Reunion
1
After finalizing the detailed relocation plans with Princess Reina and her group, Luke returned to his territory.
Upon his return, the first thing he did was entrust the remaining 30,000 pesos out of the 210,000 to Philip.
Philip immediately departed for Lamer City, as that was where he was scheduled to meet the princess.
After sending Philip off, he headed to the underground workshop of the fortress.
He was curious about how much ore had been collected in the meantime.
What he saw in the workshop were piles of minerals stacked up like small mountains.
Even now, golems and monsters were mining in three mines, and every time the teleportation magic circle flashed, minerals were being transported.
“Oh! It seems they’re working quite diligently.”
Luke decided that he would provide a generous amount of food when he went to see the monsters later.
“Should I start by extracting gold and silver? I’ll need a lot of money to accommodate the refugees and develop the territory.”
Luke summoned a golem and had it put the ore from the warehouse into the furnace.
The furnace had a magic circle engraved on it that could generate ultra-high-temperature flames.
So, as long as there was enough mana, any metal could be refined without needing to add materials like coke [a fuel made from coal].
“Let’s see, silver has a lower melting point than gold, right?”
Luke identified the melting point of the metals and activated the furnace’s magic circle.
Whoosh!
Magical flames rose from the furnace, and after a while, the silver, now liquid, flowed out through the hole below.
The silver that flowed out was placed in a rectangular mold to cool, and soon it was transformed into silver ingots.
“Alright, let’s make gold ingots this time.”
Luke raised the temperature of the furnace a bit more and melted the gold ore.
As time passed, gold and silver ingots piled up in front of Luke, forming a small pyramid.
Luke picked up a gold ingot about the size of his forearm and grinned.
“Hehehe, at this rate, I’ll have no problem covering the refugee relocation funds, as well as the territory development funds.”
However, the smile on Luke’s face soon faded, replaced by a troubled expression.
“But how do I reveal this?”
The gold and silver ingots he had extracted today alone would be worth tens of thousands of pesos.
It would be useful to pass this on to the princess’s side or his retainers, but the problem was that he was reluctant to reveal the source of these funds.
‘Moreover, there’s no one I can trust enough to keep their mouth shut…’
As Luke pondered what to do, a good idea suddenly struck him, and he clapped his hands together.
“That’s it! That’s how I’ll do it!”
With a bright expression, he went to the underground laboratory and began searching for a suitable-sized box and samples.
The retainers of the Rakan County were in an uproar after hearing about what happened in Brenden from Rogers.
“I don’t know if the young lord is really thinking straight!”
“If the young lord made a misjudgment because of his young age, shouldn’t Sir Rogers have stopped him!”
“This is a disaster, Count Monarch won’t stand idly by, what should we do?”
“What do you mean what should we do! We’re doomed!”
The conference room was chaotic like a marketplace for a while.
When the commotion subsided, Dixon, the finance officer, asked Hans, who could be considered the head of the retainers, for his opinion.
Hans, the butler, had been listening to the others with a stiff face since a while ago.
“Butler, do you also think the young lord acted rashly?”
“No.”
Dixon looked puzzled at the unexpected answer.
“The Rakan County might be engulfed in war because of the young lord’s actions, you know?”
“We might have to fight Count Monarch for the survival of the territory anyway. It’s highly likely that Count Monarch was behind the Gigant rampage incident that happened two months ago.”
Although there was no concrete evidence yet, Hans was 99 percent sure that he was behind it.
Although the Rakan County was practically an outcast in the Empire, there were no places with particularly bad relations, except for the Monarch County, which had a past feud.
Moreover, according to recent information, Count Monarch had a reason to swallow up the Rakan County.
The retainers, who had heard about the new road in the western part of the Empire from Hans, looked surprised and soon burst into anger.
“No, is that true?”
“That damn pig Count!”
Their fiery anger surged like a volcano at Rogers’s following words.
“Actually, I was going to keep this quiet because it’s uncertain, but on the way to buy the Gigant this time, I encountered an assassination group disguised as peddlers.”
“Is that true?!”
“Considering that we possess a Gigant and that one of the assassins is suspected to be a knight of Count Monarch, it seems certain that they are targeting our territory.”
“Ugh! That bastard!”
None of the retainers blamed the young lord’s recklessness or worried about the war anymore.
Hans was the same, but he tried to deal with the situation calmly and composedly.
“Then it’s highly likely that Count Monarch will try to take the young lord’s life again.”
