Shadows Over Morta
Even though she had just thrown away 2,000 points right before her eyes, Chloe felt as if all the stress that had built up over time had finally melted away, leaving her wonderfully refreshed.
“Since I’m in such a good mood, why don’t I go do some shopping?”
With a light heart, Chloe emptied her inventory and stepped through the front door.
A short while later, four hundred large golden toads studded with sparkling rubies gleamed brightly atop her bed.
“Darling, are you really just going to sit there and do nothing?”
Viscount Patrasche had been enduring his wife’s nagging since morning until his ears felt ready to bleed.
After returning from Morta Village, Aileen had taken to her bed, unable to contain her fury. Seeing their only daughter groaning in misery, Viscountess Vanessa had been hounding her husband relentlessly, day after day.
When she first heard what had happened to Aileen in Morta, Vanessa had flown into a rage and demanded they march straight to the Grace estate.
“How is Aileen today?”
The viscount asked while pressing his temples, unable to open his eyes because of his throbbing headache.
“She had another crying fit this morning. After being humiliated by that worthless girl, of course she feels utterly mortified.”
Vanessa’s voice grew choked with rage just imagining it. The thought of her precious daughter suffering at the hands of that insignificant Grace girl made her blood boil.
“She cried?”
“Yes. Those big eyes of hers kept spilling tears, one after another. It nearly broke my heart. Oh, heavens!”
Vanessa struck her chest with both hands and let out a heavy sigh.
“Are you truly going to let that insolent wretch get away with this? And what about Morta Village? You said you were going to buy it this time! You boasted that once we had Morta, Enol would naturally fall into our hands, but look at this mess!”
The viscount’s headache only worsened at his wife’s shrill voice.
“I’m working on a plan. In the meantime, you should focus on helping Aileen recover.”
“What kind of plan?”
Vanessa’s tone was thick with suspicion.
The viscount shot his wife an irritated glance for her constant nagging and lack of trust, but the moment their eyes met, he smoothed his expression and offered a gentle smile.
“We’ll make it so she has no choice but to sell Morta Village.”
“You have a way?”
Vanessa’s eyes lit up with anticipation. Whenever she wore that expression, she looked strikingly like Aileen. Obsessed with preserving her youth, she consumed and applied every remedy she could find, making her appear at least ten years younger than other women her age. Her still-firm figure, as supple as a woman in her twenties, helped as well.
In response to his wife’s question, the viscount simply smiled.
That afternoon, Vanessa decided to take Aileen shopping to lift her daughter’s gloomy spirits. The viscount, preferring that over listening to more complaints, told them to spend as much as they needed to feel better.
Once the carriage carrying the mother and daughter left the mansion, the viscount finally felt his headache ease a little.
“My lord, he has just arrived.”
The viscount was about to light a cigar when the butler rushed in with the news.
“Already?”
Frowning, the viscount returned the cigar to its box. Though it was already afternoon, the sun had not yet set and the surroundings remained bright. He had summoned the man because of his reputed efficiency, but this kind of tardiness was unacceptable.
Reading the viscount’s displeased expression, the butler quickly added, “No one saw him on the way here. Even when he suddenly appeared before me, I was quite startled.”
“You mean he slipped past all the guards?”
“Yes! None of the guards noticed him entering.”
“Is that so?”
The viscount’s expression turned intrigued. The fact that the man had reached this heavily guarded place in broad daylight without being seen by a single person was both chilling and impressive. The guards who had failed to notice an intruder would not escape punishment, of course.
“Bring him in.”
At the viscount’s permission, the butler bowed hastily and hurried out of the study. Watching the butler’s flustered steps, the viscount’s eyes narrowed in disapproval.
A moment later, when the man entered the study with the butler, surprise and shock flashed across the viscount’s face.
Expecting someone small and agile, the viscount was taken aback by the giant who appeared. The man stood nearly two meters tall, with forearms thicker than an average adult man’s thighs. Scars of various sizes covered his face and body, making his already imposing frame even more menacing.
Standing behind the reed-thin, pale butler, the giant’s rugged presence was all the more striking.
