NOVEL NEXT Chapter 18
Chapter 18: A Variable is Needed (3)
The priest examining Rachel couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
The illness she suffered from was an incurable disease that worsened over time, resisting divine power until it led to death.
But now, Rachel’s condition seemed noticeably better.
“What on earth is happening?”
The priest, shocked by this unprecedented sight, swiftly infused divine power into Rachel.
“Oh, Goddess!”
He gasped repeatedly.
Each time he infused divine power, the illness had fiercely resisted, making treatment impossible, but not this time.
It was an absurd situation.
Having treated Rachel a few times before, he knew how powerful the resistance of the disease against divine power was.
Yet now, Rachel’s body was absorbing the divine power like cotton soaking up water, without any rejection.
After a while of infusing divine power into Rachel, the priest stood up with a dazed expression.
“I can’t believe it… It seems her condition has improved. This is a miracle! The Goddess has bestowed upon us a miracle! Oh, benevolent Goddess! To grant such a blessing in the devil’s den!”
The priest started to rave and praise the Goddess. Essentially, he was saying that the Goddess had forgiven Rachel’s sins and performed a miracle for her healing.
The priest, who claimed he wouldn’t be here long, kept sitting and standing, reciting prayers.
Seeing him with no intention of leaving, Ghislaine tossed a comment to the knights.
“Send him home.”
The knights had to forcibly drag the priest out, who was stubbornly insisting he needed to experience more miracles.
Only after watching the excitedly talking priest did Gillian feel certain. His daughter’s illness had truly been healed.
His heart raced, and his legs trembled—he could barely stand upright.
Kneeling, he tenderly caressed his daughter’s face while tears streamed down his cheeks.
“Oh, oh… Rachel…”
Perhaps as her condition eased and the pain subsided, a peaceful smile appeared on the sleeping Rachel’s face.
Seeing his daughter at peace for the first time in years, Gillian finally broke down in tears.
How long had it been since he’d seen that smile?
How much had he wished and prayed to see it again?
This was a miracle.
“This can’t be, this can’t be…”
After crying for a while, he suddenly collected himself and stood up, looking at Ghislaine with desperate eyes.
“Is it really possible for my daughter’s illness to be cured?”
“Maybe, if she keeps taking the medicine for a month or two, she’ll be fully healed.”
“If you eat this, you’ll be cured.”
“Um, how can you cure an incurable disease…? Even the Divine Power couldn’t heal it.”
“Divine Power only boosts the body’s vitality and enhances regeneration. It helps you fight off the illness. So surprisingly, there are many diseases that can’t be cured, but people just don’t know that.”
Ghislaine replied arrogantly.
Gillian couldn’t say anything. What could he do when the one who healed him said that?
As Gillian stared blankly at Ghislaine, he suddenly snapped back to reality and asked,
“What is it, what do you want? You must have come to see me for something you desire.”
“What can you give me?”
“All I have left is this useless body. If you tell me to become a dog, I’ll become a dog; if you want me to be a slave, I’ll be a slave.”
Gillian was sincere. He was ready to give anything that Ghislaine wanted for his daughter.
Ghislaine chuckled and shook his head.
“You don’t need to go that far. I just need the original you from the past.”
After a brief pause, Gillian maintained silence for a while before finally speaking with difficulty.
“If I refuse, what will happen to my daughter?”
“Well, even if you refuse, I’ll still treat your daughter, so don’t worry. And as for money… I don’t really plan on taking any.”
Gillian looked at Ghislaine with disbelief.
To offer such kindness without a price? There’s no one like that in this world. He had experienced that many times throughout his life.
As if sensing Gillian’s thoughts, Ghislaine continued speaking with a relaxed expression.
“Don’t believe me? It’s nothing significant for me. It’s not as big of a deal as you think. Giving this much isn’t hard.”
There was a lack of persuasiveness in Ghislaine’s words.
He knew the treatment method for an unknown illness and had sought out someone he had never met before.
It couldn’t help but seem suspicious.
“Honestly, I’d feel disappointed if you refused, but I have no interest in forcing someone who doesn’t want to. If you don’t want it, what can I do?”
Gillian stared at Ghislaine for a long time.
He looked childlike yet had an oddly mature composure. Pure belief radiated from his eyes.
‘Who is this dreamer?’
Gillian soon steeled his gaze, took a deep breath, and picked up a dagger.
Snip.
Then he gathered his hair that fell to his shoulders and chopped it off in one swift motion.
As his hunched shoulders and back straightened, his body appeared stronger. His once dull gaze now blazed brightly like a fierce flame.
He looked completely different from when they first met.
The intense momentum startled the knights, who instinctively gripped their swords.
Belinda narrowed her eyes and reached into her pocket. She thought perhaps he might threaten Ghislaine for more medicine.
The knights blocked Gillian’s advance toward Ghislaine. Gillian then halted, standing tall, and locked eyes with Ghislaine.
Due to his height being about two spans greater than Ghislaine’s, he looked down at him.
Though it was an ordinary stance, it radiated tremendous pressure.
Gillian asked in a heavy voice,
“Is there anyone else who came with you or is planning to come?”
“No, it’s just us. There’s no one else to meet or come.”
Listening to their conversation, Belinda slowly took out a dagger from her pocket.
He pulled it out.
Asking how many companions there were or if someone was to meet them felt suspicious. Perhaps due to the suddenly changed momentum, it sounded almost threatening.
However, Gillian seemed unconcerned whether Belinda was wary of him, his eyes narrowed as he asked Ghislaine.
“Do you have any enemies who hold a grudge against the young master?”