“Since another assassination attempt has already failed, they will probably try to start a territory war next time.”
A territory war cannot be started at any time.
To declare war, there must first be a justification, and permission must be obtained from the Imperial Family or the noble council.
However, a great noble like Count Monarch could create a plausible justification and, with his connections to the Imperial Family, could easily get permission to start a war.
“Anyway, if we can’t avoid war, we shouldn’t accept refugees even more.”
Dixon nodded at one of the retainers’ words.
“I agree. It will cost a huge amount of money to feed tens of thousands of them. We can’t spend money on them when we have to focus on war preparations.”
It is true that more population is needed for the territory to develop.
However, facing the crisis of a territory war, and without financial resources, accepting tens of thousands of refugees at once would cause serious problems.
“If we can’t even provide them with the minimum necessities, the refugees will turn into rioters. We’ll collapse before we even fight the Monarch County.”
At Dixon’s words, the faces of the retainers, who had been burning with fighting spirit as if they would not hesitate to fight a territory war, were once again filled with worry.
“Then, if the financial problem is solved, you wouldn’t oppose accepting refugees?”
“Of course not. We need a much larger population than now to develop the territory. But there’s no way to get money even if we try to die of hunger…”
He had once heard that the young lord had over 100,000 pesos.
However, he heard that the funds were used for the preparation of the magic tower construction and the purchase of a new Gigant, among other things.
“My wish is to spend money lavishly for the territory, even just once.”
“I’ll grant that wish!”
As if waiting for Dixon to finish speaking, the conference room door burst open, and Luke entered.
He walked to the table in the center of the conference room and slammed something down on it.
“Wh, what is that…?”
“I, isn’t that a gold ingot?”
The rectangular object that Luke placed on the table shone brilliantly.
The retainers, all with wide eyes, were startled and looked at the object.
The gold ingot, about the size of an arm, seemed to weigh at least 10 kilograms.
“Wh, where did you get this?”
Dixon’s eyes widened.
According to what he knew, gold ingots of this size could only be seen in the Imperial Bank or in the vaults of great lords who had the right to issue currency.
“Where I got it isn’t important, can you keep the promise you made a while ago?”
“O, of course.”
“And you all?”
“Y, yes.”
When all the retainers nodded, Luke led them to the fortress.
“Young lord, why are we going to the Demon King’s Castle…?”
“You remember that I once purchased building materials through the Hades Merchant Guild, right?”
“Yes, I thought you were going to repair the Demon King’s Castle because it was very old.”
“Well, while looking around the places to repair, I found a strange box under the collapsed castle wall.”
“A, a box?”
“Yes, I opened it out of curiosity, and the box was full of gold and silver ingots like this.”
“Huh!”
He didn’t know how big the box was, but Dixon thought the amount would be at least tens of thousands of pesos.
Just one gold ingot that the young lord had shown earlier would be worth over 3,000 pesos.
“L, let’s go quickly.”
At Dixon’s urging, Luke led them to the back of the fortress.
There was a half-collapsed castle wall, and the ground under the wall was dug up.
“Where is the box?”
“I hid it over here.”
Luke brought a large, heavy-looking box from one side.
The antique-looking box was filled with gold and silver ingots that looked exactly like the gold ingot Luke had shown earlier.
“M, my goodness!”
“Finance officer, how much is all this?”
One of the retainers, who had looked inside the box, asked in surprise.
Dixon, who had roughly calculated, replied in a trembling voice.
“I, it seems to be at least 100,000 pesos.”
“10, 100,000 pesos!”
The shock was not over yet.
Luke added with a nonchalant face to the retainers who were gaping.
“There were three such boxes buried.”
“Hiiiik—!”
300,000 pesos was a huge sum, close to the Rakan County’s budget for three years.
That it was buried in the ground!
“Who on earth…?”
“Who else but the Demon King Seymon, who must have secretly buried it to use as military funds.”
The box was stamped with the emblem of the golem army that Seymon had used in the past.
And the boxes, gold ingots, and silver ingots had traces of time along with dirt.
That is, mold and rust.
It seems that Seymon himself or his minions secretly buried them to use later.
However, it must have been forgotten because Seymon was killed by the founder Rakan.
The retainers firmly believed Luke’s words.
Luke smiled inwardly.
In fact, the gold and silver ingots were made in the workshop yesterday, and the box was just taken out of the warehouse where it was rusting and decorated.
