Chapter 262: You Wanna Fight Dirty? That’s Fine By Me (2)

“Sir Jordic, you are the only hope of the Bydent family.”

Jordic, who had been in closed training, looked at the man who suddenly came to find him and spoke nonsense. The man’s name was Nether. Jordic had heard the name, but he had never spoken to him before. Nether was one of Volus’ close aides, after all.

“What kind of nonsense—”

“That is the final will left by Lord Volus.”

Jordic’s eyes widened at the mention of a will. That meant Volus was dead.

After killing Volus, Nether immediately returned to the Bydent family. Without informing anyone about Volus’s death, he had come straight to Jordic first.

“This is Lord Volus’ last testament.”

Nether handed Jordic a piece of parchment, wearing an expression as if holding back tears.

Jordic snatched it and began to read.

—Jordic. If you are reading this, then I am no longer among the living. I won’t say much. I have many younger siblings, but the only one suited to be head of the family is you, Jordic. Please turn the Bydent family into a noble one in my place, and fulfill the wishes of Father, of myself, and of our ancestors.

It was unmistakably Volus’ handwriting, and even his fingerprint, stamped in his blood, was clear.

Jordic crushed the parchment mercilessly and glared at Nether. Nether tensed up. Jordic’s expression was utterly dry like the desert. An expression that looked incapable of shedding even a single tear.

Then Jordic asked, “Who killed him...?"

“Keter of Sefira. He murdered Lord Volus.”

“Can you prove it?”

“I do not have any evidence, but many witnesses saw it. Many family heads witnessed Lord Volus and Keter quarreling.”

“So you’re saying he killed my brother... even though other family heads were watching.”

“No. He did not kill him in the open. He played dirty and murdered him with poison. I am sorry. I did everything I could to neutralize it... but Keter used such a troublesome toxin that I couldn’t save him.” Nether’s eyes filled with tears, as though they would fall at any moment.

Without a word, Jordic pulled his spear from where it hung on the wall. The murderous energy radiating from the weapon made Nether feel goosebumps.

Is that an artifact? It seems like quite a high-grade one.

There was nothing Nether didn’t know about the Bydent family ever since being hired by Volus, yet the spear Jordic held was something he had never seen before.

Jordic. He is certainly a promising talent with a bright future. To become a five-star Master in less than a year... If he uses the power of that artifact, he would be able to stand against a six-star Grandmaster.

Of course, no matter how impressive that sounded, he still didn’t seem to have any chance of winning against Keter. However, Jordic wasn’t the only six-star strongman in the Bydent family. It was unfortunate they didn’t have a seven-star Prime, but they still possessed a fair number of six-stars. That was more than enough to fight Sefira.

“Sir Jordic, no, Lord. In three days, the Family Wars will begin.”

Nether already knew about the Family Wars since he had devised the strategy together with Volus. The Bydent family’s target was naturally Sefira, and they had already completed their secret preparations for the war. The Tiger Unit was those preparations.

Jordic, who had been training nonstop, had unexpectedly already heard about the Family Wars as well. He had learned about it in advance from the Sword Dragon, Rajis, at the Sword of the South Tournament. Moreover, Bydent wasn't alone. Most families in the south would support them with knights.

On the other hand, Sefira had no information and thus couldn’t prepare in advance. They would be forced to face a Family War that was practically a surprise attack.

It was no exaggeration to say that all the families of the south were joining forces against the Sefira family. Bydent would overwhelm Sefira both in numbers and quality, so Sefira wouldn’t be able to endure.

Yet, Jordic did not laugh. He would achieve victory, but something felt unpleasant and infuriating.

Keter... I will defeat you with my own hands at the very least.

The humiliation he had suffered in Hacose Village, and the despair he had felt at the Sword of the South Tournament when he realized the overwhelming gap. After feeling that, Jordic had trained relentlessly to surpass Keter, not even caring if his body or mentality was breaking down. As a result, he had been able to reach five-star Master in a short time, yet that didn’t satisfy him.

The divinity Keter had shown at the Sword of the South Tournament had already been of six-star. To defeat someone like that, Jordic himself first needed to reach six-star as well. However, the wall of six-star was far too high. Nothing like the difference between four-star and five-star.

While he was stuck in that despair, the family’s high elder had come to him and handed him a spear.

“The name of this spear is Gungnir. It is imbued with the power of a guaranteed hit.”

Jordic then asked the high elder, whose figure remained hidden in darkness.

“If I use this spear, will I be able to defeat Keter, defeat Sefira?”

The Bydent family’s high elder was a member of the Moon Rabbit Tribe, one of the beastfolk tribes known especially for exceptional foresight. Therefore, Jordic hoped for a positive answer.

“Gungnir is not a spear meant to defeat Sefira. It is a spear meant to protect the Bydent family.”

