Chapter 359

After returning from Ophelia’s hideout, I finally began preparing to head east.

I repaid the debt I owed to Asha and Lacey, restocked necessary supplies—like daggers, arrows, tobacco, and food—and hired a coachman.

Thanks to the reward Leopold handed over, I was overflowing with money.

In fact, Lacey didn’t even take any payment.

She said it was the dedication she owed me? Smooth talker. Back then, she said she’d count it as a debt.

Well, back then, I was just a suspiciously lucky foreign master, but now I’m an honorary paladin of the Elpinel Church Order. One who’s even called “Radiant Light.”

Since I’ve climbed aboard the right ship, I guess she’s treating it as a service.

I entrusted half of the remaining reward to Leonor.

She was to hire servants to manage the estate, pay appropriate salaries to the knights under my command, including Damien and Milia, and use the rest for living expenses.

As for Damien and Milia, since they’ve already received a barony in the north, I might have to grant them parts of my territory as fiefs instead of salaries later, but for now, I planned to make do with gold coins instead of land.

It seemed more convenient for them too.

“Ah, and don’t set the amounts yourself. Leave it to the clerks under your command. I don’t trust your sense of money.”

Being a former princess, she has a tendency to spend money lavishly.

Just the cost of hiding in Asha’s workshop for a few days amounted to hundreds of gold coins.

“That’s a bit harsh. I can’t deny it, though.”

Leonor forced a bitter smile and shrugged her shoulders.

—

The party heading east consisted of only me and Rana.

Well, including the coachman, it’s three, I guess.

If it were just me, I could’ve ridden a horse, but since Rana was coming along, a carriage was the only option.

At least, based on past experiences where the coachman ended up dead, I hired an adventurer instead of an ordinary coachman.

Of course, it was a woman. A male adventurer? Who knows what they’d put in the food.

Most adventurers are men who’ve only learned how to wield a sword. If it weren’t for the guild system, they’d have become thieves or thugs.

“O-oh, long time no see, Median-nim!”

The adventurer guild introduced me to a young woman who was trembling like a leaf.

Despite her appearance, she was C-rank, equivalent to a squire, they said… but she looked about as reliable as a rabbit facing a wolf.

Wait, more importantly.

“Who are you?”

She looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place her.

“M-Minea… from that dungeon where the troll appeared…”

“Ah, the guide from back then? Wow, you’ve climbed up to C-rank? I remember you were D-rank back then.”

It came back to me.

Minea, the D-rank adventurer who acted as our guide in the dungeon I investigated with Nigel.

Come to think of it, she was trembling back then too.

“Y-yes! I worked hard!”

Seemingly delighted that I remembered her, Minea beamed and nodded vigorously.

Good for her. At C-rank, she shouldn’t drop dead from a thief’s ambush.

And so, the three of us set off on our journey to Landenburg.

—

The Empire’s military vacuum naturally led to a general weakening of public security.

The lords’ strongholds were protected by their private armies, but they couldn’t afford to deploy troops all the way to the roads outside their cities.

Open highways were a bit safer, but as soon as the road got a little secluded, a group of bandits would pop out.

It wasn’t a problem for me, though. Just a bit annoying.

Like now.

“R-run! It’s a monster, a monster!”

The head of the man screaming in terror burst like a thrown watermelon.

His body collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, convulsing as it wet itself.

The forest, growing darker, had turned into hell.

The dense underbrush was stained red, dripping with fresh blood, and the branches were hung with the bandits’ entrails like fruit.

The stench of blood and rot filled the air.

The bandits, who had attacked our carriage with glee, were now unintentionally showcasing their organs with smiles still on their faces.

At first, I killed them with my sword or stopped their hearts with my killing intent… but that got old.

Since I was getting tired of dealing with them, this time I just extended blades of life force in all directions and sliced them all in one go.

“…Is it over, sister?”

“Yeah. It’s not a pretty sight, so stay in the carriage.”

“Okay!”

After leaving Rana in the carriage, I kicked aside the corpses blocking the path.

Pieces of the bandits, along with brains and intestines, flew and stuck to tree trunks.

