Chapter 18
Vens slowly regained consciousness with a faint groan.
Through his blurry vision, he recognized the inside of the carriage he had arrived in.
“You're finally awake. Maybe young nobles really do need a lot of sleep.”
Naturally, Suhyeok was sitting right in front of him.
“Uugh, w, what the hell...! U, untie me right now?!”
Maybe because Vens was so fat, the more he struggled, the deeper the ropes dug into his body.
The pain tightened around his entire body.
Tighten.
“Aaaaargh...!!”
The ropes dug painfully into his flesh.
Rolling his body around, Vens shouted at Suhyeok as if threatening him.
“W, what the hell is this?! Aaargh! Do you think my father will stay quiet when he finds out?!”
Rattle. Rattle.
Vens continued making a scene as the ropes tightened around him.
Suhyeok quietly nodded toward someone.
“I'm warning you nicely, untie these ropes right...”
At that moment, a loud SLAP! filled the carriage.
“Kyaak! You're noisy for a pig, nya! Don't you know you're supposed to be quiet inside a carriage, nya?!”
“...H, huh?”
His cheek swelled red, making his already large face look even bigger.
Tears formed in his eyes.
But the pain only occupied his thoughts for a moment.
When Vens saw Leon standing in front of him, he stared blankly.
“A cat... h, how can a cat...? Huh?”
He continued muttering to himself as if he could not understand the situation at all.
Leon swung the spatula in his paw once more.
SLAP!
“Aagh!!”
“Why are you staring like an idiot, nya?! Have you never seen a talking cat before, nya?! Hah?!”
When Leon raised the spatula as if preparing to hit him again, Vens instinctively shrank back.
“Hik!”
“That's enough, Leon.”
Freeze.
“Haaah, haaah!”
The spatula stopped just in time.
Vens began breathing heavily from panic.
If Suhyeok had spoken even a little later, he definitely would have been hit again.
“We need to leave him recognizable when we turn the broadcast back on.”
Rustle.
“...Tch, what a shame, nya. His face has such a large surface area that it's really satisfying to hit, nya. Give me my reward, nya.”
“Catch.”
Leon caught the Churu Suhyeok tossed toward him.
He sat down on a cushion, hugged the Churu, and happily licked it while purring.
Meanwhile, Vens struggled to piece together his fading consciousness and mixed-up memories.
What the hell are these guys? I swear I've seen them somewhere before, but I can't remember....
“Ugh!”
Only then did the pain in the back of his head return.
But his freshly slapped cheek hurt even more.
Even so, the thing bothering Vens the most was Leon, who was calmly eating Churu right in front of him.
W, wait, did I really see that correctly? Cats can... talk...?
While his tangled memories left him confused, he accidentally met Suhyeok's eyes.
“......!”
Vens swallowed hard at the endlessly cold gaze.
He had always believed that he stood above others.
Now, he could feel that belief shattering throughout his entire body.
Gulp.
W, we only made eye contact, but I can't move...!
It felt as if an iron chain had wrapped around his neck.
The overwhelming pressure made it difficult to breathe.
His unfocused eyes trembled violently as his breathing became rough.
“Haaah, haaah...!”
Vens's lips trembled uncontrollably as all the blood seemed to drain from his face.
“You should understand your situation by now.”
“......!”
The moment Suhyeok broke the silence, Vens's body suddenly became able to move again.
Even then, he could not bring himself to move first.
“But I hope you understand that if you keep making noise, I won't have much choice either.”
Suhyeok slightly raised his scabbard.
Like Pavlov's dog, Vens immediately remembered everything that had happened before he was knocked unconscious.
His body reacted automatically.
He straightened his back and sat properly.
He became as polite as possible in front of Suhyeok.
“I, I won't! Yes! Hahaha....”
He forced out a smile while carefully watching Suhyeok's expression.
Cold sweat ran down his back.
His trembling throat swallowed without permission.
I need to survive first. Right now, I have to bow my head no matter what...!
The noisy atmosphere disappeared.
Only quiet silence remained.
Vens kept shifting his body as though he wanted to say something but could not bring himself to do it.
He repeatedly bit his lip, his eyes filled with hesitation.
“If you have something to say, say it.”
“N, no, it's nothing!”
Cold silence returned.
After nervously watching Suhyeok for a while, Vens finally opened his mouth.
“Um... my knight, I mean... Max. Do you know where he is...?”
“You don't need to worry about him. I treated him and put him in the luggage compartment.”
“Ah....”
Vens Fricksen was the youngest of the Fricksen family's three sons.
Despite his slow-looking appearance, he was actually fairly intelligent.
