Chapter 958: Professional Wife Enthusiast

As the group descended the small mountain and began moving through the winding paths, Isabelle found herself realising everything the members of the brigade had told them was absolutely true. Battles were occurring everywhere.

To her left, a squad of beastkin was driving back a pack of slimes with coordinated spear thrusts.

To her right, mages were exchanging spells with something that lurked in the shadows of a rocky outcropping.

Explosions echoed from the distance. Sparks of fire and ice burst across the grey sky.

And yet...it was completely controlled.

After one battle concluded, the troops didn’t celebrate or collapse in exhaustion. They simply turned and began walking back toward their posts, chatting casually among themselves.

"I’m thinking of having the beef stew for lunch today." One warrior said, wiping monster blood from her blade. "The cook’s been trying a new recipe."

"Again? You had that yesterday."

"And I’ll have it tomorrow too, if it’s as good as it was."

Another group passed by, their armor still smoking from a recent magical exchange.

"I’m telling you, we need to do a background check on him." A female ogre was saying, her voice carrying the weight of maternal concern. "Our daughter’s wedding is next spring, and I still don’t know if this groom of hers is a decent fellow."

"Dear, you’ve done three background checks already."

"Then I’ll do a fourth! This is our little girl we’re talking about!"

"Our ’little girl’ is a decorated warrior who’s killed more monsters than I have."

"That doesn’t mean she has good judgment in men!"

Isabelle stared after them, utterly baffled. "They’re talking about lunch?"

Brenda, walking beside her, chuckled. "What else would they talk about?"

"They were just in a life-threatening battle!"

"And now they’re hungry." Brenda shrugged her massive shoulders. "That’s how it works around here, Lady Isabelle. The monsters don’t stop coming, so we don’t stop fighting."

"After a while, it’s just...work. You clock in, you kill some beasts, you clock out, you eat lunch."

Isabelle shook her head slowly, trying to reconcile what she was seeing.

These warriors didn’t look like they’d just faced death. They looked like laborers leaving a factory shift—tired, perhaps, but utterly unconcerned.

Then the realization struck her with sudden clarity.

It was because they fought every single day that they were completely numb to it.

These battles, which would terrify anyone else, had become nothing more than everyday life.

The monsters. The blood. The constant threat of death.

All of it had been absorbed into their routine so thoroughly that it no longer registered as extraordinary.

And in that moment, Isabelle also understood why the Blood and Iron Brigade was the most sought-after army on the entire continent.

’Impenetrable warriors who don’t feel fear anymore.’

Any noble would salivate at the prospect of commanding such soldiers.

Even the Empress herself would be tempted to offer fortunes, titles, anything to bring these battle-hardened veterans under her banner.

On a real battlefield, against human enemies who still felt terror, who still hesitated, who still broke and ran...the Blood and Iron Brigade would be an absolute nightmare.

Isabelle felt a surge of gratitude that they were all completely loyal to the Holyfield estate.

—

The group continued along the path, passing by smaller mining operations scattered across the rugged landscape.

Workers moved in and out of tunnels, pushing carts laden with raw ore.

In some mines, the shaft descended vertically into the earth, and Isabelle watched a worker climb onto a wooden contraption tied to a thick rope before being slowly lowered into the darkness below.

Further along, the operations grew larger. Some mines had their own walls, their own guard towers, their own security checkpoints bristling with armed sentries.

"The more valuable the ore." One of the mages explained, noticing Isabel’s curiosity. "The more elaborate the security setup. Those mines you see there—"

She pointed toward a heavily fortified complex.

"—they’re extracting high-purity Aether crystals. Only authorized personnel with verified clearance can enter. Anyone else who approaches without permission gets detained immediately."

Another warrior chimed in.

"There are also volatile ores that require special handling. Certain mineral deposits are extremely unstable. One wrong move with a pickaxe and half the tunnel could come down."

"Only miners who have proven their experience and loyalty are allowed to work those shafts. They get higher compensation for the risk, of course."

"Danger pay." A beastkin added. "Triple the standard rate, plus hazard bonuses. We don’t send anyone into those tunnels who hasn’t volunteered."

Isabelle absorbed this information as they rode, her eyes darting from one operation to the next.

She noticed something else, too—the way the battles never seemed to linger near the mining sites.

She watched as a pack of tiger like monsters emerged near one of the active shafts, only for a squad of Blood and Iron warriors to immediately intercept them.

But instead of engaging directly, the soldiers skillfully maneuvered around the creatures, drawing their attention, provoking them, and then luring them away from the mining operation.

The miners, Isabelle noticed, hadn’t even looked up from their work.

They passed small refineries where raw ore was being processed.

Buildings that hummed with machinery and billowed steam from their chimneys.

Storage facilities where processed crystals were kept under heavy guard.

Workshops where tools and equipment were repaired and maintained.

A forge complex where the distinctive ring of hammers on metal echoed across the path.

The entire territory was chaotic on the surface, but operating with an underlying rhythm that was almost musical.

Everyone knew their role. Everyone understood their place in the greater machine.

Even the chaos was choreographed.

—

Cassius was admiring the operation himself when Brenda, an ogre and the impromptu leader of their escort group, suddenly smacked her forehead with a meaty palm.

"Ah, shit. I totally forgot."

She turned to Cassius with an apologetic grimace.

"I never asked your name, sir. Or what you do."

The other soldiers blinked, then collectively winced.

"Oh, yeah. How could we be so rude?"

"We were so caught up with Lady Isabelle we completely—"

"Unforgivable. Truly unforgivable."

They all turned toward Cassius with eager, expectant expressions.

Cassius cleared his throat. "Right. I forgot to properly introduce myself as well."

He straightened in his saddle, drew Isabelle closer against his chest, and smiled brightly.

"My name is Cassius Sinclair."

