Chapter 89: Half of it should be accepted. (4)
“Ahahaha! Pour it! Drink it!”
“Handsome Ricardo! Look over here!”
“Grand Duke! No, long live the Baron!”
“For the victory of Perdium!”
Everyone was excitedly chatting and getting drunk.
Indeed, there’s nothing better than food and drink to soothe the fatigue of a tough war.
Ghislaine, smiling as he watched them, quietly turned and slipped out of the banquet hall.
‘Enjoying the joy of victory is naturally the share of those who have worked hard, but…’
There were those who couldn’t share in this joy. The families of the sacrifices.
Despite the enemy’s scale, Perdium’s damage was minimal, but nevertheless, there were those who had died.
Their families would not be able to escape their sorrow for now.
Ghislaine sought out each one, holding their hands and offering comfort. He even promised substantial compensation.
This was originally the Lord’s duty, and Zvalter would willingly step up, but Ghislaine didn’t care and took action himself.
‘It must also be my responsibility.’
He had no regrets.
If he hadn’t, Perdium would have ultimately perished, and all the Territory Residents would have either died or lived in pain.
However, it couldn’t be denied that there were sacrifices because of Ghislaine.
He was the one who hastened the war and increased its scale.
Since the war started to protect everyone, the sacrifices deserved sufficient comfort and compensation.
Ghislaine was accompanied only by Belinda and Gillian as he sought out the families of the victims.
He knew this couldn’t go on forever…
But before leaving Perdium, he wanted to at least comfort the people of his hometown and compensate for their sacrifices.
“Thank you. Thank you, Grand Duke.”
Wherever Ghislaine went, people bowed their heads in gratitude to him, the successor of the territory, who had come all this way to offer comfort.
They knew as well. It would have been much more painful had they lost the war.
But the sorrow of having lost family couldn’t be easily shaken off.
Gillian quietly followed Ghislaine, observing the entire scene.
‘I thought he was just someone who cared only about efficiency.’
He knew Ghislaine took good care of his own people, but he didn’t expect him to go this far for the Territory Residents.
After all, Ghislaine would soon leave Perdium.
Even though there was nothing to gain from this, Ghislaine was voluntarily meeting the bereaved families.
“Sniff.”
“What’s wrong, Belinda? Are you crying?”
“No? When did I?!”
Belinda shot Ghislaine a glare with tears welling up in her eyes.
He glared.
For her, the soldiers of the territory were like friends, so her sadness was inevitable.
Ghislaine let out a hollow laugh and handed a handkerchief to Belinda.
“Let’s call it a day and head back.”
Even after returning to the castle, he didn’t go straight to the banquet hall but checked on the injured soldiers, and finally went to find Vanessa.
“Vanessa, are you feeling any better?”
“Ah… Your Highness.”
Ghislaine stopped Vanessa from getting up from the bed and sat beside her.
“You did really well. Thanks to you, we were able to win the war.”
She smiled softly at his warm gaze.
She was glad to be of help, to repay the favor.
But above all, she was most joyful about finally being recognized as a mage.
As the two smiled at each other, a dying voice was heard from the side.
“Damn it… don’t you see me…?”
Alfoy gasped for breath while glaring at Ghislaine. Ghislaine feigned surprise, widening his eyes.
“Alfoy, you were there too? Yeah, you did well. Good job.”
“Ugh, that bastard…”
Alfoy gritted his teeth, glaring at Ghislaine.
Because of him, all of his mana was drained, nearly leading to his death, and here he was acting so nonchalant.
But right now, his curiosity was greater than his irritation.
“How on earth did you do that? How did that woman use magic… and such high-level magic at that?”
The sight of the massive fire pillar exploding was something Alfoy, coming from the Mage Tower, had never seen before.
He learned that she had detonated a Runestone buried in the ground by pressing Vanessa, but he couldn’t understand how she had cast the magic in the first place.
She had absorbed the mana of six people, so the amount must have been enormous, but the Vanessa Alfoy knew couldn’t even properly use first-circle magic.
“She wasn’t even able to use mana in the first place, so when did she learn to handle it?”
Vanessa claimed that Ghislaine had forced her to feel mana, but Alfoy didn’t believe it.
Could a mere rural territory brat do what even the Mage Tower couldn’t?
No way. There had to be another secret buried within.
Alfoy believed that if he could uncover that secret, he could grow even stronger.
Even in his near-death state, the glitter of ambition shone in his eyes, and Ghislaine shrugged.
“I have a method only I know. If you want to learn, work hard for the territory. Then I might tell you one or two things.”
“W-what? You… ugh… just wait until I get back to the Mage Tower…”
At that, Ghislaine interrupted him and laughed.
“Oh, the Mage Tower? I was actually planning to head there soon, and I’ll make sure to pass along your words. Maybe you’ll solidify your position as the heir of the Tower Master?”
At the flattering remark, Alfoy couldn’t help but break into a grin.
“Hmph, that’s nice to hear… but why go to the Mage Tower? There’s still time left on the contract.”
“I have a proposal. It’ll be good for you too.”
“…?”
Alfoy blinked, unable to understand what Ghislaine meant.
But Ghislaine had no intention of explaining any further.
He looked back at Vanessa.
“Take care of yourself. I’ll tell you more when I get back.”
Vanessa smiled faintly and nodded.
“No, wait! Explain what you mean before you go! Hey!”
Alfoy’s shout echoed from behind, but Ghislaine didn’t even look back.
The next day, right after the feast, Ghislaine took the mercenaries back into the Forest of Monsters.
While he was away, the fences and road were mostly complete.
Ghislaine mined a bunch of Runestones and handed half of them over to Baron Homern.
Now that they had some money, the Perdium Territory would stabilize quickly.
‘This should be enough for Perdium for now.’
