Chapter 31: Absolute Power
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 31: Absolute Power
“Why? Have I come somewhere I shouldn't have, Bertio?”
Even a scoundrel needs money for his escapades. That was why, ever since my father entrusted me with the warehouse key, I had been treating the place like my own room.
Bertio’s office was connected to the warehouse, so we often ran into each other. This was nothing to be surprised about.
“Of-of course not. I was just lost in thought for a moment. My apologies.”
Bertio offered an excuse with an awkward laugh. It was an uncharacteristic mistake for such an experienced vassal. I feigned ignorance and continued the conversation.
“Well, the manor has been rather chaotic lately. With Mother stepping away from her duties, the burden on your shoulders must be much heavier.”
“As expected, you are the only one who recognizes my hard work, Lord Allen.”
“What have you decided to do about the military provisions?” I asked abruptly, just as Bertio’s expression returned to normal.
“H-how did you know about that?”
“A servant told me a messenger had arrived.”
Roland, the man who handled the military affairs for Sophia’s faction, had gone missing. In this age of barbarism, the ability to project direct military force made a huge difference. In other words, the scales of power were bound to tip significantly.
To make matters worse, Sophia, who should have been managing the situation, was focused solely on searching for Roland, neglecting all the major and minor affairs of the manor.
It was only natural for the servants, sensitive to the shifts in power, to quickly switch sides. The fact that I had personally beheaded the head maid, who had wielded absolute power as the second-in-command of the manor, must have also played a part.
My influence in the manor had now surpassed Sophia’s. If I could deal with just one more person, she would be completely isolated.
I looked at that one person and continued speaking.
“Why are you silent? Surely you’re not telling me you have no plan? This is a matter of Father’s honor. Imagine him being the only one whose provisions don’t arrive at a gathering of all the other vassals. How humiliating would that be? I guarantee you, when Father returns, he will try to flay you alive.”
This wasn’t an empty threat. As the second-oldest vassal, Bertio knew this better than anyone.
Bertio’s face turned deathly pale, his forehead slick with a cold sweat.
“Wh-what am I supposed to do when there’s no money?”
“Oh, Bertio. Are you really planning to make that excuse to Father? Why? Have you grown tired of living?”
“…!”
My father was not a man who would accept such an excuse. On the contrary, he would hold Bertio responsible for failing to secure the funds as treasurer.
“The strange thing is, while our family’s fortune wasn’t vast, it wasn’t small either.”
“Y-you know why!”
I was well aware that my scoundrel-like behavior, Sophia’s extravagance, and the successive demands for military provisions were the cause. But was that all? I narrowed my eyes and stared at Bertio.
“How can one fault the master for spending his own money? But it’s a different story when his inferiors dip their hands where they shouldn’t.”
“I-I am innocent!”
“Is that so? Isn’t it common for those who handle money to line their own pockets?”
By now, Bertio’s face was as pale as a corpse. He even took a step back as I approached him.
I stopped him by grabbing his collar, then brushed the dust from his clothes and straightened them. Placing a hand on his shoulder, I gave it a gentle squeeze and said, “Ah, relax. I have no intention of doing anything to you. I only want one thing. For you to handle this well—yes, well—so that Father’s anger doesn’t affect me.”
The conclusion to be drawn from everything I had said was simple: Bertio was to use his own fortune to secure the military provisions.
The sight of me, calmly demanding he hand over his wealth, was, even in my own eyes, truly that of a scoundrel.
“Lord Allen…!”
Bertio’s clenched fists trembled. I smirked at him, then turned my back. Before leaving the warehouse, I didn’t forget to leave him with one last remark.
“You should have picked the right side.”
With Sophia powerless, there was no one left to stop me. Bertio would now pay the price for backing the wrong horse. Of course, I had no intention of being satisfied with just his money.
What I wanted was much more than that.
#
Thud. The door closed, leaving Bertio alone in the warehouse.
Tap. Tap.. Tap…
As Allen’s footsteps faded into the distance, the rage Bertio had been suppressing finally exploded.
CRASH.
He slammed his fist on the desk and screamed.
“That son of a bitch of a scoundrel! What? I should cover it with my own money? Why the hell should I? FUCK! You two were the ones spending money like water, so why the hell do I have to be the one to clean up your mess?!”
