Volume 15 Chapter 3 Margrave Verdaine
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
It was a tremendous pressure, the likes of which I had never experienced before.
It was a pure, unadulterated weight—the undeniable aura of a true ruler. It completely eclipsed Mama Vintenica, Volodya from back in the day, and damn well surpassed that utterly atrocious Master of mine.
I didn’t even need to look back to know. So this was the kind of power wielded by the man who held this vast frontier together.
A glance to the side showed that damn cheeky, selfish brat kneeling and trembling like a scolded puppy. Even Lena and the other two had completely lost their will to fight, utterly defeated by the overwhelming gravity in the room.
Well, look at that—the girls had finally developed the instincts to properly gauge an opponent’s strength by skin feel alone. Though I suppose that went without saying. After all, even I felt like my balls were shriveling up right about now. This was a bit too heavy a burden for these kids to bear.
Which meant it was up to me.
”You must be the Lord Governor, correct? I am a petty man who goes by the name of Soyuz, humbly scraping together a living as a mere adventurer. I was simply ‘getting along’ with the young lady here until Your Excellency arrived.”
Turning around, I dropped to one knee, pressed my right hand against my chest, and put on a display of the pristine imperial court etiquette that nobles loved so much.
Of course, while putting on that little show, I kept my left hand resting casually against the throwing darts at my hip, delivering a very firm ‘retaliation’ to the Lord Governor’s little greeting. Now then, how was he going to play this?
I caught a brief glimpse of Lydia out of the corner of my eye. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, her head bowed incredibly low. Meanwhile, my mind was racing at a million miles an hour, calculating our options if I actually had to fight this monster. Yeah, if I went at him head-on, I’d lose. Even if I threw absolutely everything I had at him, I still wouldn’t win. But if it was just a matter of buying enough time for Lydia and my wives to escape… maybe I could pull it off?
While those dark thoughts swirled in my head, I kept a sharp eye on his demeanor.
”Soyuz, was it? Come now, do not bully an old man. It seems my daughter has displayed some shocking rudeness; you have my apologies. I must also apologize for the discourtesy of summoning you so abruptly.”
A massive grin pulled up his cheeks, looking as if he found the entire situation incredibly amusing. He had absorbed the full brunt of the bloodlust I had released and still stood there smiling composedly. Honestly, a smiling dragon would probably look a whole lot cuter than this guy.
”Such words are entirely undeserved for a man of my low standing. I am truly, truly grateful for your grace. Furthermore, I humbly pray that Your Excellency might show mercy and refrain from bullying my wives too harshly—”
”Hmph. Enough of this farce. Raise your head. And stop using that disgusting, sycophantic way of speaking. Speak normally.”
With those words, the suffocating pressure he had been releasing vanished into thin air. Everyone in the room let out a collective sigh. I slowly adjusted my breathing, making sure not to let him see the effort, and forced my rigid, trembling muscles to relax.
I shifted my gaze to properly look at the ruler of this domain, Margrave Verdaine.
According to the rumors I’ve heard, the man was pushing sixty, but his massive, sturdy physique didn’t betray his age in the slightest. It wasn’t that he was ostentatiously ripped or muscular; rather, he possessed the flawlessly tempered body of a true warrior—a physique that could only be achieved by someone who had spent decades swinging a sword on the battlefield. With his graying hair tied back and a thick, rugged beard, he gave off the distinct impression of a ferocious old lion. The fierce light in his eyes hadn’t faded a bit. He looked exactly like a legendary warlord who had walked straight out of an oil painting.
The terrifying Margrave swept his eyes over us before landing a glare on his daughter. Compared to when she had been squaring off against me, she was now practically shrinking into the floorboards.
”Katerina. Come here.”
He called her name in a deep, booming tone that seemed to leave a physical echo in the room. Though she already looked lightly tearful, she squeezed out every last drop of her remaining courage, stood up, and walked over to her father.
The Margrave’s eyes narrowed with a fleeting hint of fatherly fondness as she approached.
In the next instant, his open palm struck her cheek with absolute ruthlessness.
”Kyan!?”
A sharp, violent crack echoed through the room, and the force of the slap sent the girl flying across the floor. Before she could even process it, her father hurled words down at her like a follow-up strike.
”Cool your head. If you allow yourself to become flustered, you will achieve nothing in this life.”
”I… I am deeply sorry, Father.”
Though she was completely unsteady on her feet, the girl managed to drag herself back up and bowed deeply to him. Man, I thought, this stupid brat really does have nothing if not raw grit.
