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Chapter 201 - Chasing Tails (2)

“Sir Henry!”

Vhant urgently grabbed Henry to stop him. However, Henry knew that he had to get to Salgaera as soon as possible, as too much time had already passed.

“Let go! I have to go to Salgaera right now!”

“Sir Henry, you have to calm down! You have to think about this carefully before you do anything. You have to consider if Salgaera is actually in danger or not!”

“Huh, what are you... Oh...!”

Vhant’s keen comment helped Henry regain his composure. Now that he thought about it, Salgaera had been fine when he had stopped by to take the Ten Swords there, and that was just before he had reached Vivaldi.

He hadn’t checked the inside of the Snow Spire that was nearby during his previous trip, but it had looked more than fine from the outside, and considering how long it had to have taken Vhan to get from Salgaera to here, the fact that it was intact was even more surprising.

‘Is he saying that Hector...?’

Henry then remembered the fact that Hector also guarded the gates along with Vhant. He slowly calmed down after realizing that he had not asked Vhant how Hector was doing. He blamed it on his habit of muttering that he was always on a time crunch.

“Do you think you can calm down now, Sir Henry?’

Vhant maintained his composure. As he looked him in the eyes, Henry lowered his head out of embarrassment.

"I’m sorry... for acting out.”

After calming down, Henry sat back down. The reason Henry had been startled was simple: it was because of the power and strength that were associated with the name Balak. The name itself inspired so much power and fear that Vhant, the Shield Gatekeeper, and his men had to leave the checkpoints of Salgaera.

“Balak told me that the Eurasian Empire had fallen and that as a soldier of the fallen empire, I no longer have any reason to continue to carry out my duties, which is why I came to see you.”

"I understand now. Then do you know why Balak came to Salgaera when he should be in Killive?”

“He said he came to look for Aubert.”

Upon hearing the name of a dead man, Henry’s face darkened in spite of the fact that he had expected Arthus to send someone to look for Aubert someday. He was alarmed because Arthus had sent Balak out of all people.

‘Arthus, what on earth did you say to get the Punishment King on your side?’

Balak had been known as the symbol of justice during the Eurasian Empire. He was about as strong as Valhald, but had overly biased beliefs, and because of that, Henry had given him Killive, a realm of his own, in order to suppress his beliefs. Balak had accepted the empire\'s consideration and served the empire by devoting his entire life to Killive.

However, realizing that such a man was roaming the world again, Henry couldn’t help but swallow nervously.

‘Whatever the reason is, things have gotten even more troublesome. But if Balak went to Salgaera, the whole land should have been turned upside down by now. How is it possible that nothing happened there? Did the vice school heads take action?’

Until he saw for himself what the situation in Salgaera was, he couldn’t do anything else but speculate. Henry knew that coming up with different hypotheses wouldn’t change anything, and since he had checked that things were fine in Salgaera just a while ago, he decided to collect himself and maintain his composure for the time being.

At that moment, Vhant said, “Anyway... I would like to express my apologies to you, Sir Henry. Please forgive us for running away like cowards.”

With that, Vhant bowed to Henry, but in reality, there was no reason for him to apologize. He had lost the empire that he owed his duty to. Moreover, no matter how important loyalty was, he had found himself in a situation where he was forced to put his life and the lives of his men first.

Henry thought in silence as he looked at Vhant with his head sagged down. He couldn’t figure out why Vhant was apologizing when he didn’t have to. Was it because he didn’t stay loyal until the end? Was he ashamed because he had come here in order to survive?

All sorts of reasons crossed his mind, but eventually, the unclear, ambiguous thoughts came together and started making sense. Henry smirked as he put the pieces together.

‘Vhant... This guy is a lot more sneaky than I thought.’

Once Henry thought he knew why Vhant had come all the way to Vivaldi, he couldn’t help but think that Vhant had a clever side to him.

Vhant, the Shield Gatekeeper, had obediently allowed Balak to go through his gates without showing any opposition for the sake of his life and his men’s lives. However, at the same time, he hadn’t notified the others in Salgaera about Balak’s trespassing.

