The Obsessive Maniac Is Trying To Confine Me Chapter 220 - Side Story Chapter 10

Soon after, another person burst into tears.

“Marta… what should we do…”

“What happened? Why was Marta taken by the knights?”

“Well…”

Their voices trembled with tears.

“They said Marta insulted the Evantes family…”

“What?”

“Marta wouldn’t do that! Sure, she complained about the soldiers acting arrogant, but why would she openly insult such a great noble family?”

“…But it’s true that Marta made a mistake.”

Everyone seemed flustered, speaking over one another.

But I could understand what had happened.

So…

Just like what happened to me before, she had complained about the knights as usual, and unfortunately one of them had heard it.

And of all people, it had to be a knight.

Soldiers and knights were different.

Most knights were nobles, and large families like Evantes had even more of them.

“Calm down, all of you! You’re being too loud.”

Seryl raised her eyes and looked at me.

“Laurel, Marta spoke carelessly. I told her again and again to watch her mouth…”

“Seryl! Do you have to say it like that? Laurel didn’t even know there were knights around!”

“She ignored my warning, so she got dragged away!”

Seryl shouted angrily.

“They told us to bring 5,000 linen if we want to save Marta! But that’s… too much money. How could we ever gather that much?!”

Five thousand linen.

I frowned.

That was two years’ worth of living expenses for a commoner household.

“…Laurel, don’t get involved in something pointless and just go back.”

Seryl warned quietly.

Even though she sounded harsh, she seemed worried about Marta.

I looked at Seryl and spoke.

“I’m not going back.”

“What?”

Seryl looked at me in surprise.

I gave them a crooked smile.

“Because I know a way to save Marta.”

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

The ones who dragged Marta away were elite knights of the Evantes family.

Even though they had only recently become low-ranking knights, the Evantes crest on their uniforms felt like absolute authority.

“Was her name Marta? What should we do with that woman?”

They had thrown her into prison for daring to insult Evantes.

Because they were knights of Evantes, they received extremely generous treatment from the lord of Piet Territory.

Handling a single territory resident was nothing to them.

“Who knows? We’ll decide later.”

“You’re a real bastard. That’s why I’m proud of you.”

To them, the territory resident they had imprisoned was nothing more than entertainment to kill time in this boring territory.

“Where would they get 5,000 linen? Those poor women from a backwater territory.”

“Exactly. Why does a mere commoner not know her place?”

They laughed, amused by the way those women had panicked.

Then—

“You insolent fools! Do you even know where you are? This is not a place you can enter freely!”

The gatekeeper guarding the gate shouted loudly.

The knights turned to look.

It was the women they had just been talking about.

“Oh, this should be fun.”

One of the knights chuckled and walked toward the gate.

There stood a nervous group of women, tense with fear.

The knight raised the corner of his mouth, already imagining how he would play with them.

“Ahem. So, did you bring the money?”

One knight spoke first.

Of course, they never expected the women to actually bring 5,000 linen.

“H-how could we possibly bring 5,000 linen!”

One of the women in the group suddenly shouted.

Tears trembled in her eyes.

“And Marta… didn’t insult the Evantes family!”

She gathered her courage and shouted.

“Y-you knights were eating like pigs… and you never paid for your meals!”

“Hey! Look at this insolent girl!”

“Marta only told the truth! She never insulted Evantes!”

“Hah! Is it because this is a rural territory? There are so many girls who don’t know their place.”

Poor commoners who couldn’t gather money always resorted to pathetic begging like this.

The knights’ sneers grew deeper.

One knight grabbed the woman’s shoulder roughly as if to frighten her.

“If you don’t have 5,000 linen, you can pay with your body. Right?”

When he added a lewd smile, the woman’s face turned pale.

“We are honorable knights of Evantes! Insulting us is insulting Evantes itself! And right now you are committing a grave offense—”

Just as he was about to continue threatening them—

Pink hair fluttered before his eyes.

“Hello.”

A very beautiful woman stepped out from the group.

He had definitely not seen her before.

But that didn’t matter to the knights.

The woman before them was beautiful.

And pink hair with pink eyes was a rare appearance.

That alone made her interesting.

“You knights are absolutely right.”

The pink-haired woman spoke.

“You are the proud face of Evantes.”

The knights instantly understood her trick.

Since anger didn’t work, she must be trying to coax them.

Flattery, charm, or perhaps…

something more intimate.

“Now that’s more like it!”

They were genuinely pleased.

Listening to pitiful pleas was only entertaining at first; after a while it became annoying.

“Exactly. Insulting us is insulting Evantes. Well, we might be willing to overlook it if…”

Their eyes slowly scanned her body.

At that moment, the smile on the woman’s lips deepened.

“No. You don’t have to overlook it.”

“What?”

Those words were completely unexpected.

“Imperial Law Article 7: Looting civilian property outside of wartime is punishable by immediate execution.”

…Looting civilian property?

The knights were dumbfounded.

What was this woman talking about?

But a mere commoner reciting a few legal articles wasn’t going to scare them.

“Looting civilian property? When did we ever do that?!”

“You ate food and didn’t pay, didn’t you?”

“That’s…!”

“That counts as looting.”

The woman continued calmly.

“The law states that looting outside of wartime is punishable by death… yet you risk your lives for the price of a few meals. Knights of Evantes must be very hungry.”

“W-what?!”

The knights were stunned.

“And you kidnapped an innocent resident and demanded money. That adds aggravated robbery to the charges.”

What kind of nonsense was this?

“You insolent—!”

The knights shouted in anger.

“Hah! So you can read a little. I don’t know where you memorized those laws from… but do you think that changes anything?”

The lord of Piet Territory was on their side.

Even if a commoner woman quoted the law, nothing would change.

After all, wasn’t power above the law?

“Do you want to end up like that woman Marta? If we want to, throwing someone like you in prison is nothing.”

The knights threatened her just like they had threatened Marta.

It was easy.

Frightening and controlling a mere commoner.

“Insulting us is insulting Evantes.”

The knights smiled viciously.

“So beg.”

“Say you’re sorry.”

“……”

“We’re generous, so we’ll give you a chance.”

Surely this woman had lost her mind after hearing her friend had been taken away.

Just a poor commoner’s desperate struggle.

That’s what they thought.

But the woman who should have been trembling and begging didn’t even blink.

Instead, she smiled at them.

As if she were looking at foolish animals.