Ch.5353. Delirose County

Kihihing!

The warhorse galloped madly, spittle flying everywhere.

Perhaps thanks to the hay soaked in elixir I’d fed it, the horse showed no signs of fatigue. Its eyes gleamed with the effects of the medicine.

Compared to the Hero’s pursuit team, our speed was frustratingly slow, but it would be absurd to compare us to a group that had gone berserk with madness as their driving force.

Two people were dispatched urgently to meet Count Delirose: the Commander and myself. And separately from us, they said they had sent officials.

“If he had escaped to the Allied Nations, it would have been difficult to catch him.”

“Couldn’t we just send a notice to extradite him?”

“The Allied Nations have over 60 inhabited islands. I hear their population registry is quite disorderly. How would we catch someone who brings some gold, changes their name, and lives quietly for a few years?”

“That makes sense when you put it that way… but how could someone abandon their territory overnight after living there for hundreds of years?”

“He probably thought it better to abandon it than have it taken away.”

It seemed the Commander couldn’t believe that a hereditary noble, a Count no less, would abandon his territory and flee. He probably thought it more normal to assert one’s innocence and die with dignity.

‘Still, living in hiding is better than having your title revoked and assets confiscated.’

In reality, if one gathered all the gold owned by the family and fled to an island, it wouldn’t be impossible to live in hiding for generations.

“Huh. How did it come to this?”

Commander Waynelight sighed deeply, closing his eyes tightly. He didn’t even flinch while doing this on a galloping horse.

After sighing like that, Waynelight suddenly looked at me.

“Hmm?”

He tilted his head as if something was strange.

He didn’t seem displeased about riding side by side with someone like me. These days, the Commander often attended state council meetings in the palace and was even said to make appropriate comments without disrupting the atmosphere.

‘At nearly 60, he’s finally becoming resocialized.’

The reason for his puzzlement was…

“Erick, have you made any progress?”

“I had a small realization while sparring with the Hero.”

“……”

“I’ve never hidden it. Those who should know, know.”

The Commander looked at me curiously before saying, “Right. With these suspicious times, one might forget,” shortening his words. He seemed to have forgotten that he himself had reported his advancement to Master level belatedly, even in times that weren’t suspicious at all.

Anyway, we rode on and on until we reached the Count’s domain.

The horse was exhausted at this point, probably due to the lack of holy power buff, but it didn’t matter.

We could run faster than a warhorse’s trot for limited periods. I exchanged glances with the Commander and began running toward the fortress.

“Oh, it’s knights!”

Some peasants living outside the fortress exclaimed in admiration.

They probably thought monsters had appeared somewhere in the Count’s domain. It was a long-standing imperial practice for knights to rush in like the wind to deal with monsters that nobles couldn’t handle on their own.

But we weren’t here to subjugate monsters. We might have to subjugate the lord who had ruled this place for generations.

‘Ideally, we should resolve this peacefully with words.’

But it seemed difficult to completely avoid using force.

Perhaps they had spotted the cloud of dust we raised while running, because the latticed gate of the fortress fell with a thud.

One soldier even blew a trumpet amplified by magic stones.

Anyone watching might think the Demon Lord’s army was invading. But such measures couldn’t delay us.

“We’ll proceed directly to the Count’s residence.”

With these words, the Commander raised a brilliant silver aura.

Masters could manifest aura even without a magical weapon. Someone of the Commander’s level could even draw and use aura without a sword.

Just like now.

Bang!

With the shockwave the Commander created in front, the latticed iron gate was torn apart…

No, it exploded outward.

The fortress itself trembled momentarily. The sight of a gate made of iron bars as thick as two finger joints exploding like paper was spectacular in itself. Yet the Commander who displayed such might proceeded forward with an impassive expression.

There was another iron gate ahead, but I decided to handle that one.

Unlike the Commander, I didn’t blow it up; instead, I drew my aura and began cutting the gate in a neat pattern. This was to avoid unnecessary destruction.

The faces of the people watching me from beyond the gate went blank. Whether it was a knight who blew up iron gates or one who neatly carved them out, it was all the same to them.

“Who…?”

“Stand aside.”

Not a single soldier dared to attack us on our way to the Count’s residence.

There was one knight who charged at us shouting, “Intruders!” He seemed to be a vassal deeply involved in the proxy transactions.

Yet even then, his expression was pleading desperately for his life. The fact that he charged at me rather than the Commander made it obvious.

I decided to grant his wish.

‘It’s better to spare him and send him to a border territory. We need to conserve resources now.’

