Chapter 35 : Chapter 35
Chapter 35
A satisfied smile spread across my lips.
With this, the rough sketch was complete.
Even if I did nothing, Obsol would be wary of Lyt, and Lyt and Merchen would be wary of Obsol.
All I had to do was prepare for war while they were engaged in their war of nerves.
“War within three months……”
“Wh-what did you say?”
Ah, right, this guy was still here.
I looked at Rojin, who was struggling, clutching the hand that held his collar, unaware of what he had just done.
“Could it be, Lyt is trying to start a war……!”
Seeing the man who still had no clue, a smirk escaped my lips.
The pillar of the Merchants’ Association that had been gnawing away at this entire domain was just this insignificant of a human.
Someone who thought he was special but was no different from anyone else.
Crack.
The sound of bones breaking echoed from the hand gripping his neck, and simultaneously, the man's head drooped limply.
“Reina, have someone hang this man's head on the castle gates.
There will be many more to hang, so put it in the most visible place possible.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
The man's head would become the signal fire announcing the start of this quiet war.
* * *
Returning to his room, Ian collapsed onto the bed as if crumbling, without even changing his clothes.
The comfort of the bed, like lying on a cloud, and the soft blanket welcomed his weary body, as if urging him to enter the world of dreams right away.
“Aaaah… I’m tired.”
Since coming to this world, I had not been able to rest my mind for a single moment.
There were too few choices.
To die as a ruffian, or to live as a ruffian.
To disappear along with the perishing world, or to at least struggle to prevent its destruction.
In the end, it was a repetition of choices for survival.
The reason I had to protect this domain was the same.
In ten years, in preparation for the massive invasion of monsters, the Moner family must, no matter what, remain intact.
“Only three months.
It's too short.”
What I had obtained through plunder was four months' worth of food and a total of 120 slaves.
Considering the Gold Crow merchant guild remaining in the domain, I would probably be able to gather enough food to last about half a year.
“The problem is the troops……”
I buried my face in the soft blanket and pondered again and again.
As I had boldly proclaimed at the council of lords, this war had to be my own.
My own war, started and ended by me, with my own people.
Not a single person from the domain should shed blood in this war.
Even if the garrison and Count Mogul were to move, it would be a loss unless it was an overwhelmingly one-sided war.
What I wanted was a repetition of one-sided battles waged from a position of absolute superiority.
“No matter how I think about it, the number of troops is too small.”
Of course, it was not that there was no way.
The strategy had not been planned with war in mind in the first place.
The first plan was to capture the three guild masters in the Lier domain and demand compensation using them as hostages.
The three domains would have no choice but to pay the unreasonable compensation to save their children dispatched as guild masters.
No blood would be shed, and no one would get hurt.
But as the solidarity of the three domains wavered and it became possible to defeat them one by one, I grew greedy at the picture that was fitting together like a puzzle.
I might be able to wage a domain war for more than just simple compensation and receive a portion of each domain's fertile farmland.
For the Moner family to obtain farmland where they could grow crops meant that they could become independent from the kingdom and the surrounding domains.
It meant that I could solve the food problem, the first plan and obstacle to becoming a self-reliant domain, in one fell swoop.
“To do that, I need to gather enough troops to threaten at least one of the three domains……”
Just as I was getting frustrated because there were no bites on the several fishing lines I had cast, I heard a knock on the door.
“Young Master, Count Mogul has requested an audience.”
Tok, the fishing rod twitched.
* * *
When I headed to the reception room, the Count, who was already waiting, greeted me.
“We meet again.”
The Count, who had requested an audience, did not even nod his head in front of the young lord.
“Answer me one thing.”
As if showing his character, the Count asked bluntly without any explanation.
“Did you involve the Empire in this matter?”
The sharp, blade-like gaze of the knight who had protected the Moner family.
He met the glaring Count's gaze calmly.
‘To think he'd lift his heavy ass and come all the way here.
He must have been in a bigger hurry than I thought.’
Given the time, it was clear that he had come as soon as he received the report from his subordinate about today's events.
He must have been astonished to see the overflowing food of the Golden Goblin Merchant Guild and the Merchants’ Association, which had been brought down in a single day.
“And if I did?”
“No outside forces are to interfere with the Moner family.
This is the Duke's will.”
The Count's transparent eyes, glaring at Ian, seemed to be blazing and burning.
“Know that there is a limit to how much I will tolerate your ruffian antics.”
“You won't believe me even if I tell you, but I did not involve the Empire.
This is all the fruit of my own planning and labor.”
The Count's and Ian's gazes clashed in mid-air.
“…Is that so.”
The Count, who had reached the Master level through his own strength, was not greatly influenced by titles.
He simply thought according to the principles formed by the things he had seen and experienced over a long period of time.
“I was rash.”
Seeing the Count give a slight nod, Ian could not help but be surprised.
“…You believe me?”
“I cannot believe what I have not seen, but I will not doubt what I have not experienced.
Explain it to me.”
Just a moment ago, the Count had been looking at him as if scolding a child, but his attitude changed in an instant.
Ian looked at him with a bewildered expression.
“I had the people I gathered attack the merchant guilds.
In the process, I shook the three domains and used the food I gathered through the attack to imply that the Empire was behind the Moner family.”
“The people you gathered?
You mean that black knightly order?”
As if he had already received a report, the Count asked with an interested expression.
“They are talented individuals I discovered in this domain.
They are my first knightly order.”
At those words, even the Count could not help but be surprised.
The power to use mana was divided according to grades.
1st to 2nd star-level were Beginners, who could accumulate mana in their bodies.
3rd star-level were Users, who could wield the mana in their bodies to use their strength.
4th and 5th star-level were Experts, who could imbue their weapons with the power they wielded.
