226

What, what is it? Why aren't you reacting at all?'

Brandel forgot about his plan to attack with a surprise and made a puzzled expression. He himself was reacting after taking the antidote, so there was no way he could be okay after drinking two glasses.

After a moment of silence, I heard Jiselle speak.

"What are you doing? Aren't you drinking?"

"Oh, yes, yes."

He missed the timing to attack due to the sudden situation. Bewildered, Brandel decided to drink one more drink and then hit Giselle.

Grrrrr… … .

The reaction in my stomach was more definite. It meant that the antidote was reaching its limit of endurance.

'Ugh, the poison is fine. Is it because he's the type that reacts slowly to poison?'

Everyone reacts to poison differently. For Brandel, it was best to just think of it that way and move on.

But then Giselle poured another glass and drank it all in one go.

'This time, there really is a reaction… '

"It's delicious. Here, have another glass."

Brandel's face paled noticeably. His hands began to tremble more and more.

'Chi, calm down. You can't make a mistake here.'

The knights next to Jiselle are looking at her with blank expressions. If she hesitates here, she will end up making the other party more wary.

'I should pretend to drink and then hit him right away.'

Brandel lifted his glass with a forced smile. He glanced at Giselle's face, but his expression was the very definition of calm.

This can't be happening. As he was panicking, a thought suddenly crossed Brandel's mind.

'You were fooled by the rumors! This guy has no mana or significantly less! That's why he doesn't react at all!'

It was clear that his past activities had been exaggerated.

Of course, there were results, so we can't deny everything. But even though he had excellent command, it was clear that his own military power was poor.

Brandel slowly began to draw up his mana. He felt a tingling pain in the area where his core was because of the poison. He felt like he couldn't waste any more time.

Did I raise my glass too slowly? I hear Giselle's voice again.

"You're not drinking? Are you not good at drinking?"

Then Claude intervened, grumbling from the side.

"If you don't want to drink it, then I shouldn't drink it?"

Claude thought that since they both looked fine after drinking several glasses, they could drink it. Such high-quality liquor was hard to come by.

Giselle chuckled as she looked at the drooling Claude.

"I don't know what it is, but it seems like you've been acting up a bit, so I think it'd be better not to eat it."

As soon as he heard that, Brandel threw down the glass and reached out to Giselle.

At that signal, the four assassins who had been standing there pretending to be Brandel's escort moved.

"Uh-huh-huh!"

As Claude screamed, Wendy grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and threw him. His body was thrown backwards and rolled over.

Brandel, who was the first to move, pulled out a sword from his sleeve and aimed for Giselle's head.

'It's a success!'

From the moment he moved, Brandel had no doubts about his success. There was no way a man without even enough mana could block this blow.

'uh?'

In that split second when he was swinging his sword forward, Brandel saw Giselle yawn.

I clearly aimed for the space between the eyebrows and stabbed him, but when I came to my senses, I saw that my sword had strayed to the side.

Sigh.

Before I could even comprehend the situation, something flew into my neck and lodged itself in my throat. It was the pen I had kept for signing contracts.

'What… …? A guy without even mana… … .'

Just before Brandel lost consciousness, Giselle's languid voice flowed into his ear.

"My pen is mightier than your sword."

Giselle pulled the pen out of Brandel's body and placed it on the contract. The red blood that had dripped down partially obscured the writing on the contract.

"The contract is cancelled. I have to collect some penalty."

The assassins who moved alongside Brandel didn't even care.

Because Gillian and Wendy were already moving and killing the enemies.

Kaang!

Wendy easily blocked the assassin's sword attacking Claude with her dagger.

"This bitch!"

Just as the assassin was about to attack again, Wendy quickly dove into his arms and reached out her hand.

Several sharp spikes shot out from her ring and pierced the assassin's neck.

Phew!

"Grrrrr… … ."

As soon as he was hit by the poisonous needle, the assassin fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth.

Swish.

Wendy, who had killed her opponent, stepped back without hesitation. Another assassin's sword flew towards the spot where she had been standing.

Chaang!

Wendy quickly swept her waist and returned to her original position, now holding two daggers in both hands.

Whoosh!

Kaang! Kaang!

The assassin quickly slashed away the flying daggers. After blocking two daggers in one breath, the assassin tried to attack Wendy.

