Chapter 213
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
The Count clutched his head with both hands and collapsed onto the floor. He had no time to collect his thoughts. He couldn’t understand what was happening, or how the world could turn upside down overnight.
“The door’s been breached!”
A mercenary came running breathlessly into the Count’s bedroom.
“Then go and block the breach! Why are you coming up here?”
“It was beyond our ability to stop.”
Sweat poured down the mercenary’s face like rain. The loud crash just now had been the sound of the door breaking. Shouts of people echoed nearby, soon joined by the roar of thunderous footsteps.
Over a hundred people were moving together toward this place.
“I need to get out of here. Where can I run?”
The Count quickly racked his brain, but there was nowhere to escape within the manor. Though the old ancestral home of noble families had secret passages and escape routes prepared for any future wars, the Count, who ruled the south like a king, saw no need to build escape routes.
Now he cursed the days he ordered gold bought instead of such preparations when he had the money.
Thump, thump, thump.
The footsteps grew closer. Though the manor was large and they wouldn’t find him immediately, it was only a matter of time.
What could he do? The Count clenched his teeth, pacing and trembling, casting a desperate look at the mercenary.
But what could one mercenary do? He wasn’t a knight capable of fending off ten men with a single sword. Even if he was skilled, he couldn’t face a hundred attackers.
The Count’s face paled as he searched for a solution but found none.
His jaw stopped clenching the moment the bedroom door was smashed open and a massive shadow loomed inside.
“Count Schuck. Come out and pay your due.”
The voice was like a thunderbolt from the heavens. The Count, stiff with fear, slowly turned his head.
“You…”
He swallowed hard. Eyes blazing icy blue like a mountain.
It was Cain Vernat.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
Though they might face some force with limited training, it would not be easy even with their formal training. Of course, the Vernat knights, composed of the empire’s finest, were no match for mere mercenaries, but minimizing all risks before battle was essential.
“Sir, no mercenaries are visible.”
Despite their efforts, there were no mercenaries guarding the manor. Cain wondered if a trap had been set for them, but Count Schuck had neither the intellect nor strategy for such tactics.
“Break down the door.”
Four carts loaded with oak logs were brought forward. Twenty knights lifted the logs and charged the door in unison. Bang! Crash! Bang!
In exactly four strikes, the manor’s door was shattered to pieces. Through the gap, angry townsfolk wielding spears rushed in behind the knights.
Cain’s plan to throw the manor into chaos using the crowd was half successful.
Now it was time for him and his knights to drag the Count out and execute justice.
Searching the manor for hiding places, Cain ordered captured fleeing servants to lead him to the Count’s whereabouts.
<I came to make the Count pay. Once this is done, you shall all be spared.>
Though trembling in fear, the servants complied and guided Cain to the Count’s bedroom.
After reaching the highest floor of the manor, the servants panicked at the sight of fully armed knights and fled.
No one could leave the manor until the matter was resolved. The Vernat knights captured the fleeing servants and made them kneel.
The servant guiding Cain trembled uncontrollably but recalled the promise he had just received from this terrifying man, which gave him the strength to take step after step.
“Even last time, I thought this place was excessively luxurious.”
Cain’s expression darkened as he surveyed the gold-adorned interior. Even when he first entered the manor, he frowned at its extravagant decor. Now, it could be said the entire manor was decorated with gold.
“It makes me want to vomit.”
“How many people must he have exploited in this tiny town…”
Aleini’s expression was equally grim. The lavish decoration rivaled even that of the imperial palace.
“This-this is it.”
The servant stopped and turned back, trembling with bowed head, silently begging to be allowed to leave now that his task was done.
At the end of the long corridor stood a massive door, even its handle is plated in gold.
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