy is a master. Even if you tie him up with ropes, he’ll just break free. You have to kill him before he comes to his senses.”

“That’s a valid point.”

There was a separate method for this.

I had Zion bring an old cloth.

Then I stared at Gavin lying down from top to bottom.

A snake-like man with white eyes.

When I saw the shabby glass bracelet on his wrist, I felt angry for no reason.

“Erai!” [an exclamation of annoyance or frustration]

Kwajik!

I drew my sword and cut off his left ankle.

Gavin’s eyes flashed open at the overwhelming pain.

Realizing the situation, he screamed miserably.

“Kkuaaaaaaak!!”

“It’s just the beginning. We have to go to the right side fairly.”

Kwajijik!!

The right side was also cut off.

Zion skillfully pressed the cut area with the cloth she was holding.

I said to the soldier who was looking at me with a disgusted expression next to me.

“Is it still not enough? Should I cut off his wrists too?”

“No. I’ll take him.”

“Okay. Take him away.”

After that, I tormented Gavin so much that he peed his pants whenever he saw me.

Since he was a guy who felt pleasure from peeling off people’s skin, I did the same to him.

While listening to his screams to kill him every day.

The Marquisate castle was already visible in the distance.

* * *

A stormy month passed and I finally returned to the Marquisate castle.

The residents of the Marquisate castle were curious and flocked to see the carts loaded with things coming in one after another.

Then, when they saw that more than half of the soldiers were gone and some of them were covered in blood, they wondered what was going on.

“Is there something to see! Everyone get out of here! Or I’ll cut your heads off!”

As the representative good-for-nothing of the Marquisate castle, I made a fuss on behalf of them, and everyone grumbled and dispersed.

That’s how I entered the inner castle.

Unlike when I left, the entire family, including Marquis Lloyd, was there.

Marquis Lloyd had an expression that he roughly guessed what had happened as soon as he saw me.

“It seems you had quite a fierce battle.”

“That’s right.”

Next to him were the Marchioness [the wife of a Marquis] Rosaline and Phillip.

They must have come out because they couldn’t understand how I survived after commissioning the Ragged Mercenary group to kill me.

When I saw Rosaline, the client, I felt a flash of murderous intent in my eyes, but I suppressed it with superhuman patience.

“Oh, Henon. Are you hurt! Are you not hurt anywhere!”

At first glance, it seems like she’s comforting me as a mother, but it’s as if she’s hoping that I’m hurt.

I answered with a smile.

“I’m perfectly fine.”

“That’s a relief. I was worried about what to do if you made a mistake on your first mission…”

She was putting on a show, so I ignored her lightly and spoke directly to the Marquis.

“Marquis, I have so much to report that I don’t know where to start.”

“Report the battle first. Did a monster attack? The damage situation is unusual.”

“It wasn’t a monster. A mercenary group was aiming for us and attacked.”

I brought the ten prisoners forward.

The one in the front was the mercenary captain Gavin.

Everyone in the hall turned their eyes away or felt a slight nausea at his miserable appearance.

“Oh, this…”

“It’s terrible.”

Gavin was in a terrible state.

Both his hands and feet were cut off, and the skin below his face was all peeled off, so it was a miracle that he was alive.

Gavin, barely breathing, had already given up on everything.

The Marquis asked Gavin on behalf of everyone.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Gavin, the captain of the Ragged Mercenary group.”

Sebastian, the butler next to Marquis Lloyd, whispered something in the Marquis’s ear.

He’s probably telling him information about Gavin.

The Marquis’s expression frowned slightly.

“So, what’s the reason for attacking even after seeing the flag with the Lloyd family crest? Were you greedy for the treasure?”

“That’s…”

As Gavin trailed off, I squatted next to him and said softly so that only he could hear.

“Tell me straight. Otherwise, you’ll still be alive a year from now.”

“Hiiiik!”

Gavin, who had already wet his pants, babbled.

“No. A request! I received a request.”

I glanced at Rosaline, and her face was already white.

The Marquis tilted his head.

“A request? What kind of request did you receive?”

“I received a request to kill Henon. So I tried to kill Henon and steal the tax cart.”

“!!!”

The spectators who were watching were surprised and buzzed all at once.

“Quiet!”

The Marquis shouted and silence returned.

“Who made the request?”

“That’s…”

Gavin looked back and forth between me and Rosaline.

Who is he more afraid of?

Rosaline glared at Gavin with her eyes wide open, and I just… smiled brightly.

Was it because he felt a sense of horror in my expression?

He made up his mind and opened his mouth.

“My older sister made the request.”

“Sister? Who is your sister?”

“She’s the head maid of the Marquisate castle.”

