Chapter 447 (1/2)

Chapter 447: 447

Pardon the intrusion . 」

I open the door of the temporarily borrowed house without waiting for a response after knocking and excusing myself .

My eyes dart at the two spearmen standing guard in front of the house to relieve them off their duties .

「Ah……」

Baroness Escaote rose from her chair inside the room as I entered .

This is the place where she and her son are using as an address until a permanent home is found . Seika, her son who I beat up badly, was sent to a doctor and, as such, she is here by herself .

「I guess I was being a little rude . Well, please understand that I cannot be too polite in front of the soldiers . 」

A soft smile forms on my face as I urge the woman to sit back down and I find a convenient box lying around to sit on .

Because she didn’t have much time to organize, the room was still a mess and the only things set up were the chair she’s occupying and a bed .

「No, you were not……」

In her current mental state, I’m sure conversing won’t have much effect .

I speak over her and get straight to the point .

「I first want to say that you and your son will be pardoned as promised . However, since you communicated with the enemy, you will not be freed . At the very least, until the war is over, you and your son will be monitored closely . 」

This is an important decision regarding her life, so I make sure to tell her the truth, no matter how harsh it might sound .

The Baroness sits up straight like her body was pulled up with a wire .

「Next, if you are seen contacting the enemy or behaving in any manner that would cause doubt――you would immediately and unconditionally executed . I will not yield on this point so I advise you to refrain from doing anything suspicious . 」

I stare into the Baroness’s eyes and speak in a cold tone .

She nervously looks back and continues listening .

Alright, that should take care of all of Erich’s mandatory directives .

I break the tense atmosphere with a grin .

「――that’s it for the Military Commissioner’s warnings . Man, he shouted at me, telling me not to act disgracefully in front of his men . 」

「F-fueh?」

I smile at her after finis.h.i.+ng the serious topic and inch the box I’m sitting on closer to the Baroness’s chair .

「Who would have thought he would shove it in my a.s.s . Carelessness is really man’s greatest enemy . 」

I chuckle, jokingly slapping my a.s.s a few times .

「M-my sincerest apologies…… I will scold that child――」

She begs for forgiveness unnecessarily, her face somewhat relaxed .

There’s no way she doesn’t find it funny for a man to faint from getting a stick up his a.s.s .

I inch closer to the Baroness .

「No, no, he was literally fighting for his life . It’s natural that he did whatever he could to win, in fact, I should be praising him for his efforts . 」

I nonchalantly take out a bottle of sweet fruit alcohol and two gla.s.ses from my pocket, then hand one of them to the Baroness .

Taking advantage of the need to give her the gla.s.s, I close the distance even more until I am within arm’s reach .

I fill the bewildered woman’s gla.s.s to the brim and lightly tap my gla.s.s against hers .

「Of course I will take responsibility to watch over you and have you stay beside me, however, that doesn’t mean you are restricted in any way . Please be at ease . I’d appreciate if you don’t try colluding secretly with the enemy though . 」

I maintain a casual tone and stop her from bowing her head in response to the part about colluding .

「Hahaha, I was kidding, don’t worry . More importantly, please have some of this delicious fruit alcohol . 」

Partially due to her nervousness, she quickly empties the gla.s.s .

Despite the gentle aftertaste, the alcohol is actually rather strong…… well, I’m sure one gla.s.s is fine .

「What I’m more concerned about is your son . Our fight wasn’t exactly a fair one . It wasn’t very mature of me to pummel him enough to send him to the doctor . 」

This is a very critical part for me .

Mothers value their children more than anything .

It won’t be easy for her to excuse what I did to her cute son .

To be honest, I couldn’t bear hearing her pained screams during the match .

Admitting to her that it was all an act wouldn’t reflect well on me either .

「……」

Sure enough, she’s speechless .

Right when I was about to say sorry again, the Baroness suddenly stands up from her chair, lowers both knees and hands plus her forehead to the floor . I couldn’t help freezing from the unexpected gesture .

