Chapter 4 : Chapter 4
Chapter 4
‘This is the right way.’
I thought as I walked down the hallway, a liquor bottle in one hand and a sword in the other.
Notoriety is like a drop of ink on a white canvas; it may fade over time, but it never completely disappears.
No matter what I did, the past wouldn't change.
As long as the title of 'Scoundrel' remained, the perception already ingrained in people's minds was unlikely to change either.
‘A scoundrel can only remain a scoundrel.’
The 'Scoundrel' title didn't appear overnight.
In the diary, Baron Malfoyeu would send things like sugar or salt, claiming it was medicine, and then instigated Ian by suggesting the servants must have sold the expensive medicine.
Amidst gazes mixed with contempt and ridicule, and with the pain increasing daily, Ian had no choice but to believe the servants were really hiding and selling the medicine, and as a result, he grew increasingly violent.
A scoundrel who brandished violence wantonly while seeking alcohol and drugs.
It was said that when his madness peaked, it would only stop after someone died, making him the worst kind of scoundrel.
And just as a brand, once seared, cannot be erased, no one would believe it if such a scoundrel claimed to have turned over a new leaf and become a new person.
‘If I have to remain a scoundrel anyway…….’
I must become an undeniably excellent scoundrel.
A selective scoundrel who only went berserk on sons of bitches.
‘I will burn this body of mine to meet everyone's expectations.’
Unlike the Ian in the game who was a Slave Swordsman, I now had the brilliant status of a Young Duke.
If scoundrels had ranks, the Scoundrel Young Duke would be at the very top.
With a joyful face, Ian’s steps toward the conference hall quickened.
* * *
Thump, thump, thump.
The servant, who had been guiding me with a trembling body, not even daring to breathe, stopped in front of a door as large as a dining hall and spoke.
“Young Duke, this way.”
“Is it? You’ve worked hard. Thank you.”
“Oh, no, it’s nothing. Then I’ll be on my way……”
He should have opened the door and announced the Young Duke's arrival, but the servant kept his eyes fixed on the floor and scurried away as if escaping.
I could have opened the door myself, but I thought it would be uncool for a young duke to struggle with it, so I kicked the door with all my might.
BANG!
As the already old door flew open with a roar, everyone inside the conference room stared at Ian, who was standing at the entrance, with wide, shocked eyes.
Watching the dozens of pairs of eyes, filled with surprise and shock, quickly turn to contempt and scorn, I spoke nonchalantly.
“Well now, sorry I’m late. The baron asked me to be his drinking buddy on the way here.”
As I spoke, shaking the empty bottle, everyone in the conference hall was unable to hide their astonishment.
They must not have believed it; the Young Duke, who had never once attended a meeting in the past seven years, had shown up with an empty liquor bottle and a sword.
Well, that was their problem.
“By the way, I may be the so-called young duke, but it seems you all plan to greet me while sitting down, even though I'm a little late.”
As I spoke with a frown, the bottoms of more than half of the people in the hall shifted, but because of the regent who was glaring at me with a hardened face, no one actually stood up to greet me.
‘I can't tell who the lord of this domain is.’
Every vassal in this room knew very well that the regent was the real power in the domain.
And that Ian, whose condition worsened by the day, couldn't treat the regent carelessly.
Undeterred by the uncomfortable silence, I shrugged and continued.
“Managing a domain is no easy task. It seems everyone's backs are in bad shape.”
I walked between the vassals who were glancing around, wondering if they should stand up and greet me now, and those who were openly staring at me with faces full of contempt, and approached the regent's side.
“What brings you here?”
I said to the bewildered Regent Markberg, who had never experienced such a ridiculous situation since his appointment to the domain.
“I came to attend the meeting.”
As if asking why he would ask something so obvious.
After staring blankly at the regent for a moment, I climbed onto the round table in front of him and plopped down.
“There are no seats, so I guess I’ll have to sit here. Seeing as you're still sitting in the seat of honor even though I've arrived, is your back particularly bad, Regent?”
As I nudged the regent, who was still seated in the seat of honor, with my shoe, someone who saw it as an opportunity shouted from behind.
“Young Duke! What is this insolence towards the regent, who has shed blood and sweat for the domain for the past seven years!”
I casually turned my head to see a fat, middle-aged man with a half-bald head shouting at the top of his lungs.
“Hmm……”
Still perched on the desk, I looked down at the regent, who had a sour expression, and then looked around at the people in the hall.
‘A total of eight people.’
Of the 13 seats for the 12 vassals and the lord, 5 were empty.
Excluding the baron I had taken care of on the way, 4 seats were empty.
‘Are there still vassals who keep the regent in check?’
The Moner family, which protected the Forest of Demonic Beasts, was a typical military family.
No matter how capable the regent was, he wouldn't have been able to eliminate the vassals who held the military power, as they operated three knight orders and six armies.
“Hey, hey! When someone is talking, you should listen!”
As the still-young Ian completely ignored his words, the same middle-aged man’s face turned red as he shouted, but Ian just picked his ear as if a dog was barking somewhere and thought.
‘The situation is better than I thought. If they don't support the regent, at least they won't become my enemies.’
Especially for the knights in Lost Chronicle, who considered it a virtue to maintain their loyalty even to a foolish and incompetent master, they wouldn't betray me even in the worst-case scenario.
‘This could get easier.’
