CH 287

“Are you talking about food?”

“That’s right. I think it should be enough for five or six days. Ah, and while we’re working on procuring food, I’m hoping to get some other things as well.”

The exchange of pleasantries was rather brief due to the situation. Eugene headed over to Grigon with Baron Blanc and revealed the purpose of his visit. Grigon became wide-eyed with shock.

‘How could this be? Was my intuition wrong?’

The number of people from Maren in the expedition was almost one hundred. Including the Knights of Dawn, there were nearly four hundred people in the expedition. They would certainly need an enormous amount of food and supplies. In addition, the expedition had the King of Maren and a prince of the Roman Empire. If even the foreign nobles had to be taken into consideration, just how much would they have to spend? Grigon was suddenly faced with a golden opportunity to make a fortune.

Grigon spoke quickly after a brief moment of contemplation. “That won’t be difficult. However, don’t you think it will be better to hire a depot merchant to take care of the entire expedition during the monster uprising?”

“A depot merchant? Hmm…” Eugene muttered.

“We will handle the troops who will guard the depot merchants,” Grigon added.

“Really? That’s not bad.” Eugene stroked his chin while nodding. Grigon cheered inwardly. There weren’t many depot merchants who could take care of hundreds of troops, and the only merchant capable enough to do so was one of his own. To be exact, the merchant was an agent who ran a business owned by Grigon. In other words, the profit belonged to Grigon.

“If Your Majesty so desires, I will immediately seek out the most responsible and reliable depot merchant in Byrne,” Grigon said.

“Since the son of Lord Hisain is willing to help me out like this, I am looking forward to it. All right. Let us do that,” Eugen responded.

“You don’t muck about, Your Majesty,” Grigon said with a wide smile. Eugene responded with a bright smile of his own. Baron Blanc watching from the side ably hid his puzzlement while awkwardly smiling.

‘How strange. Everything’s just going to work out like this? Hm… Regardless, I’m glad that everything worked out without a hitch.’

Grigon was having similar thoughts as Baron Blanc.

‘He’s a man of good character. A very honorable and generous noble, isn’t he? Then that feeling from before…’

What could have possibly caused him to check that his coin pouch was tightly sealed? Where had the ominous feeling originated from?

‘Was I mistaken?’

Well, in the first place, it was impossible for there to be a man who was beyond his father when it came to those matters. He had to have been mistaken.

‘Wait. No, no!’

No matter how hard he thought about it, the intense feeling had been real. And as far as Grigon was aware, his father, Count Hisain, was one of the top ten wealthiest people in the Roman Empire, never mind the countdom. If that were the case, then perhaps…

‘…The god of wealth?’

The King of Maren was a man of numerous achievements. There was a rumor that the king had accumulated great wealth and honor, as well as followers. In particular, Maren, a port city known for its wealth, was said to be in the process of raising the largest surplus in its history after enthroning its king.

“Yes! The King of Maren is a god of wealth. And just as he did with everyone else, he is a nobleman who will bring me an abundance of gold!’

Grigon became even more polite while holding in an even bigger smile.

“Then, Your Majesty, how will you pay for the… Ah! Silver? Gold? Anything is fine. Even gold bars will be fine as well,” Grigon said.

“Pay? What are you talking about?” Eugene asked as if he were truly oblivious to what Grigon was talking about.

“What? Well, of course, the payment for the food and supplies for the expedition…”

“Hmm? Sir Grigon, what are you talking about? Shouldn’t the food and the supplies be paid for by yourself or Lord Hisain?” Eugene said.

“What? W-what could you possibly mean by…” Grigon asked with great surprise.

‘Ha… As expected…’

Baron Blanc held in his sigh as he felt his heart sink. The moment he had been dreading had finally come.

Eugene asked as if he truly couldn’t understand Grigon’s reaction. “Although I came here to help the Countdom of Hisain, the mainstay of this army is the Knights of Dawn, is it not?”

“…!”

“And this is the territory of the Hisain Countdom. Moreover, Sir Grigon is the governor of Demiere, as well as Lord Hisain’s blood. Isn’t that right?” Eugene said.

