BXBX NOVEL Chapter 21
Chapter 21: Closing the Deal
Viscount Andrew’s castle was huge anyways.
After dismissing the attendant, Heidi could not help but ask, “Ancestor, do you think Viscount Andrew can be trusted?”
Although he was their ‘neighbor’ of a neighboring territory, Heidi was well aware of the aristocratic culture which lacked integrity and honor. Though they often emphasized these two values, those were the very things that they lacked. This was especially so in the wild, uncivilized southern borders far from the political center where the aristocrats lived in even more decadent ways. Now that Cecil Clan had fallen to their lowest point. Aside from the fact that an old ancestor suddenly popped up which gave them bonus points, Heidi really had no confidence that they would be able to have any leverage when dealing with the other aristocrats.
“Can he be trusted? I haven’t considered that at all,” Gawain’s answer surprised Heidi. “I didn’t even know what Viscount Andrew looked like a few hours ago.”
Rebecca was startled. “Ah? Then why did you discuss so much with him…”
“Because it was necessary.” Gawain looked at Rebecca. “It’s not too far off to say that we don’t have any other choice at this juncture. Let’s put aside those refugees who need to be sheltered and fed. Check your own pockets. Do you even have enough for the next meal? So we must ask for help. That Viscount Andrew is our only option. Do you know anyone else in the southern border besides him? On the topic of whether we can put our trust in him… I don’t know him, nor his clan, and I’ve only found out about the extent of his territory from you two days ago. How am I supposed to know if he can be trusted? ”
Rebecca could not quite understand him. “Then why do you think he will definitely help?”
It was not Gawain who answered but Amber, who had been lying beside the table and stuffing grapes in her mouth. The half-elf rubbed her mouth and gave Rebecca an eye roll. “Idiot, because he doesn’t want to lose money.”
“He doesn’t want to lose money?”
“When Knight Philip brought the refugees to Tanzan Town, Viscount Andrew had actually already made the decision,” Amber said impatiently, “He could have simply shut the gates and let the refugees go away or starve to death outside. They don’t even need to talk about the mutual aid law. In such remote areas, the gold coins of merchant’s are more useful than the kingdom’s laws. Now that Mr. Viscount has accepted the refugees, it means that he is going to demand compensation from the Cecil Clan since he already has the intention and believes that Cecil Clan will be able to repay the debt. You see, the deal was already set up then. As for today… it was only to expand and clarify the terms of the deal.”
Rebecca was stupefied as she looked at Amber. “How… how do you know these things? Is the prerequisite to becoming a bandit so high these days?”
Amber grinned. “Is this so hard to understand? I don’t know about the logic and rules behind how you aristocrats go about doing things, but at least I know that thieves don’t come back empty-handed. When it comes to benefits, how different are you aristocrats to the thieves who don’t want to go home empty-handed?”
Rebecca immediately became furious. She pulled out her staff and summoned a fireball as big as someone’s head. “If you’re not going to watch your mouth, why don’t you see if I will shoot this fireball at your face!”
Amber seemed certain that this young and immature leader would not actually do it for real as she smiled mischievously to provoke her. “If you’re so good, why don’t you come out with an ice arrow~~”
As soon as her voice fell, she felt a chill by her ear as an ice arrow brushed past her ear, almost grazing it, and ice formed on the wall behind her. From a distance, Heidi maintained her pose, pointing a finger, her expression chilly. “The ice arrow you asked for.”
A drop of cold sweat streaked down Amber’s face. The ice arrow nearly grazing her ear was even more frightening than the ice arrow itself. She could not help wondering how high her magic control ability needed to be in order to reach this level of precision.
The corner of Rebecca’s mouth twitched as she thought, ‘Aunt Heidi’s offensive magic is as usual, not on target…’
Gawain clapped his hands, ending this brief slapstick, “Alright. We’re all on the same side. Let’s dial it down a little.”
The old ancestor’s intervention was still effective as Heidi and Rebecca both put away their staves to show their deference, willing or not. Though Amber had escaped a beating, she understood the principle of quitting while you were ahead (the main reason was because the ice arrow was really quite frightening). She flattened her mouth and kept quiet from then on.
Just then, knocks came from outside the room. After gaining Gawain’s permission, Betty, the maid, pushed open the door and walked in.
“My Lord, Madam Heidi, Lady Rebecca,” Betty greeted them all but skipped Amber. “Knight Philip is here.”
“Oh, we were just waiting for him.” Gawain nodded. Then he noticed the pan in Betty’s hand. “Wait… Why are you still holding on to it?”
Betty batted her eyes, thought for a moment, and said, “Because… we’re not home yet. If I leave it somewhere. I’m afraid I might lose it.”
Gawain clutched his head. “You… Okay whatever suits you.”
A moment later, Knight Philip, the one who led the Cecil refugees break out came into the room.
