chapter_0035

35 – Crazy Lion

35 – Crazy Lion

The incident where the forsaken attempted to kill Lord Calix using dark magic concluded with the death of the instigator.

It could not be investigated how Jethon, the last surviving noble of the fallen aristocracy, obtained the dark magic scroll.

This was because, at the moment the last evil spirit was annihilated by Calix, Jethon also died, coughing up blood as a price for the dark magic.

The news of the dark magic incident, which had occurred after decades, was shared with the Magic Tower, and the incident concluded with rumors that Calix Crone might possess the power to repel monsters from the evil spirit realm.

The issue of Dreyhart was completely resolved as the forsaken self-destructed.

The Dreyhart territory became entirely stable and began to grow even more in connection with the Crones territory.

Dreyhart had spices and rare magical materials, while the Crones territory had salt and food.

In other territories, prices would rise due to middle margins from tariffs and bribes, but because the two territories were under the Crones Family, they could trade without such middle margins.

Thanks to this, both territories could obtain their lacking resources at a low cost.

The profits generated from this, which would normally have been monopolized by a small number of the powerful, were impossible in the Crones territory, where the lord personally distributed money to the commoners and a finance officer with the Eye of Truth from the merchant class captured and sent such a small number of wicked rich people to the Chamber of Truth.

Naturally, the middle class of the two territories began to strengthen significantly, and the happiness of the commoners started to soar.

This situation began to influence the surrounding territories.

The number of free people wanting to migrate to the Crones territory began to increase at a dangerous rate.

Of course, not all territories were like this.

In the case of the Shira Family, they took this situation as an opportunity.

While it was not as revolutionary as the Crones Family, they raised the wages of laborers within their capacity and granted freedom to slaves who had worked for over ten years, giving them hope for freedom.

Additionally, using the connection of having received gifts from the same princess, they dipped into the spice business of Dreyhart.

“We are comrades, aren’t we? Lord Calix! Hohoho!”

The Shira Family wanted exclusive sales rights in the western region in exchange for covering all transportation costs for Dreyhart’s spices.

The two families contracted at a reasonable level where the Crones Family could profit while the Shira Family could also benefit.

Thus, while the commoners of the Shira Family were not as well-off as those of the Crones Family, their quality of life improved significantly, and they began to live contentedly.

However, not all territories could turn crises into opportunities.

A prime example was the Lion Family, located to the east of the Crones Family.

Bang—!

“How many escaped!?”

The gloomy castle of the Lion Family.

Hadem could not hide his anger upon receiving the report from the secretary.

The secretary trembled as he read the documents in his hand.

“So… this week, 132 free people escaped.”

“132 people have escaped! What were our soldiers doing!?”

“Well… the soldiers also escaped. So, 12 of them ran away.”

“Those damn bastards!!!”

Clang—!

“Eek!!”

Hadem, in a fit of rage, threw his wine glass, and the secretary was terrified by the glass shattering into pieces.

“Ugh… get out of here!!!”

“Yes! Yes!!!”

Fearing that he might lose his head if he stayed, the secretary hurriedly fled.

Hadem felt like he was losing his hair from stress.

The once inexperienced Calix had been causing continuous damage to the Lion Family since becoming the lord.

At first, Hadem thought it was just a shallow means of the weak.

What good would it do to improve the lives of the commoners through tax reforms?

In any case, if one had strong power, the weak would always be plundered.

Thinking this way, Hadem aimed to turn the Lion Family’s territory into a powerful military city, and that plan had succeeded to some extent.

However, as time passed, their situation worsened.

It was not only that a magician named Sharen, who was burdensome even for Hadem, had joined, but also that Dreyhart had consumed their territory, and even his rival, the warrior Jarha, had come under his command.

Hadem acknowledged Calix’s spirit.

When he saw Calix confidently demanding without being intimidated, Hadem genuinely wished his son had such determination.

But this situation was incredibly frustrating.

Calix acted just at the line that Hadem could not cross.

It was as if he knew that crossing that line would invite the prince’s intervention, and he continued to torment Hadem without crossing into the realm of war, which Hadem excelled at.

Moreover, the number of runaway free people and slaves was increasing day by day, to the point where it was becoming problematic for farm operations.

Lately, Hadem had thought dozens of times a day about disregarding the prince and charging straight at the Crones Family.

While he was having such thoughts, the door opened, and his aide, Lagos, entered.

“What is it, Lagos!!”

