The village chief asked, his face full of disbelief.

“You—you’re saying you do that often? That all of you really do that?”

“I’m telling you, we did the same thing in the last village we passed through. We could do it right now if we wanted to.”

Ghislain curled his lips into a grin and continued.

“When we see something like that, we don’t just let it slide.”

“......!!!”

The village chief and the other villagers went pale.

Especially the chief, who had invited the mercenary corps to stay in the village, was visibly shaken. He felt like he had been deceived.

'S-So it’s true you can’t trust a soul in this world...'

Not just one, but the entire mercenary corps were perverted bastards!

The chief trembled as he asked.

“A-Astion, was it?”

Completely unaware of how his notoriety was growing by the second, Ghislain proudly stated his name.

“Yeah, I’m the one and only Astion.”

“I heard you were the vice-captain. D-Does the captain really think the same way?”

The chief couldn’t believe it.

That same mercenary corps who had been so kind and helped the village—was this who they really were?

He wanted to hear directly from the always-quiet captain.

As Ghislain turned his head, Julien stepped forward.

Julien wore a mask. It was to avoid the trouble of crowds gathering around because of his looks.

When Julien removed his mask, the villagers let out involuntary gasps. His appearance was just that overwhelming.

Julien looked around with an expression like a painting and spoke in a low voice.

“Whenever we see something like that... we never overlook it. My will is the same as theirs.”

The village women were even more shocked.

'Wait, with a face like that?'

'Just politely ask to see it, for god’s sake!'

'What’s the point of that face if you’re gonna act like this?!'

The village chief was getting desperate now. It sounded like they were insisting on seeing it, even if by force.

The only person he could still believe in was Deneb. No way would someone called a saintess approve of something so absurd.

“S-Saintess! Do you really think that too?”

Radiating a gentle divine power, Deneb gave him a firm look.

She was no longer the soft pushover who blindly took the villagers’ side.

“Yes. Because it’s what the Goddess wishes.”

“......!!!”

The village chief and the villagers were utterly speechless.

She was seriously saying that while radiating divine power?

No, what kind of Goddess wants people to peek into bathhouses?

Now the chief was convinced.

'T-They’re insane. They’re followers of some crazy cult.'

Even a clueless countryside bumpkin knew God wouldn’t want something like that. These people were clearly deranged members of some lunatic religious group.

'No wonder they were so nice. I was suspicious they were helping us for free.'

They were just lunatics pretending to be kind while mocking them all along.

The village chief dropped to his knees and spoke.

“I-I understand. We’re truly grateful for all the help you’ve given us.”

Ghislain rested his staff across his shoulders and asked,

“So?”

“C-Could you please leave the village now?”

The chief knew how dangerous the world was. He had to be careful not to provoke these outsiders.

Especially if they were from some crazed religious sect.

Ghislain gave a short laugh.

“You’re telling us to just leave? Without doing anything?”

'Th-They’re finally showing their true colors!'

The chief began sweating profusely. He spoke with all the strength he could muster.

“We... we don’t have much, but we’ll give you what we can in good faith.”

The villagers also dropped to their knees.

They had come thinking these were reasonable people—after all, they’d helped them. But if the other side insisted on madness, there was nothing they could do.

Some young men and members of the village watch clenched their teeth in frustration. The village women were tearing up.

To them, Ghislain said indifferently,

“I told you, right? We don’t let things slide. We have to see it through to the end.”

The mercenaries around him also began to exude a fierce energy.

The simple villagers couldn’t possibly withstand that. Everyone went pale.

“Aaaah...”

The village chief let out a groan.

They had run into some truly wicked bastards who wouldn’t rest until they saw it.

The village would be mocked, and all their possessions taken. But even so, he had to protect their lives.

In the end, the chief choked back tears and said,

“V-Very well. Please give us some time to prepare.”

Ghislain looked at him with a sneer. Prepare? With what? A bunch of thugs?

“Prepare? Fine. Go ahead. Do your best.”

“Y-Yes. We’ll do our best. Everyone! Go undress and finish the bath!”

“Hic...”

“Perverts...”

The village women sobbed. But the chief had no choice but to push them.

