Chapter 34
Barris's expression grew grim and resolute.
Now that things had come to this, it was all or nothing.
Having committed an irreversible act, he had no choice but to charge forward without looking back.
“Move faster!”
“Yes!”
He had given the knight commander advance warning, which was why he had been able to bring even this many people. If he hadn't, even fewer would have been moving with him.
He wouldn't have been able to properly gather the family's property, either.
“L-Look over there!”
“Gasp!”
One of the knights charging at full speed cried out in alarm.
At the sound, Barris's heart lurched.
He had sensed something ominous.
And his premonition proved right.
“Hmm!”
Barris stared blankly at the two figures gliding leisurely across the sky.
He had hoped otherwise, but it seemed that catching the two of them with such a meager knight order and small force had been impossible after all.
“...Father.”
“We keep going for now. Nothing will change if we stop here.”
“Yes!”
After a moment of confusion, Barris pulled hard on the reins.
They had caught up to him, but he had not been captured yet.
He thought he could split the two up by making use of the terrain.
After all, he was the one who knew this place best.
Krrrrr!
But, as if mocking that thought, the earth began to shake like waves.
The ground, which had been solid moments ago, began to heave violently.
“Whoa?”
“Stay calm! I said, stay calm!”
The horses that had been running well panicked at the ground rippling like waves.
They were startled by this bizarre situation, something they had never experienced before.
But that was not the end of the surprises.
Ssssss...!
Walls of earth began rising all around them, encircling the group.
They were nearly ten meters high, too.
“Hmm!”
Barris's face turned ashen as the walls of earth rose in an instant.
They were blocked off on every side, so they could not flee even if they wanted to.
“L-Lord!”
The knights, who had barely managed to calm the startled horses, approached him with equally ashen faces.
But he had no solution, either.
“To think you would abandon even your wife and run away. You’re even more of a piece of trash than I thought.”
“Shut up!”
“Don’t interfere. You have no place sticking your nose in.”
“Cough!”
No sooner had Jade finished speaking than Noes rose from beneath Carlton's feet and slapped him across the face.
He delivered a clean smack with his tail.
Yet even though the tail had been swung lightly, Carlton spat blood and was sent flying five meters.
“Y-Young Lord!”
The knights cried out in shock at the sight, but not one of them moved.
No one dared move rashly in the presence of Noes, who stood before them so majestically.
The sight of the enormous rhinoceros was intimidating enough, but the aura Noes gave off was extraordinary, so no one readily drew a sword.
“...Do we really have to go this far? I’m still your father.”
“Ridiculous. Since when did you have any fatherly affection?”
“If you let this go just once, I’ll never appear before you again. I also swear that I will never come to the Polshtein Kingdom.”
“Your fate was decided long ago. It was only prolonged because of me.”
“You’re really taking this all the way...! Guh!”
Barris drew his sword and let out a groan.
He had been struck directly by Whid’s breath, which fell like a bolt of lightning, and was electrocuted.
As a swordsman who had reached the Sword Expert level, he managed to endure it somehow, but that was all.
The shock of the electrocution left Barris unable to speak properly.
“Huh? Huh?”
“Please spare me! I was only doing as I was told...!”
At the same time, Noes began to move.
He slowly dragged the knights who had been watching warily down into the earth.
“Graaah!”
“Why me? Why am I being dragged into this too? What did I ever do!”
The same was true of Barris and Carlton, father and son.
Under Jade’s cold gaze, the two men were slowly buried as well.
“You... I’ll never...!”
“I’ll curse you! Even if I become a vengeful spirit, I’ll curse you to the very end!”
“So be it.”
The father and son shouted in fury.
But that changed nothing.
Before long, the two men had completely disappeared beneath the earth.
“Do you feel better?”
“I feel indifferent. It was revenge, but it was hardly anything grand.”
“Still, it’s better than doing nothing.”
“That’s true.”
Jade nodded obediently.
The saints said that one should forgive one's enemies and sinners, but he was no saint.
He was just an ordinary person.
Gurgle, gurgle.
As he gazed indifferently at the place where Barris had died, the ground began to writhe.
Then it began to spit something out, one thing after another.
-Just like Noes! He sure has a sense for these things!
-Items aren't at fault. The more money, the better.
-Exactly, exactly!
As the nearly ten-meter-high walls of earth began to sink, every item carried by Barris's group rose up onto the ground.
Noes had gathered everything on his own initiative, despite receiving no separate instructions.
Jade couldn't help but let out a quiet laugh at the sight of Noes.
But that did not mean he refused Noes's efforts.
Puff! Pff-huff!
After gathering everything worth taking, Noes looked at Jade, who had descended to the ground, and his eyes shone.
He snorted as if asking to be praised.
“It doesn’t look like Lord Jade asked him to do that?”
“Yes. Noes did it on his own.”
“The spirits must really love you, Lord Jade. It’s truly rare for them to act this proactively.”
Since Noes's expression clearly seemed to be asking for praise, Arrelia couldn't help but laugh.
At the same time, she found it fascinating.
Even spirits did not act this way toward elves, who were said to be the race closest to nature.
“Thank you.”
Prrrrr!
Noes was at a loss when Jade gently stroked him.
At the sight of him wiggling his rear and bowing his head deeply, Silestin and Elestra burst into laughter.
It was the first time they had ever seen him like this, too.
Kyuuh!
Only Whid snorted, seemingly displeased.
He seemed jealous because Jade was showing Noes affection.
Yet despite Whid's jealousy, Noes approached him with a smile and rubbed his head against Whid.
