Chapter 67: Count Eisen (1)

They decided to leave the carriage behind because Henry could already come and go on his own. Just as the two were ready to depart on their horses, someone called out to them in a voice that sounded half-dead: “P-please… Let me live…”

“Huh?”

They turned to see the Painted Merchants employees dying half-buried in the snow.

“Ah… I almost forgot about them. Halger, bring them here.”

“Yes, sir.”

Since they’d been in the cold without their coats for hours, they were probably as miserable as Munke was. Since one reaped what one sowed, Henry didn’t have any sympathy for the frostbitten employees even though they were begging for their lives.

“If you want to live, run.”

“Giddyup.”

Henry tied the employees to the horse and started galloping toward the checkpoint.

* * *

When Henry arrived at the checkpoint, he continued his unfinished conversation with Vhant.

“Did you think about it?”

The question wasn’t necessary because only a fool would reject Henry’s suggestion. However, Henry wanted to give Vhant the option to refuse so that he could take responsibility for his revenge willingly.

“I’ve been on your side from the beginning, Sir Henry, but…” replied Vhant, looking as if he’d been waiting for this moment to reply.

“Yes?”

“Why don’t you bring those men to Count Eisen yourself? Why me?”

“Why you?”

“That's right. I can hand them over, but… In order to do that, I’d have to ask the capital for help, and that will take too much time.”

Count Eisen was a tool they needed to get to Marquis Aubert, but like Marquis Aubert, he was also part of the Central Aristocrats that had driven the State Contributors to their deaths.

‘Hmm… I guess it’s not a bad idea to see his face since it’s been a while.’

Henry was planning to kill him anyway, so he decided to accept the suggestion.

“Alright. You must be busy with your official duties; of course, I will help.”

“Haha, no. I’m entrusting this task to the Million Corps, so I will make sure to compensate you properly. Don’t worry…”

“There’s no need for compensation, but instead, could you do me two favors?”

“Favors?”

“Yes. It won’t be anything difficult.”

“Well, of course. Anything.”

Henry still felt tremendously sorry for Vhant, so there was no way he would accept any compensation. Instead, he decided to request something different. “Thank you. First of all… there will be a time in the future that I will need your help. I don’t know when it will be, but please help me out at least once.”

Vhant the gatekeeper was sure to be of great help in the future. It was the same type of request he’d made of Iselan, and Vhant happily agreed.

“Haha, that is an interesting request. Alright, I don’t know when it will be, but when the time comes, I will make sure to lend you a hand. Now, what is your second request?”

“My second request is also quite simple. Chief, if you ever visit the village to check on the exiles, will you keep the things you see there confidential?”

“The Exile Village?”

“I have some relations with the people there, so I gave them access to food, clothing, and shelter.”

“Alright. I will keep everything that I see and hear inside the village a secret.”

“Thank you.”

He did not tell Vhant that he was Henry’s disciple since this information wouldn’t spread anyway; Henry had made sure to seal the lips of the exiles and Hagler.

Vhant soon issued a recommendation letter about the delegation of prisoners with his signature and seal.

“I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“Of course.”

Henry stuffed the bodies of the bandits and the Painted Merchants into one carriage.

“Let’s go, Hagler.”

“Alright.”

The carriage departed.

* * *

A few days passed, and they no longer needed their heavy coats once the distance between them and Salgaera grew, and they grew closer to Count Eisen’s mansion. It was located in the Shonan region, a place that was surrounded by mountains and was warm all year long.

Eisen Shonan came from a family that had been producing military commanders and titans of the industry for generations. The Shonan family was recognized as one of the Patrician Families for their outstanding achievements during the Unification War.

However, perhaps because most of his family members were moguls, Eisen’s cleverness never reached the level of his power, and he was always being compared to the counts who were now marquis. Even though he’d made a lot of contributions during the war, he was never promoted to marquis.

‘I hope Eisen is still as dumb as he was in the past…’

That was one of the reasons why Henry had picked Eisen. After failing to join the Three Great Families, Eisen was growing nervous about bridging the widening gap between himself and the two marquis.

Nervousness turned into anxiety, and anxiety led to a sense of inferiority that blurred judgment, and Henry intended to take advantage of Eisen’s bad judgment and inferiority complex.

“Please present your identity tag.” A guard at the entrance of the Shonan manor, who was also a soldier under Eisen’s command, asked Henry for his identity tag.

Eisen’s private soldiers had large physiques since Eisen preferred very masculine men. Anyone who wanted to become one of his private soldiers had to have impressive physiques.

“Pass!”

The soldier confirmed Henry’s identity and let him through. However, he didn’t show any respect, much less salute Henry, even after seeing Henry’s three-starred identity tag.

‘Tsk tsk. They do say a dog resembles its owner.’?

Henry clucked his tongue. Soon, he arrived at the mansion in the center of the manor. Its exterior was magnificent, and it sat in a good position with its back to a mountain and facing a river. Eisen was still important even if he didn’t get proper respect.