Phew!

If only the third dagger hadn't been stuck in his forehead.

"When on earth… … when… … ?"

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He fell down muttering like that.

And Claude, who saw that sight, also muttered.

"Are you really that strong? But you also seem a bit lethal… … ."

Wendy looked at Claude with contempt. He pouted and lowered his eyes.

The two assassins on the other side died even more meaninglessly.

Gillian did not dodge the attacks, but instead moved closer to them and extended her hand.

Thud!

He didn't even take out his weapon. He just grabbed the two people's faces with his bare hands and banged their heads together.

Phew!

The assassins died with their heads smashed in before they could even launch a proper attack.

The knights of Fenris were astonished at the sight.

'What kind of old man is getting stronger and stronger?'

'What on earth did you eat?'

'Look at those muscles twitching. Did they rejuvenate themselves?'

Gillian's skills had been improving rapidly since meeting Giselle.

He was originally strong, but Jiselle filled in the gaps he had.

This is the enlightenment that Jisel, who had risen to the position of one of the 7 great powers of the continent, imparted. For a strong person like Gillian, this was much more helpful than training.

In an instant, Brandel and the assassins were dealt with. The knights of Fenris who were nearby had nothing to do and no intention of interfering.

Why would you interfere when there are monsters right next to you?

Besides, I didn't have to worry at all about what Youngju ate.

'What can't someone who has eaten all of Blood Python's poison eat?'

It was already well known to those close to her that Jiselle's stomach was strong enough to digest steel.

The assassins disguised as laborers also took out their weapons here and there. They first targeted the administrators who were checking the quantity.

No, I was trying to aim for it.

Phew!

Suddenly, the administrators took out their weapons from their bosoms and attacked the assassins first.

Among them, a man with a particularly large build and bright hair shouted while tearing his clothes.

"I am Gordon of Muscles!"

"Ugh! For an administrative officer, he's really big!"

The assassins were confused. Looking at the situation, it seemed like the enemy already knew the plan and prepared it.

The administrators had a hard time dealing with the assassins even though they had surprised them, because there were also high-level Desmond knights mixed in.

As the battle dragged on, the surroundings became chaotic. Jiselle laughed, twirling her arms.

"Okay, it's time to collect the deposit. Now it's all ours. Let's sweep up the rest quickly. Our children will get hurt."

I couldn't help but feel excited because I got such a huge resource for free.

Jiselle already knew that the owner of Brandel's upper house was Harold Desmond. It was a widely known fact in her previous life.

There was no reason to hide it, since the Duke's rebellion had succeeded and Harold had the North in his hands.

But the owner of that place wants to meet you in person? He said he has too much inventory so he wants to meet you outside?

"Then it's obvious."

Even if he didn't know Brandel's true identity, he wouldn't have been easily defeated. His enemies probably didn't know his true abilities.

The same was true for poison. Originally, most poisons were ineffective against Jiselle. This was thanks to her outstanding ability to use mana, which allowed her to separate and contain the poisonous components within her body.

But after drinking the poison of Blood Python, there is no need for that. If you just drink it, everything turns to flesh and blood.

"I guess I'll have to finish drinking that later."

It was a pretty strong poison, and it had the effect of increasing mana a little bit.

As soon as Jiselle intervened, the assassins were swept away in an instant.

He used a little more force than usual, fearing that the knights of Fenris, who were still beginners, would be defeated. So there was no way the assassins could handle it.

The last assassin to fall spoke tremblingly.

"Oh, the rumors were true."

Even though they were strong, they were too strong. They were strong enough to not fall behind anywhere, but they were being treated like children, so they were no different from monsters.

I heard that he broke down the castle gate alone, but I didn't believe it. It was normal for such outstanding people to be famous for their talent with the sword from a young age.

However, the only rumors about Jiselle were that she was a loser, so the general opinion was that she would be somewhat lacking in swordsmanship.

Still, we did our best to select only those with the skills and practiced in advance several times.

I never imagined that I would be turned around so easily.

Phew!

Jiselle said nothing and cut off the assassin's head.

As soon as the cleaning was done, Claude came running out of breath and asked.

"How did you know? Why didn't you tell me? You said that since it was your first transaction, you disguised the reporters as administrators just in case? You actually knew about it this time too, didn't you?"

