The Regressed Mercenary's Machinations-Chapter 736: You Have to Trust Me (3)

Ereneth, for all her composure, was filled with curiosity about the strange human before her. Ghislain had noticed it even during their battle.

Unlike the future Ereneth — a warrior of monstrous strength hardened by countless trials — the Ereneth before him was clearly inexperienced.

So Ghislain decided to take advantage of that. If it worked, he might even be able to stay in the forest a little longer.

From ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ his hiding place, Ghislain observed Ereneth’s actions and cheered inwardly.

She really did take my side.

Perfect! This is a chance! Now let’s figure out a plan!

The moment he pulled back, Ghislain convened an emergency “meeting” with Dark and Astion. They needed a way to convince Ereneth the moment the other elves withdrew.

Astion was the first to blurt out a suggestion — desperate and urgent.

— What if you just ask her out? If you start dating, she’ll totally take your side! Please!

As expected from a man hopelessly obsessed with romance, Astion’s first instinct was a full-frontal love confession. Truly the idea of someone who’d never actually dated.

Of course, for someone who knew Ereneth — like Ghislain or Dark — that was not a viable idea.

Dark recoiled beside him.

— Do you even know who that elf is? Don’t get fooled by that beautiful face. Even if — and that’s a big IF — you actually manage to seduce her, it’s not over. If you ever upset her? You’re dead. Just dead.

In the future, Ereneth was so powerful that even Ghislain couldn’t guarantee victory over her at full strength. Among the many monsters of the Ruthanian army, she was special.

And she only grew stronger with time. Even then, she said she hadn’t regained all her original strength.

To Dark, Ereneth was a monster among monsters. If Astion actually got involved with her romantically?

Even a flicker of displeasure from her would turn Astion into dust.

But none of that reached Astion, whose brain had already short-circuited.

— I don’t care if I die!

— ...She’s probably way older than you. She’s an elf, remember?

— You’re so out of touch. Younger men are trending now!

— ...

— You’re all going to leave eventually, right? Just do this one thing for me before that!

Amazingly, Astion was dead serious.

He figured that if Ghislain started dating her now, then he — once he regained control of the body — could just carry on the relationship. It was a sneaky tactic born of zero dating confidence.

Dark clicked his tongue and cut in with a new idea.

— Master, his brain’s full of romance rot. Useless. Listen to me instead.

You got something better?

— Just go simple. That elf’s still weaker than you right now, so overpower her and take her hostage. Announce to the elves that she dies unless they hand over the Sacred Stone.

— ...

— You always go wild anyway!

A common misconception was that Ghislain acted recklessly.

But that wasn’t true — he ignored convention only when it brought better results. If the outcome was worse or came with major consequences, then there was no reason to abandon common sense.

Dark, who didn’t grasp that, just wanted to brute-force everything.

...You two are completely useless right now.

It felt like three idiots trying to plan a war. With the elves retreating, he needed to come up with a scenario to convince Ereneth — fast.

Astion, trying to be helpful, chimed in again by blending their ideas.

— Okay then, what if we overpower her first, take her hostage, and THEN ask her out? That’s both plans in one!

— Wow. That’s the worst thing I’ve ever heard. You’re scum.

It was Dark who had first suggested taking her hostage and threatening to kill her. But hearing it from someone else’s mouth made it sound horrific.

Now Dark tried to distance himself, acting like he had nothing to do with it.

Astion lashed out.

— That was YOUR idea! And I didn’t say anything about killing her!

— Ugh, you’re the worst. What happened to you? Why are you like this?

— Shut up! It’s your fault! You guys took over my body and did whatever you wanted! 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Neither of them had a comeback to that. Honestly, given how much they’d messed with his body, Astion’s occasional breakdowns were understandable.

Sure, thanks to Ghislain, Astion had gotten stronger much faster — but his bad reputation was growing just as quickly.

Still, now was not the time to soothe him. Ghislain pressed his fingers against his temples and growled.

Enough nonsense! Let’s put together a real scenario already!

— W-well, then how about starting with a bunch of compliments to make her feel good? I read in “Romance Theory for the Lonely Mage” that flattery always works on women!

— Yeah! There’s that saying — even dragons will dance if you praise them enough! Compliment her, get her guard down, and then take her hostage!

Also completely useless.

Finally, Ghislain dropped the “messenger” idea — the “revelation bearer.” Using that as a base, the three of them cobbled together a half-decent plan.

With the foundation set, Ghislain introduced himself to Ereneth as a messenger of divine revelation.

Of course, Ereneth didn’t believe it. The claim was too ridiculous and out of nowhere.

As her eyes narrowed with suspicion, Ghislain twitched his fingers.

“I know it’s hard to believe. But the fact that I know your name — that’s proof.”

“You knowing my name is strange, but... now that you mention it, how do you know it? And how is that proof?”

“Because your name appeared in the revelation itself!”

“R-really?”

“Of course! The message was clear — find Ereneth and resolve the crisis in the northern forest together.”

Ereneth’s eyes widened. There was a real problem in the northern forest.

The fact that this human not only knew her name, but also an issue no outsider could possibly be aware of — it genuinely threw her off.

Could he really have received a revelation...?

She might not know much about the outside world, but that didn’t make her stupid. Still, when faced with something so far outside the bounds of normality, even an elf could be swayed.

Taking the opportunity, she asked the next obvious question.

“Then why didn’t you just come openly to the forest? Why sneak in? If you’d introduced yourself and explained everything, you would’ve been let in.”

“Hm, that’s a bit complicated, but I’ll keep it short. The city’s liaison — the one in charge of external affairs — vehemently opposed us entering the forest.”

“Sir Sylan? Why? He would’ve approved if you’d just explained.”

