“Count… Count! Something terrible has happened!”
At the Concorde Count’s estate.
A soldier burst urgently into the office of the Count, who ruled over Easton.
“What is it?”
A man with a sly, rat-like face scolded the soldier, who was panting heavily as he spoke.
“The Se… The Seventh Death Squad. They’ve urgently requested assistance.”
“The Seventh Death Squad? Why would they? Hmph. It’s probably just a mistake. Why are you even reporting something like that?”
“Well, uh, the captain went there!”
“So he went.”
“And, he hasn’t come back yet, sir. That’s why I came rushing to report it!”
Upon hearing the soldier’s report, Count Concorde furrowed his brow.
He had indeed made an agreement with the Seventh Death Squad, particularly with One. In exchange for allowing them to operate in Easton, he collected royalties from their activities. Count Concorde had turned his domain into a lucrative business.
‘I’ll make money while I can.’
Moreover, the terms of the agreement were favorable.
He was supposed to help them in times of crisis.
Using the Seventh Death Squad like bodyguards was beneficial from the Count’s perspective. But now…
“The Seventh Death Squad is one of the strongest groups on the continent. There’s no way they would request assistance. Go on now.”
The Count waved his hand dismissively, signaling for the soldier to leave, as though he found the entire situation a nuisance.
Just as the soldier was about to step out of the room.
“Of course, they wouldn’t ask for help. They’re all dead, after all.”
A voice came from outside the door.
Startled, Count Concorde shouted.
“Wh… What?!”
“What, indeed. Hold on. Step aside, soldier.”
The soldier was pushed aside from the door.
The soldier was pushed aside, and a boy, a young lady, a middle-aged man, and the captain of the guard stepped into the room.
“Are you Count Concorde?”
“That I am, but…”
The Count stammered, clearly unsettled.
He had never seen anyone barge into his office so confidently before.
No, not just a boy—no one had ever entered like this.
Was he not a Count, after all?
Even if he was a puppet of sorts, a Count was still a Count! And yet, they had stormed in without a word of notice?
‘Those servants of mine…!’
It was clear his subordinates had failed him miserably.
But still, he was a Count. H
is blood boiled with anger, but he swallowed it for the time being, barely keeping himself from exploding.
His voice, however, was not kind.
“Who are you?”
“That’s not important right now.”
… What?
Did they just say that revealing their identity wasn’t important?
Wasn’t it proper etiquette to introduce oneself upon entering another’s home?
The response was so shocking that the Count’s already frail mind was overwhelmed.
So he asked, almost reflexively.
“What, then, is important?”
At that moment, the captain of the guard stepped forward and bowed before the Count.
“Count, these people killed One.”
“One?”
“Yes. The leader of the Seventh Death Squad, One.”
“Oh, that One.”
The Count nodded.
Of course, he was familiar with the name.
He had handed over certain rights in exchange for regular payments from One. He was worried at first, given One’s infamous reputation as an assassin, but One had faithfully delivered the money, so he had come to like the person.
Though One was notorious enough to have a bounty on his head, as long as the money kept coming…
“Wait a minute.”
“Yes?”
“You said One is dead? That One?!”
Bang!
The Count stood up from his seat in a near-panic.
How could he not react this way?
The notorious One had been killed!
“And not just One…”
“Not just One?”
“The entire Seventh Death Squad has been exterminated.”
“Ex… exterminated?”
“Yes. We visited them in accordance with the support request, but by the time we arrived, the entire squad had already been annihilated.”
“That… That’s impossible. Exterminated, you say? How could that…”
Thud.
The Count collapsed into his chair, unable to believe what he had just heard.
The Seventh Death Squad, exterminated?
He had been deeply connected to them.
In fact, they handled much of the city’s work on his behalf.
Indeed.
The Seventh Death Squad was practically his business partner.
And they were dead?
Who would make him money now?
Rumble.
His panic quickly turned to anger, and Count Concorde’s face flushed with fury.
“Tie them up immediately! Arrest them all at once!”
“B-But…”
The captain of the guard hesitated.
The count shouted.
“You’re in on it too, aren’t you? Of course, you are! You said you were going to help, and instead, you joined them in their attack!”
“No, Count. How could I possibly confront a group like the Seventh Death Squad? Please calm down…”
“Calm down? Do I look calm? My money source is gone! How could those powerful people possibly lose?!”
“Well… It’s because these people are even stronger than the Seventh Death Squad, isn’t it?”
“I don’t care! Arrest them immediately! There’s no need for a trial! They’re all to be executed!”
Hearing the Count’s command, the captain of the guard scratched his head, looking troubled.