And the mold was created using samples from the laboratory.
“I, is it okay for us to use this?”
“Isn’t it natural for the winner to take the loser’s belongings as spoils of war? And is this the time for us to be picky in our territory’s situation!”
At one of the retainers’ questions, Dixon explained the justification, even spitting as he spoke.
“R, really? But what if there’s a curse from the Demon King…?”
“Shut up! We can overcome that curse with willpower! Are we going to be afraid of the maggots and not make jam?”
There is a saying that gold changes people.
It meant that humans are corrupted by material things, but now Dixon had changed in a different way.
He, who had been dying every day because of the territory’s financial problems, was now overflowing with the spirit of a hero who would defeat the Demon King.
“Even if the Demon King’s grandfather comes, he can’t have this gold. This is now the property of our Rakan County!”
‘This guy has a surprisingly tough side.’
The black magician, who was once called the Demon King, was genuinely impressed by Dixon.
With the discovery of the war funds hidden by the former Demon King (?), the retainers’ argument that they couldn’t accept refugees due to a lack of funds in the territory completely vanished.
Without Luke even needing to ask, the retainers quickly began establishing plans to accept them.
Of course, the plan was a more detailed version of what they had discussed with Reina.
2
‘Hehehe, well done.’
Luke, having finished the meeting with the retainers, wore a satisfied smile.
With this, he could keep his promise to the princess and also manage the source of the gold and silver ingots mined from the mine.
‘And another benefit is that the retainers don’t mind me staying at the castle all day now.’
Previously, the retainers were not pleased with the young lord going to the Demon King’s castle.
However, since he had pulled off such a significant achievement there, the retainers no longer restricted Luke from staying at the castle all day.
As long as he was fully guarded and diligently attended his scheduled classes.
“Young Lord, are you no longer going to practice swordsmanship?” Rogers asked, blocking Luke’s path as he was about to head to the castle.
Before the incident, Luke had been learning and training in the Silver Sword, the exclusive swordsmanship of the Rakan Knights.
Although his progress wasn’t remarkable, he had practiced diligently. However, after regaining his senses, he had hardly been seen training.
“I’d rather learn magic than swordsmanship now… No, I should learn swordsmanship too,” Luke said, initially wanting to say he’d prefer to focus on magic if he had the time, but he changed his mind.
The incident where he was almost attacked by assassins came to mind.
At that time, he had tried to use magic in a hurry, but he almost died because the black circle [a magical symbol] paused.
Of course, it was due to a curse placed on the descendants of Rakan, but he couldn’t solely blame the curse.
‘I need to learn swordsmanship to some extent. There should be a way to handle situations where I can’t use magic or when I have to fight an enemy that magic isn’t effective against.’
With this decision, Luke changed his mind, and Rogers’s previously stiff face brightened.
“Ahem, then let’s go to the training ground.”
Luke followed Rogers to the knights’ training ground on one side of the parade ground.
It was empty, as if everyone had gone out on duty.
“I’ll start with a light sparring match to see your progress.”
“Alright, let’s do that.”
As Luke picked up a practice sword from the armory, the two began their practice match.
Clang! Clang!
Although it was an unsharpened practice sword, sparks flew every time it collided, as it was made of steel.
Although Luke was a mage, he had fought so many knights during his Seymon days that he had learned some self-defense skills.
And perhaps because the original owner of the body, the young lord, had trained hard in the past, his body reacted on its own and appropriately blocked Rogers’s attacks.
‘Oh, his movements are faster and stronger than before? And he used to just attack recklessly, but now he knows how to read the opponent’s moves and counterattack,’ Rogers thought, surprised.
However, unlike his inner thoughts, he continued to point out Luke’s flaws.
“In that situation, you should deflect rather than block with your sword. Like this.”
“You’re slow. How can you defeat an enemy with such a counterattack?”
Luke’s anger surged at the continuous criticism and fierce attacks.
Then, without realizing it, he infused magic into his practice sword.
Whoosh!
A faint, purple aura formed on the practice sword.
Rogers was shocked at the sight.
‘O, aura!’
Luke, who had coated his sword with aura, pierced through Rogers’s opening with a skillful move.
“Hah!”
Rogers, who had been momentarily careless and almost got hit, barely avoided Luke’s attack.
Then, he also formed a moderate level of aura on his sword and countered the young lord’s sword.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A more thrilling sparring match than before unfolded.
