344

Episode 344 Let's take it easy on the way back. (3)

"Krrrrr… … You crazy bastard… … ."

Martin, who was spitting out bubbles of blood, had a look of bewilderment in his eyes as he died.

King of Mercenaries? I've never heard or thought of such a title.

It was well known that the Earl of Fenris was a madman, so everything he said sounded like crazy.

'How can there be such bad luck?'

Martin was so upset that he had to die like this, having been caught by a crazy guy.

"Father… … will definitely… … kill you guys… … . I will tear you to pieces… … ."

Martin died in agony, uttering curses.

The Drake mercenary group looked at Martin's body with a heavy expression. They felt relieved to have gotten revenge, but they were worried about the aftermath.

But Giselle just smiled at Dominic as if it was no big deal.

"How is it? Does it feel refreshing?"

"Yes… … It's cool, but… … ."

"You don't have to worry too much. What kind of mercenary is this timid? You can fight and win later."

"… … ."

Wouldn't it be stranger to kill the son of the most powerful noble in the West and not worry about him?

Dominic realized that there was a huge difference between his bowl and Giselle's.

They are so different that they almost seem crazy.

Doo doo doo doo doo doo!

At that moment, the sound of horse hooves grew louder and a group of troops appeared to be advancing. Dominic came to his senses and mounted his horse.

"Prepare for battle!"

The mercenaries also followed his words, lined up, and took up their weapons.

The advancing troops were the city defenders and Martin's private soldiers.

The captain of the garrison who arrived in front of the mercenary group growled at Dominic.

"Dominic! You've finally caused trouble! Where is this prince!"

Dominic said, bowing his head slightly to Giselle.

"I will handle it from now on."

Then he immediately threw Martin's body at the captain and shouted.

"I killed him because he took my family hostage and killed them. This is just revenge."

"What? What? Are you, are you crazy!"

The captain's face turned pale. The son of the Marquis Rodrik was killed by a mere band of mercenaries.

If we make a mistake, not all of the defenders will be able to avoid punishment.

They have to kill these guys right now or they'll die.

"All of them, right now… … ."

The captain of the garrison was unable to complete the order because of the fierce spirit of the mercenaries.

'If you hit us, we die.'

Their number was close to a thousand in total. It was by no means a small number, but the size of the Drake mercenary group was much larger.

Even though the number of people who had gone outside on missions and those who had not yet gathered were excluded, the number of people still seemed close to 2,000.

The Drake Company is the largest mercenary company in the West, and has a lot of experience. Their reputation is by no means small.

'If we fight, we will definitely lose, and even if we win, we will definitely suffer damage close to annihilation.'

In fact, I had no confidence that I could win against them. The troops on this side had little combat experience.

Powerful nobles like Martin looked down on mercenary bands, but to ordinary people they were not so easy to deal with.

'Oh, what should I do?'

If I go back, I will die, if I fight, I will die. The captain of the garrison could not make a decision, his bewildered mind clearly showing on his face.

Dominic knew that too, so he said with a relaxed expression.

"Treat him as missing."

"what?"

"Most people don't know what happened anyway. Just pretend he went on a trip with the dead knights and soldiers and never came back. Wouldn't that work?"

"… … ."

The captain of the garrison could only swallow his saliva and not answer.

For now, it may be possible to let it go. However, Marquis Rodrik is not an easy place. As time goes by, they will definitely investigate, and eventually, the truth will be revealed.

When the captain of the guard was unable to answer, Dominic continued speaking persuasively.

"There's no other way for you anyway. You either fight us and die here, or be honest and die at the Marquis' house. In that case, wouldn't it be better to buy some time and think about it?"

"… … Uh, uhm."

"You just have to keep your mouth shut. If you don't want to die, everyone will listen."

"Ha, but it'll definitely take some time."

"Then make an excuse for us. Say that we kidnapped them."

If you do that, you will definitely be punished and die. Marquis Rodrik is a cruel man.

But it was better than dying right away. We had no choice but to manipulate and hide the information as much as possible, and if we were to get caught, we had no choice but to run away together before that happened.

"Oh, I see."

The captain of the guard eventually accepted Dominic's offer. Martin was not worthy of loyalty, so he had no choice but to act in a way that would preserve his own life as much as possible.

Giselle glanced at the garrison and Martin's private soldiers and smirked.

