The group of mercenaries who followed Rieta were assigned a place to camp at the mouth of the mountain.
However, Rieta was to receive treatment among the villagers.
Of course, that meant that they were keeping her hostage.
To prevent the armed people from doing anything bad to the villagers.
As the patient, she was given her own cozy bed and a cloud-like blanket.
Meanwhile, Emile, whose life depended on Rieta’s life, didn’t even have a proper chair, so he was squatting on the floor nearby.
“Name.”
A dark-haired man with a dirty look asked in a cold voice.
Looking up close, he was tall, but he didn’t seem to be that old.
“It’s my fault that I didn’t learn,” Emile answered with a sigh. “Emile.”
Emile added an explanation just in case they misunderstand.
“Not the girl lying over there, I’m Emile. Shit. Please don’t feel like I’m a rich old woman.”
Although it was lame, he even added an explanation in case of any unexpected mishaps.
“Job.”
He was about to yell, ‘What, you couldn’t tell?!’ but changed his mind.
This was because he thought that if he said he was a mercenary, they might ask what kind of request he had received.
Divulging the details of the request was against mercenary rules, so there will be another unnecessary confrontation.
“Vill, village youth.”
Emile stuttered.
Two pairs of eyes fell on him in complete disbelief.
“Wha, what… Is, is, is this your first, first time seeing a village youth?!”
After saying this, Emile, who belatedly thought he made a mistake, pointed his finger in the direction where Rieta was.
“An, and… That girl is quite popular in our village!”
Emile was concerned that the ‘village’ he was talking about was less a ‘village’ and more of … an imperial unit.
But it wasn’t wrong.
The other man asked another question.
“Why did that popular village girl suddenly stab herself in the leg?”
Seeing the direction and depth of her wounds, he guessed they had no choice but to think of it that way.
Emile couldn’t help but wonder how he could explain that, “She is the Princess of this country, and she stabbed her in the leg to prevent us from fighting your people.”
“Ah, ah… that. She was… surprised when a group of bandits suddenly appeared?”
Emile avoided their eyes. Even when he thought about it himself, it was a truly pathetic excuse.
But surprisingly, the two men just nodded without asking any more questions.
Emile was hopeful that maybe they weren’t as smart as he thought.
I can’t believe you didn’t question that nonsense at all.
Thanks to this, Emile’s voice also gained some confidence.
“Thanks to the two of you for your hard work, our Miss survived.”
“…What’s with you?”
“Huh?”
“I’m asking what you’re thankful for!”
The man with a dirty look rolled his eyes, not even trying to hide his murderous intent.
“Even if you ask me what…”
However, Emile, who had a background as a mercenary, was not at all intimidated and continued his answer obediently.
There is only one thing I can say.
“… Because I’m a village youth.”
“Relationship.”
“Huh?”
“What’s your relationship?! With her?!”
If it were under normal circumstances, Emile might have thought a little more deeply about the presence of two men who spoke his native language.
Moreover, he may have even noticed that one of them bore a striking resemblance to Duke Mayer, whom he feared.
But not only was he in a professional crisis due to Rieta stabbing herself in the leg, the situation had not been resolved even until now.
Because Rieta, who had lost consciousness, was still not opening her eyes.
Thanks to this, he didn’t have the slightest suspicion about the two men, and for now, he only cared about the fact that he had to appear to be a harmless person.
He thought the quickest way would be to somehow impress the people here and then get out of here safely with Rieta.
“Why can’t you tell me what your relationship is?”
At the urging, Emile paused and began his long story.
“That’s a bit of a problem…”
“Problem?”
“Uh, uh, uh! It’s a marriage problem!”
“What?!”
“Listen, this Miss is having some disagreements with her father about her marriage.”
Of course, the country’s finances and future were at stake in that disagreement, but Emile simply skipped over that part.
“Marriage?”
The men’s faces somehow became more unpleasant.
Did they think he was caught up in the whims of a rich miss?
“Uh, yes. That’s because Miss has someone she likes. But that doesn’t mean he’s the kind of man her father approves of.”
Emily began to babble about Rieta’s story without realizing it.
He had to survive.
“The truth is, the guy this Miss says she likes also had problems! That bastard kissed her without even confessing! Isn’t that a crime?!”
Thinking about it again, Emile thought it was quite an upsetting story, so he clenched his fists and looked at the two men.
Fortunately, they seemed to agree with Emile’s story.
Moreover, although he did not say anything else, anger began to flash in their eyes.
At that moment, Emile wanted to wake Rieta up and show her their faces, if only to let her know how foolish she was to have given her heart to that man.
Emile’s voice rose in excitement.
“So I said! Stop being with a man like that and meet the man your father recommends!”
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