Mercenary Wars

Chapter 264 Bertrand

Kill a Level 7 Human, Experience +350

Gaucano drew the Blood-Summoning Sword, and the thief's blood flowed slowly along the dark green blade, disappearing before it even dripped.

He then quickly cleaned up the area, collecting the items belonging to both humans and orcs. He then used the Blood Summoning Sword to drain the blood and used a fireball spell to burn the mummified corpses.

While burning the corpses, he also began to dispose of the carcass of the Clefthoof Bull, taking away the crystal core, horns, organs, and some flesh.

Once everything was settled, there were exactly three days left out of the four-day period, which was naturally the time that Gaucano used to collect herbs.

Since a day had passed, the herb-gathering harvest was significantly affected. He searched the Tidal Lands and ultimately only managed to collect four pieces of Forget-Me-Not Moss.

However, it's quite lucky that one of the four Eternal Forgetfulness Mosses reached level nine.

Before they knew it, the time for the Tidelands to close was approaching, so Gaucano left ahead of time and returned to Ax by the same route.

More than ten days later.

More than a month has passed since Gaucaneau opened the Shackleton family's secret cellar.

He pondered this in his mind and then approached Christine.

Finding Christine isn't difficult.

Since Gaucano taught Christine how to increase her borrowing count, the two have become quite familiar with each other.

Gaucano knew that Christine spent a large part of her free time performing in operas.

If you go to the opera club's performance hall when you have fewer classes, there's a good chance you'll see Christine—and her sycophants.

As a typical heiress, Christine is beautiful, rich, noble, and intelligent. Even in a place like Axes Magic Academy, she is the most outstanding woman, and naturally, she has many admirers.

There are countless hidden simps.

There are also a dozen or so organized groups of sycophants.

The term "organized sycophants" refers to a group of people who will attend Christine's performances without fail and applaud her continuously.

Most of the dozen or so people were boys, and their intentions were self-evident.

What Gao Jiano couldn't quite understand was that there were actually a few girls among them. Whenever Christine appeared, their eyes would become exceptionally focused, even more intensely than those of the male admirers.

But regardless, these sycophants inevitably caused him some trouble.

Every time he came to the performance hall to see Christine, he could clearly feel the hostility in the eyes of the sycophants.

Especially after he gained the Eye Demon's vision, his keen eyesight allowed him to more easily notice the expressions on everyone's faces, revealing their scrutiny, vigilance, and jealousy.

This time is no exception.

Gao Jiano arrived at the entrance of the performance hall, listened carefully, and then gently pushed the door open.

Inside the hall, nearly a hundred people, including members of the opera club and students who came to watch, were preparing for an upcoming opera performance.

Christine, dressed in her finest attire, was surrounded by a throng of admirers, her face frequently revealing anticipation.

Looking at her, Gao Jiano was stunned for a moment.

The reason is simple: Christine is clearly dressed as a man, and her hair has been shortened by illusion magic, with a fluffy, center-parted style, giving her the air of a handsome young nobleman.

Looking at the excited expressions on the faces of the several female admirers, Gao Jiano's doubts were finally resolved.

At that moment, Christine noticed Gaucano at the door and immediately walked over. She gracefully stepped out from the crowd, her boots clicking crisply on the stage. Her menswear made her gait appear even more dashing and confident, a stark contrast to her usual gentle and refined ladylike image.

Gao Jiano instantly felt a surge of pressure.

As expected, just as Christine walked toward him with a smile, dozens of eyes in the performance hall turned toward the entrance and focused on him.

For a moment, Gao Jiano felt as if these people were bewitching beings who saw their own kind.

In particular, one of the boys named Raoul would stare with eyes that looked like he was about to shoot out a deadly ray whenever he appeared in the same place as Gaucano and Christine.

It is now.

Christine smiled brightly and almost ran towards Gaugano, her cloak billowing behind her like a joyful butterfly. Her enthusiastic demeanor instantly ignited the jealousy of her admirers, including Raoul.

Christine's enthusiasm was certainly justified.

As she reached the door, she eagerly shared, "I successfully obtained the professor's borrowing privileges using your method. Thank you so much!"

The two chatted for a while about books.

Then Gao Jiano changed the subject: "Are you free later? I have something important to show you."

“It’s about your family,” he added.

Christine looked somewhat surprised, her eyebrows slightly raised, her expression particularly amusing given her men's attire: "About our family?"

"Christine, the performance is about to begin!" someone urged.

“Coming right away!” Christine said, turning back to Gaucano. “I have time after my performance.”

Gaucano: "Then I—"

Christine, however, pulled him straight into the performance hall, interrupting him as she said, "You should also come and see this opera. We've been preparing for it for a long time, it's absolutely fantastic!"

"I have classes in the afternoon."

"It won't be long, and what's so great about those classes anyway..."

Not wanting to offend Christine, Gao Jiano found a corner seat. He chose a spot in the last row of the audience, offering a clear view of the stage without being too conspicuous.

As soon as he sat down, a few lines of information appeared in his mind.

[Achieved Status: Hunter's Mark (Level 8)]

Countermeasure: Hunter's Mark (Level 8)

【Successful countermeasure】

Gaucano frowned and looked in the direction of the hunter's mark.

A boy in the distance quickly and guiltily shrank back.

He was clearly unaware of the existence of the counter-mark, and even less aware that the Eye Demon's vision made Gao Jiano's field of vision almost non-existent, and that he could see Gao Jiano's reaction even from the corner of his eye.

