Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: The Spoiled Heir's Gambit
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"How should I repay this favor...?"
"If you ever need an ignorant fool like me, just call anytime. I'll help you once for free."
"Thanks to you, I survived."
They wiped their dirt-, sweat-, and blood-caked hands on their equally filthy clothes before offering handshakes.
Not everyone, but those who handed over their names or wooden tags, vowing to repay the debt of their lives, earned smiles in return. Then they began repairing the least damaged carriage to carry the wounded.
The raid had involved an ogre and a horde of goblins, so the horses had long since been slaughtered. For now, they decided to leave the ogre's corpse behind and move out.
Even in death, its stench would deter scavengers for a few days, so the butchers would come later.
"You absolutely can't let this slide."
"So, what are you planning to do...?"
I hated troublesome matters, so with my robe pulled back on subtly, the crowd shifted to Rachel and Zero instead, piping up one after another.
Someone had to protest for compensation over the damages from faulty information, and they'd pegged our party as the target.
It made sense. Most were small parties of mercenaries or lone sellswords who'd volunteered for the subjugation force, or else the famous Three Captains from the borderlands.
Vincent, Raylen, and Kicho's crews.
The Three Captains' people would have their leaders complain for them, but the powerless always had to band together just to make their voices heard.
"Uh, excuse me. Um."
They kept slyly grabbing Zero's hand, slipping her coins and begging her to speak up for them, so Zero started glancing my way repeatedly.
Handle it yourself a bit longer, Zero. I planned to reveal my identity eventually, but no need to get swarmed by people right from the start.
Ignoring Zero as she was surrounded by thanks and pleas to handle things properly, I continued chatting with Luna.
"First, once we're back, we need to set up a meeting with the subjugation quest handler and the Three Captains."
"Yes, of course. We nearly lost you, young master. No way we're letting this go."
...Her frenzy level hadn't spiked, had it?
She smiled sweetly at my words, but her eyes had a chilling glint, her ears perked sharply. I quickly started petting her head.
Her gaze softened at that, her ears drooping contentedly and going limp—looked like things were settling down.
"Right. Anyone who dares ruin my plans will pay dearly."
As I growled it like a villain, Luna, Leaf, and Rachel all let out soft laughs.
"What?"
When I shot a glance at the three, they all averted their eyes.
"Ah, no, it's just... reassuring."
―We're counting on you, Administrator.
"You punk. For a human, your head turns pretty quick, but even you slip up sometimes?"
For a human? For a human?
Hearing that from brainless Rachel stung my pride a little.
"No matter how carefully someone plans, if heaven's luck doesn't follow, it's all for nothing."
As I grumbled, Rachel pondered for a moment before speaking.
"Well, that's true. There are things my will alone can't resolve."
"Don't drop foreshadowing lines like that."
"Eh?"
Oops, slipped out.
She'd said it so blatantly ominous, I couldn't stay quiet.
"Let's hurry back and eat."
"Whoa, love that. Let's go!"
Thrilled at the mention of food, she dashed ahead and started clearing the fallen logs blocking the path.
Rachel already had plenty of hidden depths as a character—don't add more. If you're not dropping hints, quit with those lines!
I wanted to say it but held back, shrugging instead.
"Th-that said, protesting is one thing, but whether it'll work if I do it..."
"We believe in you! We do!"
Thanks to diverting the other mercenaries' attention to Zero as a sacrifice, I walked leisurely when Luna sidled up.
"By the way, young master."
"What is it?"
Looking up at me, worry swirled in Luna's pink eyes.
"You pushed Zero forward because you didn't want attention or to reveal yourself, right? Are you okay?"
Talking directly to the subjugation handler and Three Captains naturally meant revealing who I was, so that must be her concern.
Fair enough—this incident had been incredibly lucky. If our party hadn't been strong...
We would've been wiped out here.
Luna and Zero were both aura users at minimum, Leaf and Rachel too, and I had high-class spells beyond Codex low-class ones.
We could've escaped if it came to it.
'But if our party hadn't been here, how many would've survived?'
Not a single one, without question.
In the original story, this place fell to cyclopes, and today's events were surely part of why.
A huge number of mercenaries sacrificed here meant reduced forces, plus faulty intel—reason unknown, but still.
Once planted, seeds of distrust inevitably sprout.
How many would chalk this up to simple bad luck?
In a life-risking job, the value of information and trust was beyond imagination.
Yet distrust was budding here.
If not handled properly, it'd spread to all mercenaries, and those living off subjugation quests—non-regular forces—might bail en masse.
'No matter how I look at it, something's fishy.'
I'd come thinking only of cyclopes, but the vibe felt off.
'If the Evil God Cult orchestrated this too...'
I couldn't let it slide again.
I slowly smiled to myself, sorting through the incident in my head.
* * *
"Narrow, rundown, and shoddy room."
I sauntered to the innermost chair, flicking ornaments and banners with my fingertips.
