Chapter 44: Traits And Money
As Roderic finished his fight, he glanced around for a moment.
The last fights were just about to end, with the estate knights overpowering the ordinary knights completely.
’Guess that’s what personal training under Captain Harris does,’ he thought, clipping his blades to his waist. ’But to be fair, Sir Roland made everything much easier...’
His gaze landed on the man for a moment.
Sir Roland had utterly obliterated the knight commander before taking down two more knights simultaneously.
’Just goes to show how big the gap is between aura seals,’ he thought, shaking his head. ’Had the man been on a battlefield, he would’ve probably carved through dozens of people.’
CLANG!
The last noise of blades colliding drew Roderic’s attention.
A moment later, the final corrupt knight collapsed onto the ground, bleeding heavily from his throat.
At the same time, a familiar blue screen appeared in front of Roderic.
[Territorial Quest Completed!]
[Reward: Noble Bearing Trait + 500 Throne Points]
Roderic’s eyes lit up right away.
’There we go,’ he thought with a wide smile.
Another five hundred Throne Points had been added to his balance, gradually getting him closer to being able to purchase something useful.
But the trait was what interested him most.
’System,’ he thought. ’Open up my status.’
The blue screen flickered in front of him right away.
—————Status—————
Strength: 28
Agility: 27
Aura: 33
Mana: 1
Talent: Supreme Aura Constitution
Traits: [Minor Poison Resistance], [Noble Bearing]
—————
Roderic blinked once.
He’d barely checked his status throughout the weeks, but the increases were massive.
’I improved my aura by thirteen points alone,’ he thought. ’And the other physical stats improved by like seven.’
It was certainly a pleasant and very welcome surprise.
’I should really check my status more often,’ he thought, nodding slowly. ’Anyway, let’s check this trait.’
With a mental sigh, a much smaller window popped up.
[Noble Bearing]
[Your presence naturally carries greater authority and dignity. Those beneath your status are more likely to take your words seriously.]
Roderic slowly raised his eyebrow.
’Not bad at all.’
It wasn’t going to make him any stronger, but considering who he was, it would definitely come in handy.
’And all that while I barely had to put in any effort.’
He dismissed the system panels with a thought.
Just then, Edmund came walking toward him.
’’Young master,’’ he called out.
Roderic snapped out of his thoughts before turning to him.
Edmund briefly glanced around at the bodies scattered across the street.
’’I’ll have a few knights remain behind to clean up this mess and secure the station,’’ he said. ’’In the meantime, we can finally deal with the tavern.’’
Roderic nodded without hesitation.
’’Let’s do that.’’
Edmund immediately turned to six guards, ordering them to clean up the bodies.
Finally, he took the remaining guards, including Sir Roland, along.
But they’d barely taken a few steps before Roderic remembered something.
’’Oh, and Edmund,’’ he started, glancing at the chubby man.
’’Yes, young master?’’
’’Bring the carriage,’’ Roderic continued. ’’There’s quite a bit we need to transport.’’
Edmund slowly raised an eyebrow but nodded anyway.
’’Of course.’’
It didn’t take long before they arrived back at the tavern.
The severed heads still hung outside, while the bodies inside remained exactly where Roderic had left them yesterday.
For a moment, the estate knights, Edmund, and Sir Roland couldn’t help but stare between the heads and Roderic.
’The young master did that?’ was a thought they all shared.
Just then, Edmund cleared his throat.
’’Young master...’’ he started awkwardly. ’’Would you like those cleaned too?’’
’’Nope,’’ Roderic replied, walking past them without another thought.
He pushed the door open and stepped inside the tavern.
’’The important stuff is downstairs,’’ he said, gesturing to the trapdoor. ’’I need the crates from the second room all carried out.’’
...
A while later, Roderic sat comfortably at one of the tavern tables.
THUD!
Another heavy wooden crate was lifted out of the hole and placed near the entrance.
Two knights quickly disappeared back into the hidden trapdoor to retrieve the next one.
Several more crates had already been carried outside and loaded onto the carriage.
Roderic watched everything happen from his chair, occasionally giving an order whenever needed.
Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out beside him.
’’Young master...’’
Roderic glanced over casually.
Standing beside him was Edmund with a strange expression on his face.
’’There’s an unbelievable amount of money down there,’’ he said, still sounding somewhat stunned. ’’Far more than I ever expected from something operating out of a village like this.’’
Roderic nodded lightly.
’’It is a lot,’’ he replied. ’’But continue.’’
Edmund stared at him for a moment before glancing toward another crate being carried past.
’’What do you intend to do with all of it?’’ he finally asked.
’’We’re taking it all back to the estate,’’ Roderic replied without a hint of hesitation.
Edmund’s eyes widened for a moment.
Then a hint of hesitation flickered across his face before he finally opened his mouth again.
’’Would it not be better to return it to those who purchased the drugs?’’ he asked respectfully.
Almost letting out a chuckle, Roderic quickly shook his head.
’’No, we won’t be doing that,’’ he said. ’’It’d be utterly unfair to those who didn’t purchase the drugs.’’
A look of realization flickered across Edmund’s face.
’’Besides, giving addicts their money back isn’t going to fix anything,’’ Roderic continued. ’’We’ll take everything back to the estate and count it properly first.’’
He paused briefly.
’’After that, send half of it to the Church.’’
Edmund’s brows rose slightly.
’’The Church?’’ he repeated.
Roderic nodded slowly.
’’We’ll have them send a bishop here who can cure the civilians of their addictions,’’ he said. ’’That’ll be far more useful than simply handing their money back.’’
Edmund’s eyes widened right away.
He immediately bowed respectfully.
’’That would certainly be better,’’ he admitted. ’’I’ll arrange it once we return to the estate.’’
Roderic nodded once before leaning back in his chair.
It was something he’d already thought about. Not only would it boost his reputation and cure the civilians, but it’d also be really hard for anyone to take the rest of his spoils away.
A smile grew across his face just thinking about it.
’’As for the other half,’’ he started casually. ’’Keep it as my personal fund.’’
’’We’ll be needing a lot of money for the things I’m about to do.’’