81漫画

Chapter 82: A Prepared Reversal (1)

“Hahaha! Henry! Welcome!” Eisen greeted Henry with a loud laugh and excited movements. He had a big smile on his face because Henry had already informed him of their victory before they even arrived.

“Nice to see you again, Count Eisen.”

“Yes, yes! Haha! Is Salmora really dead?”

His body is in the carriage so you can check for yourself.”

Henry pointed at the carriage behind him. Eisen gaped.

Creak!

He pushed aside the curtains and opened the door to see Salmora, the tenth sword, lying on the floor with a cut throat.

“Hahaha! It’s true! You really did bring Salmora’s body!”

“The guy next to him is the commander of the first unit of the Viper Knights, Pip.”

“Hahaha! You’ve already caught Salmora, what’s the point of his subordinates! I’m so proud of you! Good work! Haha!”

Unable to control his excitement, Eisen laughed so hard he didn’t seem to breathe. He shouted to the servants of the mansion, “Get some drinks ready right now! I must treat my honorable guests with hospitality worthy of the Shonan family’s great reputation!”

“Yes, sir!”

Perhaps influenced by Eisen’s excitement, the servants also responded to the order in a loud voice.

Soon, a splendid banquet began.

* * *

After he failed to become a marquis, Eisen lived with a lot of stress for quite a long time; however, thanks to Henry, who had appeared out of nowhere like a comet, he felt as though he’d been freed from his suffocating life.

The mansion had once been filled with sighs and tension, and now it was overflowing with joy. Eisen was like a little kid. Henry and Von had no choice but to wait and play along with Eisen until he settled down.

The day soon turned into deep night, then dawn. Most of the banquet attendees were intoxicated and asleep, surrounded by countless bottles. The only people who had survived drinking were Eisen, Von, and Henry, who had used Chest to avoid consuming the alcohol.

“Haha, I never imagined that someone as capable as you even existed!” said Eisen. He had finally calmed down, and he filled Von’s glass.

Eisen liked strong people. Von was using the name “Lanber,” and Eisen repeated the name over and over, praising Von’s outstanding ability at successfully cutting Salmora’s throat.

However, this situation was nothing but amusing to Von. His enemy had been sharpening his claws in preparation to attack him for the past few years but didn’t recognize him just because of a slight change in his appearance.

After some time, when Eisen seemed drunk enough, Henry nudged Von at his waist.

“Oh, um… I think I had too much to drink, I’m just going to use the washroom.”

“Haha, of course! It’s about time! Your bladder might burst!”

Von left the room and Henry replaced him. “Count, you have had a lot to drink.”

“Ah, yes! Henry, you are the true reason for the success of this plan! You are so precious, so very precious!”

“I’m flattered.”

For several hours, they had tried to calm Eisen down, but despite their efforts, he was still like an erupting volcano. However, the better someone’s mood was, the easier it was for them to accept any kind of favor.

Now that the other banquet attendees were gone, Henry thought it was the perfect time to proceed with his plan.

“Have another glass, count.”

“Yes, yes, fill the glass to the brim!”

Before Von had left the room, Henry deliberately placed the Shonan badge where it could be easily seen. Holding his glass, Eisen looked at the gold badge and smiled.

“That badge really suits you.”

“This is the badge you gave me, count. I defeated them so that I wouldn’t bring shame to it.”

“Haha, I even love the way you talk. Let’s have another glass, shall we!”

Clink!

The golden cups bumped against each other with a sharp sound and the two quickly finished their glasses in one gulp.

“Count, may I tell you something?” said Henry.

“What do you mean by asking permission? Since giving you that badge, I have already accepted and acknowledged you, so you don’t have to feel uncomfortable about speaking plainly.”

Seeing that he was spitting compliments and talking longer than usual, the effects of alcohol had really gotten to him.

‘What an idiot.’?Henry decided not to miss this opportunity. “Thank you. Then I will try my best and speak.”

“Alright! Let’s hear what you have to say!”

“Count, I have a dream that I want to achieve.”

“Dream? Wow, what kind of dream is it?”

The word dream was sometimes beautiful, but other times, it was cheesy. Which was why Eisen laughed and asked.

“Although I’m just a mere swordsman born as a baron, I saw the possibility of doing something greater when I killed Salmora.”

“Possibility? Possibility of what?”

“To bring the count to a higher position… That kind of possibility.”

“What? Hahaha!” Eisen thought that Henry was just flattering him.