“Are you disobeying my order? Do you want to die with them?”
“Haah.”
The captain sighed openly.
The captain let out an audible sigh and turned to Lloyd and his party.
“Would you kindly surrender?”
“Are you crazy, sir?”
“No, I’m not. But I have to at least pretend I’m doing my job.”
“Step aside.”
“Of course.”
The captain stepped aside, and the sight made Count Concorde’s eyes widen in disbelief.
“Hey! Whose orders are you following?!”
“You really don’t understand the situation, do you? And all you do is make noise.”
“What?! You little brat!”
Thud, Thud.
The Count stomped toward Lloyd, his footsteps shaking the ground.
Lloyd, however, remained calm, not even blinking as he watched the Count approach.
Soon, the Count’s pace slowed.
Even someone as clueless as him could sense something was off.
‘Why is he so confident?’
As the Count awkwardly came to a stop, Lloyd finally spoke.
“Count.”
“… What? What is it?”
“The Seventh Death Squad is a known criminal organization. Your current actions seem no different than supporting a criminal group.”
“That’s… not true!”
“Then why are you so angry? We’ve only taken down a group of criminals.”
“Haha! Politics doesn’t work that easily! They had a role in the city, a role that benefited me! I was using them, that’s all. Yes!”
The Count clung to the logic he’d stumbled upon by chance.
Lloyd simply shrugged.
“You were using them to make some money, I assume?”
“What?”
“You mentioned earlier, didn’t you? You called them your ‘money source’.”
“That… That was just…!”
Crack.
The count’s expression changed back and forth.
“Absolutely not! I told you! I was just using them!”
“Oh, so you admit that they were a criminal organization, Count?”
“… Y-Yes!”
A grin spread across Lloyd’s face as the Count admitted it.
“In that case, hand it over.”
“… What do you mean by ‘hand it over’?”
“The reward.”
“Reward?”
“Yes. We’ve taken care of the bad guys, so you should reward us. Or would you rather admit that you were profiting off them?”
“Ugh!”
“I wonder how the Emperor would react if he heard about this?”
Crack.
The Count gritted his teeth, clearly backed into a corner.
“How dare you mention the Emperor! That’s treason! And who are you anyway? I haven’t even heard your name! This is a Count’s territory! If you’re a commoner, you won’t escape punishment!”
The Count was furious.
Lloyd backed away and winked at Julia.
Haah.
Yulia let out a small sigh and stepped forward.
“I’m Yulia Estrid, Third Princess of the Empire. This young man is my advisor.”
Her voice was calm and composed, and upon hearing her words, the Count froze, stunned.
He muttered blankly.
“Huh… P-Princess?”
◆
As they left the Count’s mansion, the village chief muttered in disbelief.
“I didn’t even expect to receive a reward.”
In his hands was a pouch full of gold coins.
Without a word, Lloyd swung a similar pouch in his hand.
Yulia, with a sigh, responded.
“The Count was politically entangled, so he had no choice. Although, I expected Lloyd to handle it in this way.”
“Thank you.”
“That wasn’t a compliment. I’d prefer if you kept my status as Princess hidden. It was your suggestion to keep it under wraps…”
“No. It’s time to reveal it.”
“… What?”
—Jingle.
Lloyd shook the pouch of coins again.
There was a certain comfort that came from money.
He was reminded once more that the most important things were money and power.
“At the very least, we’ve secured a good foundation.”
“A foundation?”
“Yes. Even this small bounty is still money.”
“…How can you call 5,000 gold ‘small change’?”
Lloyd ignored the village chief’s shock.
“More importantly, we’ve taken over the rights the Seventh Death Squad was managing. We’ve set up a steady source of income.”
“… You’ve practically been given full authority. The Emperor might even consider stripping Count Concorde of his title.”
“I hope it doesn’t come to that. His incompetence works in our favor.”
Princess Yulia reluctantly nodded in agreement.
“And there’s Claire’s Harold Trading Company. Bringing them under our control is another significant achievement.”
In Lloyd’s hand was a blank contract, bound by magic, which he had just taken from the Count’s office.
“Easton is a city where logistics are key. With the trading company on our side, we’ll have no problem expanding.”
Lloyd drew lines in the dirt with a stick, sketching a rough map of the continent.
The lines stretched out in all directions.
Yulia, observing the thick line that led to one particular destination, asked:
“… Why is this line so dark?”
The thickest line led to the Holy Kingdom of Constantine.
Lloyd smiled knowingly at her question.
“Our next target is the Holy Constantine, Saintess Aria.”
