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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Baron Belus's Fief (4)
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7.
The situation was resolved.
"You bastards, get a move on!"
"From this day on, you won't get a moment's rest. Prepare yourselves, you pieces of trash."
The soldiers from Baron Belus's fief, summoned by Karron, arrived at the mountain stronghold and began restraining the deserters.
"Ah, Father!"
"Son. My son! Thank goodness. Truly, thank you."
"Mooommm."
The fief's residents, who had been locked in the stronghold's prison, were also freed.
It was a successful subjugation mission.
A few deserters attempted to flee, but Karron made an example of them by cutting off one leg of each escapee, and they soon became docile.
And with that, Karron and Leo's first mission came to an end.
On the way back to the lord's castle, Sabina glanced at the large man following behind Karron and spoke.
"Karron, why are you bringing this one along? We could just throw him in the fief's prison like the other deserters."
Karron replied with a faint smile.
"It's fate, in a way. I'll take him back and have him do odd jobs. As you can see, he's strong."
Karron glanced behind Urhan.
Urhan was dragging the body of Michael, his former captain, tied up with a rope.
Michael was unconscious after being beaten by Urhan.
Urhan, meeting Karron's gaze, repeatedly bowed his head and replied.
"Young Master! I, Urhan, will pledge my loyalty until the day I die! Thank you so much for sparing my life!"
"Is it really something to be thankful for?"
"Pardon?"
"Ah, just talking to myself. I'll decide your fate once we return to Azure Castle. You should know it's all thanks to the people of Baron Belus's fief. Understand?"
A significant number of the fief's residents who had been captured in the stronghold had spoken up for Urhan.
-He was the one who secretly brought us medicine when we were sick. Please show him leniency...
-He's not a bad person.
It seemed Urhan, despite his appearance, was a soft-hearted fellow.
*Thump.*
"This son of a bitch. Treating my life like some piece of luggage? You bastard. You bastard!"
Urhan, apparently growing angry as he thought about it, suddenly kicked the back of the Michael he was dragging.
Sabina, watching with disapproval, shook her head and said.
"No matter how much he cooperated with us, his crimes don't just disappear. You know that, don't you, Karron?"
"Still, he told us the location of their base and was very cooperative during the search. Shouldn't that be taken into consideration?"
"Hmm. We do need a witness... For now, I understand."
"Now, could you tell me what you meant earlier? What did you mean when you said things have gotten complicated?"
He had already anticipated that the bandits had a backer.
In response to Karron's question, Sabina gently shook a pouch containing someone's severed head and answered.
"This is the head of Ted Delach, a 6-star black magician and a Class-2 wanted criminal in the Empire. I cut him down in a single stroke as he tried to escape the stronghold. He had two dullahan with him."
Ted Delach.
Karron remembered the name from a newspaper he had read once.
Horrific human experimentation, kidnapping, murder, and so on.
He was wanted for numerous crimes.
Considering that the worst criminals were classified as Class-1, Class-2 must also consist of vicious offenders.
"Quite a few came to rescue him. There was even a death knight."
"Ah, was that the loud noise I heard earlier?"
"It took some time to deal with them. You two weren't skilled enough yet, so I handled it myself."
"We would have been in big trouble if it was just the two of us."
Sabina looked at Karron's feigned innocence and smacked her lips in disappointment.
"Personally, I considered letting you fight him, Karron."
"Me?"
"Strength is forged by clashing with powerful beings. Do you think your skills improved just by fighting some deserter grunts?"
"It was just a light warm-up, that's all."
The mission had been easier than expected.
If the deserters had decided to fight in the mountains, it would have been tricky, but they had been very lucky.
The trap they'd set to catch a big fish had instead become their own undoing.
"As soon as we return to Lord Belus's castle, I'll contact Azure Castle via the communication sphere. The appearance of monsters in the western breadbasket and a black magician here can't be a coincidence."
Leo, who had been listening quietly to Sabina, cautiously spoke to her.
"Lady Sabina, does that mean we failed our mission?"
"Of course not. Your mission from the start was to subjugate the bandits, and you completed that successfully."
Sabina looked at Karron and Leo, hiding her satisfaction.
She had wondered if they would falter in their first real battle, but these boys had pushed forward without a hint of hesitation.