“My lord, this is Bartre.”
As the butler stepped aside to introduce him, Bartre bowed at once.
“My name is Bartre.”
“You’ll do anything you’re asked?”
“Yes. As long as the price is right, I’ll carry out your request perfectly, exactly as you wish.”
The moment Bartre finished speaking, a large leather pouch landed at his feet with a thud.
“Two hundred gold.”
Expecting the man’s eyes to widen at the sight of such a large sum, the viscount was surprised when Bartre merely stared down at the pouch without immediately picking it up.
The viscount’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“I’ll decide whether the price is fair after hearing the details of the job.”
Bartre straightened and met the viscount’s gaze with a calm voice. Despite looking down due to his height, his eyes revealed no emotion.
Patrasche found the man’s composure—refusing to be swayed by money and insisting on hearing the job first—quite satisfactory.
“Leave us.”
The viscount’s order was directed at the butler, who stood awkwardly by the door.
“Yes, my lord.”
Already feeling the pressure, the butler bowed deeply the instant the order was given and fled the study.
Now only the viscount and Bartre remained in the spacious room. Their eyes met in a tense, searching silence.
Even after the butler left, Bartre did not ask what the job was. He simply waited quietly for the viscount to speak. In the end, it was Patrasche who broke the silence first.
“I need a village ruined.”
“The price will depend on which village it is.”
“Morta.”
“I’ll need at least five hundred gold.”
Bartre glanced at the leather pouch on the floor and answered in a dry tone.
The construction of the vault had grown far larger in scale than originally planned.
What had begun with only Smith now included Builder as well. Since the village projects had reached a stable stage, Builder could occasionally step away without causing major issues.
The plan was to connect the room next to the lord’s chamber and the room directly below it with a staircase, converting both the first and second floors into vault space.
Of course, the entire plan had come from Chloe’s mind. When they heard the sheer size of the vault, not only the blacksmith Smith but also the butler and financial officer Scrooge were utterly astonished. Their faces clearly showed they were dying to know what on earth she intended to fill such an enormous space with.
That was not all.
“I want it to look like an ordinary room from the outside.”
The lord’s request was highly unusual. She even showed Smith a rough sketch she had prepared in advance.
“It means dividing both the first- and second-floor rooms in half. So the part that looks like a normal room from the outside will be the exterior wall of the vault. The remaining section facing the hallway will be—”
“The actual vault, then.”
Smith nodded in admiration as he continued.
Though he had undertaken many projects before, he had never received such a unique request.
“Exactly. But when you enter from the hallway, it should lead into the ordinary-looking room, not the vault itself. The only entrances to the vault should be from my room and the financial officer’s room on the first floor.”
Scrooge gave her a puzzled look.
“But my room is on the third floor.”
“Which means you’ll have to move. To the first floor.”
During her last visit to Scrooge’s room, Chloe had been bothered by the worn-out furniture, faded wallpaper, and the many places where mice had gnawed holes.
Using the vault construction as an excuse, she planned to give Scrooge’s room a proper renovation.
After the brief meeting about the vault, Chloe returned to her room and collapsed onto her bed, unable to fight off the wave of fatigue.
Anna, who had followed her like a shadow, was startled by how differently the lord was behaving, but she no longer felt afraid or worried as she once had. At least in Anna’s eyes, the current lord seemed far more likable than before.
“Shall I bring you some warm tea?”
Anna asked cautiously. But Chloe was far too tired to do anything but lie there.
“No, I just want to sleep.”
“Then please call if you need anything. I’ll come running right away.”
“All right. You should rest too, Anna. You’ve been running around after me all day.”
A bright smile spread across Anna’s face at the lord’s sleepy reply.
After Anna left, Chloe lay with her eyes closed for a long while before suddenly opening them wide as a thought struck her.
“What information haven’t I used yet?”
It was knowledge she had obtained by spending precious points and enduring a splitting headache. Determined to make full use of every last bit, Chloe recalled the information she had purchased.
Among them, what caught her eye was the agricultural advice.