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Chapter 332 – Cleanup
It was a quiet, upscale residential area in eastern Domia, located near the feudal lord’s mansion.
Light spilled from a seemingly ordinary house with a slightly compact feel. After taking a breath, I knocked on the front door.
“Yes, who could it be?”
A woman dressed as a maid opened the door.
Behind her came another woman with chestnut hair tied back and a child around ten years old with similar hair color.
“My apologies for the sudden visit at this hour. I’m from the Kius Trading Company. The chairman sent me. Is Habel-san here?”
After relaying this message, the young woman in the maid’s outfit hurried back into the room and called for the person in question.
He wasn’t as stout as Kius, but he bore a strong resemblance to him.
There was no doubt that this man was Kius’s son.
“I don’t recognize you. What brings you here at this hour?”
“It’s from the chairman. First, take this.”
I handed him a letter that Kius himself had acknowledged.
After confirming its contents, the man’s expression was a mix of surprise, anger, and other emotions. He kept his gaze fixed on the letter and asked me in a thin voice.
“What should I do?”
“I have something I need to give you. If we could find somewhere private, that would be helpful. The garden would be fine, if you don’t mind.”
“No, come in. I’ll show you to my private room.”
To anyone watching, the man’s state was clearly abnormal.
A woman, presumably his maid or wife, shot him anxious glances, but he didn’t notice as he staggered toward his private room upstairs.
As soon as I entered, he sank deeply into a leather-upholstered chair. He looked at me weakly and spoke.
“First, is the content of this letter true?”
“Of course. It would be quicker if I gave you what I came to deliver first.”
With that, I pulled a corpse out of storage.
Naturally, it was unmistakably his father. He collapsed to his knees, covering his face with both hands and staring at me with lifeless eyes.
“So you… destroyed the trading company and killed my father?”
“Exactly. Originally, I intended to kill you as well—you’re a merchant who knew about your father’s misdeeds yet still aided him, acting independently of Domia’s control. Recently, you passed information about the Quad Trading Company to Barche. I planned to kill you for certain.”
“So, Father really did make that deal.”
“Yes. I originally intended to spare only this mansion and exclude the contents of the house from the deal. But, seeing how much his family meant to him… Since he had diligently carried out the work to corner Baron Olan, I decided to overlook it and align with the interpretation of the deal that your father likely understood.”
“Fu, fufu… So that father of mine, the one who abandoned this house…”
“So, think carefully. With the young man named Ars, the second son of the Olan family, becoming the new lord, this town will surely move in a better direction.”
“…”
“In that situation, will you live off the remaining assets while resenting me? Or will you respect your father’s decision, change your heart, and choose a way of thinking that can make everyone happy?”
“S-such a thing…”
“If you choose to become my enemy, I will show you no mercy. Remember that. Ah, and one more thing—”
“…?”
“The mansion your father lived in at the royal capital? I confiscated everything inside. There was plenty of furniture and furnishings, yet it felt like only one person lived there.”
“?”
Only Kius knows the truth, so I’ll simply relay the facts as they are.
After concluding my business at this house, I teleported to the Orial Mountain Pass, where the ambush had occurred.
Surrounded by darkness and with no particular destination in mind, I headed south and began climbing the bare mountain.
“This spot should be fine…”
The elevation wasn’t particularly high, but through my Night Vision, I could see the landscape stretching endlessly into nature.
In such a place, I dug a large hole with earth magic and gently placed Barche’s remains, which I had taken out of storage, inside.
Next to them, I placed Griva’s head, retrieved from Lodge at my insistence, and the white worm, left in storage as it was. I think it was called Sandler.
I also placed the White Worm and the awkward stone jar that he had asked me to bury with him, even though he laughed it off.
After Sandler was defeated, it vomited several items from its body, such as clothing and food. The jar was the only thing that felt out of place among them.
When I recovered it, thinking it might contain preserved food, I peeked inside. It contained human bones, probably a child’s, judging by the size of the skull. It felt eerie.
He had his own reasons, and if he didn’t want to talk about them, I shouldn’t press further.
In exchange for promising him a peaceful death, Barche contributed greatly. The least I could do was grant his final wish.
As I covered it with soil, I gazed blankly at the road where we had passed.
Objectively speaking, he wasn’t exceptional in raw strength, but in the sheer number of moves he could make.
That’s precisely why I’d wondered before: Why would such a mercenary become a pawn for nobility?
“So your goal wasn’t money, but information.”
I had been listening to the entire exchange with Baron Olan.
Ultimately, there was information accessible only to the privileged class through the “Source Book,” and Barche sought it.
The nobles likely skillfully converted that kind of information into money and power using their connections.
I thought of the single parchment I had come into possession of.
Recalling the wealth of information written within it, I picked up a nearby stone. It might look Japanese, but I put up a gravestone and looked at it.
“I will find the monsters you sought eventually. Both of them.”
Muttering that, I left the nameless grave behind.
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