## Chapter 123 – The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated Into The Baek Family
123. The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated into the Baek Family
“You’re under arrest.”
The man shrieked at my words.
“What are you saying all of a sudden! You have no right to do that, young master!”
He was right.
The Baron Dolon in front of me wasn’t an ordinary commoner. He was a quasi-noble, with a higher title than a regular knight. I couldn’t execute him on my own authority.
‘In a month, I’ll be the lord of Thebra, so things will be different… but not now.’
Right now, I wasn’t the lord of Thebra. I didn’t even have a baronial title. I was just the third son of a great lord. If Baron Dolon had been a commoner, it wouldn’t have mattered, but he held the title of a quasi-noble.
“The evidence is clear. I’ll tell Mother later, and it doesn’t matter if I kill you here and now.”
Post-mortem report. It wasn’t ideal, but the evidence was solid, so Elaine wouldn’t scold me. Besides, this was the territory I’d be ruling in a month anyway.
“Ugh… P-please wait, young master. Let’s think calmly first.”
“Calmly? I just came from taking out something hot from the carriage, so I’m incredibly calm right now. You could even call me a sage.”
I swung my fist at Dolon. Thwack! One of Dolon’s teeth fell onto the desk and rolled around.
“Let’s see, Yuria. Is it just ledgers in the safe?”
“There’s money and mana stones. About 500 million ner in cash.”
Yuria stepped aside from the safe. There were gold coins and mana stones, and books that looked like ledgers.
The ledgers were both evidence and weapons. The reason they were kept in the safe was probably because he was afraid of the Black Tiger Merchant Guild’s betrayal.
“Adding the mana stones, it’s about 1 billion ner. You’ve amassed quite a bit on your own.”
It was less than I expected. The former lord of Thebra, Baron Gultian, had died 20 years ago. That meant Dolon had ruled Thebra for 20 years. 1 billion in 20 years. That was too little.
‘…No. Thebra’s population is 5,000, and it’s not particularly developed, so 1 billion isn’t a small amount.’
For me, who could easily earn money, 1 billion ner was nothing, but for Dolon, it was definitely not a small amount.
“Y-young master. How about a deal?”
“A deal?”
“I’ll give you half of what’s in the safe!”
“Half… that’s only 500 million ner. Is your life only worth 500 million?”
“Only 500 million! 500 million ner is a lot of money! Young master!”
“Haa.”
I sighed.
I didn’t expect the acting lord to offer only 500 million ner for his life. Looking at him, I was reminded of how pathetic the port city of Thebra was.
“If you want to make a deal with me, you need to bring 10 billion.”
“10 billion…”
“You have more money hidden, don’t you? Where is it?”
“I don’t have any hidden money! What’s in that safe is all my fortune!”
“You keep all your fortune in your office safe? Of course, you’d have some at your house.”
All his fortune in the office safe? What kind of idiot would think that? Of course, he’d have money hidden at his house. Maybe he had entrusted his assets to someone else he trusted.
‘That would be about 1 billion too. 2 billion in total, then. Still not enough.’
I planned to find it and take it. My standards were high. For others, it was a considerable amount of money.
I turned my gaze to Yuria. She was already scanning the books and parchments on the bookshelf.
“Young master. I found the tax ledgers. There are some discrepancies compared to the records at the Prukerus mansion.”
“Ah.”
I looked back at Dolon. He was sweating profusely, his face on the verge of tears, avoiding my gaze.
“You’ve been messing with the taxes too?”
Thebra didn’t have a formal lord. Baron Dolon was just an acting lord.
In other words, the taxes of Thebra were collected by the Prukerus family, and the budget of Thebra was also set by the Prukerus family. Tampering with taxes was an unforgivable crime. A ruthless lord would execute not only the family but also the relatives.
“Y-young master. Please spare me. I’ll give you all the money! Please, just spare my life…!”
“It’s enough to kill you and confiscate your assets.”
Dolon’s face turned pale.
