Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Chapter 19: Vault Heist
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“……Are the preparations complete?”
Rage flickered in Count Talisman’s urging eyes. His nephew, Baron Rantel, nodded with a meaningful expression.
“All preparations are finished, Uncle.”
“No ordinary force can kill that damned brat. And now he’s the empire’s hero who revived the emperor.”
The count ground his teeth with a crunching sound, his body now twice as swollen as before.
This was the result of devouring delicacies day and night without proper sleep for the past few days.
But no matter how bloated his stomach felt like it might burst, the moment he recalled his torment in the underground dungeon, food and drink kept pouring in endlessly.
“So we have to sweep him away in an instant with overwhelming force and numbers. If it drags on, the knight orders from the imperial palace will deploy…… Before that, we incinerate not just the body but his entire mansion to erase all evidence.”
“Of course, Uncle. We’ve already paid a staggering 4,000 gold coins as a down payment to the Knight Guild.”
Baron Rantel raised two fingers and flashed a triumphant smile.
“We’ve handpicked a full twenty of the finest mercenary knights. There won’t be any screw-ups like the last battle at Verit Castle.”
“You say that, but I can’t trust it until I see it. What are their exact ranks?”
“Three Knight Commanders and seventeen Knight Experts.”
“Hmm…… Couldn’t you secure any Knight Masters?”
“Uncle, there are only three Knight Masters in the entire empire. And one of them just died recently.”
“I know that! But one of the remaining two is glued right to that bastard Claude’s side!”
The count swung his fist at the empty air and shouted.
“That damned Dabi! If the opponent is a Knight Master, you can’t feel safe even with dozens of lower-ranked knights!”
“Of course. That’s why I called in some connections.”
“Connections?”
“As you know, Dabi’s original affiliation was the White Knight Order. And the White Knight Order is currently facing off against the异種族 alliance in the north.”
“And?”
“I sent word to the White Knight Order. To call Dabi back temporarily. Sure, he was expelled from the order, but isn’t it proper to at least hand over duties to his successor before leaving?”
“Oh…… That’s a good pretext.”
A smile spread across the count’s previously twisted lips. Baron Rantel rubbed his hands together like a fly and continued.
“So don’t worry. We strike when Dabi heads north. But even if things go wrong by some chance, there’s no issue.”
“You’re saying we can succeed even if Dabi stays here?”
“Of course. The hires aren’t just knights. I’ve brought in a powerhouse mage as well. Though it cost 6,000 gold coins as a down payment.”
“6,000? Why more than the knights?”
“The hire is Tolari.”
“Tolari?”
Confusion flashed across the count’s face for a moment.
“Tolari…… You don’t mean Arch Wizard Tolari? The one called the Wind Sorceress?”
“Exactly. Who else has such a unique name among mages?”
Tolari was a genius mage who had reached Arch Wizard at a young age, infamous as an eccentric who avoided people due to his prickly personality.
“……I can’t believe it.”
The count slowly shook his head in astonishment.
“You actually contracted with that woman. Rumors say she belongs nowhere and takes orders from no one.”
“That’s what I thought too, but just yesterday, I finally got in touch with great difficulty. When I brought up assassinating Prince Claude, her eyes lit up and she accepted immediately.”
“Why? Does that brat have some grudge against her?”
“It seems related to what Claude did recently. Apparently, three days ago, he went to the Magic Guild and caused an uproar with some nonsense. Something about directly applying ice to the body to awaken apprentice mages, turning the guild upside down.”
“What kind of ridiculous…… No, heh heh.”
The count nodded with a rotten laugh.
“That kid’s been famous as a lunatic since before. Not content with throwing me in the underground dungeon and starving me, now his madness has revived?”
“Seems like it. Of course, Tolari is an eccentric who stormed out of the guild, but even so, she couldn’t overlook that brat’s rampage in her old home, the Magic Guild.”
“That’s perfect. An Arch Wizard, heh heh. Makes me feel very secure.”
“On top of that, we have 200 regular mercenary knights to fill out the numbers, plus 50 elite agents from the Cluster Assassins.”
The Cluster Assassins were an organization operating near the empire’s northwest border. Despite the grandiose name, they were essentially bandits who preyed on merchants and villages.
But it was true their combat power surpassed that of many small knight orders. The count narrowed his eyes with a strange expression and asked.
“You even brought in those guys? They have quite the infamous reputation in many ways.”
“This isn’t the time to be picky about hot or cold water, is it? Beyond their skill, they’re famous for their cruelty—you’ll like that.”
“Cruel, you say. That suits me perfectly.”
“But Uncle, the total down payment for all these is 12,000 gold coins.”
“And?”
“If the operation succeeds, the success fee is three times that. We’ll have to pay an additional 36,000 gold coins. We scraped together the baron’s family funds for the down payment, but……”
“Ha, is that what you were worried about?”
The count scoffed and waved his hand dismissively.
“12,000 gold coins? I’ll pay that back right now. And since you went through the trouble, I’ll throw in a hefty bonus.”
“Thank you, Uncle.”
“But to exhaust your family’s wealth on just that much means the barony’s finances aren’t doing well lately.”
“To be honest, revenue from our trading company—the lifeline—has plummeted recently. Seems the southern hicks are regaining strength and stirring things up.”
“Southern hicks meaning Yoton? Hmm, I’ve heard those guys have been getting bold lately. Rumors say that brat’s backing them.”
