Chapter 81 – 081. The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated Into The Baek Family
081. The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated into the Baek Family
“Young Master Eugene. What brings you here?”
I looked at the old butler standing neatly before me.
Hacent Portan.
He was the head butler of the Prukerus family, holding the title of Baron.
He was in his sixties, his once dark hair now completely white, neatly combed back from his forehead. His face was covered in wrinkles that couldn’t be hidden, but his black butler’s uniform was without a single crease.
Hacent had been the butler of the Prukerus County since the previous head of the family. Not even the current head of the family or any of the retainers could treat him lightly.
‘He was also an assassin who silently carried out the dirty work of the previous head of the family.’
He was the master of the now-defunct assassin group, ‘Fatal Sting.’
‘In the original story, he’s described as incredibly strong, but he retires without much activity.’
The reason for his retirement was simply old age. After that, he wasn’t even mentioned in the original story.
“Butler Hacent. I have a favor to ask of you.”
Hacent was a neutral figure who had no interest in the politics of the family, but he couldn’t be ignored. If Hacent were to turn against me… there would be nothing more terrible.
“To me, you say?”
“Yes. Actually, while reading a book in the study… I learned about Butler Hacent’s true identity.”
I was tense here. Hacent might express displeasure. But contrary to my expectations, Hacent didn’t even twitch an eyebrow. He simply nodded calmly.
“I see.”
It was a simple answer. I even suspected he might not have any emotions at all.
However, his next words shocked me.
“Does Young Master Eugene wish to become an assassin?”
“…Pardon?”
“There’s a slight aura of an assassin in your gait. If I’m mistaken, I apologize.”
He wasn’t mistaken.
I’ve been walking around using a modified version of the Yeongcheon Style’s Gieunbo lately. Jin Seyeong told me it was a way to train in everyday life. I’m thinking of giving up on it since it doesn’t seem to have much training effect.
“…It’s true that I’m interested in assassins, but that’s not why I called for you, Butler.”
“Then, why did you call for me?”
“Are you well-versed in the underworld, Butler?”
“…Young Master. The underworld is not a good place. Is there someone you wish to kill, perhaps?”
Hacent said those chilling words without changing his expression.
“No. It’s not that. I personally want to use the information guild.”
At my words, Hacent’s eyes changed slightly. It was the first change I had seen in him.
“……The information guild is not a good place. Just using it can lead to gossip.”
I know.
It’s called an information guild, but in reality, it’s just a group of criminals. If rumors spread that a noble used the information guild, it would tarnish their reputation.
‘But the funny thing is, they all secretly use the information guild. Some nobles even sponsor it.’
The conclusion is that it’s fine as long as you don’t get caught.
“I know. But isn’t the information guild the most convenient place? Butler, I’m so suffocated in this mansion. I want to know about the outside world.”
“If you wish, the servants can tell you stories about the outside world. You can also invite adventurers or mercenaries to tell you stories.”
“Those would be shallow, superficial stories. I want to know about the deep secrets of the world.”
“……”
The butler looked at me. His gray eyes were like sharp, honed daggers.
“……I understand. Since you wish to use the information guild… I will personally go to the information guild and purchase the information you desire.”
“You’re going to move yourself, Butler? I would be fine with just one butler.”
“Unfortunately, there are only a few butlers under me that I can trust. It would be better for me to move myself.”
That was a bit unexpected. But I soon nodded.
It was obvious that the butler was more trustworthy than most.
“However, using the information guild requires a considerable amount of money.”
“Would this be enough?”
I took out a money pouch from my pocket. I slightly opened the pouch to show him the inside. Inside the pouch were glittering gold and silver coins.
One gold coin was worth 500,000 Nergo, and one silver coin was worth 300,000 Ner.
Eight gold coins. Four silver coins. A total of 5.2 million Ner.
Considering that the monthly income of the middle class was about 2.5 million Ner, it was quite a large sum.
“That’s quite a lot of money. May I ask where it came from?”
“I sold the inventions I made to the knights of the Plun Knights.”
I sold cigarettes and beer. Especially the cigarettes, which were more popular than I had expected. One pack of cigarettes cost 50,000 Ner.
‘In real money, that’s like selling a pack of cigarettes for about 80,000 won.’
It was an absurd price in my eyes, but the knights bought them without any complaints. Since there were no rolled cigarettes in this world in the first place, they didn’t know the proper price.
‘I could have sold them for more. But cigarettes are something that will be sold not only to knights but also to middle-class customers….’
Once you’re addicted to cigarettes, there’s no going back, so they’ll sell steadily. If possible, I’d like them to smoke 10 packs a day.
“…This should be enough to get decent information. What kind of information do you want?”
“I want information about the current political situation of our Rapelli Kingdom and the Helbrit Duchy.”
“The kingdom’s political situation is fine… but the information about the Helbrit Duchy that can be obtained with this amount of money is limited. At best, it will only be the publicly known information.”
“That’s enough.”
That’s exactly what I wanted. I wasn’t interested in the kingdom’s secret information. It wouldn’t be of much help even if I got it now. Moreover, I know most of it through the original story.
There’s no need to worry about the Magic Tower yet.
“I understand.”
“Ah. And I want to hire someone.”
“Someone, you say?”
“I want a professional torturer.”
“……Pardon?”
Hacent’s eyes widened. My words seemed truly unexpected.
“I want to hire a torturer. Not as the County, but as my individual.”
“Is there a need for a torturer…?”
“There might be.”
“…This is something I must report to the Madam.”
“I’ll tell my mother.”
I’ll get an earful, but it’s not a problem. Originally, noble families with some power had torturers.
