92. Selling Cheap – 2
“F-Forty thousand?! Is thirty thousand gold just pocket change to you?!”
“The horse the Academy raises costs five hundred thousand gold, though.”
Pine gritted his teeth at Ian’s response.
“Just because some people are praising you, you think you’re untouchable, huh?”
“I wonder what makes you so confident to come at me like this.”
Pine scoffed.
Then, with a slight gesture, his knights gripped their weapons.
“Please, Solar Church, stay out of this. This is a matter between nobles.”
“Yes, please don’t interfere. I’ll handle it.”
As Euri, unable to decide, stepped back, Ian tapped his quill.
“Trying to solve this with force. A very good decision.”
Ian preferred this too.
One of the knights gnashed his teeth at his words.
“How arrogant! You! I’ll take your head right now……”
His shout was cut short.
Because the quill Ian threw pierced his head.
He collapsed, instantly killed by the strike, and the knights were taken aback.
“Wh-What.”
Ian threw four more quills.
One for each person.
After cleanly cutting off their breaths, Ian opened a drawer.
A bundle of quills was inside.
“Kugh.”
The knights of the Bades viscountcy were different from those of the Brandon barony.
They had some loyalty and skill.
But they weren’t enough to handle the boy in front of them.
The fear of death.
And loyalty to their master.
Seeing them conflicted, Ian aimed a quill at one hesitating man.
“Why? Don’t you want to draw it?”
The hand that had been on the sword hilt ultimately didn’t move.
Seeing that, Ian leaned back in his chair, scoffing as if it were ridiculous.
“Three hundred thousand gold. I have no intention of cutting even a penny.”
“……So you really were a Master.”
“Three hundred and fifty thousand gold.”
Ian took out a new quill, dipped it in ink, signed the document, and aimed the quill at Pine.
Pine licked his dry lips as the sharp tip of the inkless quill pointed at him.
“The fair price for this territory, even at its best, doesn’t exceed 150,000 gold.”
“That’s probably right.”
“But 300,000 gold?”
“I don’t think you’re in a position to say that, considering you just tried to cut it in half. And the price just went up. Four hundred thousand gold.”
“That’s how business is done.”
“Yes. So I’m just doing the same. And now it’ll be four hundred and fifty thousand gold.”
The price kept rising.
Pine frowned as he watched.
He tried to buy the territory at a bargain, but now he was about to be forced to buy it at an exorbitant price.
Pine quickly racked his brain to escape this situation.
“What good do you think will come of you acting like this?”
Ian threw a quill.
“Ugh!!”
It pierced the forehead of one of the knights.
Pine bit his lip tightly as the quill that had penetrated him was embedded in the wall.
“Five hundred thousand gold.”
‘What should I do?’
This was the first crisis he had faced in his life.
As he continued to ponder, he smiled faintly.
“Do you think you’ll be safe if you touch me?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? And five hundred and fifty thousand gold.”
Ian grabbed his sword.
Seeing that, the knights hurriedly stepped in front of Pine and grabbed their weapons.
“If you draw that, we won’t stand still!!”
They chose loyalty over the fear of death.
Ian smiled at the sight.
‘That’s my favorite sight.’
As Ian smiled at them and drew his sword halfway, Pine sighed.
“Fine. But you better remember this, Ian.”
“Six hundred thousand.”
Pine, who was about to growl, closed his mouth.
As Ian smirked at him and turned his eyes back to the documents, Pine cautiously opened his mouth.
“I need to go to the territory for the transaction. Will you let me go?”
“Go ahead.”
Pine was puzzled by his ready permission.
Ian chuckled at him.
“Do you think I’d be afraid of the army that Viscount Pine would bring?”
‘Just.’
To disregard the power of his elite soldiers so much.
Just as Pine was about to get angry, the door opened.
“Ian. Take this.”
“……Sword Flower Unit Leader?! Wh-Why are you here?!”
“What? Who are these guys?”
“They’re here to buy the Brandon territory. But what’s going on?”
“Ah. Some villages have requested it. They said that since a new lord has arrived, they want you to take care of some monsters.”
The Unit Leader, who had agreed to help Ian for a while while he was staying, handed him the request form.
Ian, after checking the request form, handed it to Pine.
“Here. Let me ask you again.”
Pine had heard of the Sword Flower Unit’s notoriety.
The strongest group in the Warrior’s Forest, a collection of swordsmen obsessed with swords.
What did it mean that the leader of that place was working here?
Ian said with a blank face to him, who was showing bewilderment.
“Do you think I’d be afraid of the Bades viscountcy?”
Seeing him speechless, Ian pointed to the door.
“Then go and prepare the money. I’ll prepare for the sale.”
No matter how much of a lord he was, selling his territory was not an easy task.
After all, the territory belonged to the kingdom.
Therefore, three procedures were required to sell the territory.