“Ugh…”

While I cleared the path, Minea, pale as a sheet, trembled as she pulled arrows out of the carriage.

Look at her face. She looks like she’ll burst into tears if you poke her.

“Why are you shaking so much? A C-rank adventurer should’ve seen bandit corpses plenty of times.”

“Eeek…! Sorry! I’ll stop shaking!”

Is she really C-rank…?

Well, she did block the arrows the bandits shot, so she must be… but with this much fear…

Minea, who grew more frightened every time we dealt with bandits, was now closer to a squirrel than a person.

—

Anyway, like that, we slaughtered everyone we met and headed east.

Stopping by villages and small towns along the way.

Whenever we did, I wore a robe and pulled the hood deep over my face. If I didn’t, there’d be a huge commotion.

Even those who didn’t know my face knew that the Winter Executioner was a mixed-blood woman with black hair and blue eyes.

In other words, as long as I covered my hair, they wouldn’t recognize me.

Unless I revealed my killing intent.

[ Let’s talk for a moment. ]

As I sat on the inn bed smoking, Hersela, who had been silent since the start of the journey, spoke to me.

‘What about?’

I exhaled cigarette smoke toward the open window and asked back.

Rana and Minea were eating downstairs, so I was alone in the room.

It was the perfect situation for a relaxed conversation.

[ It’s about Paladin Ja-han, whom we’re going to meet. There are things you need to know, and things I want to ask you. ]

Hersela let out a light sigh and began explaining about Ja-han.

Paladin Ja-han.

All I knew about him was that he was the strongest paladin under Hersela’s command.

In the game, he barely had any lines.

[ Ja-han… has been loyal to me since I was a weak nine-year-old girl. He was my first subordinate… and the most reliable man. He would never betray me. ]

Hersela’s voice carried a strange sense of affection.

Affection, huh. Thinking about it, it’s quite surprising.

This woman, who barely treats anyone as human besides her mother, actually has someone she cares about.

[ Except you abandoned him. ]

‘What else could I do? Staying there meant no future for me, and I couldn’t bring my subordinates to the Empire either.’

[ Don’t make excuses. ]

Hersela snorted and smacked the back of my head with a tendril of life force.

My head jerked forward.

Wait, can she even do that?

I’ve mostly handed over control of the life force to her lately, but I didn’t know she could manipulate it so freely.

But…

‘…Isn’t the sensation shared?’

If she hits my head, shouldn’t she feel the pain too?

Hitting me would only hurt herself.

[ …This much isn’t even worth calling pain. ]

True.

It’s not like my skull cracked.

[ Anyway, what I’m saying is that Ja-han and I know each other well. It might just be a slight suspicion now, but the longer he spends with you, the more he’ll feel something’s off. It won’t take long for him to realize the woman before him isn’t his lord. What will you do then? ]

‘……’

It was a plausible prediction.

After all, Hersela and I have vastly different ideologies and tactics.

Anyone who knows Hersela well would quickly notice that something’s off.

They might not realize her soul has been replaced, though.

[ No answer, huh? I guess you haven’t thought of a solution. ]

There wasn’t really a solution.

I left him behind for that very reason, but now that he’s coming to the Empire, I can’t exactly refuse.

Well, I could, but I shouldn’t. Hersela would throw a fit.

Considering the affection she showed earlier, she’d probably throw a fit a hundred times worse than I expected.

So what do I do…?

Perfectly act like Hersela in front of Ja-han? No way.

I don’t have the skill for that, and even if I did, I’d get caught eventually.

Hersela wouldn’t like me deceiving her loyal subordinate either.

Then…

‘There’s one thing I want to ask.’

[ Speak. ]

‘If we tell Ja-han about your current situation, how do you think he’d react?’

What if we’re honest?

Tell him that I somehow ended up in Hersela’s body, and that Hersela’s consciousness is residing within me.

[ Hmm… it’s not something he’d easily believe. Unless I can prove my consciousness is alive, he’d probably think it’s some trick by a deceitful mage. He’d try to kill you to find a way to return my body to me. ]

So he wouldn’t immediately draw his sword, huh.