45 – Counterattack
＜Chapter 45 – Counterattack＞
“I am Anna, the mistress’s personal maid.”
Ineon bit down on that statement.
If not, a perplexed expression would have shown on his face.
‘I must succeed in this matter. This is for the lord and the goddess.’
He reiterated the pledge he had made hundreds of times.
Then, he raised his hand and gently swept it over Anna’s shoulder.
“Anna? Your face is undecided. When is break time?”
He mimicked the rough mercenary talk without hesitation.
It wasn’t difficult for her to see this behavior, as she had seen it countless times during her mercenary life.
However.
“What’s wrong? Why no reaction?”
When mercenaries behaved like this, women would dislike it and leave.
This maid should do the same.
She wanted to make herself disliked, to distance herself.
“Follow me.”
“Oh, so you’re Lady Brilda’s personal maid? You’re really good at managing your expression.”
He followed Anna and rested his arm on her shoulder.
Although Inon was tall, Anna was not small, so it was not uncomfortable.
As they walked down the corridor,
Another maid passed by.
“Hey!”
The maid stopped in surprise.
He let go of Anna’s arm and approached the other maid.
“What’s your name?”
“Um… I…”
Just as he was about to grab the frightened maid’s shoulder,
Thud.
“Do not touch the other maids.”
“Are you okay?”
“Please follow me. Madam is waiting.”
Eynon draped one arm over Anna’s shoulder again and walked down the corridor.
They passed the first floor and arrived on the second, then the third.
In front of Brilda’s room, Eynon tidied up his disheveled hair.
Then, he entered.
“Hello. Lady Brilda.”
He greeted her with a different, polite tone than before.
“For a mercenary, you have a good image, is it true?”
“Of course. Dealing with people is no easy task in the mercenary business. At least, I handle it well with clients and nobles. To make a living, you need to manage your image.”
Brilda chuckled softly and got straight to the point.
“Setting that aside…”
Brilda mentioned the situation in Serriver.
Eynon’s monster subjugation request.
The declaration appointing the mercenary group with the most subjugations as the lord.
And the closest one to that position, the Innocent Mercenary Group.
“What I want is simple. When drafting the contract, the content of the defense mobilization order should be there. Just add a clause saying ‘limited to monsters’ before that.”
“So, what do I gain from this?”
Brilda pointed to one side of the room with her finger.
Anna went there and opened the box that was placed.
Inside, there was a considerable amount of money.
A large sum.
However, she couldn’t just accept it like this.
She had to stay at the mansion longer so that the master could obtain the information he wanted.
“Is this just the money? If you demand it recklessly, what if the lordship shifts to another mercenary group? The risk is too great.”
“Is this money… not enough?”
“If you consider the risk, you should at least give four times that amount.”
Brylda’s expression hardened.
She had offered an excessive amount of money, but four times that amount?
The bigger problem was that she couldn’t get that much cash immediately.
“Fine. I’ll give four times. So…”
“Show me the money first. It’s the first contract; don’t you think we need to confirm it?”
From Noble mtl dot com
“Wait in the reception room. I’ll show you the money.”
“Thank you, madam.”
After concluding the conversation,
Anna left Brylda’s room.
Once again, Anna was in charge of guiding.
Thunk.
An arm draped over Anna’s shoulder.
As she did so, she brought her face closer.
“Shall we finish the conversation we had earlier?”
Anna headed to the reception room without saying a word.
There was still no change in her expression.
‘What’s this? Is it not enough?’
If the master’s words were true, this servant was smart. Enough to be recognized by the master.
He had no confidence in a mental battle with such a servant.
So, instead, he stuck even closer.
To make her distance herself.
‘Do I need to be stronger…’
Leon closed his eyes and prayed to the goddess.
And slowly lowered his hand.
Passed the shoulder, reached the shoulder blade.
But still, she didn’t stop moving.
When his hand arrived around her waist,
Thud.
Anna halted her steps.
“We’ve arrived. Please rest.”
Through the open door, the disciples were watching Leon.
“Hwi-yu-yu.”
“Poo. Poo.”
Someone whistled,
while another member mimicked the sound of a trumpet.
Ineon entered the reception room and closed the door.
“The leader was such a playboy.”
“He was so convincing that even I was fooled.”
“hahahaha, I knew it when I first saw the leader. Look at his face. Totally a playboy style.”
Despite the teasing from the members, Ineon didn’t react.
He just sat in the chair, lost in thought.
This mission had to be executed perfectly.
“I’ve gone this far; the maid will surely avoid me now.”
He clenched the hand that still felt the texture of Anna’s clothes.
“The next is the background investigation…”
The first mission was accomplished.
He found out why Brilda called him.
Now, only the second mission remained.
To uncover Brilda’s background.
“No matter how rich Brilda is, she won’t have that much cash. She must be procuring it from elsewhere.”
After organizing his thoughts, he stood up from his seat.
“Leader, where are you going again?”
“Hwi Yuyu, are you going to find that maid?”
“It’s a personal matter.”