A beat of silence.

"As for my main occupation..." He squeezed Isabelle gently. "It’s my job to be my wife’s number one supporter!"

Isabel’s heart stopped.

Sinclair...He had taken her surname.

In this world, a man taking his wife’s family name was practically unheard of.

It happened only when the wife came from a vastly more prestigious house than the husband and even then, it was whispered about with mockery and scorn.

But here Cassius was, a member of one of the most powerful families in existence, proudly declaring himself a Sinclair as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

He hadn’t even hesitated.

Isabelle melted into his arms, her cheeks flushing with warmth.

If they weren’t surrounded by soldiers, she would have shown her appreciation in ways that would have made even the Goddess of Debauchery blush.

Brenda, meanwhile, looked thoroughly confused.

"Your occupation is...being your wife’s number one supporter? What exactly does that mean?"

The others leaned in, equally curious.

Cassius’s expression grew enthusiastic, the look of a man who had been waiting his entire life for someone to ask this exact question.

"Of course! It means supporting my wife no matter what she does! Making sure she doesn’t go through even the slightest problem. Helping her with everything and anything she needs."

He began counting on his fingers.

"For example, cooking the most delicious meals whenever she asks."

"Doing the laundry and making sure every piece of clothing she wears smells like fresh flowers."

"Giving her the best massages imaginable."

"Braiding her hair whenever she needs it."

"Helping her put on her clothes in the morning."

"Hugging her whenever she needs hugs."

"Kissing her whenever she needs kisses."

He paused, and a rather wicked smirk crossed his face.

"And of course—thoroughly satisfying her in bed!"

Isabelle made a strangled sound somewhere between a gasp and a whimper, her face now approaching the color of a ripe tomato.

The warriors exchanged stunned glances—some of the younger ones blushing, the older ones looking mildly scandalized, and a few of the ogres simply nodding with what appeared to be grudging respect.

"Basically." Cassius concluded, completely unashamed. "My duty is to love my wife and give her all the affection I can possibly give. That is my life’s purpose. My true calling. My sacred duty!"

Brenda blinked her large eyes, letting out a low whistle.

"Damn, sir...you really, really love your woman, don’t you?"

"Look at him, he’s totally whipped!" A female Beastkin whispered excitedly to her boyfriend, elbowing him hard in the ribs.

"Why can’t you be more like Sir Cassius?! When was the last time you braided my hair?!"

"Ow! Hey! Don’t put that standard on me!" The male Beastkin grumbled, glaring at Cassius. "The guy’s making the rest of us look bad!"

"Because you are terrible, Alrek."

"I am not! I bought you flowers last month!"

"It was a weed, Alrek."

"It was a very pretty weed!"

The men in the group glares at Cassius for raising everyone’s standards.

The women in the squad, however, began looking at Cassius with deep respect and admiration.

They’d already seen how close Isabelle and Cassius were—the way they looked at each other, the way Cassius kept her tucked protectively against his chest.

But to hear him boldly declare how much he cherished his wife, in front of everyone, without a trace of shame...

It painted him in an entirely new light.

Anyone who treated his wife with such devotion, in a world where such open affection wasn’t exactly common, was clearly a good person.

The women in the group regarded Cassius with newfound approval.

Cassius chuckled, pulling back slightly.

"Of course, if we’re talking about my secondary skill sets...I wear a few different hats. You could call me a merchant, a top-class chef, or an inventor. I’m just a man of many talents."

He narrowed his icy blue eyes, looking toward the distant mountain shafts.

"But the real reason I came here today is as a specialized Mana Researcher. I heard you have a massive surge of mana-fiends, and I’m here to fix it."

Brenda’s eyes went wide. "Wait! You’re a scholar?! A mage?!"

Cassius nodded smoothly. "I am just as capable as my wife, though our talents lie in different areas. My expertise is in the research, structure, and manipulation of mana leylines. When it comes to raw, destructive combat..."

He reached out, gently patting Isabelle’s head with a affectionate smile.

"...my wife is far better suited for the bloody work."

Brenda didn’t mind that at all. In fact, her face lit up with pure, unadulterated excitement!

"Are you kidding me?! That’s even better!" Brenda shouted, slapping her thigh. "Look, Sir Cassius, we can punch monsters all day! We can hack and slash through fiends until our arms fall off!"

"But we can’t stop them from spawning!" She grimaced.

"That’s why we desperately need someone who can go down into those dark shafts, find the corrupted source, and destroy it at the root!"

"Please tell me you can fix it, sir!"

Another warrior begged, looking at Cassius like he was the Messiah.

"My kids are complaining that I’m never home! The overtime pay is great, but I just want to sleep in my own bed!"

"Please save us!" A mage added, clutching her hands together. "If I have to clear another wave of fiends this week, my hair is going to turn grey!"

They looked at him as if he were their salvation made flesh. Their true messiah, finally arrived to deliver them from their suffering.

But Cassius himself felt slightly awkward. He had intended this role to be minor, a cover identity that wouldn’t draw too much attention.

But it seemed that rather than Isabelle, who had demonstrated overwhelming combat power, they recognized him as the more crucial piece of the puzzle.

Which wasn’t exactly according to plan.

But it wasn’t as if he could ask Isabelle to conduct mana research. She was a genius in the kitchen, not the laboratory.

So he gave a warm, reassuring smile.

"Of course! I assure you, even if I have to stay in these mines for the rest of my life, I will find the source of this problem and eradicate it completely!"

The effect was immediate. The warriors erupted in celebration.

"Thank you, Sir Cassius!"

"We’re in your debt!"

"My wife is going to cry when I tell her—"

"The kids might actually recognize my face now!"

They had been suffering. But now, seeing Cassius, it was as if they had spotted a light at the end of a very dark tunnel.