The enemies would likely be too busy dealing with their own damages for a while and wouldn’t have time to focus on this side.
‘I need to quickly grow my power and prepare for the next move.’
He had bought a considerable amount of time, but that didn’t mean he could relax.
He had to seize the opportunity to weaken the enemy’s influence and look for openings.
‘Funding, manpower, food, allied forces…’
There were so many things to prepare. He had to make the most of his time. There was no time to rest.
Ghislaine didn’t even think about returning to the castle and immediately turned his horse’s head.
“We’re going to the Mage Tower.”
“To the Mage Tower? Are you planning to mine more Runestones again?”
At Belinda’s question, Ghislaine shook his head.
While there were still Runestones left, he wasn’t planning to sell them to the Mage Tower.
“I have some matters to discuss with them.”
“When are you heading to the Penris Territory?”
“After I handle this first.”
He shouldn’t leave his lordship unattended for too long, but for now, it was more urgent to visit the Mage Tower.
Establishing a new contract with them would make things easier moving forward.
As soon as Ghislaine received the territory from Baron Penris, he sent Kaor and some mercenaries ahead.
They would be able to keep things from falling apart for a short time.
Belinda frowned, looking worried about the Penris Territory, but silently followed Ghislaine towards the Tower of the Bloody Flame.
*
After several days of traveling, they arrived in the Mage Tower city.
Belinda looked around and marveled anew.
“Wow, it’s still so clean here. I hope our territory looks like this soon.”
Ghislaine and the mercenaries nodded in agreement with her words.
No matter how many times you see it, it’s really a clean and splendid city.
“Oh! You’re here! Please come inside!”
The doorkeeper, who had previously been stiff, quickly opened the door as soon as he saw Ghislaine.
Sylvain, who was guarding the lobby, immediately bowed 180 degrees upon seeing Ghislaine.
“It’s an honor to have you back! I’ll notify the tower master right away.”
Sylvain hurriedly led Ghislaine to the tower master.
Tower Master Hubert welcomed Ghislaine with an exaggeratedly grateful expression.
“Oh my! Welcome! Did you win the war? No, you must have come here because you won. What happened?”
There were dispatched mages, but the issue of the Runestones was at stake.
Hubert had been receiving updates about Perdium through his own information network.
Thanks to that, he heard news of the war quite quickly.
He had been anxious since he hadn’t received detailed information about the results or the process of the war, but seeing Ghislaine in person relieved him.
With such an over-the-top welcome, Ghislaine chuckled playfully.
“It seems you’ve been eagerly waiting for me.”
“Do you know how worried we were about whether we’d be caught? I didn’t expect the war to break out so quickly.”
“You shouldn’t underestimate the greed of the lords.”
At that, Hubert nodded his head.
No matter how you look at it, he thought war wouldn’t break out so easily, yet it happened as if to contradict that very thought.
In that regard, this rookie’s insight was commendable.
The rookie’s insight was something to be appreciated.
“Alright, take a seat. Did you come to sell Runestones? I heard you don’t have a wagon. But first, how on earth did you win? Spill it.”
Ghislaine leisurely sipped his tea and took his time.
Hubert fidgeted like a puppy with a lit firecracker up its behind.
Watching this with satisfaction, Ghislaine finally spoke.
“Oh, it was nothing special. I just planted all the Runestones I had and blew them up.”
“…What?!”
Hubert blinked, unable to grasp the shocking statement immediately.
Soon, realizing the whole situation, Hubert gasped and shouted.
“This is insane! I knew you weren’t all there, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad!”
If they had known the quantity, they could have rushed in… Even if they couldn’t help, they definitely would have found another way!
“Why didn’t you just hand them all over to us then? We could have led the Mages down there!”
Hubert lamented as he recalled the Runestones piled high in the wagon during their last transaction.
Ghislaine subtly lowered his voice and asked, “Did you really think of sending Mages?”
Hubert hesitated for a moment but then nodded vigorously.
“Of course! We would have done something to help! No doubt about that!”
Now that the war was over, there was no reason for him to hold back.
He could simply cater to Hubert’s ego and keep receiving Runestones.
With a confident remark, Ghislaine gave a meaningful smile.
Ghislaine said in a serpentine, crafty voice, “I truly appreciate the way you care for the Mage Tower’s interests. I didn’t expect you to think about me this much. That’s really reassuring.”
“Come now, there’s no need to mention that. We are trading partners after all; thinking like that would hurt my feelings. Don’t you agree?”
“Truly, you are the magnanimous lord of the Tower of the Bloody Flame. I must have misunderstood you before. I apologize for my rudeness. I would love to continue our fruitful trading relationship.”
Ghislaine smoothly delivered his words as if greased with oil.
Hubert, feeling a bit awkward, cleared his throat uncomfortably.
Ghislaine was just throwing empty compliments to lift his spirits, yet it only ended up elevating Hubert instead.
At that moment, Ghislaine added with a grin, “With such understanding on your part, I can speak freely. I was worried about how to bring this up, but I’m glad we share this connection.”
A sense of unease crept into Hubert’s mind.
Now that he thought about it, he might have ended up with a loss last time after saying something unnecessary…
‘Come to think of it, why did he come here?’
The contract with the Mage Tower still had a long time left.
Could it be that he came all the way here just to brag about winning the war?
‘No way. He’s strange, but he wouldn’t come all this way for such a trivial matter.’
He could sense it from the last transaction.
Ghislaine Perdium would never allow himself to suffer a loss.
He was not the type to waste days chatting about something that wouldn’t even make money.
With a trembling voice, Hubert asked, “What, what is it? What did you come here to say?”
“It seems I won’t be able to sell more Runestones. I’m really sorry about this.”
At those words, Hubert’s face crumpled in dismay.
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