Chapter 344
Chapter 344: Let’s Go Back Easily. (3)
“Grrr… that crazy bastard…”
Martin, who was spewing foam from his mouth, wore a look of disbelief as he was dying.
The king of mercenaries? He had never heard of such a title, nor had he ever thought of it.
It was well-known that Count Penris was insane. So, everything he said just sounded like madness.
‘Can things get any worse than this?’
Martin felt it was terribly unfair to die at the hands of a lunatic.
“My father… will definitely kill you all… tear you apart…”
Cursing, Martin succumbed to his pain.
The Drake Mercenary Group looked heavy-hearted upon seeing Martin’s corpse. While they found some relief in having taken revenge, they were worried about the aftermath.
But Ghislaine just laughed, seemingly unfazed, as she looked at Dominic.
“How does it feel? Refreshing, right?”
“Yeah… it’s refreshing, but…”
“You don’t need to worry too much. What kind of mercenary is this timid? We can just fight and win later.”
“…”
Isn’t it more odd not to worry after having just killed the son of the strongest noble in the West?
Dominic realized that there was a huge difference between him and Ghislaine.
So much that she looked a bit out of her mind over there.
Thud thud thud thud!
At that moment, the sound of hooves grew louder, and a troop of soldiers came charging in. Dominic snapped to attention and mounted his horse.
“Prepare for battle!”
The mercenaries lined up and grabbed their weapons in response to his command.
The approaching army consisted of the city’s defense force and Martin’s personal soldiers.
The captain of the guards, arriving in front of the mercenary group, glared at Dominic.
“Dominic! You’ve finally messed up! Where’s that young master of yours!”
Dominic slightly bowed his head to Ghislaine and said, “I’ll handle this from here on.”
He then threw Martin’s corpse at the captain and shouted, “I killed him because he took our family hostage! This is just revenge!”
“What? What? Are you insane!”
The captain turned pale. This young noble from the House of Marquis Roderick had been killed by a mere mercenary group.
If things went awry, the entire guard could face punishment.
They had to kill these guys right away. Otherwise, they’d be the ones to die.
“Seize them immediately…”
The captain couldn’t complete his order. The fierce aura of mercenaries overwhelmed him.
‘If we attack, we’ll die.’
They had nearly a thousand men combined. Not a small number, but the Drake Mercenary Group was larger than that.
Even with personnel who were outside on missions and ones who hadn’t gathered yet, their numbers seemed to be close to two thousand.
The Drake Mercenary Group was reputedly the largest in the West and had plenty of experience. Their renown was no joke.
‘If we fight, we are sure to lose. Even if we win, we’ll suffer devastating casualties.’
In fact, he had no confidence in defeating them. Their own troops had little combat experience.
Noble enemies like Martin looked down on mercenaries, but they were not an easy target for ordinary folks.
‘What to do?’
Whether he returned or fought, he’d die. The captain wore an expression of perplexity, unable to make a decision.
Dominic, knowing this, calmly said, “Make it look like a disappearance.”
“What?”
“Most people won’t know what happened anyway. Just say the knights and soldiers went on a mission and never returned. Wouldn’t that work?”
“…”
The captain could only swallow hard, unable to respond.
For the moment, they might be able to get away with it. However, the House of Marquis Roderick wasn’t that easygoing. Surely, in time, they would investigate, and the truth would eventually come to light.
As the captain remained silent, Dominic encouraged him further.
“You have no other choice. You can either fight us and die here or tell the truth and die by the hands of the marquis. Isn’t it better to buy time and think it through?”
“…Um, yeah.”
“Just keep your lips sealed. If everyone doesn’t want to die, they’ll listen well.”
“But they’ll definitely find out.”
“When that time comes, blame us. Just say we kidnapped you.”
Even if they tried that, they’d surely face punishment and would die. Marquis Roderick was a ruthless man.
But it was better than dying right away. They would have to manipulate and hide information as best as they could, and if things seemed to be discovered, they would have to escape together beforehand.
“Alright, I understand.”
In the end, the captain accepted Dominic’s proposal. Martin wasn’t someone worthy of loyalty. Thus, he too could only move to preserve his life as much as possible.
Ghislaine looked over the guards and Martin’s personal soldiers and smirked.
“They’re worse than the North.”
What good is it if you have a lot of money and power? The lazy soldiers had no loyalty, no zeal, and no will to fight.