In the beginning, the match was evenly matched, but after about ten exchanges, Luke’s sword flew far away.
No matter how much he had learned self-defense and had practical experience, it was impossible to win a swordsmanship match against a high-level expert knight.
“Let’s stop here for today.”
“Hah, hah, I can fight more,” Luke said, frustrated at Rogers’s declaration.
“It’s not good to overdo it. You need to rest properly to get stronger.”
Rogers, having said that, continued with an excited face.
“But Young Lord, when did you learn to create aura?”
“Aura?”
“Yes. The purple aura you showed when you attacked me earlier.”
“Ah, that was…”
He was too focused on the attack earlier to notice, but now that he thought about it, he seemed to have infused magic into the practice sword.
‘Aura is the physical manifestation of mana. Simply coating a sword with magic doesn’t make it aura, so why?’
He had absorbed the enemy’s aura and life force with black magic when he fought the assassin before.
But no matter how much he absorbed, it was useless if he didn’t know how to use it.
While searching for the cause, Luke remembered that he had amplified his magic power because he was angry at Rogers’s criticism.
‘Was the aura created by being triggered by emotion?’
Just like with magic, when humans create or achieve something, their mind, especially their will, plays a big role.
It seemed that the same was true for aura.
The will to somehow get back at Rogers must have transformed his magic power into aura.
“Judging by its shape and density, it can’t be said to be a complete form of aura yet, but if you train a little more like this, you will be able to become a proper expert.”
When Luke didn’t respond, Rogers thought he was just flustered because he had created it by accident.
‘I thought he wasn’t paying attention to swordsmanship these days…’
There was a lot of talk among the knights about Luke’s great interest in magic these days and the fact that he was learning from Mute.
It was fortunate that the young lord was becoming more reliable than before, but they were worried that he might become a mage and neglect the knights in the future.
As a family founded by the hero Rakan and that had produced excellent knights for generations, they had a strong sense of pride.
But their lord becoming a mage?
‘That’s absolutely unacceptable!’
Rogers was determined to prevent this situation at all costs.
So, he took out a trump card that he had originally planned to teach after completing the Silver Sword.
“From today, I will teach you the Gold Sword.”
“G, Gold Sword!” Luke exclaimed in surprise.
How could he not know that swordsmanship?
The swordsmanship that pierced his heart and slit his throat 500 years ago was Rakan’s Gold Sword!
But then, a thought suddenly occurred to him, and he tilted his head.
“Isn’t the Gold Sword only for the head of the family?”
Because it was such a significant swordsmanship, he had looked into it separately after waking up. According to the family genealogy, it was clearly a principle of one-person transmission by the head of the family.
“Of course, that’s right. But an exception occurred 250 years ago.”
The heads of the Rakan family had been short-lived for generations.
Some died from weak bodies, and others died suddenly on the battlefield or while traveling.
As a result, the heads of the family were worried about the transmission of the Gold Sword, and 250 years ago, they finally made a special decision.
One of their ancestors, worried that the family’s secret swordsmanship might be lost, taught it to the commander of the knights after receiving a pledge that he would never leak it to anyone else, and this became a tradition that has been passed down to this day.
‘Huh, that’s possible!’
No wonder the retainers weren’t worried about the Gold Sword even though the previous lord had died suddenly. There was such a situation.
And Luke didn’t know, but the reason why the Rakan barony had not been destroyed for the past 500 years, even though it was famous among the knights, was all thanks to this.
The successive commanders of the knights who had mastered the Gold Sword became a strong support for the family with their outstanding skills.
“If I learn the Gold Sword, can I become a Sword Emperor like Rakan, or rather, the founder?”
“Well, I guess that’s impossible. Because we lost the second half of the swordsmanship, which contained the secrets of 400 years ago. But just by learning the first half, you can easily become a Sword Master.”
Seven of the past commanders of the knights had become Sword Masters.
Rogers himself was in his early 40s and was on the verge of surpassing the high-level expert and reaching the highest level.
‘But it’s strange that none of the heads of the family have become Sword Masters. Is it really because of the Demon King’s curse?’
Rogers shook his head to clear his random thoughts and explained the Gold Sword to Luke.
After explaining the history and special features of the Gold Sword, he began to show him one movement at a time.
“The Gold Sword basically emphasizes the flow of mana more than the movements of swordsmanship. You must be able to read the flow of mana hidden within the swordsmanship…”
At some point, a faint golden light began to linger on Rogers’s sword.
