340 A platoon arrives

The aura around Vincent changed drastically. His murderous intent made the soldiers shiver and second guess if they wanted to fight against the man who sent shivers down their spine.

“D-demon!” The woman screamed and fainted once again.

“The Blackheart family sent you to your death. Hahaha.” Vincent laughed maniacally to threaten the soldiers. However, the truth was different than what it seemed. Vincent didn’t want to kill anyone else. One was enough, he thought.

“You!” The vice captain exclaimed. He pointed his sword at Vincent and “Huh? What’s that sound?”

After hearing a loud sound similar to a stampede, the vice captain turned his head. What entered his sight made him lower his sword and try to guess if they were on his side or not. It was a platoon of soldiers on horseback heading to their location in a hurry. A vice captain was leading them.

*Clack, clack* “Hooo~ stop girl!” The vice captain arrived. He ordered his horse to stop and jumped from his horse. Similarly, twenty soldiers behind the vice captain unmounted their horses.

The vice captain removed his helmet. “Vincent, why are you always at the eye of the storm? My friend in dragon heaven will give me an earful if I keep letting his family face danger.”

[I thought I recognized his half-covered face. Ben must have come because of the alarm runes in the wall.]

“Uncle Ben.” The twins became happy to see him.

.....

Ben noticed half of the soldiers had the Blackheart insignia. “At ease, Vincent. The real alerted soldiers are here.” Ben raised his hand and ordered, “Surround them until we learn of what happened.”

The twenty soldiers drew their blades and surrounded the nine soldiers. Ben approached the frowning vice captain and looked at his sword.

“Sheath your sword, soldier. The messenger division sent me the order to come here after the intrusion alarm rune on this property activated.” Ben said in an authoritative voice.

“This location is under my authority. Explain why you and your people are about to attack a man not who will become a noble in two days, but many noble families support him.” Ben crossed his arms and raised a menacing glare.

The five soldiers who weren’t sponsored hastily sheathed their blades. However, the vice captain and the other four sponsored soldiers glared at Vincent as if he had done something to them on a personal level.

historical

*Slap!* “What are you glaring at, soldier!” Ben slapped the vice captain’s face. “Speak before I arrest you for abusing the power our kingdom gives you!”

[I am glad Ben is on our side.]

-Yeah.-

Vincent stopped using Overheat and stored his mask. “Your uncle is strong.” He whispered to the twins behind him.

“Uncle Ben is kind. But he becomes a different person when he is pissed.” Lenn whispered.

“Our father used to stop uncle Ben... but now there is no one...” Renn whispered with a faint frown.

“The Blackheart family sponsors me! How dare you sponsored by a falling family assault me!”

*Slap!*

“My hand is warmed up. One more arrogant response, and let’s see how this fist suits your taste buds.” Ben clenched his fist so tightly it made a cracking sound.

The vice captain turned his head to his soldiers, yet they were averting their gaze. The four sponsored soldiers sheathed their swords and placed their hands behind their backs.

‘They betrayed me... damn, this isn’t going to end well. But I am not authorized to this alert response while this old man is.’ The vice captain spat on the ground and sheathed his sword.

“Fine. We will take our leave.”

*Tap* Ben placed his hand on the vice captain’s shoulder. “Where do you think you are going, soldier? I still don’t know why you and your men are here.”

“We were going to the east gate while passing from here. We heard a woman screaming, and we, as soldiers of the kingdom, did our part to help the innocent. However, that admitted to killing a thief, and he wore a mask and threatened us when we tried to arrest him for the crime of murder.” The vice captain explained, yet he knew his words might be smoke in the wind. The assigned vice captain knew the perpetrator after all.

“How wonderful it is to hear soldiers sponsored by the Blackheart family doing a good deed once in a while. It wasn’t too long ago that an illegal slave trader was captured nearby. I remember him mentioning Blackheart family once before he mysteriously offed himself with a written note about how guilty he felt.” Ben said with a menacing smirk on his face.

