Chapter 64: Exitra at Count Britten’s Gate

They had arrived in Britten Territory using fast travel.

Perhaps because the horse had changed, their arrival time was much earlier than expected.

“This is incredibly fast.”

Even Alfredo was shocked.

Red Sham.

He had heard about it before, but he never imagined it would be this fast.

Even while pulling a cart loaded with corpses, it had raced here alone with astonishing speed.

“A well-bred horse is expensive for a reason. Anyway…”

Exitra turned to look at Britten Territory.

It was completely different from Raiders Territory.

— [Wow, the difference between territories is insane lol]

— [Unfortunate defeat!]

— [Ex-bro, no way you can compare…]

— [So many buildings;]

All the buildings were made of brick, and in the middle of the town, there was a large park where people could relax.

There were various shops, a huge market, a museum, a library, and even multiple guilds.

Compared to Exitra’s territory, the difference was like night and day.

It was the kind of sight Exitra had to catch up to one day.

“Just wait. I’ll definitely raise mine to this level.”

— [How long will that take?]

— [Can the unlucky streamer really do it?]

— [I bet my wrist he’ll restart before then.]

“I’ll get there soon enough! Don’t worry about it!”

— [Yeah, yeah.]

— [Sure, whatever.]

— [Lolololol]

— [Let’s see it happen first.]

“Tsk.”

Exitra clicked his tongue and looked around.

Before searching for the Britten Count, there was something else he had to do.

“Let’s go to the Hunter Guild first.”

Exitra went looking for the Hunter Guild.

He wanted to hand over the bandits in the cart and claim the bounty.

“This must be it.”

He found the guild by spotting the sign.

Inside, the place was bustling with people.

There were clients submitting requests and hunters taking them.

“I’ll go in for a moment,” said the coachman as he went inside and brought someone out.

Since most hunters were rough-looking, the guild employees were also large and muscular.

The man who followed the coachman outside was no exception—his bulging muscles looked like they could burst.

“So, I hear you caught some bandits?”

“Yeah.”

“Mind if I check?”

“Of course not… That’s obvious.”

Verification was essential.

With permission granted, the man headed to the cart and inspected the pile of corpses.

“These guys… they’re the Wild Bandit Gang.”

“The Wild Bandit Gang?”

“Yes. I’m not sure about the others, but this leader’s face is well known. The Wild Bandit Gang—”

The man began rambling, explaining in unnecessary detail about the gang.

The chat went wild.

— [Yo, they’ve got an explainer guy here too?!]

— [Damn it!]

— [Stop! Spare us!!!]

“Enough with the explanation.”

“…What?”

“I don’t care who they are. Just give me the money.”

“…”

The man gave Exitra a quick glance up and down.

‘He must be from a noble family… but who cares.’

He didn’t know how a noble heir had ended up dragging in corpses, but nothing good came from getting too involved with nobles.

Better to just process the payment.

“It’ll take a little time. Can you wait?”

“Sure.”

“Then I’ll take the cart.”

“We can move it ourselves—”

“It’s fine.”

The man grinned and unhooked the cart.

Then, an unbelievable sight unfolded.

“Huuup!”

Muscles bulged, veins pulsed—he dragged the cart away by himself.

It wasn’t just an empty cart—this one was filled with corpses.

The weight was nothing a normal man could possibly lift.

— [Wow… that’s just dumb strength…]

— [Why not just use Red Sham?]

— [That’s insane. Even with wheels, it must weigh a ton…]

— [Ugh, look at those twitching muscles, those veins—so sexy!!]

— [Why is there a muscle freak here??]

***

The viewers were stunned by his brute strength.

Before long, the man returned.

“Verification complete. The leader, Wild, is worth three million gold, and the rest combined come to about two million. That’s a total of five million gold.”

Five million gold in total—quite a haul.

[Holy crap, money is just pouring in.]

[He could just live off hunting bandits!]

[Bandits are my favorite pocket money source. Hmph…]

“Here you go—fifty high-value coins.”

“Thanks.”

Each high-value coin was worth one hundred thousand gold.

Carrying around too much gold was difficult, so this higher denomination coin had been created for convenience.

It made traveling with large sums much easier.

‘I’ll stash away that extra million I looted at their hideout. If I admit to that, they might confiscate it.’

“Well then, we’ll be off—”

“Ah, what about the cart?”

“Take care of it however you like.”

“Understood.”

Exitra and Alfredo boarded their carriage and headed to the Britten Count’s manor.

The count’s estate was massive.

A three-story mansion with a vast front yard.

The gardeners had clearly done excellent work, as the lawn was immaculately trimmed.

[The gap between them is unreal…]

“This is… ridiculous. Don’t worry. I’ll get to this level one day.”

Exitra steeled his resolve.

Though his family had fallen and lost everything, he was determined to climb back up.

“Well then, shall we go in?”

