Chapter 26 of Genius Archer's Streaming Season 1

10. Emilia (2)

The expression Emilia made during Almond's broadcast that day became a legendary meme and spread far and wide.

[Emilia's reaction to Almond's answer.jpg]

-Crazy ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Did I make that face?

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Emilia is human too.

-How shocked was she ㅋㅋㅋ

-Almost at the ㄴㅇㄱ level.

└I couldn't imagine her identity ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ㄹㅇㅋㅋ

-It's understandable. She was told to kill the castle lord, but you killed the entire castle.

Considering Emilia's usual dignified noble personality, the expression and gestures she made were truly at a level worthy of being called a 'legend.'

“G-Guards are strict... and you took care of them all...? I've never heard such a story. Guards are there to prevent that from happening.”

“...Is that so?”

Almond's blunt response made Emilia's face turn bright red. It was as if the noble lady was being swayed by a mere mercenary.

“Hmm. Anyway, if that's the case, it means the castle is now empty, right?”

Emilia asked, turning her gaze.

“Yes. There was no one.”

“There's no need to delay. We should go now.”

Emilia called her retainers again and had the carriage move. She intended to absorb the vassals of the place before other nobles could extend their influence.

“Almond?”

“Yes.”

“...What are you doing?”

“Well...”

“Get in quickly.”

Moreover, Emilia even offered Almond a seat inside her carriage.

It wasn't a common occurrence for a lady to let a man into the inner seat of her personal carriage.

-Whoa. This must be a full affection response, right?

-Ooh. Nice!

-Haha...

-Almond, you sly dog! How did you do it?

The viewers were puzzled that Emilia had completely fallen for Almond, who had never pursued an affection route before.

-Why are you doing an affection route?! Just take over the castle!

-ㄹㅇㅋㅋ

-Yeah, exactly!

-I just want to do the affection route...

-Me too ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-How did you take over a castle ㅋㅋㅋ

-Achievements can also increase affection...

This was the moment when the fact that achievements could increase affection was first discovered.

Overwhelming achievements can move the heart.

Almond had won the heart of the noble lady with his archery skills alone.

“...I’m curious about you.”

A cut scene inside the carriage.

Even there, Emilia's interest in Almond was significant.

“How... can you be so strong? I've seen many knights, but no one has shown the kind of results you have.”

“I just have a talent for archery.”

“With that, you can eliminate all the troops in the castle?”

“...I guess so?”

“...”

It was a bit of an odd conversation, but the fact that Emilia kept asking questions to Almond was a significant signal.

However, the subsequent conversation was even more shocking.

Emilia suddenly started talking about knights.

“Knights usually love swords, spears, and horses.”

“There's no way. Most knights probably love you more than those things.”

Almond's joke made Emilia laugh. It was a girlish laugh, different from the dignified lady she usually portrayed.

“Right. Ladies like them too, but it's not just knights, right?”

“?”

“Any man, even if he's a rough mercenary... women will like him, right?”

-Ooh! What!?

-Wow, man.

-Guy! My heart is racing, I can't watch!

-I've never seen anything like this!

Emilia used the word 'woman,' but in context, she was referring to herself, and the rough mercenary was Almond.

“Anyway, I like it. Knights love Emilia, spears, swords, and horses.”

Emilia's joke made Almond chuckle this time.

“But I've never seen a knight who loves archery.”

“I'm a mercenary, not a knight.”

“Do you have no intention of becoming a knight in the future?”

“...What?”

At this point, both Sanghyun and the viewers were momentarily stunned.

Becoming a knight isn't something you can just decide to do. Even being outstanding doesn't guarantee it.

“...If this castle becomes a new fief, we'll need someone to manage it...”

Emilia deflected, looking out the window, but it was essentially asking if Almond had any intention of becoming a knight.

-Oh! Is this the Emilia route?

-Is this a new development?

-There's a knight route too?

-Amazing ㄷㄷ

-But this is a mercenary game, won't it change if he becomes a knight? ㅋㅋㅋ

-The hardcore fans are already ahead of the game.

Of course, Emilia didn't directly ask Almond to become a knight, as the viewers speculated.

“...I was just curious.”

She deflected and ended the conversation.

“I can't become a knight. I'm just a talented mercenary.”

“...”

Emilia just smiled faintly without a word.

As the carriage continued to move and they approached their destination, the silence finally broke when the sound of hooves faded.

“We're here. A-Amon, my father wants to see you.”

“Really?”

“He seems to have a good opinion of how you handled this matter.”

“...?”

Almond hesitated to respond.

‘That's a lie, right?’

Emilia's words were too obvious a lie.

The viscount couldn't have known about Almond's achievements yet, and he couldn't have wanted to see him.

-???

-What?

-He hasn't even told the viscount yet ㅋㅋㅋ

-Didn't he just report and get in the carriage? ㅋㅋㅋ

Confused, Almond asked.