Raoul. It's him again.

Despite not having met often, Gao Jiano had already sensed the guy's targeting on several occasions during their limited interactions.

Now they've even started using hunter's marks.

This prompted Gaucano to start thinking about a solution.

At the same time, the opera performance officially began. Soft magical light illuminated the stage, and the curtain slowly rose, revealing a meticulously arranged scene.

As an activity of a student club, the opera here is certainly far inferior to that of the Bainaohui Opera House, both in scale and quality.

According to Gaucano, the opera troupe was rather deserted before Christine "brought her own money" to the troupe.

It was Christine's funding and her guaranteed audience that allowed the opera troupe to gradually become popular.

Under these circumstances, Christine naturally became the most important actress and playwright in the opera company.

The opera being performed is Christine's own work, written and performed by herself, telling a love story about noblemen eloping. The male lead is a young marquis, and the female lead is the daughter of a rival family. The two fall in love at first sight at a court ball, but their family feuds create numerous obstacles to their love.

From Gao Jiano's perspective, it can be roughly summarized as a Ferraro version of a Qiong Yao drama.

The plot is unremarkable.

The costumes, props, and sets were passable. The magic academy's illusion magic was of a certain level, but due to a lack of experience and limited space, the final effect was not satisfactory.

The only highlight is Christine's appearance. Although she is dressed as a man, her face is still Christine herself. With the embellishment of magic, her dashingness and beauty form a subtle balance, which is very eye-catching.

Christine also showcased her swordsmanship, dueling with another young nobleman in the drama. This duel was set in a garden pavilion, where the two fought for the heroine's love. Christine wielded a silver rapier, its blade gleaming under the lights. Her swordsmanship was elegant and sharp, each strike following a graceful arc, a beautiful spectacle like a dance.

It is clear that she does indeed possess considerable swordsmanship skills.

Gao Jiano estimated that, based on the panel's standards, Christine's swordsmanship might be at level 4.

Of course, swordsmanship in opera performances is very different from real swordsmanship. In fact, although this performance shows Christine's considerable swordsmanship skills, it is clear that aesthetics are the primary goal. Strictly speaking, it might be more appropriate to classify it as "dance".

Tens of minutes later.

The show is over.

The opera troupe has a rather unique way of taking their curtain call.

Accompanied by music, the illusion of the actors and scenes slowly dissipates, light and shadow shift, creating a beautiful gradient with the surrounding real world. The opera's scenery fades like a dream; stone pillars, flowerbeds, and fountains gradually become transparent and eventually disappear completely, revealing the actors' original, simple features.

The actors then bowed in unison, and the audience immediately erupted in enthusiastic applause.

"Clap!"

"Clap clap-"

Of course, there were also cheers for the actors.

"Christine, Christine!"

However, Christine won almost all the applause on her own.

The dozen or so organized sycophants were particularly enthusiastic, their screams and whistles echoing throughout the performance hall, creating a commotion that surpassed the combined efforts of everyone else.

Until Christine walked towards Gaucano again: "Let's go."

The two then left the performance hall together, accompanied by Christine's bodyguard.

The atmosphere quickly became quiet, and a group of people began to whisper among themselves...

Fortunately, during the performance, Gao Jiano had endured several tens of minutes of secret observation and whispers, so he was used to it and ignored it.

Before long, Gao Jiano and Christine found a secluded corner in the academy where no one was around.

Christine asked, "What is it about our family?"

Gao Jiano immediately took out the Shackleton family genealogy he had found in the secret cellar: "Take a look at this."

Christine initially didn't think much of it.

After all, despite the special material of the genealogy, it has become old and faded after hundreds of years, looking like the old books in the library.

But when she took the genealogy book and glanced through it, an expression of disbelief immediately appeared on her face.

“This is…our family tree?” Christine looked at the Shackletons in the tree in disbelief.

“Yes.” Gao Jiano nodded, then took out the edict of the ancient King of Asur. “Take a look at this. It’s the earliest edict from which your family was granted the title of noble.”

Christine examined the edict carefully, then couldn't help but ask, "Where did you get these things?"

Gaucano: "I got this by accident during my adventure... well, it's kind of a trophy."

He trusted Christine.

But he still couldn't quite bring himself to say that it was "secretly dug up from Princess Sarah's estate."

Christine looked at the genealogy and the imperial edict again: "This seems to be true, but I'm not sure... How about this, I'll take you to see my uncle."

"Professor Bertrand?"

"Correct."

Christine then led Gaucano to a building connected to the Orsini Library and headed straight for the office of Chair Professor Bertrand Shackleton.

The spacious office was decorated in a scholarly style, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves on all four walls, filled with various ancient books whose titles were not visible.

Professor Bertrand was a gentle and kind middle-aged man, a knowledgeable teacher who was very popular with his students.

But as Christine said, he was more like a rigid elder in her eyes. So much so that while walking down the street, Christine complained to Gaucano about his various rigidities.

Upon meeting Professor Bertrand, Gaucano produced the Shackleton family genealogy and the imperial edict.

Professor Bertrand took a look and his face quickly turned serious. He also asked Gaucano about the source.

Gao Jiano then repeated his reply to Christine.

As an experienced elder, Professor Bertrand naturally guessed that Gaucano was not telling the truth, or at least not the whole story.

He paused for a moment, then said, “Rest assured, I guarantee with the honor of the Shackleton family that even if the origin of these things is disputed, I will not tell anyone.”

(End of this chapter)