Chapter 118: It’s Better If I Eat It All. (2)
“I, I’ll just sign the slave contract.”
“Good thinking. Hey, free this guy.”
The guard approached and opened the locked door.
Claude was overjoyed that he finally had someone to do his work.
“From now on, let’s do this right, bro.”
“What the hell are we doing right…?”
Lowell took a step back, avoiding Claude, who was patting his shoulder.
Every time he got closer, he felt chills run down his spine; his gut instinct told him that getting involved with this person was a bad idea.
*
On the way back to the Penris Territory. Lowell felt relieved after hearing why Ghislaine had come to find him.
“This is my last chance! I need to show that I’m a useful person. That’s how I can survive!”
He actively offered his opinions to showcase his abilities.
Upon hearing this, Claude was shocked by Lowell’s vast knowledge.
Ways to exploit territory residents, how to utilize crime organizations, methods for making money, and even how to use and bankrupt other nobles.
It seemed like he knew every trick and evil deed in the world.
Claude himself sometimes bent the rules, but nothing like Lowell did.
“Wow, you really are trash. I’ve never seen someone like you before. This is what real corruption looks like.”
At Claude’s words, Lowell proudly smiled.
In Digald, being called trash was the highest compliment. The more money one could squeeze from territory residents, the higher the chance of pleasing the lord.
“Thank you. I’ll work harder to squeeze more out.”
“…There’s really no normal person in this territory.”
Claude shook his head in disbelief.
It seemed he thought Ghislaine would run the territory like they did in Digald.
Ghislaine, who had been listening to their conversation, smiled and warned Claude.
“You better give him proper mental training. Unless you want your head on the line too.”
“…Sure.”
Claude let out a deep sigh.
But there was a glimmer of hope. His mentality might be a bit off, but at least he had experience running a territory. Having a seasoned individual was welcome.
If they could scrub clean the corruption in his head and teach him well, it would be a huge help.
However, Lowell, who was completely oblivious to his own issues, could only wear a bewildered expression while listening to their conversation.
“If I take on some work, I should be able to pull out money easily. Once that monster of a man tastes money, his attitude will change.”
“Why are you so lost in thought? How do you feel now that you’ve come back after so long?”
Lost in contemplation, Lowell snapped back to reality at Ghislaine’s voice and shook his head.
“I’m… amazed. I can’t believe this place has become so lively…”
He had visited this area a few times when he was in charge of the Count’s domain.
Back then, the lord reigning over the land was nothing short of a demon.
Those who managed to run away in desperation were the lucky ones. The rest were resigned to their fate, hopeless and unwilling to even contemplate leaving.
To see such a transformation in just a few months was utterly unbelievable.
“It’s time to get your act together. If you try managing the territory like before, I’ll have your head.”
Ghislaine said coldly while glaring at Lowell. He stiffened with tension and nodded.
“I will work hard to contribute to the development of the territory.”
“Even if Count Digald commanded you, it doesn’t mean you’re blameless. You need to put in the effort for the territory residents from now on.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
This was exactly what he had wished for. Lowell had always dreamed of working in such a territory.
More than anything, he couldn’t bring himself to do anything wrong in front of the person standing before him.
Ghislaine narrowed his eyes and turned to Claude, asking, “What’s the deal with him?”
Ghislaine, who was looking through the documents, turned to Claude and asked,
“What are you planning to do with it?”
Claude pondered for a moment before confidently answering,
“Well, it seems he’s skilled in all sorts of shady activities, so putting him in the spy position would be a good idea. I’ll also have him assist me as the secretary of the administration.”
A spy needs to be cunning and familiar with the mindset of criminals.
Lowell was indeed a perfect fit.
Since he claimed to have handled most of the tasks, it should only take a little teaching to align him with the territory’s needs.
Just with that, Claude’s work would become much easier.
Ghislaine nodded.
“Having done all kinds of bad things under Count Digald, he should know better. Let’s go with Claude’s plan.”
“Thank you!”
Lowell bowed his head again.
And he resolved to truly work hard this time, to live properly.
“For the time being, we must thoroughly seal off information from leaking out of our territory.”
“Understood.”
Before the crops even sprouted, Ghislaine thoroughly cleaned the territory.
She filtered out the spies and made sure that merchant groups couldn’t enter recklessly.
Essential outside personnel were half detained while coaxing them with promises of more money.
She even built walls around the new farmlands and gathered the territory residents to set up defenses.
“It’s better to hide as much as we can.”
Desmond also had no time to pay attention to Ghislaine since he was busy supporting Amelia.
