The Loser Lord Who Kept Getting Sweet Revenge and Somehow Rose to the Top - Chapter 17: Massacre ～Another “Serves You Right”～

Chapter 17: Massacre ～Another “Serves You Right”～

“Vice-Captain! We’re almost at the Tourmaline estate!”

At the scout’s shout from up front, I grinned, bloodlust surging through me.

The soldiers trailing behind clanked along in battered, filthy armor. Once, they had been the proud knights of House Shakara. Now? Just a pitiful, broken lot. Pathetic… and yet, we marched forward.

I was once the vice-captain of Count Shakara’s knight order. Back then, when monsters overran the territory and cut off our supply lines, my older brother—the knight captain—received an order straight from Count Shakara himself: raid a nearby village for food, and silence everyone afterward.

But before he could even return, that damn upstart Tourmaline annihilated them. Wiped out the entire unit—so clean not even the corpses were left.

“It’s just a simple job—kill some villagers, grab their food. We’ll be right back. And when we return, it’s party time! A hot and cool… PAR-TY! Here we gooo!!”

When I remembered my brother’s back as he marched off that day, my eyes burned with tears.

He was the one who taught me everything important in life: how to grovel before the strong, how to squeeze the weak dry for luxury, how to torment, defile, and toy with the helpless. A true role model. My teacher in life. The very image of what a knight should be—pure of heart, honest, a shining example of knighthood.

And that noble, virtuous brother of mine was killed. I don’t know how exactly, but I’m sure it was with some cowardly trick.

Our unit had just happened to be off-duty that day, so we escaped the slaughter. But all the looting and massacres of the villagers were pinned on the “reckless rampage of the knights.” As a result, anyone without close ties to House Shakara—like me, just a regular knight—was stripped of our titles, branded criminals, and exiled.

Banished, we weren’t even allowed to join the Adventurers’ Guild. So we scraped by, imitating bandits, earning a few coins just to stay alive. And it’s all because of Tourmaline. Those bastards destroyed our peaceful lives.

“Kill him… I’ll kill him… I’ll kill you, Tourmaline!!”

The overflowing hatred just poured out of my mouth.

House Shakara was finished. No money, lands confiscated, all the people gone. All that remained was for them to scrape by as washed-up nobles until they rotted away.

Honestly? Watching the same bastards who exiled us go down in flames was satisfying as hell. But it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t rest until I took revenge on House Tourmaline too.

I knew Tourmaline himself had gone off to fight at the border. Which meant his mansion right now was guarded only by powerless attendants and maids. Perfect. We’d slaughter them, torment them, steal their hoarded gold, and vanish. With that cash, we’d be set for life. A fresh start.

That’s why we decided to raid the “empty nest” Tourmaline estate. And so here we were, marching slowly, quietly, steadily through the forest.

Rumor had it there were some gorgeous maids working there too. We’d enjoy them to the fullest, “use” them however we wanted, then kill them—and when Tourmaline returned, he’d be greeted by nothing but despair.

Just thinking about it chased away my fatigue and got my blood boiling… among other things.

“Hello thereee~ What are you boys doing out here in the forest~?”

…An airy, carefree voice rang out—completely out of place in the dense woods. Up ahead, standing in our path, was a bespectacled woman in a maid uniform.

What the hell was a maid doing in a place like this?

“Guests of the mansion should be using the main road, not sneaking through the woods. And just who might you all be?”

The bespectacled maid laughed as she spoke, lighthearted and carefree. From her words, I realized—yeah, this one served the Tourmaline household. Didn’t know what she was doing out here, but she had a pretty face. Breaking her in would be a hell of a good time.

“Hmph, woman. You—you serve House Tourmaline, don’t you?”

“Wow, didn’t they ever teach you in school not to answer a question with a question? …Anyway, I’m Linna, maid of Count Tourmaline’s household. I cook, though it usually turns into charred Object X. I’m hopeless at paperwork too, but my specialty? Taking out the trash!”

“I knew it. We are the former knights of House Shakara—the ones stripped of everything by that bastard Sean Tourmaline. We have the right to vengeance! And it starts with you. We’ll have our fun with you, then you’ll guide us straight to him.”

As I drew my sword, the maid—this “Linna”—just sighed and scratched her head.

“Ahh, thought it might turn out like this. Good thing I snuck out here first… sooooi!!”

With that cheerful battle cry, the scout at the front—standing right beside her—suddenly had his head twisted all the way backwards.

Linna had blurred forward, grabbed his skull, and snapped his neck in an instant.

“Ahh? M-My… back… wh-what’s… g-gghhh…”

The scout whose neck had been snapped collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.

