Interest Compounds on Revenge - Chapter 73

The answer from Grace was very important to Lea.

How much had she been tormented by guilt? Though it wasn’t her own will, she had entered her body and even come to like Terran.

‘Lea Hamilton, you are me. And Grace Bizac is Lea Hamilton.’

‘What?’

It sounded simple at first, but it was difficult to grasp the exact meaning.

‘Grace, does this mean we are one?’

Lea shouted at her again, but Grace no longer appeared.

Instead, she saw a horrific battlefield before her eyes. Fallen soldiers in a forest filled with hazy smoke. Broken carriages and blackened burn marks were visible.

‘Terran! Where are you?’

Lea ran through the forest barefoot in her chemise. With every step, her feet caught on corpses.

It was a miserable sight, difficult to tell if they were thieves or Terran’s soldiers.

‘I’m here! Answer me!’

She ran aimlessly through the forest. Then she spotted a large object dangling from a distant tree.

It looked like a person, or perhaps an animal. She didn’t want to see it and turned her head, but before she knew it, she was standing in front of that tree.

‘Ahh! Luke!’

Luke’s murdered body was hanging from the tree.

Lea screamed and agonized. Why was she in hell?

‘No! Terran can’t be dead.’

Lea shook her head repeatedly and walked straight ahead.

In this space where she felt no sensation, she vowed not to return even if she died until she found Terran.

That’s when she heard a human voice from somewhere.

‘Grace, sa… ve me.’

‘Terran? I’m coming!’

It was clearly his voice. He was desperately calling for her to save him.

Lea looked around frantically, not knowing which way to go. The problem was that her body wouldn’t move.

‘What’s wrong? I have to get to Terran! Please, don’t do this!’

The leafy vines seemed to come alive, tightly binding Lea’s entire body so she couldn’t move an inch.

Lea cursed her situation and wailed miserably.

“I have to go to Terran! Ahh!”

Lea screamed, waving her hands in the air.

Her whole body was drenched in sweat and a strong medicinal smell filled the air. Even with her eyes closed, she could sense someone watching her.

“My lady!”

“Sister!”

The sound of Pauline and Chainer crying. Lea suddenly opened her eyes and sprang up from her bed.

“What about Terran? Is there any news?”

Lea grabbed the two and asked abruptly.

“Not yet, my lady.”

It was James who answered in a calm tone.

Lea unknowingly started muttering about the scene she had seen in her dream.

“All the soldiers are dead, Luke’s body is hanging from a tree… Terran asked for help.”

“Waaah!”

Chainer burst into tears at Lea’s words. Soon everyone in the room was either crying or turning their heads with grief-stricken faces.

Lea then realized that she had been dreaming. If so, it was time to consider how to overcome this ordeal from now on.

“Stop crying! Chainer!”

Lea yelled fiercely at Chainer.

“!?”

Chainer stopped crying as if she had been having a seizure.

Of course, the others were just as surprised. It was because this behavior was unlike her usual self. Lea pondered for a long time.

‘Grace said that only I can save Terran.’

If Grace’s soul, sleeping deep inside this body, had awakened to tell her this, then Terran must really be in danger.

‘Lea Hamilton is Grace.’

She decided to no longer be confused about her own identity.

Whether Lea or Grace, their hearts were the same. The fact that Terran was the most precious person to both women remained unchanged.

“Chainer, we have to save them. Terran and Luke.”

Chainer nodded blindly at Lea’s words.

On the other hand, James rubbed his forehead with his hand, looking perplexed.

* * *

The next day, Lea and Chainer dressed in men’s clothes. Before that, they had sent a message to Rapha to recruit all the organization members.

If there weren’t enough, they told him to bring even Sarubi’s gang. They would pay as much as needed.

“My lady, the Duke will return. So…”

“Are you telling me to sit quietly?”

Lea snapped at James.

“James, if the situation were reversed, would Terran have stayed still?”

“Well, the Duke is a man, and you’re…”

“Are you saying I can’t because I’m a woman? My man is in danger, and I should just sit and wait because I’m a woman?”

“That’s…”

“Should I just assume he’s dead, shed tears, and pray?”

“You have a weak constitution, my lady.”

“I’ll take care of that. Even if I die, I will definitely rescue Terran.”

‘I’ll save my man with my own hands.’

Lea’s resolve was firm. Then Pauline and Mary also stepped forward, saying they would go too.

“You two look after the workshop. Take orders well so there’s no disruption to the general store.”

“But who will attend to you, my lady?”

