Ronin knew, of course, that the guards hadn't been ordered by Wiggin to betray him. He had been certain of that the moment the traitors made their move.
The reason he was now throwing the blame onto Wiggin was mainly to put him in the wrong and "demand compensation."
"Grandfather, those nine guards were handpicked for me by Father. Is it possible that Father wouldn't know what kind of men they were?"
Lurans glanced sideways at Wiggin, only to see the latter shift his body, his gaze somewhat evasive.
Ronin wasn't wrong. Wiggin had indeed handpicked those nine guards, except he had picked the worst ones.
Slacking off, fighting, gambling—the nine of them had done at least one or two of these things. Their leader, Pier, was a particularly notorious troublemaker.
He had just wanted to find some troublemakers to give Ronin a hard time, but he never expected this group would actually betray Ronin, much less try to kill him.
"My convoy had just left Wushan City and was resting in the woods when those nine men made their move."
Ronin continued, his tone tinged with the panic of someone who had just survived a disaster.
"Grandfather, think about it. They're just castle guards, all of them common men. Where would they get the audacity to move against me? Even though I've been stripped of my inheritance, I'm still their master, the Baron of Mountain Forest Town, and a blood member of the Wushan Clan!"
At this, he looked at Wiggin angrily. "I've thought it over and over. They must have been acting on Father's orders. Otherwise, they would never have dared!"
"I did not!"
"I may detest you, I may not even want to acknowledge you as my son, but I wouldn't go so far as to send people to kill you!"
Wiggin was so furious his hair and beard seemed to stand on end. He hated being falsely accused more than anything, yet every time it happened, he found it hard to refute the charges because the other party's words were always so reasonable.
"If I really wanted to kill you, why would I have given you so many resources?"
"That was for the sake of my dead mother!"
Ronin's retort left the other man speechless.
A brief silence fell over the living room. Lurans sighed and said, "There might be other factors at play here. I trust your father isn't foolish enough to try to kill you."
No one knows a son better than his father. Lurans knew Wiggin quite well. Though the latter was stupid, reckless, and thoughtless, he wasn't so foolish as to do something like kill his own son.
"Did those men say anything before they attacked?" the Marquis asked.
Ronin thought for a moment. Since he had been asked directly, there were some things he couldn't very well hide.
After all, the remaining traitors weren't dead yet. All Lurans had to do was send someone to question them to find out their motives for the betrayal.
"Before they attacked, they told me they didn't want to go to Mountain Forest Town. They said it was remote and dangerous, that going there was a death sentence. They also said the family had already abandoned me, and that I'd probably be killed before I even reached the town."
Behind him, Chahar was a little puzzled. 'Did the traitors really say all that? Why didn't I hear it?'
Then it dawned on him. They must have said it when they were chasing the Baron into the forest. At that time, he had fallen and hadn't gotten back up yet.
"Child, the family has never given up on you. I only stripped you of your inheritance for the long-term benefit of the clan!"
Lurans revealed a little of the reason to comfort Ronin, then turned to criticize Wiggin harshly.
"The eldest legitimate grandson of the Wushan Clan dares to go to Mountain Forest Town, yet mere guards of the clan dare to shrink back? Wiggin, how do you usually train them?"
Wiggin was in the wrong on this point, so he said nothing.
Ronin still wanted to shift some of the blame onto Wiggin. He continued, "The leader said they wanted to rob me of my supplies and money, then leave the Wushan Territory and live somewhere else."
"Although their motives seem reasonable, I still feel like someone was pulling the strings."
He voiced his suspicion. "Otherwise, they wouldn't have had the nerve."
"Heh heh, my grandson, that's where you're mistaken."
Lurans understood now. Ronin had mistakenly assumed Wiggin was behind it, which was why he was venting his anger on him.
"Anyone can have the ambition to fight for their own gain, and guards are no exception. They must have seen that you were an ordinary person with no manpower, so they decided to team up and rob you."
The Old Marquis analyzed, "And I'm sure they knew you had a lot of Gold Coins, which is why they got greedy."
As soon as he finished speaking, Holwart, who had followed them in, felt his heart skip a beat. He immediately stepped forward, bowed, and said, "My lord, you are correct. The day I gave the Gold Coins you granted to Young Master Ronin, I did it in front of them!"
Then, he expressed his apologies to Ronin, "I never imagined my carelessness would cause you so much trouble. Holwart is guilty!"
Wiggin, however, spread his hands. "See? I told you it had nothing to do with me!"
Ronin looked embarrassed and didn't reply, tacitly accepting this conclusion.
His reaction confused his manservant, Chahar, who was standing behind him.
To be precise, he had been baffled from the moment he arrived at the gates of Wushan Castle until now.
He didn't understand why the Baron would suspect the Count of ordering the traitors. He understood even less why the Baron would dare to return to Wushan Castle if he believed the Count wanted him dead.
'Could it be that the master was certain the Marquis would stand up for him?' Chahar wondered.
At this, Lurans, seated above, relaxed his severe expression. His look softened considerably. If a father had truly tried to kill his son, he would have been deeply distressed.
"The matter is clear now. Ronin, you shouldn't be so angry with your father. He may be a bit foolish, but he wouldn't go so far as to have you killed. We of Wushan are not the Hyde Clan."