“Lord Sean is the Master I chose—the Master who makes life fun. Anyone who tries to ruin the happy days I share with Master Sean and his delightful companion Kiriko… is just trash. And trash needs to be cleaned up. Like I said, my specialty is cleaning up garbage. Got that through your thick skulls yet? Good. Then―――”

Linna raised her fist, stance sharp and unshakable.

“―――In the name of Saint Marialite, I will purge every last piece of filth!”

“…That phrase… that stance… I know her! S-She’s the Hound of Gendarme!!”

One of the soldiers screamed in panic.

Gendarme—once a noble house famed for producing generations of purge knights. A prestigious line, until bitter succession disputes wiped out their heirs and dragged the family into ruin. They were devout followers of the ancient Saint Marialite’s bloodline.

I’d heard rumors of a young woman from that house, nicknamed the “Hound,” a prodigy who vanished after the family’s fall. Never thought I’d see her here, of all places! Ha! Luck was finally on our side today.

“All men—draw your weapons! The Hound has a bounty in the underworld. Kill her here, bring back her head, and we’ll live rich for the rest of our lives!!”

We still had about twenty fully armed soldiers left. Sure, she took one of us down in a blink, but numbers were on our side. Even if some of us fell, sheer weight of numbers would crush her.

“Charge!! Everyone together, kill—”

“Psycho Jammer.”

The Hound muttered under her breath. Suddenly, glowing lines and dots lit up around us, connecting into a massive cube that sealed us inside. An eerie pressure hit at once, like our magic itself was being smothered.

Something wasn’t normal. Instinctively, every soldier yanked out their weapons and raised them. But before we could act, the Hound whispered again.

“Psycho Shard.”

The moment her voice rang out—BOOM! Swords, spears, axes, hidden daggers, even backup knives—all the weapons we carried exploded into shards. Some soldiers managed to drop their weapons or block with shields in time, but others weren’t so lucky—blood splattered as men were cut down by their own flying fragments.

“A barrier that seals magic, and a spell that forcibly destroys weapons. Two cheat-tier magics. I can’t finely tune the range, so I only use them when I’m alone… but in this situation? I can go all out.”

“M-Magic…? What the hell?! My spells won’t work! And our weapons—where the hell are our weapons?!”

“You wouldn’t understand even if I explained. I’m not from this world—I’m a reincarnator from another one. Kiriko’s little brother is the same, though he’s apparently open about it with Master. Me? I don’t bother saying anything. For me, to enjoy a happy slow life with Master and the others, I just quietly use my cheats behind the scenes… to clean up trash like you.”

…Another world? Reincarnation? What the hell was this woman talking about?! I couldn’t wrap my head around any of it.

“Well, not that it matters to you—you’re all about to die anyway. And the reason I’ve been chatting so much? I was scanning for reinforcements or ambushes. But nope—it looks like you’re the only ones here. Perfect.”

She smiled faintly, then raised her hand.

“So here are the rules: no weapons, no magic, bare-handed only. If you manage to beat me, you live. Otherwise—it’s a massacre. Simple, easy to understand, right? Alright then… ready, set, go!”

After that one-sided announcement, the Hound—Linna—began what couldn’t even be called a battle. It was pure slaughter.

A single hand strike split necks and torsos clean in half. Grabbing heads, she tore them free—spines and all—then swung the dripping vertebrae like a whip, shredding men apart as if they were paper dolls.

Her spear-hand thrusts punched straight through armor, dragging intestines out in wet coils. Soldiers staggered with their guts spilling, screaming in agony, until they collapsed in silence.

These weren’t twenty armed men. They were twenty scarecrows waiting to be torn down

Blood and organs painted the forest floor. Humans died like garbage, too fast to even scream.

…Thinking we were “lucky” today had been the stupidest thought of my life. The moment we decided to raid House Tourmaline, our fate was sealed. Our luck had already run out.

While the soldiers were being massacred, I ripped off my armor to lighten my body and bolted like a rabbit. If I didn’t run, I’d be next!

I stumbled again and again, rolling across the dirt, lungs burning, but I ignored the pain and kept sprinting past my limit. Finally, I spotted a massive tree with a hollow in the trunk big enough for a man. Crawling on my belly, I squeezed myself inside. It was deep enough to hide me completely.

Soon after I tucked myself in, the screaming outside stopped. The world fell silent. The others… they were all dead.

If I made even the slightest sound, I felt certain that woman would come for me. I clamped both hands over my mouth and nose, holding my breath.

I had no idea how much time passed. Thirty minutes? An hour? It felt like forever. Tears streamed down my face as I shook with fear, thinking only: If she finds me, I’m dead.

At last, I dared to peek out from the hollow to check the surroundings—

―and in that instant, ZWAH!

The Hound’s face appeared from my blind spot, so close her nose nearly touched mine. Stretched across her lips was that eerie, pasted-on smile.

“―――Found you.”