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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 9: The Raion Family
I rode my horse toward the end of the migrants’ procession where I had heard the screams.
When I arrived, there were about six knights and roughly ten people gathered there.
The problem was the condition of those ten people.
Their hands were tied, and their mouths were gagged.
“You’re not knights from my territory. Where are you knights from?!”
At my words, the knights turned their horses toward me.
Then I clearly saw the emblem of a lion on their armor breastplates.
There was only one family that used the lion emblem—
The『Raion Family』, located east of our territory, a princely faction ruled by a leader like the infamous Lu Bu, who had two fathers.
They spoke to me confidently.
“We are knights of the Raion Family. We’ve come to capture runaway slaves.”
“Runaway slaves?”
“Mm! Mm!! Mm! Mm!!”
The gagged people made sounds as if trying to say something.
Nova, seeing this, asked the Raion knights.
“Are these people really runaway slaves?”
“Yes.”
Nova fixed them with a sharp glare.
After a moment, without hesitation, Nova spoke.
“My lord, they are lying.”
Her firm words stunned not just me but everyone around.
Nova was my retainer and the heir to the White Merchant Guild—calling these people liars wasn’t just bold, it was a direct insult to the Raion knights.
“You’ve got some nerve, woman! Who do you think you’re interrupting?!”
But the Raion knights? They were even crazier.
Did these crazy fools just insult my retainer Nova right in front of me?
Suddenly, a memory of a boss who used to abuse me at my old job flashed through my mind, and I felt my blood pressure rise.
“You’re the ones with the nerve! How dare you insult my retainer in front of me?!”
When I yelled, they finally seemed to get the message.
I called out to Rikain, who was standing guard beside me.
“Rikain! Untie their gags!”
“Yes, my lord!”
Together with Rikain, the knights removed the gags.
Though freed, the people still trembled with fear, so I asked them.
“Are you free citizens, or are you slaves?”
“We are... well... that is...”
They wanted to tell me something but kept glancing nervously at the Raion knights.
Their behavior reminded me of myself in my past life, bullied and summoned by delinquents at school.
Annoying memories flashed through my mind, so I spoke in front of the Raion knights.
“I swear by the Goddess of Protection, Lufia. I, Calyx, Lord of Cron, guarantee your safety and protection. You may speak honestly—are you free citizens, or slaves?”
『Lufia』The goddess who raises her shield to protect the weak.
When I swore by her name, loud enough for everyone to hear, I finally caught a spark of courage flicker in their eyes.
Then they shouted—
“We are!! We are free people!! We want to migrate to the Cron territory! Please accept us!! Lord Calyx!!”
“Please!! Please!!! Accept us!!”
“I accept. From this moment on, all of you are official subjects of the Cron family.”
At my declaration, they erupted in cheers, as if freed from hell.
Behind the joyous new subjects, I glared at the sullen Raion knights.
“Are you seriously trying to kidnap free people with the right to migrate and treat them like slaves?”
“They aren’t slaves, but they belong to our great lord, Baron Hadem of the Raion family.”
Free people aren’t slaves—but some ruthless lords just don’t care.
『Hadem Raion』, the current lord of the Raion family, was one of those vile lords. And those caught pulling this stunt didn’t even bother to hide it anymore.
Their shameless attitude left me speechless. I glanced over at Hart.
“Hart!!”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Does the imperial law ever allow treating free people as slaves?”
“I’ve studied it for decades, and no such law exists.”
Hart glared at the Raion knights like they were disgusting cockroaches.
He was beyond pissed they tried to kidnap free people wanting to settle in our land without so much as asking.
“Hart is an expert on imperial law. Do you think you know the law better than him?”
This world might be feudal, and the empire’s laws weakened with the emperor’s illness—but law is still law.
At my words, the Raion knights finally snapped and shouted—
“Are you really going to act like this, Lord Calyx?!”
“Bastards!!!”
Rikain and the knights beside me drew their swords instantly, but I stopped them with a gesture.
Calmly, I continued.
“Once they are accepted into my territory, they are already my subjects. If you want them back, make them want to return on their own.”
The Raion knights’ expressions soured deeply.
In one sentence, I basically said, ‘Go back and take care of your own territory, idiots.’
They didn’t hide their sour expressions as they spoke.
“Today’s incident will be remembered by the prince and our lord.”
Honestly, I doubted the prince, who had a good grasp on the political landscape, would care much about this.
But the Raion lord, well—that was a concern.
After all, Hadem was a brutal lord, one of the top military powers among the prince’s faction.
