My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 203

203. Armsberg (1)

The Armsberg territory was located in the southern part of the Empire.

Armsberg was the earldom of the Avenne family, a noble family representing the South.

It was a vast territory where the Avenne family’s castle was located.

And perhaps the claim of representing the South wasn’t just empty boasting.

“It’s certainly… different from other earldoms.”

The scale of the territory was on a different level compared to other earldoms.

“I’ve traveled through many earldoms for business, but… this is the first time I’ve seen an earldom of this magnitude.”

Amelia looked at the scenery of Armsberg with a face filled with admiration.

And well…

Cyan somewhat agreed.

From the gatekeepers guarding the entrance of Armsberg,

To the soldiers occasionally seen on the streets,

The people bustling in the square,

The merchants actively soliciting customers from their street stalls,

Could this truly be Isabel’s main family?

It was definitely a territory full of life.

Of course, it couldn’t compare to the Elan Dur Marquisate.

But that was only because the Elan Dur Marquisate was an anomaly.

Compared to other ordinary earldoms, it was undeniable that Armsberg was considerably developed.

“If we’re just looking at the area, it’s much larger than Ruben, isn’t it?”

Moreover, just considering the area, it was much larger than Ruben.

Roughly three to four times the size?

Even with the 150 million gold investment and the district expansion, there was still that much of a difference.

“But the facilities… are as expected.”

Of course, it was only larger in area.

When comparing other aspects, Ruben was the clear victor.

“I’ve traveled through territories all over the continent, including the Empire, for mercenary work, but… I’ve never seen a territory like Ruben.”

Hugo said from the side.

“I’ve also traveled around many territories for business, but I haven’t seen a territory like our Ruben.”

Amelia nodded, agreeing with Hugo’s words.

Anyway.

Cyan strolled through the streets of Armsberg with his companions.

And every time he walked those streets, old memories came flooding back.

“Nothing’s changed from the old days.”

Actually, it wasn’t something he could exactly call a memory.

“The old days? Lord, have you been to Armsberg before?”

“Yeah. Not Armsberg specifically, but I’ve been to that place over there.”

Cyan pointed to the center of Armsberg with his finger.

A building that was so magnificent it was gigantic.

“That’s… isn’t that the Earl’s Castle?”

It was none other than the Earl’s Castle where the Avenne family’s Earl resided.

“That’s right. I’ve been there when I was young.”

“Why at the Earl’s Castle…? Ah. This was the Avenne family.”

Only then did Amelia nod her head.

The current head of the Avenne family, Earl Holland Avenne.

He was Isabel’s father and, nominally, Cyan’s maternal grandfather.

In other words, this was Cyan’s mother’s family.

Of course, this was also only nominally.

Because of that nominal reason, Cyan had been to the Avenne family before.

And as expected.

He didn’t have very good memories of the Avenne family.

Far from memories, he didn’t even have good recollections.

From the beginning, Isabel was in that state [referring to her difficult circumstances].

Would the Avenne family, Isabel’s family, be much different?

Ignorance, contempt, and disdain.

This was the image Cyan had of the Avenne family.

Perhaps Cyan’s mother, Cecil, had suffered even worse.

Anyway.

Even when Cyan was in the Elan Dur family as a child, he didn’t have good memories with the Avenne family.

Even more so now that he was at odds with Elan Dur.

“If the Avenne family’s Earl knew I was here, he’d roll his eyes back in his head, wouldn’t he?”

“Perhaps… I think he might.”

Hans slowly nodded his head at Cyan’s words.

Frankly, rolling his eyes back in his head would be a relief.

It wouldn’t be strange if he tried to tear him limb from limb.

In other words, he was in the middle of enemy territory.

There was nothing good about the Avenne family’s Earl finding out that Cyan was here.

“Let’s refrain from doing anything that would attract attention.”

“I’ll make sure to tell my companions.”

With those words, Hans quickened his pace.

And just as he was about to approach Bonita, who was walking ahead.

“I’m telling you, it’s not me!!”

A loud shout erupted from the front.

Rather than a shout, it was more like a commotion.

“No! I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I’m telling you, it’s not me!”

Cyan’s gaze naturally turned to where the commotion was coming from.

Looking there.

There was a man tied up.

And the individuals who had tied up that man.

To be exact, the two individuals that seemed to have tied him up.

“This guy is still playing dumb even after all this?”

“I can’t help it. Thomas, prepare.”

It was an old man with graying hair.

Two old men with short heights and solid muscles.

