Chapter 15 - Caught in the Flames
Caught in the Flames
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Translator: Dusky90
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Caught in the Flames
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“Spread it nice and wide. The fire will catch better that way.”
“Got it.”
Condor’s subordinates and the hired mercenaries poured oil in various places, preparing to start fires.
They were trying to turn half the territory into a sea of fire to cause massive chaos.
But then…
“Caught you, you bastards!”
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
Soldiers from Lota Territory, who had been lying in wait, launched a surprise attack on Condor’s men and the hired mercenaries.
“Kill them!”
“Damn it!”
With that, skirmishes began erupting all across the territory.
Condor’s subordinates and hired mercenaries attempted to set the territory ablaze, only to be met with resistance from the soldiers of Lota Territory, sparking small-scale clashes.
“What’s going on…?”
“So noisy! What the hell is making all this racket?”
“Can’t a guy get some sleep… huh?”
The residents of Orth Territory came outside one by one due to the sudden commotion, and were startled upon witnessing the battle.
A clash between arsonists and those trying to stop them.
The problem was that the ones trying to set the fires were Condor's subordinates, who had once been allies, and the ones trying to stop them were the occupying forces, the soldiers of the Lota Territory.
"What… the hell is going on?"
"The lord tried to set the place on fire?"
"N-No way! That can't be true!"
The residents of Orth Territory were horrified.
They couldn’t bring themselves to believe that Condor, the man they had held in such high esteem, had tried to set the entire territory ablaze.
While that was happening.
“Targets secured! Cease all combat!”
“Arrests are complete over here too!”
Condor’s subordinates and the mercenaries were subdued one by one by the soldiers of the Lota Territory and taken into custody.
“Th-This can't be….”
Condor fell into despair as even the arson operation ended in failure.
It was all over.
He had lost every one of his subordinates in this operation, and even the mercenaries he had hired were completely wiped out.
There were no more forces he could muster.
On top of that, even the temporary base had burned down.
Now, only Condor remained.
“Seize him!”
“There’s Condor over there!”
The soldiers of the Lota Territory spotted Condor and began chasing after him.
“Damn it all!”
Condor didn’t even have time to despair and bolted to save his life.
The soldiers of Lota Territory gave close chase, but they failed to apprehend Condor.
Condor’s combat skills were so exceptional that ordinary knights and soldiers simply couldn’t catch him.
"Condor got away."
Camille informed Otto of this as soon as the operation concluded.
"I know."
"Doesn't it bother you?"
"Not really?"
"Still, it looks like things ended smoothly."
Camille seemed to consider the incident resolved.
He had judged that, since Condor had lost everything, he would no longer dare to try and reclaim the Orth Territory.
"Well."
Otto gave a subtle smile that made it hard to tell what he was thinking.
"Will it really be like that?"
"Wha…?"
"Let’s just wait and see. Yaaawn."
After saying that, Otto let out a yawn and headed off to bed.
* * *
The next morning.
"Everyone, listen up!"
Camille gathered the residents of the Orth Territory and explained what had occurred the night before.
"Former Lord Condor didn't stop at hiring mercenaries, he tried to burn down the entire territory! The captured knights and soldiers from the former Orth forces will testify, and so will the mercenaries!"
Then Condor's subordinates and the mercenaries began revealing the truth one after another.
"Condor was a tyrant! He constantly suspected and killed his own men!"
"That bastard didn’t care if our beloved land burned to the ground! All he cared about was taking it back!"
Having been let down too many times, Condor’s men had no loyalty left for him.
After enduring Condor’s endless suspicion and harassment, they had lost all attachment to him.
"Our mission was to help Condor set fire to over half the territory."
"It was an operation that didn’t care about the damage to the territory’s people."
Since the mercenaries had participated in the operation for money in the first place, they confessed everything as it was.
They, being mercenaries, had absolutely no reason to defend Condor.
And then...
"We only joined the operation because we were hired. Condor promised to pay us with half of this land."
Among the mercenaries who participated in this operation, the one who served as their leader revealed the details of the contract exchanged between Condor and the mercenary group.
"He was going to sell off the territory?"
“That bastard! Does being a lord mean he can do whatever he wants? Who said he could sell off the land we live on?”
“He’s no better than a traitor!”
The people of the Orth Territory were greatly enraged by the revelations.
They might have tolerated other things, but trying to burn down the territory and give half of it to a mercenary band was absolutely unforgivable.
And that wasn’t the worst of it.
“In the contract, there was also a clause about selling half of the territory’s people as slaves.”
With the additional revelations, the anger of the Orth Territory's people reached its peak.
Alright, perhaps they could’ve grudgingly accepted the idea of giving away half the territory.
But the attempt to pay the mercenary fee by selling half the people into slavery was an unpardonable crime.
A territory is, in a sense, its own little kingdom.
Who in the world would sell their own people into slavery?
“That damn bastard!”
"He didn’t care about us, That bastard treated us like objects!"
"That son of a bitch!"
"Who do you think they are, turning us into slaves!"
The fury of the people of the Orth Territory pierced the sky, and thanks to that, Condor completely lost the people's support.
He also lost his temporary base.
He lost his troops as well.
And now, he’s lost his most valuable asset, the people’s support, entirely.
“Hehehe.”
Otto watched with delight as the people of Orth Territory hurled insults at Condor.
With this, any way for Condor to reclaim the Orth Territory had completely disappeared.
Now that the public sentiment had turned, no matter what he tried, it had become impossible to turn the situation around.
‘This is where it really begins.’
Otto was well aware that just because the people had turned their backs on Condor didn’t mean they would automatically turn to him.