Luke clenched his fist without realizing it.
It was because the past where he had met a painful death from that golden sword light came to mind.
‘Calm down! That guy is not Rakan, and now the Gold Sword is just a swordsmanship that I will learn.’
Luke, having calmed himself, stared intently at the swordsmanship movements. And he began to absorb the contents that Rogers had explained with terrifying concentration.
‘The flow of mana is important? Yes, maybe it’s a swordsmanship that’s easier for me, a mage, to learn.’
However, apart from that, it was such a difficult and excellent swordsmanship that it would take quite a long time to master it all.
But Luke was not impatient. And he decided to build up his skills step by step.
3
Several days had passed since Luke had begun learning the Gold Sword.
Even though he was busy with swordsmanship training and magic studies, the mine development was progressing steadily.
In the basement of the castle, in the golem production workshop, iron ingots were piled up along with the gold and silver ingots that had been handed over to the retainers a few days ago.
‘I should call the Hades Merchant Guild and ask them to get more materials for golem production.’
He had no intention of investing everything in the Rakan barony.
He had many aspects that he couldn’t reveal to the retainers, such as black magic, and he was planning to raise a force that would listen to his own orders in order to actively use those aspects.
To do that, he needed to increase the number of golems first.
With that thought, Luke immediately summoned the branch manager of the Hades Merchant Guild.
Since he had made a pretty good profit last time, the branch manager rushed over as soon as Luke summoned him.
“Young Lord, do you need anything else?”
“I need you to get the construction materials, magic stones, and magic metals that you bought last time.”
“Hahaha, as long as you give me money, I can get you as much as you want…”
“It’s three times more than last time, can you do it within ten days?”
The branch manager was startled by Luke’s question.
“Huk! That much!”
“Why, is it impossible?”
“Ah, no! Even if I have to search all the surrounding suppliers, I will prepare it within the deadline.”
“This is an advance payment.”
Luke handed him a box containing silver ingots.
In terms of value, it was about 20,000 pesos [a unit of currency].
The branch manager, who had checked the silver ingots one by one, bowed so low that his head almost touched the ground.
“Oh, and it would be good if you could get some food too. It doesn’t matter if it’s old and spoiled, I need about 1,000 servings of salted meat or hardtack.”
“Are you going to grind it up and use it as livestock feed? I’ll give it to you cheaply.”
The monsters were working hard in the mine. Luke had promised to give them food as promised. So, he ordered it together this time.
When Luke’s order was finished, the branch manager left the castle.
He would probably be running around like crazy to get the ordered items from now on.
After finishing the order, Luke went down to the underground laboratory. And he picked up one of the magic books that were classified by field on one of the bookshelves.
The magic books on the bookshelf were the ones that Luke had stolen from the Veritas Magic Tower branch a few days ago.
‘If I read them all and give them to Sir Mute, he’ll be very happy.’
Mages are so secretive that they don’t easily share their knowledge, even with fellow disciples.
That’s why when magic books of the 5th circle or higher appear on the black market, there’s a scramble to buy them.
But it wasn’t just one book; he had acquired over a hundred. It was enough to build a small magic tower.
Luke, having picked up a magic book a moment ago, began to read it at a terrifying speed.
It contained 6th circle medical magic theory, but with his spiritual and intellectual level reaching the 9th circle, he mastered it in an hour.
“Easier than I thought. Shall I read the next one?”
This time, it was a 5th circle wide-area attack magic.
It seemed perfect for when he was disguised as a white mage.
‘Hehehe, this will complete my perfect identity laundering.’
He smiled meaningfully and was about to read another magic book when a thought struck him, and he looked at the calendar.
‘They must have started the operation by now, right?’
His retainers had rather clumsily named Princess Reina’s plan ‘The Move’.
Hoping it would be completed safely, he turned his gaze back to the magic book.
“Is this the seventh time?” Reina asked Pavel as she watched the carts carrying the sick, children, and elderly leave the slum.
“Yes, Your Highness. Two more times, and all the elderly and infirm will be moved.”
“It’s faster than I expected.”
“It’s thanks to the funds provided by Lord Luke that we were able to purchase carts and carriages.”
With the 33,000 pesos Luke had given them, they bought several carts and carriages, in addition to rafts, horses, and trailers.
Thanks to that, the refugees were able to move much faster.
“What about the Count’s movements? Does he find it strange that the people are moving?”
