Chapter 260: ????????????????????????????, ????????????????????????, ????????????????????????, ???????????????????????????????? (4)

Chapter 260: Emperor, Knight, Wizard, Assassin (4)

The assassination was over, but the surrounding area was still dark. Even though a powerful figure had been killed, the camp was quiet as if nothing had happened.

“No one’s chasing us, so you don’t have to look back.”

Kaegal said this without looking back. The soldiers flinched. They had been looking back several times while running away.

Even for experienced mercenaries, this was honestly a tense affair. If they weren’t afraid to enter the emperor’s fiefdom, that would be even stranger.

Once they were far enough away from the camp and entered the forest, Kaegal stopped.

“Pick what you want.”

“?”

“Oh, you’re such a green assassin. . . Don’t you know that we have to share equally what we took from inside?”

“Oh, I see.”

It seemed that Kaegal would be leaving here. Johan suddenly felt sorry for him and said,

“Would you like to stay a little longer?”

“Assassins don’t stay in the palace for long. Just pick your things. Don’t look under your feet.”

Assassins were surprisingly fair in some ways. That was also the case when sharing rewards. Since they had risked their lives together, they shared them quite fairly.

Picking one at a time without looking.

“But. . .”

“Can’t you choose and talk?”

“Caenerna-gong also participated in the assassination, so shouldn’t she be able to share in the reward?”

“. . .That’s a fair point. Yes, the wizard can also choose. Now, hurry up and choose so I can choose.”

Kaegal would have liked to choose first, but that wouldn’t be fair. Kaegal pressed again.

“But what about this?”

“. . . . . .”

“The soldiers behind us also participated, so shouldn’t they be able to share in it?”

“Have you ever seen such an absurd person?”

Kaegal finally realized Johan’s intentions. He was speechless with disbelief.

If they split the reward based on numbers, Johan would be overwhelmingly in the lead.

“Where did you learn such absurd arithmetic? Do you need to be able to do such arithmetic to be good at calculations?”

“No, I was just following my master’s teachings. Please don’t misunderstand me.”

“I’m not going to misunderstand you. Take it all. You thief!”

Kaegal couldn’t argue with Johan’s words. He didn’t expect to be taken advantage of in this way, but he didn’t feel bad about it.

‘I’ll never have to worry about someone taking my share anywhere!’

After all, nobles were thieves, too, if you thought about it. It wasn’t a bad thing to be good at stealing after becoming a noble.

“Hmm. Should I take this, or that? This is a real dilemma.”

“. . .Can’t you hurry up and choose before I slap you in the face??”

Seeing him put his hand in the bag and do math this way and that, the happiness that had been there just a moment ago disappeared completely.

????????????????????????

“Your Excellency Count!!! I heard the story. You have achieved a truly great feat. No knight in the Empire can match that achievement!”

“. . .???”

Johan was surprised to see the familiar lower nobles and servants who came to meet him from the west, working as scribes under the feudal lords.

‘What is it?’

Could it be that the rumor of the emperor’s assassination had already spread this far?

In fact, assassinating the emperor was not something that would be so much in the news. He was the master of a family that had been passed down for a long time, and had many vassals under his command.

If the rumor of the assassination came out, it could build up unnecessary resentment.

‘Moreover, there is no way to know, right?’

If the people here knew something that even the parties involved did not know, it was not as creepy as that. Johan asked calmly.

“What are you talking about?”

“About hunting the dragon!”

“. . .Oh. . .”

It would be even better if the elf king was distracted by dragon hunting. Even though they had received the elf king’s help, if his influence grew, it would be an uncomfortable situation for the western feudal lords.

The elf king was satisfied with the honor of hunting the dragon and would not interfere any further. This was the best possible situation for the western lords.

“Thank you, Count. Please continue to encourage the elf king to be interested in the dragon.”

“It would be even more appreciated if you could make him go after it.”

As the conversation between the elf king and Johan came to an end, one of the lords approached Johan and said.

“By the way, Your Excellency Count. It might be a good idea to restrict visitors for a while.”

“Why is that?”

“Southern nobles are coming this way after hearing the news that the war has ended. As Your Excellency Count has a lot of influence, you will receive many requests.”

“. . .!”

The lord’s warning was not wrong. Since the news that Count Yeats had returned spread, there had been a continuous stream of visitors who said, ’I wanted to see you once.’

The composition of the visitors was different, but they all had a similar purpose.

━I must have that fiefdom!

A fallen noble from a family so distant that their blood would only be mixed five generations up, a shameless con artist who claims to be the child of that noble because the place looks a little similar to a few dots, and a half-rogue mercenary captain who boldly says to make him a lord if he pays a ninth of his income.

Even though the south was in a mess, even a small piece of land in the south was an enormous fortune.

Now that several southern lord families have flown away, a human crowd has begun to flock to become vassals of powerful nobles and get a little land.

“Gerdolf. You’re going to have a hard time. I’m sorry.”

Gerdolf shook his head. There was no knight like Gerdolf when it came to chasing away guests. Even those with a certain amount of courage could not argue when Gerdolf was standing in front of them.

“Can’t we go back to the fiefdom in the south with the other nobles?”

Suetlg said with a tired face.

He thought it was all over when the emperor’s army retreated like a fleeing army, but he never thought that this would happen.

“You know it’s not possible. The other nobles I brought with me can go back, but if I drop out, everyone will be surprised.”

The other lords were bound to be surprised if someone who was supposed to get a big share of the spoils just left without a word. Johan, for one, had no such intention.

He had fought, so he deserved to be rewarded.

“Yeah, I was just joking.”

Suetlg opened a map and asked. It was a map of the southern fiefdom that had lost its lord or was about to lose it.

“Which of these fiefdoms do you want?”

“To be honest. . . they’re all pretty much the same, aren’t they?”

“That’s true.”

The south was in ruins due to war and plunder. If it had been under normal circumstances, they would have compared them, but it was difficult to do so in their current state.

“If I had to choose, I’d like a fiefdom with rare resources or good transportation.”

“You also need to think about who you’re going to make your vassal. You need someone who is capable and trustworthy, especially since it’s a long way away.”

“Are you saying that the person must be familiar with the fiefdom’s administration, have good relations with the surrounding families, and be able to double the number of pigs and horses every year?”

“. . .I’m not that heartless. Of course, there is no such thing as a perfect person, but you need to choose carefully.”

Johan, looking at the map, pointed to one spot.

“This fiefdom hasn’t surrendered yet, has it?”

“He must be either clueless or unable to grasp the situation.”

Southern lords who were close to the emperor’s faction were now scrambling frantically. Those who were less involved could be appeased with gold, but those who had seized their fiefdoms with the emperor’s power had to worry about their own lives, not their fiefdoms.

“That’s good. The negotiations will take a while, so I’ll go and take it down.”

“What? No. . . why? You could just send a sub-captain.”

Suetlg was puzzled.

If there were others to help them, they might be able to hold out, but otherwise, they would probably surrender. It was obvious that if they stayed here, thousands more would come.

“Suetlg-nim, will you entertain our guests here?”

“. . .Oh, I see. If that’s the case, I’ll join you too.”

Of course, it wasn’t just for that reason.

Near the fiefdom that Johan pointed to, there was a small village that was so small that it didn’t even appear on the map.

It was Johan’s hometown.