"It's worse than the North."

No matter how much money you have or how strong your family is, what good is it? The soldiers who have become lethargic have no loyalty, no passion, and no will to fight.

Even the soldiers of Count Cavaldi, who was known as a vicious lord in the North, were not like this. Those who lived in the harsh North at least had the temperament to fight.

Of course, it was absolutely not their fault. It was much more the fault of the nobles who treated the people so viciously.

The Marquis' direct troops would be different, but the circumstances of the other territories were obvious even without looking.

Anyway, thanks to the captain's agreement with Dominic, the situation ended without a fight.

Dominic looked back at the mercenaries and raised his hand.

"let's go."

Most of the Drake's mercenary forces had already packed up.

The news will soon be delivered to the mercenary groups that have not yet arrived due to the distance, the subordinate mercenary groups in other territories, and the mercenaries on missions.

Most of them will also pack up and move to Fenris.

Anyway, since Dominic caused an accident, even if I stay here, I'll end up being harassed by the Marquis.

Watching the departing Drake mercenary group, the captain of the garrison suddenly asked Dominic.

I wondered where so many people would settle after leaving the West.

"Where are you all going?"

Since rumors would spread quickly anyway as he continued his activities, Dominic didn't bother to hide it.

"Penris. We will go to Penris."

"Fenris… … ?"

The captain of the garrison also heard the rumor. It is the most famous territory in the city. It is the place where the northern sacred and scoundrel is the lord.

After mounting her horse, Giselle looked back at the captain and said.

"I am the Earl of Fenris. I will take care of them now. If you come across the Marquis later, tell him so. If you don't like it, come back to me anytime."

"… … ."

Looking at his face, it was the guy who kidnapped Martin. He seemed like a good guy, but he seemed a little crazy. The captain of the guard just pretended not to know.

Giselle smacked her lips in embarrassment, and Dominic smiled without realizing it.

Who would believe that the Lord of the North would come and make a fuss like this?

So the Drake mercenary band left, and the city's defenders moved quickly to burn Martin's body and destroy the evidence.

Giselle asked Dominic on their way to Fenris.

"Where and how does the auction of my items take place?"

"… … ."

Dominic couldn't answer right away. The idea of being able to secretly obtain the idol's items was an irresistible temptation for his followers.

This tendency was especially stronger among collectors.

When Dominic hesitated, Giselle looked at him askance and spoke again.

"Why don't you tell me?"

"...yes."

Eventually, Dominic confessed everything: how and where he contacted them, how he purchased them, and so on.

Jiselle nodded her head repeatedly, sighing and clicking her tongue in the middle of listening to the story.

This was the first time I wanted to return to the territory so quickly.

* * *

"Come on, we have to hurry up and get this done tonight, even if it means staying up all night. We're running low on supplies."

In one of the buildings in the estate, Claude was urging people on.

He was currently working on 'The Chronicles of the Earl of Fenris - The Second Forest of the Demons'.

A large number of scribes gathered and worked diligently under Claude's direction.

Claude smiled happily as he looked at the sight.

"Hehehe… … How much is all this?"

It started out small. A few merchants told me that the lord was popular these days, and asked me secretly if I could get some of the items he used.

Claude, who had been too busy living his life to even venture outside the territory, didn't know much about it. But it turned out that the lord had quite a few followers!

"It's common sense that products related to popular people sell well. Hehehe."

Claude, who knew that fact, immediately thought about it. He decided to secretly do business using the lord's popularity.

He neither took bribes nor embezzled the estate's assets. He worked hard and earned his money, so he had no qualms about it.

'The hardest part was fooling Wendy.'

Claude glanced to the side. Sure enough, Wendy was biting her nails with an anxious expression.

It made me feel good to see that steely woman at a loss.

'Hehe, I guess you can't help it if it gets this far.'

Claude proceeded with this undertaking very carefully. The first thing he did was to record the lord's life story.

Wendy first saw it and asked.

"What are you doing now?"

"Well, it's about recording the Lord's actions. Isn't that what everyone does?"

It wasn't a wrong statement. All noble families keep records about themselves. If their achievements are outstanding, they even exaggerate them.

The problem wasn't the recording itself.

"Why are you writing that yourself, Commander-in-Chief?"

Usually, there is a separate officer who writes these records. The general does not necessarily write them directly.