“That’s right…”

“And since the elite soldiers of the countdom have been mobilized, shouldn’t the countdom naturally take responsibility for the supplies? Sir Blanc. Is there perhaps an immoral law in the Hisain Countdom stating that other countries must take responsibility for the supplies of the countdom’s soldiers?” Eugene asked.

“No! No! Absolutely not! There isn’t such a thing!” Baron Blanc quickly denied it when the attention was directed toward him.

“So he says. Then, Sir Grigon. Do I still have to pay for the food and the supplies?” Eugene asked.

“O-obviously, it’s mine to pay. Ha, haha… The current situation is simply too chaotic, so I must have forgotten myself. Please forgive me, Your Majesty,” Grigon responded.

“I fully understand. I might have done the same if Maren were in a similar situation. You must have been so hurried that you wanted to pass the responsibility onto someone else,” Eugene said.

“Yes, yes. I apologize once again for the shameful behavior,” Grigon said. Although Eugene said those words in a soft tone, the content couldn’t be more acrimonious. Grigon forced a smile as he felt sweat dripping down his forehead. He felt like weeping while banging his fist against the ground.

‘Food to feed so many troops for five days… And the supplies? Keugh!’

Of course, it wasn’t that he couldn’t afford it. However, he felt as if he would go insane to waste so much money. The gold coins and bars that filled his head moments ago had disappeared like a mirage. Grigon wore a strange expression as if he were forcibly swallowing the immense regret and shock simmering in his throat.

“Ah, by the way,” Eugene said as if he had remembered something.

“Yes…?” Grigon asked with trembling eyebrows. He suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.

Eugene gave an apologetic smile before continuing, “There are beowulf warriors in my expedition. They eat mostly meat and very little grain, so please keep that in mind.”

“Meat…” Grigon muttered.

“And the amount of food they consume is five or six times more than that of ordinary adult men, so I’ll leave it to you,” Eugene said.

“I… Keugh! Understand…”

“Hmm? Sir Grigon, are you crying right now?” Eugene asked.

“No… Is there anything else you want to say…?” Grigon was currently displaying superhuman forbearance to stop himself from chasing Eugene away as he asked while shedding a tear.

“Please take proper care of Sir Carmier’s body, as well as the treatment of the Knights of Dawn commanders,” Eugene said.

“Yes. Take proper care of Sir Carmier’s—What?!” Grigon shouted with complete shock.

Baron Blanc sighed before stepping forward. “Sir Grigon. The truth is…”

Since Eugene was watching, Baron Blanc gave a recount unaccompanied by any of his personal opinions or thoughts. Anyone who heard the story could conclude that Sir Carmier had picked a quarrel and that the other knights had acted disgracefully.

“S-s-such a thing…”

Grigon was stupefied. Carmier was a famous knight he knew well. Both his background and status were prestigious, and his strength was well known in the Hisain Countdom. Someone like that had actually done something inexplicable which resulted in his death, and in a single blow, at that!

‘This is mad…’

Grigon’s eyes quivered even harder as he stared at Eugene. The ominous feeling he could sense from Eugene had become even greater than before. At the same time, he finally realized why the high-ranking nobles of many countries, as well as a prince of the Roman Empire, dared not to act recklessly in front of the vampire king. He had also finally realized why Baron Blanc had signed an agreement with the King of Maren at the risk of additional political burden instead of coming to the elite soldiers of the countdom. In addition, he had also finally come to the realization that the knights of the Roman Empire and the nearby countries had been mistaken when they thought that the King of Maren’s achievements were inflated and exaggerated.

‘D-don’t tell me… He came here personally rather than just sending Baron Blanc because…?’

If the king’s purpose had been to procure food and supplies, it would have been sufficient to send Baron Blanc and an agent to represent him. However, the King of Maren had insisted on leading all of his troops to Byrne, all the while making sure that the Knights of Dawn would receive the spotlight. He had even made sure to make it seem like the enslaved Knights of Dawn were the protagonists of the day.

