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122 The Leader
of the Guards
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Translator : PolterGlast
The sun finally set.
Seeing the west sun, which seems to hate the night, reminds me of a summer sun.
It hasn't even been two months since I entered Triange. Come to think of it, I
haven't even spent a full year in this world yet. It's been a very eventful few
months.
And so, the short
summer night has come, but it's going to be a long one tonight. Tonight, over
200 enemies—former knights, former village heads, and bandits—will be coming.
If the soldiers in the mansion act in a hurry, the enemy won't move. The number
of soldiers guarding the mansion is the same as usual.
At the Golteo Trading
Company, I sent a small, elite force consisting of Jojok, one of the
first-generation knights, and five soldiers. Since it's a large store, they can
easily conceal themselves. Ruineza-san is there as Golteo-san's guard. She and
Jojok have met several times at the Kerniff mansion and the Golteo Trading
Company. I'm sure they'll get along better than if they were meeting for the
first time.
Well, I have to act as
normally as possible. Even a single light in a room could make the enemy feel
something is off and put them on alert. I might be overthinking it, but I want
to get this over with tonight rather than have them postpone it, so I want them
to attack.
▽▽▽ Side: Ruineza ▽▽▽
A rural town in the
southern part of the kingdom. That was my impression of Triange. I entered
Triange as a guard for Golteo, the former head of the Golteo Trading Company,
who built the company into one of the leading ones in the kingdom.
The Golteo Trading
Company decided to open a store in Triange and was making preparations. The
fact that they built a four-story building with one basement level in just a
few months shows that they are indeed the Golteo Trading Company. To build this
store, they gathered people from the royal capital and other places. It became
the first large store in Triange.
The first time we met
that person was in early autumn last year. It's been almost a year, but he rose
through the ranks so quickly. When I first met him, I thought he was a naive
young lady from a good family. From his appearance, I thought he was a girl,
but I soon found out he was a man. His swordsmanship was that of a complete
amateur, but I remember the sword he had was a good one that even I could tell
was a magic sword.
He was the person who
helped us when Golteo-sama's caravan was attacked by bandits. To be honest, we,
the guards, could have dealt with that level of bandits ourselves. However, he
defeated the bandit leader, which was an impressive feat. Regardless of the
circumstances, he fought for the Golteo Trading Company's caravan. Golteo-sama
showed him an amazing amount of consideration. I wondered at first why he would
go so far, but now I think it was the right decision.
Golteo-sama has a keen
eye for people. If he didn't, he wouldn't have been able to turn the Golteo
Trading Company into one of the largest in the kingdom. That person, who Golteo-sama
took a liking to, rose through the ranks in a blink of an eye. The fact that he
had become a noble, then a viscount with his own territory, was something I
thought was amazing and terrifying at the same time.
I heard that he, as an
explorer, achieved the feat of destroying the Shardina Bandit Group. Because of
that achievement, he was granted the title of honorary baron, and then he
earned the honor of becoming a baron by subjugating a demon. He also subjugated
a demon in the royal capital, was promoted to viscount, and obtained a
territory. In just one year, he rose so high that I can no longer speak to him
casually.
His name is Toi. He
has now acquired a family name as a noble and goes by Viscount Toi Footscythel.
Golteo-sama opened a
store in Triange, which is Viscount Footscythel's territory. Triange has no
noticeable industry other than salt production. Its economic scale is small, so
it's not a place where the Golteo Trading Company would normally open a store.
However, he decided to open a store there simply because he valued his
connection with Viscount Footscythel.
Originally, Golteo-sama
was supposed to accompany Viscount Footscythel to Triange. However, Viscount
Footscythel asked Golteo-sama to do something, so he arrived in Triange later.
Viscount Footscythel
didn't seem to like the slavery system at first. The first slave he bought was
an old woman who looked like she was about to die. Her name was Anneliese. No
one else would buy her, and if he hadn't, Anneliese would have been sent to a
mine. Feeling sorry for her, Viscount Footscythel bought Anneliese.
