Chapter 63: No Excuses Left

Viscount Baeksieon could not fall asleep easily.

Lately, he had not been able to sleep deeply for even a single day.

At best, he would stay awake for several nights on end and then manage to drift off for a brief moment.

‘What should I do…?’

It had been this way ever since Rayrn was appointed as the Territory Administrative Officer.

The position had been vacant for a long time.

Its authority was divided between the Viscount and Baron families who had handled the administration for generations.

It was something done with the tacit approval of the Count.

He thought it would continue like that for generations to come.

The people of the House of Ophern were born with the finest qualities as knights, but they were utterly hopeless at anything else.

They were only obsessed with defending the territory.

One could tell just by looking at their custom of patrolling the territory.

No other family had such a precedent.

‘It is probably because they have many enemies.’

Ophern had to defend the borders and always keep a watchful eye on the monsters of the North.

Therefore, the internal administrative work was handled by those who had done so for generations.

Viscount Baeksieon was one of them.

The ancestor of the Viscount Baeksieon family was the Administrative Officer who worked alongside the first Count of Ophern.

Baron Sitarne, who was in charge of the Guard Corps budget and related public affairs, was the same.

‘He is still staying behind closed doors, they say.’

The House of Baron Sitarne was ousted during the recent incident in the Underworld.

They, too, had handled the administration for generations alongside the House of Viscount Baeksieon.

The House of Ophern was the king and the leader within the Earl’s Territory.

They were the ones who would stay together for generations, riding on the back of that prestige.

That was Viscount Baeksieon’s common sense.

Until Rayrn appeared.

“What should I do… haha.”

‘Should he go and see Viscount Jiberin?’

No.

He was ousted at the same time Baron Sitarne was.

Although he was moving to train new recruits, his power had shrunk boundlessly.

He was no longer the Viscount Jiberin who possessed his former prestige.

‘He yielded.’

After seeing the results Rayrn achieved and the momentum of the Count, he had completely withdrawn.

The Jiberin who dared to offer even a single word of advice to the Count was already gone.

“Then where should I go?”

Tap. Tap.

No matter how much he tapped his desk or racked his brain, no answer came.

If things continued like this, Rayrn would move.

Once he started searching the administrative offices, the Viscount himself would be the only one left at the end.

“Sigh…”

Only sighs escaped him.

‘How much time had passed?’

“Hmm?”

A strange presence was felt in the office, where he should have been alone.

‘…This is impossible.’

He had ordered that no one be let in.

Since he was a noble who inherited his title through a single lineage, he had many who were loyal to him even if he had no fief.

There were a considerable number of knight-level individuals as well.

He was a Viscount who had always done his best to protect himself.

So, there should be no one in the office.

What was this situation?

“Did you feel it? You have good instincts.”

“Ugh!?”

Fwoosh—

The flowing smoke gathered and took on a human form.

‘Illusion magic?’

Though he was a Viscount who had not learned Mana, he knew for certain that something was circulating around him.

It was either illusion magic or some kind of hallucinogen that must have seeped in without his knowledge.

Either way, the intruder had breached all the defensive measures he had prepared.

If the opponent wanted it, his life was as good as gone.

It was certain he could not escape.

“…”

The Viscount stared directly at his opponent without saying a word.

The figure that revealed itself was black all over.

The clothes he wore, and even the small patches of exposed skin, were black.

The Viscount could not tell if the man was black by nature or for some other reason.

However, the reason such people revealed themselves was obvious.

“…I have nothing to be gained or taken.”

“I know. I am well aware.”

The opponent smirked.

If there was nothing to be gained from him, why on earth had the opponent come to find him?

“Then why? …Gack!”

The Viscount could not continue further.

No one could speak while being strangled.

“Gack… Ack…”

It was painful.

However, instead of loosening his grip, the opponent applied more force.

Crack—

Viscount Baeksieon’s neck was completely snapped.

No one could survive with a snapped neck.

It was a complete death.

“There is no way a discarded pawn would have anything to gain. Hehe.”

The Black Doll let go of the neck he had been squeezing and placed Viscount Baeksieon’s body down neatly.

“Let’s… see.”

He closed his eyes, concentrating on something.

Then, his body began to surge as his form started to transform.

In an instant, his body became identical to Viscount Baeksieon.

“…Ah. Ah…!”

Before long, even his voice was exactly the same as the Viscount’s.

There were now two of Viscount Baeksieon’s bodies in the room.

It was a bizarre situation where one was a corpse and the other was a fake mimic moving about.

“Is it because it’s an old body? Ahem… It’s weak. Weak. But it doesn’t matter.”

The fake quickly mimicked Viscount Baeksieon’s gestures as if he had practiced beforehand.

The habit of tapping the desk when anxious and the habit of clearing his throat were all the same.

“Shall I get moving?”

Ssssss—

Before long, the real corpse of Viscount Baeksieon completely dissolved away.

And the last one remaining began to move, pretending to be the Viscount.

He was no longer a coward who couldn’t sleep for days worrying about Rayrn.

“Hey, there.”

“Yes, my lord!”

He had become full of vigor, unbecoming of his age.

He looked exactly like the original Viscount Baeksieon.

Having become Viscount Baeksieon, he started moving secretly for some reason.

‘How should I act to make it work? Hmm…’

***

Follen Castle.

