The Blood Knight’s Villains

My Villains Chapter 395

63. Knights of the Silver Prince (2)

The nobles of the empire frowned at the sight of the old man brought to the tent. The same was true of the Duke of Avillambus.

“It is terrible.” That was an apt summary. The diminutive old man was unarmed and dressed only in a quilted robe, but he was in fact a piece of rags because he was all torn, crumpled, and covered in dirt.

It wasn’t just the clothes.

Her eyes were black and blue, her nose was broken and sunken, and a few teeth could not be seen between her torn and swollen lips.

It was a sign of severe beating.

“…Aren’t you using your hands too much? I can’t even recognize it.”

“We didn’t do it, Your Highness.”

“what? So what?”

Captain Buakan replied by bowing his head as usual.

“I’ve been working hard for the past few days, and at first I couldn’t even stand on my own feet.”

“her. It’s like they’re cruel. You are descended from the northern savages.”

In addition to the already horrendous appearance, blood and pus flowed from the old man’s eyes.

“Oh, shouldn’t you have covered your eyes a bit?”

“I’m sorry. I figured that showing the condition properly would be helpful in making a judgment

.”

“I did, but the burns are so bad that the pus doesn’t seem to stop.”

“burn?”

“The spot where the eyeball was dug out was burned with fire.”

“…It’s amazing that he’s still alive. It’s ugly, so put something on it.” At the Duke’s command, the soldiers who led the old man to the tent put blindfolds on his eyes. One of the soldiers wiped the blood from the old man’s eyes and cheeks with a cloth. When his hand touched my body, the old man shrugged his neck and shoulders as if he was startled.

“…I can’t believe it. That’s the famous viper of the silver prince.”

One of the nobles present muttered blankly.

True to his words, it was only a shabby and pitiful old man who was brought to the tent.

It wasn’t easy to think of Ariad, ‘The Viper’ after seeing that kind of look. That would be the case, too, because Ariad was considered to be Prince Ulkar’s closest aide, along with the ‘true knight’ Langbolt, the ‘giant’ Ankyr, and the ‘red knight’ Phoenix.

“Gossein Daropios.”

When the duke’s name was called, two people came forward. The old man in a magic robe adorned with a thin golden chain was the old man, and the middle-aged man in the purple priestly uniform was Daeupios.

The sorcerer and the priest whom Abillambus trusted the most approached the shrunken old knight and memorized spells and prayers, respectively. It was a process of filtering out tricks such as magic or curses.

“Certainly suspicious.”

The duke, who glanced at them, leaned back on the backrest and crossed his arms.

“I heard that Ulkar is famous for caring for his subordinates, especially his knights, but he is like that.”

“This is proof that there is a problem with the silver prince. As Your Highness said, if he had been fine, I wouldn’t have just watched him gouging out the eyes of the knight I appointed and beating him until he died.” “Even if something went wrong with his body, how could he dare to harm a knight who is favored by his lord…

Abillambus paused at the end of his words, then looked back at his subordinates with doubtful eyes.

“Could it be… is he dead?”

“It won’t be.”

Captain Buakhan erased the bitter smile that bloomed involuntarily and continued.

“The reason why the enemy fights so tightly is because there is a silver prince who has both powerful charisma and rising ignorance. Without him, they are just a bunch of serfs from all over the kingdom.” “…Then, the fact that High Castle didn’t collapse by myself must be proof that he’s still alive.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

While the Duke clicked his tongue in regret, Captain Buakan continued his explanation.

“That person named Ariad is a little different from the other knights.”

“What if it was different?”

“The knights of the silver prince are usually from prestigious noble families, and those who are not have all proven themselves by force of arms.”

“You mean human butchers like red knights and painters.”

“yes. Filter is the son of a disgraced nobleman, and Phoenix is a mere mercenary, although all sorts of rumors circulate. However, both of them are so talented and show their bravery every time on the battlefield, so no one disputes their origins.”