6th star-level was the Master, who was said to be able to face an army alone.
Among them, one could receive a knightly peerage only after reaching at least the 3rd star-level.
Only those who had reached the User level through years of training could be recognized as knights.
To think he had created such a knightly order by himself in less than a month.
“Who taught them?”
All the knights in the domain belonged to the front line and the garrison.
Those who were not knights could not possibly train knights.
“I did.”
For a moment, the Count's brow furrowed slightly.
He knew that Ian was hiding his mana flawlessly, but that was all.
He did not seem to be at a level where he could teach someone.
The Count's narrowed eyes looked at Ian.
“Words carry responsibility.”
The moment he lightly clenched his fist, his well-honed spirit was released strand by strand and began to pressure Ian.
As the Count slowly thrust his fist, the air and the mana in the atmosphere vibrated simultaneously.
Kwa-kwang!
“You crazy old geezer!”
Thanks to not letting his guard down from the moment he felt the spirit, Ian, who had taken out the dagger from his bosom and blocked the attack, looked at the Count with a fed-up expression.
“This senile old man!”
No, if you're going to attack, at least say so.
For a Master-level person to be so cheap.
But one could not just complain during a battle.
Ian, who had quickly activated the Ghost Absorption Method and Ghost Step, glared at the Count and fumbled with the orb in his bosom.
[Greed of the Gold Fiend]
If an attack is successful, you will acquire one of the opponent's traits.
A reward item obtained after defeating the Shepherd, Ajiyog.
The original plan was to steal the trait of one of the heroes, but Count Mogul was a knight renowned as the guardian shield of the Moner family.
Was he not an outstanding knight comparable to any of the heroes?
Moreover, judging from his fighting style of wielding an axe, he must have a trait suitable for general combat, unlike the Dark Emperor or the Desire for Blood.
The problem was whether he could land a successful attack.
“Hey, Count.”
It was absolutely impossible.
6th-class Masters were monsters who could stop an army by themselves.
Of course, it was impossible to land an attack that surpassed the reaction speed of a transcendent being.
Then, he had to aim for the carelessness that came from the overwhelming difference in skill.
“You're quite good.
But not enough to call yourself a Grandmaster.”
Seeing the corners of the Count's mouth slightly raised as if he were somewhat satisfied, I was strangely annoyed.
“I blocked one of your attacks, so isn't it your turn to block now, Count?”
I acted relaxed.
I spoke as if it was nothing, but the entire arm that had blocked the attack, which was no different from a gesture, hurt as if it were broken.
“What?
Hahaha!
Come at me!”
The Count stood firm in his place like a great mountain, as if telling me to show him my tricks.
Looking at him, Ian focused on the Ghost Absorption Method.
He moved the mana of his entire body and poured it into the muscles of his legs and arms.
‘A little more.’
Ignoring the muscles that were screaming at the foreign mana, he waited for the right moment, little by little, compressing the mana to its limit.
The opponent was a powerhouse who had reached the 6th-class Master level.
No matter what he did, it would be difficult to even scratch him.
So, he had to pour everything into a single attack.
“…It's taking a long time.”
Looking at the Count who spoke calmly, he took a step.
Step, step, step.
Just a few more steps forward.
‘Now.’
Boom!
In that instant, he exploded the mana he had poured out to its limit and kicked off the ground.
The mana that burst from the soles of his feet shattered the floor, and he shot forward toward the Count, who was staring with wide, astonished eyes.
‘Kill’
The Ghost King's one and only ultimate technique, the pinnacle of martial intent.
The primal desire to kill the opponent shone from the tip of the dagger.
Kwa-kwa-kwang!
Thick smoke filled the room from the momentarily exploded floor and the collision of mana.
“Ha……”
And in the smoke, the Count, who had blocked the dagger with his hand, looked at his hand in disbelief.
Drip.
He had thought there was no need to block it.
No matter how much a 3rd-star knight gave his all, he could not even touch the hem of a 6th-star knight's clothes.
The only reason he had extended his hand to block the attack was simply to show that gap; there was no other intention.
Drip.
But blood dripped from the hand that was cut by the broken tip of the blade.
Just two drops.
Even that healed before the second drop of blood hit the floor, but the young lord, who he thought had at best reached the end of the 3rd class, had managed to wound his body, which had reached the Master level.
“Amazing.”
He looked proudly at the young lord who was clutching the broken dagger.
He was not even 18 years old yet.
“To be at the 4th class at that age……”
How could the ruffian, who was said to be mad with insanity, have reached this level?
At the gaze that was half admiration and half astonishment, Ian let out a smirk and replied.
“People tend to believe only what they want to believe.
The ones who attacked the market were my own knightly order that I raised myself.
The one who killed the demonkin was me, not my knight.”
A wave of exhaustion washed over him from having poured out all his mana.
He wanted to collapse and rest right away.
If this damn old man hadn't called him at this hour, he would have been dreaming on his cloud-like bed by now.
At the sudden surge of irritation, his words became thorny.
“I clearly said it was my war.”
Ian, who had thrown the broken dagger, lifted one side of his lip and said.
“There's no way I'll lose a fight I started.”
Of course, he planned to immediately ask the Holy Nation for help if things went south, but one who carries a burden must always be confident.
“I raised a knightly order with my own strength.
In a single day, I drove out the merchants who were gnawing away at this land and secured food.”
Hiding the breath that had risen to the tip of his chin, he forced himself to act calm.
Mogul, who had reached the Master level, must have known that he had reached his limit, but he would rather die than show a weak side.
“Whether you believe it or not, Count, I will save this domain.”
In the room swallowed by darkness, Ian's coolly composed eyes shone as if to rebuke the old knight.