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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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A sickening thud echoed as the blue-haired young man collapsed.
Well, what could I say?
He looked dead.
“He’s alive, so don’t worry.”
As if reading my mind, Regret replied.
I looked at the heavy wooden club in her hand.
She had brought it along, saying it was more convenient for capturing people alive, but wouldn’t someone normally die if they were hit in the head with something like that?
Well, judging by her movements earlier, she wasn’t ordinary, so he’d probably be fine.
It wasn’t like I was the one who got hit.
“By the way, it’s surprising that that man is still alive.”
I looked at Dorf, who was still unconscious after being abandoned by the attackers.
Contrary to my expectation that he would have been killed, the attackers hadn’t touched him.
Had they tried to extract information from him?
In any case, it wasn’t bad news for me.
“Oh, this guy’s weapon is pretty decent.”
Regret, after examining the fallen young man, took his sword and scabbard and equipped them in place of her own shortsword.
Slightly taken aback, I asked,
“What are you going to do with your old one?”
Regret replied,
“Sell it. No need to have multiples of the same thing.”
“…”
‘Come to think of it, it was similar in the game.’
There was a running joke among Nameless War Ghost players that the character was a weapon hoarder.
This was because there was almost always an option to request a weapon as a quest reward.
There was even an instance where the Nameless War Ghost refused a king’s offer of a castle and instead demanded the kingdom’s treasured sword.
A strange sense of familiarity washed over me as I saw her behavior align with the information I knew.
Then, Regret pulled something like a piece of paper from the young man’s pocket and handed it to me.
It was the parchment with the secret art that Dorf had shown me in the carriage.
“But can we really get a proper reward with this? It’ll be a pain if that old man complains that we didn’t protect him properly.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll handle it if he does. That’s why I captured this guy alive.”
Now that the attack had failed and the mastermind, the heir to the territory, was captured, there were plenty of ways to leverage the situation.
Whether this incident was Lord Baldwin’s intention or his son’s reckless act, it didn’t matter to me.
The lord and his son were likely to face dire consequences.
I pitied them, but I wasn’t going to let them off easy.
Mercy was the privilege of the strong and the righteous.
I was neither strong enough nor kind enough to show compassion to someone who had tried to kill me.
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After rejoining the rest of our group, we administered first aid to the injured and resumed our journey.
Three members of the trading company and five mercenaries had died in the ambush, but the rest escaped with just injuries.
Most of the attackers were killed, and two were captured.
The captured attackers, including the lord’s son, initially attempted to escape and resist, but after being thoroughly beaten by the enraged Brown Wolf mercenaries who had lost their comrades, they quieted down.
Dorf, another source of concern, was thankfully alive, though he was in no condition to speak and spent most of his time sleeping.
I overheard the mercenaries saying it was better that he was quiet, but I chose to ignore them.
It was natural for them to resent him after being abandoned in a life-or-death situation.
Incidentally, the details of Regret’s actions were significantly downplayed at her request.
The fact that she had saved me from one of the attackers was concealed, and the capture of the lord’s son and his companion was spun into a tale of a fierce battle with Dorf’s bodyguards, resulting in the bodyguards death, followed by Regret seizing the opportunity to capture the exhausted lord’s son.
The mercenaries laughed, saying the youngest, who had run away in fear, had gotten lucky, but recognized it as a considerable feat nonetheless and continued to offer their congratulations mixed with teasing.
That quickly died down when Regret responded with silence and gestures, as if she were mute.
“…I see, I understand.”
Captain Clark seemed to have guessed the general situation but didn’t pry.
The carts carrying the injured and the prisoners arrived back at our headquarters, and I once again faced the Lord.
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Bern Midas, head of the Midas family, Trade Representative of the Midas Trading Company, and my father.
He showed no sign of outrage at the fact that his son had nearly been killed, nor did he express concern for his injured son.
“Incompetent.”
He merely clicked his tongue at his subordinate’s carelessness.
“There’s nothing more prone to recklessness than a cornered animal. It’s absurd that he pushed them so far without considering the possibility of them biting back. Don’t you agree?”
Well, it was a bit awkward to respond to that.
I wasn’t close enough to him to defend Dorf, but it also felt wrong to kick a man while he was down.
Bern Midas, not expecting a reply, continued,
“The negotiations with Lord Baldwin concluded smoothly. In exchange for his son and silence on this incident, he agreed to hand over the secret art and the mining rights, even without further food supplies.”
It was practically a declaration of the Baldwin territory’s ruin.
“Was there no resistance?”
“Their resistance is meaningless. If this incident gets out, Lord Baldwin is finished. Given the choice between immediate ruin and saving his son’s life while facing a slower demise, anyone would choose the latter.”
Bern Midas asked,
“Do you have any requests? Since you cleaned up that fool’s mess, I’ll grant them within reason.”
I stated the first things that came to mind.
“The Brown Wolf Mercenary Company played a significant role in resolving this incident. It would be appropriate to reward them separately from their usual fee.”
“Even if Dorf brought this upon himself, it’s true that they failed to protect him. Do they deserve any consideration?”
“Even though they’re a declining company, they’re skilled enough to fight against those who received formal training in a territory. Besides, they seem eager to join our trading company, so there’s no harm in making a good impression.”
“An investment for the future, you say. Not bad. Anything else?”
“I want to go to the Academy.”
There was a brief pause, and for the first time, Bern Midas’s expression changed.
“Are you referring to the Imperial Academy?”
“Yes.”
Five years ago, the Great Emperor of Barhardt, arguably the most famous person on the continent, had abdicated in favor of his son and dedicated himself to establishing a special educational institution.
The Barhardt Imperial Academy.
Countless rumors surrounded this school, both because it was spearheaded by a former emperor and because it was declared to accept only those with the potential to use magic.
Some said it was the old emperor’s leisurely pastime in his retirement.
Others said it was a military academy to train the next generation of imperial leaders.
And some even whispered that it was a human experimentation lab for refining the Empire’s collection of secret arts.
I knew the real reason.
‘To train elite magic users to counter the Ivesthan Empire and the demons backing them.’
“Planetarium” was a game with a high degree of freedom, allowing players to create their own main stories through their choices.
However, there was one route that most players recommended for beginners.
The Academy storyline!
Countless events were prepared for that school, which was still under construction, and some had the potential to develop into incidents that would shake the continent.
And then there were the diverse talents gathered there.
‘It’s the perfect place for me to build both connections and skills.’
“Hmm…”
Bern Midas seemed to consider it for a moment before nodding.
“Very well. However, on the condition that you make sufficient contributions to the family for two years.”
“Yes.”
I wasn’t particularly worried.
I had no intention of idling away the next two years.
Preparing funds, planning for events that would occur at the Academy, securing my position within the family, and above all…
‘The Nameless War Ghost. I must bring Regret over to my side.’
And I had a plan for that.
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