“I’m sorry. This is for the village. We can’t resist them with just the watch. Men, start clearing the bathhouse area so it’s more comfortable for them to see.”

Click.

Ghislain stopped in his tracks. So did the members of Julien’s Mercenary Corps.

They finally realized something was very, very wrong.

Ghislain stammered in shock.

“W-W-Wait, w-why are you undressing and, and bathing?”

“Pardon? Isn’t that what you all wanted?”

“Wh-Wh-Why would we want that?!”

“But you’ve been talking about it all this time?”

“C-C-Can you say it again?”

The village chief pointed to Osvald and said,

“He was caught peeping on the women bathing... and even punched one of the young men who tried to stop him... We came here to talk about that...”

All heads turned in unison.

Ghislain stared blankly at Osvald, mouth agape.

Julien, Deneb, Kyle, Ereneth, Lionel, and the other mercenaries also stood frozen, mouths open. Even Dark, who’d been lazily watching, dropped his beak.

And Osvald, under everyone’s gaze...

Suddenly spun around and started running.

“It’s been fun! Don’t come looking for me! I’m going to chase my dreams!”

As Osvald fled, Ghislain looked utterly devastated.

They had worked so hard to build up the name of Julien’s Mercenary Corps!

Reputation was hard to earn, but one mistake was all it took to destroy it.

He had tried so hard to raise their name, but now their infamy was spreading—and in the worst, most shameful way.

Even Claude and Alfoy, the troublemakers of Fenris, had never done something this vile.

Ghislain trembled. He was so shocked he could barely keep his legs under him.

“G-Get him! Get that bastard!”

The others were still in a daze. Deneb dropped to her knees, closed her eyes, and began praying for forgiveness.

Ereneth, who came to her senses first, quickly dashed off and dragged Osvald back.

“Ack! I was wrong! I just had a revolutionary thought for a moment...!”

Whack!

Starting with Ghislain, everyone began beating on Osvald.

Whack! Whack! Whack!

“Uwaaah! Please, have mercy!”

Osvald was beaten—truly and thoroughly—like a revolutionary.

After taking a thorough beating, he knelt before the villagers and apologized.

“I-I’m... sorry... Nghhh...”

Ghislain forced an awkward smile and added,

“Apologies. This was... just a big misunderstanding...”

Both Ghislain and Julien offered repeated apologies to the villagers. Deneb did the same.

However, the village chief and the rest of the villagers still wore uneasy expressions.

To them, Julien’s Mercenary Corps were simply erratic lunatics. The way they kept flipping back and forth made them impossible to trust.

Even now, they looked like they were acting. It was more concerning than reassuring.

Not that they could say anything. Who knew when those people might change their minds again?

In the end, the village chief spoke cautiously.

“Ah... I see. So there was a misunderstanding. But, um... the villagers are a bit shaken...”

“But still, since we’re at fault, we’d really like to help finish the construction—”

“No, no. We’ll take care of the rest. Just what you’ve done so far is more than enough, thank you.”

That was clearly a polite way of saying, please get out of our village.

With no other choice, Ghislain decided they’d stay just one more night before leaving.

The reason he didn’t leave immediately was simple.

'Those bastards...'

The villagers had all gathered to watch with worried expressions. Among them were the people who had been tailing them earlier.

Those bastards had been watching the whole situation and now were clearly struggling not to laugh.

Seeing that, Ghislain’s insides boiled—but given the circumstances, he couldn’t be the one to pick a fight first.

'We’ll see tomorrow.'

Tonight had already become a chaotic mess because of Osvald. If those people intended to make a move, it would happen tomorrow.

Now that some of them had shown their faces, it wouldn’t be easy to follow them to another village.

With that, Ghislain calmed himself and returned to the inn.

Once he lay down, all sorts of thoughts flooded his head.

'Goddammit...'

Normally, Ghislain didn’t care what others said and pushed forward with things by sheer force.

He wouldn’t say he’d never been wronged before, but this was the first time he’d ever been treated like a pervert.

Ghislain was seething. He ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) tried to rest on his bed, but he couldn’t fall asleep no matter what.

So he sprang up and went to find Osvald again.

Whack! Whack! Whack!

“This is your fault! Huh?! Do you know how much I’ve worked to build our reputation?!”

