Chapter 303
Chapter 303 – I Am the Plunder King (4)
“Hey, the Plunder King?”
“Didn’t that guy run away?”
“What’s happening! Didn’t the Commander take care of him?”
Just hearing the name “Plunder King” made the organization members hesitate. The things he had done were far too intense.
Morbin and the organization executives who came down to the first floor wore bewildered expressions. Something was clearly wrong.
After a moment of thought, Morbin spoke.
“Right, that’s impersonation. They’re trying to scare us. They’re planning to attack us all at once since the executives are all gathered here.”
He didn’t believe that the Plunder King had really shown up. He thought Claude wouldn’t make such a mistake.
“Those guys are fake! The Plunder King has already been driven out! My brother chased him away!”
With Morbin’s confident words, the organization members regained their spirits.
They were well aware of the relationship between Claude and Morbin. After all, they were blood brothers with the region’s Commander. They’d even gone to bathe together yesterday.
“Kill him!”
Morbin yelled, and the organization members rushed at Ghislaine.
Ghislaine lightly struck one of the charging members with the back of her hand.
Thud!
Bang!
That member was sent crashing through the wall.
“……?”
Everyone froze in shock. Sending someone flying with a mere gesture was no ordinary feat.
It meant she was living in a different realm altogether from them.
Whether the author was the real Plunder King or not, he was definitely not someone they could handle.
Breaking the heavy silence, Morbin asked Ghislaine in a trembling voice.
“Who, who are you?”
“I’m the Plunder King, of course.”
“I heard you left the territory?!”
“I came back.”
With Ghislaine’s calm response, Morbin stammered as he continued.
“You, you… Do you know who I am? You’re here, right?”
“I know, druggie.”
“I have the Commander behind me. Did you not know? If you didn’t, then turn back. My brother and I are blood brothers. Blood brothers!”
As he thought of his backing, Morbin seemed to grow more confident, and his words flowed smoother.
“I went out to eat with my brother yesterday! We bathed together! We did everything! So, if you don’t want to die by my brother, turn back!”
“…….”
Ghislaine couldn’t find anything to respond with. Morbin, thinking his opponent was scared, spat out words with froth flying from his mouth.
“If you turn back now, I’ll pretend I didn’t see you. If you need a business location, I can arrange one so be satisfied with that. Anyway, fighting among ourselves wouldn’t benefit anyone, right?”
Ghislaine ignored Morbin’s words and stepped forward. Morbin, panicking, shouted to the executives around him.
“Stop! Block that guy! I’ll tell my brother to bring the knights!”
But the executives and organization members couldn’t move recklessly. Who would dare face such a monster?
Morbin pleaded desperately.
“You fools! If that guy is really the Plunder King, we’re all dead! Don’t you know he kills everyone he catches?”
Not all, but he kills nearly everyone. That rumor was well-known, and the gaze of the organization members began to harden.
If they were going to die anyway, it was better to swing a sword at least once. They figured they could hold out until Morbin brought the knights.
All the organization members drew their weapons. A few executives pushed Morbin’s back.
“Brother! Hurry and go to the Commander! We’ll hold him off here!”
“Ugh! Thank you! I’ll definitely bring the knights!”
It was a tearful sight. Morbin wiped away tears as he dashed towards the secret passage.
Up until then, Ghislaine merely watched with apathetic eyes.
The remaining executives shouted to the organization members.
“Attack!”
“Uwaaaaaah!”
As soon as all the organization members charged, Ghislaine’s knights stepped forward.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Ugh!”
“You bastards!”
“My brother will surely take vengeance!”
Even having grown up in the underworld, they charged in fiercely. But every time a knight landed a strike, their comrades dropped dead like flies, soon plunging the organization members back into fear.
“Ugh… Monsters…”
“We can’t win….”
“How are we supposed to withstand against such guys….”
The resolve and brotherhood of the criminals reached its limit. They began to lower their weapons one by one and knelt.
“Please spare us!”
“We were just following that guy’s orders!”
“In truth, I’m a good person!”
As the organization members surrendered, the executives had no choice but to follow suit. They too knelt down.
“Morbin is the real bad guy!”
“I was coerced too!”
“I will live a good life from now on!”
Everyone bowed before the Plunder King. The Plunder King nodded with a satisfied expression.
“Ransack everything here and send these guys ‘there.'”
At Ghislaine’s command, the knights stepped forward and began to pummel the organization members into submission.
“Ugh!”
With each strike, the organization members fell unconscious.
Thus, the executives of the Desmond Underworld were swept away in an instant.
“Huff, huff, huff.”
Though the organization had collapsed, Morbin still didn’t give up hope. He ran as if his life depended on it.
His destination was the Lord’s Castle. The Commander, Claude, resided there.
“Stop!”
As the guards at the castle gate blocked him, Morbin fell to the ground and shouted.
“Commander! Please call the Commander right now!”