‘It’s times like this when I need to be at my best.’
Otto quickly set things in motion to win back the people’s trust.
* * *
After managing to escape from the Orth Territory, Condor fled into the depths of the mountains.
“Otto de Scuderia… that damn bastard… how dare he toy with me...”
Condor’s rage toward Otto was overwhelming.
And with good reason, Condor’s life had been completely shattered because of Otto.
He lost his territory, lost his subordinates, and now even lost the public’s support.
A life so ruined that recovery was no longer possible.
All that remained was his body, and with nothing else left, he had no choice but to survive as a drifter, a mercenary.
And even that, perhaps, was a small mercy, if it could be called one.
“I swear… I will have my revenge… even if I have to sell my soul to the devil… I’ll see you ruined….”
Fueled by his thirst for revenge against Otto, Condor wandered like a man possessed.
Reclaiming his territory was no longer even on his mind.
Only revenge.
Hatred toward Otto was the sole force that kept Condor moving.
* * *
Otto immediately set out to restore public sentiment in the Orth Territory.
“People of the territory, listen well! Moved by the hardships you’ve suffered, the lord has decided to waive taxes this fall!”
Camille gathered the territory’s people and conveyed Otto’s will.
“N-No taxes? Really?”
“Did I hear that correctly?”
The people of the territory couldn’t believe what they had just heard.
It was already shocking that taxes wouldn’t be collected, but what made it even more surprising was that the one behind it was none other than Otto, who was infamous as a total scoundrel.
Otto had long been the very symbol of a corrupt and cruel lord, so no one had imagined he would ever introduce such a generous measure.
“Doesn’t seem like anyone’s buying it.”
“Looks that way.”
Otto glanced at the status window, saw that the people’s support hadn’t increased at all, and gave a quiet nod.
“It’ll take some time, so let’s wait and see for now. If we gradually show improvement, the people of the territory will begin to accept it.”
“Wise decision, sir.”
“For the time being…”
After a brief moment of thought, Otto spoke up.
“Come with me for a bit.”
“Where to?”
“You’ll see once we get there.”
".....?"
“Before we head out, grab a shovel and a pickaxe.”
Camille couldn’t understand why Otto was saying such things, but for now, he decided to follow his orders.
A few hours later.
Otto led Camille to the northern mountain range.
“It should be around here somewhere… where is it…”
Otto furrowed his brows, studying the map closely.
Because he wasn’t used to land navigation, the ability to read and interpret maps, he found it difficult to make sense of it.
“What is it you’re trying to find?”
Camille asked.
“A way to deal with Condor.”
“Huh…?”
Camille couldn’t understand what Otto meant.
Condor had already fallen so far that he was no longer a threat to Otto.
Then why was he talking about finding a way to deal with Condor?
“Are you preparing in case Condor tries to assassinate you, my lord?”
“I’m preparing for the possibility that Condor won’t just target me, but try to devastate the entire territory. To be exact.”
“Huh…?”
“I think you’re taking Condor too lightly. He’s not someone who’ll give up until his last breath.”
Otto knew all too well that Condor hadn’t given up.
Condor wasn’t the kind of villain to back down at this point.
As the game progresses, an event known as [Condor’s Counterattack] occurs.
It’s the event where Condor sells his soul to an ancient demon and comes back as a monstrous being, hellbent on revenge against the player.
And once that happens, there’s no stopping him through conventional means.
The corrupted Condor is a monster with greater combat power than Nazrak.
There’s no way Otto, who hasn’t even awakened yet, could stand up to someone like that.
That’s why surviving the [Condor’s Counterattack] event required a special approach.
And at this moment, Otto was taking action to uncover exactly that.
“This is it.”
Otto finally found a small cave and smiled with satisfaction.
“What’s inside this cave…?”
“There’s definitely something in there.”
Otto answered as he entered the cave with Camille.
“The cave is blocked.”
“Here.”
Otto pulled out a pickaxe and a shovel from the saddle and handed them to Camille.
“Why… are you giving me this?”
“It’s blocked, so we have to dig.”
“You want me to dig?”
“Then should I, the lord, be the one to dig?”
"....."
“Hurry up and dig. I’ll be resting for a bit.”
With that, Otto laid out a mat and flopped down on it.
"....."
Camille trembled with irritation at Otto’s blatant shamelessness, but still picked up the pickaxe and started digging through the collapsed cave.
What choice did he have?
Rank is everything, after all.
*Clang!* BAAM!
“Oh? Seems like there’s some emotion behind those swings?”
“Not at all.”
*Clang!* *Bang!* Crack!
“Really? ‘Cause it feels like you’re swinging that thing thinking about bashing my head in.”
“Not in the slightest.”
*CRACK!* *BAM!* *THUD!* CLANG!
“Absolutely.”
Using his anger as fuel, Camille quickly broke through the blocked cave.
*Snap!* Fsshh!
Once the cave was opened, Otto struck a match, lit the lantern, and started heading inside.
“That is…”
Camille tilted his head in confusion as he looked at something inside the cave.
“Is that… a skeleton?”
Further in, a bleached white skeleton sat hunched over in the cave.
In the skeleton’s hollow right eye socket, there was a fake eye made of gold.
And right beside it, a terrifying-looking black mace lay abandoned on the ground.
“Whose bones are these? They look like they’ve been here a long time…”
“Nothing come to mind?”
“Huh?”
“A golden fake eye. And a mace. Doesn’t that instantly remind you of someone?”
“N-No way.”
Camille was startled out of his wits.
“This skeleton… could it be… the remains of the Cannibal Emperor Kairos?”