Chapter 360

“Did you do… something?” Siegfried feigned ignorance and asked. Then, he let out a laugh and tried to joke about it, “Haha! Did you spit in my food by any chance? I’ll forgive you as long as there wasn't no phlegm!”

“No, Your Majesty…” Jessie shook her head and replied.

“Hmm?”

“I…”

“Eh?”

“I…” Jessie muttered as large droplets of tears fell from her eyes.

‘What’s she trying to pull right now?’ Siegfried could not help but be skeptical of her tears.

“Your Majesty.”

“Yes?”

“I am…”

“You are…?”

“I am a member of the Church of Osric.”

“What?! O-Osric?! You are a member of that cult?!” Siegfried was shocked. He did not expect her to willingly expose herself in this way.

“Yes, I am… a follower of the Church of Osric…”

“A-And then?”

“Your Majesty, I have committed a heinous crime only deserving of death. Please do not forgive me and execute me. That is the only befitting punishment for someone like me.”

“What are you talking about? I can’t understand what you’re saying right now… How can you be a follower of that cult…”

“It is as I said, Your Majesty. I am a follower of the Church of Osric.”

“Hmm…”

“Not only that, I dared to kidnap the soon-to-be-born princess—“

“Are you talking about Gyul?”

Gyul[1] was the nickname of his baby, and he chose this nickname due to Brunhilde’s love for Fizzy Mandarins.

“I am a treacherous criminal who plotted to sell the princess to the Church of Osric.”

“Wow?”

“So please… Sniff! Please execute me, Your Majesty!”

‘What the hell is she plotting right now?’ Siegfried could not help but suspect the maid’s intention even more instead of falling for her antics. To begin with, what she was doing made no sense at all. She was a treacherous spy who had plotted Gyul’s kidnapping with Carlisle just last night.

However, she suddenly had a change of heart and decided to confess?

She changed her mind overnight and was now asking to be executed?

There was something wrong here.

‘Don’t tell me… Did she notice me?’

The only conclusion he could come up with was that Jessie somehow caught a whiff of him tailing them, but it seemed highly unlikely after he thought about it one more time.

Why?

She would have made a run for it in the dead of the night instead of turning herself in if that were the case.

“The sin I have committed makes me no different from a demon. Your Majesty, I implore you to put an end to this filthy life of mine! Waaaaah! Waaaaah!” Jessie exclaimed before she burst into tears and wailed.

“Hey, owner punk… What’s wrong with her? She’s acting quite suspicious right now, don’t you think so?”

“I-I have no idea…”

Siegfried was bewildered by her actions, but that did not last long. She was a vicious criminal who dared to kidnap Gyul and hand her over to the Church of Osric, and he was not the kind of person who would be swayed and forgive everything by tears.

“I was…”

“Waaaah…! Waaaaah!”

“…Wondering how and when I should kill you.”

“Heok?!”

Jessie was shocked at what she heard.

“W-Were you aware of it, Your Majesty…?”

“You were worrying about Kyle last night, and today you’re turning yourself in. Tell me, just what are you plotting right now?”

“Ah… Ah…!” Jessie looked mortified.

“So, why are you turning yourself in?”

“That is…”

“Are you trying to sacrifice yourself to save Kyle? But I don’t think you have that kind of relationship with him. Perhaps you’re hoping that I will spare you since you turned yourself in? If that’s the case, then…”

Siegfried took out his +15 Gaia’s Fist from his inventory and placed it on top of Jessie’s head.

“You better let go of such expectations.”

“Your Majesty…”

“Do I look like somebody who would be merciful toward those who dared to put my family in danger?”

“N-Not at all, Your Majesty! I do not wish to be forgiven!”

“Then?”

“I just… wanted to die…”

“Why?”

“I could not bring myself to betray Her Majesty when she has given me a new life… So I was thinking that if I…”

“Tsk… What the hell are you talking about?” Siegfried clicked his tongue out of frustration and said, “Explain yourself in detail. Why are you turning yourself in?”

“That is…” Jessie proceeded to tell her story.

***

It was the time before Siegfried ascended as the King of Proatine. In other words, it was before the Proatine Territory became the Proatine Kingdom.

The Proatine Territory was ruled by Baron Verbon, and its people were living in absolute misery due to his tyranny. Jessie and her family were one of those living in misery.

It was the year when famine ravaged the lands that Jessie decided to work for the feudal lord as she could not bear to watch her family starve to death.

Unfortunately, she caught the attention of the human scum, Verbon, and…

“Hoho! Your ass looks so tight and soft you’re making me want to taste it!”

Baron Verbon harassed Jessie whenever he got the chance.

“I’d rather die than…”

Jessie felt like dying every time she was humiliated by him, but she had no choice but to endure it for the sake of her family.

“Kekeke! Your hips are moving even more vigorously by the day!”

“…”

“Good job! Slurp! Kekeke!”

Jessie’s family survived on the meager salary she earned as a maid and the few gold coins Verbon would throw after her once he was done having his way with her.

“Sniff… Sniff…”

She cried herself to sleep every night. Her life was an endless nightmare, and she could not even die to put an end to her misery. She could neither refuse Baron Verbon’s filthy requests nor could she kill him.

Why?

Because her family would end up getting massacred in retaliation…

Jessie’s miserable days continued until an organization claiming to be a church secretly reached out to her.

“This world is already rotten to its core, and we will bring forth chaos to cleanse this world of its impurities.”

