The Heroines Are After My Fortune

6 – Shadow Sovereign – 1

‘No matter how I look at it, we’re short on talent.’

After examining the pool of talent I had at my disposal, this was the conclusion I came to. Befitting of a family with the top monetary power in the empire, there were several A-class knights and quite a few capable individuals. That was certainly a fortunate aspect…

‘There aren’t any S-classes.’

To prepare for the various incidents about to explode, I needed talent that could carry the team single-handedly. Of course, there was the option of poaching verified talent from other families with money, but, given the sensibilities of this era, it wasn’t a method easily tried, so it had to remain a last resort.

For now, there are three people I absolutely must recruit that come to mind.

The one in charge of force, the one in charge of invention, and the one in charge of management.

The unusual thing is, all three of them live hidden in the outskirts. Since they aren’t hiding their identities for no reason, it’s highly likely that recruitment won’t be easy.

‘I’ve already requested the information guild to find the whereabouts of two of them, and since I know where the one in charge of force is living, the attempt itself is possible.’

The problem is, bringing in the person in charge of force is an enormous hurdle.

Even still, considering his overwhelming power, which ranks at the top in the story, it was an adventure worth taking.

Since I had to go to the outskirts anyway, I asked the head butler to introduce me to one of the family knights, a strong and deeply loyal one, and I was able to get a knight introduced to me.

“Pleased to meet you, Aiden-nim. I am Cassano Blanchett, assigned to be your escort today.”

The knight introduced himself, kneeling on one knee. A handsome man in his thirties, his shimmering golden hair suited him well. I cut straight to the point.

“Sir Cassano, what level of mastery are you at?”

“Recent training has yielded significant progress, so I am currently at the level of an Upper-Tier Sword Expert.”

“Oho….”

For a young one, he’s quite strong. He’s certainly powerful enough to rank high within this world.

“As an Upper-Tier Expert, could you hold your own against a Sword Master?”

“A Sword Master, you say…?”

Cassano hesitated for a moment at the abrupt question, but quickly regained his composure and answered me.

“If it were to go on for a long battle, defeat is inevitable, but I believe I could hold out for a solid ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes is quite a long time to last.”

“Haha, of course, it’s a rather meaningless hypothetical. I’ve never actually fought one, and finding a Sword Master in this vast Empire is harder than finding a needle in a desert.”

“You might just witness such a difficult thing today.”

“……………??”

His eyes widened as if he thought he had misheard me, I placed a hand on Sir Cassano’s shoulder, adopted a serious tone and declared.

“Before today’s mission, there’s something Sir Cassano must swear.”

“…And what is that?”

“Swear that no matter what you witness today, you will keep silent.”

“Hmm….”

A knight’s oath was not something to be taken lightly and Cassano hesitated, it wouldn’t be easy to swear an oath without knowing what he was swearing too. It was highly probable that the person I was meeting today would be difficult to comprehend from a normal perspective. Even if he had a strong loyalty to Yulneman, I needed a firm confirmation.

“I swear, it’s not a bad thing. On the contrary, it’s about saving a poor soul.”

“…Then I swear. I, Cassano Blanchet, will keep silent about what I saw today, no matter what.”

“Good, let’s go.”

Today, I go to meet a Sword Master, abandoned by the world.

######

Like how there’s a basement under the floor, even the outskirts of the capital, a place supposedly for the poor, had its own divisions. Where I’m headed now is the very edge of the outskirts. A region called ‘the Devil’s Den,’ teeming with criminals and junkies. We were walking the streets, cloaked in drab brown to avoid drawing attention, and Cassano seemed utterly shocked by the sight of the place.

“……………….”

Well, a noble who climbed the elite ladder to knighthood wouldn’t often come to such places. If not for my command, he probably never would have. As it is, a gaunt woman approached him, offering a battered bucket.

“Please, help me, my child is starving to death. Just a coin… please.”

Cassano’s pupils widened. He looked at me, seeking permission, as if his knight’s heart yearned to help the weak, but I shook my head.