Ben’s words inflicted fear in the hearts of the vice captain and the four soldiers. It was a warning. The more they messed up, the more chances their sponsor decided to remove unnecessary weak links.

“Leave now. But remember that many noble families protect both this area and property. In other words, acting like this will surely incur their wrath.” Ben chuckled and added in a menacing tone, “Hehe, you men are disposable to your sponsor.”

“We... we will leave.” The vice captain deeply frowned and gritted his teeth. He looked at his men and ordered, “Come, let’s go.” He turned around, and he and his men left.

[Ben helped us great again. First, he brought duke Biro Hawkins to resolve the situation, and now he came here and resolved this situation. Now I hope he can help us.]

-I hope so too.-

Ben approached Vincent. He looked at the twins, but they were safe. He sighed in relief.

“What happened?” Ben asked with a curious frown.

“A trap. Four people were most likely paid to cause trouble, steal, or kill us as they had daggers. They met with Sakura first, but she is.” Vincent lowered his voice and continued, “She is a demon.”

“Three died in her hands while she suffered some minor wounds. But what she had to do to survive has shocked her.” *sigh* “Humans humiliated and tortured her for days in this mansion... I hope her smile can return soon, and she can feel safe living here.”

“I understand, and I will see what I can do. But what about the last thief? Did he escape?” Ben looked inside the property. It didn’t take long to see grass colored red and what looked like a person lying on the ground.

‘Dead too...’ Ben thought after the thieves died and anything connecting them with the Blackheart family lost.

“I saw Sakura covered in blood, and red was all I could see. I threw a punch, and the man died instantly. I think whoever laid this trap for us hired weak thieves for those ten soldiers to arrest us.” Vincent explained.

*Sigh* “So. What are you asking me to do? You look like taking care of the bodies, and the situation isn’t enough.” Ben crossed his arms and said.

“Only one man died, and that man died in my hands. Additionally, the fainted woman on the ground saw Sakura. However, I also possess a mask with a demon-like face. The demon she saw is me.” Vincent requested for a favorable outcome.

“Don’t worry, Vincent. This situation can be considered as an assassination attempt against a noble. If they were still alive, their punishment might be death in the end.”

Ben wanted to reassure Vincent that this matter wouldn’t go any further and risk his secret of being discovered. He also wanted Vincent to know that nothing bad would happen to Sakura as she is of the demon race and isn’t a slave.

“Their corpses will be in the hands of the royal faction. I will also pass the order that they might have a contagious disease and request for them to be cremated. It’s a trick I discovered some sponsored pricks do to hide evidence, but they were so obvious I caught red-handed.”

Ben decided to help Vincent as much as he could because his friend’s family is living with Vincent and five noble families of different ranks began supporting the Lionheart family.

Ben turned around and ordered, “Soldiers! Split into four groups based on your name initials in ascending order.”

“The first group will secure the assassin’s corpses is in view.”

“The second group will mount the horses and inspect the perimeter around this property and secure anything that can be used as evidence. The third group will follow me to secure three assassins.”

“The fourth group will remain here to guard the gate, secure the fainted female witness, and assist the other groups if necessary.”

Vincent, Kazumi, Lenn, and Renn were surprised when the soldiers saluted Ben and followed his orders. The usual friendly late-middle-aged Ben gave them the impression that they didn’t know him completely.

“Vincent, lead the way.” Ben then looked at the twins and continued, “And you kids. How are you feeling about what happened?”

“I will do my best not to get tricked again. ” Lenn stated.

“We brothers will protect the gate from intruders. ” Renn stated.

“Looks like you kids learned a lesson at least.” Ben finally relaxed his serious expression and smiled.

“Thank you, uncle Ben. But we aren’t kids.” Both twins said at the same time.

Vincent and the twins led Ben and his men to the workshop. There they found a mess of blood and gore. The twins rushed outside and puked while Vincent, who thought he became accustomed to corpses and death, felt disgusted.

“Not a nice sight for the eyes, but they do have weapons on them.” Ben approached the corpses and patted their bodies. “Huh? A letter.” He found a letter from one of the corpses.