「Thank you very much for saving me and Seika . 」

I sigh and take a sip of the overly sweet alcohol .

「You realized?」

「It was clear when I calmed down not too long ago . 」

I help the Baroness up and have her sit on the bed .

Then I sit beside her .

「Thinking logically, you could have easily killed us on the spot if you got upset at the fact a knife was pointed at you . Considering you only moderately beat Seika through a staff match, I could tell you were trying to get everyone else to agree with the result……」

I was certain my acting was perfect .

This means Erich could plainly see what I was doing too .

「In the first place, Seika could never hope to compete against Hardlett-sama, the infamous demon of war . His poor showing was also due to Hardlett-sama’s skill, right?」

「Hahaha . 」

I smile confidently, trying to hide the faint seriousness during his fourth thrust .

My initial impression of her was someone who is susceptible to becoming fl.u.s.tered, but she’s actually pretty intelligent and observant .

It would be embarra.s.sing to have her see through me so simply, that’s why I’ll tease her a little .

「I’m grateful that you evaluate me so highly, but I might have enjoyed tormenting the young man, you know?」

Seika has a fairly ambiguous appearance and could be mistaken as a girl .

The Baroness giggles and quips back .

「Fufu, if you weren’t aware, I am a feudal lord of a domain in the eastern region . I’ve heard countless rumors regarding Hardlett-sama . While plenty are…… um, interesting…… I have not heard of anything that cruel . 」

She smiles beautifully and elegantly tips her gla.s.s .

The sweet alcohol’s palatability made it easy to drink .

「I’m curious about those rumors . What’s being said about me?」

I add more liquid to her gla.s.s and reduce what little distance was left between me and the red-faced woman .

「Err…… things like leaving the territory to punish bandits personally or routing monsters by yourself and saving the citizens……」

「Hooh, hooh . What else?」

As I get closer to her, my thigh touches hers .

「I hear rumors about you keeping a dragon as a pet, that you’re growing a plant that moves in your garden, and that you fool around with young girls……」

「Hahaha, that’s outrageous . Anything else?」

I casually lean my shoulder against hers and rest my hand on her lap .

「……and there’s also-」

She turns toward me .

Our heights are different, so she inevitably has to look up at me .

I don’t know if it’s the alcohol or because she feels safe, but her eyes are somewhat moist .

「There are rumors of how much you love women…… that you keep several hundreds of them, laying your hands on any pretty girls you find in city…… and that you are matchless in bed……taking possession of them instantly……」

Our gazes intersect .

「The reason you saved us…… was for ‘that’, right?」

The Baroness carefully lifts my hand off her leg and separates from me .

Shyly, she looks down and begins to unb.u.t.ton her s.h.i.+rt .

「I’m not very proud of my body . 」

After her s.h.i.+rt fell to the floor, she removed her skirt .

Next, her plain underwear came off, exposing her modest but shapely b.r.e.a.s.t.s .

There was a brief moment of hesitation before she resolved to strip the last piece of clothing covering her most precious place, baring her entire body to me .

「T-this might not even be worth the price of my life, but please relish this humble offering……」

Being embarra.s.sed, like I thought she was, her hands were still s.h.i.+elding her chest and crotch .

Moreover, she was trembling .

「Fumu . 」

I approach her and throw my clothes off .

Unsurprisingly, the Baroness did not say anything, almost like she was mentally prepared for me to get naked, until I peeled off my underwear and she let out a gasp, her eyes reflecting fear .

When I put my hand on her shoulder, she flinched .

I ignore it and proceed to wrap my arm around her shoulder and her waist . And then……

「Hup . 」

「Kyaaaa!!」

I push her onto the bed and, while embracing the Baroness, roll twice on the dusty sheets .

「W-what was that!?」

「Hahaha, did I scare you?」

I wrap her body with sheets as she protests the abrupt impact .