The reason he had been sent to Ahern Territory as the family's representative was also because he was capable.
Vens himself took great pride in his intelligence.
He had even fantasized that if he ever lost weight, women would never leave him alone.
Th, this isn't the time for that. Even if Max isn't anything extraordinary, he's still a knight capable of using Aura....
Yet Max had been defeated so badly that he could not even resist.
Vens glanced outside the window.
They were currently crossing the large mountain range separating Ahern Territory from Fricksen Territory.
Even if they returned to his family's territory like this, he had no idea what Suhyeok might do.
There was only one thing Vens could do now.
“Um... what do I need to do to return safely...?”
He had to lower himself as much as possible.
This looks pathetic, but if I can somehow get through this with... h, huh?
Vens suddenly became extremely flustered.
When he slightly raised his head to check the mood, his eyes met Leon's.
“Hik!”
Leon sat crookedly while chewing on the Churu packet, staring straight at him.
Vens quickly lowered his gaze toward the floor.
But it was already too late.
“Sigh, why are you asking what you should do, nya? You're really stupid, nya.”
“...Y, yes?”
Leon stood up and stretched his back.
He placed the empty Churu packet on the floor, then raised the spatula again.
Grin.
“Tell us everything you know, without leaving out a single thing, nya. Unless you want to get hit again.”
“W, wait a second...”
SLAP!
While Leon happily laughed and interrogated Vens, I silently looked out the carriage window.
The carriage raced along the rough dirt road.
We traveled through a narrow mountain path and passed the ugly entrance of a tunnel that looked as though it had been carved directly into a giant rocky mountain.
Clang! Clang!
Even from inside the carriage, the endless sounds of pickaxes could be heard.
Workers could also be faintly seen in the distance.
Looks like we're almost there.
With the interrogation finally over, Vens rubbed both of his swollen cheeks and began explaining everything he knew in a trembling voice.
“Kugh, I don't know if you're aware, but our territory has operated gold mines for generations....”
I had heard about it before.
Fricksen Territory was famous enough to be one of the Empire's main sources of gold.
That was also the reason they had enough influence to pressure the arbitration committee.
However, that success did not last forever.
Eventually, they were pushed aside by Carlson, who began monopolizing every kind of mineral.
“The problem is that over the last few years, our gold production has noticeably decreased. I, it almost completely dried up....”
“That's why you've been building mines everywhere.”
My words hit the mark.
Vens lowered his head with a sigh and answered.
“...Yes.”
The Empire probably limited the number of mines each territory was allowed to operate.
The only reason Fricksen had avoided getting caught until now was because of bribery.
“We kept opening more mines, but couldn't find another gold vein. We'd been struggling with the problem for years when we discovered that the g, gold vein continued into Ahern Territory....”
“So that's the entire reason you were trying to take their farmland?”
Vens slowly raised his head and looked at me.
Then he shook it.
“No. More precisely... we needed the land for the sake of our own territory.”
Leon showed his displeasure by repeatedly tapping his tail against the floor.
“Stop talking in circles and explain properly, nya!”
Vens nervously glanced at Leon before continuing.
“W, well... because our territory focuses on gold mining, it's difficult to attract tourists. You have to cross the mountain range just to reach us, so the location isn't very good either.”
Leon nodded as if he agreed.
“That makes sense. I wouldn't visit such a boring place either, nya.”
Not only were the roads unpaved, but mines filled almost every part of the route.
The surrounding trees had all been cleared away.
It was certainly not somewhere tourists would willingly visit.
“That's why we did it. With gold production falling, we can't survive on gold forever.”
The fear that had filled Vens's face earlier disappeared.
His eyes became surprisingly serious.
What he said was correct.
They could advertise their gold as a local specialty, but attracting tourists with it would still be difficult.
Most tourists were ordinary commoners or mercenaries.
Nobles rarely took part because they considered such activities low-class entertainment.
It would also have been difficult for the territory to hold festivals using expensive gold.
“Whose idea was that? I don't think Lord Fricksen would come up with something like that.”
Vens looked surprised by the unexpected question.
After hesitating for a moment, he quietly answered.
“It... was my idea. My brothers and father call it useless nonsense, though.”
His eye for business was better than expected.
Just like Carlson, he knew how to read the movement of the market.
The reason he never stood out in my previous life was probably because of his older brothers.
“Wow, that's really unexpected, nya. You look like all you do is roll around and play, but you can actually think about things like that, nya? I'll praise you, nya.”
“Th, thank you....”
Seeing Vens suddenly reminded me of when I first met Taesu.
