Chapter 118: It’s Better If I Handle Everything. (2)


    “I-I’ll just sign the ve contract.”


    “Good decision. Hey, cut him loose.”


    The guard approached and unlocked the door.


    ude was overjoyed to finally have someone to put to work.


    “Looking forward to working with you. Let’s make it fiery, bro.”


    “What exactly do you mean by ‘fiery’…”


    Lowell stepped back, avoiding ude, who kept patting his shoulder.


    Every time ude got close, Lowell felt chills running down his spine, a gut feeling warning him that nothing good woulde out of getting involved with this man.


    * * *


    On the way back to Fenris Estate, Lowell felt a bit relieved after hearing why Ghiin hade to find him.


    ‘This is myst chance! I have to show that I’m a useful person. That’s the only way I’ll survive!’


    Eager to prove his worth, he actively offered his opinions.


    Hearing this, ude was utterly astonished by Lowell’s extensive knowledge.


    How to exploit the estate’s residents, how to utilize criminal organizations, how to y money games, and even how to manipte and bankrupt other nobles.


    It was as if Lowell knew every underhanded and malicious tactic in the world.


    ude had dabbled in a few tricks himself, but nothing on the scale of Lowell.


    “Wow, you’re really a piece of trash. I’ve never seen anyone like you. So this is what a true parasite looks like.”


    Lowell beamed with pride at ude’s words.


    Being called trash was the highestpliment in Digald. The more money one squeezed out of the residents, the more likely they were to win the lord’s favor.


    “Thank you. I’ll make sure to squeeze out even more.”


    “…There really isn’t a single sane person in this estate.”


    ude shook his head in disbelief.


    It seemed this guy thought Ghiin ran the estate like Digald.


    Ghiin, who had been listening to their conversation, smiled as he warned ude.


    “You’d better educate him properly. Unless you want to lose your head along with his.”


    “…Understood.”


    ude let out a long sigh.


    Still, there was hope. Lowell’s mindset was a bit off, but he had experience running an estate. Experience was always wee.


    If he could clean up Lowell’s corrupt ways and train him well, he would be a great asset.


    But Lowell,pletely oblivious to his own issues, just looked puzzled while listening to their conversation.


    ‘If I’m given a job, I have to rake in as much money as possible. Once that monster of a man gets a taste for money, his attitude will change.’


    With full confidence, Lowell followed Ghiin.


    But his hopes were shattered the moment they arrived at Fenris Estate.


    “What, what’s this? Why is the estate like this? Is this really Fenris Estate? Are you sure it’s not some other estate?”


    Was the merchant guild here? Were they all lining up to enter the gates?


    And what was that? Why was there a mountain of food piled up?


    Not to mention the obviously newly built structures. And why did the estate’s residents seem so cheerful?


    ‘No, this can’t be right.’


    Lowell couldn’t calm down and kept busy looking around the estate.


    For someone like him, who was from Digald, this sight felt extremely strange and unfamiliar.


    ude arrogantly puffed out his chest, tapping the stunned Lowell on the shoulder.


    “All of this is my work.”


    “Ah, please don’t touch me… Is that really true? Did you, Chief Overseer, develop this ce?”


    ude felt a bit embarrassed by Lowell’s excessive reaction and corrected himself shyly.


    “It’s the work of me and Lord Ghiin.”


    The estate’s rapid development was thanks to Ghiin’s financial power and drive.


    Even as brazen as ude was, he couldn’t deny that.


    ‘But! It was me who cleaned up the messes after the lord started everything without a second thought.’


    ude believed that he deserved about half of the credit for the estate’s progress.


    “How… How could the estate be like this…?”


    Lowell wandered around the estate, dazed.


    He had grown up struggling, not even able to eat proper meals.


    Determined to seed, he had learned to read and study.


    There was a time when he dreamed of bing an excellent administrator and building an estate where no one went hungry.


    He had once had such a dream.


    ‘I thought it was impossible…’


    As amoner, he had risen to a fairly high position, but there was little he could do.


    An estate would never change unless its lord decided to change it.


    In the end, Lowell epted reality and worked in whatever way the lord wanted, just to survive.


    He thought that was how everyone lived.


    But now…


    “Why are you spacing out? How does it feel to see this ce again after so long?”


    Lost in thought, Lowell snapped out of it when he heard Ghiin’s voice and shook his head in surprise.


    “I-I’m amazed. I can’t believe this ce has changed so much, be so lively…”


    Back when he was in charge of managing the entire county, he had visited this ce a few times.


    The lord who governed here back then was nothing short of a demon.


    Those who couldn’t endure it anymore and ran away were considered lucky. It was full of people who couldn’t even imagine leaving because they had given up on life.


    And yet, this ce had transformed in just a few months. He couldn’t believe his own eyes.


    “You’d better get your act together. If you try to manage the estate like you did before, I’ll have your head cut off right away.”


    Ghiin spoke coldly, ring at Lowell. Lowell stiffened, his expression tense, and nodded.


    “I will do my best to contribute to the estate’s development.”


    “Even if Count Digald ordered you to, it doesn’t mean you’re meless. From now on, work hard for the sake of the residents.”


    “I understand.”


    In truth, this was what he had always wished for. Lowell had always dreamed of working in an estate like this.


    Above all, the person standing in front of him was so intimidating that he didn’t dare think of doing anything bad.


    Narrowing his eyes, Ghiin scrutinized Lowell before turning to ude and asking.


    “How do you n to use him?”


    ude pondered for a moment before speaking up decisively.


    “For now, it seems like he knows his way around shady dealings, so it’d be best to ce him in the position of Intelligence Officer. He can also serve as an administrative secretary to assist me with my duties.”


    An Intelligence Officer needed to be quick-witted and familiar with the mindset of criminals.


