Let's Pay Off This Debt (4)

Mariel had her finger on the trigger. "I can take ten of you with me. Don't come any closer."

Dave waved his hands frantically, trying to talk her down. "C-calm down...! Just hear me out! Your master isn't coming back anyway, right?! He borrowed three million gold against the property and ran off! He probably told you to just sit tight and guard ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the house. Don't be so damn stubborn. You're a victim of that bastard's scam too!"

"Master said he would return."

"Ha, give me a break! How naive can you be? Who's going to give you a medal or money for this?! It's an empty house with no owner, so it's only natural for creditors to take a few things! Stop making this so difficult and let's just split it fairly!"

Click— Mariel stepped forward, gun raised. "Ugh...!" "Whoa...!" The men recoiled in terror, inching backward.

"I won't repeat myself. Get out. Now."

"O-okay! Fine! You're being so fucking difficult. We'll leave, alright? We'll leave!"

Dave retreated with both hands raised, but his eyes lingered on Mariel's steady grip on the pistol. ...What the hell. Why isn't her hand shaking? In a situation this deadly, an ordinary woman shouldn't be this comfortable with a handgun. Her hand didn't tremble in the slightest. The killing intent radiating from her suggested she would genuinely put a bullet through their skulls.

Damn it... This is getting ugly. I need to get back and prepare to flee.

It was obvious a warrant for trespassing on noble property would be issued soon. Dave swallowed a string of curses and turned with Jake.

At that moment—

"Who said you could leave?"

"Huh...?"

"Urk!"

At the menacing voice, the two loan sharks' eyes nearly popped out of their heads. The master of the house, the one rumored to have fled in the dead of night, stood there glaring at them.

"B-Baron Goldman?!"

"Young master!"

Mariel let out a smile of pure relief. Allen waved at her reassuringly, then opened his bag and pulled out thick bundles of banknotes.

The moment the substantial wads of cash appeared, the loan sharks' eyes locked onto the money.

"T-that..."

"I-is that real money?!"

Allen hurled the bundles straight at their faces.

Smack! The packets bounced off their heads, scattering bills everywhere.

"Is this what you wanted so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠badly that you barged into someone else's house without a second thought?"

"T-that's...!"

Dave's face flushed crimson as he scrambled for an excuse. "I-in the first place, Baron Goldman, sir, it's because you took out the loan and disappeared that we misunderstood the situation!"

"Exactly! We only came to legitimately collect what we were owed!"

"Legitimate collection, you say?"

At that moment, Rohena, who had followed close behind, interjected.

"W-who the hell are you?!"

"I am Rohena Robins, the lawyer who will soon serve as exclusive counsel to the Goldman Baron family."

"A-a lawyer?!"

The title alone made cold sweat trickle down their backs. These people shouldn't have the funds to hire such high-caliber talent. And exclusive counsel, no less!

"Typically, when conducting legitimate debt collection, one doesn't bring ladders, ropes, and tools," Rohena said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"T-that's..."

"If your true purpose was collection, you should have notified the other creditors and brought official court executors. There would have been no issue then. So why, exactly, did you resort to breaking and entering?"

"W-we didn't know! We've spent our whole lives throwing punches and running loan businesses—how were we supposed to know about complicated legal procedures?! We got desperate because we thought he'd run away!"

"You didn't know, huh..."

Rohena let out a soft snort. "You simply didn't want to share the spoils, so you tried to loot the place without informing the other creditors. Cases like this are so common they're practically cliché. And the excuses are always identical. 'We didn't know.'"

"Ugh...!"

She had struck the nerve perfectly. Rohena began counting on her fingers as she listed their offenses.

"You prepared equipment in advance and scaled the wall—premeditated residential trespass. You smashed the front door lock—property damage. You brought tools clearly intended to dismantle the mansion's fixtures—attempted special theft. All of these crimes occurred on a noble's private estate, which means aggravated penalties. With this rap sheet, it seems you'll have difficulty breathing fresh air for the rest of your lives, doesn't it?"

While Rohena rattled off legal statutes, Allen walked past the cowering men and approached Mariel.

"Mariel, are you alright? They didn't do anything to you, did they?"

"...They tried to take me away."

"What? Take you?"

Allen whipped his head around to glare at them. The two men suddenly found the floor fascinating. Rohena added smoothly, "That statement just added special assault and attempted kidnapping to the charges."

Allen narrowed his eyes. "Wait a minute. Earlier you mentioned I took out a loan and disappeared. How did you know about that?"

The loan sharks clamped their mouths shut. Allen shook his head in disbelief. "Don't tell me you ran a background check?"

"Oh dear. And now we've added violation of information protection laws to the list. You two really have done it all," Rohena said with mock admiration.

At her biting sarcasm, Dave and Jake turned deathly pale. They instinctively realized that if they were handed over to the guards or police now, they would never see daylight again.

Their eyes suddenly hardened with desperation. It's do or die...!

