CH 57

The next day…

Eugene met with the merchant guild leader, Gardye, and introduced Delmondo as his younger cousin who would manage the lands on his behalf in the future. Delmondo possessed a fair appearance as a vampire, and above all else, he was an excellent speaker as a former official of the Roman Empire.

Moreover, Delmondo was forced to be very humble in Eugene’s presence, which Gardye found quite favorable.

“I cannot believe that he is so humble and charming even though he is so well-educated. Just what I would expect from Sir Eugene’s relative, Sir Delmondo.”

“How can you say such a thing! That’s not true at all!”

“What?”

Gardye tilted his head with confusion. He wasn’t sure as to why Delmondo would deny his relationship with Eugene with a shout.

‘Ah!’

Delmondo quickly realized his mistake and hurriedly continued. “Because! Sir Eugene is like a full moon that illuminates the dark night. In comparison, I can only be compared to a weak being, something lesser than even a firefly. No, rather comparing myself to Sir Eugene would be an offense. It would be blasphemy!”

Delmondo’s words were both true and an obvious fact. There was an incomparable difference in status between an Origin and a regular vampire, or perhaps it was even greater.

“Haha! Sir Delmondo, aren’t you humbling yourself too much?”

“It is only the truth. And even though we are very distant cousins, my relationship with Sir Eugene is no different from a master and his servant. His commands are a mission, a calling that I must fulfill no matter what.”

“Hmm!”

Gardye nodded continuously with a touched expression.

He found Delmondo to be a rare talent. Not to mention his humble attitude, there was no doubt that he was a noble considering his vast knowledge about different topics. In addition, considering the conversation they shared so far, it was highly likely that Delmondo possessed excellent practical skills as well.

However, such a talented figure was thoroughly subservient to Eugene, even though they were relatives. Delmondo was impressive, but Gardye was even more amazed by Eugene.

‘Sir Galfredik serves him as well. It seems Sir Eugene is a knight with excellent ability to find and command great talents.”

Most knights knew only how to fight and were terrible at management and governance. As such, although they excelled at commanding soldiers on the battlefield, they were rather clumsy when it came to managing personnel to rule over the land.

However, Eugene was different from the other knights. Gardye had never met a knight like Eugene, who possessed both overwhelming skills as a warrior as well as an eye for people.

‘It would have been ideal if he had settled in our city first. This is quite unfortunate.’

Gardye inwardly smacked his lips while looking at the crest of Maren City on Eugene’s chest. A knight like Eugene would easily rise to prominence in the current chaos swirling over the Carls Baggins Peninsula…

‘No, it might not be too late!’

Gardye put his brain to work after shaking himself out of his trance.

‘Sir Eugene will soon be elevated in status as a lord. However, he wants to continue his contract with the Palin Association. That must mean that he is after both wealth and honor, right? In that case…’

Gardye quickly organized his thoughts before speaking in a subtle voice. “With all due respect, Sir Eugene, may I raise a suggestion? I can guarantee that it won’t affect you negatively. Rather, it could be a promising opportunity.”

“A promising opportunity?”

“Yes. Sir, do you have any plans on expanding your territory on the peninsula?”

“Hmm.”

Eugene couldn’t answer immediately, since acquiring his own territory had been due to a stroke of luck in the first place. However, Gardye interpreted Eugene’s silence as an invitation to continue. He gulped before continuing to explain. 

“It would only be a single mountain. It is located about 10 kilometers away from the border of the territory that you acquired.”

“A mountain? Is there a particular reason that I would need a mountain?”

“The mountain contains a silver mine.”

“Kieeeeeek!?”

Mirian attempted to pop out of the leather pocket with an agitated scream. It appeared that the mention of possible gains stimulated her greatly.

Eugene tightened the opening of the pocket in a natural way before responding. “If it’s a mountain with a silver mine, I am certain that it must have an owner. Are you suggesting I start a territorial war?” Eugene spoke with a cold gaze.

Gardye hurriedly waved his hands. “Of course not! How can I say such a thing?”

“The mountain had a legitimate master until a few years ago. It was Lord Bemos, the previous master of Paranan Village. However, he passed away, and the administrator of the village, Sir Marcelo, was completely occupied with trying to take care of the village.”

“Hmm. So you are suggesting that it is essentially ownerless, right? But it’s unlikely that the other nobles and lords would leave a silver mine untouched.”

