Chapter 27: Madness

After Gwivelle gave her answer, silence enveloped the Secret Forest.

A moment later,

Roman spoke, "Witch, it seems I have won."

Gwivelle had not chosen Shasta, nor had she chosen him, but this outcome.

For Roman, this was a victory.

Shasta didn't know what to say; she was extremely dissatisfied with the outcome.

But what could be done? It was Gwivelle's own choice.

If she insisted on enforcing her own will... not to mention whether she could do such a thing, even if she truly did, Roman and Dick would join hands to stop her.

Even she couldn't simply ignore everyone present.

"It seems I came here for nothing," Shasta muttered to herself.

She had worked so hard for so long, only to come up empty-handed, one could only imagine her emotions.

"I'm sorry, Miss Shasta," Gwivelle said, feeling guilty.

Shasta glanced at Gwivelle, and then closed her black eyes, reopening them to restore calm.

"Roman, I ask you, how are you going to treat Gwivelle from now on?"

Roman stroked his chin, realizing that Shasta placed great importance on his response. If she sensed any dissatisfaction, Shasta would still forcibly take Gwivelle away.

She might indeed have some status in the Witch Forest, and although she could not summon the entire Witch Forest, it was normal to call a few comrades.

The witches' goal was merely to take away a comrade and would not harm him as a noble.

And he couldn't possibly go to the Church to snitch.

Both the Church and the witches are fools.

And he detested the Church Knights even more than the witches.

But the answer was not troublesome.

Besides, it was a promise he should make.

Gwivelle had chosen not to leave with Shasta but to stay in Sige Town, and Roman felt it was his duty to arrange her future.

So Roman said, "Sign a noble contract! In the name of Riptide, I promise that Gwivelle will face no persecution in my lands. Even if the Church discovers her existence, I will make no compromises. I swear to unconditionally protect her as long as she is loyal to me and does not betray me, safeguarding her from any disgrace or betrayal for the rest of her life!"

At these words, everyone present was moved.

A noble contract is a very special vow. The noble who writes the contract cannot break its content, or else the King will retract all their rights, power, and status.

For the nobility, breaking a noble contract is worse than death; at least in death, they could retain their honor, while living would only bring them shame.

Shasta was also deeply surprised; the contract was overly generous and lenient for Gwivelle, not at all like what a noble should offer, even mentioning a direct confrontation with the Church.

"If you had made this promise earlier, I might not have contended with you for custody of Gwivelle."

Roman snorted lightly. Was being coerced the same as volunteering?

If he truly won Gwivelle, in his view, this was merely a basic condition—he hadn't even promised how much salary he would give Gwivelle each month.

Roman couldn't be bothered to reply, simply asking, "Would you also like to work for me?"

"You're dreaming."

Roman clicked his tongue; he really hoped to recruit Shasta, "The witches' situation is not great, right? The Church's pursuers force you to hide everywhere; why not stay with me?"

"Soon it won't be like that!" Shasta said coldly.

"Hmm?" Roman became alert.

Shasta realized her slip of the tongue. She pursed her lips, "Just take good care of Gwivelle. If I find out she's been mistreated, I won't let you off in the future."

Roman was quite impressed with this witch. Just based on her being of the same kin, she had gone to great lengths, and could truly be called loyal and devoted.

He really liked dealing with such people; there was no need to guard against them.

"Your name?"

"Shasta, the Nightmare Witch Shasta!"

Roman had not heard this name before.

That's normal, the Witch Forest is an underground organization, fame is as fleeting as a street rat; the more notorious, the faster they die.

Roman said casually, "If you ever have nowhere to go, just come to me, but you must come covertly. I'm not yet prepared to confront the Church."

This comment caused Shasta to take another look at Roman, her expression quite strange.

Although nobles and the Church were at odds, they weren't at the point of outright hostility; why was this man preparing to wage war on the Church now?

He must be seriously ill!

Regardless, having an additional potential ally was good for the witches.

She had once thought nobles and the Church were cut from the same cloth.

It seems that's not entirely the case.

Of course, Shasta also knew that Roman, this kind of noble, was a rarity wherever one looked across the lands.

She was reminded of a legendary figure from one hundred fifty years ago, known for his brilliance.

But she quickly dismissed this thought; perhaps she shouldn't draw parallels.

Their statuses were as different as cloud and mud. Not to mention Roman, even if Grand Duke Riptide came, he would have to bow his head in submission.

Aaron had almost cleaned up the battlefield.

He came next to Roman and said in a low voice, "Three guards are dead, eight injured, four of them seriously, one might not be able to continue fighting."

Including the situation at Galin Cottage, the guards had suffered extensive casualties.

The guards' quality greatly dissatisfied Roman, but he couldn't be overly critical.

Roman looked toward the distant mountains.

"I wonder how Green is doing over there."

...