“Don’t be nervous.”

“Yes, sir!” However, Hagler couldn’t help being nervous since he’d beaten an aristocrat before and run away.

As soon as they reached the entrance of the mansion, the soldier standing there stood in their way and asked, “What purpose do you have here?”

“I’m here to meet Count Eisen.”

“Show me your identity tag.”

Henry held out a class B mercenary card and his identity tag.

“A baronet? An officer? A mercenary? What kind of confused bastard are you?”

This man was worse than the previous soldier, so Henry attempted to show mercy in a decent tone. “Watch your mouth.”

“What?”

“Just because you guard the gate of the count’s family doesn’t make you a count as well.”

“You fucking bastard!”

Schwing!

The soldier couldn’t contain his anger and swung his spear like a bat, but it was a bad idea.

Slash!

Henry cut the soldier’s steel spear with a single movement of his sword. Then, Henry swung his sword once more to cut the soldier’s armor off.

Thud!

He cut the thick chainmail as cleanly as though it were leather without leaving a scratch. Henry’s swordsmanship was truly precise. In the blink of an eye, the soldier fell to the ground and wet his pants. Henry frowned as he looked at the soldier and said, “It’s a pity to allow someone like you to be a guard.”

“W-what did you say? Y-you son of a bitch! Do you think you’ll be okay after what you just did?”

“Tsk tsk, you’re stupider than a dog.”

“What are you waiting for? Kill him!”

Dozens of soldiers ran out like a swarm of hornets after seeing one of their own humiliated.

Henry clucked his tongue at them.

‘You never learn your lesson until you get a beating, don’t you.’

Beatings were necessary for dogs that didn’t listen to commands.

As the entrance of the mansion turned into chaos, more spectators began to gather around and began to worry about Henry’s safety.

“Tsk tsk, I don’t know who that person is, but it won’t end well for him.”

“I can’t believe he’s messing around with the count’s soldiers because he doesn’t have anyone else to mess with…”

“He looks young, too bad that he won’t be able to walk ever again.”

The count’s private soldiers were famous in the region for being violent. Everyone expected nothing less than a crushing defeat for Henry. However, as time passed, the spectators noticed that something wasn’t right.

“W-what…?”

“He’s not losing?”

“No. Look at them carefully. He’s even winning against them.”

“There’s no way, he only cut off their armor.”

His movements looked like acrobatic stunts.

Henry took down dozens of soldiers without getting a single scratch and he finished with a kick to the neck of the last soldier.

“Argh.”

Thud.

There were pieces of armor and spears everywhere, and bloodied soldiers squirmed on the ground. It was an easy victory for Henry. The spectators couldn’t help clapping.

“Wow, what the hell did I just see?”

“Wow… From what I heard earlier, I think they said he was a mercenary.”

“Is that an S-class mercenary that I’ve heard about?”

“No. We are class B mercenaries, the Million Corps. If you need any help, please feel free to ask for the Million Corps.”

As he stood among the spectators, Hagler did not miss the chance to promote their mercenary group.

Just as Henry was dusting off his hands among the soldiers on the ground…

Whoosh! Crash!

“Huh?”

A spear loaded with aura flew like an arrow. Henry dodged it with ease, and it stuck in the ground.

“It’s the head of the guards, Vedican!”

‘Head of the guards?’

As soon as the man named Vedican appeared, all the spectators ran away as if they had urgent appointments. Vedican was a large man. As if the metal armor he was wearing weren’t enough, he carried several spears on his back as though they were arrows.

“Who are you?” Vedican’s murderous voice was as heavy as an iron stone.

However, Henry responded nonchalantly, “Are you in charge here?”

“Yes.”

“I’m here to meet Count Eisen.”

“A person like you doesn’t have the right to meet the count just because you want to.”

Since dozens of his men had become a source of mockery, Vedican’s hostility was understandable.

Henry smiled and took a piece of paper out of his pocket. “I’m not the one who wants to meet the count.” It was Vhant’s letter of recommendation.

Henry had planned to show the recommendation letter after they checked his identity, but the soldier had been so arrogant that Henry had withheld the recommendation letter’s existence.

Vedican snatched the letter out of Henry's hand and confirmed the authenticity of the seal of the imperial army. Vedican spat curses at Henry. “How dare you, you arrogant son of a bitch…!”

“Wait. I won’t refuse if you want to fight, but I’m sure that you’ll regret it. Is that okay with you?”

“What?”

“That letter is quite an important one, so why don’t we stop fighting and you just let me in?”

He looked strong, so there was no need to waste energy. In addition, Henry decided to end the unnecessary dispute because he believed that anyone in charge of the guards would have good judgment. Besides, as Henry stated, the letter contained important information, so he also had to treat it with great care.

‘Son of a bitch…!’

Although Vedican was furious, he had no choice but to put up with it because he was the head of the guards. “Ugh…! Alright.”

“As expected, the person in charge is different.”

Thanks to Vedican’s sense of responsibility, Henry finally entered Eisen’s mansion.