    Lowell was the perfect fit.


    Since he had experience handling most tasks, a little training to adapt him to the estate’s circumstances would suffice.


    Even assigning him that much would make ude’s workload a lot easier.


    Ghiin nodded.


    “He used to do all sorts of shady stuff under Count Digald, so he’d know his way around it. Let’s go with ude’s suggestion.”


    “Thank you!”


    Lowell bowed his head once more.


    And he made up his mind. This time, he would genuinely work hard and live properly.


    “For the time being, we need to thoroughly block any information from leaking out of our estate.”


    “Understood.”


    Before the crops began to sprout, Ghiin had already cleaned up the estate.


    He weeded out the spies and prevented merchant guilds from entering freely.


    For essential external personnel, he offered extra payment and kept them half-confined.


    They even built walls around the new cultivation fields, gathering the estate residents to establish a tight perimeter.


    “It’s better to hide as much as we can.”


    Even in Desmond, they were too upied supporting Amelia to pay attention to Ghiin.


    This,bined with the lockdown order, ensured that information from the estate was sealed off without a leak.


    Ghiin also firmly instructed ude.


    “The first batch of goods, our primary goal, will be ready soon. We’ll set off in about a fortnight, so make sure you train this guy well so the usual tasks continue smoothly. Prepare any necessary materials in advance.”


    “Understood. Hey, let’s get going. You’ve got a lot to do.”


    ude draped an arm over Lowell’s shoulder, acting overly familiar.


    His bet with the mages had strained their rtionship, leaving him without a single person around to talk to.


    So, having a smart guy like Lowelle under his wing made him feel a bit more secure.


    “Ugh, why do you keep sticking to me?”


    “Who’s sticking? I’m just trying to be friendly. You’re acting all touchy, which is suspicious. Are you hiding something?”


    “N-no, nothing like that. It’s just ufortable.”


    Watching the two bicker as they walked away, Ghiin smiled warmly.


    As the estate grew, so did the amount of information they had to handle.


    Eventually, they would need someone dedicated to managing information, and ude had picked up on that well.


    They’d have to train him properly to make good use of him, but that was ude’s responsibility.


    ‘If he doesn’t teach him properly, he’ll just end up making more work for himself. Now that I’ve turned ude away, I’m thinking of ns that would horrify him if he were to hear them.’


    There was still a lot of work to finish before heading to the capital.


    * * *


    Before the fortnight was up, ude came to see Ghiin with a troubled face.


    Before he could say a word, Ghiin spoke first.


    “You’ve run out of money, haven’t you?”


    “The funds are running low, and… huh? You knew?”


    “Hmm, it’s about that time. Don’t worry. Once the cosmetics start selling, it’ll be sorted out.”


    “We’ll be out of money before then, though.”


    “Until then, just mine and sell some Runestones.”


    ude thumped his chest in frustration.


    “No, I mean we don’t have any money to use right now. Even if we mine Runestones, you have to consider the time it takes to convert them to cash. Maybe we should temporarily halt some of the ongoing projects? Or dy your trip to the capital?”


    “No, I don’t want to.”


    ude clenched his fists and trembled, then let out a sigh.


    “It’s not something you can just say no to. How are you going to keep things running without money?”


    “Follow me.”


    “…Why? You’re not going to hit me, are you? It’s not like I said anything wrong.”


    “I’m giving you money.”


    “What?”


    ude was bewildered, but the promise of money made him follow Ghiin obediently.


    He had already been given control over all financial matters, so where on earth was this moneying from?


    Ghiin led him to a private storage room attached to his office.


    The room was filled withrge wardrobes and chests.


    “You said you’d give me money…did you bring me here just to show off your clothes?”


    Ghiin nced cautiously around the room before whispering with a serious expression.


    “Hey, don’t tell my father about this. If this gets out, be prepared to die.”


    As soon as he finished speaking, Ghiin flung open the wardrobes and chests.


    They were filled with glittering jewels, valuable ornaments, and piles of gold coins.


    “Take half for now. That should be enough to get by for the time being. With so many merchant guilds around, it’ll be easy to convert this to cash, right?”


    ude looked around the room brimming with wealth, his voice incredulous.


    “W-what is all this? When did you stash away this much money?”


    As far as ude knew, Ghiin had no other source of funds besides Runestones.


    Even though that alone made him immensely wealthy, there was no way he could have squirreled away such a huge sum.


    Ghiin shrugged nonchntly.


    “Oh, this is spoils of war. Personal assets from Count Digald and his retainers.”


    “…What? Spoils of war?”


    “When I took over, I cleaned out the estate. I raided the retainers’ mansions and storages and brought it all back. For emergency funds.”


    “You… you’re insane…”


    ude felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, making him stagger.


    Now he understood why Ghiin had been so adamant about keeping this a secret.


    The rightful owner of all this wealth was Ghiin’s father, Count Ferdium.


    No matter how much credit Ghiin deserved, he was still just amander, not a lord.


    Right now, Ghiin was openly admitting to secretly pocketing the conquered estate’s assets.


    “You know this is a death sentence if you get caught, right?”


    Embezzling a lord’s property was treated as treason, on par with rebellion.


    No matter how much of a young lord Ghiin was, he wouldn’t be able to escape punishment entirely.


    Before ude could even finish speaking, Ghiin shot him a sharp re, as if to say,


    ‘How dare you talk like that.’


    “What are you talking about? I’ve given Ferdium plenty of Runestones. I didn’t take them; I exchanged them. Who in their right mind gives away Runestones for free?”


    ude was left speechless, unable to even muster augh.


    ude might be quick on his feet, but Ghiin was flying circles above him.


    ‘If I give him some help, maybe I can push him a bit more.’