"Grrrk... You crazy bastard..." Martin, coughing up blood, wore a look of disbelief as he died. A king of mercenaries? He had never heard of such a title, nor had he ever thought about it. It was well-known that Count Fenris was insane. So anything he said just sounded like more madness to Martin. ‘Is there no end to how unlucky I am?’ Martin was angry at dying this way, caught by such a madman. "My father... will definitely kill you... tear you apart..." Martin cursed as he breathed his last. The Drake Mercenary Corps looked at Martin’s corpse with heavy expressions. While they felt a sense of satisfaction from the revenge, they were worried about the aftermath. But Ghislain, unfazed, smiled at Dominic. "So? Feels good, doesn’t it?" "Yeah... it feels good, but..." "You don’t have to worry too much. What kind of mercenary gets all timid like this? We’ll fight and win later." "...." Wasn’t it more unusual to not worry after killing the son of the west’s most powerful noble? Dominic realized just how different he and Ghislain were. They were so different that Ghislain almost seemed a bit out of his mind, but it was hard not to be impressed. Clop, clop, clop... At that moment, the sound of hooves grew louder, and an army appeared, approaching them. Dominic snapped back to his senses and mounted his horse. "Prepare for battle!" The mercenaries, following his command, quickly formed ranks and armed themselves. The approaching army was the city’s defense forces and Martin’s personal soldiers. When the captain of the defense corps reached them, he growled as he saw Dominic. "Dominic! So you’ve caused trouble, huh?! Where is this young master?!" Dominic lowered his head slightly toward Ghislain and spoke. "I’ll handle it from here." Then, he threw Martin’s corpse at the captain of the defense corps and shouted. "I killed him because he held my family hostage and murdered them. This is a just revenge." "What? What? Are you insane?!" The captain turned pale. The son of Lord Rodrick, killed by mere mercenaries? If things went wrong, the entire defense corps would face punishment. They had to kill these men immediately. If not, they would all die. "Kill them, now!" But the captain couldn’t finish his command. The mercenaries’ fierce aura froze him in place. ‘If we attack, we’ll die.’ The defense forces numbered close to a thousand, not a small force. But the Drake Mercenary Corps was even larger. Even without the men who had gone on missions or those still gathering, their numbers were close to two thousand. The Drake Mercenary Corps was the largest and most experienced mercenary group in the west, with a reputation to match. ‘We can’t win if we fight. Even if we win, we’ll suffer near-total annihilation.’ In truth, he didn’t have confidence in defeating them. Their own forces had little combat experience. Nobles like Martin looked down on mercenaries, but for ordinary people, they were not easy opponents. ‘What do I do?’ Either way, he was facing death. The captain was at a loss, his face full of confusion, unable to make a decision. Dominic, sensing his hesitation, spoke with a relaxed expression. "Handle it as a missing persons case." "What?" "Most people won’t know what happened. The knights and soldiers who died—just say they went on an expedition and never returned. That should work, don’t you think?" "..." The captain didn’t respond, only swallowing hard. It could be covered up for now. But Lord Rodrick wouldn’t be so easily deceived. Eventually, an investigation would come, and the truth would come out. Seeing the captain’s hesitation, Dominic spoke again, more persuasively. "You don’t have a choice. You either fight and die here, or you tell the truth and die by the Duke’s hands. Which is better? At least buy some time and think it over." "...Ugh..." "Just keep your mouth shut. If you don’t want to die, you’ll follow orders." "But it will definitely be found out." "Then blame us. Say we kidnapped them." Even if they tried to blame them, they’d still die. Lord Rodrick was a cruel man. But that was still better than dying immediately. The best they could do was manipulate information and flee before things got worse. "Alright." The captain finally accepted Dominic’s suggestion. Martin wasn’t worth any loyalty. So, the captain had no choice but to act in his own best interest. Ghislain, looking over the defense forces and Martin’s soldiers, couldn’t help but chuckle. "These guys are worse than the north." No matter how much wealth and power they had, soldiers who had grown complacent lacked loyalty, passion, and the will to fight. Even the soldiers of Count Cabaldi, who had been notorious for their cruelty in the north, weren’t this bad. The rough northerners at least had a fighting spirit. Of course, it wasn’t the soldiers’ fault. The real blame lay with the nobles who treated them so cruelly. The Duke’s direct soldiers would be different, but it was clear how the other territories were handling things. Thanks to the captain’s agreement with Dominic, the situation ended without a fight. Dominic raised his hand, signaling for the mercenaries to follow him. "Let’s go." Most of the Drake Mercenary Corps had already packed up. Soon, news would reach the mercenaries stationed further away or in other territories. They would also start packing up to head to Fenris. Since Dominic had caused this trouble, staying here would only lead to more suffering under the Duke’s hand. Watching the Drake Mercenary Corps leave, the captain of the defense corps suddenly asked Dominic. "Where are you all going?" It was only a matter of time before rumors spread, so Dominic didn’t hide the truth. "Fenris. We’re going to Fenris." "Fenris...?" The captain had heard the rumors. It was the most famous territory at the moment, known for being the domain of the so-called mad lord. After mounting his horse, Ghislain looked back at the captain. "I am Count Fenris. These men are under my command now. If the Duke’s house tries to do anything, just tell them. And if they don’t like it, they can come and find me anytime." "...." The captain recognized him as the man who had kidnapped Martin. He was a skilled individual, but clearly a bit insane. The captain pretended not to hear. Ghislain shrugged off the awkwardness, and Dominic couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Who would believe that a northern lord would come personally and cause such a ruckus? The Drake Mercenary Corps left, and the city’s defense forces hastily burned Martin’s body and destroyed the evidence. On their way to Fenris, Ghislain asked Dominic. "How is the auction for my goods going?" "..." Dominic couldn’t respond right away. The temptation to secretly procure an idol’s belongings from a follower was hard to resist. Especially for collectors, that urge was even stronger. Seeing Dominic hesitate, Ghislain gave him a pointed look and spoke again. "Come on, speak up." "...Yes." In the end, Dominic revealed everything: the meeting methods, the location, how to purchase the goods—everything. As Dominic spoke, Ghislain sighed and clicked his tongue, nodding along. For the first time, Ghislain wanted to return to his domain quickly. *** “Alright, alright, we need to move quickly tonight, even if it means staying up all night. The supply is running low.” Claude was urging people in one of the buildings on the territory. He was currently working on creating “The Chronicles of Count Fenris – The Second Beastman's Forest.” Numerous scribes gathered under Claude’s direction, diligently writing away. As he watched them, Claude couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction. “Heh heh... how much is this all worth?” It all started small. Some merchants mentioned that the lord was becoming popular, and secretly inquired if they could acquire the items the lord had used. Claude, who had never even left the territory and had been too busy to notice such things, hadn’t realized this. But it turned out that the lord had quite a few devoted followers! “It’s common sense that items related to popular figures sell well. Heh heh.” Knowing this, Claude quickly began to think of a way to secretly profit from the lord’s popularity. He wasn’t taking bribes, nor was he embezzling the territory’s wealth. He was earning by doing legitimate work, so he felt no guilt. ‘The hardest part was deceiving Wendy.’ Claude glanced sideways. Sure enough, Wendy was nervously biting her nails, looking uneasy. Seeing the steel-like woman in such a flustered state, he felt a sense of twisted satisfaction. ‘Heh heh, now that we’ve come this far, you’ve got no choice.’ Claude proceeded with the business very cautiously. The first thing he did was begin recording the lord’s biography. Wendy had seen him doing this at first and asked, “What are you doing?” “Hmm, I’m recording the lord’s achievements. It’s something everyone does, right?” That wasn’t entirely a lie. All noble families keep records of their deeds. If their achievements are extraordinary, they exaggerate them further. The problem wasn’t the recording itself. “Why is the lord’s personal scribe writing this?” Usually, a separate historian would handle such records. It wasn’t common for the lord’s personal assistant to do it. But Claude, with an unabashed expression, said, “Everyone’s busy, right? And no one writes as well as I do. I’m a master of calligraphy and a renowned writer.” Claude argued that, since it was part of his duties, it was fine for him to write it himself. Since there was no major mistake in his reasoning, Wendy couldn’t stop him immediately. While