Having thoroughly terrified his daughter, the formidable father turned his stern gaze back toward us and gestured with his eyes toward the sofa. Seeing the invitation, Lydia¹ offered a deep bow before taking a seat, and I followed her lead.
Of course, the three girls who were my slaves knew better than to sit down in this company; they remained standing directly behind my back, acting as a quiet guard.
”Look at that, Katerina. Those girls understand proper etiquette far better than you do. Reflect on your behavior.”
”…Yes, Father.”
The Margrave gave his daughter a sharp look, silently commanding her to remain standing exactly where Lena and the others were, before he sat down heavily in the seat of honor.
* * *
”Forgive the unpleasantness the moment you arrived,” the Margrave began, his tone suddenly shifting into a casual, relaxed drawl that sounded like an old grandpa chatting over tea. “This is my youngest daughter. She was blessed with a fair amount of talent for the sword, but because of that, she grew up a bit too coarse. For a girl of marriageable age, she is quite the handful.”
”I see…” I muttered.
So this was his actual personality. It looked like that terrifying display of pressure and authority from earlier really was just his twisted idea of a greeting. What an utterly unmanageable old bastard. And the fact that he was actually strong enough to back up that attitude just made him infinitely more annoying.
The annoying old man turned his eyes back to his daughter.
”Tell me, Katerina. How did it feel to stand against an adventurer of a hundred battles? Terrifying, wasn’t it?” He asked, sounding entirely too amused.
”Y-Yes…” she stammered, her voice shaking. “To be completely honest, Father… it was entirely different from crossing swords with you or the veterans of the chivalric order. Rather than facing a human being, it felt more like I was staring down some incomprehensible, monstrous beast…”
Wow. What a horrible way to describe someone.
”Then it was a valuable lesson,” the Margrave said, his voice taking on a gentler, lecturing tone. “You had grown conceited just because you learned how to swing a blade a little bit. This is good medicine for you.”
It seemed he was going to let the fact that I’d completely bullied his daughter slide, which was a relief… but still.
”Uh, Lord Governor,” I cut in, wanting to bypass the nonsense. “For what exact business was I ‘invited’ here? I highly doubt it was just to provide a live-action teaching moment for your daughter.”
I didn’t have the patience to sit through the roundabout, exhausting mind games that nobles usually insisted on playing.
Fortunately, the old man sitting across from me seemed to be cut from the same cloth.
”Umu. As expected of an adventurer, you don’t waste time with pleasantries. Then I shall speak plainly. Adventurer Soyuz, I have a job I wish to request of you privately.”
He didn’t bother with a single piece of preamble. He just dropped the core issue right onto the table.
”What kind of request are we talking about? If it’s private, I assume it’s something you can’t exactly bring out into the open. Is it really wise to entrust such an important matter to an unknown thug like me, though I say so myself?”
”Precisely. Under normal circumstances, this is a matter we should resolve internally without relying on outside help… but it seems this particular incident involves you as well.”
”And what exactly do you mean by that?”
I intentionally put on an ignorant, clueless act.
Deep down, though, I already knew it was completely pointless to play dumb. The terrifying old bastard sitting in front of me was a Margrave—the supreme authority who commanded this entire frontier. A man like that possessed an information network that stretched into every shadow. Which meant—
”Do not play the fool with me. The ‘Apostle of Rebirth.’² They are the compatriots of the very girl you and Lord Marinof are currently sheltering.”
Yep. I figured he’d say exactly something like that.
”……Ah. So you already know that much, huh?”
I didn’t even bother hiding the utter disgust on my face as I replied. Beside me, Lydia had turned completely pale, though she was fighting like hell to maintain a stoic expression. I gently slid my hand over hers to offer some comfort—and she instantly pinched my palm with the force of a hydraulic press. Ow, damn it. That hurts.
”So… the fact that we were summoned means those fanatics have actually shown up in this town?”
”Indeed. The bastards had the sheer audacity to send me a direct threat.”
”A threat?”
”They kidnapped my daughter,” the Margrave growled. “They claim that if I ever want to see her returned safely, I must comply with their demands.”
I blinked. Wait. Daughter?
”Your Excellency… do you happen to have another daughter besides the young lady standing right there?”
”No, she is my only daughter. The rest of my children are nothing but unkempt, miserable sons.”
”I see…”
I offered a thoroughly blank, half-hearted response to the old man’s completely baffling words. What the hell was this guy even talking about?
