novelraw Chapter 36: Misjudgment
Chapter 36: Misjudgment
This was Obiken's shadow guard, a professional, likely an assassin or something similar.
Henwil looked up and asked, "There's one thing I don't understand. Since I'm going to die either way, could you satisfy my curiosity before I die?"
"Ask away! Whether I answer or not depends on me!"
"I thought I did quite well. I never harmed the Earl's interests, never let Fabio get hurt, and kept pushing Fabio forward.
Wouldn't this be good for the Earl, making his younger son more outstanding?
I'm still young and will have more opportunities to help Fabio in the future! I want to know why the Earl wants me dead!"
Seeing that Henwil had guessed his origins, the shadow guard didn't bother denying it: "You're quite good! But you appeared by Fabio's side at the wrong time.
If the eldest young master were still here, not only would the Earl not oppose your methods, he would give you full support.
But now the eldest young master has fallen in battle, and the youngest young master has become the Earl's most suitable heir!
The Earl's surname is Rhine, a royal bloodline, an honor that cannot be tainted!"Henwil sighed: "Ah~! So that's how it is! I understand now!"
He had overlooked a crucial issue - nobles placed too much importance on their reputation, even above practical interests.
Based on his previous life's experience, with all he had done, it shouldn't just be about being invited with great courtesy like visiting a recluse three times.
At the very least, they should be holding his hand with tears in their eyes, crying "Master, teach me!"
But here, he had made the mistake of empiricalism, thinking people here would treat strategists well too.
However, Henwil failed to realize that honor and reputation were extremely important to nobles.
Therefore, whether it was when Henwil had Fabio escape during the night attack at Plains Camp and then cleverly returned to claim merit,
Or during the Six Bay Mountain blocking battle, using ruthless means to inflict heavy casualties on the Allied Forces,
Or during the great penetration operation in the eastern border of the kingdom, making those unspoken transactions with local nobles -
In Henwil's view, this was using intelligence to get things done.
But in the eyes of nobles, these were things that violated noble principles.
Especially since Fabio carried royal bloodline and would become one of the few Earls in the Duchy.
As a powerful Earl of the royalist faction, this position would face much criticism from other nobles. These things might not matter now,
But in the future, they would all become laughingstocks that other nobles would bring up to mock.
Additionally, what Earl Obiken wanted was an heir.
A qualified heir was enough, not an outstanding one.
After all, there was still a Grand Duke above him, who was the true master of the Duchy.
Having such an outstanding son holding heavy troops, with a cunning and ruthless strategist by his side constantly pushing him upward -
But the only place further up was the Grand Duke himself!
Therefore, the Earl could only make Henwil disappear; he couldn't let his son be in such a desperate situation.
The Duchy belonged to the entire Rhine family. Now during this critical transformation period of the Duchy, there absolutely couldn't be any regime change.
After understanding all this, Henwil mocked himself - he had finally taken a risk, trying to take a shortcut,
But due to a moment of carelessness, he had still pushed himself into a desperate situation.
Seeing Henwil's bitter smile, the shadow guard curiously asked: "What exactly do you understand?"
Henwil closed his eyes, too lazy to communicate with these intellectually deficient fellows.
The shadow guard seemed to understand Henwil's meaning and said sinisterly: "I've satisfied your curiosity.
Now it's time for you to satisfy mine. If your answer satisfies me enough, I might consider sparing your life!"
Henwil suddenly opened his eyes and laughed: "Heh! So your orders weren't to kill me! Let me think - you're supposed to send me back to Billie Kingdom?"
"Why not Ika Kingdom? You little bumpkin from Twin Bay Town!"
Henwil was stunned for a moment, then relaxed.
Since Earl Obiken was scheming against him, he must have investigated him thoroughly.
Henwil shrugged: "Anywhere is fine! I can live anywhere!"
The shadow guard said: "The master only said to let you go, not to let you go intact! For example, missing some body parts - I don't think the master would mind!"
Henwil immediately said compliantly: "What do you want to know? About why Earl Obiken isn't killing me?
Why he wants you to kidnap me? Why create the false appearance of my death and frame the Border Army?"
The reason Earl Obiken wasn't killing Henwil was because Fabio had sworn using the Rhine surname.
Kidnapping Henwil and framing the Border Army was to make Fabio cause trouble.
Only by causing trouble could merits and faults offset each other, allowing the Grand Duke to severely reprimand but lightly punish.
Only then would other nobles think that this stubborn fellow Fabio had angered the Grand Duke and earned his displeasure.
They wouldn't target Fabio constantly in the future, making it convenient for Obiken to slowly maneuver him into the heir position.
After explaining everything, Henwil said to the shadow guard: "As a parting gift, I'll give Earl Obiken one more piece of advice - preserve the Ironwall Legion, that will be Fabio's foundation.
Also, I'll give you one more sentence!
Buddy, you're a shadow guard who already knows many secrets - that's quite dangerous. Don't be so curious in the future!"
The shadow guard said irritably: "Better worry about yourself first!
Now I'm taking you to Billie Kingdom. Behave yourself on the way. If you don't obey, I'll cut out your tongue.
Also, you cannot appear in the Duchy for ten years! Otherwise, this will become your grave!"
Henwil nodded in agreement, but inwardly didn't care.
Not to mention ten years - at most in six years, he would be able to break this guy's neck.
After several months, Henwil had used up all those body tempering auxiliary potions.
Besides those fourteen bottles, he had secretly obtained more than ten additional bottles during transactions with eastern nobles of Ika.
In total, Henwil had used thirty-seven body tempering potions.
With so many potions, an ordinary person should have long advanced to Knight Rank.
But besides feeling stronger, Henwil hadn't felt any so-called battle energy at all.
Regarding this, Henwil had some guesses.
On one hand, it might be because he was still young, and his meridians or internal organs hadn't matured enough to generate battle energy.
On the other hand, it might be because he still clung to materialism in his heart, always maintaining a skeptical attitude toward this idealistic cultivation method.
However, Henwil was very confident in his growth - he was getting stronger every moment.
As for the ten-year agreement, Henwil didn't care either.
In ten years, he would be an adult and probably would have made some achievements in Billie too.
Whether he returned or not didn't matter. If he couldn't find backing by then, coming back to cling to someone's coattails wouldn't be a bad thing either.