Chapter 181: |
Chapter 181
‘Huh?’
Raymond opened his eyes wide.
‘Pairing. What is this?’
An explanation came to his mind as if on cue.
[Pairing: A contract made with people. You receive the absolute favor and love of the other person.]
‘Person? The Cat Tribe isn’t humans. Is it because he is from the True Blood part of the Tribe that he is better classified as human?’
Raymond recalled his knowledge of the True Blood.
While the general Suin tribe was a pseudo-human race with animal attributes, the Jinhyeol tribe was somewhat different.
Although they have a human form, is it half spirit or something?
‘… Could it be that the great Amyo, the ancestor of the Cat Tribe, was also someone’s pet? Is that why this kind of pairing is possible?’
Raymond cleared his throat.
Anyway, the pairing should be a failure.
‘I shouldn’t make these kinds of connections so carelessly.’
From Mien’s perspective, it was not a good idea to make such an important contract while he was mentally unstable.
‘Once your body recovers and your mind comes to, your thoughts will change.’
[Pairing refused!]
Raymond spoke gently so as not to hurt the boy.
“I’m not your mother, I’m a healer.”
“……Healer?”
“Yes, a healer who will treat you and care for you unconditionally.”
Raymond spoke as gently as he could, but did Mien realize that he had been rejected? Mien answered in a deadened voice.
“…Yes, teacher.”
“Yeah, that’s good. If you need anything, just come to me.”
“…Can I really come?”
“Yeah, anytime.”
Raymond answered without thinking.
Mien smiled and fell into a deep sleep.
At that moment, a message came to mind.
[The person whose pairing was rejected enters a ‘state of lonely longing’!]
“…”
Raymond shut his mouth when he saw the message.
‘…This is an ominous message.’
Perhaps the little boy was impressed by him and felt that way for a moment.
‘It’ll be okay soon.’
Raymond stood up from his seat.
“I’ll go now. If there’s any problem, please contact me right away. I’ll send the thyroid hormones that Mien needs by courier.”
So Raymond left the village of the Cat People.
* * *
He didn’t go straight down to the territory.
He headed to Borison Estate to collect evidence.
‘As expected. Disturbing substances are leaking from the Magic Stone mine.’
‘We investigated the water in the valley starting from the Magic Stone Mine.’
As a result, the upstream is clean.
Disturbance materials were detected starting from the location of the magic stone mine.
‘To this extent, the evidence is clear.’
Raymond returned to the estate.
Afterwards, he formally requested a meeting with Count Trenby.
-Why am I called?
“I am giving you this order as your delegate. If you do not follow this, I will punish you on behalf of His Majesty the King.”
Raymond said coldly.
No matter how important his own gain was, he continued mining magic stones regardless of what happened to other residents.
There was no way the words would come out nicely.
-… … .
Count Trenby reluctantly agreed to the meeting, and Raymond took with him all the lords who had followed him, intending to pressure him.
Thor’s Estate.
Mephin Estate.
Kran Estate.
Lanson Estate.
These four lords followed him as if assisting him.
That wasn’t all.
Raymond now had more influence than the four lords combined.
Currently, he is not only the de facto lord of the Ruin Estate, but also has authority over the Kunka Estate and the Boyle Estate, which lost their lords in an unexpected incident.
In other words, Raymond was now the lord of three territories at the same time. He was soon to become a feudal lord.
There was also Elmud, the greatest genius knight in the kingdom, and Christine, the most powerful successor to the kingdom’s greatest dukedom.
“…”
Meanwhile, Count Trenby was alone.
Count Trenby gritted his teeth.
‘No one is coming.’
In fact, before he came to this meeting, he asked other lords who supported him to accompany him.
But they all made excuses and refused.
‘I’m not feeling well…’
‘There is something urgent in my territory…’
Even though they made excuses, the reason was clear.
Now it is clear that the tide is turning in Raymond’s favor.
There are a total of 10 major territories in the Rafald region.
Seven of them came under Raymond’s influence, so in effect, the entire Rafald region was in Raymond’s hands.
‘Count Trenby is finished now.’
‘You can’t continue like this.’
Moreover, Raymond pointed to Count Trenby’s magic stone mine as the cause of this epidemic.
Raymond is the undisputed top infectious disease expert in the Houston realm.
That’s what he said, so it must be true.
Now Count Trenby was ruined.
Everyone knew that fact.
“…”
And Count Trenby himself knew that fact.
He just couldn’t admit it.
He had once dreamed of driving out Raymond and becoming the lord of the Rafald region, but now he was in this situation.
“What I demand is simple. Stop mining the magic stone mine immediately.”
Raymond said firmly.
“…”
Count Trenby clenched his fists.
Unfortunately, the evidence Raymond presented was beyond dispute.
In fact, Count Trenby himself had been guessing that the magic stone mine might be the cause.
‘The first territory where the disease occurred was not the Lanson territory, but the Borison territory where the magic stone mine was located. However, Count Trenby covered up this fact. For fear that it will affect the magic stone mining.’
