Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 151

151

If you were to ask a man if he had ever wanted to gain advantages like them, Repoem would admit that he was only human.

How could he not want to enjoy wealth, how could he not want to provide for his people?

He had even considered closing his eyes and buying goods cheaply from the barbarian tribes to sell them at a high price, tricking them into providing goods at even lower prices, just like other nobles.

However, Repoem could not bring himself to do it.

The risks were too great to justify the wealth right in front of him.

Other nobles in the North called him a coward, saying that he could not rise without taking risks, but Repoem insisted that this was wrong and tried to stop them.

When that alone was not enough to stop them, Repoem eventually resorted to a last measure, dispatching a person to the royal palace to reveal in detail what they were doing.

Some called him an internal whistleblower, and others called him a traitor to the North, but he was a noble of the kingdom and a person appointed by the royal family.

‘This is the right thing to do; we cannot let greed corrupt the entire North.’

But as soon as he thought that, countless conflicts shook his heart.

Was he doing something wrong to the people of the North, who had been struggling to survive and had only recently begun to live comfortably, with his meddling? Would revealing the situation here cause damage to his own territory? Such worries plagued him.

Unable to commit either way, Repoem eventually handed over all trade with the barbarian tribes to the other nobles, salving his conscience as best he could.

This would not absolve him of his sins, but at least it would ease his conscience, or so he thought.

And today, Repoem muttered that what was coming had finally arrived.

“Lord Repoem, open the gates!

Lord Zion Klausen has come as the proxy of His Majesty the King, the heir to the Margrave Klausen and the rightful ruler of Hispania!”

Even if the North was a remote place, even if he remained a baron, the lowest of the nobles, he knew well enough that he could not dare to impersonate the king’s proxy.

He was also aware that Zion Klausen was a rising star in the kingdom.

‘The other nobles are nowhere to be seen, and for such a figure to come to such a remote territory….’

In the end, all the questionable actions of the past three years had been exposed.

Repoem sighed deeply and ordered the gates to be opened.

Although he was not directly involved in the matter, he had deliberately omitted reporting it to the royal palace.

He could not claim innocence; rather, he should be considered an accomplice.

“Welcome, Lord Zion Klausen.”

So, Repoem stepped forward to face those who had come to judge him, trying to maintain as calm an expression as possible.

And when he recognized the man standing next to Zion Klausen as Schumacher, the vice-commander of the Royal Knights, a remarkable talent born in the North, Repoem was certain that his fears were justified.

“Have a seat.”

Zion entered the reception room as if he were the owner and sat down on a chair, inviting the baron to take a seat as well.

“Lord Repoem.”

“Yes, Lord Zion.”

“Why do you think I came up to the North?”

“…I understood that you went to the barbarian lands to carry out some mission.”

“To be precise, I should say that I came here as the proxy of His Majesty the King to make a decision regarding Hispania [a region or territory]. So, on the way back after concluding the talks with the barbarian tribes, I discovered a rather interesting fact.”

Repoem could not help but swallow hard at the words of the young noble, who said he had discovered an interesting fact right in front of him.

It was a natural reaction, as he knew very well what the nobles of the North had been doing and how great a crime it was.

“In the trade chosen and led by the royal family for the peace and prosperity of the country, some rogue individuals were nibbling away at the profits, leading to the worst possible situation.”

“…”

“Surely the royal family would have allowed the northern nobles to take some profit, but to be unable to abandon that momentary greed and end up joining hands and falling into ruin…”

“Lord Zion, I…”

“Don’t you want to live?”

Repoem involuntarily retorted, ‘Pardon?’ at the sudden, direct question.

Then Zion smiled and whispered softly, like an angel saving someone from the brink of hell.

“Viscount Gino says that Lord Repoem was not directly involved in this matter.

You didn’t know everything, but at least you weren’t directly involved in a serious crime, so wouldn’t there be some room for leniency?”

“But, but I…”

“Yes, yes, I know very well.

Even condoning it is a crime.

But you at least kept your conscience, so I think you deserve some recognition for that.

