Chapter 7 : Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Bang!
After slamming the door shut, Rylae leaned against it to catch her breath, then walked over to Ian, who was seated.
"I am truly sorry. I've shown you a disgraceful side of myself."
"Not at all. Thanks to that friend, I didn't even notice the time passing while I was here."
"Hoo… still, he's a very kind child."
"So it seems. Rick doesn't seem to be a swordsman or a mage."
"Of course. He dislikes physical labor so much he could never be a swordsman, and as you can see, his head isn't quite there, so magic is something he can't even dream of."
Ian watched her with amusement as she furrowed her fine brow and let out a small sigh.
"Then what on earth is so special about him? You must be keeping that friend around because he shines too."
Rylae was no philanthropist.
No matter how heart-wrenching a story he had, she wouldn't have hired him if she didn't like him.
Understanding Ian's meaning, she smiled faintly and replied.
"He's a child who knows how to distinguish between good and evil."
"Good and evil?"
"The reason I can sit here with you, Young Duke, is also thanks to that child."
For a moment, Ian recalled Rick, who had looked at him with surprised, not disgusted, eyes even after he had revealed he was the young duke.
"So he can intuitively distinguish between good and evil."
"Yes. If I can see things that are shining and valuable, that child has the talent to distinguish between good and evil. The reason I can do business all the way out here in this remote place is because that child has saved me from dangerous connections several times."
The ability to intuitively grasp a person without relying on their appearance, rumors, title, or anything else.
"Then are you saying I am not an evil person?"
At Ian's question, spoken with a slight chuckle, Rylae replied with a serious expression.
"If he thought you were a dangerous person, Rick would have closed the shop and hidden before you could even speak to him. If you were with me, he would have risked his life to save me."
After tapping the desk with her slender fingers for a moment, she continued.
"I'm not only good at discovering shining things, but also at washing and polishing them."
"Is that so……."
This was her own kind of pride.
The pride of having made everyone under her command give their all for her.
"I'll stop boasting about myself now. What can this humble guild do for the noble Young Duke?"
Ian leaned back deep into the sofa and met her shining eyes.
"Nothing."
"What?"
"Nothing at all. What can a guild with no money and no influence do for me?"
Ian smiled at her, who had slightly opened her mouth in disbelief, and said.
"However, there are many things I can do for you."
"You, the most famous scoundrel in the domain and a young duke with no support base?"
"There are things only I can do. Only I, who is not afraid of getting my hands dirty and has nothing to lose even if my notoriety grows."
As Ian grinned, Rylae, who saw that vile and heartless smile, shivered.
"Let's have a talk."
* * *
By the time the conversation was ending, Rylae was looking at Ian with eyes that were a mix of awe and fear.
"Young Duke… you are much crazier than the rumors say."
"I hear that every day."
"That's because they don't know what kind of person you are, Young Duke, no, Duke."
She changed the title she used to address Ian.
It seemed that during their conversation, she had resolved to treat Ian as a duke, not a young duke.
‘Is this her own way of showing respect?’
"As I said, I intend to be faithful to my role."
"I will help you with all my heart."
"What's the point of putting your heart into a scoundrel's acts? Just work as much as you're paid. I believe in you, the excellent merchant."
With those last words, Ian left the guild.
After he left, Rick rushed out of the guild and began to search every corner of the market.
* * *
After leaving the guild, Ian checked his trait window several times.
【Eye of the Gold Fiend 】
The eye of the Gold Fiend, who was called a ghost obsessed with money.
Helps to discern the value of all things.
‘I never thought I would get it in one go.’
The probability of teaching something with 'The Capable Incompetent' and acquiring a trait or skill was close to winning the lottery.
‘Was it about 0.001% statistically?’
Even if you taught a divine secret art or a superior swordsmanship, if the learner felt they had stolen it from a fool, you wouldn't get any traits.
In the end, it was all for nothing if the person learning didn't truly feel they had learned from Ian.
"Was I lucky?"
Moreover, during the thousands of playthroughs, I had only obtained a trait from Rylae once.
‘Considering I not only had the position of a young duke but also invested a large sum of money in the guild, it probably wasn't just luck.’
Nothing was more important than money in moving a merchant.
Even an unrealistic plan could be disguised as a plausible one by adding 50 million gold on top of it.
What I taught the guild master was the possibility that could be created with money and power.
The thought that I had moved the continent's best merchant with that possibility brought a pleasant smile to my face.
* * *
After returning to the castle, I lay in bed for a long time, staring blankly at the ceiling.
‘This is much more serious than I thought.’
The state of the domain, which I had looked around for the past few days, was far more miserable than I had imagined.
The ridiculously high food prices and the sand-mixed bread spreading on the streets were only part of the problem.
The more serious problem was that the domain's people's anger towards Ian had reached its peak.
‘I never thought they would have used Ian like that.’
The regent had put the young duke's name at the forefront of all negative matters, such as raising taxes or lowering wages.
And then he would repeatedly raise the rock-bottom public sentiment with welfare projects carried out in his own name.
For example, raising the tax rate in Ian's name and then carrying out relief policies in the regent's name for the starving people of the domain.
The purpose was clear.
To make a name for himself and become an irreplaceable existence among the people of the domain.
‘If I had my way, I’d just demand my position back, but…….’