One of the direct dominions of the House of Ophern.

It was a place that had been developed for a very long time due to its proximity to Ophern Castle.

Its development was mainly in agriculture.

It was one of the castles that had increased in size accordingly.

Although called a castle, most of Follen consisted of serfs or commoners who farmed.

It was an agricultural city.

Commerce was so underdeveloped that the transactions made by the Count’s direct merchant group were the largest commercial activities in Follen Castle.

This was one of the places that increased the House of Ophern’s wealth by producing food through agriculture.

“It’s desolate.”

That was the only impression I had after arriving in Follen.

I looked at Esty, who followed me, and asked.

“Has it not failed to develop quite seriously? The taxes shouldn’t be that high, right?”

“It is because money is not circulating. As for taxes… nominally, they are not high.”

“Interesting. Anyone can see it’s not running properly, yet no one pointed it out.”

Desolate.

Follen had a peaceful atmosphere, to put it nicely.

‘There is no way a place running normally would be like this.’

Originally, the lives of serfs are harsh.

Even so, there were cases where serfs in direct dominions were actually better off than others.

Since it was a direct dominion, the Lord took clear care of public order.

Safety was secured, and in the case of taxes, often only the set amount was collected.

‘Though there are many cases where that’s not true… at least the House of Ophern doesn’t collect that much.’

If safety is secured and taxes are not collected heavily, commerce should naturally develop.

Instead of desolation, the castle should have been filled with liveliness.

However, this place was not like that at all.

There were almost no people moving separately, except for those moving to introduce new farming methods.

“Our family couldn’t pay attention. It’s properly rotten.”

“…I am sorry.”

“Indeed. Perhaps you should feel a little sorry.”

A mess must be fixed immediately.

“Let’s go right away.”

There was nothing more to see.

I headed straight for the Follen Castle administrative office.

Whack.

“Argh! P-Please listen to me! That is… that is… Gack.”

“Bullshit.”

He was a moth eating away at the territory.

At the same time, he was a leech.

As soon as I entered the administrative office, I summoned everyone immediately.

Even the Bailiffs in charge of each village in Follen Castle, without exception.

As soon as they gathered, everyone was visibly nervous.

This was my first move after being appointed as the Territory Administrative Officer.

It was no wonder they were nervous.

“Bring me the documents regarding the state of the territory.”

“Here they are.”

As if they had prepared in advance, they came with heavy documents.

They were well-made documents.

At least on the surface.

“Esty.”

“Yes!”

“Bring what we prepared.”

“I have already taken it out.”

Flip.

The problem was that we had also prepared.

“Huh? Uh…”

From this point on, the Administrative Officers in charge of Follen began to break out in a cold sweat.

Some were trembling, their faces turning pale.

Ignoring them, I continued the work.

“Check them. The parts that are wrong.”

“Of course. It’s wrong right from the beginning.”

“You’re insane. And you all.”

I called the Bailiffs.

The village chiefs were called Bailiffs.

Just as it was in the Dungeon village, Bailiffs played a very important role at the village level.

They sometimes acted on behalf of the Administrative Officer and were also the enforcement officers who maintained the village’s discipline.

“Yes!”

The elderly men answered with strict military discipline.

“Shall we have a little talk? Ah. But let me tell you in advance… if you talk nonsense, you will all receive the same punishment.”

“By punishment, you mean…”

They were also nervous.

“Those who eat away at the territory must die. I left it to you to grow it, so how dare you ruin it?”

“Ah!”

They, too, were commoners, just like the Administrative Officers.

They couldn’t attend academies related to administration like the officers did.

But they had wisdom passed down through generations while staying in the village.

To put it simply, they were quick-witted.

“Even so, I am the Territory Administrative Officer and Inspector. No matter what you say, I will take responsibility for you. I say this on my name.”

“…Lord Administrative Officer! They are ignorant fools. No matter what they say, they might speak strangely…”

Whoosh—

“You, shut up and listen.”

“T-That…”

From then on, the Bailiffs’ mouths began to open.

As their words continued, the Administrative Officers prostrated themselves.

They said taxes were collected far in excess of the original tax rate.

They were taxes under pretexts that were not even collected in the territory.

They even said they had exercised Prima Nocta.

‘Crazy bastards.’

Prima Nocta.

That was something only crazy Lords would do.

Even if it were done, it was something a Lord would exercise.

For Administrative Officers to do it was beyond the limit; it was insane.

Even my father did not exercise Prima Nocta.

It might be different in other kingdoms, but in this kingdom, few people did such crazy things.

Furthermore, in severe cases, if they could not pay the tax…

“There are even cases where entire families have vanished.”

“Did they kill them?”

“Rather than killing… they might have been taken and sold as slaves…”

“Sigh…”

They said it didn’t matter if they were serfs or commoners.

There were many cases where people were taken away without a word in connection with slave traders.

“Anything to say?”

“…”

“That’s not it… I-I can explain this. What those ignorant fools are saying, that…”

“Bullshit.”

Looking at the guys whose faces had turned pale, it was disgusting.

They weren’t just eating away at the territory; they were making it sick.

“Let’s start with you guys getting hit a bit.”

Thwack.

“Argh!”

It started from that moment.

The start of the extermination of the pests eating away at the territory.