I made absolutely no effort to hide my confusion, letting it show entirely through my posture.
”Raisa… Raisa became my scapegoat,” the daughter muttered, her voice tight and filled with pain.
”A scapegoat?”
Just as I was trying to piece together the implications of that, Lydia spoke up beside me.
”Does that mean the kidnappers accidentally abducted a body double instead of Lady Katerina?”
The Margrave nodded heavily at her deduction.
”Umu. The girl, Raisa, was originally hired as a common maid to handle chores around the mansion. However, her height and physical build happen to closely mirror Katerina’s. She proved to be a quick study and an incredibly sharp girl, so I promoted her to serve as Katerina’s personal lady-in-waiting, while simultaneously charging her with the duty of acting as her double.”
”Oh, wow. I get it now.”
Come to think of it, I remembered hearing tales about high-ranking noble daughters and wives keeping body doubles in their entourage to ensure their physical safety in case of an ambush or an abduction. Huh. So this incredibly arrogant brat’s lookalike got taken in her place, and now the Margrave wanted an off-the-books extraction team to get her back?
”How unexpected,” I mused aloud. “To think a grand noble actually gives a damn about saving a commoner maid.”
Ah, oops. My inner thoughts slipped out. Well, whatever.
I purposefully avoided looking at Lydia, who was currently radiating a blazing, murderous aura that whispered, If you don’t shut your mouth right now, I will personally end you. Instead, I closely watched the reactions of the Margrave and his foolish daughter.
The Margrave merely flashed a bitter, weary smile, but his daughter looked completely incensed.
”Do not speak so foolishly!” Katerina snapped, her pride flaring up. “She was captured entirely because she was acting as my shield! How could I possibly just abandon her to her fate?!”
Wow, look at her go, acting all righteous.
”Haa… but isn’t that literally the entire point of a body double?” I countered smoothly. “In fact, thanks to that girl’s sacrifice, you successfully managed to deceive the enemy, didn’t you? If anything, shouldn’t that maid be thrilled that she managed to fulfill her grand duty so perfectly? Not that I’d know.”
Besides, it wasn’t like a commoner’s life usually held any real value to people of their standing anyway.
I managed to refrain from taking my thoughts that far out loud.
However, my blatant cynicism must have been painted all over my face. The terrifying old man across from me clearly took offense to my attitude, his expression hardening.
”I do not care if you harbor bitter feelings toward the nobility. Being reviled by the populace is simply an inherent part of our station. However, having our personal pride and honor lightly dismissed is something I find rather difficult to stomach.”
He spoke with an edge to his voice that was genuinely chilling. Yikes, okay, that was actually pretty scary. But honestly, what was infinitely more terrifying was Lydia, who had been silently digging her fingers into my flank with terrifying strength this entire time. Despite her completely serene, unbothered expression in front of the nobles, she was absolutely destroying my ribs. It felt like she was trying to physically rip a chunk of my flesh off—wait, oh god, she’s twisting it now?! What the hell, that hurts so bad! Okay, okay, I get it, I’m sorry!
”Ah—right. If I offended your sensibilities, you have my deepest apologies. Truly. So, to put it simply, Your Excellency’s request is for us to locate and rescue this kidnapped body double, correct?”
Seeing no choice but to play nice, I lowered my posture and brought the conversation back to the logistics. The old man let out a bored grunt and nodded.
”If our opponents were mere bandits or rival nobility, I would have no need to enlist your specific strengths. However, I am told these fanatics utilize anomalous Magic Tools³ completely unfamiliar to our forces. As the commoner proverb goes, ‘Leave the baking of the bread to the baker.’”
”I see… Yeah, that’s a fair point. The Magic Tools those guys run around with are incredibly troublesome. If your men go in blind without knowing how to counter them, the resulting casualties won’t be a laughing matter.”
It was the truth. The artifacts those zealots wielded were genuinely catastrophic. Especially those cylindrical weapons that packed and discharged compressed Spirit Power—to put it bluntly, they were devices that could turn an ordinary peasant into a lethal magic caster. If a massive group of them organized an ambush with those weapons, even the most elite chivalric order would be torn to shreds.
”I understand your reasoning, and I see why you called me in. However, Lord Governor, if that’s the case, why didn’t you route this through the Adventurers’ Guild? The Guild is the one actively treating those guys as an existential threat, you know. I’m just a low-level errand boy.”