Ghislaine chuckled as if he understood.
“Well, there are some with grudges. And there will be more ahead.”
As soon as he heard that answer, Gillian abruptly grabbed a harpoon from the corner and tied it to a long rope.
Then, without a word, he walked out of the room and hurled the harpoon forcefully at the door.
Kwah-aaaang!
The spear flew through the door like a shot. Soon, Gillian released his mana and yanked on the rope hard.
From behind the shattered door, a man in a gray robe was dragged in with the harpoon lodged in his shoulder.
“Gahhh!”
Seeing him writhing in pain, Ghislaine laughed in disbelief.
“Oh my, looks like we caught a tail here?”
The man who was suddenly dragged in looked up at Gillian with eyes full of fear.
To have pulled him out with such precision, just piercing his shoulder without killing him, was impressive.
Belinda and the knight attendants stared in wide-eyed amazement at Gillian’s incredible throwing skills.
What he demonstrated was not just mana but also a skill that required precise control of muscle movement.
Ignoring the astonishment of others, he gripped the man’s head with one hand and dragged him in front of Ghislaine.
Ghislaine looked down at the man coldly and asked, “Who sent you?”
“I, I…”
The man could only tremble, unable to finish his sentence.
He couldn’t understand how he had been singled out.
He had been lurking about, pretending to pass by like other passersby.
But to be targeted so accurately was shocking.
Belinda stepped forward anxiously as the man hesitated to respond.
However, all that came out were a poisoned dagger and several poisons, with no discernible clues about his identity.
“What shall we do?”
Gillian asked, and Ghislaine thought for a moment before looking back at the man.
“You don’t plan to speak willingly, do you?”
“……”
The man hesitated, but ultimately remained silent.
Ghislaine raised his shoulders in disappointment.
“That’s a shame. It would have been better if we parted easily. On a good day like today, I didn’t want to get my hands dirty.”
Even for something trivial as killing or sparing someone, there needed to be some reason, especially when it came to an enemy.
This principle was a code of conduct that Ghislaine had maintained since his days as the king of mercenaries.
Still looking down at the silent man, Ghislaine said to Gillian, “I suppose I could guess who sent him without needing them to tell me. Beyond that, I have no real curiosity, so it’s best to send uninvited guests on their way.”
Gillian nodded and dragged the man to another room.
Thud.
A chilling sound echoed from beyond the door, followed by a breathless silence. Soon after, Gillian returned with an indifferent expression.
The knight attendants were struck dumb by Gillian’s decisiveness to act without even double-checking.
‘Was he always like that? How could he change so suddenly?’
‘There’s no hesitation in his hands. The young master has come to take care of a dangerous person.’
“You’ve come to pick up the person, huh?”
When Gillian was first seen, he looked about as weak as a scrawny puppy, but now he exuded a completely different kind of intimidating presence.
Ghislaine said while looking at him, “It seems you’ve made up your mind.”
Gillian took a deep breath and slowly knelt down.
“I pledge my loyalty to the Young Master.”
“Are you sure you won’t regret it?”
“I’ve already fulfilled my lifelong wish. The remaining years of my life will be lived for the Young Master.”
His resolute tone was filled with firm determination. Ghislaine lifted him with a satisfied smile.
“That’s reassuring. Rachel will look after you in the territory. Naturally, she’ll take care of the remaining treatment as well.”
“Thank you.”
Ghislaine changed the subject with a playful expression.
“By the way, that’s impressive. How could you pinpoint and bring him in like that? Even our knights didn’t notice.”
At those words, Belinda and the knights turned red in the face.
They had realized there were people outside the house, but it was difficult to judge whether they were enemies or not.
Even in the sparsely populated outer area, there’s bound to be some foot traffic.
But Gillian was quick to notice something suspicious about that man and captured him.
“Well, I could’ve done it too if I had set my mind to it, you know? I was just distracted by the treatment!”
Belinda shouted with an expression of injustice.
Ghislaine shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s okay. I didn’t notice either.”
“Don’t say it like it’s perfectly normal to not know!”
As Belinda stomped around, Gillian replied with a blank expression.
“It’s because I’ve been cooped up at home. If you stay in one place too long, it becomes easy to spot someone acting suspiciously.”
Belinda, feeling her pride wounded, pouted her lips.
“Still, you could make a mistake or misjudge, right? No one is perfect.”
“What’s more important is the safety of the Young Master. If it turns out to be unfounded, we can deal with it then.”
Gillian responded quietly.
Belinda and the other knights looked pale.
The knights couldn’t act recklessly like that. A mistake could tarnish the honor of the person they serve.
Even if it turns out there was no mistake, once lost, honor doesn’t easily recover.
But Gillian had an attitude that it didn’t matter if the man he just killed was a guest or an innocent bystander.
“Tch, looking after the Young Master is my job.”
Feeling a bit like she’d been robbed of Ghislaine’s attention, Belinda grumbled internally.
She could understand Gillian’s feelings.
He had been close to death, despairing and helpless next to his sick daughter.
Ghislaine saved that sick daughter, so how grateful would he be? He’d likely lay down his life if asked.
“I never thought he would change this much.”
The intensity of his momentum was overwhelming. Such a person would surely draw attention, whether good or bad.
“I hope he doesn’t get into any trouble.”
Not even aware of what Belinda was worrying about, Ghislaine patted Gillian on the shoulder and said, “Good job. I hope for your continued support.”
Gillian bowed his head.
“I will never disappoint you.”
This was the moment Ghislaine’s plan took a turn—Gillian was joining the party.