In this case, the enemy had let their guard down, but making the enemy let their guard down was also a skill.
They had effectively used the fact that they were children to their advantage.
There was just one thing that worried her.
'I expected it, but... he showed no hesitation in cutting down people.'
The immense bloodlust that had emanated from Karron's sword.
Most people hesitate at their first kill, but this boy had cut down his enemies' throats from the very beginning as if it were the most natural thing in the world. And he took advantage of their fear to instantly wipe out a scout team composed of regular soldiers.
His actions upon arriving at the stronghold were the same.
The decision to break through the swarming skeletons to capture the leader.
It was a simple and brutish method, but if it worked, it worked.
'Refinement can be built through experience.'
In one's youth, one must have spirit.
That was Sabina's philosophy.
From that perspective, Sabina was pleased with what her grandnephews had shown.
Sabina let out a light breath and looked at Karron.
Ominous signs were appearing all over the continent.
The peace that had followed the Evil Emperor's dethronement was cracking everywhere, as if it could shatter at any moment.
The kingdoms south of the Empire were already embroiled in war, and other regions, including the North Sea, were in turmoil.
Everything pointed to the end of peace.
Was it a coincidence that at a time like this, a so-called Child of the Covenant, one who broke the Oath Stone, had appeared?
'...Of course not.'
Sabina shook her head.
She believed in fate, but not in coincidence.
There was no such thing as coincidence in the first place.
"Lady Sabina? What are you thinking about?"
At Karron's question, Sabina let out a light breath and smiled.
"Just something."
Where would the era this boy was destined to live in lead him?
Such thoughts swirled in her mind.
8.
Upon arriving at Lord Belus's castle, the young Baron, Rohan, who had heard the news and was waiting for them, greeted them with a bright face.
"I don't know how we can ever repay this debt."
But a small shadow still lingered in the corner of his bright expression.
The bandits who had plagued the Belus fiefdom had been defeated, but major problems still remained.
Restoring the fief.
The Belus fiefdom was already barren. Healing the wounds inflicted by the bandits would take ages.
And Rohan knew this better than anyone.
Nevertheless, he tried his best to hide his worries.
From this point on, it was a problem for him and his father to solve.
"Um... could I ask for your understanding on one matter?"
Rohan looked at Sabina, his voice as polite as possible. Sabina, in turn, gestured to Karron and Leo with her chin and replied.
"Those two are in charge of this mission, so if you have something to say, say it to them."
"It's truly embarrassing to say this, but our fief currently doesn't have the funds to pay the commission fee to Azure Castle."
If you receive help, you must pay a corresponding price. Nothing is more important than settling accounts clearly.
That was Rohan's creed.
That was why he swallowed his pride and requested a grace period.
However, Karron's reply was something he had not expected at all.
"Of all the places the bandits could have chosen, why the Belus fiefdom? I was really curious about that. So I looked into it myself."
Putting aside the existence of their backers, Karron had been curious why the bandits had specifically chosen this land.
He had gotten the answer to that question from their leader, Michael.
Karron took a small stone from his pocket and showed it to Rohan.
A mysterious stone that glowed with a white light.
Rohan already knew what the stone was.
"Isn't this a mana stone?"
"That's right. Mid-grade quality? High-grade and above are classified as strategic resources, but... a mana stone is still a mana stone. It's very expensive. Anyway, that's not the important part. The deserters were mining mana stones in the mountains."
At those words, Rohan's jaw dropped.
What were mana stones?
They were the greatest resource of the current era, traded at prices far exceeding their weight in gold.
It meant that a fief possessing a mana stone mine would practically be sitting on a pile of money.
Karron pleasantly watched Rohan's shocked expression and continued.
"It seems you didn't know until now."
"...We didn't even have the funds to hire an exploration team."
"Ah, exploring for a mana stone mine does cost a lot of money. Even the landowner didn't know, so how on earth did those guys know there were mana stones here?"
There were more than a few suspicious points.
It would be absolutely impossible without a collaborator inside the Empire.
Therefore, Azure Castle would thoroughly investigate this incident.
Of course, an investigation team would also be dispatched to the Belus fiefdom.
'Look at that expression.'
For the Belus fiefdom, which had been hit by a sudden windfall, it was an incredibly joyous event.
