Chapter 9 : Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Ian looked at the hilt of the sword that had pierced Roberto’s hand with displeased eyes.
The blunt sensation of the sword’s tip digging through flesh and bone, and the scream, felt satisfying.
The bigger problem was that he didn’t dislike that feeling of satisfaction.
‘I really have to admit it now.’
I was going crazy.
Perhaps I was already mad.
In the first place, there was absolutely no reason to pour all my mana into shattering the city hall door.
I had only broken the door because I hated the characteristic creaking sound of old doors.
It was the same with the man before me.
Whether he was guilty, whether Lina’s words were true, nothing had been confirmed.
Even if he was guilty, I should have judged right from wrong through records and data before passing a verdict.
For the sake of raising the authority of the law and lowering my own notoriety, I should not have punished him in this way here.
However.
At least on this domain, there was no existence more noble than the young duke.
He himself was the law and the one who could solely represent the entire domain.
The target of all hatred and resentment.
Just as the others' hatred towards me was unreasonable, I too had no need to be mindful of them.
This was a transaction.
A transaction to give Lina what she wanted and make her my person.
After ordering another administrator, who had been prostrating and watching the situation, to bring a pen and paper, I approached Roberto, who was sobbing while looking at his own hand.
"Listen carefully."
He was a bastard I could kill right here without any consequences.
However, if he died here, wouldn't the other characters in Lina's story be disappointed?
So I decided to give a significant role to this mere extra.
"Auditors from the lord's castle will swarm this place. I plan to search through the entire history of the city hall to find your wrongdoings."
Even if I couldn't find evidence to support Lina's words, it didn't matter.
I just had to find a crime.
Where in the world was there a public official who was completely clean?
"W-what is that supposed to……?"
Thwack!
When I kicked the prostrated man, he screamed.
"Just listen. When the auditors arrive, they will reinvestigate all the work you have handled so far and track every last silver you've spent to see if there were any illicit bribes."
At Ian’s words, despair clouded Roberto’s face.
"If you confess your sins before they find them, I'll let you live."
"Why, why……."
Roberto looked at Ian with a dumbfounded expression.
"Why on earth are you doing this to me……."
This situation felt like a dream.
If it weren't for the sword stuck in his hand and the terrible pain in his stomach, he might have believed it was.
"Consider it bad luck."
He realized from his voice, which held not a single trace of anger.
This wasn't about asking for a crime.
It was merely about finding a crime in order to punish.
‘If I don't say anything, maybe he'll just let it go.’
Surely, he wouldn't commit murder here, where dozens of people were gathered.
The moment he decided to think of it as unluckily getting caught in the scoundrel's amusement and keep his mouth shut, Ian plopped down on the blood-soaked floor and met his eyes.
"If you're innocent, you can claim you're innocent."
Meeting the madness in his eyes, Roberto quickly turned his head, and Ian pressed the pen and paper into his uninjured hand and continued.
"Because you are by no means innocent."
‘I'm going to die.’
The crazed eyes seemed to warn that if he said he was innocent, the sword stuck in his hand would be aimed at his neck.
The madman before him had only said he would let him live if he confessed his sins; he had not said he would let him live if he was innocent.
Even if he were truly innocent, he would have died in this spot.
At that thought, the clear fear of death tightened its grip around his neck.
‘I have to live.’
I must write down my sins.
I must write down every sin I have ever committed in my life.
The moment he made that decision, a good idea came to him.
‘The Merchants’ Association. No matter how much of a scoundrel he is, he can’t touch them.’
He might be able to kill a low-level official like himself, but he wouldn't be able to kill all the merchants belonging to the Merchants’ Association.
If he exaggerated the deeds committed by the Merchants' Association and, in between, wrote down the small misdeeds of a sincere and pitiful public official who was unavoidably oppressed by power, would the young duke really be able to point his sword at others?
At the Merchants’ Association, which brought in all the food for this domain?
By the time the blood flowing from his hand began to soak the paper he held, Roberto’s hand began to move busily.
* * *
Ian approached Lina, who was staring blankly at Roberto, and handed her a pen and paper.
"Take this down."
Lina's face turned pale as she took the pen and paper.
"I-I haven't done anything wrong? Ah, no, something I did wrong when I was little… actually, last week I was gossiping about the head chamberlain……."
Watching her spout nonsense, Ian chuckled and reassured her by pointing at Roberto.
"I told you to write down what that bastard is writing. We need to make a copy to check if the investigation was done properly afterwards."
It was unlikely to be a problem of just one administrator.
The contents he wrote down would surely be intertwined with problems throughout the lord's castle.
Ian raised his head and looked at the ceiling of the old city hall building.
Water was leaking, drop by drop, from the old ceiling.
The raindrops that fell from the clear sky passed through the dirty city hall building and formed a black puddle on the floor.
"The one who killed your parents wasn't just that bastard in front of you. The bastard who moved him, and the bastard who tried to play games with the food, all of them must take responsibility. Though it's not possible yet."
It wasn't impossible.
I could just line them up in the square and have a guillotine party.
However, if I handled things that way, the number of merchants willing to come and do business in this already-avoided land would decrease even more.
The Moner domain, adjacent to the land of cursed demonic beasts, was a place merchants avoided.
Wasn't the reason the food prices were skyrocketing right now because there were so few merchant guilds that they could collude?
In this situation, if the merchant guilds within the kingdom were to ban trade with the Moner domain, the entire domain could actually starve to death.
The Merchants’ Association within the domain was also part of the merchant guilds, so it was not an opponent I could move recklessly and intimidate.
"So write it down. After seeing how the investigation proceeds, let's find out from where to where the rot has spread."
Ian smiled fiercely as he watched Roberto's busily moving hand.
From the auditors investigating this case to the Merchants’ Association, the lord's castle, the market association, and the city hall.
