Chapter 70 : Chapter 70
Chapter 70: Returning, Marcus’s Background
Time passed swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, another month was gone.
On this day, Sophia finally returned with the intelligence.
Ryan began to review the information.
According to the report, over the past month, Hermann and Otto had shown little change from before. They had continued consolidating their rule and flaunting their authority, without the slightest regard for the common people.
The commoners within the Jurgen Family’s territory were full of resentment toward Hermann.
This was extremely favorable for Isabella’s attempt to reclaim control of the Jurgen Family.
Ryan felt that the time had come.
He then handed the intelligence over to the four women.
After reading it, Isabella was instantly furious, her full chest rising and falling with anger.
“How could Hermann do this? How could he possibly do this?”
The Jurgen Family had achieved its present standing through the hard work of every generation of family heads, including her father Alfred’s efforts.
Yet in less than a single year, Hermann had nearly squandered all the accomplishments those wise family heads had built up over the years.
Popular support.
Hermann had already lost the support of the people.
That much was obvious from the profits of the various shops under the Jurgen Family’s control over the past few months, as well as from the attitudes of the servants.
The shops’ profits had naturally plummeted.
The servants had lost all enthusiasm for their work.
If Hermann were allowed to remain family head for another few years,
Isabella did not even know whether the Jurgen Family would collapse outright.
At that point, even if they rescued her mother and brought her father back, it would all be meaningless.
Fortunately, there was still one piece of good news in the intelligence.
Everyone knew that the root of all this was Hermann,
not the former family head, Alfred.
So long as Hermann was removed, the Jurgen Family could still be saved.
Of course, even that had a time limit.
If too much time passed and people’s tolerance was pushed beyond its limits, then even removing Hermann would be too late.
So Isabella had to remove Hermann now, before things became truly irreversible.
Only then could she still return a complete family to her father when he came back.
“Ryan...”
Isabella looked up at Ryan.
Ryan understood what she was thinking.
He then looked toward the other three women and saw the same righteous anger on all their faces.
In that case...
“Get ready. We’re returning to Korenz. The battle is about to begin!!!”
“Yes, Master!” x2
“Alright, Ryan!” x2
Ryan looked at Sophia. “Sophia, please go back and continue gathering intelligence. If anything changes, notify me immediately.”
“No problem, Mr. Ryan. Isabella’s safety is in your hands.”
Sophia spoke with utmost seriousness.
“Don’t worry.” Ryan nodded. “Isabella is my woman. I will definitely protect my own woman.”
“Good. Remember those words.”
Sophia gave Ryan a deep look, then turned and left.
The four women began organizing their combat gear.
Half an hour later, all four of them were fully equipped.
Now they were armed to the teeth.
What they wore were pieces of armor unique to this world, each enchanted with defensive magic. Even the shoes on their feet had wind magic attached, allowing the wearer to move faster.
In their hands were the two firearms Ryan had assigned to each of them.
One primary weapon and one secondary weapon.
Their spatial backpacks were packed full of magazines.
In battle, they only needed to swap magazines to fire again, without having to reload one bullet at a time.
“Move out!”
Seeing that the four women were ready, Ryan immediately piloted the Soaring and flew toward Korenz.
At the same time, he activated the cloaking equipment.
The flight was expected to take ten hours, giving them plenty of time to rest, gather their strength, and wait for the battle to begin.
...
Marcus, the butler of the Jurgen Family, had parents who were originally thieves.
However, when Marcus was still a child, they were wanted by the Adventurers’ Guild and later killed by adventurers who accepted the mission.
Because Marcus had been very young at the time, the adventurers did not kill him.
Instead, they brought him back to the Adventurers’ Guild.
The Adventurers’ Guild then handed Marcus over to an orphanage.
While he was at the orphanage, Marcus used his magic talent to strengthen himself.
He thought that one day in the future, he would surely avenge his parents.
Once Marcus became an adult, he began investigating the adventurer who had killed his parents back then.
After many years of investigation,
Marcus finally identified the enemy who had killed his parents.
It was none other than Alfred, the current family head of the Jurgen Family.
The one who had accepted the Adventurers’ Guild mission had been Alfred in his younger years.
But by then, Alfred had already become the family head of the Jurgen Family.
With Marcus’s strength at the time, let alone taking revenge on Alfred,
he could not even get close to the Jurgen Family’s castle.
Even so, Marcus never gave up on revenge and kept searching for an opportunity.
Then, by a stroke of chance,
Marcus discovered that the Jurgen Family was hiring a butler.
He immediately went to apply.
Thanks to his outstanding abilities, he was hired successfully and became the Jurgen Family’s butler.
