Chapter 68 : Chapter 68
Chapter 068
The tax audit proceeded smoothly.
I mixed threats and persuasion in proper measure, just as I had intended from the beginning, and, as expected, the owners who had been squeezed dry by the Black Pig Gang from the powerless side of things poured out their grievances and begged for their lives.
Every last one of them had secret ledgers.
Funds of uncertain origin had moved through illegal channels, and they had also cleverly avoided paying the taxes that should have been levied on their operating profits.
Naturally, I seized not only all of their property, but also every bit of the protection money that was about to be sent to the Black Pig Gang.
As a result, the cargo wagon was piled high with Gold Coins.
“Business is booming, huh? This is a complete jackpot.”
Arthas grinned as he looked at the wagon heaped with Gold Coins. I found myself grinning as well. There was only one reason we were both in good spirits. We had lived our lives being looked down on as mere apprentices, but out here, things were a little different.
This is why the moment you strap a single armband of authority onto a man’s arm, his frontal lobe stops working.
“How much did we collect in total?”
“Around 2,500 Gold.”
“Huh...... That is enormous. I would have to spend my entire life living as a Knight to earn that much.”
The ransom I had set for Blackship was 6,000 Gold.
Compared to that, this still fell short, but the Black Pig Gang would have money of its own circulating somewhere, so one way or another they would scrape the amount together.
But what if they could not gather the protection money?
Then their whole plan would fall apart.
The Black Pig Gang would have to ask us for an extension on the negotiations, and with every territory under their control now facing suspension of business, their strength would continue to weaken.
At that point, all I would need to do was spread a few rumors, stir up confusion, and then sweep them away when the time was right.
“Really? Then what is a Knight’s monthly pay, usually?”
“That depends on the situation. Sometimes they are paid in land, sometimes in grain. If you convert it into Gold, an entry-level Knight usually gets around 5 Gold.”
So an entry-level Knight earned 5 Gold. Given the status of Knights in this world, that was roughly comparable to working at a major corporation where I came from, so perhaps around four or five million won a month after taxes.
Of course, that was not exact. At the moment, all I could do was estimate the value of money through indirect information like this. Once more time passed, I would be able to figure it out more concretely. If I could learn the scale of the Territory’s economy or its annual budget, then I could roughly calculate the value of its currency.
That was something I would look into slowly later.
In any case, if 5 Gold equaled about five million won, then 2,500 Gold came out to 2.5 billion won. We had effectively added a first-prize lottery payout straight into the Territory’s coffers.
“This could become a headache if we get attacked. We should call for reinforcements. By the way, where does the confiscated money go?”
“Obviously it has to go back to the lord of the Territory.”
“What a shame. Nothing is going to trickle down to us, is it?”
“Wake up and stop dreaming.”
Of course, I had no intention of delivering it to Marquis Chronos personally.
This administrative action had been led by Young Master Hamel. The best appearance would be to place it in his hands first and let him present it to the Marquis himself.
I had no desire to have my own name brought up in this matter.
As long as I secured the practical benefits, that was enough for me.
Besides, if my name got dragged into this and I ended up entangled later with some noble who had taken kickbacks from these people, it would become troublesome. Better to hand both the credit and the bomb that might explode later over to Young Master Hamel together.
I checked the paper containing the list of businesses one more time.
“Only one place left now. Its name is Burning Sun. There is something suspicious about the name from the start. We investigate this place, then return to the mansion immediately.”
“All right. I will request support from the Knight Order first.”
“Not the Knight Order. Call the Village Guard. The Knight Order takes too long to move.”
Arthas nodded and called over one of the Soldiers assisting him. A moment later, the young Soldier, having received his orders, ran off somewhere.
If nothing had happened so far, I would never have considered the possibility of an attack.
But these were bastards bold enough to try kidnapping Young Lady Sapiela. By now, word of the seizures would have reached the Black Pig Gang, and they would be seeing red.