Even the soldiers of Count Cabaldy, famous for being cruel in the North, weren’t this lacking. Those who survived the harsh North at least had the spirit to try fighting.
Of course, it wasn’t their fault at all. The fault lay far more heavily with the nobles who treated people so ruthlessly.
Sure, the direct troops of the marquis were likely different, but as for the conditions in other territories, that was evident.
Anyway, thanks to the captain reaching an agreement with Dominic, the situation ended without a fight.
Dominic raised his hand as he looked back at the mercenaries.
“Let’s go.”
Most of the troops from the Drake Mercenary Group were already packed up.
The mercenary group that hadn’t yet arrived due to the distance, along with those in other territories, and those on missions would soon hear the news as well.
They too would mostly be ready to move to Penris.
Since Dominic had caused this incident, staying here would only lead to suffering under the marquis.
As the Drake Mercenary Group departed, the captain suddenly asked Dominic.
He was curious where all those people would settle after leaving the West.
“Where are you all going?”
Dominic didn’t bother hiding it since they would soon be spreading rumors anyway.
“Penris. We’re heading to Penris.”
“Penris…?”
The captain had heard of the rumors. It was the most famous territory around, a sacred place of the North where a reckless noble was lord.
After mounting her horse, Ghislaine turned to the captain and said, “I am Count Penris. I’ll be taking care of these people, so if you encounter the marquis later, just say so. If you don’t like it, come find me anytime.”
“…”
Seeing her face, he realized she was the one who had kidnapped Martin. She seemed to have good skills, but was a bit mad. The captain decided to act as if he didn’t know.
Ghislaine felt awkward and licked her lips, while Dominic couldn’t help but laugh at her expression.
Who would believe it? That a noble from the North would directly come to cause a ruckus.
With that, the Drake Mercenary Group left, and the city’s defense army hurriedly moved to burn Martin’s body and erase the evidence.
On the way to Penris, Ghislaine asked Dominic, “Where and how will the auction for my items be held?”
“…”
Dominic struggled to answer right away. The temptation of secretly acquiring idols’ items through a follower was hard to resist.
Especially for collectors, that tendency was even stronger.
When Dominic hesitated, Ghislaine shot him a sideways glance and said again, “Speak up already.”
“…Yes.”
In the end, Dominic revealed everything, including how to meet, the location, and how to make purchases without omission.
Ghislaine sighed and clicked her tongue at intervals while nodding her head throughout his explanation.
It was the first time she had wanted to return to the territory so badly.
*
“Alright, we need to push ahead quickly, even if it means staying up all night. The supplies are running low.”
In a building in the territory, Claude was urging people along.
He was currently creating “The Chronicles of Count Penris – Volume 2: Forest of Monsters.”
Numerous scribes were diligently writing under Claude’s direction.
Watching this scene, Claude wore a satisfied smile.
“Hehe… just look at all this.”
It all started small. A few merchants mentioned that the lord was quite popular these days, and they secretly asked if he could acquire items used by the lord.
Having never stepped outside the territory and being too busy, Claude was unaware of this. But it turned out that the lord actually had quite a following!
“Items related to popular figures sell well, it’s common sense. Hehe.”
Knowing that, Claude immediately put his mind to work. He decided to secretly engage in business leveraging the lord’s popularity.
He wasn’t taking bribes or misappropriating the territory’s assets. Since he was earning honestly, he felt no guilt at all.
‘Deceiving Wendy was the toughest part.’
Claude glanced sideways. Wendy was indeed nervously biting her nails.
Seeing this iron-like woman flustered delighted him.
‘Hehe, you can’t do anything now, can you?’
Claude proceeded with this business cautiously. The first task was to record the lord’s chronicles.
Wendy asked when she first saw him doing it.
“What are you doing right now?”
“Uh, I’m writing down the lord’s deeds. Isn’t that what everyone does?”
That wasn’t an incorrect statement. All noble families leave records about themselves. If their accomplishments are noteworthy, they might even exaggerate them.
The problem wasn’t the act of recording itself.
“Why is the chief officer writing that himself?”
Usually, there are appointed historians for such records. The chief officer doesn’t usually write them personally.
But Claude, with a brazen expression, replied, “Everyone’s busy, right? And there’s no one better than me at writing. I’m a great calligrapher and an eloquent writer.”