They glanced at Rohena, who stood seemingly defenseless. The maid with the gun is dangerous, but this lawyer looks weak. If we take her hostage and escape...

Just as Dave prepared to order his subordinates—

"Hey, you lackeys over there."

Allen beat him to it, addressing the underlings who had been standing by nervously. "If you grab those two and force them to their knees, I won't press charges against you. Sound like a deal?"

Dave sputtered, "W-what?!"

But Jake let out a hollow laugh. "Ha! Are you joking? These guys are completely loyal—"

Crash!!

Before he could finish, the burly men charged forward, tackling Dave and Jake to the floor.

"Graaaah!"

"Y-you bastards have lost your minds?! What the hell are you doing?!"

The subordinates grabbed the loan sharks' arms and legs without hesitation.

"Stay still! We want to live, you know!"

Thud! Bam! Thwack!

"Aargh!"

"Guh!"

They immediately dropped any pretense of respect, beating the resisting loan sharks into submission. During the scuffle, one of the men asked in a fawning tone, "Baron, sir! There's some rope left—should we tie them up so they can't run?"

"You've got good instincts. I'd appreciate that."

A moment later, thump. Dave and Jake were forced to their knees, tightly bound.

Allen addressed the subordinates sternly. "Listen up. If any of you get caught doing bad things in the future, I'll tie you all up together and sue the lot of you. So live honestly from now on. Understood?"

He waved them away dismissively. "W-we're terribly sorry!! Thank you, my lord!!"

The men scrambled out in a rush. Only the two loan sharks, Allen, Rohena, and Mariel remained in the entrance hall.

Allen looked down at Dave and Jake, who were trembling and prostrating themselves, and muttered, "Now... how should I ruin you two?"

Bang! The pair reflexively slammed their foreheads against the floor in apology.

"W-we're sorry!! Baron Goldman, my lord! I must have gone temporarily insane! This uneducated thug was blinded by greed and couldn't tell right from wrong!!"

"J-just once! Please, just this once, show us mercy! We'll consider the debt you took on as nonexistent! P-please, have mercy...!"

The vicious cruelty they had shown when trying to kidnap Mariel had vanished completely. Their pathetic begging for their lives was almost comical.

Allen pondered what he could extract from them to make it worthwhile. At that moment, a memory surfaced.

...Why am I suddenly remembering Father's words?

It was something he had naturally forgotten while struggling to repay the debts. If you think about it, these guys are also victims of the bad karma my parents left behind.

"......"

Then, a rather good idea occurred to him. He crouched down and whispered softly, "Do you want to live?"

"Y-yes!!"

"Please spare our lives, my lord! We desperately want to live!"

"Mariel, could you go to the study and bring some blank paper and a fountain pen?"

"Yes, master."

While Mariel went to fetch the items, Allen turned to Rohena. "Lawyer Rohena. Could you draft a few contracts for me?"

"It won't be any trouble at all."

A short while later, Mariel returned with the paper and pen. "Here you are."

Allen handed them to Rohena with clear instructions. "Then, if you would, Lawyer. Instead of pursuing prosecution, please draft a contract stipulating full repayment of all debts by the debtors, the permanent closure of their loan businesses, and a prohibition on ever reopening such businesses."

The two men jerked upright. "E-excuse me?! Full cancellation for everyone?!"

"No, and closing the company?! That's the business we built with our own hands! What are we supposed to live on?!"

Allen replied coldly, "It seems you don't want to live after all."

"Actually, I've always wanted to try farming."

"Ah, I should return to my hometown and raise some cows!"

"Yes, that sounds much better."

In the end, the two loan sharks signed the contract with tears in their eyes, like swallowing bitter medicine. They left the mansion having lost not only their principal but their entire fortunes.

Allen called out to their retreating backs, "Keep your promises! I know everything about you two, so don't even think about running away!"

As Allen chuckled to himself, Rohena muttered, "Demanding full ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠debt cancellation for all debtors and the closure of their companies instead of pressing charges... That's an agreement I never would have imagined."

"Their interest rates were truly outrageous. I could endure it somehow because I'm a noble, but commoners would have lost their homes and land long ago. In the worst cases, even their families would have been sold off."

Allen kicked at the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rope lying on the floor. "Even if we threw them in prison, their subordinates or other loan sharks would just continue the collections. So I thought it best to pull out the roots entirely. This is exactly what Noble Privilege is for."

He shrugged at Rohena. "Don't you agree?"

A spark of interest lit up Rohena's eyes. She stared at Allen for a long moment, then the corner of her mouth quirked upward.

"...As expected, Baron Goldman, you are by far the most interesting noble I have ever met."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Allen and Rohena exchanged lighthearted banter, laughing together. Watching the warm, friendly atmosphere between them from behind, Mariel...

"......"

For some reason, she furrowed her brows slightly and puffed out her cheeks like an angry little hamster.