DBOFS 84

Chapter 84

Jade desperately caught the collapsing Harris and screamed internally.

“Ugh!”

The muscular man, who must have been at least 190 cm tall, was far too heavy for tiny Jade to hold, and her knees slammed hard into the ground.

“My knees!”

The physical pain jolted Harris’s body, which had relaxed after finally meeting Jade and feeling reassured.

Only then did Jade realize: Harris’s fallen body was literally a fireball!

“Suddenly?!”

…No. Jade instinctively understood.

Harris had been suppressing what should have been an inevitable collapse, enduring this absurdly high fever all this time.

“Why?”

Jade blinked absentmindedly. Without Harris in her view, the devastated Godwin estate expanded in sight.

Black, viscous remnants of Harris’s power lingered everywhere, and corpses of both humans and beasts were scattered around.

“So it was Harris.”

Unlike the enemies without emblems, the allies bearing the Rayerga and Godwin crests had injuries, perhaps, but very few dead.

Harris had overexerted himself trying to save them, and that was why he had collapsed.

But…

“Why… why did he collapse all of a sudden?”

“Could that be some kind of strange ability too?!”

Ironically, those who had been saved looked at Harris as if he were some kind of monster.

“….”

Yeah, fear was understandable. That could happen.

‘But isn’t it better than dying?’

How could they make that face toward the person who saved their lives!

The relief and joy Jade had felt upon meeting Harris plummeted, replaced with a bitter sense of disillusionment.

“Baron Rian.”

Princess Irene approached, noticing that Harris’s condition was serious.

“I’m… fine…”

“Don’t come any closer!”

Before Princess Irene could take a step, Jade shouted.

His eyes, stained with both frustration and anger, glared at her sharply.

It was a look far colder and redder than when he had thought Harris was merely injured.

It was a face none of them had ever seen from Jade before. Even Princess Irene and others hesitated.

“Baron Rian, it’s a misunderstanding. I was only…”

“…A misunderstanding?”

Ha! Jade let out a short, incredulous laugh.

“A misunderstanding? Everything happening here is because of you!”

In extreme anger, Jade abandoned the polite tone he had maintained as a possessed being, discarding even the minimum respect for social norms.

“Excuse me? You’re saying this happened because of Princess Irene?”

“What do you mean…?”

The people of Godwin, who had fought together in the heat of battle, now slowly looked at Princess Irene with hardened faces.

“You dragged all the enemies here just to protect your child, wrecked Godwin like this, and you call it a misunderstanding?”

“Baron Rian!”

Princess Irene approached Jade, her face pale, denying it.

“That’s not true. That’s not how it happened. We—”

“Don’t come any closer!”

Jade clutched Harris protectively while aiming a gun with his other hand.

It was a warning shot.

Even a small pink-haired girl with tears in her eyes, holding a gun, would look pitiful at best—but those who knew her true skill flinched.

“…Baron Rian, I understand your caution with your master down, but I only want to help you.”

Spreading her hands, Princess Irene spoke calmly.

“It must be difficult to handle him alone, so let me support—”

“Support? Who do you think is responsible for Harris ending up like this! It’s all your fault!”

No, wait.

The real villains were the royal family and the magic tower trying to kidnap Dimuard; Princess Irene and Dimuard were merely victims. They had acted desperately to survive…

‘I know.’

Jade understood perfectly the desire to survive at all costs.

But…

“You think I wouldn’t notice that you disrupted Harris’s succession feast just to prevent your child from being kidnapped by the royal family and the magic tower?”

That didn’t excuse all their actions, and the one Jade currently resented most was Princess Irene herself.

Once Harris, whom Jade trusted most, fell unconscious, any emotional leeway to consider her intentions evaporated long ago.

“Baron Rian!”

Faced with the risk of her son’s secrets being exposed, Princess Irene’s expression hardened as she tried to stop Jade.

However…

Bang—!

Before she could even move to block him, a loud gunshot rang out.

“…!”

Princess Irene froze.

Smoke curled directly in front of her feet.

“Didn’t I tell you before?”

Jade’s tear-filled eyes glared at her intensely.

“Do not come near someone holding a gun.”

Click. The reloaded barrel was aimed precisely at Princess Irene’s head.

“This is the third warning.”