working on the biography, he also had the scribes transcribe it exactly for the official documents of the territory. That part was suspicious, but Wendy was fooled by the excuse of needing to leave copies for distribution to others. Afterward, Claude continued doing shady things. “Ah, as the chancellor, I need to check the lord’s clothing. Only the butler manages etiquette, right?” “Bring the lord’s weapons. I need to check their condition.” “Hm, this doesn’t look very good. Set it aside. I’ll send the issues to the workshop.” “Ah, tell the butler to send over the things we’re discarding. I’ll need to check one last time.” In this way, Claude used his authority to slowly steal the lord’s belongings. He cleverly deceived people by tying it to his official duties. Claude was the chancellor of the territory. Naturally, he had many administrative officers under him. And as a result, he started to gain a few trusted subordinates. He gave the goods to his most trusted subordinates, who secretly sold them. This was the most difficult part. He had to be very careful not to get caught by Wendy, passing notes to split up words and avoid suspicion. He also used merchants to spread secret rumors to his followers. ‘Heh, this was the tough part, but I made it through.’ At first, it was difficult, but once his trusted subordinates understood Claude’s intentions, everything went smoothly with just a glance. Thus, the dark auction house was created, and the lord’s items were sold to the followers. By the time Wendy noticed, the goods had already been sold off, and the scale of the auction house had grown. Claude had used his clever mind to deceive everyone in the territory and build a new business. Once Wendy discovered the existence of the auction house, she spent several days nervously biting her nails, pondering what to do. ‘What should I do? How should I report this?’ 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖 He hadn’t stolen from the territory’s funds. He wasn’t using people for free. He had worked hard to create a new business and was using the profits to pay people. The sly part was that he had never touched the items that Bellinda had taken back. He only took the things that were set aside for disposal, assessed their condition, and sold them. Even though they were discarded, it was wrong to sell the lord’s belongings. But the situation was a little tricky. Ideally, she should have reported this from the beginning and stopped it. But now, the matter had grown too large for her to report easily. Claude glanced at Wendy’s expression and chuckled inwardly. ‘Heh heh, you’re unexpectedly soft-hearted, huh? With so many people involved, it’s hard for you to report it.’ From the scribes to those selling the items, everyone was working without sleep. Since it was all voluntary, there was no basis for stopping it. Wendy had no idea how to handle this. It was wrong, but not a major wrong. Perhaps she could just let it slide. She needed to stop it now, but given the mood, that wouldn’t be easy. Claude leaned over and whispered to Wendy. “Just let it go. It’s already too late. You’ve been watching from the side for so long. What are you going to do now?” Wendy glared at him, and Claude quickly turned his head. He was truly an infuriating bastard. Claude hadn’t just entrusted the scribes with work. He also had other people positioned around him, ready to act. “Alright, the writers are working hard, so let’s gather the artists.” These were the painters from Fenris territory. Claude quickly surveyed the painters he had summoned and frowned. “Don’t you all know how to paint proper portraits? People who know the lord’s face are complaining about how much you’ve overcorrected!” The painters bit their lips in frustration. Honestly, they felt wronged. It was Claude who told them to make the lord look better. He even personally checked the work and approved it. But now, when complaints were made, he acted like he had no idea. He was truly shameless. “Anyway! We need to repaint them! Got it? This time, let’s minimize the artificial beauty!” “Yes, understood.” “Anyway, we’ve had a lot of refund requests and requests for reworks. So everything we’ve done so far is scrapped, and we’ll start over! Got it?” “But we’ve already made five hundred copies!” “Five hundred or five thousand! This is about our reputation! So we’ll repaint them, even if it takes all night!” At that, the painters’ faces turned pale. The most untrustworthy person was shouting about reputation. They really wanted to hit him. Claude clenched his fist and shouted. “Alright, let’s do this! If we put in the effort, we can do it! Let’s give it our all today!” Claude encouraged the painters to give their best. And yet, he had no idea who was really charging toward them at that moment.