Chapter 57
#57화 Phantom Thief Dauphin - The Wildflower of Sarnos
Many noble houses possess territories tied to their family, and by developing those lands, they expand their wealth and power.
But that does not mean every territory in the world is the end result of one house steadily developing it from beginning to end.
The city known as Levroucq was no different.
This city, cut through by a massive river that ran right through its center, was an old capital whose history easily stretched back more than a thousand years.
Levroucq had existed even before the Kingdom of Birka was founded, and it had passed through the hands of countless rulers; depending on each ruler's temperament, the city's direction of development had changed again and again.
Some had tried to use its abundant water to turn it into a huge food-production center, some had tried to make it a fortress against rival incursions, and some had tried to develop it into a commercial hub instead.
Perhaps it was the result of all those trials and errors accumulating over centuries.
By the time the Count House of Sarnos took control of Levroucq, the city was in a state that made 'hodgepodge' sound generous.
Its geographic location was excellent. Its resources were plentiful. Its population was large.
But where in the world was anyone supposed to start if they wanted to tear it all down and rebuild it?
The first Count of Sarnos, who was closer to a pure warrior than a capable administrator, chose to maintain the status quo instead of overhauling the city on a grand scale, and that policy carried through several generations all the way to the current Count of Sarnos.
A chaotic administrative system where no one could tell exactly how many people lived in the city, not even the rough population count.
A maze-like structure where roads that should have existed on the map simply didn't, while spaces that should not have existed stood there as if they were only natural.
Rich men who exploited the people while skirting the line between legal and illegal, and officials who either tolerated them or, worse, cooperated with them.
And rulers who had no intention of solving any of it, as if it were enough so long as the taxes kept coming in.
If cities were divided into 'good cities' and 'messed-up cities,' Levroucq unquestionably fell into the latter.
And in a messed-up city, criminals suited to it were bound to come swarming in.
“Hey, shopkeeper. You're old enough to know better, so why are you so dense? I said pay the stall fee. Is that really so hard to understand? Huh?”
As the thug with the fierce-looking face glared and threatened him, the middle-aged man, his skin covered in fine wrinkles, shrank back and opened his mouth.
“A-ah, I understand, I understand. But business has been so bad lately that I don't have a single spare coin. We're already getting stripped bare by the regular taxes, and if I pay a separate stall fee on top of that, I won't even be able to put food in my mouth...!”
“Ha.”
The thug laughed.
He slapped the man's shoulder hard enough to make a sharp popping sound, then continued in a remarkably friendly tone.
“Yeah, I suppose that happens. I'm not so heartless that I can't understand that much.”
“Th-then...?”
“So borrow it and pay.”
“Pardon?”
At the man's panic, the thug pointed at the other shops nearby and said,
“Borrow money from the shops around here and pay it. Since you all work in the same area, you must know each other by face, right?”
The man's face went through a vivid series of red and blue, and the other merchants watching the scene with uneasy expressions were left speechless too.
The only ones laughing were the thug and his gang.
“Boss, aren't you being a little too lenient?”
“And here I thought these people had it easy. No, seriously, how can they run a shop without even paying a stall fee?”
“I should've moved here ages ago instead of grinding away somewhere else! Hahaha!”
“Hey, hey, everyone, quiet down a bit. I'm in the middle of talking here.”
“Yes, sir!”
The thug, who silenced his underlings in an instant, smiled to himself.
'This is completely free money, isn't it?'
He and his men had originally been a gang operating in a territory in the east of the kingdom.
That territory's lord was so incompetent and so uninterested in managing his land that they had been able to do their 'business' with ease, but one day, starting with some territory he couldn't remember whether it was Eched or Chepet, some red dogs began running wild, and their numbers and range kept increasing until they spread all the way to the territory they were in.
The thug, who had once earned his living as a mercenary, was fairly confident in his own abilities, but no matter how skilled he was, it was hard to beat the violence of numbers.
Pushed from east to west until he finally ended up in the Sarnos Count House's territory, the thug had initially despaired.
He had been kicked out of Redvel's domain, which was already said to be weaker in military power than the other two houses, so what chance did he have against the Sarnos Count House, the strongest in the kingdom by force alone?
But that was a misjudgment.
Levroucq's military power was indeed strong, but those powerful soldiers only worked hard in the upper-class district where the lord, nobles, and wealthy resided; they barely ever set foot in the middle-class district where ordinary commoners lived, or the lower-class district where the poor lived.