“What? You think the Commander is your friend? You can meet him if he wants?”
The guards looked at him incredulously, and Morbin shouted with desperation.
“You bastards! I’m the Commander’s brother! His brother!”
“……Ah.”
The guards had heard the rumors. They knew Claude had sworn brotherhood with the head of the criminal organization.
In any case, they couldn’t ignore him since he was shouting about being a brother. Reluctantly, the guards reported to Claude.
“What? Why is that guy here?”
Claude was shocked. Did he come all this way without caring about what others would think?
‘Did the Lord go to wipe the floor and miss him?’
In any case, he couldn’t leave it be. Claude waved his hand and ordered.
“Get him out, get him out. He’s going to die anyway.”
“We’re trying to, but he won’t go easily. He says he’ll leak the Commander’s secrets if we kick him out.”
“Is that guy insane?”
Claude, who’d been posing as upright and noble, sprang up and stormed out.
Seeing him appear with plenty of soldiers, Morbin joyfully cried out.
“Brother! Help me! The Plunder King is…!”
“Catch that guy! Hurry!”
“Brother?”
“You scoundrel! How dare you come to see me here! You criminal bastard!”
Claude shouted with an authoritative voice. Soldiers and servants began to gather around, drawn by the commotion.
Claude, growing frantic, shouted.
“Quickly, drag that guy to prison!”
The soldiers seized Morbin. It was then Morbin realized Claude was trying to banish him.
He twisted his face like a demon and shouted.
“Hey, you bastard! How much bribe have I given you! How could you do this?!”
“What? When did I take bribes? I’ve never done that! I’m upright and noble!”
“I have all the evidence! I’ve even kept the ledgers! My subordinate will distribute them!”
“Shut up! That’s all fabricated! I’ve never done that!”
A region commander wrestling with a criminal in front of everyone. Wendy facepalmed in dismay.
Morbin didn’t intend to die alone. He shouted as if for everyone around to hear.
“What do you mean you’ve never done that! We sent soldiers to help you during the war! In return, you took jewels from me every week! How can you still be human after doing that! Did you think I’d die quietly!”
Though he yelled confidently, the crowd’s reaction was lukewarm. Morbin looked around in confusion.
“What? Don’t people believe the Commander? Do they really think he’s upright and noble?”
But they didn’t seem to be really buying it. Everyone wore expressions as if questioning why he was saying things that were obvious.
“What, what’s up with that guy? He’s the Commander, isn’t he? That’s not right!”
How does one build such a reputation? Why has the Lord allowed such a guy to live until now? Morbin couldn’t understand.
Seeing that people weren’t swayed, Claude sighed and said.
“Did you really think people would believe such lies? Hurry and take him away!”
With a resigned expression, Morbin was led away. What everyone knew could not serve as a secret or a weakness.
He had been so oblivious like a frog in a well, living without knowing anything.
So much so that he didn’t even realize when he had been marked.
Just like that, the many criminal organizations within Desmond territory were swept away in an instant. Most were dragged away to the labor battalion’s special training camp without knowing what was happening.
The residents of the territory were blissfully unaware of it all. They were simply relieved that the thugs who had tormented them began to disappear.
With most criminals gone, incidents and accidents dramatically decreased. The residents gradually began to find their footing, blessed with a large supply of food.
“Isn’t the public order getting better? It seems the soldiers have come over in large numbers.”
“Our Lord turned out to be a good person after all, huh? He doesn’t indiscriminately capture residents and shares food.”
“See, what did I tell you? You can’t trust rumors. Such a lord is rare these days.”
“But why is the Commander in such a state? I heard he took a lot of bribes from criminals. But should we say we’re lucky he’s not tormenting residents?”
The praises for Ghislaine increased while assessments of Claude plummeted.
With the labor battalion’s ranks bolstered and public sentiment stabilizing rapidly, Ghislaine couldn’t hide his satisfaction. The stabilization of the occupied territory was the most critical task.
Having completed an important task, he gathered his retainers and said,
“Let’s start the next job.”
*
When news of Ghislaine’s victory in the war reached the capital, the atmosphere brightened considerably. The nobles and Crown Prince faction nobles who invested in Ghislaine’s ventures were equally joyous.
Their victory had turned the tide that had previously leaned towards the Duke faction.
However, the high-ranking nobles of the Crown Prince faction could not simply feel joy at Ghislaine’s win.
“That… that duckling is capable of that much? What? Archer Cavalry? 6th Circle Mage? The Greatest Sword of the North? Did you report accurately?”
The Kingdom Army’s Supreme Commander, Marquis Maurice McQuarry, asked Baron Clifton, the 3rd Legion Commander, the same question several times.
Each time, Baron Clifton replied without flinching.
“Yes, it’s confirmed. The Northern Army Commander possesses the strength fitting for his position. Now, Penris is the strongest in the North.”
“…….”
At those words, Maurice and the nobles of the Crown Prince faction could not voice anything.
