[Lord of Abundance] Chapter 47 — Old Kili's Proposal

 

Chapter 47 — Old Kili's Proposal

The members of the Ice Fang Mercenary Company, who had originally been sentenced to just three days in confinement, ended up spending more than half a month locked inside Blackstone Castle's dungeon before the guards finally dragged them back out.

They looked like beggars.

Every one of them was covered in frostbite.

It couldn't be helped.

Blackstone Castle was only a modest three-story fortress. The underground ice cellar used to store food and ice wasn't particularly spacious.

To make room for all the frozen magical beast carcasses—especially the enormous chunks of the earth dragon's corpse—the cellar had to be "expanded."

The easiest place to expand into was the dungeon, which happened to be holding only the five members of the Ice Fang Mercenary Company.

After spending so many days imprisoned inside an ice cellar while barely receiving enough food, frostbite was the least of their problems.

The fact that they were still clinging to life at all was only thanks to Grace, the capital's renowned Potion Master.

Otherwise, they would have been stacked together with the frozen monster corpses long ago.

By the time Kun had finished the spring planting and custom-crafted Dawn's new arm, he had completely forgotten the prisoners even existed.

Had Old Tate not reminded him that two of them were on the verge of dying, Kun might not have remembered them until they had already frozen to death.

---

The meeting took place once again in the castle's reception hall.

This time, however, it was broad daylight.

Golden sunlight streamed through the windows, so Kun didn't ask the maids to waste the expensive perfume candles.

He had nearly burned through all the ones he'd looted from the Marquis's estate.

If he wanted more, he'd have to pay outrageous prices to those southern merchant guilds who charged enough to skin a man alive.

Kun felt it was better to be frugal.

Thrift might not be considered a noble virtue in the kingdom—

but it certainly was one for the half-Blue Star soul inside him.

No big deal.

"My Lord, the prisoners have been brought."

The guards threw the group onto the reception hall floor as casually as tossing aside dead dogs.

None of them could even stand.

"My apologies, gentlemen."

"Territorial affairs have been rather overwhelming lately. I accidentally neglected all of you."

"Please accept my sincerest apologies."

Leon—his hair tangled into a filthy mess and his entire body reeking—glared viciously at Kun from where he sat upon the lord's seat.

All traces of calm composure...

All that poised intelligence...

Every ounce of noble grace...

Had vanished.

Only fury and venom remained in those eyes.

That damned bastard.

How dare he treat me like this?

I've never suffered such humiliation.

One day... I'll repay everything he's done a hundred... no, a thousand times over.

Unlike "Leon," Old Kili, the elderly leader of the Ice Fang Merchant Caravan, merely gazed deeply at the golden-eyed youth seated beneath the warm sunlight, his figure almost radiant.

Then he immediately prostrated himself.

His forehead pressed firmly against the polished floor.

The kneeling salute was the proper etiquette for commoners paying homage to their sovereign.

Some lawless lords who fancied themselves petty kings indeed forced slaves and peasants alike to kneel before them.

But that custom certainly did not apply to a mid-tier warrior.

Nor to a veteran mercenary who had led a large mercenary company for decades.

Leon roared angrily at Old Kili.

"So you've already decided to beg for mercy?"

"Is this the backbone of the Ice Fang Mercenary Company?"

"Weren't you the ones who claimed that once you accepted a commission, you'd fulfill it no matter the cost? That you'd never bow to pressure from local powers or noble lords?"

"Bah!"

"Get up!"

Kun casually waved a hand toward one of the guards and smiled.

"It seems our Count's son is still as spirited as ever."

"That voice of yours is making my ears ring."

"Didn't I tell you to starve him for three days?"

"...Well, never mind."

"I'll overlook your mistake this time."

"Take him back to the dungeon."

"Starve him for another three days."

"And this time, carry out my orders properly. Understood?"

"Yes, my Lord."

Another three days?

Leon's expression changed instantly.

Last time, Kun had said exactly the same thing.

Who knew how long this fish-brained lord would take before remembering he still had a prisoner locked away underground?

The moment Leon recalled the dungeon's bone-chilling cold—and those frozen corpses piled beside him—

he shuddered uncontrollably.

"W-Wait..."

The guard glanced toward Kun.

Kun replied indifferently,

"Wait for what?"

"Take him away."

"Arlan!"

"You bastard!"

"I won't let you go even if I become a ghost—"

"Mmph! Mmph!"

His mouth was firmly covered before he could finish.

Still struggling wildly, Leon was dragged back out of the reception hall.

Kun rubbed his temples as he watched the doors close.

Truthfully...

He still hadn't figured out what to do with this troublesome Count's daughter.

