CH 24

Chapter 24 – ☆Royg, Loses Many Things!

A month had passed since Joshua left.

“Damn it! You still haven’t found him!?”

Royg shouted as he slammed a fist onto his desk in the Knights Order office.

Around him, Vilian and the other attendants all shuddered.

On the day that Joshua had left, the Chevalburg gatekeeper had talked to him, saying, ‘It’s unusual for you to go outside.’

And Joshua had told him that he was quitting the Knights Order and going south.

So Royg sent out personnel towards the southern cities in order to search for Joshua.

Each city was only about a week away on horse. And yet there had been no news from any of them. Royg felt intense indignation by this.

“Not only that, but what is happening with Gaius… I’ve had no reports from him at all.”

It wasn’t only Joshua who was troubling Royg.

Gaius had been helping him with the slave hunting, but all communications had stopped.

It was the slave merchant Cobis that Gaius was helping.

Cobis was the most notorious slave merchant in the southern lands, and even had a fortress as a base. It was there that he traded slaves or made them work in farms and mines.

Royg had become acquainted with Cobis a few months ago during one of his parties. And it was then that he learned of how lucrative slave hunting could be.

As someone who wanted even more riches, Royg decided to have Gaius learn slave hunting from Cobis.

Cobis was to pay Royg in exchange for having such a powerful knight as Gaius working for him. And Royg had been depending on this payment.

That’s when it happened.

Someone banged on the doors of his office.

“A messenger!? Enter!”

However, it was not someone of the Knights Order who entered.

It was a banker, as well as a few common folk.

“Excuse me, Lord Royg. I am Kobanu from the Zwalt Bank. I thank you for doing business with us. Now, that painting and pot. Take them.”

Said the banker, and the commoners started to try and take things from the office.

“Wait! That’s mine! What authority do you have to take them!?”

And then one of the attendants stepped forward to stop him.

“Ple-please wait, Captain! We have to offer them as security, so we can borrow funds!”

“But this is mine! I won’t let them take them away without permission!”

Royg snatched the pot out of the commoner’s grasp.

Upon seeing this, the banker yelled angrily.

“What is the meaning of this, Sir Bashe? You claimed that Sir Royg wanted to offer them as security…”

“What!? Why did you allow that, Bashe!?”

The banker looked exasperated as Bashe and Royg argued.

“This is no good at all. You pleaded with me to let you borrow money, and so we agreed.”

“Wh-what did you say!? We don’t need you! There are other banks that will lend me money! Now get out of my sight!”

Royg shouted at the banker.

“Wa-wait, Captain! The Zwalt Bank was the only bank who agreed to lend us money! No one else will agree to it as we are now!”

“You are lying! Will you defy me too!?”

So saying, Royg kicked Bashe into the air.

The banker saw this and muttered.

“…I see. Well, we’ll pretend that none of this ever happened.”

Bashe desperately tried to stop the banker as he took his leave.

But Royg continued to kick Bashe.

“You traitor! You worthless fool!”

“Ca-Captain! Surely he is sorry, and has suffered enough.”

Vilian said delicately.

And then Bashe glared at Vilian.

“Actually, you were the one who agreed to this, Vilian! You said you would persuade the Captain! And it was you who forced the responsibility of searching for a bank onto me!”

“Wh-what!? Are you going to try and make me a villain as well!? I know about you! About how you’ve been secretly sending our armor to your father back in your homeland!”

“I-I…! B-but so have you! In-in any case, Captain. Right now we must…!”

But Royg just kicked Bashe again. And then again. Persistently.

“Diverting, were you!? You thief! Not only are you all worthless, but you’ve been taking what is mine!”

“Ca-Captain, perhaps you are going too…ah…”

Vilian muttered, but it was too late.

Bashe was already dead.

Royg’s face was a bright red as he turned to Vilian.

“Clean this up… I’ll need a new financial commissioner.”

“Ye-yes, Captain.”

However, the next commissioner reported to Royg that there was no bank that would lend them money.

And though the commissioner was replaced again, the results were the same.

It was only then that Vilian told Royg that the Zwalt Bank was their only hope.

Royg would have no choice but to borrow money from them.

And so Royg went to the bank himself and bowed his head to the banker who he had thrown out previously.

“Please…lend me money.”

“Isn’t it quite late for that? I still remember how you insulted this bank.”

Royg bowed his head so low that it touched the floor.

The banker saw this and chuckled quietly.

“Ah, very well then. We are not demons, you know?”

And so the Zwalt Bank would finance the Knights Order.

In the first place, the Zwalt Bank had been infamous for being a severe bank when it came to their excessive profits and collecting.

But now that the Knights Order was on the brink of ruin, there was no other bank who would help them.

The next day, many of Royg’s valuable personal possessions were carried out of the castle and his home.

Upon seeing this, Royg began to swing his sword around in his office.

“Shit!! Shit! Shit!! Shiiiiiiit!”

His office was now empty, save for his desk and chair, but Royg destroyed them with his sword as well.

And then the sword, which had been bashed against the walls and floor so many times, also shattered.

It had been a lavish sword that was encrusted with precious stones. And it had not been made by Joshua. Royg had bought it with enough money to build a house.

“AAAAARRGHHHH!!”

Royg’s howl echoed through the now empty castle.