IATVWAMOLS 109

109. Sometimes, Personal Revenge Is the Most Effective

It was a pitch-dark night, filled only with the noisy chorus of crickets.

After wrapping everything up, Roselia went straight back to Baron Garrett’s manor, where Philip was waiting.

He had remained behind, keeping a close eye on the baron’s movements.

“I’ve bribed Garrett’s lackeys. Since we made our move first, his private soldiers won’t be raiding the village.”

“You did well.”

In preparation for the baron’s retaliation, he had already evacuated the villagers and sent a request to the ducal house for reinforcements.

Now, only one task remained.

“I’ll need you to do just one more thing.”

“Leave it to me.”

Sending Philip off, Roselia walked to the back of the manor.

There, servants were frantically loading carriages.

“Move faster! Hey, did you send out all the letters?”

The servants bustled about, carrying two or three pieces of luggage at once, but Garrett still barked at them, calling them sluggish.

“Where are you off to, Baron?”

“……L-Lady Roselia?”

The baron turned pale when she suddenly appeared.

“Packing up in the dead of night like this… it looks an awful lot like a midnight escape.”

“Escape? That’s a rather harsh way of putting it.”

The baron forced a crooked smile.

He gestured for a servant to hand Roselia a heavy chest. Inside, it was full of gold bars.

“Now that I think about it, I’ve neglected to show you proper courtesy. I should’ve done so much earlier. If you could just quietly overlook this matter—”

“Oh my, bribery too?”

Roselia slapped the chest away.

“I’d suggest you stop with these foolish tricks.”

As she gestured somewhere behind her—

“Get the carriage moving, now!”

“M-My lord!”

The baron bolted toward the carriage in a panic. The wheels lurched forward, leaving behind cargo that hadn’t been loaded yet, scattering across the ground. His servants stumbled after him in confusion.

But then—

“Stop.”

“……!”

A massive figure emerged from the darkness, blocking the road.

It was Brecht.

The startled horses reared with a shrill whinny, but he didn’t so much as flinch. He simply sidestepped their hooves and leveled his sword at the driver.

Behind him, rows of imperial guardsmen appeared in perfect formation.

Accompanied by their protection, Crown Prince Perwyn stepped forward with a sharp click of his tongue.

“All escape routes are sealed. Trying to run is pointless.”

“S-Spare me!”

“Aaargh!”

The imperial guards surrounded the carriage.

The baron, pale as death, was dragged out and thrown to his knees before Perwyn. His struggles were useless against the guards’ iron grip.

“Y-Your Highness!”

He was nearly fainting from terror. Until now, he had only ever glimpsed the crown prince fleetingly during state events. To face him this closely for the first time was overwhelming.

The baron prostrated himself.

“Please, Your Highness, I beg for my life! I have committed no crime!”

“How dare you!”

Brecht moved to silence him, but Perwyn raised a hand to stop him.

“So many grievances, it seems. Very well, let’s hear them.”

The unexpected leniency lit up the baron’s face with hope.

“Th-thank you!”

He instinctively lifted his head, only to quickly bow again. Meeting the prince’s gaze directly was unbearable—Perwyn’s sheer presence pressed down like gravity, making it impossible to lift his head.

The memory of lording over his fief like an absolute ruler now felt like a pitiful illusion. Confronted with true majesty, humility came naturally.

The baron stammered out:

“Your august Highness, please clear my name. This is all a frame-up! I was merely used!”

“And what, exactly, was fabricated?”

“I have always devoted myself to the people of my land! Yes, an unfortunate incident occurred due to a small misstep on my part, but the real fault lies with the villagers for disobeying my orders.”

“Is that so?”

Perwyn arched a brow.

“So by your account, the villagers disobeyed you and carried out inhumane experiments on their own?”

“……!”

“Or are you saying it was the villagers’ fault that magic stones were stolen and mutated beasts created?”

The baron’s pupils trembled.

“It looked like there were quite a few such facilities. Just how widespread are they across the empire? How many people are involved?”