“The land manager tried to escape, my lord.”

“What! The land manager!!!?”

The land manager was a high-ranking official even within the Lion Family.

Hadem heard the sound of his patience breaking inside him at the thought that even such an official had tried to escape and was caught.

“Yes, I thought this needed to be reported to you, my lord. How should we handle this?”

“Huh… I will take care of it.”

Hadem grabbed an axe.

He had endured a lot, considering the prince’s face, but he could no longer hold back.

Hadem thought that the commoners needed education, like a lion that had lost its teeth.

In the central square of the Lion Family.

Hadem stood on a high podium visible to everyone.

He had summoned all the free people and slaves of the Lion Family territory to the square at this hour, and the square was bustling with people.

Hadem was not the only one on the podium.

The escaped land manager was also tied to a chair.

When the time came, Hadem stood up with the axe and began to speak.

“I have heard that many have been escaping lately. They say they have fled to become slaves of the salt bugs, dancing to the bard’s nonsense.”

Hadem began to speak calmly.

He spoke about the current events happening in the territory.

Suddenly, he struck the podium with the axe handle.

Bang—!

“What kind of disgrace is this!! Where has the greatness of the brave Lion territory gone? Is it the act of lions to flee like pathetic insects for such comfort!?”

The commoners were terrified by Hadem’s furious shout.

Hadem, with an unrelieved expression of anger, approached the tied land manager.

“What is your name?”

“B-Boro. Great Lord Hadem…”

“What is your crime?”

“I… tried to escape from the lord’s command! I’m sorry!!! I’m sorry!!! I was wrong!!! Please spare me!!!”

Boro appeared to be an ordinary man in his 40s.

He looked average and was a typical head of a household who worked diligently at his tasks.

As Hadem placed the axe blade against his neck, he said,

“This man is the land manager of our territory. He has worked under me for ten years, and yet he tried to abandon this territory and flee to the salt bugs. Yes… to those weak and despicable salt bugs…”

Hadem lightly struck the podium.

Then, soldiers waiting in the wings came up and placed Boro’s head on the guillotine.

“So I intend to ask the gods with this man’s neck. To see whose side the gods are on.”

“I was wrong! My lord!! I was wrong!!!! I’m sorry!!! Please spare me!! Please!! Please spare me!!!”

Hadem slowly approached Boro’s head on the guillotine.

Boro, terrified, kept shouting for his life.

“If the gods are on the side of the salt bugs, your neck will be safe. But if not, it will be severed by my axe.”

“My lord!! My lord!!!!!”

All the commoners of the Lion territory turned to Boro.

Above him, Hadem raised his axe and shouted.

“O gods! Please render your judgment!”

Swish—!

And Hadem swung down the axe with all his might.

Boro’s neck, struck by Hadem’s strength and the sharpness of the axe, fell off helplessly.

The head rolled away, and blood flowed, but no one screamed.

No, they could not scream due to the fear of that mad lion.

“With this, the judgment of the gods has been rendered. Do not become forsaken lions who disappoint the gods!”

With those words, Hadem stepped down from the podium.

The fear of the mad lion swept through the territory more than ever.

A few days after that incident, a secret letter arrived at the Crones territory.

Upon seeing the letter, Calix’s expression hardened.

After much contemplation, Calix decided to meet the owner of the letter and left the territory.

Accompanied only by Azel as his escort, Calix arrived at a secluded tavern in the southeast, the promised meeting place.

Upon arriving at the tavern, the owner, upon seeing Calix’s face, immediately closed the tavern’s door and led Calix to a secret space underground.

When the door opened, the owner of the letter was waiting for Calix.

“Brother Calix! You came!”

The short, slender man with brown hair, who appeared to be the owner of the letter, rushed to Calix and knelt, starting to cry.

Without being taken aback by his sudden behavior, Calix calmly patted his back and said,

“You’ve become quite thin, Bara.”

His name was Bara Lion.

He was the only son of Hadem Lion and a victim who had suffered under Hadem all his life.

Having previously met Calix, he secretly sent a letter expressing his desire to meet, and Calix had come to meet him secretly, risking danger.

After a long time of crying, Bara calmed down, and he and Calix sat across from each other at a table.

“So, Bara, what is it that you must tell me?”

“Brother… please kill that mad lion! Please kill my father!!”

At Bara’s words, both Calix and his escort Azel could not hide their astonishment.

A story that would plunge the entire southern region into chaos was about to begin in a tavern in the southeast.