There was no need to keep him alive.
If I hadn’t come to Thebra today and had come a month later, he would have destroyed all the ledgers and evidence and flattered me with a fake smile. I could guarantee it.
“Yuria. Who are the people involved with him? Is it just the Black Tiger Merchant Guild?”
“I’m not sure yet. I need to investigate further. There seem to be two more people…”
It hadn’t even been 10 minutes since we arrived. Only Yuria could roughly grasp the situation just by scanning the ledgers.
“Kuh…”
Dolon, who had been watching my eyes, took advantage of the moment I looked at Yuria and jumped out the window to escape. I stood still and watched him. He was too slow, and I didn’t even feel like chasing him.
“What should we do, master?”
I pondered for a moment.
Should I use him instead of killing him right away?
‘Looking at him running away, he’s hopeless. He doesn’t seem competent either.’
If he had been competent, there was no way he would have only amassed 2 billion in 20 years as acting lord.
“Kill him. And cut off his head and hang it in the city center. I need to show what kind of person I am, the one who will be the master of this city in a month.”
“Yes.”
Yuria took out a dagger from her skirt pocket and ran out the window after Dolon. Using the footwork of the Yeongcheon style, she quickly approached Dolon and beheaded him with a dagger glowing with blue aura.
‘…I could see her running, but her dagger movements were too fast to see.’
Yuria was stronger than me. Her current level was probably right before moving from lower to mid-level Aura Expert.
‘What’s even more shocking is that she’s mastering not only the Yeongcheon style but also shadow magic at the same time.’
I saw Yuria taking out a box from her shadow. She put Dolon’s head into the box with her gloved hand.
‘If she had focused solely on the Yeongcheon style, she would have reached mid-level Aura Expert a long time ago. Her talent is truly terrifying.’
That day.
Three city officials, including Baron Dolon, were killed, and their heads were hung in the city center.
***
The head of the largest merchant guild in Thebra, the Black Tiger Merchant Guild, came to the city hall.
I was looking at documents in the city hall when I met the head of the Black Tiger Merchant Guild in my office.
The head of the Black Tiger Merchant Guild, Bekan Drok.
He was a tall man with bulky muscles. He had scars all over his body, including his face.
Originally, the Black Tiger Merchant Guild was a mercenary group. They had settled in the port city of Thebra 10 years ago and changed to a merchant guild. That was the information I got from the city hall staff.
“I didn’t expect you to come here yourself. It’s unexpected. I thought your guild would run away.”
Yuria brought tea. I leisurely drank the tea. It was exactly my type of tea.
“So, you ordered the guards to monitor our guild?”
After finding out all the illegal activities of the Black Tiger Merchant Guild, I was planning to visit them at night. I was going to confront them with their crimes, seize their assets, and end it with execution.
But Bekan came to me first. Maybe it was his experience as a guild leader, but he made a good choice. By coming directly, I decided to give Bekan a chance. Seeing that he was quite clever, I thought it was a waste to just kill him.
“What’s the purpose of your visit?”
“…Please spare me. I don’t want to end up like Dolon.”
“Saying that without any context is just annoying.”
“I know that Young Master Eugene will become the master of Thebra in a month. Our Black Tiger Merchant Guild is the largest and most influential guild in Thebra. We can build a good relationship with Young Master Eugene and help each other.”
“How did you know I’d become the lord here?”
I hadn’t told anyone that since I came here. Not even Locke, the captain of the Thebra guard, or the coachman who drove the carriage here.
“It’s the information network that our Black Tiger Merchant Guild has personally.”
“What’s the nature of that information network?”
“…We used the information guild.”
I chuckled.
“So, it’s an information network you pay for.”
If it was the information guild, it was understandable. The fact that I was becoming the lord of Thebra was known to the vassals of the Prukerus family and the servants of the main family, so finding out wouldn’t be difficult.
“Looking at the ledgers that Dolon cherished in his safe, you guys were engaged in unauthorized smuggling. Do you have anything to say about that?”