“Gyaah! Please, have mercy!”

Osvald had been snoring in his sleep but got beaten again. The mercenaries, sensing a golden opportunity, joined in.

And so, nobody got a proper night’s sleep. Morning came.

After giving Osvald another round of “education,” Ghislain quietly told the group,

“Tonight, don’t let your guard down. Especially make sure Osvald doesn’t wander off on his own.”

They all knew that the people who had been following them were disguised as travelers.

Real travelers wouldn’t have left their companions waiting outside.

The villagers no longer approached the mercenary corps’ lodging.

Ghislain, Julien, and Deneb once again apologized to the chief and handed over a generous sum.

It wouldn’t erase their infamy, but it might at least soften it a little.

With that, the mercenary corps packed up and finished their preparations to leave—by throwing a massive drinking party.

As bottles clinked and rolled across the floor, the mercenaries all fell asleep. Except for Deneb, Ereneth, and a few officers, everyone collapsed right there in the hall.

But they weren’t really asleep. They were pretending—acting drunk, acting unconscious.

All except for one.

“Snooorrr... Hrghhh... Revolution...”

“......”

Osvald had received no instructions. He had truly passed out from drinking.

Anyway, someone had to sell the act convincingly. Osvald just happened to fit that role.

Soon, the atmosphere looked natural—drunken, passed-out mercenaries as far as the eye could see.

And some time later—

'Slip...'

Figures cloaked in heavy robes crept into the mercenary corps’ lodging.

Ghislain sensed their presence immediately. But he didn’t move.

Neither did the other mercenaries. They accepted the risk of being ambushed with their eyes closed.

They trusted Ghislain, Julien, and the other officers completely.

The intruders quietly examined the mercenaries. Then, they carefully began lifting the pre-packed bags.

Ghislain clicked his tongue inwardly.

'Tch. Really? All this, and they’re just common thieves?'

It made no sense. If they’d wanted to steal, they’d had plenty of chances earlier.

Why wait until this village to act, after following them this whole time?

If they were after the baggage, it would’ve made more sense to ambush them in the mountain pass.

There was no killing intent—but still, it was clear these people were targeting them.

Until now, he’d held back for the sake of their reputation. But now that they’d proven themselves to be enemies, there was no more reason to tolerate it.

BOOM!

Ghislain shot to his feet and sent the nearest intruder flying.

“Don’t kill them. We need answers.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, every mercenary jumped up and launched attacks on the intruders.

The infiltrators panicked and tried to flee—but there were superhumans here.

Lacking proper combat ability, the attackers were quickly overwhelmed and knocked out.

BOOM!

Another attacker went crashing through the wall and out of the building from one of Ghislain’s strikes.

“They’ve got some skill, so a few hits won’t kill them, right? I’ve got some frustration to vent.”

Ghislain grinned and spun his staff in wide circles.

He was already irritated because of Osvald. Now that these guys were caught red-handed, he could beat them all he wanted.

The fallen intruder clawed at the ground with a horrified look.

But once Ghislain had decided to hit someone, escape was impossible.

Before the attacker could even rise, Ghislain moved right in front of him and raised his staff.

“Since it’s come to this, you’d better spill everything you know.”

He was just about to strike when—

WHAM!

Someone blocked his path.

Ghislain instinctively redirected his staff—but stopped short.

'No way...'

It was a masked woman. But that intense gaze—he’d seen it somewhere before.

In that moment, her robe flared and dozens of daggers shot out.

Clangclangclangclangclang!

Ghislain deflected them and leapt back.

Whoosh!

The masked woman’s body scattered like shadow. The fallen attacker was rapidly pulled away by an invisible force.

At the same time, the other intruders began trying to flee in a panic.

A grin slowly crept onto Ghislain’s face.

“So, we finally meet. I was wondering when it’d be. I guess it was bound to happen one way or another.”

BOOM!

Ghislain surged with magic and chased after the masked woman.

And meanwhile, the villagers who had rushed outside because of the commotion...

'I knew it. They were just pretending to be nice.'

'They’re beating up innocent travelers!'

'These guys are seriously dangerous...' 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Their misunderstanding of Julien’s Mercenary Corps deepened even further.