In other words, it looked impressive on the outside, but inside it was full of holes.
'What luck—to have landed in such a gold mine ahead of time without a partner already in place.'
Thinking he might be in for some fun from now on, he was letting his excitement carry him away in pleasant fantasies when—
“You there, stop right there.”
At the voice, firm and stern, everyone's attention instantly turned.
The thug also turned around in confusion and quickly confirmed the speaker's appearance.
'A guard?'
The first thing that caught his eye was the contrast of silver and black.
The leather, processed by tanning monster hides in special oil, had a strange sheen to it, and the metal protecting key areas such as the chest and shoulders gleamed silver in the sunlight.
Overall, the design prioritized practicality and was far removed from the flamboyance unique to knights, but the only part that bore any decoration was the center of the chest, where the distinctive emblem symbolizing House Sarnos was intricately engraved.
The spear in her hand was not some crude thing made by simply attaching a blade to the end of a long wooden pole, but a proper weapon made entirely of metal from shaft to spearhead.
Though her face was hidden behind the visor, the distinctive silhouette of the armor and the hair spilling out from inside the helmet told him the guard was a woman.
For a moment the thug's face twisted ugly, but once he confirmed that the female soldier was alone, he regained his composure.
“Why is that, honored guard?”
“Threatening merchants and demanding money unlawfully. It's an obvious crime caught in the act. Come quietly.”
“Threatening? You must have seen wrong. I haven't threatened anyone. Isn't that right, shopkeeper?”
With a sly smile, the thug gave the middle-aged man a subtle look.
It was a warning to know what was good for him and back off if he feared the consequences.
But then, as if he'd lost his mind, the middle-aged man suddenly screamed as though having a fit.
“No! These thugs forced me to give them money!! And when I said I didn't have any, they even threatened me into borrowing from other merchants to pay them!!”
“That's right!! I saw them threatening him with my own eyes!”
“Guard! Please take these bastards away!!”
“You bastards...!”
The thug was dumbfounded.
The number of men with him right then alone was ten.
Normally a collection job wouldn't require that many people, but since this was their first operation, he'd deliberately brought every last underling along to pressure the target.
By comparison, the other side was only one person.
Common sense said the outcome should be obvious with such a difference in numbers, so why weren't they keeping their mouths shut and reading the room?
Could the Sarnos guards really be so strong they could ignore a tenfold difference in manpower?
The former mercenary thug immediately dismissed the possibility that flashed through his mind as nonsense.
Judging by how expensive the armor looked, Sarnos did seem to invest more in its soldiers than other regions, but even so, a guard was still a guard.
If someone had an excellent background, they would become a knight. If someone had outstanding talent, they'd become an adventurer or a mercenary and let their skills flourish.
A guard, with paltry pay and a job that amounted to nothing more than handling the city's little cleanup chores, was simply a profession chosen by people who were mediocre at everything.
The guard said in a flat tone,
“We have witness testimony too. Well, even if we didn't, I was going to take you in anyway. So what'll it be? If you come quietly, I won't use force.”
The thug gritted his teeth.
He wasn't afraid of some soldier.
But the count house behind that soldier was frightening.
Still, he couldn't run away either.
If he did, his reputation would be ground into the dirt both among his underlings and among the merchants.
In the end, in this line of work, once you're looked down on, that's the end of it.
Shing!
“You lot get ready too. Before the other guards show up, we'll deal with this quickly.”
As the thug drew his shortsword and spoke, his underlings also each grabbed a dagger or a wooden club and took fighting stances.
-Thwack!
Exactly one second later, the thug, struck in the neck by the spear shaft, was sent crashing straight to the ground.
His underlings didn't even have time to be shocked by the sudden turn of events.
Before they had any time to be shocked, before they could even figure out what had happened, they were rolling on the ground just like their leader.
The merchants, who had been watching with bated breath, all burst into cheers.
“It's done!!”
“Serves them right! Bastards!!”
“I knew it! How dare they go around talking about stall fees?”
The guard walked over to the fallen thugs and removed the leather pouches from their belts.
They were the 'stall fees' other merchants had paid before the middle-aged man was targeted.
“All right! Everyone! Take this back! If you fight over who gets more, I'll arrest that too, so line up properly!”
At the guard's words, several of the merchants brightened and rushed over.
