Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Deal with the Barony (2)
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At that moment, in the study of the lord's castle in Gilbert Barony.
"This is troubling."
The middle-aged lord ruling Gilbert Barony, Blake Gilbert, let out a deep sigh as he stared at the documents spread out across his desk.
"Troubling in every way."
Blake Gilbert was genuinely troubled.
Since that incident—not quite an accident—that had occurred two months ago, this was the most headache-inducing moment he'd faced yet.
"Too many are dying."
Missing persons: seventy now.
More precisely, the number of people who had entered the dungeon, been sucked into the fog beyond, and never returned.
It wasn't as if all seventy had vanished at once.
It started with about a dozen.
The problem was that among those first missing adventurers was Eris, the top adventurer in this territory.
And the bigger problem was her true identity: Eris Albathea, the only daughter of the Albathea Count family.
The fact that he had a half-brother was a minor issue by comparison.
Actually, it wasn't minor at all.
Just the existence of a bastard son alive meant inheritance issues were always a nagging concern.
If he were to die suddenly one day, who would inherit the barony?
His child, not yet even ten years old?
No matter that he was the son of a whore, being the previous lord's son was a problem that demanded more attention than expected.
Moreover, the boy had long cultivated decent relations with the family's knights, as if anticipating such possibilities, making him all the more worthy of vigilance.
If he returned alive—
"Tch..."
It would be better if he were dead, but assuming he was dead meant assuming Eris Albathea was dead too.
What was best for Blake Gilbert personally?
The guild master of adventurers constantly visiting, begging for knight deployments because seventy adventurers had gone missing one after another?
Realizing from the wounds on those who miraculously survived the gray fog in the dungeon depths that this was no ordinary dungeon?
The dying words left by the few survivors mostly claiming they'd all been slaughtered by an "old demon," and that toppling that old demon might require a master-level swordsman or mage, not just a senior knight?
"Hah. If only we knew for sure whether they're alive or dead."
He hoped some had survived.
He hoped others had died.
And ideally, any survivors would be Eris Albathea, not that bastard Jake Gilbert.
"......"
Baron Gilbert opened a drawer.
After unlocking it with a key, he pulled out a letter written in blood.
"Spare me, it says."
It wasn't in the writer's own handwriting.
But blood oaths like this couldn't be helped.
"I received this two weeks ago already, but is he still alive?"
Only a select few knew of this blood letter's existence so far.
If survival were confirmed, even more "rescue teams" would need deploying.
And deploying knights instead of adventurers would mean a direct drop in Gilbert Barony's forces.
"Damn it..."
Baron Gilbert couldn't help but think it.
No matter where that fog in the dungeon reports led, the demons emerging from it were beyond what Gilbert Barony could handle.
The best they could do was repel monsters crossing over from the dungeon using the goddess's power—provided no one ventured beyond into it.
As long as adventurers were warned not to get sucked into the gray fog, maintaining the status quo would let him sleep easy.
It might even be more convenient.
Since he'd claimed the barony, he wouldn't have to worry about that parasite adventurer clinging to Gilbert anymore.
Nor about getting entangled with Albathea Count family and losing the barony by force—
Knock knock knock.
A knock echoed.
Late at night, Baron Gilbert irritably shoved the blood letter back into the drawer and cleared his throat.
"Come in."
"Pardon the intrusion, my lord."
His secretary entered.
Seeing the man's pale face, the baron swallowed his annoyance.
"What is it?"
"The Armot party was wiped out."
"......Making it seventy-five now?"
"Yes. But one survived."
"He'll die soon enough."
"That's just it..."
The secretary tremblingly held out a magic stone.
"This was written on it."
"Written on it?"
Baron Gilbert channeled mana into the proffered stone.
A rectangular fog unfurled above it, and a magically captured scene projected before him.
"...Urk."
The baron nearly retched at the sight.
The shocking scene, unlike anything he'd seen before, left him speechless, his mind reeling.
"Did the demons...use an adventurer as letter paper?"
"It seems so."
Words were carved into a human back.
Not just written, but etched as if with a sharp knife.
"The adventurer?"
"He didn't die, but he's in shock. The priest says even treatment won't erase the scars."
"Hah..."
Baron Gilbert closed his eyes.
"This is maddening."