Marcus had intended to assassinate Alfred in a surprise attack when Alfred let his guard down.
Originally, he had believed that the man who killed his parents must be a villain.
But during his time serving as butler, he came into close contact with Alfred.
He was moved by Alfred’s personal charisma and never carried out the assassination.
Even so, he often had nightmares at night.
In those dreams, he watched his parents die miserably before his eyes.
What truly made Marcus give up on revenge was Isabella’s birth.
Marcus could feel that Isabella did not treat him as a servant, but as family.
If he assassinated Alfred, then Isabella would certainly be heartbroken.
So Marcus had already decided to abandon revenge.
But fate did not go as he wished.
One day, Hermann suddenly came to him.
Hermann claimed that he knew Marcus’s true identity as the son of thieves.
He threatened Marcus. If Marcus did not want Alfred to learn the truth, then he had to serve as Hermann’s inside man.
And in return, Hermann could also help Marcus get his revenge.
Marcus had no choice.
He did not dare imagine what Alfred would think if he learned Marcus’s true identity, so he could only agree.
However,
he also stated his own condition.
Hermann could do whatever he wanted to Alfred.
But if a single hair on Lady of the House Greta’s or Isabella’s head was harmed, Marcus would risk his life to kill Hermann.
Hermann agreed.
His real target was Alfred.
He did not care much about Greta or Isabella.
What followed unfolded according to Hermann’s plan.
At the crucial moment, Marcus betrayed Alfred and stabbed Lady of the House Greta.
He had deliberately chosen the location of the wound so that it would not cause serious injury.
Alfred lost.
He lost the position of family head.
He was forced to part from his wife and daughter.
Hermann’s plan succeeded.
It was supposed to be revenge.
Yet Marcus felt no joy at all.
He had betrayed Alfred, and Greta and Isabella would never forgive him now.
At present, Marcus served as Greta’s guard, keeping her from escaping.
At the same time, he was also protecting her.
Of course, Hermann did not trust Marcus completely.
He had also ordered another twenty guards to surround the place where Greta was being held.
...
Hermann, Otto, and their families had all moved into the castle.
Recently, Hermann could be said to be basking in triumph.
After kicking Alfred aside, he was now able to control the Jurgen Family.
Not only had his power increased enormously, but even his income had multiplied several times over.
To further display his authority,
he had even purchased many slaves for his own pleasure.
He had sent many of his subordinates to investigate Isabella’s whereabouts.
But Isabella seemed to have vanished completely. No matter how they searched, they could not find her.
“She’s just a child. Why haven’t you found her after all this time? Have you actually been trying?”
Hermann glared furiously at the subordinate kneeling before him.
“M-Master, we’ve already searched the entire kingdom, but we haven’t found any trace of Isabella.”
“Useless! A bunch of worthless trash!”
Hermann roared.
“Brother, don’t be anxious.”
Otto persuaded him from the side. “Since she can’t be found within the kingdom, then Isabella has most likely already left and fled to another kingdom. Our family’s influence in other kingdoms is limited, so finding her there would be extremely difficult.”
“Mmm...”
Hermann was silent for a moment before lifting his head and looking at the subordinate. “Hmph. I’ll give you more time. Continue searching for Isabella!”
“Yes, Master.”
With that, the man turned and withdrew.
“Brother, Isabella is only a minor matter. The main issue is that the workers in our territory have started striking again.”
“Hm? They still dare to strike? What’s their excuse this time?”
“Oh, the same as always. They think the wages are too low and are demanding higher pay.”
“What? They still want higher wages?”
Hermann’s eyes went wide with rage. “How do those lowborn wretches still have the nerve to demand more pay? They work so slowly already. I’d be generous enough not to cut their wages even further. And besides, I’ve already given them work. Even if I paid them nothing, that would still be how it ought to be. They should feel honored to work for my Jurgen Family!”
“You’re absolutely right, Brother. Those lowborn wretches simply don’t know their place. I’ve already sent the family guards to deal with it. The matter should be settled soon enough.”
“Mhm. Otto, you handled that very well.”
Hermann nodded in satisfaction.
Otto’s method of dealing with such matters was very simple.
Bloody suppression.
He sent family guards to kill the commoners who caused trouble and went on strike.
That way, the remaining commoners would not dare make trouble again.
“Brother, I heard you bought several more beautiful female slaves recently?”
“Hahaha, that’s right. If you want some, I can give you a few.”
“Heh heh, thank you, Brother.”
At this point, the two of them had completely forgotten the original purpose behind seizing the position of family head.
After becoming the interim family head, Hermann cared only for indulgence and pleasure, never for the family’s development.