Chapter 39: Listening to the Reports
Arthur looked at his food and sighed. He had spent two weeks in this world, yet he still found the food unappetizing. It wasn’t bad, in fact, it was quite nutritious, but he had grown used to the rich flavors of his own world. The reason for the bland taste here was their rare and expensive use of spices.
Still, driven by hunger, he didn’t hesitate for even a second and began eating. Within a few minutes, he had emptied every dish in front of him.
Burp!
’Hmm, I’ve now completely taken control of the barony. All that’s left is to deal with that messenger when he returns, and I’ll ensure my identity remains hidden.’ At the moment, there was no one left in the barony who could threaten him. This bought him another week of safety before he would have to face his biggest problem—**the real Arvan**.
He leaned back in his chair, engaged his mind to its fullest capacity, and began thinking of a solution to his dilemma.
’I have a few days before that bastard reaches the barony’s borders. In the novel, it was said his entourage consisted of ten knights at E-rank, two mages, a healer at D-rank, a sniper, a tank, and a knight—all at D-rank, along with a few prostitutes and some servants.’
’That’s not a small number of followers, but their strength is quite low. Well, that makes sense since the Duke stripped him of his title, and his younger brother lured away all his strong subordinates, leaving him isolated.’
Arvan had two brothers. One was three years older and named Corvius, who, like Arvan, was infamous for being a cunning scoundrel. He was a drunkard and a lecher, but to a lesser degree than Arvan. Unlike Arvan, however, Corvius was more intelligent.
The second brother, Morviel, was four years younger and, unlike his siblings, was a genius scoundrel. He possessed the traits of a cunning and ruthless ruler.
Recalling the events of the novel, Arthur sighed.
’I’ll let the bandits deal with him. All I have to do is remove the protagonist, Novarian, from the equation. That way, no one will save him. But that’s a problem in itself. Novarian is a simple man who follows his interests, so attracting him to my side won’t be an issue, but I’ll need a lot of money.’