Chapter 89
Chapter 89
“I need to take at least half!”
“Uhhahaha! Drink up! Drink up!”
“Handsome Ricardo! Look over here!”
“Long live the Grand Duke! No, long live the Baron!”
“For the victory of Perdium!”
Everyone was in high spirits, drunkenly chatting away.
The best remedy for the fatigue from the grueling war was surely food and drink.
With a smile, Ghislaine observed them before quietly slipping out of the banquet hall.
‘While it’s only fair that those who toiled enjoy the sweetness of victory…’
There were those who could not partake in this joy. Specifically, the families of the sacrificed.
Though the losses of Perdium were less than those of the enemy, there were still lives lost.
Those families would be engulfed in sorrow for the time being.
Ghislaine sought out each one, holding their hands and offering comfort. He also promised them substantial compensation.
This was something normally expected of a lord, and Zvalter would have willingly stepped up, but Ghislaine took it upon himself to act directly.
‘After all, I bear responsibility too.’
He did not regret it.
If he hadn’t acted, Perdium would have undoubtedly faced ruin, and all the territory residents would have ended up dead or suffering.
However, it couldn’t be denied that casualties arose because of Ghislaine.
He had hastened the war and escalated its scale himself.
Since it was a war initiated to protect everyone, the sacrifices deserved ample comfort and compensation.
Accompanying him were Belinda and Gillian, as he sought out the families of the victims.
He couldn’t keep this up indefinitely, but…
Before leaving Perdium, he wanted to offer at least some consolation and compensation for their sacrifices.
“Thank you. Thank you, Grand Duke.”
Every person Ghislaine encountered bowed their heads in gratitude.
They were thankful for the heir of their territory who had come to comfort them and not forgotten them.
They were aware that had they lost, the pain would have been even worse.
Still, the sorrow of losing family members couldn’t be easily brushed aside.
Gillian quietly followed Ghislaine, watching all of it unfold.
‘He seemed like someone only concerned with efficiency.’
He knew Ghislaine took good care of his own, but he hadn’t expected him to go this far for the territory residents.
Anyway, Ghislaine would soon be leaving Perdium.
Even without any tangible rewards, he willingly met with the bereaved families.
“Ugh.”
“What’s wrong, Belinda? Are you crying?”
“No? Since when?”
Belinda glared at Ghislaine, her eyes welling with tears.
To her, the soldiers of the territory were like friends, so her sorrow was inevitably profound.
Ghislaine chuckled lightly and handed her a handkerchief.
“Let’s call it a day and go back.”
Before heading back to the castle, he didn’t rush to the banquet hall but instead checked on the injured and finally visited Vanessa.
“Vanessa, are you feeling a bit better?”
“Ah… Grand Duke.”
Ghislaine stopped Vanessa from trying to get up from her bed and sat down beside her.
“You did really well. Thanks to you, we were able to win the war.”
At his warm gaze, she managed a shy smile.
She was glad to be of help, to repay a kindness.
But above all, she was happiest to finally be recognized as a mage in her own right.
While the two shared a smile, a voice weakly croaked from the side.
“Damn… don’t you see me…?”
Alfoy glared at Ghislaine, panting. Ghislaine feigned shock, widening his eyes in surprise.
“Alfoy, you were here too? Well, you did well. Good job.”
“Ugh, you bastard…”
Alfoy glared at Ghislaine while grinding his teeth.
Who was it that drained all his magic, nearly sending him to death, and here Ghislaine was acting so nonchalantly?
However, curiosity crested his mind even more than his resentment.
“How the hell did you do it? How did that woman use magic… especially that high-level magic?”
The vision of that massive pillar of fire exploding was something Alfoy—a Mage Tower graduate—saw for the first time.
He had gotten a lead about the runestones being unearthed, but how she wielded magic was beyond him.
Taking the magic from all six of them would have provided a tremendous amount of mana, but Alfoy knew Vanessa couldn’t even properly use 1st-circle magic.
“She was originally unable to use mana. When did she learn to handle it?”
Vanessa mentioned that Ghislaine had forcibly helped her feel mana, but Alfoy didn’t believe it.
How could a mere countryside noble idiot accomplish what even the Mage Tower couldn’t?
That couldn’t be true. There was surely another secret hidden within.
Alfoy believed if he could uncover that secret, he could become even more powerful.
Despite being on the verge of death, the gleam of desire shone in his eyes as Ghislaine shrugged.
“I have a method that only I know. If you want to learn it, work hard for the territory. Maybe I’ll reveal one to you.”
“What, what did you say? You… Ugh… Once I get back to the Mage Tower…”
Just then, Ghislaine cut him off with a grin.
“Oh, the Mage Tower? Actually, I was planning on going there soon; I’ll be sure to pass along your message. Just maybe, you might solidify your position as the Mage Tower’s heir?”
At Ghislaine’s statement, Alfoy couldn’t help but chuckle a little.
“Hmm, I appreciate that… but why go to the Mage Tower? Isn’t your contract period still ongoing?”
“I have a proposal. It’ll be beneficial for you too.”
“…?”
Alfoy blinked, unable to comprehend Ghislaine’s words.
But Ghislaine had no intention of explaining further.
He turned to Vanessa.
“Take it easy. When I come back, I’ll share more.”
Vanessa smiled softly and nodded.
“No, wait! Explain what you mean! Hey!”
Alfoy’s shout echoed from behind, but Ghislaine didn’t even look back.
*
The next day, as soon as the banquet ended, Ghislaine led his mercenaries back into the Forest of Monsters.
While he was away, the barricades and roads had nearly been completed.
Ghislaine had mined a ton of runestones and handed half off to Baron Homern.
With money now available, Perdium’s territory would rapidly stabilize.
‘This should suffice for now.’