Claude insisted, ‘It’s a part of my duties, so the chief officer can do it,’ which wasn’t entirely wrong, so Wendy couldn’t immediately refute him.
He had the scribes working on the public documents of the territory copy the chronicles in-between.
That part seemed suspicious, but the explanation that he would leave copies for distribution won her over.
Claude continued to do numerous suspicious things afterward.
“Hey, as the chief officer, I need to check the lord’s clothes, right? Protocol management isn’t just for the butler.”
“Bring the lord’s weapons too. I need to inspect their condition.”
“Hmm, this doesn’t look good. Set it aside. I’ll pass on the shortcomings to the workshop.”
“Ah, tell the butler to send over anything that should be discarded. I need to have one last look.”
In this manner, Claude skillfully used his authority to sneakily take away Ghislaine’s items, cleverly deceiving people under the guise of the chief officer’s duties.
Claude was the chief officer of the territory. Naturally, many administrative officers served under him. Thus, he began to develop loyal subordinates.
Claude entrusted his items to the trustworthy ones and had them secretly sell them.
This part was the hardest. He had to be extremely careful to avoid being caught by Wendy, even dividing his notes into scraps.
He also had traders spread secret rumors to the followers.
‘Phew, it was a tense moment, but I got through it.’
Although the beginning was tough, once his loyal followers grasped his intentions, everything became clear just through a glance.
That’s how the dark auction house was formed, and Ghislaine’s items were sold to her followers.
By the time Wendy discovered it, the items had already sold out, and the auction house had grown in scale. Using his brilliant mind, Claude had deceived everyone in the territory and built a new business.
After discovering the reality of the auction house, Wendy spent days biting her nails in worry.
‘What should I do? How should I report this?’
He hadn’t embezzled the public funds of the territory. He wasn’t taking advantage of people for free.
He had tried hard to build a new business on his own, using the profits to employ people.
This guy had cunningly avoided touching anything that belong to Belinda, only stealthily taking and selling things he intended to dispose of.
Even if it was waste, one shouldn’t carelessly sell a lord’s possessions. Yet, this was quite ambiguous.
Originally, she should have reported it from the start and stopped it. But now, things had grown so big that reporting it felt daunting.
Claude slyly observed Wendy’s expression and chuckled internally.
‘Hehe, are you a bit soft-hearted? With so many people involved, it must be tough to report it.’
From the scribes to the folks selling the items, everyone was working without rest. Since it was all voluntary work, there was no basis to stop them.
Wendy truly had no idea how to handle this matter.
It was wrong, but it wasn’t a grave wrongdoing. It could be overlooked in some respect. She should stop it now, yet it felt difficult due to the atmosphere.
Claude leaned closer to Wendy and whispered.
“Just let it slide. It’s already too late. You’ve been just watching from the sidelines for a long time. What are you going to do now that it’s come to this?”
When Wendy glared at him, Claude quickly turned his head away. He was truly an irritating fellow.
Claude hadn’t just entrusted the scribes with the work. Other individuals were also waiting nearby, readying themselves.
“Alright, let the writers keep writing; painters, gather around too.”
These were the painters of the Penris territory. Claude scanned the artists gathered and frowned.
“Are you all not drawing the portraits correctly? I keep receiving complaints that the enhancements are too drastic from those who know the lord’s face!”
The painters bit their lips at Claude’s words. Frankly, it was unfair. He was the one who ordered them to make the lord look handsome in the first place.
He even personally reviewed and approved the work. Yet, as soon as complaints came in, he acted like he was unaware.
He truly was a brazen character.
“Anyway! We have to redraw them! Do you understand? This time let’s minimize the artificiality!”
“Y-yes, understood.”
“Anyway, we’ve received many requests for refunds and reprints. So, we’re scrapping everything done so far and starting over! Got it?”
“We’ve already made o-o-five hundred copies…”
“Whether it’s five hundred or five thousand! This is a matter of reputation! We’re staying up all night to redraw it!”
At those words, the painters turned pale. The very least trustworthy guy was shouting about reputation. They really wanted to punch him.
Claude clenched his fists and shouted.
“Come on, let’s all hunker down! We can do it! Let’s really push ourselves today!”
Claude encouraged the painters to give it their all.
Without a clue that someone was actually rushing toward this place.
