Chapter 30 : Chapter 30
Chapter 30
“Get, get down from there right now!”
Ilyeong shouted at Rick, who was on top of the carriage.
The Black Noble Troop, having already subdued most of the guild's workers, gathered around the carriage as if to surround it.
“Kugh… no, not the young lady.”
Thud.
Seeing the Black Noble Troop gathered around, Ilyeong fell to her knees.
If she fought, she might be able to kill half of the 20, but her duty was not to fight.
“I surrender, I'll surrender, so please guarantee the young lady's safety.”
As she, on her knees, banged her forehead on the ground as if pleading, Lina and Puck, who had followed, stared blankly at Rick sitting on the carriage.
“I told him to go somewhere safe, what is he doing up there again?”
“I don't know, hehe, Rick oppa is funny.”
“Ah!
Puck!
Lina!
You're here now?!
I had a feeling!
This is the safest place!”
Rick, who had simply run to the safest place as soon as the battle started, waved the hand holding the poison orb at Lina and Puck.
Seeing the poison orb that looked like it would drop at any moment, Puck carefully asked Lina.
“Sis, oppa doesn't know what that is, right?”
“Um… I didn't tell him because I didn't think it was necessary, but it wouldn't be a good idea to tell him now, would it?”
“Rick oppa will definitely faint.”
The two let out a hollow laugh as they watched Rick smiling brightly, not even knowing that the black orb in his hand was a poison orb.
“Alright!
Let’s wrap this up quickly and go back!”
With Lina's energetic shout, the Black Noble Troop took control of the Gold Crow merchant guild.
* * *
While the Black Noble Troop and Lina were raiding the Gold Crow, Ian, who had left the Lord's Castle with Rylae, looked up at the 4-story building before him.
“Is this the place?”
“Yes.
That infamous Merchants’ Association is right here.”
Rylae pointed to the building with a large nameplate that read ‘Merchants’ Association’, with her characteristically aristocratic and dignified movements.
The 4-story building was massive, as if to show off its wealth, and mercenaries stood guarding its entrance.
“Ha, really.
Mercenaries on Moner land.”
There were no mercenaries in the Moner family domain.
In the Moner domain, where there wasn't a single profession that didn't complain of a labor shortage—from soldiers and security guards to hunters and herbalists—there was no reason to work as a mercenary, a job that was irregular and offered little compensation.
So, naturally, most of the mercenaries in the Moner domain were back-alley thugs who had drifted in from other domains.
“These days, every association is in an uproar.”
Although she spoke softly, Ian knew she was referring to the sudden investigation.
He had also heard that mercenaries had blocked the Auditor's Department from entering to see the account books before.
“Shall we go in then?”
Thinking it was best to go in as soon as possible since there were many things to discuss with the pigs sitting in the association, he took a step forward, but a mercenary blocked the entrance and shouted.
“Stop!”
“……?”
Ian, who had never imagined that a mercenary would block him, the young lord, looked at the mercenary blocking the door with a bewildered expression.
“This is the private property of the Merchants’ Association.
No one can enter without permission!”
The moment he saw the corner of the mercenary's mouth curl up in a sneer, a peculiar light flashed in Ian's eyes.
‘These bastards…….’
“Do you not know who I am?”
I acted nonchalant as I spoke to him, but I was certain.
The man recognized me.
And yet, he blocked my path.
A mere mercenary would not dare to block a young lord, so someone must have informed them that Ian was heading to the association, and the higher-ups in the association decided to lock the doors.
“It doesn't matter who you are!
This is private property protected by the domain's law!
No one can enter without permission!”
Sure enough, the mercenary blocking the door shouted, looking at Ian with eyes full of blatant ridicule.
To think there would be a human who would boldly block the path of the ruffian.
“Ha……”
Ian, at a momentary loss for words, looked at the mercenary who was smiling slyly as if to mock him.
Did he really think this would work?
I, who just declared I would start a war at the council of lords.
Would be scared off by the yelling of a mere mercenary?
“I am the master of the Golden Goblin Merchant guild……”
Rylae, realizing the situation was turning serious, quickly stepped forward, but Ian blocked her path.
Then, he lifted his head and looked at the window at the top of the building for a moment.
‘I don't know who you are, but just you wait.’
Rylae was today's joker card.
She was not a card to be revealed over something so trivial.
Ian, who had been staring at the window with cold eyes, spoke in a low, sunken voice.
“I didn't know there would be people around here who don't know me.
I am the rightful heir of the Moner family, and the young lord, Ian de Moner.
The person who is above that so-called domain law you mentioned.”
After finishing his words, Ian slammed his mana-filled fist into the abdomen of the mercenary blocking his path.
“Kuaaaak!”
Crack, boom!
The mercenary, who took a direct hit from the mana-infused fist, was sent flying into the building along with the door.
“What!”
“Intruder!
Everyone to your positions!”
At the sight of their colleague lying motionless, the mercenaries who were on standby inside rushed out of the building.
“Well, this might be better for taking the initiative.”
Ian lightly warmed up as he watched the approaching mercenaries.
Just as he stepped into the building, Reina, who had already taken out her flail, and Rylae, who had her hand on her forehead, followed behind him.
* * *
Kwa-deuk!
“Kuaaaak!”
“The, the security guards?!”
“It’s a monster!
We’re no match for him!”
Wherever his fist landed, screams and the sound of breaking bones and flesh echoed.
“Phew… there seem to be a lot of mercenaries for just an association, don't you think?”
As he looked around to cool off for a moment, he saw Reina smiling as she brandished her flail like a madwoman.
