The Top-Tier Butler of the Marquis Family

Chapter 069

In any case, people who could not resist money were the same wherever you went. Well, I had no intention of speaking ill of liking money. The more of it you had, the better.

“Ahem.”

Womoff cleared his throat and subtly tried to catch my eye.

What now.

Womoff was expecting compensation. It would not be difficult at all to siphon off a little of the confiscated funds, but seeing him try to stick his spoon into the pot for free made me suddenly reluctant to give him anything.

First, I gave an order to the Soldier who had made the report.

“For now, do not touch the Gold Coins. Leave them where they are. Our investigators will recover them.”

“Yes, sir.”

After giving a military salute, the Soldier hurried off at once.

I looked at Womoff. He was sending me a suggestive look. Seeing a man so openly asking for a bribe made me want to crack him across the back of the head.

Still, a city Guard Captain had to be a fairly high-ranking post. It might not be such a bad thing to establish a relationship.

It even felt as though I might be able to get his help later, if a clash broke out in the Underworld.

So first, I casually changed the subject.

“Before beginning the tax audit, we coordinated with the Village Guard and had troops dispatched in advance. The merchants were trying to shut their doors early and flee. There ought to have been Guards sent here as well, but their whereabouts are unclear.”

“Are you certain?”

“I made the request directly to the Third Village Guard. I cannot say for certain, but since I asked for reinforcements, they probably dispatched one or two men.”

Arthas answered in my stead. Since he had come as the representative of the Knight Order, Womoff did not raise any objections. Stroking his chin, he muttered,

“If they are nowhere to be seen, then that means either these bastards dragged them off, or they got them.”

No report had come in about any additional discoveries yet. I stopped a passing Guard.

“Guardsman.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Have you found any trace of the Guards who were dispatched here earlier? There ought to have been some men sent in this direction, but none of them are in sight. They belong to the Third Village Guard.”

“Nothing yet, sir. We are still searching. If we discover anything else, we will report it immediately.”

I nodded and waved him away. At that moment, a Soldier came running toward us from a passage connected to the cellar.

It looked as though there were several more passageways leading underground. The cellar where the Gold had been discovered seemed to be somewhere else.

“Report! We found Soldiers of the Third Village Guard in another underground storeroom. They are all severely wounded and need treatment immediately!”

“Severely wounded? Then go and fetch a Doctor at once!”

“Yes, Captain!”

If they were severely wounded, they would not last long. Their bleeding would not have been properly stopped, and since the bastards had used concealed weapons, the wounds were likely critical.

After hesitating for a moment, I stepped forward.

“Arthas. Stay here for a moment. If you get bored, interrogate the bastards we captured.”

“Where are you going?”

“To the cellar.”

I went down the cellar passage the Soldier had come from. I heard Arthas call out behind me, but I only raised a hand and did not turn back.

The Soldiers of the Third Village Guard could not be allowed to die.

If that happened, then the Black Pig Gang would be wiped clean off the map for good, before we could absorb their strength for ourselves.

***

When I went down into the cellar, the place was thick with a stale smell. Rooms stretched along both sides of a narrow corridor, and the whole place was so filthy that it was hard to guess what it had originally been used for.

“Dilen!”

At that moment, Arthas caught up behind me. Breathing hard, he grumbled,

“What exactly did you come down here to do? Do not tell me you have learned medicine as well?”

Given the age we lived in, the medical techniques here lagged terribly far behind. So much so that the common medical knowledge I had dealt with routinely in my previous life would be enough to let me pass as a Doctor.

“I just came to look at the Soldiers’ condition. They were hurt because of us.”

“Then let me come too. I have learned first aid, so I can be of help.”

Arthas and I immediately headed toward the place where the injured Soldiers had been gathered.

When we stepped inside, three Soldiers were lying there groaning. The floor was soaked with blood. The expressions of the Soldiers watching over them were grim.

I asked,

“How are the wounded?”

“They have deep stab wounds to the abdomen and the chest. It seems they were hit by concealed weapons. At this rate......”

The Soldier cut himself off and shook his head. It seemed he could not bring himself to say there was no hope while standing in front of the wounded men.

The injured Soldiers had already been wrapped in bandages. The men who found them had apparently done a rough job of stopping the bleeding.

Arthas swept his hand through the air and ordered,

“Everyone stand back.”

“Yes, sir.”

The Soldiers withdrew, and Arthas and I began examining the wounded men again.

I was an engineering student, not a medical student. But I knew perfectly well how important stopping the bleeding and disinfecting the wound were when someone was injured.

If this had been the modern world, they would have received a transfusion, had their wounds stitched shut, and then been pumped full of antibiotics.

But I had at my disposal the unprecedented power called mana.

I had mentioned it once before, but mana did not merely amplify physical ability. It also had the power to stabilize bodily organs.

That was why, the other day when I rode in a carriage with Young Master Hamel, I had solved my motion sickness by injecting mana into the vestibular organ.

Which meant that perhaps I could help these Soldiers with injuries like this as well.

“As expected, the bleeding was stopped badly. We are going to need more bandages.”

At Arthas’s words, I turned and ordered the Soldiers to bring more bandages. They handed them to me, and I drew up my strength and infused the bandages with mana.

“These are good bandages. I do not know how to wrap them, so you do it.”

“Hand them over.”

Arthas began wrapping the bandages with practiced hands.