“What does that mean...?”

“The future has changed. The Bydent family must stop its expansion and focus solely on protecting itself.”

Jordic couldn’t understand. Had the Bydent family not spent nearly fifty years striving to destroy Sefira and rise as a noble family in their place? Yet now, they were supposed to abandon that effort and instead shrink back? He couldn’t comprehend it. But before Jordic could ask anything, the high elder of the Moon Rabbit Tribe had disappeared.

“Even I am growing weary now.”

The Moon Rabbit Tribe always overflowed with confidence in all matters. Naturally so, since they could see the future. But even that miraculous ability was now reaching its end. All prophets had suffered a great loss in their prophetic abilities. They could no longer foresee an accurate future, and with no way to know the cause, they had no way to resolve it.

The high elder of the Moon Rabbit Tribe, who had planned to revive the Bydent family and challenge the empire, had only foreseen the crisis of the Bydent family, and Jordic refusing his advice to shrink back. Beyond that, even the high elder could no longer foresee anything, neither Bydent’s future nor his own.

Still, the high elder couldn’t simply stand by and do nothing. That was why he had passed the Moon Rabbit Tribe’s treasure, Gungnir, to Jordic. After all, if the Bydent family collapsed, he would meet his end as well.

Jordic didn’t know about this internal situation, but even he felt that the Bydent family’s status was declining. He wasn’t the only one who sensed it. All of Bydent’s vassals subtly felt it as well. And it was all because of Volus and Sefira.

The former head, Patra, had vanished without leaving a single trace. How was that even possible? As a result, Volus had half-forced his way into becoming head of the family, and then began controlling the family as he pleased. He especially poured an enormous amount of the family’s money into bringing down Sefira, even when the original plan was to crush Sefira during the Family Wars.

“We must break Sefira’s pride before the Family Wars begin!”

Volus insisted on this, completely ignoring the vassals’ attempts to stop him, and spent money without limit. And every attempt failed. It was fortunate that the family’s military forces were still intact, but their morale had already fallen to the ground. And in the midst of all that, Volus had been killed by Keter?

It’s for the better.

That was what Jordic thought on the inside. They were brothers, but their relationship had never been particularly deep. In fact, when he saw the will Nether had given him, he had suspected forgery. Even if the handwriting was perfectly identical, Volus never would have spoken to him politely. That made Jordic suspect that everything might have been part of Nether’s schemes.

Jordic’s headache only grew worse. The Family Wars alone were enough to make his head throb, so why did he now have to worry about someone like Nether as well? However, once he sensed that Nether also wished to bring down Sefira, his stance became clear.

“Sir Nether, I know that you are the commander of the Tiger Unit. Although your employer, Volus, has died, would you still fight for my Bydent family until the end?”

“Of course. I also wish to avenge Lord Volus.”

There was no turning back from the Family Wars now. They had already received far too much support and backing for the purpose of destroying Sefira. Moreover, the transformed Sefira would never leave Bydent alone anyway.

I don’t know about Sefira... but Keter will never leave us in peace.

Whether they liked it or not, an all-out war with Sefira was inevitable.

Jordic forcefully swallowed a sigh of anxiety and worry rising in his chest, then headed to the family head’s chamber. There, he announced Volus’ death with Nether and declared that he would take on the role of the family head in Volus’ place. The vassals didn’t oppose it. To them, Jordic was the only one who could replace Volus, after all.

Then the day came to officially announce the Family War against Sefira, and Jordic immediately called for a meeting. Launching a surprise attack on Sefira pricked his conscience and felt like a disgraceful act a knight should never commit, but now that he had become the family head, Jordic hardened his heart.

No matter the means, we must win the Family War against Sefira.

The Bydent family belonged to the crown prince’s faction. They already knew all the rules of the Family Wars. A family that received a challenge could not refuse. However, up to three days of negotiation time were granted. During this period, the two families could add new rules or adjust the schedule through discussion. For instance, they could decide when and where to fight, or to have no ambushes and such.

Once three days passed or negotiations ended, the Family War began immediately. From that moment, both sides would kill and be killed until one side was completely finished.

“

Phew

...”

Jordic, who arrived first at the meeting room, calmed his pounding heart while no one was around. Even if he had determined himself, he was only twenty-seven years old. He had spent most of his life learning spear techniques. He had never taken lessons on being a family head, nor had he ever experienced a war.

However, Jordic did know that if the family head looked anxious or lacked confidence, the vassals’ morale would fall. Thus, he tried his best to appear firm. However...

“What’s going on...?”

He hadn’t measured the time, but Jordic felt that at least ten minutes had passed. Yet, no one had come to the meeting room. Sweat trickled down his forehead. His mind was filled with countless worries, thinking about whether he had mistaken the meeting time, or if the vassals were ignoring him.