“Hmm… seems fine.”
Perhaps the fact that she didn't kill a single person while wielding that fearsome weapon was because her heart was that kind.
“Is that really fine……?”
Rylae, who was standing right behind him, asked in a worried voice, but Ian paid her no mind and went up the stairs.
He had already checked the mercenaries' skills using the Eye of the Gold Fiend and the Dark Emperor.
The mercenaries, who had barely reached the mid-2nd class, were no match for Reina, who had awakened [Thirst for Blood] and inherited the abilities of the Blood Fiend.
“Shall we go then?”
As he was about to leave the remaining mercenaries on the first floor to Reina and go up the stairs, a burly man with considerable mana came leaping down from the third floor.
“What in the world is going on here!”
“Are you their boss?”
The burly man, who had mana comparable to at least a 3rd-class knight, drew his greatsword, but Ian, who had single-handedly dealt with a group of 20 Paladins, didn't even blink and offered him some sincere advice.
“You need to educate your men better.”
* * *
The mercenary captain, Hanson, looked over Ian at the first floor.
Blood, blood, and more blood.
All he could see was blood.
Everywhere he looked, there were his subordinates moaning on the ground, scattered bloodstains, and a single woman swinging a flail like a madwoman.
“How dare you, in a place like this!”
Hanson, mistaking his subordinates for dead at the unbearable sight, entrusted his body to his rage and charged at Ian.
“I'll tear you to pieces!”
Ian's eyes narrowed as he watched him charge like a bull.
‘His ability to grasp the situation and his ability to deal with a crisis are both lacking.
As a leader, he’s pathetic.’
If one encountered someone who could lay waste to a mercenary group single-handedly, one should naturally raise one's guard.
Especially if that person was crazy enough to cause trouble in the middle of a huge domain like a Duchy.
‘Still, what a waste.’
Whenever Ian met someone he could call strong, he tried to grasp their capabilities using the Eye of the Gold Fiend.
Since the only thing he could trust right now was his own martial prowess, he thought it was more important than anything else to develop the ability to accurately assess danger.
In Ian's eyes, a faint light, though faded like the years faintly read on his face, was seeping out from the mercenary captain's chest.
If he had awakened his trait when he was young, he would have grown into a great warrior, worthy of being called a hero by now.
Ian, smacking his lips in regret at the sight of a rotten treasure, looked at Hanson and said.
“I won’t kill you like them.”
Though you might be shitting blood for a while.
But wasn't that their own fault for not getting out of the way when they saw the ruffian?
Ian extended his fist toward the greatsword of Hanson, who had closed the distance in an instant.
A fatal blow, created by gathering all the mana in his body into his muscles, compressing it to its limit, and then unleashing it, exploded not on a vital spot that could cause a fatal wound, but on the greatsword.
Boom!
Kwakwang!
With a deafening roar that was unbelievable for a sound made by a sword and a hand colliding, Hanson's body was slammed into the wall just as fast as he had charged.
“I'll see you again later.”
After saying that, Ian turned his head and, leaving Reina who was having a happy time on the first floor behind, went up the stairs with Rylae.
* * *
Creak.
As they entered the only door on the third floor of the Merchants’ Association, the executives of the Merchants’ Association, who had heard the commotion and were waiting, greeted Ian.
“Young Lord!”
“What is the meaning of this?!”
“How can you threaten faithful merchants with force in the Moner domain!
If this is how you do things, we will no longer do business with the Moner family……”
Ian let out a smirk at their appearance, as they took turns pleading their case as if they had rehearsed their lines in advance.
He walked to the center of the room and plopped down on a sofa.
“Ah, my apologies, my apologies.
I was just going to come in, but……”
The title of ruffian was always a double-edged sword.
That meant that he had to at least swing the damn sharp edge to barely avoid a loss.
With that thought, Ian glared at the merchant standing before him.
“No, some disrespectful mercenaries dared to block my way?
And they were looking down on me, too.”
As his voice lowered, a thick killing intent erupted from his body and spread out.
“Heek!”
Just as the merchants, who had spent their entire lives tapping on abacuses, were getting scared one by one, Ian continued.
“So I was about to behead them on the spot for the crime of insulting a noble.
Even though I haven't officially inherited the peerage, how dare they ignore and look down on the one and only Duke in this country.
Isn't that treason?”
When Ian pointed to the floor with his finger, the merchants, understanding his intention, all knelt on the floor and straightened their posture.
Even without exchanging a single proper word, they realized that unlike the rational officials they had seen so far, this man was truly and utterly insane.
“Ahem… well, still, because of the long-standing friendship between the Merchants’ Association and the Moner family, I didn't kill anyone.”
On the first floor, the screams of those hit by Reina's flail were still endless, but Ian continued without batting an eye.
“Alright, now let's start the negotiations.”
“Ye-yes?
What negotiations……”
What kind of negotiation in the world starts with violence and threats?
As the merchants kneeling before Ian looked at each other with expressions like they had eaten a bug, Ian grinned and said.
“Oh, right.
I forgot to introduce her.
Rylae!”
At Ian's call, Rylae stepped into the room.
And the complexion of the merchants who looked at her turned deathly pale.
“N-no……”
“Ah, ah……”
The executives of the Merchants’ Association were composed of the managers of the merchant guilds from the Obsol, Lyt, and Merchen domains.
All three guilds had signed trade agreements with the Golden Goblin Merchant Guild.
In other words, Rylae was the creditor they least wanted to see right now.
Even more so when she was with that infamous madman.
A silence enveloped the room as the merchants looked at Rylae and Ian with expressions of having lost the world.