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Chapter 120: Settling the Past (1)

Ten’s intelligence agency gave Von a list of retired experts. ‘Three people, huh…’

It appeared that the number of people was quite small, even though it had taken a while to compile the list. Nevertheless, Von believed in quality over quantity and thought that the list was reliable. He decided to leave for Vivaldi with Hagler to recruit the three individuals.

“Master, where are we going right now?” Whenever Hagler was alone with Von, he addressed him as “master,” rather than “vice-captain” or “brother.” It felt more comfortable now.

“It’s a secret.”

“...Alright.”

Hagler had been curious ever since Henry handed Von the mysterious piece of paper. However, despite Hagler’s repeated questions, Von only made a peculiar smile and never gave him a direct answer.

Clip clop clip clop.

Von checked the meeting place and time written on the paper once more.

‘We departed at a good time.’

They had enough time and there was no need to rush. Besides, they expected that the guests would reach the meeting place before they could.

“Hagler,” Von said.

“Yes, Master.”

“How old is Nia this year again?”

“She just turned 4.”

“She must be really cute.”

“She is everything to me.”

“If Nia’s everything, then what about Sona?”

“Of course, Sona is too. My family is my priority and my everything.”

“Really? Then would you do anything for your family?”

“Of course. Which is why I’m even more grateful to you.”

“But why are you only an expert?”

“That’s…”

Although this was just the light teasing that senior soldiers often gave their juniors to pass the time, Hagler still replied to it sincerely.

“Hagler,” said Von.

“Yes, Master.”

“You’re a good guy. No matter what, don’t forget your beliefs and always be honorable with the people you love.”

“Of course. I’ll keep this in mind.”

“Okay, good.”

Von had always given him a lot of advice, so Hagler didn’t think much of it.

“Are you really going to hide where we’re going?”

“Are you curious?”

“Yes. Actually, I wish I were practicing my swordsmanship right now, but I’m very curious to find out where you’re taking me.”

“Haha, if that’s the case, you don’t need to worry since we’re almost there.”

“Wait, are you taking me to do some training?”

“Training, huh, I guess you could say that.”

“That’s a relief. If you call it training, then I assume it won’t be easy.”

“I can see the place now, and it looks like the guests have already arrived.”

“Guests…?” Hagler looked straight ahead.

“...!”

As soon as Hagler saw who the guests were, he was so shocked that he almost fell off his horse.

“M-master?”

“Why? Do they look familiar?”

Hagler was looking at patterned flags: the Dexter family’s flag. Count Diallo, the head of the Dexter family, was a scumbag who had attempted to rape Hagler’s wife, Sona, when she had a broken arm and leg.

Dexter was encamped and waiting for Hagler with his private soldiers.

“Long time no see, Hagler.” He greeted Hagler with a foxy smile on his slender face.

Hagler froze, unable to speak.

“Hahaha, it seems that you’re scared.”

He was taunting Hagler, but Hagler couldn’t move forward. He looked at Von in disbelief and asked, “Master, what in the world is going on? They’re clearly…”

“That’s right. That’s Count Diallo, the person whose leg you broke, and then ran away from.”

“You knew, but still…!”

“Hagler.” The look in Von’s eyes changed. As Von spoke Hagler\'s name with a slight murderous aura, Hagler snapped back to reality.

“Y-yes!”

“You didn’t lie to me, did you?” asked Von.

“What do you mean I lied? I’ve never lied to you, Master.”

“Then go and clean up your messy past since you promised to live as an honorable man.”

‘So this was his plan from the very beginning…!’

Only then did Hagler finally understand.

‘In order to move on to the future, one must clean up the past.’ This is what Henry had told Von.

“We don’t want trouble in the future, so clean up your messy past,” Von spoke like a lion pushing his cub off a cliff.

It was blunt and harsh.

Hagler was forced to dismount and draw his sword.

His hands were shaking. He never expected to be cornered just when he thought he was safe.

‘W-why would the captain do such a thing? He must have known that Diallo was chasing me, but why…?’

His thoughts started to run wild.

How did they know to wait for him here?

Was the captain secretly communicating with Count Dexter?