Next time, he would shoot for real.

“Baron Rian…”

Knowing just how skilled a marksman Jade was, Princess Irene’s face went pale.

“How dare he—!”

The fierce battle had calmed, but the survivors were still tense, as if a single spark could ignite another disaster.

The Rayerga retainers could no longer tolerate Jade, who defied their lord, and stepped forward.

“Your master’s generosity knows no bounds!”

“What do you think you are, speaking to the lady of Rayerga like that!”

“Enough! Baron Rian is right. This matter is…”

Startled by the outburst, Princess Irene tried to restrain her retainers.

“Whatever it is—”

Before she could finish, a low, cracked voice fell over them.

“I am the one who personally granted the title, your grandfather’s companion guide.”

“…Your Excellency?!”

It was the previous duke.

“Then who are you to raise your voice at my lord’s servants here in Godwin?”

The sight of his bloodstained plate armor and huge spear alone was threatening.

“What are you, to dare attack my grandson’s retainers and leave Godwin in this state?”

Even the roar of the old duke alone instilled tremendous pressure.

But Jade only realized the duke was standing before him once that massive shadow loomed.

Jade, who had been tensed up all this time…

“Master Jade, we should support him—”

“…Go away.”

“But—”

“Do not come closer!”

Jade was wary even of those approaching to help.

“Master Jade.”

“Do not—!”

When a hand reached out, he immediately rejected it.

“I… I am Camillo.”

“….”

Jade blinked.

In his blurred vision of rage and heat, he saw Camillo’s deep blue hair and eyes.

She had briefly revealed her real hair and eye color to reassure him while disguised as a Godwin servant.

“Camillo…”

Jade finally relaxed the tension that had stiffened his body.

‘Princess Irene and the Rayerga family will be handled by the previous duke.’

Exhausted from keeping watch due to Harris’s unconscious state, Jade immediately carried Harris back to the sanctuary without looking back, using the previous duke as a shield.

Camillo glanced back.

The austere old duke, Princess Irene who could barely meet her father’s gaze, and the Rayerga marchioness.

“I knew you were up to something, Irene. Even so, I tried to understand your actions, however incomprehensible.”

When Princess Irene deliberately lured him outside the estate, he had seen through it and armed his knights while pretending to be absent.

That was why he could quickly intervene once the situation escalated.

“But you repay my trust by using Godwin like this.”

Princess Irene couldn’t lift her head to meet her father’s quiet voice.

“Seize the Rayerga clan.”

“Father!”

“I obey your orders.”

“Rayerga Marchioness, follow me.”

“You…!”

Even the Godwin retainers, who had been hostile toward her, now looked at Princess Irene with cautious eyes.

‘Impressive.’

Camillo admired internally.

As head of the intelligence guild, she knew Jade intended to make Harris the new minor duke of Godwin.

She also knew that Princess Irene had ruined the minor duke’s inauguration feast with her children.

Yet Jade didn’t show overt hostility toward her party and even risked his life to save her heir, Dimuard Rayerga.

‘Master Jade…!’

By showing leniency to the Rayerga party and saving Dimuard, he wasn’t just acquiring their power—he was executing a much larger plan.

The previous duke, those hostile toward Norman Godwin, and even the Godwin retainers who had sincerely followed Princess Irene could no longer view her with the same compassion.

‘And Harris Godwin will become a lord whom no one can ever pull down again.’

Though the situation helped, it was ultimately Jade’s words that caused this.

‘Master Jade…!’

Camillo thought in awe.

“…What should I do?”

Unaware of Camillo’s thoughts, Jade sat down with a thud after safely laying Harris in the sanctuary, trembling.

“If Harris… no, if Master Harris doesn’t wake up…”

“Hmm? That won’t happen.”

Camillo tilted her head, puzzled.

It wasn’t uncommon for someone with powers to collapse after overusing them.

“He’s probably just resting for a moment. Even from what I saw, he overexerted himself. He’s merely taking a break.”

“…Really?”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

“Mm…”

Of course. Harris had overworked himself, so he could have collapsed asleep like that. Jade himself had done the same.

He wiped Harris’s face with a warm, damp cloth and nodded.

He would be fine. It was just a temporary sleep.

After a good night’s rest, he would wake up…

However, Harris still had not woken up even after three days.