“Is the viper different?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After confirming that there was nothing wrong with the mage Goseiin and the high-ranking priest Daeupios, they left, and the soldiers sat the blind old knight on his knees in front of the table.

“Ariad the Adder led the serfs in an uprising, but was defeated by Ulkar and became his subordinate.”

“The author?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The duke blinked his eyes at the old knight as if surprised, then nodded.

“…Oh yeah. I guess I’ve heard of it sometime. He said that one of his commanders was from the uprising army. I didn’t know that it was samurai.”

“It is not a well-known fact. It’s because Ulkar regards him as his confidant, and no one talks recklessly.”

“Hmm.”

“The origin is also a problem, but the viper has a terrible weapon. Not only is he the last among the seven knights of the silver prince, but even if you count all the knights who have gathered since then, there is no one weaker than him.”

“I see what Kyung is talking about. You’ve been favored by Ulkar, but you’ve failed to gain the trust of your colleagues, isn’t it?”

“Exactly, Your Highness.”

Abillambus moistened his lips involuntarily, as if he was gradually appetizing. But he still had his arms crossed.

“Are you sure that old man is Ariad the Adder?”

“Cross-verification was completed through Sejak and the captive merchants, and Viscount Propesan and his vassals, who had met Ulkar in person before, and Zephyr, who carried out the envoy mission, also confirmed it.”

Captain Bua Khan, who poured out his words as if he had prepared them in advance, added in a firm tone.

“He is right. It’s an adder.”

“…if that’s the case, that’s it. What is that?”

The duke pointed to a man standing a few steps behind the blind old man.

“Ariad’s seed.”

“satellite? Oh, is that the young guy who brought him on his back?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

He was tightly bound, this young man in his mid-teens. He was tall and skinny, just like a scarecrow, and his white hooked nose and sharp eyes made him look very ferocious.

“As you can see, Ariad is not in a state where he can talk normally, so most of the interrogation was done through that servant.”

“is it?”

“yes. Would you like to hear it for yourself?”

The duke nodded slowly, and Captain Buakan looked back.

“Acer.”

At the call of Captain Buakan, the young servant answered with a chin twitch.

“Yes yes…

“Who made your master like that?”

When Buakan asked in awkward Milanese, the servant could not hide his nervousness. Even in the midst of that, the answer came out not too late, as if it had already been anticipated.

“The prince’s- no, the knights of Ulkar.” “Why are they?”

“In just one week, two assassins came to Ulkar’s residence. The border has been completely breached.”

“Was it the witch hunters?”

The duke let out a snort and spoke fluent Milanese.

“I thought it was a failure and ran away, but it looks like it did something on its own.”

The attendant glanced sideways at Captain Buakan as if he was confused about whether he should answer, and continued talking only after confirming his gesture to continue explaining.

“Ulkar went over as if it was no big deal, but he became addicted and collapsed without anyone knowing.”

“Addiction? It can’t be.”

“you’re right. He developed resistance to poison from a very young age, so it doesn’t work unless it’s a tolerably deadly poison-” “If

anyone hears, they’ll think he’s been trained to be an assassin. Wasn’t it just that you received this poisoning threat as if you were eating?”

“Uh…

As Acer hesitated, the duke giggled and sneered, then made the same gesture as his subordinate.

“And I accidentally got hit by an arrow on that battlefield. While his body was weakened like that, the deadly poison that the assassin had poisoned before spread belatedly and he collapsed.”

“Is that possible?”

When Abillambus asked for advice, the sorceress Gossein, who was also an accomplished alchemist, said it was not impossible.

“Among poisonous techniques, you can fool the priest if you use a secret method using germs or parasites. It’s not poison that anyone can make…

“It could have been possible with that guy.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

What the duke and the mage thought of at the same time was the head of the Witch Hunters’ assassins.

A man who introduced himself as a ‘sword master’ even though he was not officially recognized as a ‘sword master’ by the emperor.

He did not reveal what that meant, but his skills as an assassin were certain. Of course, after boasting that he would take Prince Eun’s head, he disappeared.