Gulp…

Grigon felt as if all the fine hairs on his body were standing on end. He felt so fearful of the king’s eyes, which glimmered with an indifferent light. What would have happened if he had raised an objection or complained about having to take responsibility for the food and the supplies? Even without much justification, he could have made various excuses to avoid responsibility, arguing that the Knights of Dawn had been enslaved; he could have also tried to negotiate on the pretext of Carmier’s death.

However, if he had done so…

‘Then I would have been fucked. I was in the presence of a lion… No, a dragon.’

Grigon gulped once more as goosebumps rose on his forearms.

“Byrne and I will actively cooperate with Your Majesty while Your Majesty deals with the monsters. And as you said, I will do my best to take responsibility for Sir Carmier’s body and the other sirs as well.”

“I am glad to hear that. Thank you for your honorable decision, sir,” Eugene said.

“Not at all. Is there anything else that I can assist you with?” Grigon asked. He was showing a much more polite attitude than at the beginning.

Eugene responded once again with an apologetic expression, “Well, it’s nothing else, but I had the injured members of the Knights of Dawn consume refined mana stones. Since we brought it for emergency use, we don’t have much—”

“I will compensate you for all of it,” Grigon quickly answered.

“Oh! Lord Hisain truly has a fantastic son,” Eugene commented. Eugene smiled with satisfaction after obtaining everything he had desired—hundreds of cavalries that he could command free of charge, food and supplies free of charge, as well as compensation for the refined mana stones.

***

While Eugene was occupied in a tense negotiation with Grigon, the other members of the expedition were eating and drinking to their heart’s content in the grand welcome. It was the first time in a while that they could relax without worrying about having to stand guard. As such, most of the guards and knights enjoyed themselves. However, not everyone was enjoying the harmonious atmosphere.

Munch, munch.

On one side of Byrne Castle’s courtyard, two beowulf warriors were busily tearing into a basin of boiled meat brought to them by the servants of the castle. The servants appeared to be extremely scared of them.

“Meat is good and all, but it would be perfect if I could have a barrel of ale. Don’t you think so?”

“The other dogheads are coming to change shifts with us later, so let’s hold it in until then. I heard that the clowns and the dancers here play hard. Let’s go watch that later.”

“There must be other types of meat as well, right? I’m getting a little sick of beef.”

“I heard that the pigs here are well known. They were raised while being fed apples and honey, so their meat is supposed to be extremely tender.”

“Kwuooo!”

Squeak.

The two warriors suddenly stopped and turned their heads. The back door of the big carriage they were guarding was slowly opening with a creak.

Thud. Tap, tap.

“W-what is it?” The beowulf warriors retreated several steps after seeing the face of the figure descending from the carriage. It was a rather strange situation knowing the wild, brave nature of the beowulf warriors. However, the yellowed face of the female wizard, the one the dark lord and the golden spirit referred to as ‘raccoon,’ was much too bizarre.

“Excuse me…” Her hoarse voice made her seem like she had crawled from the fiery pits of hell.

“Uagh! Had she transformed into a lich?!”

“It’s completely possible. She hasn't seen sunlight for months now and hasn’t eaten a single piece of meat either, right?”

“Stop making a lich out of a perfectly normal wizard. Could you call Sir Eugene for me? Or can you guide me to him?” The lich, or rather, Romari, spoke while slithering to the two beowulfs with her long robe dragging behind her.

The two beowulfs jumped with fear while nodding.” I-I got it! I got it, so stop coming toward us!”

“I will go!”

Originating from Brantia, the beowulf warriors were greatly reverent toward druids. They considered Eugene’s wizard Romari to be equal to or even greater than a druid. As such, they had been struck with fear when she suddenly appeared with an appearance similar to a lich, and they quickly moved for fear of being cursed.

Romari disregarded the beowulfs and crouched down by the fire.

“I… I figured it out… The real identity of the incense burner… As a member of the Blood Shadow School, I finally figured it out…” Romari muttered quietly like a madman while picking up the scraps of the meat the beowulf warriors had left behind.