“Haha! Lord Bemos is the son of Marquis Archivol, right? Even though he lost his power, none of the nobles would openly steal a silver mine that was bequeathed by a great noble to his youngest son.”

“That would certainly be considered dishonorable. But from the way I see things, it appears as if that’s only one of the reasons. I say that they left the mine untouched because it will be troublesome to manage, and because they will still have to give it up once someone brought peace to the peninsula. Am I wrong?”

Although most nobles were arrogant and prideful, most nobles were also experienced and quite intelligent from Eugene’s experience. In the first place, it was very difficult for someone to surpass their siblings and become a lord unless they were smart.

For example, even in the small territory of Tywin, Camara eventually became the lord because he was quick-witted and smarter than his brother. It was clear that the same rule applied to the lords of the Carls Baggins Peninsula.

Even if the tyrannical rule of the marquis caused his own downfall, he reigned as the ruler of the peninsula for many years. It would be quite difficult for anyone to simply take the mine as their own. Anyone could deduce that the mine was more troublesome than it was worth unless they were a fool.

“As expected! Sir Eugene is truly outstanding.”

Gardye burst into admiration after hearing Eugene’s answer, then continued in a quieter voice. “However, there’s no juicier morsel of meat to those dishonorable hooligans, right? That’s why those fools…”

Apparently, the master of the mountain had changed seven times in two years. Moreover, the now-deceased, previous ‘masters’ of the mountain had been bandits or mercenary captains, as well as the current master.

They had coveted the hot potato known as the silver mine without considering the fact that it would surely end up in someone else’s hands in the future. They were simply ignorant and stupid.

“I would not suggest this otherwise, but Sir Eugene already obtained the consent of the surrounding lords in regard to ruling over your territory, correct? Moreover, you’ve even found yourself a great administrator to rule on your behalf.”

“That’s right.”

“That’s why the thought came to me! If it’s Sir Eugene, even if the silver mine is incorporated into your territory and you claimed ownership of it, it wouldn’t be a problem. And if you claimed the silver mine, we could support you for its development and maintenance…”

“Provide me with a decent military depot merchant. I will set off tomorrow.”

“Just as I expected! Sir Eugene is truly outstanding!” 

Gardye’s thick lips looked like they were about to stretch to his ears.

“Kieeeek! Silver! We’re rich! We’re going to be filthy rich! Kieeeeeee!”

The spirit of desire seemed to be overjoyed as well.

***

“What do you think?” Romari asked with sparkling eyes.

“Kiek!? This is quite good for a talking raccoon. I am now certain that she chose the wrong profession. It would have been better if she became an artist instead of a wizard.”

Mirian could no longer complain about not getting to design the crest after seeing Romari’s design. It was truly spectacular.

A black dragon with fiery red eyes was spreading its wings above a spear and a sword crossed into the shape of an ‘x.’ The scene looked quite imposing and impressive.

“You’re pretty good with your hands. If I knew nothing, then I would have thought that this was the work of an artisan. Good work.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Romari smiled shyly, holding herself back from blurting out that more credit was due to her outstanding inspiration as a wizard rather than her dexterity. She felt quite proud and happy to receive proper praise and recognition for the first time.

‘Huh!? What am I even thinking about?’ Romari found herself unconsciously thinking that it wouldn’t be bad to enter Eugene’s service. She quickly shook herself to her senses. ‘I can’t possibly keep doing things like this. It’s already been more than a month since I had an opportunity to focus on my research. I’ve only suffered until now.’

As she expected, vampires were seductive and elusive. She was shocked to think that she was almost coaxed into having such thoughts. Thus, she spoke cautiously. “Then, will it be okay to say that I played a part in the subjugation? About what was promised…”

“Take what you need.”

“Thank you!”

“Oh, and it seems you will need to return to Maren by yourself for now. Something came up, so I will need to stay for a little longer before I can return to Maren.”

“What? Ah, yes!” She was puzzled for a moment, but Romari quickly nodded. It appeared that she would have more time to research and experiment with her chimera.

“Well, then. Should I go ahead and pack my bags?”

“Fine. I will leave you some men, so make sure to take care of the materials on the ship.”

“Yes!”

“Oh, by the way, do you know alchemy as well?”

Romari suddenly paused amidst her excitement for her upcoming departure.