Those who dared to make others unhappy for their own gain and even concealed that unhappiness would eventually receive their due punishment.
"I don't know how long it will take, but I promise you. All those involved with your parents will be caught and given their due punishment."
"Yes, I understand."
A little bit of awe appeared in Lina's eyes as she bowed her head.
* * *
The order Ian gave to the auditors who arrived subsequently was simple.
To investigate the truth of all the crimes Roberto had written down.
"You would do well not to forget who the master of this domain is. I have no hobby of raising dogs that can't even do their job."
A rotten part must be cut out before it spreads.
It was a shameful thing that there was meat, already rotten to the core, in the front yard of the lord's castle.
"Whether intentionally or by mistake, if any name is excluded from this investigation, or if anyone escapes the investigation, I will stake my name and the name of my family and hang that person's head and the head of the responsible investigator in the same place."
A name that held a reputation lower than a neighborhood beggar, but a value heavier than anything else.
Smiling sardonically at the irony, Ian continued.
"If there is anyone who tries to cover up the investigation, report it directly to me. If there is anyone who benefits from obstructing or covering up the investigation, I will hold everyone who benefited responsible, including their family, friends, relatives, and neighbors."
At that sharp warning, the auditors flinched.
Ian stood for a moment and looked at the gathered auditors.
People gathered to prevent corruption and injustice in the domain's administration and to develop the domain.
Ian pulled the sword that had been stuck in Roberto's hand and sheathed it.
"If I had my way, I'd wonder if I even need hunting dogs that can't even smell the rotten meat in the middle of the city hall. It might be better to hold you all responsible for failing to do your duty, dismiss you all, and use the security department instead."
Ian's tone grew harsh as he saw the gold ornaments shining on the auditors' bodies.
"This isn't a warning, it's a question about the necessity of your existence. Let's do a good job, a good job. So that no more unnecessary blood is shed. Find every last silver that bastard spent. Where he got the money, how he spent it, and if he caused any harm to my people while working at the city hall. It would be best to be thorough, even if you have to search the entire capital."
As Ian turned to leave the building, he heard the sound of Roberto collapsing with a thud.
"Ah, tie that man up in the market square until the investigation is over. Write a copy of the document he wrote next to him. Tell the security forces and the medical center to help him so he doesn't die. If he dies, it can't be helped."
Whether he was breathing or not, his appearance, no different from a corpse, would serve as a clear warning to everyone mentioned in the document.
‘This should be enough for now.’
Having finished speaking, Ian, with a tired expression, returned to the main castle with Lina, leaving behind the auditors who were starting their inquiry with anxious faces.
It had been one hell of a long day.
* * *
That night.
Ian, who had returned to his room as soon as he got back to the castle due to the overwhelming pain, was tossing and turning on his bed, looking at the dependency level that had risen to 73%.
"Ah. I'm so happy."
When he had read the diary Ian left behind, he couldn't help but laugh.
The diary was so full of hope and positive words, as if written by someone with flowers in their hair, that it was hard to believe it was written by someone hated by the whole world.
"I'm so happy I could go crazy."
Now he understood why he had written such a diary.
In the hellish days, to keep from going mad, one had to forcefully find joy and happiness and think positively, even if it was forced.
To not lose oneself.
To not succumb to the pain, abandon reality, and lose one's sanity to the poison.
The damn pain was impossible to get used to, and the negative thoughts that followed one after another had become a giant tree that muddled his thinking.
Just as he lit a cigarette made of a mixture of medicinal and poisonous herbs to force himself to sleep, he heard a knock on the door.
‘Reina?’
He had seen servants trying to avoid this room at all costs, but this was the first time someone had knocked since Reina left.
With the hope that Reina might have arrived already, he quickly got up and opened the door, only to find a trembling Lina with her hands clasped tightly.
"Lina?"
"Yes. Duke."
A firm resolve was evident on her tense face.
Wondering if she had come all the way to his room at this hour just to call him 'Duke,' he looked at Lina, and she shut her eyes tightly and opened her mouth.
"I'm ready."
"Ready? For what?"
What kind of preparation would she be doing at this hour?
In the first place, he was not feeling well at all and was about to go to bed early.
"That… that preparation."
She hesitated, fidgeting with her clothes, and looked at Ian.
"What is that?"
"That… from... from below... to learn... I-I'm a first-timer, but, no, I mean, if you just teach me……."
As she spoke with her head bowed low in shame, her ears turning bright red, a flustered Ian cut her off.
"You mean joining my command? To learn the sword and martial arts?"
"Yes. To join your command… command… what? Martial arts?"
Ian and Lina looked at each other.
‘What kind of nonsense is this?’
‘She said from below, from below? How am I supposed to learn martial arts?’
A brief silence passed, and both of them recalled the conversation they had in the morning.
-You just have to learn under me.
‘Ah… so one can have this kind of misunderstanding if their reputation is trash.’
‘Martial arts? Me? How?’
Just as Ian was about to wipe his face in disbelief, Lina bowed her head as if prostrating and shouted with all her might.
"Yes! I am ready to learn martial arts from you, Duke!"
Seeing that even the top of her head had turned red, her shame seemed to have reached its limit.
"Yes, alright. For now, go back for today, and we'll talk more tomorrow."
A slight sense of injustice and anger welled up at the absurd misunderstanding, but Ian knew well that this was the effect of the title.
Rather, it seemed she was so impressed by today's events that she came to offer her body and even addressed him respectfully as 'Duke,' which was a great advantage in a situation where he needed to teach her and gain a trait.
‘Damn it.’
At the same time, the fact that even she, who was so impressed, couldn't judge him beyond his title felt like it was saying that he could never share his heart with anyone, and a corner of his chest felt stuffy.