But Claude said with a shameless expression.

"Everyone is busy, right? And no one writes as well as I do. I have great penmanship and great writing skills."

Claude threatened, "It's a type of work anyway, so the director can do it." It wasn't entirely wrong, so Wendy couldn't stop him right away.

He worked on his biography in his spare time and ordered the scribes who wrote the official documents of the territory to copy it exactly.

That part was suspicious, but I couldn't help but give in to the fact that he said he was leaving copies to distribute to other people.

Claude continued to do suspicious things after that.

"Oh, I, as the general, have to check the lord's attire? Isn't protocol something that only the head butler can do?"

"Bring me the Lord's weapons. I need to check their condition."

"Hmm, this doesn't look very good. Set it aside. I'll report any shortcomings to the workshop."

"Oh, tell the butler to send the things that need to be thrown away this way. I need to check one last time."

In this way, Claude used his authority to gradually steal Giselle's belongings, linking them to the governor's work and deceiving people in a plausible way.

Claude is the governor of the territory. Naturally, he has many administrators under his command. As a result, he inevitably has one or two confidants.

Claude entrusted the goods to his trusted confidants and had them sell them secretly.

This part was the hardest because I had to do everything I could to avoid Wendy catching me, like splitting up the words and handing out notes.

Additionally, he secretly spread rumors to his followers through merchants.

'Haha, that was a critical moment, but I got through it safely.'

It was difficult at first, but once his subordinates figured out Claude's intentions, everything was communicated with just a nod.

In this way, the Dark Auction House was created and Giselle's items were sold to her followers.

By the time Wendy realized it, the items had already been sold out and the auction house had grown in size. Claude had used his brilliant mind to deceive everyone in the estate and created a new business.

Wendy bit her fingernails and worried for several days after learning of the existence of the auction house.

'What should I do? How should I report this?'

I did not embezzle public funds or hire people for free.

He had started a new business on his own and was using the profits to hire people.

This guy was clever enough to never touch anything Belinda took back. He only took things that he wanted to dispose of after checking their condition and sold them.

Even if it is something to throw away, you should not sell the lord's belongings carelessly. But this is really ambiguous.

If things were as they were, I should have reported it from the beginning and stopped it. But now the situation has become so big that I am at a loss as to how to report it.

Claude glanced at Wendy's expression and smiled inwardly.

'Hehehe, are you saying that you're secretly weak-hearted? It'll be hard to report it with so many people involved.'

Everyone, from scribes to those who sell goods, is working without sleep. They are all doing it willingly, so there is no reason to stop them.

Wendy had no idea what to do about this.

It was a mistake, but it wasn't a big mistake. In some ways, I could have just turned a blind eye to it. I had to stop it now, but the atmosphere wasn't easy.

Claude whispered to Wendy.

"Just let it go, it's too late. You've been watching from the sidelines for a long time now. What are you going to do about it now?"

Claude turned his head away as Wendy glared at him. He really was a mean kid.

Claude didn't just delegate the work to his scribes. Other figures were also waiting around him, taking their places.

"Come on, the writers are working hard, so all the illustrators should gather around too."

These were the painters of the Fenris domain. Claude glanced at the painters summoned by his order and frowned.

"Don't you guys draw portraits properly? People who know the lord's face keep complaining that the retouching is too harsh!"

The painters bit their lips at Claude's words. To be honest, it was unfair. It was Claude who ordered them to draw handsome men no matter what.

He even personally checked and passed the work. But when a complaint was received, he immediately pretended not to know.

You could say that he was a truly shameless guy.

"Anyway! Uh! I have to draw it again! Got it? Let's try to minimize the artificiality this time!"

"Oh, I understand."

"Anyway, I've been getting a lot of requests for refunds and requests to start over. So I'm going to scrap everything I've worked on so far and start over! Got it?"

"Ma, you've already made five hundred sheets?"

"Whether it's five hundred or five thousand! This is a matter of trust! That's why I'm going to redraw it even if it means staying up all night!"

The painters' faces turned pale at those words. The most untrustworthy guy was running around shouting about trust. I really wanted to beat him up.

Claude shouted, clenching his fists.

"Come on, cheer up! If you do, everything will work out! Let's run hard today!"

Claude encouraged the painters to run hard.

Without even knowing who was really running towards this place right now.