Chapter 27
BOOM!
“Eek! C-Count!”
Vener couldn’t hold back and slammed the small table beside him hard.
His fist trembled. His nails dug into his palm so hard blood dripped. There was a bit of a commotion, but the party’s music quickly drowned it out.
This was the first time Vener had experienced anything like this in his life. Plans sometimes veered a little, but his plans had never completely fallen apart.
This can’t be happening! Something’s clearly jammed in the works!
A cold dread ran down his spine. Was this what it felt like to be completely abandoned by the goddess of fate?
At this point there was only one thing he could do.
He needed to make sure he had nothing to do with this incident. To make that certain, he had to kill Romulu.
He’d simply break his promise to let the man go. After all, the bastard was a necromancer — killing him would likely be judged a favor rather than a crime.
But Vener sensed something in Alberto’s expression.
There was something he hadn’t said yet.
“…Alberto. Is there something you haven’t reported yet?”
“…….”
“Tell me quickly!”
“…Romulu escaped!”
“This should be about the right place.”
A forest on the border between the Isother Kingdom and the Karaden Kingdom — dense woods with confusing mountain paths. The two kingdoms were now joined under the Union of Kingdoms, and because of that, soldiers kept little watch over this forest. The only fort was a shabby outpost at the forest’s entrance.
Because of that, a bandit clan had its stronghold in this forest.
It was none other than the Gio Clan.
The bandit clan led by Gio Crisini — the same Gio Crisini whose throat I’d cut not long ago.
He even makes a brief appearance in “World Domination by Rank!” The protagonist Dia gets lost and runs into some bandits, happens to meet Gio Crisini visiting his base, they clash a few times, and Dia wins. At that time, Gio Crisini’s swordsmanship rank is 4 and he appears as an appropriate experience mob for Dia.
(He’s dead to me now, so that’s moot.)
Sorry, protagonist, but what can I do? The survivors stay alive.
Even if it weren’t Gio Crisini, the protagonist would have fought some other suitable bandit — there are plenty of walk-on enemies.
…Anyway, forget about the novel’s plot for a moment.
Right now I’m just trying to survive.
Walking the twisting forest path for a while, I heard the sound of flowing water in the distance. That meant I was almost there. The Gio Clan’s base was supposed to be up along the stream.
“Huh!”
After so much walking my breath was a little short, but thanks to repeated rank ups my stamina had improved. I found a small stream, quenched my thirst briefly, and followed the water upstream.
“Just a little further…”
As my breath began to pick up again, I spotted a shabby hut by the water.
“That must be the base.”
Although a few years had passed since the time in the story, fortunately the Gio Clan’s base remained. It looked a bit cleaner, suggesting it had been refurbished not long ago.
I steadied my breathing and drew my sword.
Bandit clans are specialists in dirty tricks. Going in empty-handed would be foolish — better to keep my senses sharp as I approached the hut.
“…….”
Sure enough, faint breathing could be heard around. Hidden tightly in the forest and hard to see, they couldn’t completely silence their breathing.
About five of them were hiding near trees and one was alone inside the hut.
I slowly stepped into their attack range. They didn’t strike.
Thankfully, the men seemed to be sizing up the situation for now. I sheathed my sword again.
“I’ve come to talk.”
“…….”
I called out into the empty air, but no one answered.
“I’m going to enter the hut now. You wouldn’t mindlessly kill someone who doesn’t want to fight, would you?”
Still no reply, and no one moved to stop me.
Creak…!
The hut door squeaked open.
Inside stood a figure in a thick robe. Through the robe I could see a small magical orb, faintly glowing as if ready to unleash power at any moment.
At first glance they looked like a mage.
“Are you the one in charge here?”
“…….”
They gave off an odd vibe. But there was no need to worry — a subordinate of Gio Crisini wouldn’t be that strong. At most rank 3 or 4, I guessed.
“You know who I am, right?”
Only then did the robed figure open their tightly shut mouth.
“I am Ian Impera. The only son of Aimon Impera, and the future head of the Impera Count family.”
“I know well enough. Yes. I am Ian Impera.”
“…….”
“Now that I’ve introduced myself, it would be polite for you to do the same.”
“…Very well.”
The figure drew back the hood.
Under the robe was a somewhat scruffy face and unusually pale skin.
And one more thing.
‘Female?’
The robed figure was a woman.
Recalling the story, I couldn’t remember a female mage in the Gio Clan. In the original plot she probably either died or left.
When she took off her robe, the hidden bandits revealed themselves. Those who hadn’t relaxed their guard drew weapons and surrounded me.
“Why is the son of the Impera family here?”
The mage’s voice was full of wariness. Judging by the silence from the others, she seemed to be the acting leader.
“Are all of you members of the Gio Clan?”
“…….”
She nodded instead of answering.
“That makes things easier. You all know your leader failed, right?”
“…We know.”
“You also know Gio Crisini died at my hand, right?”
“…….”