At this time, Green was still on the trail of Bo Ge.

...

About fifty years ago.

On the northern coastline of the Black Iron Kingdom, a coastal village called Reef Town was invaded by the North Ice Pirates.

And if we go further back in time by a hundred years, which is about one hundred and fifty years ago, the pirates were extremely rampant then.

At that time, a man later called the Conqueror stood out.

He pointed his sword at various countries, subdued the pirates, pacified the barbarians, battered all the forces across the land, fought his way to the pirates' homestead in Igo, conquered it, and ultimately established the vast Black Iron Kingdom.

However, that era of the Conqueror eventually passed.

A hundred years later, the pirates of North Ice returned, but no second Conqueror emerged on this land.

Reef Town was one of the places affected by the pirate's invasions. Unlike other places, the pirates from the Northern Ice Sea saw this area as a forward outpost and a supply station, settled there for a considerably long time, and during this period, many women were defiled.

Among them, a young girl whose family had been killed also suffered the same fate and gave birth to a male infant ten months later.

This child was named Bo Ge.

In that era, it was difficult for a young girl with a baby to survive, so she had to use every means to sustain Bo Ge and herself.

For some reason and thought unknown, she didn't opt to end or murder this tainted offspring but rather nurtured him with all her heart.

The young girl managed to sustain her first child.

Perhaps, due to the pirate bloodline of the North Ice people, Bo Ge had a strong vitality and grew up healthy from a young age.

When Bo Ge was ten, the woman, not yet twenty-five, eventually passed away due to exhaustion.

The poverty-stricken life left the mother with nothing to pass on to her son.

After his mother died, Bo Ge lost everything, yet he didn't visibly grieve and simply accepted the situation.

In the subsequent days, finding places to sleep, and stealing food when necessary, his inherently fierce and competitive nature, which was evident even in his childhood, caused his mother much trouble.

Because of his talent in combat, Bo Ge later joined a mercenary group, starting a life of wandering and fighting, and his combat skills and physical fitness steadily improved, slaughtering more and more people.

He conducted various mercenary tasks day-in, day-out for ten years.

Strangely, though accustomed to killing, he frequently recollected his childhood memories after reaching adulthood.

Bo Ge found this unbelievable as he had never before missed his childhood.

This made him believe he had forgotten everything in the past and wouldn't be moved by any matter.

Yet, the memory of that frail yet resilient figure began appearing more frequently in his mind.

Something buried deep within his bones seemed to be unearthed.

He took it for granted then, disregarding those experiences when he was growing up. But looking back in adulthood, Bo Ge found himself understanding many things, such as life's hardships, the heavy burdens, and the tender motherly love.

As a child, he had experienced dramatic changes in his fate, unknowingly losing the most important and loving person in his life.

Back then, he felt no grief.

This hardened veteran mercenary and casual pirate, upon realizing all this belatedly, felt a sudden surge of unresolved sorrow welling in his heart.

Each time he thought of the past, his sorrow intensified, threatening to drown him like a surging tide.

Often, he awoke to find dried tear streaks on his face.

His comrades mocked him as a coward who would cry out for his mother at night.

Bo Ge was a seasoned warrior, knowing he was no longer suited to continue the fight because he had become vulnerable, and his axe for killing had dulled.

He left his former life behind, moved onto the land, found suitable terrain, built a house, cultivated the land, learned farming, bought grains, and then settled down.

But the matter was far from over.

What he saw were numb and suffering ordinary people.

They were starving and destitute.

The slender, fragile image of his mother often appeared before him.

Bo Ge began to question why his mother in his youth had struggled so hard to raise him, leaving her body like dry, withered wood by the time of her death.

Why did the farmers toil exhaustively yet could never eat their fill? Where did all the grain they harvested go?

When witnessing a farming family unable to pay taxes having their twelve-year-old daughter taken away by guards to become a slave at a manor,

Bo Ge saw his past mother's figure overlapping with that young girl's silhouette.

And he did nothing.

He just returned to his residence, took out a long-unused war axe from a wooden box, and used a stone to grind away the rust.

On that dark night, he snuck into a noble's castle, killed all the guards and the sleeping Viscount.

He took all the wealth and food with a cart, distributing them to all the households on the land, advising them to hide it well and to claim it was taken by him, the great thief, if anyone asked.

However, contrary to his wishes, his supposedly flawless plan was swiftly discerned by a shrewd noble lord—several households that received money and grain turned over the loot and indignantly exposed his activities as a grand thief.

Consequently, all remaining non-reporting households were executed by the nobles.

Massive gallows hung with one body after another, among them was the frail girl who, in his view, overlapped with his mother's image.

The extremely emaciated figure of the girl hung there as if a levitating angel, her feet and ragged clothes swaying with the breeze, displayed for three days as a warning.

It was from then that the great thief, Bo Ge, went mad.