Chapter 143 – The Alternative (1)

The power of the north. Count Douglas recently became a bit uncomfortable with it.

Kwang!

“You haven’t found those rats yet?”

“… I apologize. We cleared out all the bandits in the area, but the whereabouts of those slush funds couldn’t be found.”

The problem started with the Barco family.

Douglas and Barco.

The powers of the north and northeast regions had formed a tight friendship. There was nothing bad for them.

Count Douglas didn’t have connections with the Central Government, but he had a good amount of influence in the north, while Viscount Barco had good enough connections that Douglas didn’t.

So, they helped each other. They were still close even though their relationship was not strong enough for them to make sacrifices for one another.

But he didn’t know at that time that such a relationship would cause problems.

“Count Douglas. Could you lend me some money?”

He received one call. Before the war with Lawrence, Viscount Barco was gathering as much money as he could with his connections apart from the Golden Bank.

Defeat was not anticipated. It was necessary to prepare for any foreseen variables, so he borrowed money from friendly forces such as Count Douglas to bring Homer and others.

Count Douglas was also sure of his victory. He never thought that Barco would be defeated by Lawrence, so he lent him a huge sum of money with the thought of further strengthening their relationship.

He thought he would be getting back the money soon. Barco would take Lawrence down and make more money, so there was no chance he wouldn’t be able to pay it back.

But Barco lost and died while escaping that night too. The person from whom he could have recovered the money had vanished.

Douglas was stunned. It was too much money. He was in a bad situation as well, so he needed to get that money back.

But the problem was the Golden Bank. They had already attacked Barco and collected everything they could, and they didn’t push their luck after the man died because there was nothing they could do. They kept silent.

So did Douglas when it came to lending the money.

Fortunately, Count Douglas knew a way to get his money back.

‘The Barco family has a slush fund that wasn’t revealed to the outside world. The Golden Bank would not be able to determine its existence, but I am aware of it because Viscount Barco told me about it while drunk. Only if I can get those funds can I earn more than what I lent.’

So he hired the intelligence guild. He eventually found it after investigating the surrounding clues—a small number of ingots.

The gold bars that had been hidden in the northeast were to be loaded into a wagon and moved without the knowledge of anyone else.

It was the perfect plan. If it hadn’t been for the group of bandits along the way, the gold bars wouldn’t have disappeared.

Count Douglas said,

“There is no way that those band of thieves could have dealt with such a large amount of money. Be sure to find the whereabouts of the gold bars, even if you have to search the entire Cairo Kingdom. It isn’t Barco’s money but mine, and it cannot be taken away by anyone else.”

He had red eyes. The financial problem was solved, but he needed more just in case difficult times came.

In the surrounding area, the traces of the bandits were clean. Thousands of people had perished, but Douglas had no intention of stopping until he got that gold.

Right then, he received information from the Black Moon Guild.

“Lord! We found the whereabouts of the gold bars!”

Donovan, the head of the Black Moon Guild, came to Count Douglas.

“At first, I thought the slush funds was in the hands of some bandits. But the men transporting the slush funds were dead, and with them were the corpses of notorious thieves around the area. But no matter how much we looked around the black market, there was no sign of the gold bars being sold. Converting the gold bars to coins needs a special set of skills, so we thought they would have no choice but to use the black market to make use of it. As a result of lurking around, we found a clue to the gold bars.”

“Right. Then what kind of bastards stole my gold bars?”

“The thieves were not thieves but the nobles of the Northeast Alliance. They are the ones who stole it.”

“What!?”

Tak.

He immediately got up.

The Northeast Nobles’ Alliance.

What did this mean?

“First, it is true that the bandits attacked the troops transporting the slush funds. But at the same time, the nobles found out about this, and after defeating the bandits, it seemed like they found the carriage with ingots. Perhaps they are in trouble now. Knowing that it was your wagon, they still chose to take the gold ingots by burying the truth. In addition, there is proof that the bars were sold on the black market a month ago. It was the same number and shape as Barco’s slush funds, and the person who sent it there was one of Viscount Conrad’s men.”

“Those fucking bastards!”

He was enraged at this. Just how much trouble had he gone through for these gold bars? Different emotions kept piling up on him, and now that he needed them for an emergency, only anger remained.

Watching Count Douglas in anger, Donovan bowed his head, suppressing the smile on his lips.

‘There is no lie in the information. In fact, the northeastern nobles did find the carriage loaded with gold bars, and even though they knew it belonged to Count Douglas, they still made the choice to steal it. I just made this known. The alliance could have committed a perfect crime, but by turning the Lord into an enemy, a crisis is created.’

The Black Moon Guild—it was an information guild with the highest reputation. But people didn’t know what kind of change they went through.

The Black Moon Guild was taken over by the Lower District Sect led by Lucas, so on the surface, they acted alone.

According to Roman’s orders, the information was to be leaked.

