episode_0053

At that time, the office of Baron Gilbert’s lordship residence.

“It’s difficult.”

Blake Gilberte, the middle-aged lord who rules the Barony of Gilberte, sighed as he looked at the documents spread out on his office desk.

“In many ways, it’s difficult.”

Baron Gilberte was truly troubled.

Since the accident that was not an accident two months ago, this was the most painful moment for him.

“Too many people are dying.”

The number of missing people has already reached 70.

To be exact, the number of people who enter the dungeon and are sucked beyond the fog and can no longer return.

70 people did not disappear at once.

At first there were about fifteen people.

The problem is that among the first missing people was Eris, the woman who was the most important adventurer in this territory.

Another problem is that Eris’ true identity is Eris Albatea – the only daughter of the Albatea Count family.

Having a half-brother or not is just a minor issue.

Actually, it is not trivial.

Just because an illegitimate child is alive, the issue of inheritance distribution is always a concern.

If he dies suddenly one day, who will take over the baronetcy?

A child not yet 10 years old?

No matter how much he is the child of a prostitute, being the son of an ancestral baron is an issue that requires more attention than one might think.

He may have even considered that possibility, but he has maintained a decent relationship with the knights in his family for a long time, so it is natural for him to be even more wary.

If he comes back alive-

“Tsk….”

I would rather die, but if I think of her as dead, I have to think of Eris Albatea as dead too.

What is the best thing for Blake Gilbert as an individual?

As many as 70 adventurers go missing one after another and never return, so the adventurer guild leader comes to visit every time and whines to dispatch a corps of knights?

Based on the wounds inflicted on those who come back alive from the gray fog that suddenly appears inside the dungeon, the only thing they know is that ‘this won’t be an ordinary dungeon’?

Most of the wills left behind by the few who survived were all killed by the ‘old demon’, and in order to defeat the old demon, perhaps a master-level swordsman or wizard, not a high-ranking knight, may need to come?

“Ha. I wish I knew for sure whether he was alive or dead.”

I hope someone lives.

I hope someone died.

And if possible, the living person was Eris Albatea and not the illegitimate son named Jake Gilberte.

“…….”

Baron Gilberte opened the drawer.

After using the key to unlock the lock, he took out a letter written in blood inside.

“Please save me, ”

It is not my handwriting.

However, the blood oath contains information that this cannot be avoided.

“I received it two weeks ago, but is it still alive?”

Only a small portion of people are still aware of the existence of this blood oath.

If it is confirmed that he is alive, more ‘rescue teams’ must be deployed.

And deploying knights rather than adventurers would soon result in a decline in Baron Gilberte’s power.

“Damn….”

Baron Gilberte couldn’t help but think that way.

I don’t know where the Dungeon of Fog in the report is headed, but the demons that appear in that dungeon cannot be captured by Baron Gilberte.

It’s just that when monsters come backwards from the dungeon, it’s best to defeat them based on the power of the goddess.

If he didn’t need to go beyond the dungeon, he would be able to sleep comfortably as long as he maintained the status quo and warned adventurers not to be carelessly sucked into the gray fog.

It would actually be more convenient.

Even after receiving the title of Baronet, he was still an adventurer and he no longer had to worry about the parasite that had been clinging to Gilberte.

I was worried about becoming involved with the Count of Albatea, and then having the baronetcy taken away by force…

Knock knock.

A knock sounds.

As it was late at night, Baron Gilberte cleared his throat with an annoyed expression as he pushed the blood letter back into the drawer.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me, my lord.”

The secretary came in.

Baron Gilberte, who was annoyed by his pale expression, swallowed his saliva.

“What’s going on?”

“Armot party was killed.”

“……Is this the 75th person?”

“Yes. But one person came back alive.”

“I’m going to die again. Not long after.”

“That….”

The secretary held out a magic stone with trembling hands.

“This was written.”

“Was it written down?”

Baron Gilberte shed mana at the magic stone presented by the secretary.

Soon, the fog spread over the magic stone in a rectangular shape, and an image that looked like a scene was spread out in front of Baron Gilberte using magic.

“…Wow.”

When the Baron saw the burn, he almost felt nauseous.

He was almost at a loss for words at the shocking sight he had never seen before.

“Surely the demons… wrote adventurers on letterhead?”

“It seems so.”

There was writing written on the human’s back.

It wasn’t just writing, it was as if the writing had been carved into the body using a sharp knife.

“Adventurer?”

“He’s not dead, but the shock is huge. According to the priest, even if there is treatment, the scar will remain forever.”

“Ha….”

Baron Gilberte closed his eyes.

“I’m going crazy.”

Because of the content engraved on the adventurer’s body, it can be said to be a letter.