The moment the bandages were applied, mana would seep into the wounded men’s bodies. I infused the bandages with mana while holding the will to restore their vitality.

While Arthas wrapped the bandages, I placed a hand over the wound of another Soldier lying nearby.

Heal quickly. And stop bleeding as well.

Thinking that, I slowly poured mana into him. The mana that left my hand began to flow into the Soldier’s wound.

“Ugh......”

The wounded Soldier twisted his face in pain.

But the complexion that had been growing steadily paler began to improve. Then his ragged breathing returned almost to normal.

Good, it worked!

There were still some shortcomings, but if I kept applying mana like this, I might be able to make a name for myself as a Healer.

By then, Arthas had finished wrapping the wounds of the other Soldiers and had completed the emergency treatment. Whenever his hands left one of them, I secretly infused that Soldier with mana as well.

Once I had made a full round that way, the condition of the wounded men improved miraculously. By the time the Doctor arrived, all of them were breathing steadily and sleeping.

The Doctor, after examining their wounds and condition, looked slightly astonished.

“This is truly unbelievable. Which one of you performed the emergency treatment?”

The Doctor asked, and I pointed at Arthas.

“That is truly remarkable. As expected, the skill of the Adeline Knight Order is exactly as I have heard.”

“It was only the most basic first aid, really......”

“The wounds are quite deep. Under ordinary circumstances, they should not have survived. It seems they were treated at exactly the right time. Forgive me, but may I ask your name?”

Arthas looked a little flustered. After all, those were not wounds a man should survive just because someone performed first aid. A miracle had happened.

“My name is Arthas. I am still only an Apprentice Knight, though.”

“Apprentice or not, the fact remains that you saved these Soldiers today. If I have the chance to see the Knight Commander again, I will be sure to tell him of today’s miracle.”

“Hahaha. Well, I will not refuse that. Then I will be counting on you.”

Leaving that warm scene behind, I quietly slipped away.

When I returned to the first floor, I ordered the investigators to move the sacks of Gold Coins to the wagon.

The investigators moved diligently.

They had been encouraged by the knowledge that this additional collection would count as an achievement for them. Certainly, it was no easy thing for men as young as they were to earn merit like this.

“Prepare for another ambush, and keep your wits about you, all of you!”

“Yes, sir!”

As the sacks of Gold from the cellar began to be moved to the wagon, the security around us became even tighter.

As expected, Womoff, who was commanding the scene, watched it all with regretful eyes.

I walked over toward where he stood.

“By the way, Captain. How do you know Arthas?”

“He is a relative. I have been helping him in various ways ever since he came to House Adeline.”

“I see.”

Only then did I make up my mind. I would pull Guard Captain Womoff into my line as well. If he was close to Arthas, then there would surely come a day when I could borrow his strength.

It did bother me that he was so greedy for money, but so long as he was competent, I had no intention of complaining.

“Thanks to the valor of the men of the Sixth Village Guard, it seems the wounded men of the Third Village Guard survived. I heard the initial response was excellent. Surely that is all due to the fine training you have given them, Captain?”

As I spoke, I handed him the Gold Coins I had set aside separately in a pouch. His eyes widened slightly, but then he accepted it with a broad smile on his face.

“Hahaha! We only did what we were supposed to do. If one had to judge whose contribution was greater, it would be Investigator Dilen’s, for successfully carrying out the additional collection.”

“You flatter me. I will be sure to speak well of you to Young Master Hamel. I look forward to working with you in the future.”

“And I with you.”

Womoff and I shook hands.

And so, with all the Gold loaded onto the wagon, we completed the mission successfully and headed back toward the mansion of House Adeline.

When I climbed into the wagon and looked toward the distant sky, the sun was already setting, casting a red afterglow across the heavens.

Since Arthas was riding on horseback rather than in the wagon, I was sitting face-to-face with the highest-ranking investigator among those dispatched for this mission.

Ordinarily, a mere Butler Apprentice would never have reason to ride in a wagon. He might pull one, perhaps, but not ride in one.

In that sense, I was enjoying luxuries beyond my station. It was only a temporary role, but even in this investigation I had held the leading position.

I asked the investigator, who was flipping through the ledgers,

“So then, does that mean the total additional collection this time comes to around 3,500 Gold?”

“Ah, yes. To be precise, it is 3,542 Gold.”

Strictly speaking, it was actually 3,642 Gold. I had swallowed 100 Gold from the additional collection.

This much I could keep as a commission. Honestly, if it had not been for me, there was no way an enormous sum like 3,500 Gold would ever have been collected in additional taxes in the first place.

What is good is good, is it not? I ought to invest boldly in the expansion of the Avengers.

“At this level, how pleased do you think His Excellency the Marquis will be? Assuming it could be divided into upper, middle, and lower.”

“The highest. He will be extremely pleased. Of course, compared with the Territory’s annual operating funds, it is a small amount, but it will also tighten discipline across the Territory, so it is killing two birds with one stone.”

“Really? Good.”

“Are you thinking of reporting it directly to His Excellency the Marquis?”

I shook my head firmly.

“I will report to Young Master Hamel first. After that, the Young Master will handle it as he sees fit. Do not worry. Your merits will be fully accounted for.”

The investigator smiled in satisfaction and turned his attention back to the ledgers. I drew back the curtain hanging over the wagon window. The wagon sped forward strongly beneath the red glow of sunset.

Seeing today’s results, what sort of action would Young Master Hamel take?

The thought suddenly made me curious.