Chapter 26

During the carriage ride back to the castle, the manservant questioned me repeatedly, ensuring that I had suffered no injuries.

Even if I had been hurt, it would only be from a stumble caused by those giants, a bruise that would heal in a day or two. The pain wasn’t severe enough to warrant making a fuss.

……Mentioning an injury here felt like things would spiral in an irreversible direction.

“Um, Count Guinevere? You said you were summoning his family to the castle….”

“Yes. We intend to formally charge them. It is treason, plain and simple.”

“Just asking, but… what sort of punishment does treason usually entail…?”

“In wartime, treason against the nation is often punished by the extermination of the entire family.”

I stared at the servant, who was spouting madness with a placid expression, and sighed deeply.

This was a game world, set in a medieval backdrop where reason and absurdity were intertwined. And on top of that, a war that threatened the very survival of the continent was underway.

I’d sensed an ominous foreboding the moment I heard the word “treason”… but still. Eradicating an entire clan?

……Things were already moving past the point of no return.

“That seems a bit extreme, doesn’t it…?”

“We heard you were almost assassinated by those people, Master Bin. The blade touched your neck. If that guard had applied just a little more pressure, your life would have been snuffed out. The hope of humanity, someone the Archduke would risk his own life to protect, gone so pointlessly…”

The servant spoke as if placating a child’s tantrum.

“Master Bin, you really should value yourself more. Lady Lire is a fine mage, but from now on, you should always be accompanied by a formal escort.”

The servant sighed, furrowing his brow as if the thought was still giving him chills.

“…You don’t actually think I could have been killed by those simpletons, do you?”

I brazenly lied, even though I could still feel the cold sensation of the blade against my neck.

Even if they had tried to kill me, I wasn’t cold-hearted enough to stand by and watch an entire family be led, one by one, to the executioner’s block.

There were children in their family, innocent of any crime, weren’t there?

I didn’t want those children to get caught up in this.

“Even the most masterful mage is vulnerable to a surprise attack. They are not like warriors who train their bodies day in and day out. In fact, I heard that Lady Lir herself faced a great crisis on the last expedition when she was ambushed by a Tauros far below her skill level.”

The house servant cited basic common sense of the battlefield. A hundred, a thousand times true.

“Still, the punishment is too severe.”

Even so, I stubbornly persisted.

*Because a person dies because of me.*

This thought simply would not leave my head.

“That is not something you should be telling me.”

The house servant closed his mouth as if there was nothing more to say, turning his gaze out the window.

“…What do we do?”

I looked at Lir, seated beside me, and lamented the situation, which had grown too large for us to handle.

“…”

As always, she had pulled the brim of her hat down, obscuring her face.

A magnificent defense strategy worthy of comparison to a tortoise; I was left speechless, only to bury my face in my hands.

…Somehow, we’ve driven a noble family all the way to the gallows.

Why does everything I do go so wrong?

* * *

A promising member of the Sword Saint’s party had nearly been murdered. By a countess, no less, who had amassed wealth and fame in the capital for many years.

As the matter was serious, the Elf Queen and the Human Emperor summoned them directly to the audience chamber to answer for their crimes.

Originally, the Dwarf King and the Orc Great Chieftain should also have been present, but unfortunately, they were currently occupied with duties that prevented them from rushing here.

“So. You are the ones, I see. The imbeciles who almost killed our rising star.”

The Elf Queen’s frigid voice iced the audience chamber.

The scions of House Guiner, seemingly devoid of all honor, bowed their heads to the floor, rendered speechless.

The Emperor, too, remained silent, regarding them with a gaze that hammered like his fingers against the armrest of his throne.

“You, it seems your reputation precedes you. I hear tales of ankles severed for a single day’s delay in rent… of double-sided contracts used to extort exorbitant taxes from the common folk, and worse, of illiterates forced to sign away their freedom into slavery?”

The Human Emperor was a man transformed. Like a Yama risen from the depths of hell, his brow was etched with the deep furrows of the past war.

“Do you even comprehend the era in which you perpetrate these acts? In a time of war, you dare such atrocities and still call yourselves nobles?”

The House Guiner, as described by the Emperor, proved even more vile than rumored.

They subtly altered contract terms to burden merchants with outrageous taxes on rented buildings and land, employed double-sided agreements, coerced the illiterate into signing away their rights, and threatened to sever limbs for failure to comply with the impossible terms…

They were nothing less than a criminal cartel ripped straight from the silver screen.

‘…Perhaps a simple execution would be merciful.’ The thought, however fleeting, flashed through his mind. They were that depraved.

He should have recognized the insanity the moment that girl, barely thirteen or fourteen, started spewing nonsense about severing ankles and beheading people…

“But, let us set aside these petty crimes. The mere fact that you dared place a knife to the throat of our rising star warrants death. Instead of wasting time reciting your sordid deeds, let us swiftly pronounce your sentence and be done with this. Our time is far too precious to be squandered on such wretched individuals.”

The Elf Queen’s sharp words sent shivers down the spines of the condemned. It seemed that she was more incensed by their attempt on his life than by the litany of their other misdeeds.

“Y-Your Majesty… spare our lives, we beg you…!”