“Once the operation’s done, we should give them a proper thrashing.”
“Of course. Now, follow me.”
The count led the way out of the room. He then descended a spiral staircase toward the mansion’s underground.
“Ugh, my old broken leg’s aching. A big house is a hassle at times like this.”
“Are you heading to the underground vault by any chance?”
“Didn’t I say I’d pay you back?”
The count turned to look at Rantel and smiled.
“While we’re at it, it’d be meaningful to show my hardworking nephew the true power of the Talisman family.”
“It’s an honor, Uncle. The main family’s vault…… I’ve only heard stories, never seen it myself.”
After descending for a while, a dimly lit passageway illuminated by torches appeared before the two.
Clang!
Six knights stationed along the passage raised their swords in salute. The count waved them off casually as he passed slowly between them.
“It’s a shame we can’t use the capable guards protecting the mansion for this operation.”
“We can’t deploy the family’s private soldiers this time. Oh, that must be……”
Rantel was awestruck by the massive iron door before him. The count knocked on it with his fist and beamed.
“This is the Talisman underground vault. The wealth our family has amassed over centuries slumbers here.”
“I’ve heard it’s an enormous amount. To protect it, the main mansion always has dozens of mages and elite knights on guard.”
“And this underground vault itself boasts ironclad defenses. The door is made of a special alloy crafted by dwarves themselves.”
“Dwarves? But they’re hostile to the empire……”
“Apparently relations were decent 200 years ago. And without this family head’s ring, it won’t open.”
The count raised the crude ring on his right middle finger.
The moment he fitted it into a small groove in the center of the door.
Rumble!
The massive iron door began to open slowly with a deafening groan.
“I’ll hand over not just the down payment but the full success fee too. That’s 48,000 gold coins combined? I’ll round it up to 50,000 with the bonus.”
“Thank you, Uncle. But 50,000 gold coins…… Even with all four escort knights, it won’t be easy to transport.”
“Don’t worry. There’s a custom-made carriage. I’ll have laborers load it up, and you can take it when you go.”
Even then, the massive door was opening at about 1cm per second. Rantel fidgeted impatiently, eager to peek inside, and said.
“A gold coin transport carriage? As expected of the main family. But can you really spare 50,000 gold coins at once? How much is actually in this vault?”
“I haven’t counted exactly, so I don’t know. Roughly 100,000, I’d say?”
“Ooh……”
“There’s also about 50,000 silver coins stashed for emergencies. You need change when doing business sometimes.”
“Change money? Truly befitting you, Uncle.”
“Add in the separately stored gold bars and a few treasures, and it exceeds two-tenths of the empire’s annual budget all in here…… Huh?”
At that moment, the count’s eyes bulged like they might pop out.
The barely opened vault was completely empty.
Precisely, only five massive chests of silver coins remained; everything else was perfectly stripped bare.
The space that had held 100,000 gold coins.
The metal display racks for gold bars and jewels.
Even the priceless special magic armor and weapons.
“Argh! No! Where is everything! Aaaargh!”
The count screamed and yelled at the guard knights behind him.
“What are you idiots doing! Call the guard detail now! And torches! Bring torches inside the vault! How in the world…… Gah! What’s this horrific stench? Why does it smell like a sewer shit pit from inside the vault? What the hell is rotting in there!”
* * *
A massive wolf grumbled while tearing into the meat piled in the garden.
“This is too much. Do you know how much money I hauled out? And you think this pittance will suffice?”
“It’s special stuff, so the quantity’s limited. How is it? Taste like the old homeland?”
It might be a mere morsel to Rugal, but the meat piled higher than my height was none other than ‘deer from the Eternal Forest.’
The cost to airlift it while preserving freshness to the mansion: a whopping 50 gold coins.
Of course, compared to the haul from Count Talisman’s mansion, this was pocket change.
“……Passable.”
Rugal inhaled the meat for a while before snorting briefly.
“But not perfect. Most of this is from the outer rim beasts.”
“Outer rim?”
“The forest’s outskirts. The Eternal Forest is divided into inner and outer rims. Deer from the outer rim taste inferior to those from the inner.”
Really? You can tell the difference?
“A true gourmet, I see. But the inner rim is Ancient Wolf territory, right?”
“Indeed.”
“Then you think hunters are crazy enough to go there? Be grateful for this much.”
“True. It’s not bad.”
Rugal nodded and resumed eating. I sighed watching over 200kg of meat vanish in moments.
But as I said, this was nothing.
The route to raid Count Talisman’s underground vault.
Normally, after cleanly repelling the assassins he sends (practically an army in scale) on the verge of starvation, use it as pretext to brand him a traitor.
Then legally storm the mansion, round everyone up, and recover the massive funds slumbering in the underground vault.
Seventy percent of the recovered funds go to the imperial treasury, but the remaining thirty percent comes as a reward.
Under normal circumstances, I’d thriftily use that thirty percent to revitalize Verit Territory……
But this time was different.
First off, I took Verit Territory too quickly!
If it were someone else’s, I could leave it be. But now that it’s mine, I have to manage it properly.
Thus, the leisure to endlessly wait for Count Talisman to storm the mansion vanished. Every minute and second was precious now.
On top of that, the Ancient Wolf—Rugal—who perfectly knew the underground layout of the mansion shone brightly.