It was true that he had skimmed some of the Tobalts family’s assets under various pretexts, just as Allen had implied. But Bertio didn’t think of it as wrongdoing. Wasn’t it something everyone did?
If anything, Bertio felt it was too small a compensation for his long years of service to the Tobalts family.
It was an excellent piece of self-justification.
The problem was that the facts of the matter were meaningless. Wasn’t that scoundrel the type to get his way even if it meant holding a knife to someone’s throat? Worse, he was dangerous because he was completely unreasonable.
“Fuck, does he really think I’ll just take this lying down?!”
Allen’s threat only solidified his decision to find a way out for himself.
Bertio began to sort through anything of value in the warehouse. Though the stores were nearly depleted, it added up to a decent amount when gathered.
The problem was that many of the items were bulky. Trying to carry them out as they were posed a high risk of being caught. For his own safety, he should have picked only the smaller items. But if he were the type to prioritize his safety, he wouldn’t be robbing a knightly family’s warehouse in the first place.
“Right. Since it’s come to this, it’s all or nothing.”
Bertio stubbornly packed up the assets. As if that wasn’t enough, his greed extended to other things.
“Wait, the real jackpot has to be that bitch Sophia.”
As the treasurer, Bertio knew that most of the luxury items Sophia had purchased were jewels and ornaments that could be easily converted to cash. They would be worth far more than the goods he had scraped together from the barren warehouse.
Having finished his calculations, Bertio’s eyes gleamed with avarice. Once he had crossed the line, he could no longer control his greed.
The moment Sophia left her room for a meal, Bertio broke in. When he opened the jewelry box on her vanity and the drawers of her cabinet, a dazzling array of gems and ornaments revealed themselves.
Gulp.
Perhaps because the amount was greater than he had expected, his anxiety finally overcame his greed. Bertio hesitated, unable to sweep the jewelry into his bag, and checked for any movement outside. But the hesitation was brief.
“Damn it. While I was wrestling with the inferiors to somehow make ends meet, this bitch was indulging in such incredible luxury? That damn bitch. I never should have trusted a woman like her in the first place. Yes, this is my rightful compensation for all my suffering.”
As if to make up for lost time, Bertio’s hands moved roughly as he swept the jewelry into his sack. He grunted as he carried the now-full sack of valuables out of the manor.
Fortunately, he didn’t run into anyone on his way out. It was strange, considering there were more than ten people in the manor and the weight of the sack had slowed him down. But blinded by greed, Bertio simply thought luck was on his side.
“You! Pack your things, quickly! Hurry! Hans, you too!”
Returning to his residence in the village below the hill, Bertio rushed his family. Time was short if they were to pack everything they needed and leave the Tobalts estate before Sophia returned to her room.
The thought that he might be acting too hastily flashed through his mind, but he had already committed and there was no other choice.
“Honey! What’s going on all of a sudden!?”
“Dad? What’s wrong? You’re scaring me.”
Of course, his family, unaware of the situation, was simply bewildered.
“Just pack your things and stop talking! If we’re late, we’re all dead!”
Only after Bertio’s stern warning did his family realize the gravity of the situation and begin to pack.
“Just the important things! Only the important things! We can buy the rest!”
After instructing his family, Bertio headed straight for his study. He grunted as he pushed aside the large desk, and after rolling up the carpet beneath it, a wooden door with a handle was revealed.
Descending the stairs beyond it, he saw a cellar the size of an attic with a chest in the center. When he opened the lid, the dark cellar, lit by a single candle, was instantly illuminated. The chest was so full of gold and treasures that the lid barely closed.
This was the fruit of over a decade of embezzlement while serving as a vassal to the Tobalts family. His eyes, reflecting the gold and jewels, shimmered greedily.
“Heh heh, with this much wealth, I can live a life of luxury without having to answer to anyone. I might even become a powerful figure in a Free City and wield even greater authority than I do now.”
A brilliant future was within his grasp. Bertio closed the chest again and grunted as he carried it back upstairs. But the house, which should have been in a flurry of activity, was too quiet.
“Doesn’t that woman understand the situation…! Jenny! Jenny—!”
No answer came. His son, Hans, didn’t answer either. Had he been found out already? But how could it have been so soon? The silent house filled him with unease. Even the mice were quiet today.
Gulp.