The secrecy order, combined with this, meant that the information from the territory was tightly secured.
Ghislaine also gave Claude a stern warning.
“The first batch of supplies we set as our main target will be ready soon. It’ll depart in about two weeks, so make sure to train this guy well to keep the existing tasks on track. Prepare the necessary materials in advance too.”
“Understood. Hey, let’s hurry up. You have a lot to do.”
Claude casually threw an arm over Lowell’s shoulder, pretending to be friendly.
Since the bet with the mages had soured his relationships, there was no one around he could talk to.
With a smart guy joining the team, he felt somewhat relieved.
“Oh, why do you keep sticking to me?”
“Sticking? Who’s sticking? I just want to be friendly. You’re getting all suspicious for no reason. Are you hiding something?”
“Oh, nothing like that. Just a bit uneasy.”
Watching the two banter as they left, Ghislaine smiled contentedly.
As the territory grew, the amount of information to handle also increased dramatically.
Eventually, someone would be needed to manage the information exclusively, and Claude had recognized that need.
He would need to be taught properly to use it well, but that was something Claude would handle.
‘If he teaches him wrongly, it’ll just make him more tired. Well, I’ve arranged for someone to help him, so maybe I should give them more work.’
Ghislaine turned to leave, thinking of plans that would make Claude gasp in shock.
There was still a lot of work to handle before heading to the capital.
*
Before two weeks had even passed, Claude came to find Ghislaine. A clear look of distress covered his face.
Before he could say anything, Ghislaine chimed in.
“Running out of money, huh?”
“The funds are running dangerously low… uh? Did you know?”
“Hmm, it’s that time, isn’t it? Don’t worry. Once the cosmetics start selling, it’ll be resolved quickly.”
“It will be resolved quickly once we start.”
“Before that, I’m worried we’ll run out of money.”
“Until then, we can mine and sell Runestones.”
Claude pounded his chest as if frustrated.
“No, I mean, we don’t have money to spend right now. You have to consider the time it takes to cash in the Runestones. How about pausing some of our ongoing projects? Or maybe delay the trip to the capital a little?”
“I don’t want to.”
Claude clenched his fist, trembling, then sighed.
“It’s not something you can just say no to. How can you expect to get work done without money?”
“Just follow me for a moment.”
“…Why? You’re not going to hit me, are you? I didn’t say anything wrong, did I?”
“I’ll give you money.”
“Excuse me?”
Even though Claude was puzzled, he obediently followed Ghislaine at the promise of money.
He had already entrusted all financial management to him, so where on earth was the money coming from?
Ghislaine led Claude to his personal warehouse attached to his office.
The storage room was filled with a large wardrobe and chests.
“You said you’d give me money… so you brought me to show off your clothes?”
Ghislaine glanced warily around the room and whispered seriously.
“Hey, this is a secret from my father. If this gets out, be prepared to die.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Ghislaine threw open the wardrobe and chests.
They were stuffed with dazzling jewels, expensive decorations, and gold coins.
“Just take half for now. That should last you for a while. Merchants come by often, so it’ll be easy to cash this in, right?”
Claude, looking around the room filled with wealth, asked in disbelief.
“Wh-what the hell is this? When on earth did you stash away this much money?”
As far as Claude knew, Ghislaine had no funding aside from the Runestones.
Though that alone made him incredibly wealthy, there was no way to secretly amass this much money.
Ghislaine simply shrugged nonchalantly.
“Oh, this is spoils. Personal property of Count Digald and his retainers.”
“…Wait? Spoils?”
“We wiped out the entire territory on the day we conquered it. We scoured the retainers’ mansions and warehouses clean. Planning to use it as emergency funds.”
“Are you crazy…?”
Claude staggered, his mind spinning for a moment.
He finally understood why Ghislaine had emphasized keeping it a secret.
The rightful owner of the wealth piled up in the warehouse was Ghislaine’s father, Count Perdium.
No matter how great the achievements, Ghislaine was just a mere commander, not a lord.
He was boldly admitting to sneaking away the territory’s wealth.
“If you get caught, you know this is punishable by death, right?”
Secretly embezzling the lord’s wealth is treated the same as rebellion.
No matter how much of a sub-lord Ghislaine was, it would be hard to completely avoid punishment.
Ghislaine glared at Claude before he could finish his sentence, as if daring him to say more.
“What do you mean? I’ve given Perdium so many Runestones. It’s not stealing; it’s a trade, a trade. Who in the world gives away Runestones for free?”
Claude couldn’t even muster a laugh and kept his mouth shut.
Ghislaine was soaring above the running Claude.
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