“Ulkar was treated by the priests and escaped death, but he is still unconscious. That was until I ran away with Master.”

While the servant was sweating and explaining, the old knight, who was kneeling in front of the table, said nothing.

The duke’s eyebrows twitched in confusion as it seemed to be the bleak silence of an abandoned old man.

“As soon as the prince fell, the knights put all the blame on my master.”

“If it was overwritten, who should be held responsible?”

“That’s right, Liam, Phoenix, and Gisela…

Saying the names of the three knights, Acer gritted his teeth in anger.

“The arrogant Liam is in charge of the entire city’s vigilance, and the frenzied Phoenix is the captain of the inner defense where the prince—no, Ulkar is staying.”

“The captain of the inner defense? Aren’t red knights leading cavalry?”

“He has a lot of greed like a young pig, so he has many fights. I am busy taking care of my slobber-like subordinates while sitting in all kinds of important positions.” The servant raised his voice little by little without even realizing it. He also spoke faster.

“You know that’s all? They don’t just reveal money or talent, but they also go crazy with women, and run around with vicious behavior with the momentum to devour all the women left in the city. He is a real pure madman.”

Due to Acer’s excited chatter, Captain Buakan, who was not good at Milanol, could only understand a few words. He whispered, only understanding the context.

“It is according to intelligence.”

“Right.”

The duke nodded roughly, and was already focusing heavily on the servant’s words.

“Besides the two of them, Gisella, the bird magister, is also responsible. The bitch on the hand signal of Ulkar acts like a 16-year-old girl in unrequited love and often stabs the soldiers. It should be-”

He gritted his teeth, unable to finish his words. And he began to shed tears of anger and sorrow.

“Those fucking bastards… laid everything on my master. Bastards said that it was the master who set the basic goal of the defense plan in the first place, and passed on the responsibility of the assassin. They even suspected that I was colluding with the enemy.”

Abillambus, who listened intently even in the midst of more than half of the cursing and sobbing, fully understood Acer’s words and even explained it to the nobles present.

“To understand all of that…

“You’re really amazing, Your Highness.”

While some were genuinely amazed and most were deliberately flattering, Avilam Bus pretended to wear a moustache to hide his smile and shrugged his shoulders.

“There is a saying in the Eastern Continent that you need to know your enemy like me to win. Knowing the language of the enemy country is not a natural skill for someone in charge of changing the country.”

“indeed. I think I now understand why the imperial subjects call you the guardian deity of the East.”

“Hey did you know that now?”

Noticing that the Duke of Avillambus was struggling to hide his displeasure, Captain Buakan cautiously intervened.

“We figured out how the viper Ariad came to be like that through the seeds, but unfortunately we couldn’t dig up any key information.”

“Why?”

“Because you insisted that you would never open your mouth without meeting Your Highness…

“Really?”

The Duke, who was leaning his mighty body on the backrest, tapped the armrest and said,

“Then why don’t I personally interrogate you? Do you have any problems, Sir Ariad, the viper?”

“…No problem, Your Highness.”

The old knight, who had been silent all along, opened his mouth slowly.

“However, since I am still a knight of the Three Princes, please guarantee his safety as well as my life. It has absolutely nothing to do with destroying the High Castle, sweeping the West, and advancing to the capital, but the Three Princes must be embraced in the arms of the North.” For a moment there was silence in the tent. Ariad’s request was not unreasonable.

“…that’s a very interesting story.”

It was because he spoke a very extreme northern dialect.

The Duke slightly leaned forward.

“Let’s listen carefully…but just make your voice a little louder. I can’t hear you well because of the distance.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Nogisa coughed several times as if boiling phlegm, clearing her throat.

“Is this enough?”

“Yes, that’s good. Tell me.”

Ariad Barin, who was once called ‘the tongue of the snake’ because he was fluent in Milano and Gellan, as well as the languages of the East and the steppes, spoke with the eyes of the imperial aristocrats.