Noes was comforting Whid because he knew Whid was still a youngling.
“It’s a lovely sight.”
“I think it’s truly fortunate that we met such good children.”
“On the contrary, perhaps good children gathered because Lord Jade is a good person.”
“I don’t think that’s it.”
“Really?”
Arrelia wore a peculiar smile.
But Jade did not see her expression.
He was busy putting the items Noes had gathered into his subspace bracelet.
A short while later, the two of them rode Silaphe back toward the lord’s castle.
Jade entered the lord’s office, which now had no master, and slowly looked around the room.
As befitted the office of a lord ruling a poor territory, the interior was sparse.
There were only the things that were absolutely necessary.
“Is there no secret storeroom or something?”
-I looked around as soon as we came in, but there’s nothing like that. It’s just an office.
“I guess they couldn’t afford to build one.”
-I had the children look into it, and this really is a territory barely scraping by. It’s just a little better than self-sufficient, I’d say. Still, it seems they didn’t collect much tax.
“That’s probably because there was nothing to collect, even if they wanted to.”
Jade chuckled at Silestin’s words.
Having lived in the Leon Barony his entire life, he knew the territory’s circumstances quite well.
Of course, he was basing that on what he knew from four years earlier, but a territory like this would not change much even after four years.
Knock, knock, knock.
“May I come in, Lord Jade?”
“Yes, Mr. Steven.”
Steven entered the office, his voice even more deferential than before.
However, his arms were filled with documents.
“The atmosphere is pretty chaotic, isn’t it?”
“It can’t be helped. The lord and the young lord died in an instant.”
“But it’s only like this inside the lord’s castle. Outside, it’s completely different. Everyone seemed to take it as something they had expected, so they weren’t particularly surprised or confused.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Well, only the lord is changing, so the residents’ lives won’t change much. The castle’s stewards and administrators, however, will all be replaced.”
Thud.
Steven smiled brightly as he placed the stack of documents on the desk.
Jade looked at it with anxious eyes.
For some reason, he felt as though Steven was going to ask him to review them.
“You don’t need to worry. There aren’t any documents you need to review, Lord Jade. They can all be approved at my level. I brought them so I could take care of them separately.”
“I was afraid that might be the case, haha.”
“I imagine you’ll soon be receiving a report.”
“That’s something I would rather avoid.”
“Hahaha.”
Steven laughed at Jade’s sincere words.
But he had meant it sincerely as well.
He had heard some things through other channels, too.
“It seems you’re going through trouble because of me.”
“Because this concerns you, the Crown Prince sent me. So you don’t need to worry about that. It isn’t particularly difficult, either. Personally, I’m glad that I can help you in whatever small way I can. You’re also the person who saved my life. Haha!”
“I’m glad to hear you say that.”
“Your feelings must be quite complicated.”
“Rather than complicated, I just feel this way. Yesterday was the first time we had properly met, after all. So I don’t really have any particular feelings.”
Jade smiled gently.
He was not forcing the smile; he genuinely felt nothing in particular.
Strictly speaking, what had happened was not something he himself had experienced, either.
He had the memories, of course, but they did not feel particularly real to him.
“I suppose. In a way, he was practically a stranger to you.”
“That’s right. Still, I do feel somewhat relieved. It’s like the anger pent up inside me has been released.”
“That’s good. It’s better to let resentment out than to keep it bottled up. For your mental health, too.”
“Exactly. Oh, there is something I’d like to ask you, Mr. Steven.”
Swoosh.
As if he had just remembered, Jade opened his subspace.
He took out the subspace bag that the dead Barris had been carrying.
“Arrelia told me about it. Apparently, a spirit retrieved it personally.”
“Yes. Can you open it?”
“Of course. It won’t be easy, but it isn’t impossible, either.”
“I’d appreciate it.”
Steven smiled confidently.
Raynie had sent him with matters like this in mind, so Steven immediately disabled the lock on the subspace bag.
He had modified its identification code so that someone else could use it.
“It’s done. Please take a look.”
“Thank you.”
“By the way, Lord Jade.”
“Yes?”
“You’ll be going back to the capital with us, correct?”
Steven had several missions, but his most important one was to return to the capital together with Jade.
Jade had promised to return, of course, but a person’s mind could change at any time.
Moreover, once Jade settled things with House Leon, he would have no reason to remain in the kingdom, so Steven had received a special order.
He had been ordered to return with Jade by whatever means necessary.
“Of course. I promised the princess.”
“Haha, that isn’t the only reason. I want to return with you, Lord Jade.”
“You don’t need to worry. There are still things I haven’t received yet.”
“You mean your title, right? Hehe!”
“That’s right.”
“What rank are you thinking of? Give me a little hint, just between us.”
Steven smiled slyly and changed the subject.
Since he had heard the answer he wanted, he naturally shifted the conversation.
Jade knew what he was doing, but pretended not to and let it pass.
“I intend to accept whatever they give me. I don’t have any particular title in mind. More importantly, though, I’m curious about what you think, Mr. Steven.”
“M-Me?”
“Yes. Aren’t you receiving a title along with me?”
“Uh...”
Steven wore a flustered expression.
He had never expected Jade to turn the question back on him.
But soon, he broke into a broad grin.
He had immediately lost himself in his own imagination.
-What a fool!
-What’s wrong with that? As long as he’s happy.
Silestin shook his head at Steven, who kept grinning from ear to ear.
No matter how one looked at it, Steven didn’t seem normal, either.