"Yeah. But if I tell you in advance that I'm going to fight, you'll probably think twice and run away."

"… … ."

I was angry, but I had nothing to say in rebuttal. In fact, from the moment the knights disguised themselves as administrators, I had been thinking about not coming at all.

Claude, feeling embarrassed, changed the subject.

"Anyway, this is all free, right? This is totally awesome!"

Claude was delighted, but Giselle was also quite satisfied, for as much as he had gained, Harold had suffered great losses.

With this amount, the finances will inevitably falter for a while. And since the real laborers, not the assassins, survived, there will be troublesome rumors about that side.

The idea was to give them a little severance pay for losing their jobs and encourage them to make a fuss.

'By the way, now you're targeting me so blatantly. In that case… … .'

The fact that Harold was throwing away such resources and such a precious prize had another meaning.

'Amelia's side has now let go. Either she's ready… or she's delegated the authority.'

Leipold's rebellion was the most important thing Harold had ever done. The dukedom would never give it up, so Harold's withdrawal meant that Amelia would soon be on the move as well.

Even though the future had changed quite a bit, this was not much different from what Giselle had expected.

"Oh, come to think of it… … . I guess I'll start a rebellion on the same day as my previous life."

Jiselle nodded several times and muttered while looking at the piled up resources.

"If it's Amelia, no matter how I try to interfere, she'll definitely succeed. I do have some things I'm grateful to her for, but I still need to hold her back."

Giselle giggled as she imagined Amelia getting upset.

* * *

Road construction continued without pause. As the roads became denser and denser between each castle, fortress, and village, Claude raised another problem.

"Construction is progressing smoothly, but it seems like it won't be ready for use right away."

Jiselle also knew what the problem was.

"Is it because of the transportation?"

"Yes. Most of the horses in the territory are used as warhorses. The number of horses is significantly insufficient."

No matter how good the road is, if there is no way to travel quickly, it is of little use.

But words were a precious resource. They were expensive and hard to obtain.

This is because it is an animal that is widely used in various fields such as combat, transportation, and agriculture.

Still, it's better to have a path than not to have one.

"Instead, it will certainly help with the movement and supply of troops."

"Hmm, yes. If there is to be a transportation revolution, then language is essential. That way, the economy can be more active."

Claude asked quietly at Giselle's seemingly insignificant reaction.

"Do you have any plans to get a horse?"

If there isn't one, he makes one, and if that doesn't work, he takes it by force. But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't make one and there was nowhere to take it.

Still, I asked her secretly just in case, but Jiselle answered as if it was nothing.

"Of course, we plan to save the horses as well."

"Oh! As expected from our lord! What is that? Please tell me, I won't object this time!"

"You're really not going to object?"

It was a tone that made me feel slightly uneasy.

I wasn't particularly opposed to the recent incubator production or road construction projects. But when I checked them out like that, I started to feel uneasy again.

Still, Claude shamelessly pushed ahead while the subject was on the topic.

"Yes! I won't object!"

At those words, Giselle snickered. Even if she said it like that now, it was obvious that if Giselle were to teach her the method, everyone would foam at the mouth and oppose her.

So I had no intention of talking about it right now.

"I'll tell you later. I have some things to do before then."

'Miss, you're more curious because I didn't tell you? What are you curious about?'

Claude bit his lip again in regret.

"What do I need to do before that?"

"Let's throw a banquet. Invite some young princes from the surrounding territories."

"Huh? A banquet?"

Claude and his men tilted their heads.

Jiselle doesn't like the formal banquets of nobles. Even when she holds a banquet, she likes to socialize with the people of the estate and have fun without formality.

It was strange that such a person would suddenly hold a banquet with nobles.

"It's just a matter of getting to know each other a bit more as young people. We're pretty big now, aren't we?"

"Well, that's true. Now it's time for you to manage your connections, Your Majesty."

Even if they are just princes now, most of them are people who will inherit something anyway. There is no harm in hanging out with such people and building a network from a young age.

As Claude was babbling like that, Giselle smiled and spoke with emphasis.

"But there's someone I absolutely must invite. Invite him by any means necessary. Even if it means kidnapping him."

Before seeking words, I thought of first taking the enemy's minds off them a bit.