What surprised Gawain was that he was a fairly young warrior. He seemed to be only in his early twenties, with short hair of light golden color, deep eye sockets, and a tall nose. Although he was not outstanding in his facial features, the heroic air of a warrior, and his tall build made him stand out among ordinary people. Since they were not in battle, he was not wearing armor but a normal garment. With a longsword slung at his waist, some bandages were exposed at his arms and neck.
Sure enough, he came out with injuries.
“My Lady, Madam,” Knight Philip saluted Rebecca and Heidi as soon as he entered the house. “I’m so glad to see that you are safe.”
“Knight Philip, get up,” Rebecca quickly brought him to his feet. “Thanks to you, those soldiers and civilians were saved.”
She noticed the bandages on him. “These injuries…”
“I got them when we were breaking out, but it’s much better now,” Philip said quickly. “Viscount Andrew sent a priest and an apothecary, but…”
The young knight showed an awkward expression, looking embarrassed and troubled.
“You’re referring to the gold and silver that we told you to take with you out of the castle,” Heidi went ahead and said, “Don’t take it to heart. That was supposed to be used in times of need. We said it when we told you to take it. Use it at your own discretion.”
“Don’t worry, Viscount Andrew only took a part of the gold and silver.” Philip’s expression seemed a little brighter. Then he lowered his voice and said, “Before entering the city, I gave away some of it to a few trusted soldiers. Some of it was buried outside the city. I was worried that if Viscount Andrew was too greedy, at least a part of the money would be left to take care of everyone, or we could let the soldiers find a way to make a living… ”
Gawain nodded slightly. This was a young man with courage and the brains to go with. He could lead a mere dozen soldiers to defend a large group of civilians who had no combat ability in the breakout. This shows his bravery, and before entering another clan’s territory, knowing that he could not compete with the aristocracy, he thought of how he could preserve the owner’s assets as much as possible and even thought of letting the soldiers make their own living. That was no easy thing to do.
So he gave an expression of approval. “Not bad. How many people survived?”
Philip had actually noticed Gawain in the room from the beginning, after all, Gawain’s size was really quite outstanding. After hearing his question, he finally had a chance to ask. “Could you be…”
“It seems that Viscount Andrew has already told you.” Heidi nodded. “This is Cecil Clan’s ancestor, Anzu’s founding pioneer, the First Ligh…”
Before she could finish, Gawain quickly interrupted, “Okay, there is no need to say the name that the old man came up with. It gives me goosebumps…”
Before he could finish speaking, Philip already went down on his knee in front of Gawain. “Grand Duke Gawain! I… I heard the news, but I didn’t think it was really true! You are the model for all knights. Ever since I was a child…”
“Okay okay, enough already!” Gawain quickly pulled Philip up. As a foreigner who took over someone else’s body, he felt truly awkward like never before. “Tell me how many people survived?”
Philip calmed his excitement, and his expression turned serious along with the topic. “There were about a thousand people who broke out that day. Later, after counting out the people who died of attacks by monsters, fell behind due to heavy injuries, died of illnesses, less than 900 have arrived in Tanzan Town alive…”
“How many exactly?”
“873, including me, sixteen official soldiers, thirty militia, and the rest are civilians.”
Rebecca’s body shook.
“These are what is left of the people of Cecil territory…” Heidi murmured, “I never thought…”
Gawain patted Heidi’s shoulder. “Do you know how many people we had when we ran out of Gondor more than 700 years ago?”
Heidi looked at Gawain. “At that time…”
“Hundreds of thousands of people.” Gawain sighed. “So this situation is a real headache.”
Heidi: “…”
At the same time, in Viscount Andrew’s chambers, the viscount was writing a secret letter.
The secret letter was written directly for the King.
Due to the presence of the Gondor wastelands, Anzu had, since its founding, regarded the southern borders as the kingdom’s most important defensive area. Even though the south had been peaceful for a long time, some regulations that had lasted for hundreds of years still remained. For example, in the southern borders, every nobleman was a direct vassal to the Anzu royal family. They had the right to communicate directly with the king and were obligated to report matters directly to the king.
“Greetings, Your Majesty, from your loyal vassal.
You should have read in the previous letter of the catastrophe that has fallen upon the Cecil territory in the south. As of now, something else happened. This event is so bizarre in a way that has never been seen before, but as I have personally confirmed, it is indeed real.
Cecil Clan’s ancestor, Anzu’s founding pioneer, Gawain Cecil, leader of the Seven Generals, has recently come back to life.
I saw it with my own eyes, light shining down upon the wasteland of the Cecil territory. Those invading monsters were all destroyed by the light. Then, a large dragon appeared and went away (About the large dragon, I will write about this again in greater detail). I went to investigate myself. Upon meeting with Viscount Cecil, I saw his resurrected body…”