“…I am sorry.”

Cassano ultimately left the woman, following me, and the woman’s moans of hunger, echoing behind, seemed to trouble him deeply. After a few minutes, when he was sure we were out of earshot, he asked.

“Baron, may I ask why?”

“You’re curious as to why I told you not to help them?”

“Yes, Baron. I’ve heard you lived a difficult life as a commoner before your former master acknowledged you. You’d understand their plight better than I, yet you still refused to offer aid, so I believe there must be a reason.”

“……….Huu.”

I sighed deeply.

It seemed that the well-fed knight’s curiosity and empathy were flaring up in the face of this new, shocking reality. While I preferred men who followed my orders without question, it would be too much to expect that from anyone right away. Explaining myself might make it easier.

“Just now, do you remember how many people were sitting near the spot where the woman was begging?”

“…I believe there were four or five.”

“They’re all in cahoots. When Lord Cassano refused to pay, everyone around him seemed so disappointed. And when we turned our backs, the woman’s moan? That was their command too. If he’d given her money, they would have snatched it all.”

“Th-that’s…!”

“Whether she gets the money or not, she can’t escape them. She’ll live a miserable existence, eating just enough to stay alive. It’s a cruel reality, isn’t it?”

“Then…then how can she ever be saved?”

“This stems from a problem with the capital’s system. The royal family needs to intervene. But they won’t. Even if you wipe out this den of thieves, another, and another will just pop up, inevitably. They figure if it’s just going to happen again, better to leave it be.”

“……I’m ashamed. I’ve been so ignorant.”

Cassano clenched his fist, trembling. A knight from a wealthy family, I’d pegged him for a bit of a snob, but he seems more chivalrous than I thought. The fact he’s not immediately launching himself into saving the woman proves he’s not completely dense.

“Don’t worry too much. I have a plan to regenerate this area as part of the Roen family business later on.”

“Oh, is that true!”

*Nah, it’s a lie.*

Unlike Cassano, whose face lit up, my heart was cold. Why would I waste money on an area like this that has no hope? If, just maybe, I did spend money, it would be purely for my own benefit. I’m not wealthy enough to afford pointless kindness.

###

Having entered the depths of a narrow alley, it took a considerable amount of time for them to reach their destination.

“Is this where the person you’re seeking is located?”

Aiden quietly nodded, and Cassano grimaced at the dilapidated shack.

“Honestly, I don’t think he’s a Sword Master.”

“And why is that?”

“With the development of magical engineering, weapon quality has risen like never before. Yet, with that convenience and power, people have become increasingly negligent in self-training. Finding a Sword Master these days is a rare thing. Those who reach that level are currently likened to the Empire’s Seven Powerhouses. The person you’re talking about is highly likely bluffing. Actually, mercenaries in harsh environments often inflate their skill as a survival strategy.”

“Do you seek me?”

““……………………!!””

They both startled, spinning around to find a middle-aged man glaring at them, like he was wearied beyond measure.

His face was hollowed out, the kind that screams a man tangled with the needle, and his hair was a shock of white, nearly bone-white. On his right arm, he sported a crude iron prosthetic, and Cassano felt like he’d seen that face, that particular set of features, somewhere before. Racking his memory, Cassano could only stare in disbelief.

‘The Shadow Monarch, Caesar…!?’

A Class-A criminal of the Empire, a man with a hefty bounty still on his head for the assassination of a high-ranking noble. And since that incident, he’d piled up a mountain of assassinations of other bigwigs. His wanted posters plastered every wall in the Empire, a mark of his infamy. Cassano steeled himself.

‘Even if I lose my life here, I’ll buy time for Aiden-nim to escape…!’

But as he reached for his blade, Cassano’s eyes widened at an even stranger sight.

“It’s been a while, Caesar.”

“Hmph, you’ve put on some polish, haven’t you? Weren’t you a baron’s b*stard?”

“…Huh?”

Just a moment ago, it had felt like the world was about to come crashing down, yet now they were having a normal conversation. Cassano could only mutter in confusion.