“He probably won’t think much of it if only some people are leaving. Or maybe he’ll be happy that there are fewer troublemakers.”
The nobles’ perception of the Volga refugees was that they were nothing more than potential rioters.
That’s why they imposed taxes and corvée labor [unpaid labor owed to a lord] but treated them like dirt.
This was also evident in the attitude of the security forces towards the refugees, who often beat and abused them.
“The operation is in three days, right? Is everyone packed?”
“Yes, we’ve discarded anything bulky. We told them to pack only the bare minimum, so there shouldn’t be any major problems.”
“Sigh, I’ve grown attached to this place over the past ten years, for better or worse, and I feel sorry that they have to leave because of me.”
When a bitter expression appeared on Reina’s face, Pavel jumped up.
“Please don’t say that! The people know how much you care for them, Your Highness. Staying here would only lead to a miserable future. It’s best to move quickly when there’s a lord who will take us in.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
As the two were chatting, Viktor, who had just sent off the last cart, approached and asked,
“What were you talking about?”
“We were talking about the operation in three days.”
Most of the elderly and infirm had already been sent ahead.
In three days, if only the young people moved, the 30,000 refugees would be able to safely leave the Monarch County.
“The question is how long we can deceive the Count’s eyes and ears.”
“That’s right. If the Count sends soldiers to stop us, it will all be for naught.”
A few thousand people disappearing wouldn’t be noticeable.
However, if the entire slum disappeared, he would have to notice.
“So, what do you think about using this?” Viktor took something out of his pocket and showed it.
“Gasp!” “Ah!” The two people who saw what Viktor had taken out were startled and stepped back.
In his hand was a human face mask with a crushed nose and full of blisters and spots, as if he had leprosy.
“Don’t be alarmed. This is a specially made theatrical mask.”
Viktor explained his plan, and the two immediately agreed.
4
“What, what?! You’re saying there seems to be leprosy spreading in the slum outside the city?” Baron Chris Jun, the commander of the Lamere City Security Forces, frowned upon receiving the report from his subordinate.
“It’s not many yet, but they say they’ve found a few. What should we do?”
“What do you mean, what should we do! Immediately withdraw the soldiers stationed in the slum. And tell them to suspend patrols in that area for the time being.”
He didn’t care whether the people in the slum lived or died.
He was only briefly worried that the epidemic might spread into the city, but he thought it would be fine if they blocked the city gates and strengthened the search.
‘Well, if the situation gets worse later, we can just send soldiers to wipe out the slum.’ It was at this moment that Baron Chris Jun was thinking this.
His subordinate spoke with a slightly worried expression.
“But if we do that, we’ll be disobeying the General Manager’s orders, won’t we?”
General Manager Baron Goth had recently instructed the security forces to keep a close watch on the slum.
Because of that, they had doubled the number of guard posts and patrols near the slum, but the problem was that there weren’t many security soldiers.
“Who cares? We’re already short-handed, so it’s a good thing. If they ask later, tell them we withdrew because of the epidemic.”
Baron Chris Jun had never liked Baron Goth.
He couldn’t stand the fact that Baron Goth, who had been recruited from outside a few years ago, was receiving the Count’s favor, instead of himself, who was from an old vassal family of the Monarch County.
“But if it’s the General Manager’s order, it could be the Count’s will…”
“It’s okay. I’ll take all the responsibility, so proceed with it.”
At Baron Chris Jun’s words, his subordinate nodded in understanding and went outside.
But they didn’t know why the Count and Baron Goth were interested in the slum.
If they had known that Count Monarch was pressuring the poor to take Princess Reina as a concubine, they would never have neglected their surveillance.
Late at night, when the moon was high in the sky, people with bundles on their backs and in their hands began to pour out into the streets one by one.
When nearly 20,000 people gathered in the open space of the slum, Princess Reina appeared.
“Is everyone gathered?” “Yes, Your Highness. You can move immediately.”
Viktor, wearing the plate armor of the former Volga Kingdom’s Royal Guard, bowed his head vigorously as he answered.
For this day, he had taken out the plate armor that had been stored in the warehouse for a long time, oiled it, and polished off the rust with sandpaper.
“What about the security soldiers?” “They haven’t been seen since they withdrew three days ago. It means my plan worked well, hehehe!”
Viktor chuckled maliciously, as if he was happy just thinking about it.