If that was the case, then I also had to account for the possibility that they might attack us, steal the Gold Coins, and flee under cover of night.
Of course, I had brought the Mana Pistol in preparation for such an unfortunate event, but if possible, I did not want blood on my hands.
If a fight broke out and the Black Pig Gang collapsed before the Avengers moved, then the profit we could take for ourselves would be that much smaller.
Just as the finishing blow matters in every game, the finishing blow matters in the underworld as well. If we wanted to absorb their forces whole, we absolutely had to seize their Base of Operations ourselves.
“We have arrived at the destination.”
One of the investigators made his report. Burning Sun was a tavern in a quiet corner of the commercial district, and it did not look like a place that did much business.
But the atmosphere was strange.
Bleak, somehow. The sort of place that looked as though something might jump out from inside at any moment.
Instinctively, I felt that something might happen here.
“The investigators will wait here for the moment. Arthas, come in first with me.”
“All right.”
SHING!
Arthas drew his sword. It seemed his own instincts were telling him as well that something might be lurking inside.
BANG!
We flung the door open roughly and stepped into the tavern.
“It is quiet.”
“I do not like the feeling of this.”
The inside was empty.
But traces of human presence were easy enough to find. Half-finished food and drink had been left scattered across the tables. It looked as though they had fled without even having time to prepare.
The two of us began cautiously surveying the area while keeping our backs to one another.
Old buildings in the commercial district had complicated interiors and many places suited for hiding. If someone with Kalmond’s level of skill launched a deliberate sneak attack, there would be no way to avoid a fatal wound.
I asked,
“Did you not dispatch the Village Guard over here? I was told orders had gone out to prevent them from shutting the place down.”
“Well, it is one of two things.”
Arthas began that way, gripping his sword tightly. Then he said with a grin,
“Either the Soldiers have not arrived yet, or they already came and got taken out by these bastards.”
“......And the possibility that they simply have not arrived yet?”
“Not very high.”
I agreed with him. So I drew my sword as well.
Arthas did not know how to use mana. Knights used something called aura, a transformed form of mana, but even if they used aura, they could not sense small quantities of mana.
So, careful not to let him notice, I let a small amount of mana flow out and searched the surroundings in finer detail.
Once you understood the applications, mana could be used in endless ways. I gave myself a kind of thermal detection no ordinary living creature could escape, and scanned the area.
“As expected.”
Markers conjured by mana rose up all around me. Like augmented reality on a smartphone, markers appeared across hidden walls and even inside wardrobes.
I counted them calmly.
One, two, three, four......
Exactly six men were hiding.
I could not tell what they were holding, but given the way they were staying still, there was an extremely high chance they were carrying concealed daggers.
But once their positions were exposed, they were no great threat.
“What is it? Did you find something?”
“Looks like a few rats are hiding.”
“Where?”
I took a steadying breath and pointed out each location where they were hiding, one by one. Arthas stared hard at those spots and memorized them.
First, I gave them one last warning.
“Anyone who remains hidden will be treated as resisting us, and will be subdued without exception! Come out now and submit to the investigation quietly!”
The surroundings remained silent, without even the sound of breathing. No one came out.
“I am warning you one last time. I will count to five, so come out now! Five, four, three, two, one......”
I had shown enough mercy.
We exchanged a look and spread out wordlessly.
The opening move was mine.
I held my sword parallel and drove it deep into the wardrobe.
THUNK!
“Kugh!”
Blood sprayed out with the scream. Proof that there was someone inside. I kicked the wardrobe door apart and dragged the man hidden within out into the open.
I subdued him easily enough. In the process, I confirmed that he had a dagger in hand.
“Arthas! These bastards are armed!”
CLANG! CLANG-CLANG!
My warning came too late. Fighting had already broken out behind me. Harsh metal rang out as Arthas swung his sword at two assassins charging him.
“Damn it! Would it kill you to tell me a little earlier?”
Arthas ground his teeth.