Still, looking into the eyes of these ordinary people who fled here with hope, I couldn’t just stand by.
Just as I thought that, they turned to leave with ashamed looks.
Where the hell do these jerks think they’re going?
My plan wasn’t over yet.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I shouted, and they snapped back to face me.
Pointing to Nova, I spoke.
“Apologize to my retainer before you leave.”
“Apologize? To that woman?”
“She’s not just a woman. She’s my ‘treasurer’ and my ‘retainer’.”
Nova looked shocked by my words, and the Raion knights? They looked genuinely dumbfounded.
“I apologize for offending the lord. But I won’t apologize to the woman who interrupted the conversation without permission.”
I’ve been like this in my past life and I’m still like this now.
I can take insults aimed at me, but if you disrespect my people or my family? No way.
Yet these fools just casually poked the bear.
“Do you really think I’m going to let this end this easily? Rikain!!!”
—shing! —shing! —clang!
At my command, Rikain and the knights drew their swords and quickly surrounded them.
Humans are strange creatures.
Even when facing death, they don’t believe they’ll actually die until the blade touches their throat.
They were no different.
Only now did they seem to realize I might really kill them, and fear began to spread across their faces.
I quietly said to them—
“Last warning...”
One knight commander, about ten knights, and dozens of subjects gathered.
Their eyes were deadly, as if my one word could grind them into minced meat.
“Leave with your honor, or leave with your necks.”
Whether it was my words, the swords, or the stares of the surrounding subjects that frightened them, one thing was clear—Fear took over, and they chose life over honor.
“I... I apologize, unknown treasurer... I was rude. Please forgive me.”
“I accept your apology, unknown knight. Please do not lie again.”
Nova accepted the knight’s apology with a cold smile, and the Raion knights fled in disgrace, ridiculed by the free people.
From the next day, the song of ‘Lord Calyx of Cron, Protector of Free People and Retainers’ began to spread among the minstrels.
Not even YouTube updates are this fast.
I’m starting to get a little scared of minstrels.
＊ ＊ ＊
Visitors to the Raion family's domain are invariably struck by three things.
First, the overwhelming presence of knights and soldiers wherever one looks.
Second, the sight of people laboring like slaves in every corner.
Third, and perhaps most unsettling, the complete absence of smiles.
This territory resembles a military base more than a noble's estate.
Minstrels who have witnessed Raion describe it as—
‘Innocent commoners held captive by a war-crazed lord.’
A domain existing solely for impending war—that is the Raion family's land.
"My lord! I have a report!"
Knights who had rushed back to the Raion family's stronghold relayed every detail of their ordeal to their lord, Hadem Raion.
He listened impassively, sharpening his axe—a figure more befitting a warrior than a noble.
With bulging muscles, a scarred face, and a gleaming bald head, he polished his axe to a shine surpassing his own.
"So, the brat from the Cron family acted that way?"
"Yes, Lord Hadem! It was truly humiliating!"
Hadem, still sharpening his axe, turned to his returning knights.
"And you simply fled back after such disgrace?"
"Well... that’s..."
Without a word, Hadem swung his massive axe—easily the size of a grown man—as effortlessly as trying out a new fishing rod.
The motion was so fluid, so natural, the knights didn’t react until their captain’s body hit the ground in two pieces.
Thud—!
"Eek!"
Calmly wiping the blood from his axe, Hadem stood and approached the terrified knights beside the fallen commander.
"Under the 'Brave Lion,' there is no place for 'Frightened Sheep.'"
With that, Hadem returned to his quarters.
His aide, Lagos, instructed the remaining knights to dispose of the body and followed Hadem inside.
“What should we do about that brat from Cron, my lord?”
“What’s there to do? I’m not so petty that I’d lose sleep over a child’s tantrum.”
To Hadem, Calyx of House Cron was just that—a brat. A greenhorn who’d inherited a title after the sudden death of his predecessor. A soft little lordling who thought doubling wages and cutting tariffs made him clever.
That such a flimsy upstart had the nerve to stand up to him—that was the real insult.
“But I do have concerns.”
Hadem muttered.
“Concerns, my lord?”
Hadem downed a glass of strong liquor in one go and spoke calmly.
“Runaway freemen… they don’t stay honest for long. Most end up as bandits, or worse.”
He held out his glass. Lagos refilled it without being asked.
“With so many of them flooding into that brat’s territory, it’s only a matter of time before bandits start popping up like weeds. And when that happens right next door... Well, doesn’t that worry you?”
“…Yes, my lord. It worries me.”
Hadem never gave a direct order.
He didn’t have to.
Lagos already understood everything.
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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