“Doesn't the lord know yet?”

Emilia's index finger gently covered Almond's lips.

“?!”

Seeing Almond's flustered expression, Emilia smiled.

“Just let it slide. It's a courtesy to a lady.”

-Oh, man ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Did she just make up a story because she wanted to see him again?

-Is she really going to make him a knight and introduce him to her father?

-How is this possible?

-Holy moly!

-Emilia, you're so adorable!!

What was going on? Was she really going to make him a knight and introduce him to her father?

Almond couldn't respond.

By then, the carriage had already stopped.

“We're here.”

Emilia got out of the carriage first, and Almond followed, still dazed.

His gaze lingered on Emilia's flowing blonde hair before turning to the towering castle.

* * *

A castle standing tall on a desolate plain.

The castle that Almond had unintentionally captured.

It belonged to the Talorant family.

Until yesterday, this place was under the control of the Talorant family.

But Emilia walked towards the castle gate without hesitation, as if it didn't matter.

There were vassals cleaning up the aftermath of last night's raid.

“Excuse me, who are you? Are you from the Talorant family?”

The commoners seemed to think Emilia was from a relative of the Talorant family.

Of course, that was a mistaken assumption.

“No. I'm Janneret.”

She was the complete opposite.

“...What?”

“Janneret?”

“This is unbelievable.”

Janneret and Talorant.

The vassals knew the relationship between the two families well.

They were enemies.

Logically, the vassals should have been hostile.

But they just swallowed their saliva, unable to say anything.

The Talorant forces that were supposed to protect them were gone. At least, they were not in the castle now.

On the other hand, Emilia had ten fully armed soldiers, two knights, and Almond as her escort.

Two fully armed knights could handle all the vassals in the fief, so no one could stop Emilia's party.

She naturally walked up to where the family crest was hanging and tore it down.

The boar, the symbol of the Talorant family, fluttered and fell.

Over the extinguished flame, the acacia flower, the symbol of the Janneret family, bloomed.

“...This is unbelievable.”

“Wow...”

The vassals looked dejected.

But they soon returned to their tasks. To them, the upper class could change, but their lives wouldn't change much.

Besides, wasn't Talorant the worst?

They heard that Janneret ruled much better.

Of course, all nobles were the same, but they muttered these things to each other and returned to their positions.

“...You're not going to say anything?”

Almond asked Emilia.

“What do you mean?”

“A speech... They need to know who to serve from now on.”

By his standards, when a ruling family changed, they should give a speech to the vassals and establish order.

But Emilia shook her head with a smile.

“It's fine. The vassals will adapt quickly.”

Emilia seemed confident. Almond was a bit puzzled but soon realized she was right.

* * *

About a week later.

The vassals had already adapted to the new lord and were even more satisfied.

Vassals who were in debt and about to be enslaved were now able to pay off their debts through labor and were allowed to own a certain amount of money.

Naturally, the amount of labor increased, and the castle was filled with people working day and night.

This would likely bring much greater benefits to the fief in the long run.

“...Hmm?”

But Sanghyun was puzzled and tilted his head.

“Huh? It's been three days, and they're still in the castle?”

-Oh no...!!

-Kingly dedication...!

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

For three days, Almond and Emilia stayed in the Talorant castle.

The viewers were delighted, imagining all sorts of scenarios.

But there was no detailed description in the game.

Only Emilia approached Almond, who was looking out the window, took his hand, and said:

“Let's go see my father tomorrow, Almond.”

And Almond replied:

“Let's go.”

At that moment, the chat was flooded with reactions.

-????

-What?

-Your tone changed?

A moment later.

Seeing their affectionate gazes, the viewers were convinced.

-Wow! What happened in three days! ㅋㅋㅋ

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-They did it.

-Almond is a pro ㅋㅋㅋ

-Wow, he already broke the Emilia route ㅋㅋ

What happened in those three nights?

“Wow. A happy ending.”

But this Kingdom Age world didn't seem to want to let them have such a happy ending easily.

Brrrrrrr...!

A ominous horn sounded from outside.

“...Oh no.”

Emilia hurriedly looked out the window.

“It's here. A bit sooner than expected.”

“Are they relatives of the Talorant family?”

“Yes. Almond. They'll try to take the castle back.”

“I can stop them.”

“Please...”

Before Emilia could finish her sentence, she fainted.

* * *

Whooooosh...!

On the vast green plain, rows of silver armor lined up. They looked to be in the hundreds.

Almond's formation was on the far left.

Roman, the leader of the formation, raised his flag and shouted.

“Charge!!!”

Thud!

Almond and many other mercenaries stomped their feet and formed ranks.

Roman's veins bulged as he looked over them.

“For the honorable Lady Janneret who hired us, we will win this war!!!”

A deafening roar.

Boom.

Familiar drumbeats echoed, and a large text appeared above Almond.

[Lead the war to victory!]