“Aiden-nim, what is all this…?”

“We have a history. I actually hired him as Elena’s bodyguard before.”

‘The Empire’s most notorious assassin, as a bodyguard…?’

Completely lost, he could only stare back and forth between Aiden and Caesar. Aiden had come seeking to recruit, but seeing Caesar again stirred up some less than pleasant memories.

‘He was a bottomless money pit, that one.’

A man hailed as the pinnacle of assassins in the underworld. The sheer amount of money he’d shelled out to hire Caesar was astronomical. Of course, Aiden knew that for some reason, Caesar had cut him a deal, but it was still outrageously expensive.

He’d had no other choice anyway. Caesar was the only one who met all of his conditions: no lust for Elena and the ability to get the job done cleanly. So he’d been forced to take the deal, teeth gritted. Still, to his credit, the man had been worth every penny. Now, his pockets no longer empty, Aiden wanted to make Caesar one of his own, through and through. If he had Caesar on his side, he could use him not only for protection, but for all the dirty work he couldn’t ask his knights to handle.

“How would you like to become a part of my family? I’ll clear up the false charges against you, leave no trace.”

“Aiden-nim…!?”

“…I refuse. I don’t care how you know about it, I have no intention of leaving this place. *cough*”

Casano’s reaction, a mix of shock at both Aiden trying to hire Caesar and his claim of being framed, aside, the enticing offer was flatly rejected.

“Think again. Aren’t you tired of this hovel life? Take my hand, and you can have a clean start.”

“…Kuh, I don’t wanna hear it. Shut yer trap and get lost. Even if you were a client, this kind of nonsense, *cough!*, I won’t tolerate it.”

Caesar swayed slightly, the opium still clinging to him. He seemed eager to end the conversation and rest, his state was poor. Realizing, as expected, that Caesar was in no condition for proper talk due to the drugs, Aiden decided on a shock tactic, as planned.

“You’ll regret it if you don’t hear me out till the end.”

“I told you to stop-”

“This hair tie, you’ve seen it often, haven’t you?”

Before he could finish speaking, Aiden pulled a crimson, butterfly-shaped hair tie from his pocket. Caesar’s eyes began to tremble as he recognized it.

“You, where did you get that?!”

“…Your daughter is very pretty.”

He had a beautiful daughter, the same age as Elena.

And by all accounts, he was a terribly devoted father.

“Sasha, what have you done to Sasha…!”

“Well now.”

I licked my lips, a sinister smile creeping across my face.

“I haven’t done anything, not yet.”

“You fiend——————!!!!”

*Whooom—!!*

It was hard to believe that just moments ago he had been drugged; his body began to emanate an overwhelming bloodlust, powerful enough to dominate the entire area. A suffocating pressure pressed down on the space. At the same time, black aura blades gathered thickly on his sword.

‘Madman, this is a Sword Master…!’

It was hard to even twitch a finger, but my yap was still working fine, so it was alright. Riling him up was a plan that had been tested by someone who knew Caesar well. And there was a method to calm him down, too.

“Lord Cassano, I just need time to talk…”

*Thwack—!!*

Before I could even finish the sentence, Cassano, the one who’d confidently boasted he could hold his own against a sword master for ten minutes, was sent flying, smashed into the wall by Caesar’s strike, his head lolling as if he’d lost consciousness.

“…………………….”

Aiden’s jaw dropped; he hadn’t foreseen this at all.

‘He said he’d hold on for ten minutes…!’

Even if he’d just held out for three minutes, he could’ve done something, but this was way too fast. Caesar, who’d taken Cassano out with a single blow, was now coming towards Aiden, rage boiling over at his very scalp.

“Hahaha, Elder Caesar, there’s been a little misunderstanding…”

“I won’t let you die nicely. I’ll torture you, and torture you again until you beg me to kill you, and only then will I tear you to shreds.”

‘Shit, I’m done for…….’

Just when I thought all options were gone, and only a brutal death ending remained,

“…………………!”

Something weird happened right before my eyes.