However, from the moment Von captured the third unit, Henry saw an opportunity to raise Eisen to a higher position to help him catch those who were even more powerful than the foolish and easily controlled Eisen.

Eisen laughed loudly and said, “Even the sound of it alone makes me happy. Are you trying to flatter me right now?”

“No. As I have told you before, I want to have a prestigious background just like you, why would I say it just to flatter you?”

“Hehe, right! You’re someone with great ambition. Let’s hear your plans to raise my position.”

“Before I do that, the second reporting order must succeed first.”

“Ha, are you saying you don’t trust me right now?”

“No, I feel sorry.”

“You feel sorry for what?”

“It occurred to me that if you had an excellent assistant by your side who could support your greatness, you wouldn’t have had such trouble during the first reporting order.”

“An excellent assistant, you say… I guess I really don’t have anyone that I can depend on.”

Despite being a member of one of the Patrician Families of the empire, Eisen lacked people of great talent compared to other Patrician Families. The reason for this was simple: his dogmatic and hot-tempered personality had led most of his vassals, including his bookkeeper, to leave for other Patrician Families.

‘Even when he had been a part of the Central Aristocrats, Eisen only did work that required physical strength, while Aubert and Alfred did all the brain work.’

For this reason, Eisen hadn’t become a marquis. However, this was an opportunity for Henry’s plan to work.

Eisen laughed and said, “Haha, now that I’m listening, I can clearly tell what your motive is.”

“I apologize, but it’s true that I feel sorry for you. If I had been by your side during that time, I believe that you would’ve become a marquis a long time ago.”

“Haha, how arrogant of you.” Becoming a marquis was Eisen’s long-cherished dream. “Me, a marquis? Hehehe…” He was happy even just thinking about it.

“Okay! Then I will give you another chance.”

Finally, Eisen gave the long-awaited answer Henry was expecting, but Henry still pretended not to understand and asked, “What chance?”

“Your ambitions are extraordinary and you have the will to accomplish something great, so I will give you another chance to become my vassal.”

‘Vassal!’

Although Vedican was the head of the guards in the mansion, he was no different from Eisen\'s family since he brought Eisen out whenever a guest came. However, being a vassal was more important than being a family member, as being a vassal allowed you to advise Eisen and participate in the management of the family.

‘For an outsider like myself, there is nothing better than being a vassal, so when the opportunity comes, I must grab it.’

No matter how great his achievements were, it was rare to get a chance to be a vassal to a Patrician Family like the Shonan family. It was only through luck that Eisen didn’t have a suitable vassal, family members, or talented candidates to fill that position.

Henry was the only person who stood by killing Salmora. Eisen had gotten lucky out of the blue. Henry tried his best to hide his smile and said, “I’ll obey all your commands, so please give me this glorious opportunity to become your vassal.”

“Haha, sounds good! Even without your help, I’m sure I will be successful, but for the second reporting order, I will give you the chance to set up a nice plan.”

‘It worked!’

It was an easy test. Besides, if Henry was the one doing the planning, there wouldn’t be a chance for the stupid Eisen to fail again.

“Alright, then I will plan everything and report it to you by tomorrow lunch.”

“Haha, okay! Then let\'s continue to drink!”

Henry poured Eisen multiple glasses at a fast pace and a few moments later, Eisen could no longer take the alcohol and fell asleep with his face on the table, snoring.

* * *

Sitting inside his office, Aubert sighed over and over. “Ha…” Cigarette smoke bloomed like clouds as a thick fog of anxiety built up in the office.

‘What the hell is this bastard doing? He still hasn’t gotten in contact with me.’

Two days had passed since he’d thrown his ashtray at Salmora. He should have already received a report from Salmora by this time. However, Salmora hadn’t even appeared at the knight’s headquarters, much less contacted Aubert.

‘Could it be that… No, that’s impossible…’

Ever since he’d received the letter from Eisen, Aubert hadn’t been able to sleep comfortably. Every time he tried to relax, he was reminded of the incompetent emperor’s face as he swung his sword at him.

Aubert got up. He’d been getting up and sitting down over and over, which was proof of his anxiety.

Knock knock.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, marquis.”

“Come in.”

Aubert was surprised by the knocking, but thankfully it was a familiar voice. However, when his secretary entered, his expression was serious and created an ominous atmosphere.

“Marquis, Count Eisen has called a reporting order.”

“W-what!”

Aubert didn’t know what to do.