Chapter 3: Brotherly Conflict (2)
I gathered all the servants into a large room.
The murmuring wouldn’t stop. It sounded like they were all discussing why they had been summoned.
While they whispered among themselves, I looked over them one by one.
I wasn’t checking their faces or clothes.
I was looking at the numbers floating above their heads.
‘100 points… 340 points…’
When wearing the Appraisal Ring, all items a person possessed were automatically evaluated and shown as points.
If someone had 500 points above their head, it meant the total value of the things they carried was worth that much.
‘Most servants should have, at most, around 1,000 points.’
A servant in a marquis household could reasonably save up enough to own one or two valuables.
But even considering that…
The guy standing in front of me was too much.
–7,800–
To reach 7,800 points, he’d need to be carrying at least seven gemstones the size of finger joints.
Or items of equivalent value.
No matter how well a household paid, it made no sense for a servant to be carrying that many valuables.
Still, just in case…
I asked a question.
“Is collecting gemstones your hobby?”
The servant flinched.
But he quickly forced a foolish grin.
“Hehe… there’s no way I’d have a hobby like that.”
I almost laughed.
What a stupid answer.
It would have been easier to lie and say yes.
This response practically confessed the crime.
“Stop grinning and answer properly.”
“Pardon?”
“Do you think I summoned everyone to joke around?”
“Then why did you call us?”
The servants clearly thought I had called them over something trivial again.
Their whispering was loud enough for me to hear.
They looked down on me.
No…
Not me.
Ian.
‘It’s not hard to understand.’
Ian had thrown away his talent, obsessed over a woman, wasted the family’s wealth…
And then strutted around claiming he’d become family head.
Naturally no one respected him.
I had been about to let it slide for now when Albert stepped in before I could back down.
“Ghk!”
The servant clutched his stomach and dropped to his knees.
Albert had punched him in the solar plexus.
“‘Then why did you call us?’ Is that how you speak before your master?”
“S-Sorry…”
“You shouldn’t have acted that way to begin with.”
Albert kicked the kneeling servant in the head.
The man screamed once and passed out.
After the thud of his body hitting the floor, the room went silent.
Albert turned to me, smiling.
“There is no need for you to deal with trash like this, young master. I can handle them myself.”
“No… wasn’t that a bit much?”
I meant he had gone too far.
But Albert misunderstood.
“Was the punishment too light? My apologies. I can use the usual club instead—”
“No, that’s enough.”
I stopped him immediately.
Another mistake and I might witness someone getting tenderized in front of me.
Was this how proper nobles lived?
Beating servants like this?
I was already worried about surviving in such a barbaric society.
“I suppose giving them leniency because of seniority was a mistake.”
Albert turned to the servants.
“From now on, no matter how long you’ve worked here, everyone will receive proper discipline.”
How could an old man who looked over seventy have such fierce eyes?
But the warning worked.
The servants stood stiff with fear.
‘And I thought it was only one or two of them…’
While they were frozen, I checked them one by one.
There were more than ten suspiciously high point values.
Out of roughly twenty servants, more than half had stolen.
At this point, it would be faster to count who hadn’t stolen.
“From now on, the people I point at, raise your hands.”
“Yes, sir!”
Over twenty voices answered at once, making my ears ring.
Enduring the pain, I pointed one by one.
“You.”
“Yes!”
“And you.”
“Yes!”
“No, not you. The one beside you.”
As each person was called, their expressions worsened.
They kept glancing at the unconscious servant on the floor.
Apparently they were afraid they’d get beaten too.
‘If you’ve done nothing wrong, you wouldn’t get hit.’
I shook my head inwardly.
Clearly they all had guilty consciences.
Finally, I pointed to the last person.
“You and everyone I pointed out… leave the room immediately.”
The moment I said it, sighs of relief filled the room.
Meanwhile, the servants left behind turned pale, like cattle brought to slaughter.
Once those I had pointed out were gone…
I called in two soldiers who had been waiting.
Then I addressed those remaining.
“Do you know why you’re still here?”
No one answered.
I looked at the servant in front.
“You. Do you know?”
“I-I’m not sure.”