Gio Crisini had been a strong opponent with rank 4 swordsmanship. If I hadn’t been hit by the Sigui Bomb, I might have lost. No wonder they were on edge. They probably thought I was at least rank 4.
It made my task easier — I could intimidate them.
“Not only did you attempt to assassinate a noble, you even used the Sigui Bomb. You know how grave that crime is, don’t you?”
“We didn’t use the Sigui Bomb! That was—”
At the mention of the Sigui Bomb the mage’s voice wavered.
They’d be worried. Being accused of both an attempted noble assassination and the Sigui Bomb would mean they wouldn’t die quietly. The Sigui Bomb was one of the most vicious and forbidden black magics the Union of Kingdoms relentlessly hunts. Even a bandit clan would fear the Union’s scrutiny.
Being targeted by the Union meant making an enemy of the entire continent. A tiny bandit clan couldn’t handle that.
I fixed my gaze on their trembling eyes and smiled faintly.
‘Greenhorns.’
They were so obviously scared — this would be easier than I thought.
“I suspected you didn’t use the Sigui Bomb.”
“Then why—”
“But will the Union of Kingdoms believe that so easily?”
“Hmm…”
“Besides, how easy would it be to pin that on you in the eyes of the Union? You’re tempting prey for both the Union and whoever actually used the Sigui Bomb.”
“T-That’s….”
“You know what the Union is like, right?”
“We told you we didn’t do it!”
One bandit shouted out, losing patience. I answered with a cold smile.
“Yeah. Keep shouting like that — even while your limbs are being torn apart. You know how they treat necromancers. They’ll torture until they get the answer they want. Keep resisting and they’ll cut off your left hand and put you in irons!”
“Ugh…!”
“You bastard!”
At that moment the mage’s orb flashed.
Crack!
Ice shot up from the ground and surged toward me, covering the area around my body.
The ice stopped just before piercing me.
‘Hmm.’
That was an Ice Blade — a spell available from rank 4. The ice pillars were blunt rather than sharply pointed, so this mage had probably only just hit rank 4.
‘Looks to be in their twenties and just reached rank 4… this is unexpected talent.’
A promising talent not even in the novel. If managed well, this could be an unexpected gain.
Even facing potential impalement, I smiled contentedly and stared at the mage. It was a shame such talent belonged to a bandit clan that would soon be hunted down.
Her long hand trembled slightly.
She was pretending to be strong, but she was scared. After all, they were being targeted by the Union.
I acted unfazed by the Ice Blade and said, “At this rate, you’ll all die. Very miserably.”
“Hmph! We could just kill you here and run!”
“That might be possible. If everyone here jumped me at once, you might take me down with a few deaths.”
“…….”
“But that would be the end of you. The charge of attempted assassination would simply become ‘assassination’.”
“Then what do you want us to do!”
I pushed through the ice pillars and approached the mage, speaking softly but firmly.
“Work for me.”
“…What?”
“Be my hands and feet. Tear off that crow emblem and throw it away. Serve the Red Lion.”
The Red Lion — the Impera family crest.
The mage’s eyes wavered at my words.
“I… but! The Sigui Bomb— Even if you’re a count’s heir, you can’t just sweep the Union of Kingdoms’ actions under the rug alone…!”
“That’s true. The Sigui Bomb is forbidden black magic in the Union. Even I can’t erase the Union’s actions single-handedly.”
“So what then?!”
“Didn’t you say yourselves that you didn’t set off the Sigui Bomb?”
“W-we did say that…”
“Then that’s your first mission from me. Find the mad necromancer X who set off the Sigui Bomb in my territory. Gather information and bring it to me.”
If I had bluntly ordered them to work for me, they would have refused. After all, I’d killed their leader.
So I made sure they understood there was no other choice.
They could either be captured, tortured, and killed by the Union — or they could work for me.
‘Wait. Could this woman have some relation to Gio Crisini?’
If she were Crisini’s lover or a blood relative, things could get complicated. Also, she was rank 4 — I’d prefer to have her on my side.
I’d said what I needed to say. I watched their reactions as if unconcerned.
“How about it, submaster? What should we do?”
“Shut up!”
“Eek….”
Judging from his subordinates, they seemed to have already decided in their hearts. Without this woman, they didn’t look all that strong.
‘In the novel they weren’t this level, though.’
Looks like they replaced weaker members over time. Having killed Harun and taken a lot of money, they probably swapped out the mediocre ones with paid recruits. This woman might have left or been replaced during that process.
After a long moment, the woman clicked her tongue.
“Tch!”
“Hoho.”
“…Hey.”
“What is it?”
“So… you really expect us to do this? You want us to work for you instead of punishing us for our crimes?”
‘Done!’
That was enough. They’d come around.
I shrugged and answered, “Of course. Why else would I have come all the way out here?”
“…But how did you know about this place? No one would know about it unless they were clan members.”
“Nobles tend to know a lot of things.”
“…Alright.”
“Alright meaning?”
She scowled but then stepped forward, kneeing down and lowering her head.
“…My name is Islin. From today I will serve you.”