“Uh, alchemy is a fundamental area of study for all wizards. In addition, it’s fundamental to deal with various minerals to create chimeras.”

“Huh, is that so? Then you should know how to smelt as well, right?”

“Yes…”

Romari seemed hesitant to answer. She felt somewhat uneasy.

“That’s good to hear. I might come to possess a silver mine soon. It would be better to have a wizard, right? Including the smelting…”

“I will build a laboratory as soon as I return to Maren. Wizards have superior techniques for refining silver from raw ores compared to the dwarves, especially since our school focuses on producing chimeras. I can proudly assure you that our technique with silver refinement is the best. Leave it to me!”

Romari revealed her desires while exhaling raggedly. Eugene was rather surprised, but it was a natural reaction for her. In the first place, wizards were forced to work in the world because they could not afford their precious, expensive ingredients.

Moreover, silver, along with sulfur and mercury, was considered one of the most commonly used minerals by wizards. The Blood Shadow School focused on creating chimeras and controlling monsters. Thus, silver was an indispensable material for their practice.

It was impossible for Romari to control herself when she heard that her employer might own a silver mine soon.

“Huff, huff. Please… Please allow me to smelt silver! I will give everything for you, Sir Eugene.”

“I won’t need your everything. Anyways, I understand.”

“Yes! Haa…”

“Hoho! Even the little raccoon finally came to realize the true value of silver! Look at her eyes! She won’t be able to sustain herself without silver anymore!”

It didn’t seem quite right, but it was also difficult to refute Mirian’s words.

***

That evening…

Eugene sent Delmondo and Romari to their respective destinations before calling Galfredik and the three squad leaders. They were quite surprised to hear that Eugene would be taking Mount Nadir instead of returning to Maren.

However, their eyes were soon filled with greed. They actively contributed their opinions.

“There is a world of difference between lords in possession of mines or evil lands and those without. I unconditionally agree with the master’s words. What about you three?”

Galfredik turned his fierce gaze. They weren’t in a position to protest in the first place, and the three squad leaders had been enticed as soon as they heard about the silver mine. They answered simultaneously.

“Please give us your orders.”

“You will become a lord in name and reality if you can take control of Mount Nadir’s silver mine, Sir Eugene! Truthfully, I was also after the silver mine when I took control of… Heup!”

Rudrian mistakenly blurted out the truth in the heat of the moment. He quickly realized his mistake and shut his mouth.

However, Eugene and Galfredik would never miss it.

“I think you were about to tell us something interesting. You occupied Ronan Village because of the silver mine?”

“Well… that’s right. To tell you the truth, it’s not just me, but also all those who were defeated by Sir Eugene. All of them had Mount Nadir’s silver mine in mind.”

“I did think it was strange.”

Even if the situation in the Carls Baggins Peninsula was bad, it had been strange to encounter armed groups once or twice every day. However, it made sense if it had been due to the silver mine.

“Lord Bemos was the only immediate descendant of Marquis Archivold who passed away. The other children of Archivold are still bickering away in other areas of the peninsula, and even the lords and the city mayors are joining in the fray.”

“But since this area is located far away, and since everyone is wary of the City of Moffern and staying still, small fries like you were left alone to compete?”

Rudrian would have burst into outrage if any other knight had spoken such disdainful words to him, but Galfredik was an exception. He simply answered while scratching his head. “Yes…”

“You thought you could become a lord if you occupied a couple of villages and take Mount Nadir’s silver mine?”

“Yes.”

“You weren’t exactly wrong, I guess. Of course, you would have been dead in a few months if you did occupy the mountain, though.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

“Tsk, tsk.” Galfredik clicked his tongue. 

Eugene was the one who answered in a cold voice. Eugene was now more or less knowledgeable about how the world worked.

“It belonged to one of their siblings. Do you really think that the other descendants of the Archivold family would leave the silver mine untouched? Especially when a baseless, nameless mercenary is pretending to be its owner?”

“…..!”

“It wouldn’t have mattered who took control of the mine in the end. If it was someone like you, they would still suffer a tragic end.”

Eugene was ignorant in the past, but now he knew. It would be useless to claim ownership of a territory as a lord if they didn’t have the justification and the qualification to do so.

Power, fame, influence, origin.

Only those who fulfilled all requirements were capable of becoming mercenaries from bandits, knights from mercenaries, and finally lords from knights.

This was how the world worked.