“Don’t worry about me. Managing the employees well is Pauline’s job. Mary, please help Pauline.”

“Understood.”

Finally, Rapha and the organization members gathered in front of the Duke’s mansion.

Armed with guns and swords, their numbers seemed to be about a hundred.

Lea and Chainer rode horses towards the main gate of the Duke’s mansion.

“Rapha! Did Sarubi’s gang refuse?”

“They agreed to join, but they say there’s a bonus for mercenary work.”

“I’ll give them as much as they want, tell them to join. Everyone will receive a big reward when we rescue the Duke.”

The gypsies murmured at Lea’s words. They had heard from Chainer before. Sarubi’s gang was particularly skilled with weapons.

With them, they might stand a chance even against the thieves.

Then Rapha shouted to the organization members.

“Take the antidote now!”

“Yes!”

Rapha also handed antidotes to Lea and Chainer. He said one of the thieves’ favorite tactics was to confuse their enemies’ minds.

They would burn dried poisonous herbs to create a hallucinatory state, then mercilessly slaughter them. So they needed to take the antidote in advance to avoid being affected by the smoke.

“Rapha, give me one more antidote.”

Lea received and pocketed another brown medicine that looked like goat droppings. They needed to be prepared for any unexpected situations.

Finally, Lea’s group set out for Basel Forest.

Everyone rode horses or pulled carts, so their mobility wasn’t too bad, and with Sarubi’s gang joining midway, the number of people who could fight the thieves grew to nearly three hundred.

This was enough to take on any army.

“Sister, when we get to the forest, we’ll go north.”

“Okay, I brought a compass.”

There must be a reason why Chainer kept insisting on going north.

It must be hope that Terran and Luke are still safe.

“Hold on tight, Chainer.”

“Mm, sister!”

The two rode their horses towards Basel Forest.

* * *

They arrived at Basel Forest late at night. As expected, the sight of white smoke rising from the black forest was visible even from afar, as if poisonous herbs had been burning for days.

The organization members all held torches to light up the dark night. Soon enough, they saw bodies scattered here and there.

Seeing the horrific scene of thieves’ and soldiers’ bodies entangled, they could imagine how fiercely they had fought.

‘Even though reinforcements were sent, were they all helpless in a hallucinatory state?’

It didn’t make sense that the imperial army couldn’t defeat the thieves. Then again, the thieves probably didn’t have confidence to face a trained army with normal methods.

“Let’s go north.”

“Mm.”

Lea held the compass while Chainer held a torch as they walked through the forest path.

It wasn’t too dangerous since Rapha and Sarubi’s organization members had taken control of the entire forest. Plus, twenty organization members were following behind the two.

“The smell is terrible.”

Chainer covered her nose. The corpses had already started decomposing, and the stench permeated the entire forest. Then one of the organization members following behind shouted.

“There aren’t many soldiers’ bodies!”

‘That’s right, it’s strange.’

Lea had been checking the bodies continuously as well.

Desperately hoping that neither Terran nor Luke would be among them. Only about one in three bodies was a soldier, most were thieves.

“Let’s hurry!”

She kept urging them on and walked north without rest. After walking through the forest for several hours like this, it became dawn.

“Sister! There’s a light over there!”

Chainer shouted, pointing to a place where huts that looked like the thieves’ base were densely gathered.

“We found it.”

No wonder it was hard to find when they were hiding so deep in the forest.

They probably only came down from the forest to attack passing people and carriages when looting. But as they got closer to the huts, the smoke became so thick that it was hard to see ahead.

“Cough, cough.”

Chainer coughed severely, and the people behind them started coughing one after another.

If they hadn’t taken the antidote before coming, they would have lost consciousness and collapsed right there.

Lea pushed through the hazy smoke and went deep into the hut village. Soon she was shocked by the appalling sight.

“Oh my god!”

Soldiers who had lost consciousness and collapsed here and there in the huts. She understood why there weren’t many soldiers’ bodies visible.

“Terran!”

Lea called out his name. If her intuition was correct, he must be here.

“Check the condition of the fallen soldiers and give the antidote to those who aren’t dead!”

“Yes.”

The organization members quickly checked the soldiers, and Chainer was also busy looking for Luke.

“My brother! Where are you?”

Lea headed further inside, ignoring Chainer’s cries.

Suddenly, she felt cold metal against her neck. She looked up at the person holding a knife to her throat.

“Terran!”

“Who are you?”

“!?”

Lea was so surprised that her lips just trembled, unable to speak.