But that wasn’t possible — Ghislain had only discovered the issue in the north after sneaking in.

And it wasn’t like he could have dropped Ereneth’s name out of the blue either.

He controlled his expression and mixed in a drop of truth.

“The revelation said we would need the Sacred Stone the elves possess. The Pope believed in my words and gave me full authority — even sent me here as an official envoy. But Sir Sylan refused to listen to anything and turned us away flatly.”

“Sacred Stone? You mean the Blessing Stone?”

“The... Blessing Stone?”

“Yes. That’s what we call it — the Blessing Stone. It’s a legacy left behind by the goddess to protect each race.”

“...Ah.”

It sounded similar — but not quite the same — as what the Pope had told him.

Then again, that was how myths worked. Each place had its own version, their own interpretation.

Ghislain didn’t care much for myths anyway. All he needed was to obtain the stone and test its effect on Deneb.

“In any case, that’s why I came in secretly. I had to find you, no matter what, so we could save the elves.”

“And this Blessing Stone — it’s necessary too? Why?”

“Well... the revelation said it was needed to resolve the problem in the northern forest. I don’t know the details. You know how revelations are. But I’m sure it’s the key to solving this.”

There hadn’t been enough time to create a solid scenario around that part.

Still, calling himself a messenger wasn’t a total lie.

After all — Ghislain did know the future.

For the sake of humanity’s salvation, Deneb had to awaken. And saving humanity meant saving the elves too — there was no difference between the two.

That was why Ghislain could speak with such confidence.

To him, it all flowed naturally. He truly believed it. Feeling somewhat proud of himself, he turned inward and asked Dark and Astion:

“So? How was my performance?”

— I want to talk to girls too.

— ...

— Master, can I just punch her now? She’s a real pain in the ass in the future. Forget the Sacred Stone — let’s smack her around a bit and run.

— ...

Both were entirely lost in their own desires. Ghislain quickly concluded there was no point in talking to them anymore.

After a moment of thought, Ereneth slowly nodded.

“Hmm... Is that so? Yeah... I guess that makes sense.”

From her expression, it looked like she was at least partially convinced.

Ghislain gazed at her with a faint, curious smile.

Then Ereneth asked,

“Alright. So what now?”

“You and I will go inspect the northern forest first.”

“And then?”

“Once we’ve confirmed the problem, we’ll figure out how to solve it. You know how revelations work — they’re always vague. What matters is that we do it together, as the revelation said.”

“So first, we investigate the northern forest?”

“Exactly. The two of us will resolve this ourselves.”

At that, Ereneth smiled softly.

Truthfully, her life in the forest had grown unbearably dull. This kind of adventure — it was exactly what she’d been longing for.

Of course, she hadn’t completely let her guard down. She’d been thoroughly taught to be wary of humans.

Suddenly, Ereneth grabbed Ghislain by the collar and yanked him in close.

She’d heard it more than once — that humans fell easily for the beauty of elves.

With a sultry smile, she leaned in and whispered,

“If you’re lying to me, I won’t forgive you. But... if this ends well, we might become very close. In many ways.”

Her low voice tickled Ghislain’s ear. He blinked in surprise.

The Ereneth he knew would never behave like this — never made seductive gestures, never tried to allure someone.

But now, she was being... boldly flirtatious.

Clearly, her younger self was far more daring. Or maybe this kind of behavior was only possible because she was still young.

Watching Ghislain freeze with a dumbfounded expression, Ereneth flashed a victorious smile.

So that’s how humans are...

To her, it seemed obvious — the human had lost all sense at the sight of her beauty.

She was well aware of her appearance. Even elves, who generally placed little value on looks, frequently commented on her beauty.

Of course, those remarks usually came with caution: don’t let your heart be swayed by superficial charm — like the humans do.

But Ereneth didn’t particularly care for such warnings.

If it’s a tool I can use, why wouldn’t I?

She was the kind of elf who had no qualms about using even her looks as a weapon.

The problem was... Ghislain wasn’t an ordinary human.

What the hell is this? Did she eat the wrong forest fruit? Who taught her this stuff?

Ghislain just stared at her in bewilderment.

He wasn’t the type to be shaken by appearances. He’d seen far too much for something like that to affect him.

Ereneth’s beauty meant nothing to him. In fact, gender itself meant nothing.

Enemy or ally — that was the only distinction Ghislain cared about.

Not knowing any of that, Ereneth pulled his face even closer and pouted slightly.

“Got it?”

A scent like sweet fruit seemed to hang in the air. Ghislain stifled a laugh and nodded.

“Got it.”

— Yes, ma’am!

He ignored Astion’s excited outburst from within his mind.

At last, Ereneth released him and turned away. She was a little embarrassed, but she was certain the human man was now infatuated with her.

Everything she’d heard about humans had helped. She’d practiced that move many times, planning to use it once she left the forest.

As she walked ahead, Ereneth smiled coldly.

Revelation? As if I’d believe that crap. But this is fun — so I’ll play along. Sooner or later, he’ll spill how he knows my name, how he knew about the northern forest.

She had no intention of pressuring him just yet. Her goal was to let the human fall so hard that he’d spill everything on his own.

This, too, was something she’d always dreamed of trying after hearing stories about the outside world.

For now, she simply wanted to enjoy this little adventure.

Ereneth steadied her breath, trying to regain her calm. Breaking the elven code had brought with it a strange, thrilling sense of sin — one she couldn’t quite describe.

Behind her, Ghislain raised the corner of his mouth.

He thought back to the moment she’d agreed to follow his lead — that curious little smile she’d shown.

Ereneth... you were already so cunning, even back then.

He had already seen through her act.