Adrian watched as Claire rushed over to him, observing the deep scratches and dried blood that covered her armor.

"Lord Adrian." Claire saluted, but Adrian could tell that she was completely exhausted.

"Tell me what happened." Adrian said.

"We arrived exactly on time." Claire said, her voice grim. "The mercenaries, the three bandits you hired, Aria, the kids and myself. We rode into town right as the enemy vanguard breached the archway. They were trying to slaughter the entire town."

Adrian clenched his fists. "Who were they?"

"A rogue mercenary group." Claire explained. "Around two hundred men in total. Viscount Alexander’s soldiers rushed in from the borders to help us defend the town, but they suffered huge causalities.

"Two hundred men?" Adrian frowned. "We had over six hundred soldiers combined. How did this happen?"

Claire looked down at the dirt., looking ashamed.

"They had knights." Claire said quietly. "Five F rank knights, two E rank knights.... and their leader was a D rank knight who seemed to reach the limits of his rank."

"A D rank knight." Adrian muttered.

"He was an absolute monster." Claire said. "Our regular soldiers could not even get near him. He cut through dozens of men in seconds. I joined the fight immediately. I had to."

"You are a D rank too..." Adrian said. "How did it go?"

"I barely managed to hold my own." Claire admitted. "I could not push him back. I just focused purely on defense and kept him locked in place. Once he realized I was not going to die quickly and that our combined army numbers were too high to wipe out easily, he called a retreat. But the damage was already done."

Adrian looked at the bleeding people on the ground.

"How many?" Adrian asked. He forced himself to look at her. "How many did we lose?"

Claire swallowed hard.

"Eighty four regular poeple are dead." Claire reported. "Twenty two of our own Orsefall soldiers died holding the line. And forty three of Viscount Alexander’s men died in the vanguard."

Adrian was unable to breathe for a few seconds. He felt something come up to his throat and go back in, leaving an unpleasant burning sensation in his throat.

Eighty innocent people. Men and women who just wanted to sell iron and eat a decent meal. Twenty two men who had just signed blood pacts with him hoping for a better future. Forty three men who were just following orders to guard his borders.

They were all dead.

Adrian felt a crushing weight crash down on his chest. It was guilt. Overwhelming amount of guilt.

He was just a normal guy living on the rent money he’d get from his tenants. He had no ambitions or responsibilities, but now he had hundreds of them lying in his backyard, bleeding and crying. And it was his fault.

Almost a hundred and fifty people had died because he was incompetent.

He had left the territory, his focus entirely on making money. He wanted to be a rich merchant lord and he had left his soldiers with wooden swords to practice breathing techniques. He never even considered the possibility of an attack so soon.

He thought he had some time, but this made him realize that he was nothing but a fool.

This world was not a peaceful trading simulator. It was a brutal fantasy world where the strong and cunning people ruled over the others to get what they wanted. Politics, war and back stabbing was a common occurrence.

He did not know who hired the mercenaries, but he knew that it had to be a noble family. The one with the highest possibility, was the Count who hated him. A rogue mercenary group left no trail. He could not track them right now, and he had zero proof.

But he knew one thing for sure. He would track them down eventually.

Adrian didn’t say another word to Claire. He just turned and headed into the mansion before he went straight into his study. He slumped into his leather chair and stared blankly at the wall.

Aria followed him and he heard her footsteps tapping against the wooden floorboards. He saw her peek around the doorframe but couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eye. He felt too ashamed.

Aria stood at the door and watched him space out.

She clenched her small fists and her adult mind saw this completely differently.

She knew exactly how twisted humanity got. After all, she was hunted, betrayed, and killed in her past life. Nobles treating commoners like absolute trash was the norm here. They loved their kids but that was only the ones they "loved". The treatment wasn’t the same for every child. Everyone had their own value.

But Adrian wasn’t like them. He was genuinely kind. He took care of her, spoiled her, and actually tried helping his people. Promising fair wages to ruined slaves, tossing priceless knight manuals to random adventurers just to give them a shot.

A noble who gave a crap about peasants was basically a myth.

And right now, that guy was sitting in total silence while regret eat him up from the inside.

Aria could see the guilt suffocating him. She wanted to help, but she had no clue how. Back then, nobody comforted her. If she cried, she cried alone, and being a shoulder to lean on wasn’t exactly a part of her skill set.

But she wanted to try. She had to try.

Aria slowly walked into the room and stood next to his chair.

She leaned forward and gently placed her head on his lap. That small act forced him to stop staring at the wall, forced him to look down at her.

Adrian looked at her small face. He gave her an incredibly awkward, broken smile.

He placed his hand on her silver hair and slowly patted her head almost absentmindedly.

"I was scared." Aria said softly.

Tears welled up in her large black eyes and she started crying.

She had lied multiple times in the past, but this time, she didn’t.