To say Penris is the strongest in the North. To think the snot-nosed brat they had seen before had grown this quickly. They found it utterly unbelievable.
Of course, there was Raybold, which could be compared with Desmond, but the nobles of the Crown Prince faction didn’t pay it much mind.
They were certain Amelia would fail as a Lord in no time because she was a woman.
They thought Amelia had merely defeated the Northern Coalition because Raybold was strong to begin with and the Northern Lords were pathetic.
Maurice found his voice after a long struggle.
“We’re… we’re not making a mistake here, right? That duckling is the strongest in the North… Is this really true?”
They had backed him, but they never expected him to grow this much. It was too much. He had already been hard to control before, so what would happen now that he was a great Lord?
‘What if he starts showing his true colors instead?’
Maurice gritted his teeth with worries like that flooding his mind.
Another noble laughed as if he still couldn’t believe it.
“The Perdium Army and Kingdom Army helped, didn’t they? That’s why they won, right? There’s no way they could have done it alone.”
“…….”
No one responded to that.
That wasn’t entirely wrong. But Ghislaine’s performance reported by Clifton wasn’t something that could merely be attributed to having help.
What if that guy’s recruited large-scale troops had finished their training?
Then he could have single-handedly trampled Count Desmond without any support at all. In that case, it could indeed be said that Penris was the strongest in the North.
Marquis Branford wore a complex expression.
‘Hahaha, I can’t believe that guy actually won.’
As always, he was someone who manipulated people at will.
Like the others, Branford found it hard to believe. But how could he not trust someone who had personally participated in the war and spoke with such conviction?
‘I need to reorganize the information I received before.’
There were many things he had dismissed as rumors. Perhaps everything might be truth after all.
Still, he felt good. How could he feel bad when someone he believed in and supported was having such successes?
At that moment, Maurice hardened his face and spoke to Branford.
“It’s growing too much; shouldn’t we suppress it a bit now?”
The other nobles nodded, adding their comments.
“It seems to be growing a bit too fast. What we wanted was for Count Penris to restrain the North, not for him to run rampant.”
“Wasn’t he a bit arrogant from the beginning? It will become even harder to control as time goes on.”
“How about the Marquis stop supporting him and steer him to help the Crown Prince faction?”
Branford, quietly listening, felt his eyebrows twitch. He had been feeling pleased but now received such a cold shower.
It was a significant achievement, but it was just a matter of taking down Count Desmond.
Even though the Duke faction and its Regional Lords were still intact, they were already seeking to start infighting. Truly pathetic individuals.
He spoke in a firm voice.
“Absolutely not. Count Penris must not be touched.”
“…….”
“Count Penris will be of great help in the fight against the Duke faction. Don’t forget that our enemy is the Duke faction.”
His tone was unwavering to the point where not even a needle could fit through it, silencing the nobles.
Of course, even Branford had some concerns. Allies that could not be controlled might sometimes be more dangerous than enemies.
But if they pushed Ghislaine out of the picture now, it would only benefit the Duke faction.
“Don’t lose sight of the target. We can think about Count Penris once we deal with the Duke faction.”
The nobles of the Crown Prince faction nodded helplessly. However, Maurice had different thoughts.
’Tsk, the civil war was already being well suppressed without Count Penris. In fact, it has been more troublesome to have that duckling rampaging. I bet his thoughts will change soon enough.’
With that, after finishing his business at the royal court, Marquis Branford called his butler and commanded.
“Release Count Proud.”
Since Ghislaine had won the war, there was no longer a need to suppress the Duke faction nobles remaining in the capital.
Count Proud, dragged in with a disheveled appearance, wore a face that seemed resigned to his fate.
“Seeing that I’ve been released, it seems Count Penris has won.”
“Return, Count. I hope such unpleasant events never occur again.”
At Branford’s words, Count Proud spoke in a drained voice.
“Your Grace, you’ve made a grave mistake. You should not have supported Count Penris.”
“What do you mean?”
With an expression that seemed irritated by the condescending tone, Branford asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Now that Count Desmond has disappeared, a civil war will inevitably occur.”
“Everyone knows that the Duke faction is eyeing the kingdom. We are suppressing that civil war.”
“No, no. Your Grace, you’re still unaware.”
Branford frowned at the tone that seemed to presume he didn’t know.
“What do you mean?”
“The one suppressing the civil war is not the Crown Prince faction, but Baron Joseph of the Duke faction.”
“Baron Joseph?”
A merciless man known as the ‘Demon of the Lame’—was he really the one suppressing the civil war?
Count Proud smiled weakly as he spoke.
“He is a reasonable man. We truly wanted to shed only minimal blood. It was Baron Joseph who persuaded the Duke to that end.”
“…….”
“Have you forgotten what kind of person the Duke is?”
“…….”
“Now, the kingdom will be drenched in blood.”
Count Proud seemed genuinely reluctant for that outcome, lowering his head.