Even though the captain wanted greater power from the mercenaries’ growth, the situation was completely unexpected. Besides, his wife and daughter were still waiting for him at Ten’s mansion. Overwhelmed by his responsibilities, Hagler couldn’t even dare imagine what would happen to his family if he died here.

Hagler stopped and turned around to ask Von. “...W-what will happen if I die?”

“I don’t know?” The corners of Von’s lips rose in a cold smile.

Even though Von was mischievous, Hagler had always thought that he was kind. However, at the moment, Von looked like a cold-blooded man.

Gulp.

Hagler had no choice but to look straight ahead again.

There were more than a dozen soldiers in front of him, and Hagler instinctively assessed their strength. ‘They’re advanced expert users at the very least.’

Each one looked strong. In contrast, he was, at best, a highest-level expert user. Plus, there was only one of him.

Hagler believed that there was no chance of winning.

When he saw Halger hesitate, Diallo licked his lips and said, “You don’t know how long I\'ve been waiting for this day. Hagler! Since the day you broke my arm, my life goal has been to kill you, and right now, I will finally reach that goal.”

Hagler couldn\'t bear to say anything. He was aware that rumors would quickly spread through the continent once people found out that a count had relentlessly pursued a commoner like him.

‘Right, this was my reality…’ After joining the Million Corps, Henry’s success made Hagler believe that he no longer had to worry about Diallo. However, he realized that he had been fooling himself this whole time.

Henry’s rise and his position as a vassal of the great marquis had elevated Henry’s status, and not his own. Hagler’s mind went blank, realizing that nothing had changed after all.

Diallo licked his lips again at Hagler’s blank look and said, “Khehehe, Hagler! I’m not going to kill you easily. I’m going to keep you alive, capture your wife and daughter and rape them one by one in front of you, and throw all of you in a pigsty. Hahaha.”

His laugh was very cunning. Hagler knew very well that Diallo would keep his word. His mind went blank. Von continued to watch with his arms crossed, his face expressionless.

There was no way to escape.

“Hahaha! Let’s see how much you’ve been stuffing yourself by checking your strength. Wetton! Shalom! You guys go and check,” shouted Diallo.

“Yes, Count!”

These soldiers were, at the very least, advanced users. Diallo had formed a unit composed solely of swordmasters. However, due to cost, he opted to hire expert-level users, even though they held the lowest rank among the masters.

Wetton and Shalom stepped forward ferociously. Both of them were advanced expert users, one used a hammer and the other used a longsword as a weapon.

Step.

Step.

The two were known for being cruel and worked as a pair. Wetton cracked his neck around in circles and said, “Let’s see how strong you are.”

“Hahaha, I’ll crush your shin first with my hammer.” The scar on his eye drew Hector’s attention, but just then…

Slice!

Drip drip.

“...!”

A blue light flashed, then Wetton’s and Shalom’s heads tumbled to the ground.

It was Von.

“W-what the hell…!”

Diallo’s face turned bright red.

“How dare you! What the hell are you doing!”

Diallo’s veins bulged as he shouted in fury.

Von frowned and replied with ease.

“I felt like my ears would rot if I kept listening. I just beheaded these two bastards as punishment. If you want revenge, why don’t you keep your mouth shut and go ahead?”

“W-what?”

“What? Do you have a problem?”

Diallo glared at Von in rage, but he couldn\'t help looking away.

Von’s eyes were filled with a murderous aura. Just meeting Von’s eyes made Diallo feel like his heart was going to sink.

‘D-damn it…!’

Instinct was more persuasive than ego, which is why he had no choice but to look away. Blood spewed like a fountain from Wetton and Shalom’s necks and formed a pool of blood.

Hagler finally returned to his senses. “M-Master?”

It had been so quick that he didn’t even realize what had just happened until the two had already lost their heads. Diallo’s other soldiers removed the two bodies and Hagler was able to realize one thing through this.

‘This is a test! I’m sure the captain and the vice-captain are testing me right now!’ Hagler started thinking rationally and the tip of his sword stopped trembling.

“Here I come.”

Hagler no longer hesitated. He wasn’t going to back down. He threw himself at the soldiers to clean up his past.

“As you should,” said Von, and he smiled.