”That boils down to a matter of delicate political friction,” the Margrave explained seamlessly. “From the crown’s perspective, the Adventurers’ Guild is a double-edged sword. While they are undeniably a reliable asset, they are not an organization we wish to owe substantial political favors to. Therefore, I am approaching an individual who doesn’t possess a single shred of loyalty to that institution.”
Oh?! Well damn, this old bastard really does have me figured out, doesn’t he?
…Well, I’d unpack that existential crisis later.
The fact that he was moving to utilize me after thoroughly researching my background and personality just proved how incredibly calculating he was. And given Lydia’s precarious position, this really wasn’t a job I could afford to turn down.
It couldn’t be helped. I absolutely hated it—I hated the sheer, exhausting trouble of it all—but I had to play the part.
”Understood. I’ll take the job.”
”You will?”
”Of course, I expect a reward commensurate with the danger. Furthermore, if any unexpected complications arise outside of the direct hostage retrieval, those will incur separate, premium charges.”
Since I had no choice but to do this, I was going to milk this old noble for absolutely every single coin he was worth. Going off-the-books meant the Guild wouldn’t be skimming their ridiculously high handling fees off the top. Plus, my client was a grand noble—a Margrave, no less. I was going to bleed his coffers dry.
…Did my greedy internal scheming show on my face again? The Margrave’s eyes shifted, narrowing like a seasoned merchant evaluating a dishonest trader.
”I am well aware that you adventurers are driven entirely by coin. I also know that you will execute a task flawlessly to the exact value of the gold promised, and that as long as the contract is maintained, you will never betray your employer. Therefore, I am willing to pay whatever asking price you name… however.”
”However? What’s the catch?”
”We will be attaching a specific condition of our own to this contract.”
”Well, that’s standard protocol. What exactly is your condition?”
”Umu. It is quite simple.”
Deliberately pausing to let the tension hang in the air, the old man gestured with his thumb toward the daughter standing stiffly behind his chair.
”I require you to take Katerina along with you on the investigation.”
—
Summary:
Soyuz enters a high-tension meeting with Margrave Verdaine where a crushing display of dominant psychological pressure forces everyone to their knees. The atmosphere cracks instantly when the Margrave severely breaks character to strike his own daughter for losing her analytical composure. This political theater shifts rapidly toward an under-the-table military proposition involving a hostile faction known as the Apostle of Rebirth, leaving the survival of a commoner body double swinging on an unstated price tag
—
Trivia:
- The underlying power scale ranking placing the Margrave’s sheer presence cleanly above terrifying previous bosses like Volodya and Soyuz’s explicit ‘Master’.
- The logistical detail that high-ranking nobility utilize domestic staff matched closely in physical height and build to serve as decoy targets for criminal syndicates
—
Character Insight:
Soyuz displays a deep transactional boundary where political posturing instantly drops the moment financial exploitation of a high-ranking noble becomes possible, while the Margrave demonstrates complete disregard for formal bureaucratic systems like the Adventurers’ Guild in favor of unprincipled black-market entities.
—
Glossary:
Notes:
• Vintenica – She is a tall, slender magic user, appeared as the new mistress buying six boys, wearing a deep purple robe with her right half face hidden by a white mask, half beautiful young woman and half eerie with blood-red lips, mysterious and slightly frightening.
• Volodya – A mysterious and powerful elf, never seen by Soyuz before, who seeks to purge Lucia. He exudes killing intent and is strong enough to intimidate Soyuz.
• Lena – She is a young, early‑teen slave‑wife of Soyuz, brown‑skinned, long black hair in a black ponytail, scarred face with a blind left eye, wearing a black collar and tattered clothes. Often disciplined by the other women, she remains silent, blushing with devoted love for Soyuz, a rescued victim of severe abuse who plays with her image.
• Soyuz – Forty‑seven‑year‑old adventurer trapped in a youthful body, he just bought a mansion and now role‑plays with Lena. Cloaked in a poison‑laden mantle and wielding a magic silver sword, he moves with a cynical, protective stance toward his companions.
• Lydia – A poised noblewoman in flashy yet practical masculine riding attire, she blends gentle femininity with subtle masculine poise. As the protagonist’s mistress and Soyuz’s mediator, she guides him through elite circles, often exasperated by his bluntness.
• Verdaine – Verdaine’s capital, the region’s largest city, boasts towering stone walls and bustling markets. Ruled by the Margrave of the Verdaine house—renowned for a martial, pragmatic lineage that favors economic growth over fortifications. It shelters the Adventurers Guild and serves as the protagonist’s temporary base, just a short walk from the village where Lena was found.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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