Pavel, who didn’t like the look of it, nudged his arm and asked, “There won’t be any problems with the meeting place, right?”
“According to the messenger who just returned, the rafts to take us are already prepared. We just need to get to the riverside two days away.”
The port of Lamere City was obviously unusable. The Count’s soldiers were guarding it.
The same was true for the nearby ports.
So, they decided to meet the soldiers of the Rakan County at a riverside two days away, where the Count’s influence did not reach.
The problem was whether they could get there safely.
They had managed to drive away the security soldiers by disguising it as an epidemic, but it wouldn’t be long before they realized that the slum was completely empty.
If that happened, they would naturally send soldiers to pursue them.
“I hope the Count finds out that we’ve disappeared as late as possible…” “Well, if God has mercy on us, he will send us safely.”
Viktor, who had replied that way to an old retainer, looked at the people and shouted loudly, “If everyone is ready, let’s go!” “Yes, Commander of the Royal Guard!”
The women were given priority to ride in the carts and carriages as much as possible.
Even so, less than half of them could ride, but the full carriages began to depart first.
The great escape of over 20,000 Volga refugees had begun.
‘Elkasel! Please, watch over our poor people!’ Reina, who had prayed to the dark night sky, also boarded a carriage and departed.
Count Monarch was in a good mood these days.
Princess Reina was slowly showing signs of surrender.
“Hehe! No matter how much that bitch struggles, she’s still in the palm of my hand.” When he first heard that the princess was going to ask for help from the nobles in the south, his heart sank.
However, as Baron Goth had predicted, she returned empty-handed, and when she holed up in the slum and didn’t come out, he became completely arrogant.
“In a few more days, she’ll loosen her skirt and fall into my arms, hehehe!” It was at this moment that Count Monarch was laughing in a good mood.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and Baron Goth entered.
“Your Excellency, the slum is completely empty!” “What?!” For a moment, the Count asked with a blank face, as if he didn’t understand.
“This morning, I had some business near the slum, and I didn’t feel any sign of people, so I went inside. But there was no princess, not even a single beggar.”
“Cough!” Baron Goth called for Baron Chris Jun, instead of the Count, who was speechless with shock.
A moment later, when Baron Chris Jun entered the lord’s office, Goth asked urgently, “Commander of the Security Forces! When did the slum become empty!”
Baron Chris Jun was inwardly annoyed by the abrupt use of informal language, but he held back since the Count was watching.
“What are you talking about?” “This morning, I had some business near the slum, and there was no one there!”
“That can’t be, they were all there until the evening before last?” “Then they all disappeared between the evening before last and this morning, but why wasn’t there a report? I ordered you to monitor them!”
“Ah, that’s… there was an epidemic in the slum…” “An epidemic?” “Yes, so I withdrew the soldiers, and in the meantime, the residents seem to have moved elsewhere.”
The best way to avoid an epidemic is to stay away from it. So, he thought that the healthy residents had temporarily taken refuge.
However, Baron Goth’s thoughts were different.
He looked at the Count with an urgent expression and said, “It seems the princess has escaped.”
“What? The princess escaped? What…” Baron Chris Jun asked with a bewildered face instead of the Count.
“Shut your mouth, you idiot who can’t even carry out a simple order!” Goth, who had snapped at him for still not understanding the situation, urged the Count.
“Judging by the fact that they took all the refugees with them, they must have planned it very carefully. There must have been someone helping them from the outside… Anyway, we must send soldiers to pursue them immediately!”
‘Damn it, I left her alone until she came to me on her own…!’ He never imagined that the princess would betray him and run away.
And not just run away alone, but take all the refugees, who were practically hostages!
Monarch, grinding his teeth at the princess, jumped up from his seat and gave an order, “Immediately dispatch the Scorpion Cavalry!”
“The Scorpion Cavalry, you say?” The Scorpion Cavalry was the elite cavalry that the Monarch County was proud of, consisting of 2,000 veteran soldiers and knights.
“They will be able to catch them no matter where they went. Kill all the troublesome refugees and bring back only the princess!”
The Count did not hesitate to give a cruel order. He also vowed to brutally trample the princess as soon as he captured her.
‘Hehehe, Princess! This is something you brought upon yourself.’
Poo-oo-oo-oo!
North of Lamere City, the sound of a trumpet announcing the departure was heard from the Scorpion Cavalry garrison.
At the same time, fully armed cavalry poured out of the camp and charged out of the city.