It was when Taesu took the entrance test for the raid party after Mihyeon recommended him.
“N, nice to meet you! My name is Bong Taesu, and as you can see, I'm twenty-six years old! I, I look forward to working with you...!”
Taesu greeted everyone while clearly nervous.
Most of the people there were too busy snickering at him.
“He looks seriously intimidating. Is this guy for real? Hehehe.”
“His size surprised me at first, but I guess he's nothing special. Looks like I'll pass this one without any trouble.”
Mihyeon pressed a hand against her forehead as she watched the nervous Taesu.
Then she calmed the noisy room.
“All right, everyone, quiet down. Introductions are over, so return to your rooms. Full training begins tomorrow.”
The next day arrived, and the harsh training began.
More than half of the applicants gave up.
Taesu endured until the very end.
Mihyeon, who had been watching beside me, nudged me with her elbow and asked.
“See? I told you, didn't I? He's surprisingly good despite how he looks. He's passionate too.”
“......”
Just as Mihyeon said, Taesu was overwhelmingly superior to the other trainees physically.
It would not have been strange for him to join the raid party immediately.
But that was as far as it went.
“Phew. Hey, bring some food to my room later. I'm starving.”
“Don't forget mine either.”
The trainees tossed their sweat-soaked towels at Taesu before leaving.
Anyone could tell from their tone that they looked down on him and were making him do their chores.
Even then, Taesu accepted it with a smile.
“Haha, of course. If it's a request from my comrades, how could I refuse?”
It was none of my concern.
Whether they used someone or allowed themselves to be used was entirely their business.
But it became a different matter if it interfered with climbing the Tower.
“Does that really look fine to you?”
We would continue climbing the Tower.
One day, we might even reach its summit.
From that perspective, Bong Taesu had failed.
His kindness would clearly hold him back.
Mihyeon carefully watched Taesu's back as he hurried away while carrying everyone's things.
For some reason, she smiled brightly and proposed a bet.
“Then want to make a bet? Let's see how much he'll change by then.”
Her eyes were filled with certainty that he would change.
I turned around and walked away.
“...If he still hasn't changed after a month, I'll deal with him my way.”
Time passed.
In the end, my judgment had been correct.
Taesu never abandoned that warmth.
However, despite saying I would fail him, I did not remove him from the raid party.
Flames rose everywhere around us.
The heat was so intense that simply enduring it was difficult.
Since it was the final training exercise, someone could even lose their life.
“S, save me....”
One trainee had become isolated and failed to escape.
He was one of the people who had constantly ordered Taesu around as though it were natural.
Roar!
As his fading vision slowly darkened, his body went limp.
He realized he was going to die.
Thud!
“Cough, are you all right? Wake up!”
“Y, you... why...?”
Taesu appeared carrying the other fallen trainees on his back.
“Haha, we're comrades. Of course I came to help you. Everyone's waiting, so let's hurry back. Once this is over, the drinks are on me.”
After that day, the people who mocked Taesu and tried to use him disappeared.
They realized their mistakes and gradually began to change.
The atmosphere became completely different.
Watching it happen, Mihyeon smiled again and asked me.
“See? I told you. Things would change.”
I finished recalling the past and looked at Vens in front of me.
When I continued staring at him, Vens nervously checked my expression before carefully asking.
“W, why are you looking at me like that...?”
I did not believe he could be completely reformed.
Unlike Taesu, there was something wrong with Vens from the very foundation.
Still, I could hope that even a small change in him might eventually change Fricksen Territory.
It was another kind of investment.
Either way, I needed experienced miners and workers for the mines.
He would not be bad as someone to manage them.
Of course, if I wanted to maintain a longer relationship with him, I would need another method.
“Leon, open the Hidden Shop and buy a contract.”
Leon flinched at my words.
With a reluctant expression, he opened the Hidden Shop.
“...Don't tell me you're going to do it to him too, nya? You're seriously evil, nya.”
A flash of light appeared.
A quill and a contract materialized.
This was different from the contract I had synthesized before.
It was an ordinary contract that could only place restrictions on the actions agreed upon by both parties.
Because it was sold at a high price in the Hidden Shop, its cost efficiency was not particularly good.
Vens looked confused by what was happening.
He nervously looked back and forth between the contract and me.
“H, haha! Um... what exactly is this?”
“You don't need to know. You only need to sign it.”
“What do you mean by...”
Without letting him finish, I quietly raised my scabbard.
“......!”
From the very beginning, Vens had never been given the option to refuse.
Apparently realizing that himself, he immediately picked up the quill with trembling fingers.
“I, I'll sign it right away....”
