Duke Pendragon

But not everyone had come to become city officials.

“Excuse me.”

“Yeah, huh?”

Romeo was about to close the doors when a voice called out to him. As soon as he turned his head, he took on a bewildered expression. One of the most beautiful women he had seen in his entire life was standing in front of him.

“My name is Luna from the Seyrod family. Is there something going on at the governor’s residence today?”

“Ah, yes! Today is the day when the governor-general is picking out his city officials.”

Luna’s beauty caused Romeo to stutter his words and the other employees were also dazed as well.

“I see. What should we do? It might be a little difficult today.”

Luna spoke with a voice of regret after turning around.

“Just as luck would have it… It is unfortunate, but it seems like there is nothing to be done.”

Baltai, who tagged along to the residence with Rollo and Carlin, licked his lips in disappointment.

Luna turned towards Romeo once more.

“Thank you anyways. I will come back tomorrow.”

Luna turned away at the thought that she should not interfere with important matters. In the first place, he might consider it rude for her to have shown up without prior warning.

“Well, excuse me, my lady, but what brings you here…?”

Romeo called out as Luna turned around to leave. Rollo stepped out first.

“Lady Luna is the oldest daughter of the Great Territory of Seyrod. She is related to the Duke of Pendragon. Of course, she has maintained a great relationship with the governor since childhood.”

“Well, no, that’s…”

Luna hurriedly tried to deny that they had a relationship, but Romeo spoke a little faster.

“A relationship! Just as I expected!”

Romeo looked at Luna as if he had anticipated her connection to Alan Pendragon. He had thought it a little unusual for her to be such a great beauty and act with such elegance, so it was only natural that a lady of such prominence had a relationship with the governor.

When Romeo saw the lady sigh regretfully, he felt sympathy for her. Even though it was only ptemporary, he was the butler of the residence. Hence, Romeo decided to do something for the governor and the beautiful lady.

“Excuse me, Lady Seyrod, the governor-general is hosting a feast for the city official candidates in the afternoon. Why don’t you come back then? I will let the governor know of your visit.”

“Ah… I would really appreciate it if you could.”                               

Luna smiled shyly. Anyone could see that she was delighted.

The smile once again struck the hearts of Romeo and the employees, so much that they could not see Baltai share an ominous glance with the other two.

‘Hehe! This is great.’

Today was better than tomorrow, and things would be much easier if it was a dinner party with a lot of people. The assassination was much more likely to succeed with a large crowd and it provided a safe cover for the getaway as well.

‘The big boss will be very pleased. Guhahahaha!’

Baltai stopped himself from bursting out into laughter and followed behind Luna.

***

“Those who are next, please get ready.”

Five men lined up at Leon’s words, unable to hide their tension. All the applicants had an interview with the governor in groups of five.

Leon searched the applicants one by one. It was to prepare for any contingency.

After confirming that there was nothing wrong, Leon knocked on the door.

Soon, the door opened, and the men entered the governor’s office.

“Wow…”

The applicants could not help but be shocked at the sight that awaited them in the office. Someone unexpected was standing next to Raven. They had already anticipated the presence of Isla, but the grinning man who was standing on the other side was…

“How are you all doing?”

It was a middle-aged knight with a big grin on his face. It was Viscount Moraine, the commander of the 7th imperial regiment.

It was hard to understand why Viscount Moraine was in the governor’s office, especially in an interview to pick out city officials. In addition, even though Viscount Moraine was smiling, it was hard not to be intimidated as he was a rugged, bulky man with a tough-looking face.

Everyone was well aware of the actions Viscount Moraine and the 7th regiment took after the death of Count Sagunda.

However, not everyone was frightened by his presence.

“Hmm?”

Raven’s eyes glistened for a moment as he looked over the five applicants. Unlike four of them, who shook at the presence of Viscount Moraine, one man was standing upright. At first, he had displayed surprise like the others, but he had quickly regained calm. He was a man in his mid to late 20s and he had brown skin and curly black hair.

In addition, he had black pupils, which was rarely seen in the people of the empire.

“I sincerely welcome you for applying to become Leus’ officials. The interview is simple. First, state your name and place of origin, and if you have a letter of recommendation, submit it.”

Isla stepped forward, and two men moved towards Isla to hand over letters of recommendation.

“Ah! I forgot to say. I say this just in case…”

Raven continued while drawing the jolted expressions of the applicants.

“Anyone who is related to Sagunda by blood or worked as an official in a dishonest way when Sagunda was governor, speak now, or go out through this door. If you get caught later, you will be sentenced to a year in prison and have all of your property confiscated. Isn’t that right, commander?”

“Well, if I could have my way, I would catch all of them and wring them dry of blood, but since the governor specifically asked of me, I will comply.”

“…..!”

The men who were about to hand in their recommendations froze on the spot as Moraine spoke with a huge grin, revealing his white teeth.

The brief moment of silence felt like eternity.

Then Isla proceeded to walk towards the door opposite of where the applicants came in.

Creaak.

As Isla opened the door, the men took turns nervously glancing at Raven and Viscount Moraine, then proceeded to walk towards the door altogether.

“Huh…!”

However, the men had no choice but to hold their breath and retreat after leaving the door. Knights and soldiers of the 7th regiment were lining both sides of the corridor outside the door.

“Uh…..”