He had abandoned his loyalty and left Salgaera in order to hold onto his dear life. However, in cases like this, it would’ve made more sense for him to at least feel sorry about what had happened and not think about coming all the way here to see Henry.

Despite that, Vhant had the audacity to knock on the doors of Vivaldi and look for Henry. There was a simple explanation for this: Vhant probably thought that what he had done was the most reasonable thing Henry would’ve done in that situation.

Of course, this was just speculation. Even so, Henry knew what kind of person Vhant had been in the past, so it would make sense if Vhant had acted the way he had because of the reasons Henry was thinking about.

‘Let’s see if I’m right.’

With that, Henry decided to determine what Vhant really had in mind. No matter how highly he thought of Vhant, it was impossible to know whether he was underestimating or overestimating him unless he found out what his real intentions were.

Henry let out a dry cough and said, “Chief Vhant.”

“Yes, Sir Henry.”

“As I mentioned earlier, there are many things that you don’t know about Salgaera, but even if you don’t know the details, don’t you have a vague idea of what there is in Salgaera?”

“I won’t deny that...”

“Then why did you bother to come all the way here to see me at the cost of abandoning your duty of defending Salgaera, when you can guess what is there?”

Although Henry didn’t go into specific details, his sharp question made Vhant think about what his real intentions were. Vhant pursed his lips and thought about Henry’s question. After a while, he replied, “Because I trusted you, Sir Henry.”

‘I knew it!\'

Vhant had given him the answer he wanted, so Henry couldn’t resist bursting into laughter.

Vhant, the Shield Gatekeeper.

He had been a part of Henry’s faction and Henry had known him from the days he used to visit the imperial palace as if it were his home. Although Vhant had fallen behind the other Sword Masters in terms of skills, he had still obtained the title of Shield Gatekeeper because of his surprisingly good intuition.

‘I see that he still has his intuition. I thought he would lose it with age.’

Even in that situation, Vhant had trusted his gut and left Salgera, knowing that nothing would happen. Although Vhant didn’t know enough about Henry, his unique intuition had led him to think that Salgaera would be safe under Henry. In fact, thanks to his hunch, he and his men were able to defend Salgaera safely without any casualties.

‘Does his wisdom increase with age?’

He also had the appropriate degree of audacity as well.

Just a few minutes prior, Henry had been startled upon hearing Balak’s name, but upon regaining his composure, he could finally understand Vhant’s actions and talk to him with a friendlier attitude. With that, Henry collected himself and resumed the discussion.

"Don’t feel sorry, Chief Vhant. You’ve made the best choice. After all, loyalty isn’t what puts food on the table.”

“I’m grateful for your understanding.”

“No, of course. I think you’ve come here at the right time. I was just looking for someone I could trust. Chief Vhant, do you have a place to return to now that Eurasia has fallen?”

“If I had one, I wouldn’t have come here.”

“Then, I would like to hire you and your men as the new guards of this mansion. What do you think, Chief Vhant?”

“As long as you accept us, three men who have nowhere to go, we will pledge our loyalty to you.”

“Accepting you won’t be a problem for me. Then, as of now, I appoint you as the new guard commander. I just heard that these days, everyone here is having trouble dealing with the petty thieves who are coming after the supplies in this mansion.”

“Sir Henry, I’ve been a gatekeeper in the north of the continent for years. Some petty thieves won’t be a problem. Leave them to me please.”

“Ten, did you hear this?”

“Ah, yes! Should I entrust the supplies to them right away?”

“Yes, go ahead and do so. Consider the problem with the petty thieves done.”

After deducting what Vhant really had on his mind, Henry decided not to ask any more questions and offered him a job instead. He then stood up and prepared to leave once again.

“Well, it looks like most of the problems here are solved now. I think I’ll get going now.”

“Are you leaving already, Sir Henry?”

“Yes, I’m a busy man. I have places to be.”