For a moment, he wondered if they were dwarves… but they weren’t.

They were similar to dwarves, but they were definitely humans.

And seeing that their faces resembled each other, it seemed like they were related by blood.

Like twins or something.

The two old men took something out from their pockets.

Something made of metal.

Something strange that he didn’t even know what it was used for.

He could only guess that it was some kind of tool.

And seeing that it had dark blood on it, he instinctively knew that it was used for something unpleasant.

“Are these old geezers senile! I don’t know what it is, but I’m not the person you’re looking for!”

“That’s just your one-sided claim. What are you doing, Thomas? Start quickly.”

“It’s said that you shouldn’t believe the words of someone with all their fingers intact.”

The two old men approached the man, radiating a sharp aura.

“Aaaaaaack! These crazy old men! Save me! It’s not me! I’m telling you, it’s not me!!”

The man screamed and shook his head wildly at their approach.

And the people of Armsberg were watching the scene.

“C, crazy bastards… are they torturing someone in broad daylight?”

“The guard! Where’s the guard!”

The people were whispering and watching the scene.

And Cyan fully sympathized with the people’s words.

What the hell were they doing in broad daylight?

In the middle of a crowded street, no less.

If he stayed near those crazy bastards, he would definitely attract attention.

He thought he should leave, but then.

“Maxim? Thomas?”

Somehow… he heard a not-so-good voice.

Turning his head to look.

Hugo was looking ahead with an absurd look on his face.

“What are you doing here?”

Soon, Bonita frowned and said.

Somehow, it seemed like Hans’ old colleagues were those old men.

“Oh? Bonita? Did you just arrive?”

It seemed like he was right.

“Hans? Oh! You’re next to him! Hans, it’s been a while! How many years has it been? 20 years? 30 years?”

“Hey, you bastards! Untie me!”

“Ah, let’s greet each other later, Hans. Let’s take care of this guy first.”

With that, the two old men approached the tied-up man.

“It’s not me! I’m telling you, I’m not the person you’re looking for!!”

Then the man shook his head wildly in horror.

Cyan sighed deeply and walked forward.

Looking at the situation roughly…

It seemed like that man was the one they were looking for, named Soren.

The problem was why they were causing such a ruckus in a crowded street like this…

Even if they dragged him to a quiet place, no one would say anything.

Cyan shook his head and stepped forward.

Right then.

“It’s not him.”

Amelia’s voice was heard in Cyan’s ear.

Stopping his steps and looking there.

Amelia was looking at the tied-up man and shaking her head slightly.

“That person isn’t Soren.”

“What?”

Cyan wondered what the situation was.

And perhaps they heard Amelia’s words.

“Huh? He’s not him?”

“Could it be?”

Maxim and Thomas paused and stopped moving.

Seeing the two of them, Cyan briefly thought, ‘Could it be that Amelia has forgotten Soren’s face…?’

But he quickly shook it off.

The Brahe family had only fallen a few years ago.

It was an unforgettable event in Amelia’s memory.

There was no way she would have forgotten his face.

In other words, the man who was tied up was not Soren.

To put it simply, they had caught the wrong person.

At that moment.

“The guards are here!”

“Everyone, stop moving!”

A loud shout erupted from one corner.

At the same time, people stirred and a group of soldiers revealed themselves.

None other than the Avenne family’s soldiers.

“Kidnapping and torturing someone in broad daylight?”

“Take them to the Earl immediately!”

The soldiers drew their weapons and ran towards them.

Somehow.

“Damn it!”

It seemed like things weren’t going smoothly from the start.

#

Kidnapping and torture in broad daylight.

To be exact, it ended in an attempt, but anyway.

“Run!”

With those words, Cyan picked up Amelia.

“Kyaa!”

With Amelia’s small scream, Hans and Grayson immediately followed.

And Hugo also followed behind them.

Bonita had already run away, and he couldn’t even see her.

Lastly, Maxim and Thomas.

Hans’ old colleagues and the two main culprits who had brought the situation to this point.

He couldn’t confirm what had happened to them.

“The suspects are running away!”

“Catch them!”

He didn’t have the time to do that because the guards were chasing after them.

A chase ensued, but they were eventually able to shake off the guards.

From the beginning, they weren’t a group that could be caught by ordinary guards.

In that way, Cyan’s group was able to safely shake off the guards, and they were able to gather safely again.

So.

“That’s strange… I was sure it was him.”

“Where did we go wrong…?”

Even Maxim and Thomas, who he didn’t know what had happened to.