Should he really send Count Breton an official letter saying,

"Your daughter is in my custody."

"If you want to see her alive again, prepare one million gold coins in compensation."

If he did that...

It probably wouldn't be the Count who came.

It'd be the Marquis.

Yet...

Such a walking mountain of gold...

Simply sending her back...

Kun found it hard to accept.

Forget fat sheep.

Even if a mosquito flew across the Fengrao Territory, it'd have to leave behind two mosquito legs as transit tax.

Besides...

Between them, there were both old grudges and new ones.

Even if Kun chose to take one small step back...

Would "Leon" stop hating him?

Obviously not.

Since he had already offended her...

A little more hatred hardly mattered.

No one knew the Count's daughter was currently in his custody anyway.

So...

He might as well keep her here for now.

Except...

These mercenaries knew.

---

Feeling Kun's cold gaze upon him, Old Kili lowered his forehead even closer to the floor.

His body trembled faintly.

He wasn't afraid of death.

What he feared was that the Ice Fang Mercenary Company would be implicated because of them.

Earlier, he had entertained the hope that Kun—a mere frontier lord—wouldn't dare do anything to them because of Leon's noble identity.

That illusion shattered on the second day of imprisonment.

When mountain-sized piles of frozen monster carcasses were carried into the dungeon.

Old Kili recognized them instantly.

Though chopped into countless pieces, the enormous remains could only belong to one creature.

The terrifying earth dragon that had pursued them.

...Or rather...

A legendary fourth-tier ancient dragon.

Even dismembered, its overwhelming aura still radiated from every frozen chunk.

Far stronger than any monster Old Kili had encountered in his lifetime.

Dawn—the renowned third-tier Great Warrior—was powerful enough.

The Ice Fang Mercenary Company didn't possess a single warrior who could rival him.

Yet even Dawn had barely managed to survive a single strike from that dragon.

And now...

The monster that had cornered them only yesterday...

Had been neatly butchered into pieces and stacked inside the dungeon the very next day.

What did that mean?

Leon had been telling the truth all along.

The Fengrao Territory's new lord...

The Marquis Lawrence's famously overlooked youngest son...

Had secretly advanced to the fourth tier.

A fourth-tier Legendary Mage.

Only sixteen years old.

The second Saint to appear in the history of the Dansu Kingdom.

The previous one had lived more than five hundred years ago.

Offending such a person...

Was ten times—

No.

A hundred times more terrifying than offending Count Breton.

That ancient dragon could effortlessly annihilate the entire Ice Fang Mercenary Company.

Likewise...

Someone capable of casually killing that dragon...

Could just as easily crush the Ice Fang Mercenary Company.

Resistance?

Resistance only existed between equals.

Trying to resist someone who stood in an entirely different realm...

Was simply suicide.

I was too naive.

Too inexperienced.

Thinking noble status alone would protect him...

Suppose the worst truly happened.

Suppose this Saintly Lord killed Leon, the Count's child, in a fit of anger.

With the kingdom already unstable...

Border tensions rising...

Rumors of impending war are spreading everywhere...

What would a Saint possessing half the royal bloodline represent?

To preserve stability...

Even the royal family might not side with the aggrieved Smith family.

As for the Ice Fang Mercenary Company...

They would simply become convenient scapegoats.

The first sacrifice was offered to calm the anger of every faction.

Having traveled the continent for most of his life, Old Kili had already considered every possible worst-case scenario.

During these long days of imprisonment...

He had thought about nothing else.

What future remained for the Ice Fang Mercenary Company?

No matter how he pondered...

He found no answer.

Because every possible outcome depended entirely upon the will of the Saint seated before him.

For the livelihoods...

For the lives...

Of the Ice Fang Mercenary Company's one thousand five hundred and thirty-nine members...

What did kneeling matter?

What was pride worth?

Even when Leon cursed him for disgracing the company—

Old Kili didn't feel angry.

Instead...

He almost wanted to laugh.

Yes.

Leon had manipulated them from beginning to end.

Most of the veteran brothers who had accompanied him into the Forest of Eternal Darkness had died there.

All because that damned noble had set his sights upon an ancient dragon's egg.

He merely needed expendable pawns.

The truth was—

Even if Leon had revealed everything before the journey began...

They still would have walked this very road.

They still would have gambled their lives to obtain that dragon egg.

Because the moment the Ice Fang Mercenary Company attracted the Count's attention...

They had already lost the right to choose.

There had only ever been one path.

Forward.

No matter how dark it became.

Such was life.

Everyone dirtied themselves just to survive.

There was nothing left to complain about.

That young noble, intelligent though he was, lacked experience.