Count Douglas was unaware that he was a puppet in the plan and yelled in anger.

“Get in touch with those nobles right now! This time, I will tear those bastards who stole my money to shreds!”

It was as expected.

Count Douglas, a fearsome man, chose to move right away.

Just from one contact, fire fell on the foot of the Northeast Nobles’ Alliance. The atmosphere wasn’t that great because of Roman, but the problem was that something more serious happened.

“How the hell did this happen?”

“Count Douglas is the power of the north. I don’t know what will happen if our relationship with him goes wrong.”

Count Douglas said he would give them three hours.

Before that, all the nobles of the alliance should get together and provide an explanation. And the people of the alliance who heard this were scared.

“… as we thought, we shouldn’t have touched Count Douglas. Unlike gold coins, gold bars cannot be used so easily. It was always a matter of being caught, then it might be better to contact Count Douglas and offer a deal.”

“Right. Everyone knows what kind of character Count Douglas has, right? He is not going to let this pass.”

Count Douglas. He was called the beast of the north. Once he gets angry, he is famous for taking the other man down.

So regardless of how powerful they were, they couldn’t do anything against Douglas.

Viscount Conrad said,

“What is everyone talking about? The Barco family’s slush funds do not belong to Count Douglas. We also lent money to Barco, and we have the right to take our share of the funds. And wasn’t Count Douglas the first to steal it without letting anyone know of its existence? Should he have acted like a rat if he was going to speak of such righteous things? Do not walk with your head down. As soon as the word sorry comes out of our mouths, we are done.”

As he said, they all lent money to the Barco family. Barco borrowed money not only from Count Douglas but also from the Northeast Alliance and others who supported him.

It could be the antipathy toward Dmitry. But because of that, Barco collapsed and lost a lot of money.

Stealing the slush funds made sense. It wasn’t like they were touching someone else’s money. It was their right to be compensated.

“… would those words work on Count Douglas?”

“It doesn’t matter if he listens or not. Can we just spit out the gold we earned? We already spent the money, and the moment we admit that it was our fault to Count Douglas, we might have to spit out more money than we stole. Count Douglas is too much, so from now on, we need to move as one voice, and we have to focus on the fact that Count Douglas is the one who touched the gold without informing anyone.”

“It makes sense.”

“Let’s do what Viscount Conrad says. Haven’t we already crossed the line?”

Everyone spoke. Although they were weak alone, they always showed courage under the name of the alliance.

Right on time, a person came into the conference room and said,

“The Douglas family is calling.”

The nobles of the Northeast Alliance, including Viscount Conrad, gulped at that moment.

It was as expected. As soon as the communication was connected, Count Douglas didn’t hide his emotions.

[What the hell is this? You are now stealing my money? Explain yourselves to me!]

Anger was clearly visible on his face, and his voice was like a lion’s.

Facing Count Douglas’s angry face, Viscount Conrad spoke as calmly as possible,

“How about we all calm down for a second, and it isn’t ‘my money.’ I understand why Count Douglas is angry, but the Barco family’s slush funds do not belong to anyone. Like Count Douglas, we have lent him money, too. If Count Douglas had informed us of the existence of the funds and asked for a greater share, we might have been satisfied with a reasonable amount at a loss. But wasn’t it Count Douglas who stole the money?”

He went after the tail. He attempted to divert attention away from the issue by pointing out Count Douglas’s fault.

It was a reasonable statement. It was within the scope of common sense, but the problem was that emotions had already accumulated over time.

[What are you fucking bastards spouting after stealing my money? It is my money, and from the moment I discovered Barco’s slush funds, they belonged to the Douglas family!]

“Count. Calm down…”

[Shut up!]

And he stopped talking.

Was it three months ago?

Count Douglas held a party for the nobles in the northeast. At that time, he didn’t say anything about the slush funds, but he said he was upset because he lost some money that he was transporting.

And Viscount Conrad and the other nobles were there. They obviously knew what he was talking about, but they were acting with pretentious faces.

It was funny. Even for a moment, what had been gratefully accepted as consolation came back to them as more rage.

[At the party three months ago, you people gave me fake tears and said, ‘Count Douglas, we didn’t know that happened to you, but I am sure things will work out.’ Did you think it was fun? To laugh ‘hahaha’ together? Do I look like a noble on the same level as you?]

He couldn’t be stopped. Viscount Conrad continued to say something, but this would never reach Count Douglas.

The Northern Beast—he was triggered. And if he didn’t express his rage, it seemed like he would die.

[Listen carefully from now on. As soon as I am ready, I will call the Central Government and ask for a territorial war with you. How dare you bastards in the northeast area try to touch me? I will show you the poor strength your people have since you lost the protection of Barco.]

Tak!

The communication was cut off. Viscount Conrad tried to call back again, but no one answered, making the nobles’ faces go pale.

“… it seems like a pretty huge deal.”

At those words, the nobles felt their minds wander into the sky.