“No, that can’t be.”

The vassals were loyal, and they had all accepted him becoming the family head. There was no way that had all been an act.

“Something is definitely strange.”

Right when Jordic felt a chilling sense of wrongness...

Thud, thud! thud!

“Lord, Lord! Are you all right? We’re coming in!”

The family’s guard knight suddenly kicked open the meeting room door. Fully armed, he let out a breath of relief when he saw Jordic unharmed.

“What are the vassals doing that they haven’t come yet, and why have you rushed here instead?”

When Jordic questioned him, the knight said with a troubled expression. “That is... all of the vassals have been kidnapped.”

Shocked, Jordic didn’t know what to say.

“The commanders are unharmed, but their families have been kidnapped instead. They were also threatened, saying that if the commanders did not come immediately to save them, their families would all be burned alive...”

“Every single one of them? Without exception?”

“Yes...”

Unable to contain the boiling rage inside him, Jordic slammed his fist into the wall. “Who is it?! What bastard dares mess with Bydent?!”

“It was the work of the Assassin Guild. Fortunately, they only kidnapped them but did not kill them. It seems they don’t have the guts for that. They left a message saying they’ll release everyone as soon as the ransom is paid.”

“Why would those shady bastards suddenly target Bydent? And ransom? How much are they demanding?!”

“They want five thousand gold per person.”

“

Argh!

”

A vein bulged on Jordic’s forehead. Five thousand gold. It wasn’t an amount they could easily hand over, yet not so large as to be impossible. An annoyingly realistic number.

“Were only the vassals kidnapped? What about the others?”

“We’re still confirming, but it appears some of the others in the family besides the vassals have been taken as well. We’ve already begun heavily reinforcing the family’s security and searching for any assassins who might still be hiding.”

Jordic took a deep breath. He didn’t know why the Assassin Guild suddenly picked a fight with the Bydent family, nor why it had to be now, but he had to stay calm. The vassals weren’t dead. They had only been kidnapped. As long as the ransom was paid, they could be saved.

Just as he was trying to steady his mind, a butler suddenly came running and handed Jordic a piece of parchment.

“L-Lord, a collector from the Infinite Bank has arrived!”

“A collector from the Infinite Bank?!”

As soon as the butler finished speaking, a collector wearing a black suit and a fedora appeared at the end of the hallway. Collectors from the Infinite Bank had a notorious reputation as they reclaimed debts no matter who the debtor was, even if the person was penniless or was the emperor himself.

But why was such a collector suddenly visiting Bydent? It wouldn’t be because of a loan. As far as Jordic knew, Bydent had never borrowed money from the Infinite Bank.

“Let’s see what this is about.”

Jordic unrolled the parchment he had received from the butler, and his eyes immediately widened.

“Th-this is...!”

It had been a long while, but the moment he saw the handwriting, he remembered what had happened in Hacose Village. The contract he had written with Keter.

— Jordic El Bydent, representing the Bydent family, shall transfer 30,000 gold to Keter El Sefira. This must be completed within one month as stated in the contract, and failure to do so grants Keter the right to claim ten times the amount, 300,000 gold. Furthermore, this amount is granted to Keter in return for preserving the secrets of the Bydent family.

Jordic’s signature, written in his own blood, was clearly stamped at the bottom, so there was no denying it. And that wasn’t all. Every contract he had written in order to save the Order of the Silver Leopard had been attached as well. Each contract clearly stated that if payment was not made within one month, ten times the promised amount must be paid.

“Th-this...!”

Jordic felt wronged. They were indeed written by him, but he was in no condition to pay at the time.

I was imprisoned in Sefira then. I was literally unable to pay!

After being released from Sefira, he had honestly just forgotten the existence of those contracts. It made sense, as he had been in a desperate crisis at the time. But as the saying went, the mind one had when entering the restroom was different from the mind one had when leaving it. So once his problem was resolved, he had completely forgotten about it.

Still, if Keter had reminded him and demanded the payment, he would have paid. He had no intention of deliberately breaking their promise. However, Keter hadn’t reminded him. He had let it sit, only to now send a debt collector from the Infinite Bank. To request a collector, the debtor must go over half a year without payment, and right now was exactly that timing.

Don’t tell me, he didn’t plan this from the beginning, did he...?

With trembling hands, Jordic checked the final page of the parchment. The total amount he, the Bydent family, now had to pay was...

—

2,590,000 gold.

“

Kugh!

”

The amount was seven times larger than anything he had imagined, so enormous that Jordic felt as though he would rather just faint. At that moment, a single person came to mind. The one who had hired the assassins and orchestrated the kidnapping of the vassals’ families. It had to be him.

“Keter!!!”

Even before the Family War began, the Bydent family was already on the brink of bankruptcy.