Am I wrong?”

“…”

“I also want to make money, I also want to develop my territory further, I also want to provide for my people.

Why wouldn’t I have such temptations?

But you overcame them all and kept at least the line you had to keep.”

Repoem suddenly felt a surge of emotion when the person who seemed like he would shout ‘Traitor!’ at him any moment instead acknowledged the hardships he had endured and patted him on the back as if understanding everything.

It felt like something that had been blocked was being cleared, as the young man, whom he was meeting for the first time, directly affirmed that the part he had been conflicted about for three years was the right thing to do.

“Lord Repoem.

You have committed the crime of remaining silent even though you knew about this matter.

You yourself will not deny that.”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“At the same time, there is also the fact that you kept at least the line you had to keep.

So, I want to tell you how to reduce that crime even a little and receive as much leniency as possible.”

Repoem involuntarily raised his head at the words, ‘You can live.’

Then Zion stroked his chin and continued.

“Gather all the knights and soldiers in your territory.

And we will immediately storm the Tyker viscountcy.”

“Pardon?”

“The others are at least showing some signs of shrinking back, but that guy is as confident as ever.

If the upper stream is muddy, how could the lower stream be any different?

He will probably be the first to rebel and rise up against this situation.

Shouldn’t we burn away what will become a problem in advance?”

Repoem felt a cold sweat as he met Zion’s eyes as he said that.

His mouth was smiling, but what on earth were those coldly hardened eyes hiding?

Repoem was worried that his words ‘burn away’ were not just a metaphor, but a literal intention.

Several hours later, Zion arrived in front of the Tyker viscountcy this time.

Unlike when he visited the Repoem barony, he did not say a word, but simply exerted pressure outright, bringing almost all of the Repoem barony’s forces, fully armed, behind his escort.

“Lord Zion, what are you going to do now?”

Vice-Commander Schumacher turned to Zion and asked.

Instead of the lord who had gone to the party, what had returned was fully armed soldiers and a young noble standing among them as the king’s proxy.

If they still didn’t know what this meant, they were truly the biggest fools of all.

Zion pretended to ponder for a moment, then exclaimed, ‘Ah!’ and called Repoem.

“Lord Repoem.”

“Yes, yes, Lord Zion.”

“How does the situation look?”

“…It looks like they are going to resist.”

As he said, the inside of the Tyker viscountcy seemed very chaotic.

In fact, it was only natural; it would have been more of a problem if it were quiet when such fully armed forces suddenly appeared.

“Then what should we do?

Should we push in?”

“We don’t have the equipment for a siege, and the number of soldiers is small.

The casualties…”

“Is this you trying to subtly back out again when this is the path to reducing your sins even a little?”

He was smiling, but there was an edge to his words.

If he retreated here as well, he might really be punished like the real criminals.

Repoem shook his head strongly and explained the reason.

“If we fail to break through here at once, other territories may join in.

All the lords have been captured, and the Gino viscountcy has been completely subdued, but…”

“If our momentum decreases, they might get other ideas.”

“That’s right.”

It seems news travels slowly in the North.

Zion muttered to himself, certain that such a thing would never happen.

There were two high-ranking knights right next to him, and two more who surpassed those high-ranking knights.

On top of that, there was a crazy black dragon who would turn ordinary soldiers into ashes with a smile.

‘And captured, my foot.

When has Butler ever shown mercy?’

The evidence was already sufficient, and one witness was enough.

The Gino viscountcy’s party hall had long since turned into a slaughterhouse for butchering pig-like bastards.

You can’t physically harm a noble directly appointed by the royal family?

He had already smashed that to pieces long ago in his capacity as the king’s proxy.

‘It is right to quickly dispose of garbage that cannot be carried along and reeks.

There is no need for unnecessary mercy or useless criminals.

Kill quickly, eliminate, and uproot.

There is less than a year left now.’

And Zion was planning to deal with the next matter as quickly as possible as well.

“Lord Repoem.

Go and urge them to surrender yourself.

That way, you can show everyone that you have completely turned around and create an atmosphere that you are different from them.”