The first was to pay all overdue taxes and taxes for the sale.
The second was to meet the requirements for other documents and general matters.
Even this required several months of paperwork.
But the biggest and most difficult thing remained.
That was the third thing.
That was to obtain permission from the king or a noble of count rank or higher and pass it through a vote in the Noble Council.
It was common to visit and build friendships or offer gifts or bribes for this purpose years in advance.
And.
Ian finished those three things in just two days.
“Thank you for coming, Count Eldan.”
As soon as he received Ian’s request, Leila’s father, Count Eldan Baradis, set aside all his work and came to Brandon territory.
Eldan smiled bitterly at him, who had come out to the entrance of the mansion to greet him.
“Of course I had to come when you asked. By the way, you’re selling the territory…… Is everything ready?”
“Yes.”
“Let me see.”
“It’s prepared in the room, so let’s go and see it.”
When they entered the lord’s office, there was the Unit Leader, Euri, and Pine, who was stiff.
“C-Count Eldan. I-It’s an honor to meet you like this.”
“Hmm. Yes.”
No matter how strong Pine was as a viscount, he was bound to be lower in rank than Eldan.
Eldan accepted his polite greeting casually.
Pine couldn’t say anything and felt sorry for the rudeness.
“Let’s see…….”
Eldan skimmed through the documents on the desk.
There were no major problems.
There were quite a few unpaid taxes, but there were slips next to them to pay them.
And what if it was insufficient or inadequate?
“I’ll go back and review it, and I’ll take care of the aftermath if there are any errors.”
“Thank you.”
“What. You saved Leila’s life. How can I not give you this much help. Hahaha!!”
He burst into a hearty laugh, checked the contract, and stamped his seal.
Now only Ian and Pine had to stamp it.
“Come on, come on. Hurry up and stamp it.”
“Yes…….”
He couldn’t back out now.
If he said he wouldn’t do it in a situation where even Eldan had come, he would die at Eldan’s hands before Ian’s.
In the end, he shed tears of blood inside and stamped the seal.
“You too.”
Ian also stamped the seal.
As two contracts were created, Eldan grinned.
“Viscount Pine. Congratulations. This territory is now yours. You don’t know the duties and rights of a lord, do you?”
“Y-Yes…….”
To spend six hundred thousand gold on such a trashy territory.
He even took over the debt.
But Ian didn’t care much whether he was depressed because of the loss.
“Then I’ll be on my way.”
“Are you going back to the Academy?”
“Yes. My vacation is until today.”
“Then I’ll go to the gate with you. I have my carriage. And…… What are you going to do, Sword Flower Unit Leader?”
“I’ll move on my own.”
As he left, Euri looked at Ian.
“I must thank the Saintess once again.”
“Relic. I’ll look forward to it.”
“Hahaha…… Yes. I hope the sun shines on the Saint’s path.”
He said his goodbyes to Euri as well.
As Ian picked up Myaene and went out, Eldan’s carriage was waiting.
“Get in.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
He got into the carriage, and after a while, it started moving at a fast pace.
At this speed, he should be able to reach the gate around sunset.
“But why did you sell the territory?”
“I don’t have the time or the leeway to manage it.”
“Aren’t you sad? After all, it’s the hometown where you were born.”
He didn’t have such things.
Ian, this possessed body, didn’t have good memories of the territory either.
If there was one thing, it was his mother’s grave.
But he had written it in the special terms so that it could not be developed recklessly.
“Then that’s a relief. By the way…… I heard you’re having an exchange with the Imperial Academy?”
“That’s right.”
“Then why did you call Leila?”
Haroon and Grajin must have already called her.
Eldan looked at Ian anxiously.
“Haven’t you heard the news?”
“I heard that there was a problem with the abandoned building and that Leila’s wisdom was needed.”
But he hadn’t heard the details yet.
“Is there a problem?”
“It’s not quite right to say there isn’t.”
“I see…….”
Eldan’s voice was full of worry.
Ian, hearing that, turned his gaze out the window.
“But there won’t be any big problems. Class B kids will be watching over her.”
“Really? Then what about you?”
“I’m in a position to entrust the work, so I’ll try to go from time to time. And…….”
Circe was watching Leila.
So even if a problem arose, he would be able to find out right away.
“And?”
“I’m always watching, so don’t worry.”
“If you say that much, it’s a relief…… But I can’t help but worry. Please understand.”
“It’s natural for a father to worry about his child.”
Eldan was relieved by Ian’s answer.
“Please take good care of our Leila. And Helid, who will be my son-in-law.”
“Yes. I understand. But are they getting married?”
“They get along well, and it seems like there won’t be any problems even if they’re involved with the family. Why? Are you interested in Leila? Haha. It’s already too late.”
When Eldan asked with a smile, Ian flatly denied it.
“I’m not interested.”
“……What’s wrong with my daughter.”
He turned his head away and grumbled softly.