Time to let them taste my arrogance without the perception-lowering badge.
Eyes widened instantly...
Before I could look down, I pretended not to notice, sat in the best seat, swept the table with my fingers, and blew off the dust with a puff.
"Uh... it's an honor to meet you. Adelian Suho Kruger."
The regular expedition leader—with a massive knife scar on his face—and his team bowed at the waist, but I ignored them like I hadn't heard, rummaging in my clothes for a cigarette.
"Luna."
My conscience twinged, but this was all to seize control and resolve things—no choice.
Behold the accumulated thug tropes from Korean dramas and movies.
"Yes, young master."
Luna, in her airy maid outfit, fanned with a feather plume.
Leaf pulled wine glasses from the small sub-space ring I'd given him earlier, pouring the liquor he'd been holding and setting them before me.
I propped my feet on the table, leaned back, put the cigarette in my mouth, and soon Zero knelt on one knee, lighting it deferentially.
A textbook selfish noble playboy who cared for no one but himself.
"So, when are the rest of the parties showing up?"
Of course, with my stamina the worst off, I had no intention of actually smoking—just held it between my fingers for atmosphere, speaking haughtily. The subjugation team's brows furrowed slightly.
Fact was, we weren't in a superior-subordinate relationship; we were here to discuss as parties to the twin-headed ogre incident.
'But right now, I'm the immature spoiled noble pulling rank.'
Rachel—after three days of refusing—agreed for unlimited meat and booze, dressed in flashy martial robes as a bodyguard.
Obvious at a glance: Hired for her looks, propped up like decor.
"Standing there hurts my neck. Bragging about being taller than me? Ha, laugh. I said laugh at my joke."
"Haha... uh, I'll sit then."
Conscience pricked in this seniority-respecting culture, but here status trumped age.
Dispatched for cleanup, they seemed commoners, sitting awkwardly—then the door burst open.
"We're busy with recovery prep, and they tell us to come?"
"Kihi. Isn't death always at hand in the borderlands?"
A dark-skinned woman spouting nonsense from the start, and a hunched man.
'Those must be Raylen and Kicho, two of the borderlands' Three Captains.'
I smirked, curling one lip.
"Took you long enough."
"Huh?"
"Kuh?"
I handed the unlit cigarette—dangling from my fingers—to Zero, picked up the wine Leaf had poured, swirled it lightly for decanting, and spoke.
"What're you waiting for? Sit. You're here about compensation, right?"
I shooed them with my other hand like chasing pests, crumpling Raylen and Kicho's faces.
They sensed something off, but oh well.
Right now, I was the one in charge.
My party suffered from the intel mix-up. My party slew the ogre in the end.
And I nearly died. Son of Grand Duke Kaiman—one of the empire's few—and heir to House Kruger, rumored to control over half the continent's commerce.
"Adelian Suho Kruger. That's me. How do you plan to compensate for the damages I took? Got a stiff neck over it?"
I sipped the fragrant wine, grinning. Raylen and Kicho, initially baffled and exchanging glances, paled.
"Kih? Uh, wh-what? House Kruger's... young master?"
"No way... the young master of that House Kruger came to this shabby, dangerous borderland...?"
The silent regular subjugation member's face shifted to 'That's exactly what I've been thinking.'
He couldn't lie to save his life.
I laughed disbelievingly in response.
"Is there anywhere on this continent I can't go?"
"Of course not, young master. No place could bar you."
Luna fanned gracefully, smiling warmly.
I shrugged with the most punchable face possible—like a talentless waste riding family prestige.
"You kept me waiting too long."
"Sorry we're late."
Right on cue, a middle-aged man in worn priestly robes, looking fatigued, entered.
Vincent. Nice to see you in the flesh.
I took in the Vincent I'd often partied with in-game, smiling slowly.
"A bit later and I'd have turned back. That would've put you in a real bind."
"Why is that?"
"You'd have to compensate all at once: damages from bad intel, plus wasting my time."
"House Kruger's young master."
All parties assembled—time to begin.
I dropped my feet from the table, yawning lazily.
Our prearranged signal.
Zero spoke up.
"From here, I'll proceed in the young master's stead. Our demanded compensation is as follows."
She pulled documents from her bosom, distributing them one by one. Reading them sparked backlash.
"Kihi? This is absurd. We're victims too!"
"Why should I pay reparations?"
"Even if it was our scout's error, this amount is excessive..."
The meeting room buzzed quickly. We'd drafted it tight, nitpicking every angle—naturally.
I sipped wine innocently.
"What's the problem?"
"Everything, from start to finish."
I sneered at the calmly negotiating Vincent.
"You wasted my time with bad intel, ruined my fun, and the hires I paid for fled without fighting properly and got caught dying—what are you even saying? I'm the only innocent victim here?"
"But we also..."
"You nearly wrecked my toys."
I tilted my chin up, looking down as I continued.
"So, how do you plan to compensate me?"