They introduced themselves as the Church of Osric, and their mission was to sow discord and chaos in the world to purify it.

“Only pain and suffering are waiting at the end of this world. Are you going to let other poor women suffer as you did? Or are you going to destroy this world and establish a new one with your own hands?”

“I will do it!”

In the end, Jessie was mesmerized by the church’s doctrine and agreed to become a follower. Of course, nothing changed even after she became a follower, as her value to the church was that of an informant and nothing more than that.

One day…

“I will be in your care!”

A ray of hope shone in her dark, miserable life when a new king, an Adventurer, ascended the throne. He executed Baron Verbon, subjugated the barbarian tribes, raided the Vampire Lord, and brought in a massive influx of gold from somewhere.

The kingdom’s trade with other nations also flourished, and the mana stone hidden in the kingdom’s lands was developed to boost the local economy.

The king’s arrival completely changed Jessie’s life.

Her meager wage as a maid went up tenfold, her working conditions greatly improved, and she even received paid day-offs, which was unheard of before. However, the biggest change in her life was the fact that she was no longer being defiled against her will.

The new king did not use her as a plaything like Baron Verbon did—no, he did not even consider her as anything other than a maid in the castle.

The Adventurer seemed quite gentle and nice despite the numerous bad rumors following around him.

He was rumored to be vicious, cruel, despicable, and even a sex addict by others, but Jessie ignored all of it. To her, he was like a kind and warm big brother next door who gave her hope. His arrival in her life was like the coming of spring, giving warmth to her dark, miserable, and cold life.

Siegfried ended up filling this once-miserable woman’s life with happiness and brought back her smile.

***

“I recently received a letter from the Church of Osric… Sniff… Sniff…”

Jessie proceeded to tell him exactly what happened while crying.

“They threatened to expose me to Your Majesty and kill my family if I refused to cooperate…”

“Hmm…”

“Even though my body has been defiled countless times and my life is worth nothing, I still want to live… My desire to survive made me commit treason by betraying Her Majesty and plotting the kidnapping of the princess…”

She continued crying as she forced the words out of her.

“I did not want to lose this happiness… I desperately clung to it despite knowing that it was Your Majesty who gifted this happiness to me…!”

To sum it up, she was about to betray him for her own survival, but her conscience got the better of her, and she ended up turning herself in.

“Her Majesty treated me so well… But I ended up betraying her! I deserve to die…! I am a—“

“Enough,” Siegfried raised his hand and interrupted her.

“I’ve heard your story.”

“Your Majesty…”

“But how do I know if you’re telling the truth or you’re trying to trick me?”

Siegfried didn't believe a single word Jessie told him, as he was not the emotional type that would get swayed by tears and words. What if he bought her sob story only to end up getting betrayed?

He was going to end up putting Brunhilde and Gyul in danger, and even the entire Proatine Kingdom could end up getting destabilized by it.

“I do not wish to beg for my life, Your Majesty. All I ask is that you spare my family. I will gladly give up my life in exchange for—“

“Decimato.”

“Yes, Your Majesty?” Decimato responded as he suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“You can check if she is telling the truth or not, I believe?”

“Certainly, Your Majesty.”

Decimato was a Great Wizard, and finding out whether an ordinary maid was telling the truth or not was an easy task for him. However, Jessie was going to experience excruciating pain while the truth was being extracted from her.

‘You reap what you sow,’ Siegfried thought. He couldn't care less whether she would suffer or not. What was important to him right now was whether she was telling the truth or not, and nothing else mattered aside from that.

“Please proceed discreetly so the other rat does not catch a whiff of it.”

“As you wish, Your Majesty.”

That was how Jessie was dragged to a secret prison located in the castle dungeons.

***

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Siegfried heard knocking on the door right after he gave Decimato the task of finding out whether Jessie was telling the truth or not. The door was soon opened, and the visitor was none other than Michele.

“I’m not finished with these yet,” Siegfried said while on the verge of tears, and then he begged, “Can you let me off this once? Please? I want to go out and have some fun in the afternoon—“

“No, Your Majesty. That is not why I am here,” Michele shook his head and replied.

“Then why are you here?”

“We have received word from the Thieves’ Guild.”

“The Thieves’ Guild?”

“The Adventurer, Desire, has made his move.”

“…!”

“He commissioned a female Adventurer to purchase a powerful artifact for him, and he is currently rallying his guild members.”

“Will they follow him so easily? Their guild is already on the brink of imploding, right?” Siegfried said as he tilted his head in confusion.

Chae Hyung-Seok’s demise triggered the collapse of the Genesis Guild, and half of their guild members had already left the guild by now.

However, he was actually rallying his guild members? Were they going to respond to him when he was as good as done?

Something was definitely fishy here...

“I am afraid we do not know how, but the Genesis Guild members have started to gather,” Michele replied before adding, “Perhaps Desire gave them an offer they could not refuse.”

“Yeah, that’s the only reason those guys would listen. Then that means…”

Michele continued his words, “Yes, it seems that the Genesis Guild is preparing to launch a large-scale invasion.

“Then we should probably prepare for that, right?” Siegfried replied with a shrug before he placed his finger on the Head Crusher Guild’s insignia.

Wooong!

The guild insignia vibrated and shone brightly.

1. Gyul is Mandarin in Korean. I went with Gyul since it sounds cute as opposed to Mandarin, which is a Marvel villain’s name… ☜