Henry had no reason to stay at the mansion any longer since he had taken care of everything he had to do. On top of that, he had gained new information thanks to Vhant, which meant he had more things to take care of besides the mansion.

‘I think I’ll pay Vant a visit on my way out.’

With that, Henry left the mansion.

* * *

Henry walked straight to the City Hall, and upon getting there, he saw Vant in a robe, as opposed to a normal attire, staring out the window while holding a glass of wine.

"Hmm?"

Vant always wore his full dress uniform when he worked, and even though he was currently in his working hours, he was enjoying a glass of wine in his robe. This could only mean one of the two...

‘Either he’s just lost his mind, or he’s crazy to begin with.”

When Henry opened the door, Vant glanced at Henry and spoke to him in a quiet voice, “What brings you all the way here?”

“What do you mean? I’m here because I have matters to discuss with you, Mr. Mayor.”

“With me?”

“Who else if not you?”

Vant definitely had a different attitude than usual. Normally, he would’ve rushed to Henry to give him a performance report right away. However, the current Vant seemed like an entirely different person, one who had given up doing anything. Looking at him all droopy, Henry thought to himself.

‘Is he perhaps...?’

The detached, almost despondent attitude of Vant...

There was no other explanation for this. Henry knew that had to be the explanation for his attitude. With the Eurasian Empire gone, he no longer needed the authority as a chess master to maintain his position as the mayor.

Vant broke the silence.

“Lord Henry. No, Sir Henry? Wait, no, no. I actually don’t have to respect you anymore, do I?”

‘Yeah, I was right.’

At his words, Henry was certain that his previous supposition was correct. Henry smirked and answered, “Yeah, you don’t have to show me respect anymore, since you no longer have to worry about the prize money from winning the chess tournaments.”

“Just as I expected from your cleverness. You’re quick at understanding how things work.”

“But it seems like you only manage to see one side of the shield.”

“What do you mean?”

Vant talked to Henry as if the latter still had the upper hand. That was because all this time, he had lived under pressure, always careful not to get on Henry’s nerves.

Henry cleared his throat and continued the conversation.

“Now that Eurasia is gone, your duties as mayor have also disappeared, which in turn means that this city no longer needs a mayor... Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten what kind of place this city is?”

“...?”

Vant looked completely clueless as he looked at Henry. Looking at his face, Henry continued talking while looking sideways.

“Just by seeing your reaction, I can tell that Arthus’s messenger hasn’t stopped by yet. Vant, listen carefully to what I’m about to say. This city was originally a free city that had no king. It had always been run by a mayor, and the city was based on a system where the empire controlled the mayor.

“I’m well aware of that. Why are you stating the obvious?”

“With that system, the mayor would receive a certain amount of funding from the empire so that they can pay the laborers for the work they’ve done, thus ensuring that the city runs smoothly. But with no funding, do you think the people of the city would want to listen to you?”

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about. Since there will no longer be any funding, I won’t have to take responsibility as the mayor, which in turn means that I don\'t have to dwell on the prize money you took from the chess tournament. Why does it matter if I have the city officials under my control or not?”

“Tsk, I can’t believe you can’t think this through... Now I wonder how you even became the chess master with that brain of yours.”

“Excuse me?”

“The entire continent is under the fear of war, and because of that, people who belong to feudal territories are flocking to free cities that feudal lords have no control over to avoid getting conscripted.”

“Is that so?”

“So tell me, what do you think will happen if there’s somebody willing to constantly allocate funding and revitalize a city that’s about to come to an end?”

“If that happens, well of course... You’re not saying that...!”

“Alright, it seems like you’re finally coming to your senses now. This place, where there would be no intervention from the emperor or the empire, will neither belong to the empire nor to any feudal lords. It will fulfill all the conditions of becoming an independent territory. In other words, it will essentially be reborn into an independent country, and you will no longer be a mere mayor, but the ruler of this new country.”

“A ru-ruler...!”

As Henry finished talking, Vant’s eyes gleamed with fervent passion.