Ch.168Report on the Downfall of Charity (10)

“…You’re not going to tell me why you’re here, are you?”

Kain affirmed with silence.

“How long will you stay?”

“Until I finish my work. But I can disappear faster in front of you and your lady. I promised to work with Captain Antonello for three days. I told him to find another guard, so it might take a bit longer.”

“…What do you need me to do?”

“Let’s start with those guys who came earlier. Who were they exactly? They didn’t seem like simple troublemakers.”

They didn’t appear to be just ordinary beggars.

“They were probably sent by the Shipbuilding Guild. They were using knives typical of dock workers. Anyway, that side supported Beatrice. Meanwhile, the Stonemasons Guild supported Niccolo.”

“Are they still fighting even though those two are dead?”

“Guilds never get along well with each other. Their interests are too complex. But since they can’t openly attack each other, they use excuses to indirectly provoke.

They’ll vandalize related businesses or block roads with carriages. And I’m quite an easy target. I work at the Stonemasons Guild daughter’s place, and I’m in no position to complain about their mockery.”

A vile method. Rather than directly harassing someone, they persistently attack people connected to them. They target those who are neither too close nor too distant, then gradually expose the precious people one by one.

For an isolated person, it feels like flesh being pierced, accompanied by a sense of helplessness. The realization that there’s nothing they can do as the situation deteriorates. That helplessness is exactly what tormentors aim for.

‘You are nothing. What can you do? Just stand there and watch your precious people get butchered.’

Francesco was resisting this with his entire being. For him, simply living his daily life was a struggle with much at stake.

“You’re more remarkable than you think.”

Kain answered sincerely. Francesco didn’t seem to feel it himself, awkwardly shaking his head with a “Well…”

“Anyway. There’s another reason they ‘indirectly’ provoke like this. Most people hire Leonardo for protection, which means they can’t attack their opponents. From Leonardo’s mercenary group’s perspective, it would be like asking them to harm their own colleagues.

So the powerful hire additional people like Antonello for protection while sending out those stray knife-wielders as attackers. Funny, isn’t it? I wonder if hiring private soldiers would actually be cheaper.”

At the end of his words, he looked Kain up and down.

“Come to think of it, you’ll become quite famous too.”

“Me?”

“Among mercenaries, rumors about skilled individuals spread quickly. Especially with Leonardo’s mercenary group. I heard they spend fortunes to recruit anyone decent. No wonder Venelucia soldiers are retiring early to become mercenaries.”

With such financial power, people like Antonello would have no effective countermeasures.

“But no matter how wealthy Leonardo is, is it really worth abandoning a promising career in the Venelucian navy to become a mere mercenary? It wasn’t this extreme two years ago.”

“Niccolo died,” Francesco pointed out.

“Niccolo ruled Venelucia with an iron fist. Remember? What Beatrice said. That her father wanted to turn Venelucia into a mini-empire.

Niccolo empowered the regular army and security forces, while mercenary groups were relatively suppressed. During the Rose Revolution, the security forces and military were given unprecedented authority. It was a ruthless time.

But when he suddenly died, chaos erupted. Without an heir, a new Duce had to be elected, and would the great families who normally stab each other in the back stay quiet?

Several nobles were stabbed to death. The security forces were too late, so naturally, nobles hired mercenaries. And in that process, Leonardo’s position rose rapidly. It wasn’t low before, but still.”

“Why him specifically?”

“Because everyone in Venelucia loves Leonardo. He’s a hero.”

Leonardo was practically a celebrity. He started as a pirate, became a privateer captain, and finally a hero who defeated the Demon King. He was a man who spared no expense on charity, believing that other children should grow up in better environments than he did.

With a plausible patron or political background, he could have aimed for a position on the committee, if not the Duce. Or if he himself had such ambition.

In the chaos after Niccolo’s death, it would have been easily possible if he had wanted to.

But Leonardo kept himself completely separate from politics. Instead, he focused on what he could do well: mercenary work and protection. Trade with the Empire. Guarding nobles.

The rest of the information was similar to what Antonello had said. There were slight differences in perspective, but the overall framework remained the same.

While Antonello viewed Leonardo as “someone talented who knows how to turn luck into opportunity” from a fellow mercenary captain’s perspective, ordinary Venelucian citizens like Francesco regarded Leonardo as a literal national hero.

“Venelucia has quite an inferiority complex toward the Empire, right? In that situation, imagine Leonardo’s position. He’s pride incarnate. Even people with no connection to Leonardo take pride in his defeat of the Demon King as if their own family had done it.”

‘If he truly is a hero, that is.’