It was an ambush, but because I had pointed out the exact spots they would emerge from, he was not being pushed back in the slightest. On the contrary, he was cutting them down one by one with precise, clean Swordsmanship.
SLASH!
One man fell.
SPLAT!
Another man’s head rolled across the floor. Perhaps because he was an Apprentice Knight, unlike me Arthas showed no mercy. Everyone who rushed him, he either killed or maimed.
Unable to watch any longer, I shouted,
“Stop killing them all! We need to keep a few alive and find out who is behind this!”
“And what if I die while trying to do that? Capturing them alive is something you do when you have the chance. Mind your own side!”
SLASH!
This time, a perfectly healthy arm dropped to the floor. The man who lost it rolled across the ground screaming. First, I bound the man I had subdued tightly and stuffed a gag in his mouth.
Then, while still letting mana flow, I looked upward.
There was one more man hiding. But his movements were strange. Was he trying to run?
I rushed up to the second floor at once.
WHISH! WHISH! WHISH!
The moment I thought I had reached the top, concealed weapons came flying at me.
“Damn it!”
If I had not possessed exceptional dynamic vision and reflexes, at least one of those concealed weapons would have embedded itself in my chest. But I rolled across the floor to avoid them, then immediately drew the pistol from my waist.
BANG!
“Ugh!”
One shot was enough to make the bastard who had ambushed me scream. He took the bullet in the chest, staggered, and collapsed, and I used the tools I had prepared beforehand to bind him.
That made two assassins captured alive on my side. Arthas, on the other hand, did not seem to be considering live capture in the least. A few of the bastards were still alive with severed limbs, but they would likely not survive the blood loss.
I shouted down toward the first floor,
“Arthas! How is it over there?”
“I have dealt with four! Reinforcements just arrived, so do not worry!”
So that was why it had become noisy. In any case, they got here quickly. As expected, it had been the right choice to call the Village Guard rather than the Knight Order.
I swept my gaze around. Since there were no more heat signatures, I dragged the man I had bound with me and headed back down the stairs. As I did, I asked him,
“Were you sent by the Black Pig Gang?”
“......”
The bound man did not say a word. Irritated, I smacked him on the back of the head. He had aimed for my life, after all, so surely I was allowed to hit him a few times.
“You bastard. When someone asks you a question, you answer. What a rude piece of trash. We will talk again once we get back to the mansion.”
When I came down to the first floor, it was full of armed Soldiers. I gathered the bound men together in one place and then ordered a Soldier to watch them carefully.
Off to one side, a middle-aged man who seemed to be the commander was speaking with Arthas. Some blood had splashed onto him, but fortunately Arthas did not seem to have suffered any serious injuries.
“Dilen! Come here. This is Captain Womoff of the Sixth Village Guard. Greet him.”
It seemed the two of them knew one another. I bowed my head to Womoff.
“I am Dilen, a Butler Apprentice of House Adeline. Thank you for your cooperation.”
“Not at all. We merely did what we were supposed to do. Are you injured anywhere?”
“I am fine. Thank you.”
In truth, I was not all that thankful. We had already cleaned up the situation ourselves. These men had simply arrived late to pick up the fallen ball.
As I had expected, there had been exactly six assassins.
At that moment, a Soldier came running up and made his report.
“Captain! We found sacks of Gold in the storeroom!”
Most likely it was the protection money they had planned to send over to the Black Pig Gang after disposing of us. Showing interest, the Guard Captain asked,
“How much?”
“Around 1,000 Gold!”
They had been stuffing themselves very well indeed. It did not seem likely that all of that money had come from this place alone. Most likely it had been collected from other establishments they had their claws sunk into as well.
1,000 Gold. Certainly enough money to tempt an ordinary man.
Perhaps the Soldiers who found the Gold had already skimmed a few coins off the top.
The Guard Captain seemed to be thinking the same thing. Greed settled into the eyes with which he looked at me.