Chapter 51.1

This was a hundred percent suspicious!

Mark, though illiterate and uneducated, could feel it in his gut.

“Wow~ You’ve already sold this much?”

“…….”

Watching the thugs pocket Cooper’s goods, Mark and Daisy looked on with lifeless eyes.

They no longer felt hatred, fear, or even despair.

“What is it that you want from us?”

Mark, overwhelmed with genuine curiosity, asked in a resigned voice.

It couldn’t be that these scoundrels were harassing a crippled man like him for a measly sum of money.

“You still don’t get it?”

Hearing Mark’s plea, the thugs grinned widely, as if they had been waiting for this moment.

“You’ve got some debt, don’t you?”

“And your house is about to be seized, isn’t it?”

“How… How do you know about that? No way!”

Mark’s eyes widened in shock as a face came to mind—the creditor who had visited his house just yesterday.

“It must be tough raising a daughter with that inconvenient body of yours, huh?”

“Your daughter’s got a pretty face and seems well-developed. Most importantly, she’s still a virgin, right? Isn’t she too precious to waste her life with a father like you?”

“We can find her a very good job. In no time, your debts will be gone, and your house will be safe.”

“Daisy, was it? What do you say? Come with us, and you won’t have to keep living like this.”

“You’ll eat delicious food, wear beautiful clothes, and never go hungry again.”

“And who knows? You might have a full belly all year round. Hahaha!”

Mark finally realized what the creditor and these thugs were truly after.

So that’s why they had been so eager to lend him money!

And so tolerant even though he hadn’t paid a cent of interest for three months!

“Never! Never, you filthy scum!”

Mark, flailing his empty sleeve, stepped in front of his daughter as if to shield her.

“Scum? Who do you think you’re calling scum, huh?”

Thwack!

Without hesitation, the thugs began mercilessly kicking Mark.

The wooden carvings Daisy had painstakingly crafted were smashed along with him under their feet.

“Ahh! Dad, Dad!”

Daisy’s terrified screams rang out from behind.

“D-Daisy! My daughter!”

Before Mark realized it, Daisy’s arms were being held by the thugs, as if she was about to be dragged away.

‘Guards! Guards!’

Mark, tears streaming down his face, frantically looked around.

This area, at least, was one where the city guards frequently patrolled.

But there wasn’t a single guard in sight.

“Looking for the guards? Dream on.”

The thugs sneered knowingly, as if reading Mark’s thoughts.

“The one who hired us bribed the guards. For the next two hours, no guards will come near this area…”

Thunk!

The thug’s words were abruptly cut off.

“Urk…!”

Out of nowhere, a shortsword stabbed the talking thug in the neck from the side.

Slash, slash, thunk!

Following this, another shortsword and a hand axe ruthlessly hacked at the remaining thugs.

In an instant, five bodies lay sprawled around Mark.

The two thugs who had been trying to abduct Daisy were among them.

“You’re in quite a state, Mark.”

“……?! Sir Joseph?”

Mark looked up at his rescuer with bewildered eyes.

Though it had been years since they last met, he recognized him instantly.

“At least we weren’t too late,” Joseph said as he helped Mark to his feet.

“Wait… Sir, your arm?!”

It was only then that Mark noticed Joseph’s left arm.

If his memory served him correctly, Joseph’s left arm had been shattered by a troll’s blow during the expedition where the Grand Duke had perished.

Yet here it was, attached and fully functional, albeit with skin the color of the sky.

“Hey, Mark. Can’t you see anyone but Sir Joseph?”

At that moment, others who had accompanied Joseph came into Mark’s view.

“Den?! Snow!”

They were comrades who had faced life and death together during the Northern Expedition.

“Den, your leg…! Snow, your hand…!”

Mark had heard after retiring that Sir Joseph had continued living as a one-armed mercenary.

Den, who had lost his left leg below the knee, and Snow, who had amputated all his fingers except his thumbs due to frostbite, had found jobs sorting magic stones mined.

Meanwhile, Mark, who had lost both arms, could do nothing but rely on the meager support stipend he received.

Even that stipend had recently stopped coming.

“How… How is this possible?”

Yet here they were, standing before him, looking completely whole.

“We received a blessing. A miracle of a blessing,” Den said, rolling up his pants. His left calf was dark brown, with magic stones embedded in places, but it appeared to function perfectly.

“People of the North repay their debts, no matter the cost—even if it means their lives,” Snow said, flexing his fingers. His fingers were pure white, with what appeared to be magic stones embedded near his knuckles.

“We went through quite the trouble tracking you down,” Joseph remarked, seeing Mark’s stunned expression.

“Me?”

“This place went into chaos after the recent coup, messing up all the paperwork and administration. That’s probably why your stipend was cut off.”

“Ah…”

“So we’ve been going around the domain, searching for everyone one by one.”

So that’s why his support payments had stopped.

“What’s going on here?”

“Massacre in broad daylight in the city!”

“Arrest them all! Kill them if they resist!”

Just then, city guards came rushing in.

‘That bastard!’

Mark saw him.

Among the guards was the creditor.

“Ten men? They sure brought plenty,” Joseph muttered, clicking his tongue alongside Snow and Den.

As a mercenary, Joseph had honed his skills, and though Snow and Den had taken a long break, they were seasoned soldiers who had survived the extreme Northern Expedition.

“To not recognize a senior and to persecute him like this… They’re a disgrace to the North!” Joseph declared, drawing his sword.

“Kill them all.”

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