“Silence.”

The Queen dismissed their pathetic pleas as if they were not worthy of her ears.

“Do you even realize what you almost did? This child is the one who will bring this war to an end.”

Ah, yes… you really didn’t need to bring that up again…

“A mere two weeks after assuming the rank of General, this child before you, this mage, returned having solved the continent’s food crisis. He is a hero who achieved in two weeks what trash like you could not accomplish in a lifetime of striving.”

No, well… if they strained and struggled their whole life, maybe they could pull it off too, perhaps.

“If you have no power, at least don’t cause trouble, you little whelp. Attempted assassination of the General? Hey, you there, eldest daughter of House Guiner. The one you tried to kill today, wasn’t just some nobody like you, but the future of all mankind.”

No, no. My life, even with all due respect, is not of equal value to all of humanity.

Your Majesty is exaggerating a touch…

“That is the truth.”

Hehe, why is even the Emperor joining in?

I’m truly going mad.

“I apologize! I truly didn’t know he was such a distinguished person! He was dressed so… common!”

“So, commoners are beings that can be killed at will? Is that what you’re claiming as an excuse, now?”

The Emperor scoffed, seemingly dumbfounded, and repeated his question.

“Th-that’s…!”

The noble lady of House Guiner had nothing to say, only burying her head in the floor.

Even at this point in the situation, it seemed that in her mind, commoners were still seen as beings to be treated as they please…

…This is truly, a hopeless family that could simply be left to die, right?

“Do you have anything to say? Personally, I’d recommend the guillotine, but if you wish, we can change it to a public burning.”

The Elven Queen, having watched everything from a corner of the audience chamber, turned to me and asked.

Hehe, Your Majesty does provide some brutal choices.

“…”

I closed my eyes tightly for a moment.

As I heard from the Emperor, they were a truly irredeemable, hopeless family.

A criminal organization using the title of Count to commit all sorts of crimes, and some among them considered commoners as nothing more than toys, to be killed at will.

“Still, I reckon I wasn’t entirely blameless for resorting to casual speech with someone I’d just met.”

Even so, eyes squeezed shut, I defended them.

They might be mostly deserving of death… but surely, in their families, there must be newborns, innocent of any wrongdoing. Among their relatives, there had to be those living ordinary lives, untouched by guilt.

The annihilation of an entire clan was a punishment too barbaric for me to stomach, having lived nearly twenty years as a modern person.

“You are a general of the Allied Forces. Addressing a count with familiarity is hardly an issue.”

“I did provoke them into starting a fight. Of course, I didn’t anticipate a knife to the throat right away… but I don’t think all the blame falls squarely on the young lady.”

“Ha. Not all the blame? So, you believe you bear some responsibility for the current situation?”

The Elf Queen scoffed, amusement dancing in her eyes as she regarded me. She seemed increasingly irritated that something meant to be swift was dragging on.

“Well, maybe… one percent or so?”

I slowly opened my tightly closed eyes as I spoke.

“Are you toying with me?”

The Elf Queen watched me with an expression of genuine annoyance and weariness.

“No, it’s just… I’d prefer you didn’t inflict the death penalty on every member of the family. Knowing that people died because of me would likely make my sleep restless.”

“You’re too soft. Excessively modest for your skill. One man with the temperament of a child is enough, and we already have the Sword Saint.”

The Elf Queen looked at me, a hint of disappointment in her gaze. She seemed to desire a more ruthless, cold-blooded judgment from me, but what could I do?

This is who I am.

Would it not be stranger if I, who had lived with modern morals and ethics for nearly twenty years, were to suddenly and perfectly adapt to the customs of the Middle Ages?

“Still, I don’t like seeing people die. Especially not if it’s because of me.”

At my bold reply to the Queen, the Emperor erased the deep lines etched into his face and burst into a hearty laugh.

“Twenty-five years ago, when I first spoke with the Sword Saint, he uttered the very same words.”

“To think, I almost burst a blood vessel listening to the babblings of a seven-year-old brat… It feels awfully like that all over again.”

Unlike the Emperor, who wore a beaming smile, the Elf Queen massaged her temples with both hands, shaking her head as if in pain.

“It seems geniuses who walk different paths share some sort of connection! Well, I can only see it as a good omen for me.”

The Elf Queen responded to the Emperor’s words with a sigh.

*What is it? Why do you keep comparing me to a monster like the Sword Saint?*

*Please don’t, I’m just a washed-up mage who only knows how to use one spell…*

“I shall be awaiting, General Bin.”

“Uh, yes…?”

I seemed to have amplified their expectations at yet another unnecessary moment.

…Even the current expectations were almost too much to bear; if I didn’t have the [Composure] trait, my heart would’ve exploded long ago.

Why does every word or action I take flow in a direction that spawns such strange misunderstandings?

It must all be because of my rotten luck.

…Seriously, luck stat 10,000.

I should have invested 10,000 more points into luck, no more, no less…!

“…In any case, I refuse to lose sleep over pointless guilt. I’m not exactly the picture of health as it is.”

With those words, I quietly sealed my lips shut once more.