Bertio quietly set down the chest and took a sword from the wall-mounted display. It was a one-handed sword, less than a meter long. The drawn blade trembled faintly, but Bertio didn’t notice.
“Jenny…?”
His wife wasn’t in the bedroom. The room was a mess, as if it had been ransacked, indicating that preparations to leave in a hurry had been brought to a sudden halt by something.
The sword in Bertio’s hand trembled more violently.
“Hans! Hans—!”
Bertio immediately ran up to the second floor. His son’s room was in a similar state to the bedroom. He couldn’t find them in any of the other rooms either. Now, Bertio’s entire body was trembling.
He was heading back down to the first-floor bedroom to search again from the beginning when he heard a presence outside. The front door was slightly ajar. Had he left it open? He couldn’t remember, having rushed in.
“She must have just stepped out to prepare the carriage. That must be it.”
Come to think of it, getting the carriage ready was more important than packing. Possessions could be bought again as long as he had money. Jenny was a wise wife. Surely, his wife and son would be waiting outside the front door, ready to depart. Bertio chose to believe that.
However,
What awaited him when he opened the front door were the villagers, surrounding his house with torches in hand.
“Jenny! Hans!”
“Mmph! Mmph!”
They were holding his wife and son captive.
“You bastards! What is the meaning of this! How dare you treat the family of a vassal of the Tobalts family this way! Do you wish to die?!”
Bertio shouted, pointing his sword at them. But not a single one of them showed any fear. Instead, they silently stared at one spot. Parting the crowd at the focal point of their gazes was a single figure. Bertio’s face hardened as he saw who it was.
“Lord… Allen?”
Allen faced Bertio and grinned.
“Bertio. Have you finished organizing your assets so neatly?”
“Wh-what.”
Bertio unknowingly took a step back. His instincts were screaming a warning. The scoundrel before him was not the scoundrel he knew. He was something more dangerous, more cruel, on a completely different level.
“For a man who handles money, you’re surprisingly slow on the uptake.”
At a signal from Allen, two young men emerged from the house carrying the chest of gold and the sack of goods stolen from the manor. Forgetting the gravity of the situation, Bertio tried to rush them.
“How dare you! Where do you think you’re putting your hands! That’s mine!”
The villagers quickly grabbed his arms and restrained him. At a nod from Allen, they forced Bertio to his knees. Allen looked down at the immobilized man.
“It’s mine now.”
“D-don’t tell me.”
Bertio had effectively gift-wrapped his entire fortune and presented it to Allen. Only then did he realize he had been dancing in the palm of Allen’s hand. It was a realization that came far too late.
“In any case, Bertio, you’ve worked hard. I wonder if you’ll like my final gift to you.”
At Allen’s gesture, the villagers parted to the left and right. In the revealed village square stood a gallows, erected at some unknown time. The villagers began to drag Bertio toward it.
“N-no—! You can’t kill me! I am a vassal who has served Sir Maxim for many years! Do you think Sir Maxim will stand for this! Sophia, where is Lady Sophia! Lady Sophia!”
Allen raised his hand. The villagers dragging Bertio stopped. Just as a glimmer of hope appeared in Bertio’s eyes, Allen’s mocking voice reached his ears.
“Oh, Bertio! Do you really want that? A man who stole from his family and from Mother? I wonder if they would be satisfied with a mere hanging. Father, in particular, is not as gentle as I am, is he? He might actually flay you alive.”
Bertio’s face turned ashen. Allen’s words were neither lies nor exaggerations.
“L-Lord Allen! Please, please spare me! I was wrong! I was foolish!”
“If you’ve done wrong, you must be punished. Isn’t that the way of the world?”
“Ah, then please spare my wife and child! Lord Allen!!”
Allen shook his head.
“Why would I spare those who could become a threat in the future? Take them away.”
“N-no!!!”
Bertio struggled, but in the end, his entire family was forced onto the gallows.
Clank.
The continuous screams were cut short as the platform beneath them gave way. Three figures dropped, and the ropes tightened around their necks. Their cervical vertebrae snapped before they could even register the pain, and their bodies went limp. It was a hollow end for a man who had held some sway in the manor.
Allen turned his back and looked up at the manor. With this, Sophia’s arms and legs had been completely cut off. How would she react? Would she give up? Or would she put up a meaningless struggle?
Whatever she chose, it would be amusing. After all, she could never escape the palm of my hand.