“Have a safe trip.”
“Cheer up on your disguise!”
I left the room and walked down the corridor.
If money came in, I investigated where to move.
Meanwhile, whenever I met people, I made up different excuses.
“Hey, maid!”
“Yes… Is there something you want…?”
“Where is Anna’s room?”
“What!?”
“I’m talking about maid Anna’s room. Tell me where it is.”
“I can’t tell you that.”
The maid left with a bewildered look.
.
.
While pretending to look for Anna’s room,
I noticed a suspicious movement.
‘It’s already dark, why is a carriage coming in?’
Someone from the carriage unloaded something.
“That… is money?”
It looked just like the box I saw in Brilda’s room.
The numbers were exactly three.
Adding it to the existing boxes makes it four.
It matched the amount I demanded.
“So it’s them.”
Enon hurriedly returned to the reception room.
“We’re leaving now.”
“What? Are you serious?”
While the members asked questions, their bodies moved.
Having fought for their lives every day, their actions were faster than their words.
It didn’t take them more than a few minutes to prepare.
“Let’s go.”
“Understood.”
**
**
Alf Village.
Farmland.
Today, I removed the weeds from the farmland.
“I wonder if Enon is doing well?”
Sending it to Brilda didn’t put my mind at ease.
‘What could she be doing by now? Searching the mansion? Surely, she didn’t get caught?’
I shifted in my seat.
Kneeling there, I continued my thoughts.
Repetitively using skills.
‘It’s frustrating not being able to find out.’
Investigating the mansion or contacting Inon from here might actually pose a risk.
That’s why I had completely entrusted it to Inon.
‘Can you create a diversion and visit the mansion once?’
In the midst of contemplating,
The outskirts of the farmland became noisy.
A mercenary group was approaching rapidly from there.
‘Inon? Already?’
The mercenary group, originally heading towards the village, changed direction towards me.
“Lord Elwin, greetings.”
“Ah… yes.”
“Could we meet again at the place we last met?”
“Of course. Let’s meet in 30 minutes.”
.
.
Alf Village.
Central Temple.
“So, the reason you called me was because of the lordship contract, right?”
“That’s correct.”
It seems the appointment as lordship bothered him considerably.
‘It’s possible.’
There are times when a Grand Duke appoints a noble as a lord.
Of course, according to the Grand Duke’s authority, the privileges that can be granted to the appointed noble are limited.
Anyway, when a lord is appointed like that, they follow the orders of the Grand Duke.
Just like ordinary lords do to the emperor, the appointed lord pays taxes to the Grand Duke and has the obligation to respond to military mobilization orders.
The relationship between me and the lord seems to be similar.
‘So that’s why he wanted to include the phrase “limited to monsters.”‘
If I write that phrase, it won’t interfere with the conflicts among humans.
“So, what did you do?”
“I left a note.”
“A note?”
Lenon left a short note as he left the mansion.
[I will try my best to include the mentioned phrases.
Compensation will be received after success.
If conditions are not favorable, it cannot be helped.]
“So I won’t take any advance payment.”
“You left that behind in a hurry? But why did you leave in such a rush?”
“Well, it seems I’ve discovered the mastermind behind Brilda.”
“Oh, really?”
Elon chased after the carriage that carried the gold box.
“But was there anything strange about the gold box?”
“It looked just like the one I saw in Brilda’s room. And coincidentally, Brilda needed money.”
“I see. Go on.”
At the end of the chase, they arrived at…
“It was the top of Silnia.”
There are several tops in Monster Island.
They mainly engage in trade between the island and the mainland.
One of them is the top of Silnia.
“It was a complete deception.”
“What?”
“Do you know about the top of Silnia?”
“I’m not sure.”
The top of Silnia.
It is a top that controls the business district of the Frontier Territory.
What’s more intriguing is that it is one of the factions that does not follow Brilda.
Living in the frontier, people lined up for ‘me’ and ‘Brilda.’
Except for the units directly under my father, everyone was like that.
‘Of course, there’s only Hans who stood by me.’
Even in such a situation, Sylvia Sangdan maintained neutrality.
‘She has been considerate in many ways. Did she actually support Brilda financially?’
Publicly, Sylvia Sangdan, who pretended not to follow Brilda,
was more sinister as she secretly assisted Brilda from behind.
“Summon Russell.”
“Yes, understood.”
A moment later,
Russell arrived.
“Expand Sangdan’s scale.”
“Have you made up your mind?”
Until now, Sangdan had only played a supportive role.
Converting the produced food into monster byproducts,
going to the continent to sell the byproducts and buy slaves.
In other words, Sangdan’s scale was limited to the amount of grain produced on the farm.
This was to minimize the damage to Sylvia Sangdan.
Everyone was grateful to Sylvia Sangdan, who declared neutrality in a situation where everyone sided with Brilda.
‘But.’
Now, we are not only aiming to efficiently sell the produced food, but actively expanding our scale.
“From now on, it’s a war between us and the Sylvania upper class. We will dominate the frontier market.”
“Understood, my lord.”