The fight ended in an instant.

I destroyed his weapon with a single sword strike, then kicked the inside of his knee to bring him down. To finish, I struck his head repeatedly with my pommel to knock him unconscious.

I felt something break in the process, but he wouldn’t die. He’d just have trouble buttoning his clothes from now on.

That was the end of the engagement.

Right after I took down one man, Commander Waynelight drew out a magnificent aura for display. Everyone retreated hesitantly, intimidated by the radiance.

Yes, this is why entire families prosper when they produce just one Master.

The Waynelight family, despite not being particularly numerous, had three titled members, while Starcather, another Master, came from a surprisingly humble family but had a younger brother married to the Emperor’s sister.

It was only natural for the knights and soldiers of a domain suddenly attacked by an empire-level expert to be flustered.

“What is the meaning of this…!”

Count Delirose rushed out with a distorted face.

I was tasked with interrogating the Count. The Commander didn’t really understand the concept of Cordana proxy transactions anyway.

“How dare you commit such outrage…!”

“Count. Everyone involved has already confessed. They said they received orders from you for everything from initial planning to execution.”

I began with a baseless threat. It was to end this quickly.

“…What?”

“I heard you were also managing the island in the Kingdom of Microssia that the Hero purchased through a proxy. The reason you’re trying to leave for the Allied Nations under the pretext of a marriage arrangement is not unrelated to that… Looking at it now, everything fits.”

“Island? What island? I don’t know anything about—”

The Count stared at me blankly, having been accused of a serious crime. No wonder, since I was framing someone who had merely helped with proxy transactions.

“I told you we’ve heard everything. Would you like to confront the Hero? The Hero’s mental state isn’t exactly normal right now, but I can arrange a meeting for the sake of fairness.”

“……”

“Why aren’t you answering… Ah.”

I belatedly pretended to realize something and sheathed my sword. As if apologizing for the intimidation.

“I apologize. There’s no need to use force.”

Since it was all over anyway.

I muttered quietly, and the Count hastily raised his hands.

“W-wait.”

From that point on, confessions flowed smoothly.

The Count’s family had helped with the Hero’s proxy transactions, and even voluntarily reduced their commission to receive more volume before Cordana collapsed.

“…To avoid suspicion, I mobilized relatives, vassals, and even their families living in other domains or the capital. I even borrowed the names of in-laws.”

“What was the scale of the transactions?”

“Over 50 billion… Though I only pocketed a little over 2 billion.”

In the end, he had done wrong but hadn’t profited much from it.

Just like most people who were loyal to the Hero.

2 billion.

As discretionary funds, it was quite a large sum even for a Count. It was a significant amount even in the capital where housing and personnel costs were high, let alone in a provincial domain. It could probably cover the salaries of the Count’s household staff for about two years.

But it wasn’t an amount worth risking everything for someone of a Count’s stature.

‘He probably just remained loyal out of expectation for greater profits.’

After giving his statement, the Count dropped his hands with an expression mixing bewilderment and dejection. “My family acted without knowing the truth, so please be lenient,” he said.

Perhaps feeling sorry for him, the Commander suddenly spoke.

“Whether the domain becomes directly administered territory or a potential heir is found, I’ll make sure the domain’s people don’t suffer until a new lord is determined. Instead of the imperial family confiscating your assets, I’ll ensure they’re used for this domain.”

“What…?”

“And I’ll arrange for your household members to live together in a small village. We shouldn’t treat them too harshly.”

It was meant as consideration on his part, and it genuinely was. But the expressions of Count Delirose and his family were distorted.

How much better it would have been if he had said this a little later, even while being escorted to the capital. Still, I was glad things seemed to be improving.

I asked the dazed Count if he had ever passed volume to baronial families belonging to his domain.

I had the Hyde baronial family in mind, of course.

‘Thanks to Ember, I saved some effort, so it’s right to check on this.’

But the answer was grim.

“…Even I wouldn’t pass volume to them. They just heard rumors that I was making money, got nervous, and belatedly jumped into the fire pit.”

He was saying Baron Hyde was just a moth to the flame. I decided not to ask further. It seemed I would have to repay Ember by waiving the remaining alimony.

About half a day later, officials from the capital who had hurriedly followed me and the Commander took temporary charge of the Count’s domain, and the situation was concluded.

The moment a Count’s family was erased. Normally, this should have been a momentous event, but I couldn’t understand why it felt so trivial now. It was probably because of “that matter” likely to be decided around the time I returned to the capital.