Kain thought to himself while nodding.

“Anyway, he was passionate. But when he suddenly announced his retirement, it naturally caused a lot of talk. As you might have noticed, he wasn’t very popular among politicians. Politicians dislike people more popular than themselves. Especially if that person isn’t a politician.”

“For politicians, reputation and popularity are their lifeblood, so that makes sense.”

“Even more so in a place like Venelucia where power can flip at any moment.” Francesco smiled brightly. So did Kain. This was something Beatrice had emphasized repeatedly during her lessons.

“Here’s what I’m curious about,” Kain fidgeted with his glass.

“I understand why Venelucia’s power players wouldn’t like him. But disliking someone and fundamentally distrusting them are different things. Especially since Leonardo apparently has no political ambitions.

It doesn’t add up. They entrust their protection to Leonardo, yet they don’t truly trust him? That’s contradictory.”

Francesco lowered his voice.

“Alright. It’s uncomfortable, but I should tell you this story. That night. The night Beatrice was killed by street thugs. When you… anyway.”

What remained unsaid was “the night you ran away to save yourself.” Kain nodded. It was better for him to believe that version.

“Anyway, those guys weren’t just thugs. Everyone in Venelucia knows. They were Leonardo’s mercenaries, the pirates. It’s unmistakable. Their distinctive movements, accents—those things can’t be hidden. Even their chaotic yet coordinated style.”

Having already heard this from Antonello, Kain wasn’t surprised. Still, he couldn’t understand why there were no pirate bodies left in that dead-end alley, only Beatrice’s corpse.

“Afterward, under Niccolo Dandolo’s command, a bloodbath ensued. Purges. Torture. Interrogations… But something’s strange.”

“What is?”

“Wanting to kill someone and actually killing them are different, right?”

“Right.”

“When Niccolo rounded up Rose members indiscriminately, people thought he must have really hated his daughter.

Since she publicly humiliated him, his hatred must have been immense. They said that’s just how powerful people are.

But then, after the purge ended, Niccolo supposedly went insane and took his own life.”

That’s what they believed in the Empire too. That’s what everyone in the world believed. Kain included. That a father who had loved his daughter couldn’t hide his grief.

“And?”

“Well. For a while, strange rumors circulated. Among clients, of course. As you know, wealthy people don’t care about others’ opinions.

Whether I was a Rose member or a traitor who sold out my comrades, they were busy chirping like sparrows about what they’d heard.

Of course, after telling the whole story, they’d say ‘Oh, I suppose this must be uncomfortable for you’ and laugh politely, but that’s all.”

“They are indeed insensitive toward others.” Kain nodded. Francesco glanced out the window as if someone might be listening.

“They say charitable Leonardo visited Niccolo Dandolo a few days before he took his life. The office was a mess.

The two shouted at each other so much that Leonardo’s voice became hoarse, and Niccolo overturned all the furniture in the room.

Of course, no maid or servant ever confirmed this. But it’s probably true. Everyone around the government building heard it.”

“An argument?”

This was the first time Kain had heard this. An ominous feeling made his heart race. Francesco lowered his voice even further. Even the effects of alcohol seemed to subside.

“But after that, Leonardo kept visiting him. Consistently for days, even while arguing with Niccolo. From then on, there was a strange smell around the office. What was it… they said just smelling it made you nauseous and dizzy. Even secretaries called in sick—imagine how bad it must have been.”

“What kind of smell?”

“I don’t know that much,” Francesco frowned.

“But it must have been terribly intense? What in the world could smell worse than the harbor—the entrance to hell?

Anyway, putting that aside, on the day Niccolo Dandolo threw himself out of his office window, people rushed to his office.

And he was there, they say. Charitable Leonardo. In the smoke. Everyone who saw him immediately vomited and collapsed. That rumor is why Leonardo isn’t trusted by the powerful. But, well.”

Leonardo took a big gulp.

“Does that even make sense? It’s probably just talk from people who dislike this upstart privateer captain. They might have argued, but smoke? Vomiting? That seems too far-fetched. None of the people spreading these rumors actually experienced it themselves. That’s how baseless rumors work.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Kain nodded.

But in his mind, he recalled a memory he had forgotten for a while. The most foul smell he had ever encountered. Something that extracted hallucinations. Addiction symptoms that affected people differently. Things he had already seen and experienced in Emmaus.

It was similar to Asas herb poisoning symptoms.

If the rumors were true, charitable Leonardo had poisoned Niccolo Dandolo. Whether he jumped himself or was pushed remains unclear. Either way, Leonardo likely didn’t have good intentions.