Oh my.

Every word coming out of his mouth was a word that would bring a bloody storm to the Marquisate castle.

Of course, the head maid struggled and denied it.

“What nonsense! I don’t know that kind of guy.”

Gavin was angry at the head maid who was trying to cut ties and shouted.

“Hey, you bitch! It’s all because of you! If you’re going to make a request, do it right. Why didn’t you tell me that Henon is a mana user and a great master!”

“What?”

Everyone in the Marquisate castle was surprised and looked at me.

Is the gaze a bit stinging?

My beautiful skin might be turned upside down.

While I was scratching my cheek, the head maid and Gavin continued to argue.

“Anyway, I don’t know him.”

“Are you really going to do this?”

“Think about it logically. How could I, who only lives in the Marquisate castle, be related to such a dirty guy? That guy is just crazy.”

“Oh, you’re coming out like this? My sister has a palm-sized red spot on her right forearm since she was young. You can check it and you’ll know.”

It would be disappointing if you didn’t check this.

As expected, the Marquis was also curious and said to the head maid.

“Head maid, would you roll up your sleeves?”

“Marquis! Do you believe that guy’s words? No matter how much, how can I show my bare skin in front of strange men?”

It was Zion who went to the head maid who was vehemently denying it.

Zion grabbed the head maid’s arm and rolled up her sleeve like lightning.

As Gavin said, there was a clear red spot that anyone could see.

“Isn’t that right? That bitch is my sister. That bitch told me to kill Henon.”

“No! It’s not! I was told to do it too!”

In the end, the truth came out of the head maid’s mouth.

The audience was already in a panic.

They watched blankly to see what else would come out.

“I didn’t want to do this dirty work either! But the Marchioness… Aaaack!”

Seogeok

A blood line was drawn on the head maid’s neck.

Phillip drew his sword and struck her neck.

Just before saying the decisive clue.

The head maid collapsed.

Marquis Lloyd’s eyes turned cold.

“Phillip, who told you to execute the head maid without permission? Her crime hasn’t been revealed yet?”

“I’m sorry. I executed her immediately because she was a woman who undermined the discipline of the Marquisate castle.”

“I will ask you about your crime separately.”

Phillip’s expression became mournful.

Rosaline is on the verge of fainting.

But this is not the end.

There’s still one shot left.

“My sister told me. She received a request from the Marchioness.”

Gavin finally finishes the words that the head maid couldn’t finish.

A cold wind blew in the Marquisate castle.

A name that should not have been mentioned came out.

And…

I drew my sword and struck Gavin’s neck in one breath.

Chwaaaak!!

Blood spurted out like a fountain and Gavin’s headless body collapsed.

The Marquis’s eyebrows twitched at my unexpected action, and the others had expressions that they didn’t know what was going on.

I said to them.

“It seems that this guy was just spouting anything before he died. There’s no way the Marchioness would have plotted such a terrible conspiracy? Isn’t that right? Mother?”

When I said that while looking at Rosaline head-on, she nodded frantically.

“Th, that’s right. Why would I try to kill Henon? I’ve never even dreamed of such a terrible thought.”

She was so out of her mind that she didn’t even realize that I had casually called her mother.

“Of course. Mother has always been gentle and kind and has been a role model for ladies. I apologize to the Marquis for inevitably stopping this trash’s slander from tarnishing her honor.”

This is the art of survival, Phillip.

There’s a bit of a difference between cutting off his neck and stuttering, right?

“Marquis, I have something to report separately here. Please dismiss the people.”

What if I apply for a private meeting here?

Rosaline and Phillip would be worried to death.

Marquis Lloyd naturally agreed.

“Okay. Everyone go in.”

The spectators in the inner castle disappeared one by one.

Zion also went to see her business.

But Rosaline and Phillip stood there like wooden statues and didn’t leave.

“Gordon, I have something to talk about for a moment.”

“Madam, go in. Phillip, you step back too.”

The Marquis cut off Rosaline’s words.

Phillip thought he couldn’t do anything more and turned around.

Nevertheless, Rosaline still persisted.

“Gordon, you don’t really believe the story from earlier, do you?”

“I told you to step back!”

Rosaline flinched at the Marquis’s shout and then retreated.

Even while leaving, she glanced at me with a venomous look, but I, a good-natured good-for-nothing, responded with a smile.

In the end, only Marquis Lloyd and I were left.

The Marquis, who sighed with an expression that he had aged ten years, opened his mouth.

“So, what’s going on? Is there anything else to explain about this attack?”

“No. It’s something else.”

“Speak.”

I gave another worry to the Marquis, who was already suffering enough.

“A black wizard has appeared in the Marquisate.”