6
Baron Aviere Ormund was a noble of mercenary origin.
In the sense that he had been a commoner before becoming a noble, he was a man who shared some common ground with my father, but the moment anyone grasped the true nature of Baron Ormund, they would surely confirm that he was a human being of an entirely different sort.
Aviere Ormund.
The name he had been called during his days as a mercenary company member was Gloomy Bierre.
Always wearing a gloomy expression, as if scheming wicked plots in his head.
It was a nickname born from the fact that many people had witnessed him giggling to himself without ever revealing the reason.
Of course, he only appeared that way outwardly; there had been no real problems with his life in the mercenary company itself.
Until he participated in the war against the Kingdom of Longrias, no one had grasped the true nature of the man called Bierre.
The mercenary company the Golden Song, led by Kael Toben, who had been a platinum-rank adventurer at the time.
Since the entire mercenary company had expressed its intention to participate in the war against the Kingdom of Longrias, Gloomy Bierre, too, had naturally taken part in a war where men actually killed and were killed.
And Gloomy Bierre, who had been expected to merely withdraw after belonging to the mercenary company without any particularly noticeable achievements, came back having killed none other than an enemy general in the war with Longrias.
With that single achievement alone, he was promised the position of baron after the war.
The problem was that the meritorious deed he had established was suspicious in many ways, but for now, if I were to quote my father’s assessment after meeting Gloomy Bierre directly on the battlefield in the past:
His physical abilities themselves were not bad, but all his attacks were excessively simple.
Above all, Father had once said that Bierre was not a man fit to stand proudly before the enemy general who had died.
Of course, the period when Bierre achieved his merit was considerably later than when my father had met him.
It wasn’t entirely impossible that his mindset had changed and he had grown during that time.
When I recalled my father, who still wore an unconvinced expression, he had probably not been able to accept it himself.
That it is impossible for a person to change dramatically in a short period of time.
My father, who had met countless people on the battlefield, would have known that all too well.
Moreover, the enemy general known to have been killed by Bierre was a strong figure who even had records of going undefeated against my father, a war hero.
That an opponent he felt was evenly matched with him had died at the hands of someone like Bierre was probably a blow to my father’s pride as well.
Rather, the captain of the mercenary company to which Bierre had belonged.
Kael Toben—my father had also added the assessment that he might have been able to fight on equal terms with the enemy general.
My father had probably already grasped the true nature of the achievement Bierre had accomplished.
Dozens of slash wounds inflicted by a longsword remained on the dead enemy commander’s body as if on display, but the wound estimated to have actually pierced the heart and taken his life was a piercing wound from the rapier used by Kael Toben.
On the corpses of several mercenaries, including Kael Toben who had died in the same battle, traces estimated to be slash wounds from Bierre’s longsword were discovered.
Most of those wounds bore a similar appearance, as if the victims had been ambushed from behind.
Above all, Bierre was the sole person to return alive from the fierce battlefield where so many had clashed.
Since there was only one survivor, all accounts of the battle and its evaluation were based solely on that one man’s testimony.
No one could refute Bierre’s claim that he had killed the enemy general who had slain all his other comrades.
If they did not praise his achievement, it would have been an act that lowered the morale of other mercenaries and soldiers.
In the end, the Imperial family had no choice but to promise him the reward of a baronial title after the war.
Immediately afterward, Bierre acted as though he had already obtained everything he could from this war, returning to his hometown under the pretext of injury and merely enduring until the war ended.
In the meantime, thanks to the achievements of my father, who had been a centurion, and my mother, a battle mage, the war with the Kingdom of Longrias was concluded swiftly.
Such was the true nature of the man called Aviere Ormund, who currently occupied the Barony of Ormund.
The reason he had stubbornly added an “A” to the beginning of his name was supposedly because the longer the name, the more noble it sounded.
Of course, there was no way a mere trashy traitor could properly utilize the territory and mansion he had obtained.
In the end, even after receiving noble status, all he did was kidnap merchants or travelers passing near his territory and sell them as slaves.
The fact that bandits had established a base in the mountain behind the Ormund mansion was also a result of such circumstances.
Otherwise, there would be no noble who would stand idle as bandits set up a stronghold in the backyard of his own home.
If he knew and did nothing, he was wicked.
If he did not even know that bandits were stationed there, he was incompetent.
From the start, Aviere Ormund, their master, was a man who was wicked and incomparably incompetent as a noble.
I could see the young lady of the merchant guild’s eyes grow heavy after hearing my explanation.
“So the reason we were ambushed despite leaving our carriage near the mansion we thought was undoubtedly safe was because it was never a safe place from the start.”
The woman who had grasped the true nature of Baron Ormund muttered with a serious expression.
“I should have been more careful. My complacent judgment cost the escorts their lives, and I nearly failed to escape unscathed myself.”
“Surely it is no easy task to imagine that criminals bold enough to carry out kidnappings near a noble’s mansion would exist. For now, please be content that your life has been saved, and it is fine to set aside your sense of responsibility for a moment.”
“You’re right. For now, I should cherish the life I barely saved.”