Without the regent, the entire administration would be paralyzed, and the public sentiment, suddenly placed under the rule of a scoundrel, would lead to a rebellion.
Even if I tried to move the military to suppress the rebellion, there was no guarantee they would follow a scoundrel's orders.
‘And I probably would have had to give up a lot to move the military.’
Perhaps the military would demand partial independence of the domain in return for taking action, or it might lead to a civil war with nothing but losses.
‘He’s made a complete mess of things, both inside and out.’
As expected, the biggest problem was that I was surrounded by enemies.
To counter the regent, I needed to create a third force, not the military or the administration, and move the public sentiment.
‘Or gain enough power to overturn all the notoriety.’
For that, I needed preparation.
"Keuk!"
Perhaps because I had too much on my mind, a headache came over me, and I drank from a nearby water bottle.
[You have been poisoned.]
[Addiction Dependency: 60%]
It was fortunate in a way that all the water and food the maids gave me were laced with the drug.
At least I wouldn't have to experience the pain I went through on the first day again.
The problem was that to control the addiction dependency, I couldn't eat any food other than water.
In preparation for this, I chewed on the medicinal herbs I had obtained from the Golden Goblin Merchant Guild and organized my thoughts.
‘Raising a third force that follows me seems impossible…….’
It would be more rational to wish for the regent's sudden death than to look for people who would blindly follow a scoundrel.
‘As expected, it’s traits.’
The remaining method was to gain power by acquiring various traits, like the [Eye of the Gold Fiend] I had obtained from Rylae.
"Alright. Starting tomorrow, I'll start farming traits."
Perhaps in this world, unlike in 'Locke,' it might be easier to obtain traits.
Believing that I could easily find one or two traits in this vast lord's castle, I forced my eyes shut and tried to sleep.
***
From the next day, Ian wandered around the castle.
He would watch the soldiers train for a long time, then go to the library and sit for hours reading books, or sit by the central lake and watch the passersby for a long time.
Everyone in the castle tried to avoid Ian, but because he was poking around everywhere, fatigue began to show on the faces of the castle employees within just a few days.
"This is getting dangerous."
The fatigue was increasing for Ian as well.
It was natural, as he had been chewing on nothing but medicinal herbs instead of food and water for several days now.
Even though he was chewing on plenty of water-rich herbs, his mouth felt dry and parched, and an unpleasant sandy taste lingered in his mouth.
"The addiction is at a dangerous level too."
The current addiction dependency was 72%.
Even though I had avoided food and water as much as possible and only drank a little water when the pain became severe, it had already surpassed 70%.
Just walking down the street made me irritable, so it seemed my normal judgment was starting to waver.
"If it reaches 75%, I’ll lose my mind, so if Reina doesn't come……."
In the worst-case scenario, I was thinking of tying myself up with chains and quitting the drug to lower the addiction level.
"Ugh……."
Thinking about the pain of the first day, it was a method I didn't even want to imagine, but wouldn't it be better than losing my mind and then coming to my senses on the way to being transported as a Slave Swordsman?
"I'd rather die than see that happen."
I'll worry about that tomorrow.
For now, I had to follow today's plan.
I used the [Eye of the Gold Fiend] again to observe the people around me.
A faint light flickered in the chests of everyone who passed by.
‘Inherent value. Unblossomed traits.’
The [Eye of the Gold Fiend] showed unblossomed traits as light.
I gauged the size of the light while watching the passersby.
A faint light flickered in a passing servant's chest, and a slightly stronger light twinkled in a coachman's chest.
"Anyone will do, I just hope I hit the jackpot."
What I was looking for now was a trait of outstanding martial talent.
Watching the training soldiers, sitting in the middle of the library pretending to read while watching people.
I was wandering around looking for a hidden gem, thinking there must be at least one person.
"If there's really no one, I'll have to give up, but surely there can't be not a single person in this vast castle."
Of course, according to my search for the past few days, there wasn't.
Naturally, outstanding traits tend to blossom on their own.
Don't people with a talent for commerce open a shop even while hawking, and those with martial talent establish a martial family even while being neighborhood thugs?
"Life is all about talent after all……."
This land was Lost Chronicle, a damn game world on the brink of ruin.
A world that was the epitome of absurdity, where strength was power and ability.
The child of a swordsman held a sword at the age of five, and the child of a mage created their first circle around that age.
To change Ian's body, which had been soaked in drugs and alcohol without any exercise since the age of 10, in a short period of time, I needed a good trait buff.
‘If I fail again today, do I really have to just start from scratch…….’
Intending to wander around the castle until my mana ran out, I continued to walk, and then I saw a familiar face.
"Was it… Lina?"
A bright, uncreased smile hung on her lips as she strode through the castle with a cheerful gait that was unbelievable for a child who had cried while clinging to my leg.
‘A trait.’
Ian paid more attention to the black streak of light raging in her chest than to her smile.
It was, without a doubt, the most 'light-like light' I had seen in the past few days.
‘It seems like a pretty amazing talent.’
Among the hundreds of servants and soldiers I had seen over the past few days, her light was outstanding, so it must be an excellent talent.
I couldn't waste time forever, so I decided it would be good to teach that child and look for the next target, and I walked towards the kind and naive maid.