“Not sure? Why?”
Even though the 9,100 floating above his head practically screamed guilt…
He claimed ignorance.
“Look at these shameless faces.”
I sighed deeply and gave them one last chance.
“Anyone who confesses now will receive light punishment.”
Even after all the intimidation…
Even after making an example of one man…
Not a single one stepped forward.
Did they still think I was a joke?
Or did they believe they hadn’t been caught?
Either way, foolish.
“If no one will confess, then it can’t be helped.”
I realized I needed to be firm.
There was no reason to show mercy to liars.
“Albert, search the men. Head maid, take the women.”
“Yes.”
“Understood.”
Only when Albert and the head maid started moving did the servants realize things had truly gone wrong.
***
How did he find out?
The remaining servants all thought the same thing.
Ian hadn’t even realized he was being used by some baron’s daughter and wasting money on her.
So how had he noticed missing valuables so precisely?
And it wasn’t guesswork.
Every time Albert or the head maid searched a pocket…
Jewelry came out.
All expensive enough that no servant’s salary could explain it.
One by one, excuses collapsed.
I sat back in a leather chair, sneering as each crime was exposed.
“Forgive me!”
One servant dropped to his knees.
He decided to confess now, grasping at straws.
After all, it was only a matter of time before he was exposed.
“I said that was the last chance.”
I clicked my tongue and waved dismissively.
The rope that could have saved them had already rotted away.
Even if they grabbed it now…
It would snap.
“Damn it!”
One servant suddenly bolted for the door.
He was big, and seeing only two soldiers, he thought this was his chance.
He was wrong.
In the blink of an eye, Albert was on his back.
He twisted the man’s arm behind him.
Then drove his head into the floor.
It happened so fast.
But it was enough to crush any thought of escape.
‘There’s no getting out.’
Now all the trapped servants could do…
Was regret.
***
Late that night, when most people had gone to sleep…
Yulian went not to his bedroom but to the underground prison.
The report he had received had kept him awake.
He needed to see the result himself.
“Young master? What brings you here?”
The guard at the prison asked.
Yulian glared.
“Stop talking and open the door.”
“…Yes.”
Inside, Yulian confirmed his subordinate’s report was true.
“He really imprisoned every servant I planted?”
“Yes.”
“Under what authority?”
“They were all jailed for theft.”
According to the report, Ian lured them into a room, prevented escape, searched them, and proved the crimes on the spot.
“Then the fuss about gathering valuables this morning…”
Yulian had assumed Ian was preparing to see that baron’s daughter again.
But instead…
It had been bait.
A trap to identify enemies.
At that realization, chills ran down his spine.
And the fact that every servant he had planted had stolen out of greed…
Was almost laughable.
“So he even calculated the servants’ greed.”
“That… may be overestimating him.”
“I hope so.”
Yulian wanted to believe it was coincidence.
But was this timing really accidental?
He remembered Ian as a child.
The genius he once struggled desperately to surpass.
And once…
Failed to surpass.
‘If that Ian has returned…’
The thought sent dread through him.
“Could the poison have had the opposite effect?”
The once-ruined fool suddenly regaining his senses…
That was the only explanation he could think of.
“Damn it! Damn it!”
Yulian kicked the iron bars in fury.
Only when his foot began to hurt did he stop.
Then he turned to the guards.
“Drag out everyone imprisoned here and kill them.”
The prisoners screamed and begged for mercy.
He ignored them.
“M-Master… executing them without reason is…”
His subordinate hesitated.
Yulian scoffed.
“No reason? Have you forgotten what happens when servants steal from their master?”
“The punishment can be death… though it is rarely carried out.”
“But not never. Then there’s no problem.”
Leaving the prisoners’ cries behind, Yulian walked out.
“Persistent bastard…”
He had thought Ian was a dying corpse.
Instead, Ian struck back.
Yulian trembled with humiliation.
“Fight all you want.”
Even if Ian had regained his senses…
He couldn’t make up for lost years overnight.
Even if Ian was a genius…
He couldn’t surpass him in a day.
“In the end…”
“The one who wins the duel is me.”