It was the moment a barren fief, where even farming was difficult, was transformed into a wealthy one.
"So, I'd like to make a proposal."
The main point started here.
Karron continued with a gentle smile.
"We came to help an old friend of Azure Castle, so it feels a bit wrong to take money, doesn't it? Instead, how about you share some of the shares in the mana stone mine development project? Simply put, a joint development."
Developing a mana stone mine requires a huge amount of money.
The deserters had been mining with crude equipment, but to reduce the loss rate, it was necessary to use the best possible equipment.
Furthermore, facilities to store the mana stones, security personnel to guard those facilities, and so on.
The list of expenses was endless.
Rohan quickly did the math in his head. If he could receive help from the Leston Duchy?
All those conditions would be met.
"I'll have to report back, but... if the Leston Ducal Family has a stake in the mine, no one would dare covet it, right? The Belus fiefdom could even use the mine as a pretext to request the official stationing of the Sea Wolf Knights."
"You mentioned shares. Do you have a specific ratio in mind?"
"Ah, that's something you'll have to discuss with my father. It's a bit too heavy a topic for a child like me to handle. I was just offering a suggestion."
It meant he was just laying out the groundwork and the details should be discussed with the working-level officials.
In particular, the ability to request the stationing of the Sea Wolf Knights was extremely attractive.
The Belus fiefdom was in a situation where it couldn't immediately increase its military strength.
In such a situation, the presence of the Sea Wolf Knights would serve as a powerful deterrent.
Rohan let out a small gasp as he looked at Karron.
He had realized it was a proposal that satisfied all of the Belus fiefdom's needs.
'Is this boy really only thirteen?'
The youngest of Azure Castle had already surpassed the level of extraordinary.
Seeing the smile playing on the face of Sabina, who was listening quietly beside them, it was clear the proposal had a high chance of being realized.
Therefore, he made his decision quickly.
"I will speak with my father and contact you immediately. It won't take long."
"Then it seems we've finished discussing everything for now. We'll be returning to Azure Castle first."
"You're leaving right away? We were preparing a victory banquet, though it would have been modest."
"Let's postpone the banquet. Our priority is to take the criminals back to Azure Castle for investigation. We'll be seeing you again soon anyway, young Baron."
At Karron's words, Rohan smiled wryly and nodded.
"Still, I'll see you to the train station..."
Just then.
"Young Baron! We need you to come and take control. The people are getting all tangled up..."
A man said urgently as he entered the office, and Rohan sighed with a troubled expression.
"Oh dear."
"Something's come up. You should go quickly. We can see ourselves out."
"It's not proper to send our benefactors off like this, but..."
"It's a chaotic situation right now, isn't it? You should go where you're needed."
Rohan bowed politely and said.
"Thank you once again. I look forward to seeing you again soon."
As Rohan left the room with the man, only Sabina, Karron, and Leo remained in the reception room.
As soon as Rohan was gone, Sabina casually asked Karron.
"There was no need for you to make the offer first. Why bother with such troublesome details?"
Karron answered Sabina's question with a broad smile.
"It's a gift for Grandfather."
"A gift, you say. A mana stone mine is certainly an attractive gift. But is that all? I don't think so."
"Hehe, who knows? The adults will figure out the complicated problems, I'm sure."
Sabina grinned as she looked at her feigning grandnephew.
This cunning boy had surely already considered the complex political landscape.
The Belus fiefdom here was a gateway that must be passed through to advance into the Empire's interior.
In times of peace, they could be good neighbors, but in times of upheaval, it was different. It could easily become a wall blockading the duchy.
A justification to legally station the Sea Wolf Knights in such a place?
It would be a very useful gift for her older brother, who must be quite troubled by the continent's unsettling state of affairs.
"We're going to get something incomparably more valuable than the commission fee. Seeing this, you really are Peil's son."
"Why bring up my father all of a sudden?"
"Hehe, there's a reason. In that respect, you're just like your father."
It seemed the mission, which she thought would end as a simple bandit subjugation, would bring quite a lot with it.
Sabina slowly rose from her seat and spoke to her grandnephews.
"Well then, let's hurry back to Azure Castle."
Following her, Karron and Leo also stood up.
The first mission was over.
It was time to return to Azure Castle.