Chapter 117 (1/2)

“The Marquis delayed their compensation to the families of the fallen, you say?”

“Yes With the war likely to drag on for a while, they are trying to ste it for?”

“They say they’ll make due on their payments once the war is over”

“By then, everyone who’s struggling towill be out on the streets! You think the Department of Administration will just stay put?”

It was paramount that compensation to the families of the dead was immediate How else could they continue their livelihood Not to mention, if the Marquis were to lose the war, all of its burdens would be shi+fted to the Count, and if the Count were to protest that its responsibility was entirely on the Marquis, months to years would be spent idly in the law courts, all while fa helplessly Therefore, the Department of Administration could not let this pass

“Um… It may be because of us”

“Why?”

“They cited the anonyh the Seven Grand Merchant Guilds as their excuse”

“Tsk It seems there’s always soain, this is one of hue if it didn’t happen But the Department of Administration wouldn’t have just accepted that pathetic excuse by itself?”

“It seey had their hand in it too”

“What y must have intervened in this, ith their lack of any friendly ties with Isaac If the as prolonged, they could dump all financial responsibilities on Isaac

Even if Isaac was sitting on a fortune, he was bound to take a severe hit if things progressed this way It was obvious what the Strategy’s intention was A h recklessly It’d be nice if it succeeded, and it wouldn’t matter if it failed

“What shall we do?”

“You’d think they would reconsider at least once or twice before provoking me, ith all the history between us Just how inco to stay on the line but scrap that”

“… What are you planning?”

Saints worriedly asked Isaac

“Didn’t we receive a new guest from the Marquis as the Chief Promoter recently?”

“Yes The troubleest son of Marquis, arrived”

“The youngest son? Ah! That duuess even the Marquis is done dealing with his stupidity and decided to keep hi tohiing hi, luxurious stay Let hi, and more You tell Smartass to keep that man so deep in debt he’ll have no choice but to reach out to his family for help, and S to keep the Marquis in debt even if they win?”

“Debt? Debt exists to be repaid Now that I think about it, all these Marquis’ have issues with their halfwits and nuh nobles?”

TLN: This is a pun in Korean 후레자식 is an insult rate” or “son of a bitch,” and the word for “Marquis” is 후작 (taking the first letter and co 자식 into 작)

Saints didn’t co in Isaac’s co joke Saint’s heart tre another one of Isaac’s insane plots

After their first deploy inforents seemed to follow his orders to the letter, likely because they didn’t want to see Isaac in such a frenzy again They hunted those ere suspected as turncoats within the Count’s ranks and handed over all the supplies they stole to Saints

Ever since what had happened in Marquis’ supply base, Rivelia watched and reported Isaac’s every ilance But on rare occasions, she’d be spotted staring blankly into the air, worrying those around her

Isaac didn’t care about Rivelia’s act and spent his tients, who had been divided into three separate task forces For the few h to warrant his participation, Isaac took Rivelia with hiside coe

The war between Count and Marquis had been prolonged Everyone expected the war to end within a e scale, yet the as at a fierce stalean to worry at the state of war, but the public didn’t dare presu this result

“You’re telling ht I didn’t have a deadline on this ave hi to scheed nonchalantly at Mazelan, who seemed colder than usual

“You’d have to be a fool to not know, since I never bothered to hide it”

-… Every single one of them are precious citizens of the Empire

“About that I’m not from around here, so I don’t have any attachment to them”

-Isaac!

Mazelan shouted out furiously, and Isaac replied with a cruel smile

“It’s not the innocent lives of the E, but the waste of manpower from the deaths of the soldiers Do the Empire’s nobles not count as innocents here?”

-… Did you figure it out?

“I’d be a fool if I didn’t figure it out In fact, isn’t this precisely the reason you guys left this to h before he asked

-How much do you know?