The Elf Queen and the Human Emperor conferred in hushed tones amongst themselves before, as if having reached a decision, commanded the criminals to raise their heads.

“Normally, your entire family, down to the servants, would all be beheaded for such a grave offense… but, well, we wouldn’t want our ‘Good Boy’ losing sleep over pointless guilt, would we?”

The Elf Queen emphasized the words “Good Boy” with particular weight.

Her face still held a displeased expression. It was clear she wished to drag them to the guillotine at once and make an open example of the traitors’ final moments to the world.

Based on my conversation with the Emperor, it wasn’t simply that she was some bloodthirsty fiend who enjoyed executions.

Executing those nobles was, ultimately, beneficial to the Allied Empire.

The Guiner family, in truth, was more than just some arrogant baronial house. They were a familial cartel, systematically plotting and executing crimes.

Publicly executing a family who’d built their power on criminality would serve as a warning to other nobles who sought influence through similar means.

“What a shame, trash. Personally, I would have liked to hang them in the square, one by one, and slowly roast them over a low flame.”

The Elven Queen clicked her tongue, a genuine regret in her voice.

Curbing the nobles who were illegally gaining power, solidifying the Empire’s position.

In the current state of war, strengthening the central governing body was common sense, something one could learn even in middle school.

Wasn’t it something like, Goguryeo fell to Silla because they failed to centralize power? Or was it something else?

Well, whatever.

I’d abandoned my studies a long time ago; there was no way I’d properly remember which nation failed to centralize and thus perished.

Simply knowing that centralization was important in wartime was something to be proud of, as far as I was concerned.

“The Guiner barony’s assets will be confiscated, and their title revoked. Furthermore, life imprisonment will be imposed on the key figures involved in the family’s crimes.”

“In addition to that, I shall bestow the seized assets, real estate, and servants upon Mister Bean, the victim of this incident.”

…?

Did our Emperor just say what I think he said?

“Excuse me?”

“The land they controlled alone exceeds twenty square kilometers. What would happen if such a large plot of land suddenly became vacant? Someone must manage it, no?”

“But, I’ve never managed land like that before, and besides, I make enough to live comfortably on my monthly salary…”

“Benevolence. Mercy. Those two important virtues that those who possess wealth must embody. That is all that is needed.”

The Emperor cut me off, speaking as if my opinion held no weight.

“No, no, not just that. Aren’t there many other important things? Like how to manage money, how to manage land, investigations into the people who work on that land… I, I just want to focus on becoming stronger…”

I braved his displeasure and offered a rebuttal to the Emperor’s suggestion.

There were contracts with the landowners and merchants to review, investigations into any property mortgaged to the banks… If I inherited all that money, a mountain of bothersome tasks would surely swell.

I didn’t want to concern myself with useless things like managing estates. Right now, I needed to focus entirely on improving my own capabilities.

A high-ranking demon and a Grand Duke were constantly eyeing my life. But compared to the skills of the enemies targeting me, my own strength was woefully inadequate.

Just two weeks ago, didn’t I have to gamble with my life in front of a high-ranking demon, just to survive?

Bluffing, making threats… I didn’t expect such luck to work repeatedly.

So, what was important to me now wasn’t money, but the ability to survive in this insane world.

“Well, it’s just to register it in your name in name only, and you don’t necessarily have to concern yourself with managing the estate. Frankly, I’m not giving you the land expecting you to be a good landowner. The main estate management will be adequately ordered to the servants assigned to you. They are capable people, so don’t worry too much.”

The Elven Queen, seeing my flustered stammering, explained the situation a little more directly.

“That… that feels a little burdensome.”

But why register it in my name if it isn’t land I’m managing?

Wouldn’t I take the blame if something goes wrong…?

“Don’t be too burdened. Anyway, we were thinking of granting you decent land before long. Considering the merits you’ve established in the Enkel Plateau.”

The Emperor also chimed in, smiling, as if telling me to catch on, backing up the Elven Queen.

“…Ah. Yes… I understand.”

Seeing that it wasn’t working, it seemed the Emperor and Queen were worried that if they gave the massive, 20 square kilometers of land within the capital to other nobles, they would only end up increasing their power.

As I said before, in times of war, it was essential to weaken the power of the nobles and strengthen the position of the centralized government.

Rather than handing over the territory to other nobles and needlessly increasing their power, it was a much more rational choice, from their perspective, to give the land to me, who was firmly on their side.

“Even so, isn’t your Majesty laying it on a bit thick with the justification? Mercy and charity? What is this, mercy and charity? By that logic, every cleric in this continent should own about 5000 pyeong of land in the capital.”

“Congratulations, you’ve acquired a respectable plot! Heh heh.”

Whether I grumbled or not, the Emperor’s demeanor implied I had no choice.

“Y-yes… thank you…”

And just like that, I was suddenly a lord, possessing a full 20 square kilometers of land and all the structures within it. And in the capital, no less.

This meant I now bore the duty of protecting the lives of countless residents who lived on that territory.

Staggering financial gains accompanied by an equally staggering sense of responsibility left me blinking.

‘I was doing just fine with my general’s salary.’

…I doubt there will ever be a moment more apt to use the word ‘white elephant.’