The enemy would also be busy handling their damage for the time being, leaving them little room to worry about Ghislaine’s side.
‘I need to grow my power quickly and prepare for what’s next.’
While he had gained considerable time, he could not afford to relax.
He must take the opportunity to weaken the enemy’s forces and watch for openings.
‘Funds, troops, food, allied forces…’
There was so much to prepare. He needed to use every bit of time to his advantage. No rest for him.
Ghislaine didn’t even think of returning to the castle and instead turned his horse’s head right away.
“We’re going to the Mage Tower.”
“The Mage Tower? Are you planning to sell more runestones again?”
At Belinda’s question, Ghislaine shook his head.
While there were still runestones left, he had no intention of selling them to the Mage Tower.
“I need to discuss something with them.”
“When will you go to Penris Territory?”
“After taking care of this matter.”
He couldn’t leave his lordship unattended for too long, but right now, getting to the Mage Tower was more urgent.
He needed to establish a new contract with them to ensure future events would proceed smoothly.
As soon as he received the Baron Penris’ territory, he sent Kaor and a few mercenaries.
They should be able to keep the territory from going completely haywire for a while.
Belinda seemed concerned about Penris Territory and frowned, but silently followed Ghislaine toward the Tower of the Bloody Flame.
*
After several days of travel, they arrived at the city of the Mage Tower.
Belinda looked around in awe and exclaimed anew.
“Wow, it’s still so clean here. I hope our territory becomes like this soon.”
Ghislaine and the mercenaries nodded in agreement with her words.
No matter when you saw it, it was such a clean and beautiful city.
“Oh! You’ve arrived! Come in quickly!”
The doorman, who had previously been stiff, instantly brightened upon seeing Ghislaine and opened the door.
Sylvain, who was guarding the lobby, swiftly bowed 180 degrees as soon as he spotted Ghislaine.
“It’s an honor to see you again! I’ll notify the Master at once.”
Sylvain hurriedly led Ghislaine to the Mage Tower Master.
Master Hubert greeted Ghislaine with an exaggerated, delighted expression.
“Oh, welcome! Did you win the war? No, of course, you must have come here because you won; what happened?”
While some mages had been dispatched, there was the issue of the runestones.
Hubert had been receiving consistent updates about Perdium through his information network.
Thanks to that, he learned about the outbreak of the war relatively quickly.
However, he had been anxious because the final outcome and detailed proceedings had not yet reached him until Ghislaine’s visit eased his worries.
Ghislaine chuckled lightly at the overly enthusiastic welcome.
“It seems you’ve been eagerly waiting for me.”
“You fool! Do you know how worried we’ve been? I never expected the war to erupt so quickly.”
“Don’t underestimate the ambitions of lords.”
At that, Hubert nodded.
No matter how much he thought about it, he hadn’t imagined that a war would break out so easily, yet it did, almost as if in direct contrast to what he had said.
In that respect, he had to give the novice credit for his insight.
“Well then, have a seat. Did you come to sell runestones? I heard you don’t have any wagons. No, more importantly, how on earth did you win? Tell me.”
Ghislaine leisurely sipped his tea while taking his time.
Hubert fidgeted like a puppy whose bottom was on fire.
While watching him satisfied, Ghislaine leisurely began to speak.
“It’s nothing special. I just buried all the runestones I had in the ground and blew them up.”
“……what?”
Hubert blinked, unable to immediately grasp the shocking statement.
But soon, realizing the full extent of the incident, Hubert gasped in horror.
“What the hell! I knew you weren’t in your right mind, but not to this extent!”
With that amount, they surely could have rushed in and… if not help, at least found another way!
“Why didn’t you just hand it all over to us then? We could’ve led the mages with us!”
Recalling the full wagons of runestones from their last deal, Hubert lamented.
Ghislaine subtly lowered his voice and asked.
“Did you really intend to send the mages?”
Hubert paused for a moment before nodding fervently.
“Of course! We would’ve helped somehow, no doubt about it!”
Now that the war was over, what could he say?
He could just flatter a little and keep on receiving runestones.
At Hubert’s confident words, Ghislaine gave a knowing smile.
In a sly, snake-like tone, Ghislaine said, “I’m genuinely touched by the Mage Tower Master’s thoughtfulness. I never expected you to think of me this much. It’s truly reassuring.”
“Cough, it’s nothing. We’ve made a deal, after all. It’d hurt my feelings if you thought otherwise, wouldn’t it?”
“Truly the calm-hearted Master of the Tower of the Bloody Flame. I must have had some misunderstandings about you. I apologize for any rudeness I may have shown in the past. If we can continue a good trading relationship, I couldn’t ask for more.”
Ghislaine was pouring out smooth words as if he had lathered his mouth in oil.
Hubert awkwardly cleared his throat, feeling embarrassed.
He had only tossed empty words to appease Ghislaine, yet here he was, elevating himself instead.
At that moment, Ghislaine grinned and added, “With such understanding on your part, I think I can speak comfortably. I was quite unsure about how to bring this up… I’m relieved we share an understanding.”
Hubert felt an uneasy feeling wash over him.
Now that he thought about it, he had previously lost out after saying something unnecessary…
‘Why did he come here, anyway?’
The contract with the Mage Tower still had a considerable amount of time left.
Surely he hadn’t come all this way just to brag about winning the war?
‘No way. He’s a strange one, but he wouldn’t come for such trivialities.’
He had felt that from their last deal as well.
Ghislaine Perdium never suffered losses.
He wasn’t the type to dawdle for days over something that wouldn’t earn him money.
Hubert asked in a trembling voice.
“What, what is it? What did you come here to say?”
“Well, it seems I won’t be able to sell any more runestones. How regrettable is that?”
At those words, Hubert’s face crumpled in dismay.
