Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Chapter 19: Vault Heist
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“Talisman Count’s mansion? Of course I know it.”
Lergal slipped into the sewers once again via backflow and pinpointed the spot right beneath the Talisman Count’s mansion in one go.
“This is directly under that mansion. I’d often perk up my ears whenever interesting stories floated down.”
“It’s gotta be the underground vault where those armored guys were thumping around, hauling stuff. It’s pretty far from the surface, but not bad from here in the sewers.”
He then stretched his long body upright and began tapping the sewer ceiling with his front paw.
“If you dig straight up from here, you’ll hit an empty space. That’s probably the underground vault.”
“First, pull out a few stones, then let’s see… Yeah, from there, break through about your height in bedrock. After that, carving out a tunnel won’t be too hard.”
“But don’t rush it. You risk a collapse.”
So Lergal, me, and even the rock spirit Lukkar pitched in, starting a four-hour construction project.
Doing heavy manual labor in the stinking, humid sewers, sweating buckets… Ugh, what’s the point of even mentioning it. Better erase it from memory quick.
But the payoff was sweet for all that hardship.
The Talisman Count’s underground vault was piled high with over 110 sacks, each stuffed with around a thousand gold coins.
That’s roughly 110,000 gold coins, give or take.
Even if gold coins are about a fifth the size of silver ones, having that many stacked in one place was intimidating as hell.
This was the filthy fortune the Talisman family had scraped together over centuries through all sorts of shady means.
In the end, I’ll put it to good use, so thanks, Talisman Count.
Oh, and it wasn’t just gold coins in there.
First off, 80 standard-sized gold bars.
Then around 400 silver bars stacked on shelves.
Plus 20 small pouches of unprocessed gemstones. Those go into high-grade magic armor, so they fetch a pretty penny.
And something I don’t remember from before—two sets of top-grade magic armor that only a Knight Master could wear, plus five longswords that screamed luxury at first glance.
On top of that, a huge chest crammed with what looked like tens of thousands of silver coins. No way we could haul that, so we left it.
Anyway, to move all this loot, Lergal ran back and forth to the sewer exit a whopping eight times.
Good thing we had that custom backpack the mansion maids had sewn for him, or we’d have been looking at him stuffing his mouth with gold coins and making a hundred trips.
Once out of the sewers, the haul went straight into wagons waiting by the riverbank and back to the mansion.
All that went down just yesterday. Now here I am, chilling in the garden, tossing food to the wolf.
“Anyway, you really busted your ass. More gold coins than I figured.”
“How much did you expect at first?”
“About half of what we grabbed yesterday? Guess he hasn’t spent on hiring assassins yet.”
“Assassins?”
“The ones he’d send to kill me. Talisman Count’s got a serious grudge.”
Thanks to that, I nipped a future headache in the bud. But would he really drop his revenge just ’cause he’s broke now?
“Hmm, not sure, but money’s better flowing than hoarded.”
Lergal spoke like some wise sage, then gulped down the last hunk of meat without chewing.
“So buy as much meat as you can for me. Even outskirts stuff like today is fine. Deer from the Eternal Forest every meal would be great.”
Every meal? The forest’s deer would go extinct.
“You’ll have to deal. Good stuff hits harder when it’s occasional, right?”
“Don’t know. Used to eat nothing else back in the day.”
“…Anyway, I’ll feed you all the meat you want, no worries. Thinking of starting some livestock farming too.”
“Livestock farming?”
“Might as well diversify now that I’ve got the territory. Farming alone’s no good.”
I pictured Verit’s barren lands. They’d been through hell so far—time to let ’em prosper.
“Gotta build up industries for some breathing room. Meat demand’ll skyrocket later.”
“Yeah. I plan to eat a ton.”
Listen to this wolf. Declaring it so shamelessly?
Sure, he earned it, but I’m not starting ranching just for him.
A few upcoming routes guzzle massive amounts of meat. Gotta prep ahead.
It’s prep for the war with the otherworld way down the line too. Stockpiling salted meat and all.
But right then.
“Prince! We’re back!”
The front gate swung open in the distance, and two soot-blackened priests hurried into the garden.
“Hunted every last Sea Serpent in the Yotton Plains and now we’re back! But…”
Trimum, leader of the sealing priests, froze mid-step. I lightly stroked Lergal’s scruff where he crouched beside me and smiled.
“It’s fine. He’s on our side.”
“…Thought my soul left my body.”