“Baron. First of all…”

“Deacon. Call a meeting.”

Baron Gilberte sighed deeply.

” Since Jake Gilbert is alive, we have no choice but to form a rescue team.”

The content written on the adventurer’s body was not much different from the content of the letter contained in the drawer over there.

“The rescue team…no.”

But to be more clear-

“For negotiations, we need to form a negotiation team.”

About the liberation of human prisoner Jake Gilbert.

The largest number written on the adventurer’s body, regarding compensation for the liberation of prisoners.

* * *

Teaching assistant’s room, morning.

“Million gold?”

“Yes.”

Eris opens her eyes wide and is surprised.

As expected, Eris seems to be mesmerized by the enormous unit of one million.

“…….”

Blink your eyes.

It seems that the unit of one million gold is not easy to estimate.

‘Honestly, I can’t really guess, but it’s strange that I can guess.’

To define the value of a million gold, we need to roughly consider how much one gold is worth.

“Uh, so…”

“According to Assistant General Archammond, the approximate value is the tax revenue of one year of the Barony.”

“….Tax revenue for one year of the Barony?”

It is not my job to calculate that appropriate value.

“G, really?”

“Specifically, they said it was 1.04 million, but they just calculated it as 1 million gold.”

Because General Assistant Akamond had already decided on an appropriate amount ‘according to the market price’.

“Compensation for the liberation of Jake Gilbert’s hostages. It’s a million gold.”

“……You have to sacrifice all of a year’s worth of tax revenue for one person’s life?”

“Yes.”

The figure of one million gold is not important.

The symbolic meaning of that amount is important.

“Are you planning to ruin the Barony…?”

One year tax revenue.

If it’s a company, it means that one year’s sales must be paid as compensation to the company’s president’s illegitimate child.

‘As expected, the daughter of a noble family.’

Even if she worked as an adventurer, she must have gained some sense as a noblewoman.

Even though the Barony of Gilberte is much smaller than the County of Albatea, the tax revenue it generates through dungeons is quite significant.

“……It’s not something a prisoner would say, but I think it’s a bit too much.”

Eris fiddled with her fork and lowered her head.

“Trying to use someone who is already dead and sell them off pretending to be alive.”

“It’s not too much. Economically, morally, and humanly.”

“But I am the Demon King’s military trainer. Is that so?”

“There are things like that, but…”

I tapped my finger on the table to get Eris’ attention.

“Do you really think Baron Gilberte will negotiate with one year’s tax revenue?”

“What?”

“Never do that.”

There is a price for a person’s life.

“What if I were in that position? I wouldn’t do something stupid like blow up a year’s tax income to save an illegitimate child who is already a thorn in my side.”

“Ha, but…”

“Won’t you know if you’re burning a million gold to save Eris Albatea.”

“……No way.”

Eris’s eyes shake greatly.

“To liberate me…?”

“Huh? That’s not it.”

“What?”

“Is your ransom worth a million gold?”

“…….”

“Someone like Jake costs a million, but Eris Albatea can’t even compare.”

I asked just in case, and they said it would have to be about 20 times that amount to make it profitable.

“I didn’t pay attention to it before, but now that I’m in a position to deal with hostage compensation, I see things I couldn’t see. Eris. Do you know why the hostage compensation is so ‘reasonably high’?”

“……Reasonably many?”

“Yes.”

“……Even if you go bankrupt, do you mean to decide whether to save one person or kill him?”

“That’s right.”

The Demon King’s army has destroyed several groups at the price of one person’s life.

“Eris, it’s not time for you to step forward yet. I’ll have to come forward someday.”

“Someday…?”

“Okay. This is it.”

I took out an item from the assistant teacher’s storage room.

“Now, wait!”

Eris stood up from her seat and pointed at the object.

“Me, me…! Are you tying me to that table and trying to rape me? ”

“…Oh, it may seem that way.”

Round table.

On top of it were devices for laying people down and tying their limbs.

“It is a negotiation venue, but if you want it to be done that way, you have to do it that way.”

“Negotiations…?”

“Okay. The main target of the deal would be the Count of Albatea, but for him, I was going to ‘negotiate’ with Blake Gilberte first.”

I raised my finger.

“A very good deal to get Jake Zilberg without having to pay a million gold.”

“…….”

“Are you curious?”

“Well, that.”

“First, before that.”

I lifted Eris by the waist.

“Well, what are you trying to do…?!”

“What you want.”

“What am I-”

“Tie him to the table and rape him like a dog.”

“……!!”

Eris bit her lower lip.

“You’re not trying to tie me up in a strange position, right…?”

I neither denied nor resisted being raped.

Of course, I just accept being raped.

“Hey.”

I pointed Eris to the table.

“Get down.”

‘Like a dog’, rape.