“I understand.”

At Zion’s words, Repoem rode his horse closer to the gate.

And after talking with the commander of the knights and the heir of the family, who were in charge of the territory in place of the Tyker viscount, he sighed and returned to Zion’s side.

“What’s the result?”

“I’m sorry.”

It seems the negotiations have broken down after all.

Well, everything had gone wrong, the lord had not returned, and they knew very well what crimes they had committed and what punishment they would receive, so their determination to resist to the death was a natural result.

“Lord Zion.

If that’s the case, we have to attack sooner or later, but what about the residents inside the territory?”

Vice-Commander Schumacher casually threw out a question.

He didn’t like the idea of all the residents being harmed, even though they were not directly involved in the serious crimes that threatened the kingdom.

However, Zion’s thoughts were completely different from Vice-Commander Schumacher’s.

“I don’t think the residents would be unaware of what it means to hold out without opening the gates in front of someone who came as the royal family’s proxy, Vice-Commander.”

“That’s right.”

“Then they are all guilty.

If they know it’s a crime and do nothing, how is that any different from being complicit?

Isn’t that right, Lord Repoem?”

It wasn’t aimed at Repoem, but he had no choice but to be affected by it.

The baron flinched and looked at Zion, who shook his hand as if to say absolutely not.

“Still, Lord Repoem has come forward like this, even if belatedly.

But the residents inside are different.

If they want to avoid something terrible, they should either take up arms and fight those who caused the problem, or seize the gates and open them to welcome us.”

If they do something, even belatedly, they can get a little excuse.

But if they do nothing and only stand by even at that time, the result is obvious.

They will burn to death together, be drowned together, and be buried alive together.

“Lord Repoem.”

“Yes, Lord Zion.”

“You said that the Tyker viscountcy’s castle is quite large.”

“Yes, that’s right.

He was a decent knight in the North…”

“If that starts burning brightly, it will be very visible from all directions.”

“Pardon?”

“That’s what I mean.

That’s what I mean.”

Zion said that and laughed, ‘Haha!’

Looking at that figure, Lord Repoem and Vice-Commander Schumacher could see that there was something more than just what they saw on the surface in Zion.

He was usually a gentle and soft-looking young man, but inside, there was a brilliantly burning flame that could rise up fiercely at any time.

‘It’s about time to start.’

The reason Zion had deliberately shown himself in front of the Tyker territory like this was to divert their attention and give them an even greater shock at the same time.

If the enemy they thought would attack them was in front of them, but their house started burning from behind, what decision would they make?

Would they fight to the death, saying there was nowhere else to escape?

Or would they lose their will to fight and surrender?

‘Whatever it is, I don’t care.

Whatever happens, the conclusion afterwards will be the same.’

More than that, why are these women late? he thought, when Lord Repoem raised his hand with an urgent voice.

“Uh…? L, Lord Zion!

T, there!”

Barely holding back the laughter that threatened to burst out, Zion raised his head and fixed his gaze on the spectacle of red and yellow flames that adorned the sky brilliantly.

The Tyker viscount’s castle, which was said to be one of the better-known places in the northern nobles’ territories, was literally engulfed in red flames and burning like crazy.

‘Yes, yes.

That’s it.

If you’re a man, you want to see such a great fire at least once, right?’

The thrill of the cheers that poured out along with the crimson flames that seemed to burn the whole world, when the houses of the annoying bastards were all burning down without me losing anything, was truly exhilarating.

‘I didn’t know Lilith and Trisha would work so well together.

More than that, I’m sure they’ll both be clinging to me for a reward when I get back.’

Zion was wondering what to do, but he thought, what could he do?

They had shown him such a splendid and enjoyable fire, so there had to be a reward.

‘Burn more.

Burn it all down!

Everything!

Kyahahahaha!’

All the money I can’t even eat anyway, burn it all!

Zion’s actions, raising his hand and waving it as he looked at the flames, were comparable to an evil spirit watching the world’s disaster and playing music with glee.

―――――――Afterword―――――――

The devil wears recommendations!