Anneliese was
apparently turned into an old woman by a curse. After the curse was broken, she
was so beautiful that even a woman like me was mesmerized. I heard that he
happened to get a curse-breaking potion in a dungeon, but curse-breaking
potions are incredibly expensive. The fact that Viscount Footscythel gave it to
a slave without a second thought made me think he had no common sense.
After that, he bought
a goblin girl. She was a goblin who was a combat idiot and had been abandoned
by her parents. She, too, turned into a beautiful girl. How could a typically
ugly species like a goblin turn into such a cute girl? Even Golteo-sama
couldn't understand it and kept tilting his head.
Viscount Footscythel
didn't seem to like the slavery system much after that either, but he has been
buying many slaves recently. When Viscount Footscythel raises slaves, he frees
them even before their term of service is up. And he's promoting them to
soldiers. I've even heard that some former slaves became knights. His actions
are beyond my comprehension.
Golteo-sama says that
the people who have been freed from slavery are all over Level 40. There are
dozens of such soldiers and knights in the Footscythel viscount family.
In the first place, a
person at Level 40 is roughly equal to Sir Barbatos, the Royal Knight
Commander, who is said to be the strongest in the kingdom, or Sir Barukan, who
serves the Gardland Ducal House. The fact that there are dozens of people on
par with those two in the Footscythel viscount family makes me wonder if wouldn't
it be possible for them to take over the kingdom? I should think of him as
having that kind of military power, and Golteo-sama probably thinks so too.
Well, in Triange, the
home of the so-called unconventional Footscythel viscount family, a commotion
is about to occur. No one in the store knows this except for Golteo-sama and
me, but apparently, this store is being targeted by bandits.
The guards I lead
aren't so soft that they would fall behind a mere bandit, but there are only 15
of us. I heard the bandits have a force of nearly 50. I'm a little worried if
they try to overwhelm us with numbers. In particular, I've heard there's a high
possibility of arson this time. I wanted to ask how they get such detailed
information, but these things are likely top secret.
"Sir Jojok. I
look forward to working with you."
It was decided that Sir
Jojok of the Footscythel Viscount family would secretly come to the shop with
his soldiers. Golteo-sama bowed politely and welcomed Sir Jojok through the
back door.
Sir Jojok is a former
explorer who became a retainer when Sir Toi was promoted to honorary baron.
I've spoken to him several times since then because I've been in and out of the
Footscythel family. He, too, is a strong person and has apparently reached the
10th floor of the royal capital dungeon.
I've heard that the
first king of the Ouda Kingdom reached the 10th floor, amassed a huge fortune,
and founded the country. The 10th floor is that kind of place. Sir Jojok has
now been granted the title of honorary baron and holds a lot of influence
within the Footscythel viscount family. Anyone who serves Viscount Footscythel,
whether they are an explorer or a slave, can rise in rank. That's what's being
whispered in the Golteo Trading Company, and I believe it too.
"Golteo-dono. I
thank you for your cooperation this time. His Excellency also said he is
grateful to you."
"No, no, we are
the ones who are grateful. We truly appreciate you sending your soldiers to
save our store."
They exchanged short
greetings and took their positions before the enemy and the store employees
could notice. The arrangement was based on the defense plan I had created. He
probably considered my expertise in the store's layout.
Sir Jojok and two
soldiers will hide in the back of the second floor. One knight and three
soldiers will be in the shadow of the warehouse in the backyard. The bandits
are apparently coming when everyone is asleep. Unfortunately, some of the
bandits have already infiltrated the store. We checked their identities when we
hired them locally, but... We also checked their record cards, and they all had
no criminal record. But even without a criminal record, criminals exist. That
is the difference between divine law and human law.
I, too, will take my
position, hold my breath, and wait for the bandits. I've given my subordinates
the usual instructions. Let's see the results of our daily training.
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