The men were not complete fools, so they noticed that they had fallen into a clever trap. They bowed their heads deeply and stepped outside of the residence while avoiding the eyes of the 7th regiment’s soldiers and knights.

Raven observed the disappearing men with meaningful eyes, then turned his head.

As expected, only the man with the black hair remained, the one who had not been particularly daunted by the sight of Viscount Moraine.

“Well, then… We have one person left, so shall we get to it? Tell me your name and place of origin.”

“Yes, your excellency. My name is Cedric Zabu. I am originally from Moguli. I arrived at Leus Harbor 11 years ago and worked as a porter until three years ago. Then, in the port guard…”

The young man started to introduce himself without hesitation, even though his voice was a little shaky. Looking at the young man speak, Raven and Viscount Moraine exchanged glances and nodded satisfactorily.

It had been Raven’s plan to bring Viscount Moraine to the interview.

Although he was briefed by Ian in the imperial castle about the situation in Leus, it was impossible for Raven to fully grasp the reality here with only Isla and Leon. Moreover, even though the governor ruled the city, he could not do everything by himself.

If he did not have competent nobles or officials supporting him, the city’s situation would only get worse. But that did not mean he could just pick out random nobodies.

Raven disliked cowardly traitors, and he could accidentally elect corrupt officials who ruled under Count Sagunda while taking bribes. It would definitely cause the public opinion to worsen.

So Raven chose to have Viscount Moraine next to him during the interview. As the man responsible for capturing more than 50 officials and nobles by directing the 7th regiment, Viscount Moraine was sure to have the required information and discernment.

Naturally, the people arrested by Viscount Moraine were direct relatives of Sagunda or central figures in the government. There was no way he would know the faces of low-level officials who were not very important.

But a man who was scared of turtles would panic at the sight of a pot lid.

The corrupt officials from Sagunda’s reign must have come back to take their place when they heard that the new governor was picking out city officials. However, knowing the fates of those related to Sagunda, they would have become frightened when they saw Viscount Moraine.

This was only possible because less than a day had passed since Raven met Viscount Moraine.

If the conversation held between the two men had become known to the outside world, none of the past officials would have shown up when Raven announced the recruitment of city officials.

Thus, Raven’s plan provided the benefit of discovering people who had talent but no backing or bribes, while sorting through the corrupt officials who had served under Count Sagunda.

“… So if I were to work at the port import and export administration…”

“Pass.”

“S, sorry?”

Cedric had been in the process of eagerly answering a few questions that followed after his introduction when Raven interjected. He opened his eyes wide, wondering if he heard wrong.

“I said you passed. There will be a feast held in the afternoon, so wait in the sitting room and attend. If you come back to the residence after four days, I will bestow you an official position.”

“Ah…”

Cedric’s mouth opened little by little, and he bowed deeply with an excited expression.

“Thank you, your excellency! I will work hard and do everything I can for you and for Leus!”

“Of course you should. Then, I will see you later.”

***

“What about the available troops?”

“All the knights and soldiers have gathered with the exception of guards. The vigilantes of the villages and a portion of troops from Bellint Gate are also on standby as well.”

“Good. We will start the operation simultaneously at noon.”

“Understood! None of those who dare to mess with our duchy shall survive today’s encounter.”

Killian raised his voice while thumping his chest at Vincent’s words.

The black and blue bruises on Killian’s one eye seemed a little ridiculous, but Vincent nodded calmly. He knew too well what had caused the countless bruises that decorated Killian’s body and face.

‘You have gotten stronger, Sir Killian.’

Killian had been battling with Karuta for several months already. Dueling with the strongest Ancona Orc caused Killian to improve leaps and bounds. Furthermore, he took out his anger(?) from the battles with Karuta on his subordinates under his command, causing the skills of the soldiers and the knights to improve dramatically as well.

In turn, all of the troops under Killian never received a chance to relieve the stress from their hellish training, which felt like real battle to them.

So once they heard that they were on their way to take care of those who took over some of the villages of their duchy, their morale pierced through the skies.

“Now, come on everybody! Hey boys! We’re moving out!”

“Uwooooh!”

The elite troops of the Pendragon Duchy roared.

Vincent smiled furtively at the sight.

He had planned the operation, but the command was handed over to Killian, as Killian was the first knight of the Pendragon Duchy.

“Sir Raoul! The first squadron will raid the Lowpool slums! Sir Mithra! The second squadron will oversee the roadside at the gate in conjunction with the centaurs!”

Killian would do well to fill the vacancy of Duke Pendragon.

“Sir Ron, there is a letter from York Town.”

A soldier rushed over and handed him a letter with a red seal.

“From York Town? This is…”

Vincent’s eyes narrowed. The seal on the letter belonged to the Seyrod County.

“It must be from Lady Seyrod. Hmm…”

Vincent tilted his head curiously. There was no reason for Luna to write to him.

“…Hmm!?”

Vincent was nicknamed the smiling raccoon because he always had a meaningful smile under any circumstances. However, the smile disappeared from his face as he read the contents of the letter.

Noticing Vincent’s shock, Killian asked with a grimace in one eye.

“Sir Ron, what's wrong? What’s going on?”

“This is terrible. I need to contact the duke…! N, no, I will head there myself right now!”

Vincent threw the letter towards Killian and ran towards the griffon pen without waiting for an answer.

“Huh…?’

Killian picked up the letter with a confused expression.

In Luna’s own handwriting, a name could be identified in the letter.

Toban Baltai