Of course, the Prukerus County also had a torturer. However, he wasn’t currently in the mansion and was living in the border city of Utren with the head of the family, Count Prukerus.
“I understand. Is there anything else you would like me to do?”
“I want to know the location of the Artel Village and the Pfrek Mercenary Group.”
“Those are names I’ve never heard of.”
“Artel Village is a village of runaways located on the outermost edge of the Evil Forest.”
“A village of runaways? You seem to know a lot about that village, Young Master.”
“……I just heard the name in passing.”
I vaguely brushed it off. Hacent didn’t pry and nodded.
“I understand. However, it seems that more money will be needed.”
“How much more do you need?”
“It depends on the strength of the Pfrek Mercenary Group.”
“They’re not that great. At most, they’re C-class.”
“Then, it seems that about 3 million Ner will be needed.”
“Here you go.”
I immediately took out another money pouch. Inside was 5 million Ner. Including what I gave Hacent earlier, it was all of my fortune.
“3 million should be enough.”
“You can keep the rest, Butler.”
I can earn money anytime in the future. If I can gain the butler’s favor with just a few million Ner, it’s a very cheap price.
“I cannot do that. I will return the remaining balance.”
It didn’t work at all.
“Ah. Butler. I heard there’s a prison near the knights’ training ground.”
“There is, but… it’s been unused for 40 years.”
Originally, I was going to secretly go alone using Illusiter. But I was blocked from the entrance of the prison. The entrance was locked, and Hacent had the key.
“I’d like to take a look.”
“We clean it occasionally, but it’s just a formality. It’s not a very hygienic place.”
“I just want to take a look. The prison is the only place in the mansion I haven’t been to.”
“……”
Hacent looked at me suspiciously. I had just said I wanted a torturer under my command, and now I wanted to go to the prison… it was natural for him to be suspicious.
“……I understand. But you must be accompanied by a butler.”
“Thank you, Butler.”
•••
“Young Master Eugene. You’re just going to look around, right? If you stay here too long, I’ll get scolded by Hacent.”
A young butler said in front of the prison. He looked to be only around 17 years old. He was trembling in front of the prison, as if he was scared.
I understand. The prison door leading underground was left unattended, giving off a gloomy atmosphere.
“I know. I’m just going to look around and come out.”
“You promised.”
The young butler inserted the key into the door and unlocked it. He struggled to push open the iron door of the prison. He was surprisingly strong.
There were stairs leading down. It was dark and gloomy with no proper light.
“Ugh. I came here two years ago, and nothing has changed.”
The butler slowly went down the stairs with a lamp.
Squeak, squeak.
A rat, startled by the sudden appearance of a person, scurried out.
“Eek!”
The butler screamed in surprise.
I clicked my tongue briefly. Why did Hacent assign such a dimwit to me? Was he trying to mess with me? Did I do something wrong to him?
“Y-Young Master. It’s dangerous here, so how about we hold hands?”
The butler turned to me and asked. I waved my hand, telling him to stop talking nonsense and keep going.
“Hurry up.”
I frowned and said with annoyance. Hold hands with a guy? I’m not crazy enough to do that.
“Ugh….”
The butler eventually went forward with a tearful face.
The atmosphere became gloomier as we went down. It seemed that there was some ventilation, but since it wasn’t managed properly, there were many bugs and rats. Especially cockroaches and spiders crawling on the walls and floor.
Even if they cleaned it occasionally, they must have done it carelessly. It was a place that wasn’t used anyway.
‘The territory has its own prisons in the guardhouse and the courthouse.’
Most criminals were taken to the guardhouse and courthouse prisons and dealt with. There were no separate prisons. The heinous ones were executed, and most minor crimes ended with a fine. If it was ambiguous to execute them, they often fell into slavery.
‘From a noble’s point of view, slavery is good. Labor is a precious resource.’
The reason I came to this prison wasn’t to look around. It was to obtain an ancient artifact located deep within this prison.
‘Originally, it’s the ancient artifact that the protagonist, Kyle Prukerus, obtains for the first time.’
I plan to keep it and lend it to Kyle occasionally from the original story’s timeline. It’s a pretty important item for Kyle.
‘I need to avoid making Kyle an overpowered character.’
But other than Kyle’s strength, it’s not particularly useful. Kyle needs to be strong to stand against his older brother, Zent.
‘When they fight each other, I’ll take the fisherman’s profit. Keeeuk~! It’s a perfect plan!’
I imagined the situation where the Prukerus territory would fall into my hands.
First, in the name of Count Prukerus, I would exercise the right of the first night and sleep with all the beauties in the territory….
“Young Master! It seems like we’ve looked around enough, shouldn’t we go back?”
My happy circuit stopped. I frowned and looked at the butler with displeasure.
“We haven’t gone all the way in yet. Keep going.”
The prison was getting dirtier as we went deeper. It was proof that the servants had cleaned it carelessly.
And soon, we arrived at the deepest part.
It was the prison where Kyle was imprisoned in the original story. It was also the largest prison among the current prisons.
The rusty iron bars were not locked and were open. It was questionable whether it could properly function as a prison.
‘Well, Kyle in the original story was just formally imprisoned.’
I went inside the prison.
“Young Master?!”
“No. I was just wondering what it feels like to be in a prison. You should come in too. It’s quite a strange feeling.”
“N-No, thank you. I’ll wait here.”
The terrified butler shook his head. I chuckled and headed towards the corner. Fortunately, it was a place where the lamp’s light didn’t reach.
‘There should be a gap in the wall.’
Found it.
I reached out my small hand and put the small key in the gap into my pocket.
“So this is what a prison looks like~. I get the gist of it. Let’s go back.”