Anyway, it was also a good thing for me that I had deliberately lured them last night and eliminated the bandit den.
If I had left them alone, they would have gradually grown in scale and become an organization no different from Ormund’s private soldiers.
A group composed of low-quality humans near the territory of Perdaltos would only be a hindrance anyway.
Especially since the Barony of Ormund blocked the path to Highgarden, which was the closest route to the Imperial Capital.
If I did not deal with it in advance, I would suffer harm from an unexpected place as I had in my previous life.
The bandits conducting the human trafficking business with Aviere’s support, of course, and the House of Baron Aviere Ormund itself.
? ? ?
Most ordinary baronial houses are under the protection of margraves or ducal houses.
Naturally, the Ormund baronial house also had a house to which it was subordinate.
The Margrave of Highgarden, who defended the eastern edge of the Empire’s border.
Among the several baronial houses under that house, one was the newly established House of Ormund.
There was a reason I had hurried to the Margraviate of Highgarden before dawn.
Before Baron Ormund realized his private organization had been annihilated and began covering his tracks.
I needed to make Prasio, the Margrave of House Highgarden, my ally.
Since the Ormund house was nominally subordinate to the House of Highgarden, if I touched it directly, no small problem would arise.
Above all, the power of the House of Viscount Perdaltos, a middling noble house, could not pass judgment on the crimes committed by the Ormund house.
The young master of a viscount house in a middling position despite being a noble.
The young lady of a merchant company who, though a commoner, held a certain position.
Despite the bizarre combination and the sudden visit, Margrave Prasio had permitted the young lady and me to see him.
After waiting about an hour, the margrave’s servant appeared with him in the waiting room.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Young master of Viscount Perdaltos. And young lady of the Wintermere Merchant Guild.”
At the same time a middle-aged man who appeared to be at least ten years older than my father entered.
The young lady and I rose from our seats simultaneously to pay our respects to the margrave.
“It is I who am truly grateful that you have responded to our sudden visit.”
“I greet the Margrave of Highgarden.”
“Formalities are enough. Explain only the reason for your visit.”
“Understood.”
Whether we had visited while he was truly busy or not, the Margrave of Highgarden showed signs of being busy and asked why we had called on him.
I, too, did not wish to spend much time, so I summarized what had happened in Baron Ormund’s territory.
That robbery, murder, and kidnapping crimes had run rampant at the bandit garrison located behind Baron Ormund’s mansion.
That despite being a considerably large organization, Baron Ormund had taken no particular measures.
That from the circumstances, Baron Ormund was either colluding with the bandits to profit from crime or was an incompetent man who didn’t even know crime was occurring in the mountain behind his home.
And that even coded records presumed to be transactions with Baron Ormund were discovered at the bandits’ garrison.
The margrave’s eyes, which had seemed to think it was no special matter, grew wider as the story lengthened.
Finally, after receiving the coded records, I could feel his gaze toward me change.
“…You said you found this at the bandit garrison in Ormund territory?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“As the eldest daughter of the Wintermere Guild Master, I can testify that his words are not wrong.”
“Hrmm, haah….”
The margrave, alternating between looking at the contents of the document and my face, let out several deep sighs.
He met my eyes and quietly opened his mouth.
“Has anyone else besides you read this?”
“Since the bandits residing in the garrison have all been made to keep eternal silence, I do not think there is anyone besides Baron Ormund’s men.”
“…What do you want?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Seeing as you’ve brought me a document that could become my weakness, you must want something. I asked how many gold coins you wish to receive by handing me this document.”
He was probably thinking that I had come to sell him information for money.
That misunderstanding, which seemed to view me as a vulgar person, was not very pleasant.
But anyway, if the seriousness of this matter had been conveyed to the margrave, that was enough.
“I want only one thing from you, Margrave.”
“Speak.”
“Strip Baron Aviere Ormund, who currently rules the Barony of Ormund, of his position. And make him pay for his crimes. That alone is sufficient for me. I wish for nothing else.”
“.......”
Perhaps he had not even dared to expect such words from my mouth.
The Margrave of Highgarden opposite me, and even the young lady of the guild, directed surprised eyes toward me.
“Truly, that is all?”
“The Barony of Ormund lies between the territory of Perdaltos and the territory of Highgarden. Thus, most guests visiting the Viscounty of Perdaltos must pass through Baron Ormund’s territory. As the son of Viscount Perdaltos, it is an extremely rational and natural reason to wish for no unsavory neighbors nearby.”
“…Yes, I understand.”
The margrave who understood my words rose from his seat with the documents.
He slightly bowed his head and conveyed his thanks to me.
“Thank you for bringing me an issue that could have become a blunder on my part. I will swiftly deal with Aviere as you have said. Of course, that alone cannot be sufficient reward for you, so I shall repay this debt when another opportunity arises.”
Thanks to the reliable words that came from his mouth, I finally felt that this troublesome matter had been concluded.
“Thank you, Margrave of Highgarden.”
Imagining a future slightly different from my previous life, I quietly smiled to myself.