“…No. We were just trying to save on taxes, but I didn’t expect it to backfire like this. If you give us a chance, we’ll pay five times the back taxes.”
“The trade taxes so far aren’t much, so it’ll be about 800 million. It doesn’t make sense that you’d use bribes just to save that much money. What did you bring? Drugs?”
Bekan was startled by the word drugs. In this world, drugs were a serious crime. Possession was forbidden, and distribution was punished even more severely.
“No! We are not that kind of guild!”
“Then what is it?”
“…Weapons. We brought and sold swords, spears, and armor.”
“In large quantities?”
“…Yes.”
“To whom?”
“…”
I was relaxed. I was the one holding the knife. Even if Bekan tried to hide it, I would eventually find out everything if I went to his guild and investigated. He wouldn’t be able to hide it completely. There wasn’t enough time for that.
“We sold them to Baron Galliard.”
“…A vassal of our family. How much did you sell?”
“We’ve been trading continuously. We’ve sold about 800 swords and spears combined in the past year, and 3,000 in total. About 1,000 sets of armor.”
I pulled up Baron Galliard’s information in my mind. He was a character who didn’t appear in the original story and was the lord who ruled a city at the northern end.
‘It’s not a rebellion. It’s an unlikely story.’
Rebellion was extremely difficult in this world. It was because of the existence of knights who had power far exceeding that of ordinary humans. Even with 1,000 soldiers, a single skilled knight order could overwhelmingly crush them.
‘Did he realize that a war was about to break out? He’s good at reading the continental situation. It must be for self-preservation or hoarding.’
If a war broke out, the prices of all goods would skyrocket. Especially weapons and armor would increase by at least two times. The more intense the war, the more precious steel would become, like gold, and the prices of food and other necessities would also rise.
‘Baron Galliard isn’t a vassal who’s on Zent’s side. He’s neutral. I need to remember that.’
I’d try to recruit him first, and if that didn’t work, I’d assassinate him. If a capable person like Baron Galliard became an enemy, it would be a headache, so it was better to eliminate him from the start.
“Okay. I’ll spare you. If you follow the conditions I propose.”
“…What conditions are they?”
“First. Taxes. You’ll have to pay them diligently, even if I don’t say anything.”
“As I said before, I’ll pay five times the back taxes. There won’t be any more tax arrears in the future.”
“That’s fine. Second, you’ll give me your guild.”
“What? What are you saying all of a sudden…! That’s absurd!”
Bekan’s face contorted, and he jumped up from his seat.
Yuria moved. The blade of her dagger, covered in blue aura, was pointed at his neck. Bekan hesitated. If he moved even a little, the blade would pierce his throat.
Bekan’s eyes trembled. He seemed shocked that a maid had the skills of an elite knight.
“I won’t kill you. You seem useful, so you’ll have to manage the guild. I’ll pay you as much as you work.”
“The Black Tiger Merchant Guild is a guild that my colleagues and I have raised! Do you think we’d just give it away like that?! Young Master Eugene, you’re underestimating us too much. You’re making a mistake! You’ll definitely regret this!”
He said to me as if spitting out the words. I shrugged.
“I think you’re the one who’s going to regret it.”
“…Aaaargh!”
Bekan’s left arm was cut off from the forearm and fell to the floor. Blood dripped from the severed area.
It was Yuria’s doing. She had cut off his left arm so quickly that Bekan hadn’t even noticed.
“My master is not someone you can treat carelessly. Please be mindful of your tone. Next time, I’ll gouge out your left eye.”
“Kuh…!”
Bekan gritted his teeth and grabbed his severed left arm with his right hand. It seemed that he was indeed a former mercenary, as he skillfully stopped the bleeding and picked up his severed left arm. Since the cut was clean, he would be able to reattach his left arm with the help of a mage or priest.
“The third and final condition is… well. Tell me now if you don’t want to hear it.”