It seemed like they had run away on their own.

After all, they weren’t the type to be caught by the guards either.

“Tsk tsk! I knew it from the start when you started acting up!”

Bonita shouted with an absurd expression at Maxim and Thomas’ appearance.

“Do you even have a brain?”

“What do you mean we don’t have a brain! We were sure!”

“That’s right! We were sure it was him!”

“So you had to do that in broad daylight? Well done. Well done!”

Bonita shook her head as if she was pathetic.

Hugo also sighed deeply as he looked at the scene.

And from the two of them, Cyan could tell.

As expected.

It seemed like they couldn’t easily find Soren in this vast Armsberg.

“I knew things were going too smoothly.”

Cyan shook his head.

“What are you going to do now?”

Hans asked Cyan, leaving them bickering behind.

In the end, they were back to square one.

So what else could he do?

“We’ll have to look for him slowly, one by one.”

They couldn’t just go back after coming all this way.

He didn’t even think he would find him easily in the first place.

Cyan approached Thomas and Maxim, who were bickering with Bonita.

“Your names are Thomas and Maxim… right?”

Then Thomas and Maxim stopped their actions and stared blankly at Cyan.

“Who are you?”

“Do you know us?”

It seemed like they didn’t know Cyan.

Cyan’s name was known in the Empire, but.

His face wasn’t known.

“Watch your words, you guys. He’s Count Cyan. He’s also our client.”

Bonita, who was next to them, introduced Cyan at their expression.

“Count Cyan…?”

“Client?”

A moment of silence.

“S, surely not the Lord of Ruben?”

“The one who defeated Count Crowe this time…?”

Thomas and Maxim’s eyes widened.

And for a moment.

“W, we greet Count Cyan.”

“W, we greet Count Cyan.”

Thomas and Maxim bowed their heads and paid their respects.

Cyan shrugged his shoulders once and said.

“Anyway, can you tell me how far the search for Soren has progressed?”

At Cyan’s words, Thomas and Maxim looked at each other.

And after hesitating for a moment.

“That’s the thing…”

They quickly started talking.

A rather long story followed.

And to summarize the conclusion.

“So, you’re saying there are suspicious people, but you can’t find them?”

“That’s right.”

Thomas and Maxim nodded at Cyan’s words.

“There are too many people in Armsberg…”

“At this point, it’s easier to find a needle in the desert.”

Moreover, it wasn’t just one or two people.

In other words, there were more than one or two people who were suspected of being Soren.

The man who was tied up just now.

That man was one of those suspicious people.

It seemed like they had put up multiple layers of smoke screens.

He didn’t even know that Cyan was chasing him.

Even so, he was being cautious in his actions.

‘That means there’s something he’s hiding.’

Anyway.

“How many suspicious people are there?”

“Excluding the guy from just now… there are 24 people.”

“24 people…”

It was a large or small number.

That’s because they had narrowed it down to 24 people out of all the people in Armsberg.

To be exact, it was 25 people, but anyway.

“Can I know the descriptions of the remaining 24 people?”

“We’ve roughly drawn out their characteristics…”

Soon, Thomas took out a bundle of papers from his pocket and handed it to Cyan.

Cyan received it and handed it to Grayson as it was.

“How about it, Grayson? Can you find them?”

“Hmm…”

Grayson turned the papers over one by one with a serious look.

And after a moment of time passed.

“There shouldn’t be any major problems.”

Grayson nodded.

As expected, Grayson was Grayson.

“Good. Then let’s start right away.”

Cyan immediately set out to find Soren.

#

The search for Soren began.

And as expected, Grayson’s tracking skills shone.

Name, gender.

And that was the end if they had very simple characteristics.

If it was fast, it would take 1 hour.

No matter how late, Grayson found the corresponding person within half a day.

“N, no way…”

“It took us 3 days to find one person…?”

Maxim and Thomas couldn’t help but be amazed at the amazing tracking skills.

“Even if I mobilized all my disciples, I wouldn’t be able to do this much…?”

Bonita also couldn’t hide her astonished expression.

“T, this is ridiculous…!”

Especially Hugo.

Hugo’s reaction was the most intense.

“Hey, don’t you want to try being a mercenary? I’ll guarantee it in the name of the Mercenary King!”

How much would he have wanted to scout Grayson?

Well… he couldn’t blame Hugo for his reaction.

That’s how amazing Grayson’s tracking skills were.

Grayson was the one who led the people of Ruben before Cyan came to Ruben.