Trimum finally exhaled and approached.
“Huge wolf. At first, I thought it was a wolf statue in the garden.”
“Ancient Wolf Lergal. Doesn’t like people much, so ignore him.”
“Yeah. Best to give people-hating wolves space.”
Lergal rose, vaulted the opposite wall, and vanished. Trimum patted his chest and knelt before me.
“Official report, then. Escort Priest Trimum and Escort Priest Baris hereby confirm the extermination of all remaining Sea Serpents in the Yotton Plains.”
The priest behind him, Baris, knelt too and bowed. I nodded with a smile.
“Good work, both of you. Sent all the Sea Serpents to the ogres?”
“Of course. Yotton to Jairut Mountains has regular trade convoys now, thanks to wagon bulk transport.”
“Nice. Oh, and those gold bars the ogres started sending a few days back? That was payment for the Sea Serpent meat, huh.”
“Oh, gold bars? Impressive.”
Trimum stuck out his tongue, eyed my face, then tilted his head.
“But Prince… you don’t seem all that thrilled?”
“Nah, I’m plenty happy. Totally.”
I waved it off with a forced grin. Just pocket change compared to yesterday’s haul, that’s all.
Unlike the one-and-done vault, ogre trade’s a steady cash cow. Gotta keep the good meat coming.
“Heard a lot happened while I was gone. Especially reviving His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and Crown Prince Highness—the fame’s spread even to far-off Yotton. You did something huge, Prince. Allow me to congratulate you.”
“Congratulations, Prince.”
“Thanks, Trimum. Baris. You two did great.”
Gotta slip ’em a fat bonus for their troubles. Some vacation time too.
But right now, reallocating manpower and getting ’em settled took priority. I looked at the pair on their knees and issued orders.
“Truth is, mansion security’s top priority now. Got valuables and important people piling up. Thieves or assassins sneaking in would be bad. You two handle protection duty.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way. We’ll watch the mansion and that new building next door 24/7.”
Nobody beats priests for protection or surveillance with their life detection. I nodded with a grin.
“Count on you. The other two from Verit are already back and pulling shifts.”
“Ostr and Jamal, right? All four escort priests together again—no thief’ll dare come near.”
“Planning to hire more mercenary knights for a full guard unit. Take charge of that too. Oh, and I need one of you solo…”
I beckoned the younger priest behind.
“Baris. Got a special job for you.”
“Yes, Prince. Anything.”
“You can cast ‘Shield of Light,’ right?”
In holy magic, this kid tops the four escort priests. Young Baris looked up at me and replied.
“Yes. Though the others can too.”
“Perfect. You’re the strongest. Got a knight in the order who needs to sync with you.”
“The order, you say?”
“Few members and no HQ yet… Anyway, guy named Rinen. Spare some time daily to train synergy with him.”
“As you command.”
Rinen nodded without question. Trimum, listening in, looked curious.
“But Prince, why ‘Shield of Light’ specifically?”
“Rinen uses Holy Lance. Know what that is?”
“Holy Lance… I heard High Priest Esix mention it once.”
“Close enough. Pair it with Shield of Light for insane synergy. Ask Dabi for details—he’s running the training.”
“Oh, got it. And that Dabi you mentioned is…”
Right then.
“Prince!”
The very Dabi vaulted the mansion wall, yelling as he landed.
“Prince! Training day today! What’re you doing not heading to the field?”
“Wait! I worked nonstop yesterday! So I’m resting today!”
“No can do!”
Dabi crossed his arms right in my face and shook his head.
“You promised every other day. Yesterday was off, so today’s mandatory.”
“Yeah, but I really did yesterday…”
Crawl into sewers, dig all day, haul gold!
You know! But it’s top secret—only need-to-knows—so I couldn’t blurt it.
“Focus is today, not yesterday.”
“Argh…”
“Today you’re here, Prince. Won’t there be days you’re off on important business?”
“Sure… probably.”
“Fine, you’ll miss a few days straight then?”
“Can’t be helped?”
“That’s exactly why—days you’re at the mansion like today, no skipping training. Right?”
Ugh, can’t argue that logic.
“Come on. I’ll pack all the required training into the shortest time possible.”
Meaning crammed, extra brutal in less time?
Dabi smiled and gestured to the front gate. I dragged my feet like a calf to slaughter.
Thought I’d skate by, but looks like another hardcore day. I really slaved yesterday. Boo hoo.