Raymond clicked his tongue.
The first time Count Trenby called in Viscount Dorian, a double-A rank healer, was because of the patients that had appeared in his territory.
‘Anyway. You don’t care that people are dying for your own greed.’
It was an incredibly ugly thing, but it was also something that happened quite commonly.
‘This is not uncommon even on modern Earth. It is not uncommon for people to ignore the harmful effects of toxic substances on humans for a few pennies.’
Raymond spoke strongly. “This is your final warning. Follow my orders and stop mining the magic stone immediately.”
“… If I don’t follow?”
“I will raise an army and punish you.”
“…!”
Count Trenby opened his eyes wide.
“…What? How dare you!”
A powerful aura emanated from his body as he suddenly stood up.
Count Trenby was a warrior who had made great contributions on the battlefield! Raymond’s heart sank for a moment at the sight of his powerful momentum.
But…
[You’re standing up for the patients!]
[Skill, ‘Heart of Steel’ is activated!]
Also, there was something that strengthened his chest other than his skills.
“How dare you talk to our lord like this!”
“Take your seat immediately, Count!”
“Don’t do anything you’ll regret!”
“Do you want to turn the Duke of Raven into your enemy?”
Elmud and others stepped forward and put pressure on him!
Raymond said with a feeling of his chest becoming infinitely stronger.
“I am the delegate and the future great lord of the Rafald region. As such, I have the authority to punish anyone who harms the people of the Rafald region.”
Count Trenby shivered.
But he couldn’t refute a single word, because there was nothing wrong with what Raymond said.
Eventually, he had no choice but to give up everything and sit down.
“Ha, ha… … I tried to establish my family by achieving great success in war, but this is what happened.”
It was a frustrated voice.
It had to be that way.
Because the Borison Territory was a place with nothing but a magic stone mine.
The number of human residents is only about 200.
It was a fiefdom that was not even as big as a small estate.
Even though he had earned great merit and received a fief, he ended up penniless.
‘Besides, he’ll probably have a lot of debts from the Magic Tower if he prepared to mine the Magic Stone. He will only be left with a mountain of debt.’
Raymond shook his head.
It was a chilling thought to think that if he had done wrong he might have ended up like Count Trenby.
‘…It seems a little pitiful.’
Of course, Count Trenby committed an unforgivable mistake.
Because he disregarded the deaths of others for his own gain. That was a mistake that could not be excused for any reason.
But is it because he almost ended up in the same situation?
Seeing him blankly, with a look of despair and a lost soul, he felt a little sorry for him.
‘There’s nothing I can do. But it’s not like I can help you.’
Help, that’s ridiculous.
It was the moment when he was about to turn his back while thinking that way.
Suddenly an idea occurred to me.
‘Wait a minute. If we take advantage of Count Trenby’s situation, wouldn’t we be able to gain a great deal?’
It wasn’t his intention to help Count Trenby out of pity.
‘How can you help someone who has committed such a mistake? No matter how much I personally feel sorry for him, that wasn’t it.’
‘Rather, I should punish them.’
What he’s trying to do is the opposite.
The idea was to make a big profit by taking advantage of the frustrated Count Trenby.
‘And while doing so, he also punished Count Trenby.’
Raymond continued his thoughts.
‘And this is not only a way to punish Count Trenby, but also a way to give the Tower guys a big bang. Let’s do it.’
Raymond has always harbored deep-seated animosity toward the Tower.
The worst money grubbers along with dwarves!
Moreover, it cannot be said that the Magic Tower guys are not responsible for this situation.
If the problem had been discovered in advance when the magic stone mining facility was installed, the disaster might have been prevented.
In other words, Magic Tower neglected their duties by taking matters into his own hands.
‘So the guys from Magic Tower should also take responsibility for this situation.’
Raymond, determined, opened his mouth.
“I understand your situation, Count. Then how about doing this?”
“What are you talking about?”
A message just occurred to him.
[As a healer lord, you would like to negotiate on a territory basis!]
[Skill, ‘Negotiation Skill’ is activated!]
That’s not all.
[Confirm that the opponent is the ‘true one’!]
[The opponent’s truth pattern is ‘Easy Truth’. ‘Truth Special: Make a Fool’ is activated!]
Raymond felt his tongue become smoother.
“As a prospective lord of the Rafald region, I would like to purchase the Borison fief. What do you think?”
“…!”
Count Trenby’s eyes widened.
What does this mean all of a sudden?
“What is that…?”
“If the magic stone mine is closed, the Borison estate will be worthless, right? I intend to purchase it out of consideration for your situation as a prospective lord.”
Of course it’s a lie.
What is consideration?
It was a deal that would bring in huge profits.
‘Is this some kind of scam?’
But Count Trenby asked, never dreaming of such a thing.
“Then how much will you pay?”
“It’s minus 100,000 penas. Count, please give me 100,000 penas.”