While they were dividing the money in the pouches again, the middle-aged man who had been most tormented by the thugs approached the guard and bowed repeatedly.
“Thank you, truly thank you! How am I supposed to express my gratitude, every single time...!”
The guard waved her hand.
“I only did what anyone should, so what is there to thank me for? I'm the one who should apologize for being late.”
“Oh, no, of course it was obvious. Of all the guards, only Miss Dahlia and the members of Squad 8 come to places like this.”
......
Guard Dahlia fell silent beneath her helmet.
It was a relief that her expression couldn't be seen under the visor.
With the thugs down, the merchants had a lot more breathing room and started chatting among themselves.
“But lately there really have been more of these drifters around. The locals here got a nasty beating from Dahlia and don't even come near this area anymore. Must be outsiders.”
“Why, I heard the Redvel side has been wiping out criminals en masse lately. Maybe they're the ones who couldn't stand it and got pushed over here?”
“Wiping them out? How?”
“Something about dogs chasing criminals around?”
“Hahaha! What is that supposed to mean?”
“Come on, you guys believe rumors like that? It's definitely just nonsense.”
“Whether it's nonsense or not, it's entertaining. It'd be cute to see. Don't we have anything like that?”
“No way they'd do the same thing here that they started in Redvel. You all know how much that person upstairs hates that side.”
“Yeah, yeah. We have Miss Dahlia, so we don't need anything else.”
At the merchants' talk, Dahlia gave a wry smile.
They probably didn't mean anything bad by it, but still, being treated on the same level as a dog was a little unpleasant.
Click!
As Dahlia manipulated the spear in her hand, its length instantly increased to roughly three times its original size.
She hung the thug and his underlings on that spear shaft like laundry on a clothesline, then lifted it with one hand and slung it over her shoulder.
It was the most effective way to haul more than ten criminals all by herself.
The merchants, slightly alarmed, asked,
“I mean, I see it all the time, but it's still amazing. ...Doesn't it weigh a ton?”
“This is fine. Well then, I'm off.”
***
On the way back after taking the criminals to prison.
Dahlia's deputy hurried up to her and said,
“Oh, Captain! You went out alone again? Please take some of the others with you!!”
“It's fine. Because of me, everyone else already has bigger areas to cover, so I should handle little things like this myself.”
“How is that your fault? It's the fault of those other squad bastards who only like the upper-class district and its surroundings and would rather die than go anywhere else. What, did they hide some honey out there or something, those damn bastards.”
“Lower your voice. They'll hear you.”
“Let them hear it. More importantly, please be careful. We all know you're good, Captain, but the atmosphere lately has been pretty chaotic.”
“If you mean the criminals pushed over from the Redvel district, I know.”
“That's part of it, but there's also that—what was it—the neighboring Barony of Bellmor. Apparently it got robbed by some bandit.”
“A bandit, not a bandit gang?”
“Yes, one person. Some lunatic broke into the baron's mansion, looted the warehouse, and even kidnapped Baron Bellmor, then hung him from a rope in the middle of the street. Apparently he also set up some huge signboard next to him, and it listed all the wrongs the baron had committed. Even funnier, he returned all the stolen money to the victims.”
Dahlia frowned.
“How utterly irresponsible. Even if he gave the money back, there's no way the baron would just leave the victims alone.”
“Well, the signboard apparently also said, ‘If you build up your crimes again, next time I'll leave the heavy body behind and just take the head.’ The baron must have gotten scared, because he hasn't dared lay a hand on the victims.”
......
“Well, it's a famous story that Baron Bellmor is trash, so there are also people who occasionally go around calling the guy a vigilante or whatever, and there are quite a few who say it's satisfying... No, I didn't mean that I said that myself—that's just what the rumor says!”
Coughing to avoid her gaze, the deputy said to Dahlia again,
“Anyway, since such a dangerous guy is active nearby, you need to be extra, extra careful. You know our whole squad is done for if something happens to you, Captain?”
The deputy kept nagging a few more times before leaving, and Dahlia, left alone, quietly lifted her visor.
With a deep look of suspicion in her green eyes, she muttered,
“Even so, he's still a bandit.”
He had committed such atrocities against a noble, so he would be caught soon enough anyway, but if he somehow made it here alive, then she'd personally throw him in prison.
Dahlia, captain of the Levroucq Guard's 8th Squad, made that vow.