It would have been much easier if he was alone, but Grayson didn’t do that.

He lived in the Forest of Darkness, protecting and guarding people among the monsters.

Monsters that were on a different level from ordinary monsters.

If Grayson missed the presence of a monster, people would be eaten.

If Grayson couldn’t track the traces of a monster, people would starve to death.

Senses that had been trained for decades in a situation where survival was directly linked.

Here, the senses became even sharper with the growth buff obtained from Ruben’s investment.

“I’ll go find the next person.”

In a word, quickly.

To put it bluntly, in a flash.

It didn’t even take a week for Grayson to find all 24 people.

To be exact, it was just about to be a week.

Grayson was able to find the last 24th person.

Cyan slowly turned his gaze to look at Amelia.

“That person… isn’t him either.”

And Amelia’s voice was heard.

Amelia shook her head slightly.

“Hmm…”

At Amelia’s appearance, Cyan was lost in thought for a moment.

“That was the last person, right?”

“That’s right.”

Grayson nodded.

In this case, Soren was not among the 24 people after all.

Cyan slowly turned his gaze to look at Hans.

Cyan had proceeded with the search for Soren in two ways.

The first was, of course, Grayson finding the 24 suspicious people.

And the method was for Amelia to confirm whether that person was Soren or not.

Amelia knew Soren’s face.

And the second was to use Amelia’s memory.

In other words, to draw a composite sketch of Soren’s face and distribute it to Hans’ old colleagues.

And to search the Armsberg area based on that composite sketch.

About a week had passed since the different searches.

“Hans. How’s the situation on your side?”

“I’ve searched all areas of Armsberg, but…”

Then Hans shook his head slightly.

In other words.

It meant that Hans’ side also had no particular results.

“Could it be that Soren has already left Armsberg…?”

Hans said with a worried voice.

Of course, he could think that way.

Even though they had searched everywhere, Soren was nowhere to be seen.

To be exact, he had no choice but to think that Soren was not in Armsberg.

“No. That’s not it.”

But Cyan didn’t think so.

That’s because Soren was the key figure who had hidden Elan Dur’s slush fund [illegally obtained money].

Therefore, Soren exists where Elan Dur’s slush fund is.

This was an undeniable fact.

And Amelia said that the slush fund was here, in Armsberg.

To be exact, she was certain that Elan Dur’s slush fund was in Isabel’s main family, the Avenne family.

There was no way the information Amelia had revealed was wrong.

He couldn’t even think of it as a trap.

Elan Dur had no idea that Cyan had leaked Elan Dur’s ledger.

In other words, he was hiding his cards.

It was a situation where he was only looking at the enemy’s cards.

“But I still couldn’t find him…”

Even so, Soren was nowhere to be seen.

“Hans, where are the areas you and your colleagues searched?”

“All areas of Armsberg… Here, this is a map with the searched areas marked.”

Hans took out a map from his pocket.

Rather than a map, it was a landscape map of Armsberg.

Almost all areas were marked with an X on the landscape map.

It seemed like the places marked with an X were the places where the search had been conducted.

In other words, it meant that Soren could not be found throughout Armsberg.

Cyan carefully examined the landscape map.

And after some time had passed.

“He was hiding in plain sight.”

Cyan was soon able to know Soren’s location.

“What… what do you mean?”

Hans looked surprised with his eyes wide open.

That’s because he had literally searched all areas of Armsberg.

Hans had also searched the Armsberg area with his old colleagues.

And he couldn’t find him.

Soren’s appearance was nowhere to be seen.

But now Cyan was saying that he was hiding in plain sight.

“I couldn’t find Soren in all areas of Armsberg, right?”

“That’s right.”

“There was no other way.”

Hans tilted his head without realizing it.

There was no other way?

“What do you mean…?”

Hans couldn’t understand Cyan’s words at all.

Cyan showed Hans the landscape map.

A landscape map of Armsberg with all areas marked with an X.

But there was only one.

There was an area that was not marked with an X.

And it wasn’t that it wasn’t marked with an X.

It was that he couldn’t mark it with an X.

That’s because he couldn’t search that area.

Cyan pointed to that area with his finger.

To be exact, he pointed to the place where that area was located with his finger.

It was none other than the huge building located in the center of Armsberg.

“Avenne family’s Earl’s Castle.”

The place where Isabel’s father is.

The place where Cyan’s maternal grandfather is, even if only nominally.

And the place where Cyan and his group cannot and should not approach.

“Soren is there now.”

Soren was hiding in that Earl’s Castle.