"Additionally, Holwart was not cautious enough in his duties. Dock him half a year's salary!"
Holwart didn't argue. He bowed to accept his punishment. "Holwart accepts the punishment and will remember this lesson. I hope this can appease the young master's anger."
Although Holwart had indeed been somewhat careless, he had also helped him to some extent. Ronin felt a little bad about him being punished.
"Grandfather, this has nothing to do with Holwart. Please, let it go."
But Holwart insisted on taking responsibility. "No, Young Master. This was indeed my mistake. Please do not defend me or plead on my behalf."
Lurans chuckled. "Since Ronin has pleaded for you, we'll waive it."
He then said to Ronin, "You and Wiggin are father and son. All that matters is that the misunderstanding has been cleared up."
Ronin, showing deference to Lurans, gave Wiggin a slight bow. "I was too angry just now. Thinking about it carefully, I was indeed mistaken to blame you."
"Hmph!" Wiggin turned away with an indignant snort, but he felt a little better inside.
Ronin turned to Lurans. "Macken the Knight killed four of the nine traitors. I've brought the rest back to hand over to Father. I don't dare keep such traitors by my side."
"Macken the Knight?"
Lurans glanced at the unfamiliar-looking knight standing behind Ronin. "This is the first time I've seen him."
Ronin chuckled and casually spun a tale.
"Macken is a Wandering Knight. We've known each other for a few months. When he heard I had become the Baron of Mountain Forest Town, he wanted to follow me. Thanks to him, I survived today."
Macken gave Lurans a knight's salute and then resumed his position behind Ronin.
Wiggin, however, sized him up. "Although I didn't use an iota of my strength in that kick earlier, you were able to take it without falling. I'd say you have some skill. You won't regret following the Wushan Clan."
It was true that he hadn't used his full strength, but to say he hadn't used an iota of it was clearly an exaggeration from Wiggin.
Ronin didn't call him out on it, instead steering the conversation toward the real reason for his return.
"Macken's strength is decent, but it's very inconvenient for me to not have any guards. I can't just have a Professional Knight do everything."
Ronin's tone became respectful, a stark contrast to his previous attitude toward Wiggin. "So, Father, I must ask you to arrange a few trustworthy guards for me."
Perhaps it was because Ronin was being so polite, or perhaps it was the relief of having his name cleared, but either way, Wiggin was now in a reasonably good mood.
Hearing this, he agreed loudly without a second thought. "Fine!"
Wiggin looked at Holwart. "Go and find nine new guards for Ronin."
"Father, nine is too few!"
Ronin stopped Holwart, who was about to turn and leave. "Mountain Forest Town is too dangerous. If you only give me nine soldiers, they'll think the family is sending them to their deaths. They might even get rebellious ideas. That's why I hope you can give me more men. A hundred would be best!"
Lurans, sitting to the side, couldn't help but twitch his lips when he heard this.
He suddenly understood the source of the awkward feeling he'd had ever since Ronin walked in.
Wiggin, however, reverted to his usual hot-tempered self. "What? A hundred? Wushan Castle doesn't even have a hundred guards on duty right now, and you're asking me for a hundred!"
"No, absolutely not!"
Normally, only one Knight Order was stationed in the Wushan City area. Every day, the Knight Order would dispatch one Knight Squad to be responsible for the defense of Wushan Castle.
A Knight Order consisted of ten Knight Squads. Each Knight Squad included 12 Professional Knights, 36 Attendant Knights, 10 Archers, and 60 Infantry.
The guards Ronin had seen at the gate were the infantry of one Knight Squad. So Wiggin wasn't lying; there were indeed fewer than a hundred guards on duty.
But Ronin didn't need to concern himself with that. He just had to open his mouth and ask. It wouldn't cost him anything if he didn't get them, anyway.
"Father, don't tell me you can't even produce a hundred guards? You're the Count of Wushan City! In my heart, Grandfather is number one, and you're number two, yet you can't even come up with a hundred guards? This..."
"Bullshit!"
Wiggin raged, "It's a mere hundred men! You think I can't produce them?"
Lurans rolled his eyes and shook his head helplessly. 'When did this grandson of mine get so good at provoking people?'
"Ronin, you're asking for a hundred guards. That's too many."
The Old Marquis directly shut down Ronin's hopes. "As far as I know, the population of Mountain Forest Town is less than a thousand. Even if you want to form a defense force, recruiting ten or twenty militiamen would be sufficient. If you have your father give you a hundred guards, first, you won't need them, and second, you won't be able to support them."
At those words, Ronin's fiery hopes were doused with ice water.
'The population of Mountain Forest Town is less than a thousand people??'
'How can that even be called a town?'
'This territory of mine is going to be too difficult!'
"How about this, Wiggin. You arrange twenty guards for Ronin and give him some extra resources. That way, when he gets to Mountain Forest Town, it'll save him the trouble of recruiting new militiamen."
Wiggin nodded. "Twenty is more like it."
"Grandfather, twenty is too few!"
Ronin turned into a haggling merchant. His territory had such a small population; he had to find a way to increase it somehow.
Otherwise, how would he ever reach the 3,000 population required for the [Population Prosperity] achievement?
'If I have to rely on natural reproduction generation after generation, how long will that take?'
"Eighty! Grandfather, Father, just give me eighty guards!"
"I can't take any less!"