As soon as that thought finished, the middle-aged man, unable to hold back any longer, bellowed.
“What do you expect from a scoundrel!”
Seeing that, a laugh escaped me.
‘Literally, the heavens are helping me.’
Ian smiled brightly and looked at the man with the reddened face.
Since he was sitting in the conference room, he was clearly a vassal with an important role in the family, but who he was, where he from, or what role he played didn't matter at all.
What was important right now was the fact that this clueless vassal had dared to raise his voice and spout nonsense in front of the Young Duke.
Whoosh! Crash!
The empty liquor bottle I threw at him hit the wall and shattered.
“Hmph!”
Everyone who saw this hardened their faces, but the middle-aged man, as if already consumed by anger, continued to shout.
“D-did you just throw a liquor bottle! In a place where vassals who work hard every day for the future of the domain are gathered!”
I didn't particularly think that was true, but even if there were vassals who were working themselves to the bone, it didn't matter.
A fool who couldn't tell shit from bean paste because it was his first time seeing the Young Duke, and the fools who didn't stop that fool, were all equally rotten.
‘Everyone in this room is an enemy.’
I clambered onto the long, round table and, dragging my sword, headed towards the still-shouting middle-aged man.
“Even if you are the Young Duke, there is a proper way to do things! Petitions about you are pouring into the domain every day! Please, at least have the minimum amount of courtesy……”
And then, I swung the flat of my sword and struck the middle-aged man, who was still flapping his gums, right in the face.
“Keok!”
“Young Master!”
“Young Duke!”
“What is this!”
Those who never imagined he would swing a sword in front of others stood up from their seats in shock.
‘Since it's just the regent's gang here, it doesn't matter if I go a little overboard.’
Having already grasped the situation, Ian jumped off the desk, unsheathed his sword, and began to swing the scabbard like a club.
“How dare you! How dare you! Insult me!”
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
“Ack! When did I! Wait a moment!”
After swinging the sword dozens of times, my whole body began to scream.
Feeling a sense of injustice, as if I was in as much pain as he was, I drew my sword and held it in one hand, and swung the empty scabbard.
As blood began to splatter, those who realized the gravity of the situation rushed to stop me, but they had no choice but to halt at Ian's threatening posture, with a sword in one hand and a scabbard in the other.
“Those who stop me now are clearly plotting treason, and in the name of the Young Duke, I will surely punish them!”
Even after that, I swung the scabbard with all my heart.
Only the sound of the scabbard digging into flesh and the squeal of a pig being slaughtered echoed.
After the middle-aged man cried and begged, and finally soiled his pants with filth and fainted, I put away the scabbard.
“Hah, hah, hah.”
I was so out of breath that my head spun as if I was having trouble breathing, but I acted as if nothing was wrong and looked at the regent and asked.
“According to the kingdom's law, the punishment of a vassal is the sole authority of the lord.”
Of course, punishing a vassal would shake the unity of the domain, and there was a high possibility that the punished vassal's faction would start a rebellion, so vassals were rarely punished unless it was a very serious incident.
‘What do I care.’
For the past 10 years, all the loyal retainers of the family had either retired to the countryside or disappeared, so it didn't matter who I beat up or how.
“In the House of Marquess Dmitry, they punished a vassal who spoke rudely by cutting out his tongue. What does the regent think?”
As I asked the regent with a smiling face, he looked around with a flustered expression.
‘He probably never imagined he would see blood in this room.’
I didn't kill him, but that was all.
Since I beat a man until he fainted, the other vassals couldn't be safe either.
They probably weren't even sure that the mad Young Duke wouldn't swing his sword here and now.
After a moment of thought, the regent said with an awkward smile.
“It seems everyone was surprised since it is the Young Duke’s first time attending the meeting in seven years. I apologize for not having shown the proper courtesy.”
Was he trying to diss me by mentioning I hadn't attended in seven years?
Sorry, but a scoundrel knows no shame.
“No, no, it is I, the master of the house, who should be ashamed that the vassals of the house are rude to me, the Young Duke. It is not something for you to be sorry about.”
At my words telling him not to act like the master, the regent's face crumpled nicely.
“Your words are wise. Please calm your anger and have a seat here.”
However, I had no intention of staying here for long.
I just came to start a shitshow while getting what I wanted.
As Ian’s lips curled up, the vassals in the hall subtly averted their eyes from his crazed, chilling smile.
“No, how could I take the seat of you, who is working yourself to the bone for the domain?”
‘It’s not like anything will come out of attending the meeting.’
Since I knew nothing about the domain's finances or situation, I had nothing to gain from attending the meeting.
‘Now that I've set the stage like this, shall I start getting what I want?’
If I had just walked in and said what I wanted, they would have snorted and said they couldn't give it to me.
However, if I said the same thing after beating a vassal of the domain like a dog and holding a blood-dripping scabbard, the words would carry a different weight.
“I think everyone will be uncomfortable if I stay here. Rather than taking up the time of you all, who work tirelessly day and night for the operation of the domain, I’d like to have a look around the domain……”
At those words, everyone who had been terrified brightened up and raised their heads.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have any money. I was thinking of taking some of my private funds to have a look around the domain.”
“We will prepare it right away!”
Seeing everyone shout in unison at the thought of finally being able to send the scoundrel with the sword away, I smiled with satisfaction.