“T-that, I… I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

Perwyn’s icy gaze flicked over him. Brecht raised his sword at the baron.

“Then there’s nothing more to hear.”

“Y-Your Highness!”

“Illegal human experimentation demands stripping of title and execution of one’s entire household.”

“Spare me! If you let me live, I’ll tell you everything I know!”

“As if.”

Perwyn sneered.

As Brecht’s blade prepared to fall, Roselia stepped forward.

“No. Baron Garrett won’t be killed.”

“What?”

“Death would be far too merciful a punishment for his crimes.”

Just then—

A deep rumbling rose from the earth.

“An earthquake?”

But no—it grew louder, drawing closer to where the baron knelt.

“There! Over there!”

“……!”

Hundreds of villagers charged forward like a stampede of bulls. They were Garrett’s exploited subjects, their voices raw with rage.

“That bastard killed my husband!”

“He threw my family into the flames and now he’s running away alone?!”

“You piece of filth!”

“Die! Die!”

Wielding sickles and pickaxes, the furious mob descended on the baron.

“Eeek!”

Overwhelmed, he cringed down.

“W-wait! Agh!”

Years of pent-up grief and fury erupted all at once, crashing over him like a tidal wave.

The sorrow of lost homes, the bitterness of stolen families, the long misery of oppression—all of it boiled over into violence.

“G-Guards! Guards!”

The baron writhed under the rain of blows, but his pleas went unanswered. His retainers had long since abandoned him.

“P-please! Spare me… I-I beg you…!”

He groveled beneath the very people he had despised as worthless.

But soon, his struggles went still.

“I didn’t expect you to bring the villagers in,” Perwyn remarked, sipping tea.

We were resting for a moment inside Baron Garrett’s now-masterless manor.

“Sometimes, personal revenge is what’s truly needed.”

Of course, there was also the matter of the mission.

【SYSTEM: Mission! ‘Baron Garrett’s Secret’】

[A massive strike erupts in Garrett’s domain!

The fierce battle over the truth behind the magic stone mines. But what hidden circumstances lie beneath…?

Uncover the truth and right the wrongs of the villagers. ♥]

Punishment alone would never have been enough to settle the villagers’ grievances.

Perwyn nodded.

“True. They were the ones who had the most to avenge.”

Beaten half to death, Baron Garrett had soon collapsed unconscious. The imperial guard hauled him off to the capital. Whatever awaited him there, life would hardly be worth living.

“By the way, did you uncover anything more about those research facilities?”

“Somewhat. They were siphoning off large quantities of magic stones to conduct grotesque experiments. Creating mutant beasts was only part of it.”

“So the reduced magic stone supply was just an excuse.”

In reality, the stones had all been diverted for experiments.

“And mutant beasts… something unheard of.”

“If they had spread across the empire, it could’ve been disastrous.”

Perwyn’s expression darkened.

Back in the lab’s storage, one of the overseers had summoned dozens of ferocious beasts—strong enough to push even the duke’s knights to the brink.

And to think those had been artificial mutations.

“We’ll need to investigate further, but it seems they weren’t just making monsters. They even tried experimenting on humans. Truly vile.”

“Then the story about miners dying or going missing from monster waves was all a lie too?”

“Exactly. They were kidnapped and confined for human experiments.”

The more I heard, the more revolting it became.

“At least those abducted are still alive. They’re unconscious, but still breathing.”

“We’ll save them, somehow.”

“I’ll help however I can.”

Perwyn nodded just as a familiar voice chimed in.

【SYSTEM: Congratulations! You have completed the mission ‘Baron Garrett’s Secret’!】
【SYSTEM: Partial rewards granted!】
[Memory Fragment of Cayenne, +30 Affection with Cayenne, 1 Lucky Roulette Ticket.]

【SYSTEM: Compatibility with ‘#SchemerHeroine’ has increased! (2/3)】

【Unknown: Mission complete, congrats congrats!】
【Unknown: ✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ)و✧*｡】