Because of the message carved into what could be called a letter on the adventurer's body.
"My lord. For now..."
"Butler. Convene a meeting."
Baron Gilbert sighed deeply.
"Since Jake Gilbert is alive, we'll have no choice but to form a rescue team."
The message on the adventurer's body closely matched the letter in the drawer.
"Rescue team...? No."
To be more precise—
"We'll need to form a negotiation team for talks."
Regarding the release of human captive Jake Gilbert.
And the massive number scrawled largest on the adventurer's body: the ransom for the captive's release.
Training room, morning.
"A million gold?"
"Yeah."
Eris's eyes widened in shock.
Even she seemed dumbfounded by the enormous figure of a million.
"......"
She blinked.
Clearly struggling to grasp the scale of a million gold.
'Honestly, even I can't quite fathom it, so it'd be weirder if she could.'
To define a million gold's worth, you'd have to consider a single gold's value, but...
"Uh, so..."
"According to Chief Adjutant Akkamond, it's roughly equivalent to one year's tax revenue from the barony."
"......One year's tax revenue from the barony?"
Calculating its fair value wasn't my job.
"F-For real?"
"Specifically, something like 1.04 million, but they rounded it neatly to a million."
Chief Adjutant Akkamond had already set an appropriate amount "in line with market rates."
"Ransom for releasing hostage Jake Gilbert: one million gold."
"......They want the territory's entire yearly tax revenue for one man's life?"
"Yeah."
The number itself wasn't the point.
It was the symbolic meaning behind that sum.
"Are they trying to bankrupt the barony...?"
One year's tax revenue.
Like demanding a company president's yearly sales revenue to ransom his bastard son.
'As expected of a noble lady.'
Even as an adventurer, she'd have some innate sense for it as a noble's daughter.
Gilbert Barony was much smaller than Albathea County, but its dungeon-generated tax revenue was considerable.
"......Not that I have much say as a captive, but it feels excessive."
Eris fiddled with her fork and bowed her head.
"Using the dead to pretend they're alive and sell them off."
"It is excessive. Economically, morally, humanely."
"But I'm a Demon King's trainer. That's how it is, right?"
"That's part of it, but..."
I tapped the table to draw Eris's attention.
"Do you really think Baron Gilbert would negotiate with a full year's taxes?"
"What?"
"Absolutely not."
People have a price on their heads.
"If I were in his shoes? I'd never blow a year's taxes to save a thorn-in-my-side bastard."
"B-But..."
"Maybe to save Eris Albathea for a million, but."
"......No way."
Eris's eyes shook violently.
"To release me...?"
"Huh? No, not that."
"What?"
"Would your ransom be a measly million?"
"......"
"A nobody like Jake costs a million; Eris Albathea is in another league."
I asked just in case, and apparently it'd take about twenty times that to break even.
"I never cared before, but handling ransoms now makes the unseen seen. Eris, do you know why ransoms are always 'reasonably exorbitant'?"
"......Reasonably exorbitant?"
"Yeah."
"......Bankrupt to save one, or just let them die?"
"Exactly."
The Demon King's army had ruined countless factions with single-life ransoms.
"It's not your time to step up yet, Eris. Though you will someday."
"Someday...?"
"Yeah. This."
I pulled an item from the training room storeroom.
"W-Wait a sec!"
Eris shot up, pointing at it.
"Y-You're gonna tie me to that table and rape me!!"
"...Yeah, I guess it looks that way."
A round table.
It had fixtures for laying a person down and binding their limbs.
"It's a negotiation table, but if that's what you want, sure."
"Negotiation...table?"
"Yeah. Main trade partner would be Albathea Count family, but first, I'd negotiate with Blake Gilbert."
I raised a finger.
"A great deal to save Jake Gilbert without paying a million gold."
"......"
"Curious?"
"W-Well."
"But first."
I scooped Eris up by the waist.
"Wh-What are you—?!"
"What you want."
"What I—"
"Tie you to the table and fuck you like a dog."
"......!!"
Eris bit her lower lip but.
"Y-You're not gonna tie me in some weird position, right...?"
She didn't deny or resist the rape.
Accepting it as a given.
"Hey."
I pointed to the table for Eris.
"Get on all fours."
To fuck her 'like a dog.'