He probably still hadn't realized...

It wasn't only the Ice Fang Mercenary Company that had lost the freedom to choose.

He had as well.

His life...

And death...

Now rested entirely upon that Saint's whim.

The Ice Fang Mercenary Company would never provoke the Smith family over a handful of aging mercenaries.

But...

Would Count Breton truly risk offending a living Saint over a dead third son?

Not "probably."

Absolutely not.

Such was the reality of nobility.

That was precisely why Old Kili found Leon amusing.

We're all prisoners now.

How exactly are you any more noble than the rest of us?

In fact...

Old Kili hoped Leon would continue acting stubborn.

The more suffering he endured...

The happier Old Kili felt.

Otherwise...

Wouldn't all the brothers who died have perished for nothing?

Now that the employer and the mercenary were no longer bound by contract...

It was time to settle old scores.

Mercenaries had always preferred clean accounts.

---

Once Leon's shouting faded beyond the hall, silence settled over the room.

Kun and Old Kili both seemed to be waiting for the other to speak first.

Kun...

Was simply lost in thought, as usual.

Old Kili...

Dared not utter a word.

Some lords possessed eccentric tempers.

Anyone who spoke before being addressed could be accused of insulting noble dignity.

Old Kili wasn't willing to gamble.

So he remained motionless, prostrated upon the floor.

Kneeling isn't so bad.

At least there's a soft carpet here.

And warm sunlight.

Far better than that frozen dungeon.

This...

Was called survival instinct.

Only after a maid replaced Kun's now-cold cup of tea did he finally return to reality.

He glanced toward the mercenaries lying on the floor.

Honestly...

He found the situation troublesome.

Strictly speaking, these mercenaries hadn't committed any great crime.

They were simply fools who had been used by someone else.

They gained nothing.

Instead, they lost most of their companions.

Yet if he simply released them...

The news about Leon—and the dragon egg—might spread.

That would become an unnecessary risk.

Maybe...

I should just find an excuse to keep them here.

Though they were all old men...

Old people had their own value.

Their decades of wandering across the continent...

Their experience alone...

Was an enormous treasure.

Wasn't Melward constantly complaining that his school lacked teachers?

Perfect.

He could simply throw these old fellows over there and let them spend their retirement years teaching.

Continental History.

Magical Beast Studies.

Those two subjects sounded suitable enough.

As for whether a bunch of rough mercenaries—some who could barely read—were capable of becoming teachers...

Kun couldn't care less.

Come on.

He was just a humble little lord.

If the teachers weren't good enough...

Go complain to the principal.

(Melward.)

---

"Well?"

"Is there anything you'd like to say?"

Having already decided to pin the grave crime of "insulting noble dignity" onto these unfortunate mercenaries anyway, Kun casually made conversation.

To him...

Noble dignity resembled Schrödinger's cat.

Existing and not existing simultaneously.

Sometimes it was valued above life itself.

Other times...

It wasn't worth a single copper coin.

If a noble declared you'd insulted his dignity—

Then even smashing your forehead bloody in apology wouldn't change the verdict.

You had still insulted him.

But if he declared you hadn't—

Then even if you cursed every one of his ancestors out of their graves while pointing straight at his face...

You still hadn't.

Ultimately...

Everything depended upon a noble's own subjective judgment.

The highest authority belonged solely to the individual noble.

The moment Old Kili heard Kun's voice, his heart lurched violently.

He knew the decisive moment had finally arrived—

the moment that would determine whether the Ice Fang Mercenary Company would continue to exist...

And whether these old men would live or die.

Without the slightest hesitation, Old Kili shouted,

"My Lord!"

"The entire Ice Fang Mercenary Company is willing to serve under your banner!"

"We beg only for a chance to prove our loyalty!"

Kun blinked in surprise.

They're volunteering to join me?

A large mercenary company?

Can something this good really happen?

...Or is this some kind of trap?

Seeing Kun remain silent, Old Kili's heart pounded wildly.

Thinking the orthodox mage looked down upon wandering mercenaries like themselves, he hurriedly added,

"Our Ice Fang Mercenary Company has existed for one hundred and twenty years."

"We may not rank among the kingdom's greatest mercenary companies..."

"But our reputation and credibility are beyond reproach."

"We currently have seven third-tier Great Warriors..."

"Thirty-one mid-tier warriors..."

"One hundred and seventy-three lower-tier warriors..."

"Five hundred reserve mercenaries..."

"And another five hundred logistical support personnel."

"As for us old men in the Ice Fang Merchant Caravan..."

"We're nothing more than retirees too old for the front lines."

"We're hardly representative of the Ice Fang Mercenary Company's true strength."