Just as he tried to enter, the knights guarding the manor rushed out and blocked the carriage.

“We don’t know where you’ve come from, but this is the residence of Count Britten Hilbert. Without an appointment, you may not enter.”

“May I ask you to show proof of your identity?”

Exitra nodded.

Such verification was natural when entering another lord’s estate.

“Very well then…”

He opened the carriage door and stepped out.

Facing the knights, he declared:

“I am Exitra Raiders, rightful heir of the Raiders family. I heard the young lady here was poisoned by a Death Worm, and I’ve brought a very fine medicine for her.”

Exitra smirked as he spoke.

The viewers had only one thing to say.

[Sniff sniff… smells like a snake oil salesman…]

Count Britten Hilbert gazed at his daughter, Britten Elina, lying in bed, his eyes filled with worry.

His beloved, adorable daughter.

How could she have been poisoned by such a vile creature…

“If only I could take the pain in her place…”

Count Britten looked gaunt.

He hadn’t been able to sleep properly or eat well in recent days.

Every time he tried to do anything, the thought of his beloved daughter consumed him.

Just the idea of his precious daughter being sick made it impossible to focus.

“Haa…”

All he could do was sigh throughout the day.

He had tried every kind of medicine, even expensive antidotes.

He had even summoned priests to examine her, but none of them could cure the venom of the Death Worm.

The only thing he could do now was ease her symptoms and buy time.

“Damn it… I should have killed that thing back then…”

When he had first discovered the Death Worm and saw his daughter collapse, he panicked and let it escape.

That moment became his lifelong regret.

If he had just stayed calm, his daughter wouldn’t have suffered like this.

“Huuh…”

His sighs grew heavier by the day.

As a result, the atmosphere in the lord’s castle was gloomy.

The knights and servants were all watching his mood carefully.

They knew very well how much Count Britten loved his daughter.

He had lost his wife in a tragic accident when Elina was still very young.

Since then, he had poured all his affection into his daughter.

She was the center of his world.

And now that she was sick, no one could help but tread carefully.

“Elina… please wake up. Daddy is waiting for you. When you get better, let’s go see that lake you wanted to visit so much… So wake up soon, my dear…”

Count Britten held Elina’s hand tightly as he spoke desperately.

At that moment—

***

“Lo-Lord!!”

A white-haired old man wearing glasses burst into the room in a hurry.

Count Britten frowned.

This was Elina’s chamber.

No matter that the butler had served here for more than ten years, he should have observed basic manners.

“S-Sorry, my lord. It was too urgent…”

“Be more careful.”

“My deepest apologies.”

At his apology, Count Britten eased his expression.

“So, what is it?”

“Th-There’s a guest here.”

“A guest? At this time?”

“Yes.”

“Who is it?”

“He claims to be the official successor of the Raiders family.”

“The Raiders?”

Count Britten narrowed his brows.

The Raiders… that ruined family?

He knew them well.

“The official successor, you say? Hm…”

“So, what’s his business?”

“He says he has brought the Death Worm serum.”

Bang!

Count Britten shot up from his chair in shock.

The Death Worm serum!

The only antidote to its poison.

“T-The serum?!”

“Yes.”

“Where is he now?!”

“He is waiting in the reception room.”

Count Britten hurriedly rushed out and made his way there.

He slammed the reception room doors open with a loud crash.

— [Oh damn, that’s a real man’s way of opening a door!]

— [Who needs doorknobs?]

— [Bang! Bang! Bang! LOL]

Exitra, who had been sitting calmly inside, looked startled.

He hadn’t expected the door to be opened like that.

Quickly regaining his composure, Exitra stood up, smiled faintly, and extended his hand.

“Greetings, Count Britten. I am—”

“Introductions are unnecessary. I already know who you are.”

Count Britten cut him off.

It wasn’t proper etiquette for a noble, even if the other party came from a fallen family.

If it had been anyone else, Exitra might have been offended.

But he simply shrugged.

‘He’s not ignoring me. He’s just too desperate. Look at that flushed face—he’s far from calm.’

“Do you truly have the serum?”

Britten skipped all formalities and went straight to the point.

Exitra could already tell this would be easier than expected.

The more desperately the other side wanted something, the more he stood to gain.

“Of course.”

Exitra pulled out the vial he had carefully stored.

“Here it is. The serum.”

“O-Ohhh!!”

Count Britten’s eyes widened as he stared at the vial.

It looked as described in the books—the same sheen, the same glow—even if it bore signs of having been used.

“This is real… The serum. But… how did you preserve it? From the looks of it, it’s already been used, hasn’t it?”

He was genuinely baffled.

It was said that once the Death Worm serum was used, it lost its effect within an hour.

‘So how in the world had Exitra kept it intact?’

In response, Exitra raised his finger to his lips and spoke with the sly grin of a manga’s scheming villain.

“That’s a secret.”