Chapter 145

“They say the Duke is returning to Asagrim.”

Hagen, the head of the Herta guild, muttered with a pale face.

It was something he had anticipated, but actually facing the Duke made his legs tremble.

After all, he was a powerful man capable of slitting his throat with a flick of his finger.

“What do we do now?”

“…”

“…”

The other guild leaders gathered in the room kept their mouths shut and looked away.

They had no idea how to get out of the situation either. Growing more desperate, Hagen slammed the table hard.

“Say something! If they’ve already put a knife to our throats, we have to at least try something, don’t we?!”

He wasn’t wrong, but no matter how much he pressed, a solution wouldn’t appear out of thin air.

As the silence dragged on, Hagen turned his gaze to the man sitting in the center.

“Hey, Guild Leader Dominic. What do you plan to do about this?”

“…And why are you asking me?”

Dominic, leader of the Dominic Guild, narrowed his cold eyes.

Normally, just a look like that would have made Hagen shrink back, but this time it didn’t work.

As terrifying as Dominic was, he was nothing compared to the Duke. On the contrary, Hagen spat his words bitterly, irritated by Dominic’s calmness.

“You were the one who incited us! You were the one who gathered everyone, saying we’d strike a big deal and then run! And now you want to wash your hands of it?”

“Wash my hands? Sounds more like you want to dump the blame on me.”

“We can do that! If we all agree—”

“Agree? Do you really think you’ll walk away unharmed?”

The icy tone made Hagen flinch. Even though he was hunched over and covered in age spots, Dominic’s presence surpassed that of any brawny man.

Taking a step back, Hagen was hit with a growl-like warning from Dominic.

“Watch your words, brat. A wolf may not be able to beat a dragon, but killing a rabbit is easy. If you run your mouth without knowing your place, you won’t die at the Duke’s hands—but at mine.”

Not all guild leaders were equals. Compared to a tycoon like Dominic, a mid-level merchant like Hagen was nothing.

Hiring an assassin to eliminate him would be easy. Remembering this too late, Hagen nodded frantically, face ghostly white.

Having reestablished the hierarchy, Dominic clicked his tongue and looked around.

“Pathetic. Making such a fuss over something so small—have you really been doing business all this time? And you call yourselves guild leaders?”

“…This time, it’s not something you can call small.”

Muttered another guild leader, his face grim.

The situation was too serious to treat as a veteran’s scolding.

“Do you know who we messed with? The territory’s administrator, the man who served the Duke back when he was just the third son of House Valdeck. To the Duke, he’s practically family.”

“And that’s why you say he won’t let us off easy? If you were so scared of retaliation, why didn’t you run from the start instead of sticking around and selling goods on credit?”

“If we had fled recklessly, the knights would’ve hunted us down and chopped our heads off. At least by leaving things on credit, we have an excuse.”

Pressuring the Duke’s most trusted man, just as common merchants, was already a deadly sin.

And on top of that, fleeing and ignoring the deal the Duke himself had offered?

Even before reaching the Duke, his nearby knights would’ve gone mad and torn them apart.

Dominic let out a deep sigh, disappointed.

“In the end, all you care about is saving your own skins. How pathetic.”

“Instead of blaming us, tell us if there’s a way out. What are we supposed to do?”

“You really can’t see beyond your noses. Why do you think the Duke left us alone after we touched his administrator? If he wanted, he could’ve locked all of you in an underground cell and tortured you.”

“That’s because…”

The guild leaders fell silent and glanced at each other.

They had all wondered the same thing. It was too elaborate to be a simple scam, and too strange to be considered forgiveness, since everything was still being done on credit.

Dominic, seeing their confusion, explained with the tone of a teacher talking to children.

“The Duke is returning from the other side of the tundra, leading a huge number of outsiders. In other words, he needs massive amounts of food, clothing, and basic supplies. In that situation, what would happen if he killed all the nearby merchants?”

“…!”

“And more importantly, what the Duke needs now is a permanent army of his own, to replace the troops on loan from the Imperial Palace. After basic supplies, the next thing is military supply.”

Military supply wasn’t something just anyone could handle.

Because of its scale, only a major consortium like the Dominic Guild could manage it. For a mid-tier guild, it would be financial suicide.

“Sure, the Duke could look to other guilds. But he already has our weak spot. In this situation, do you think he’d go looking for those who owe him nothing?”

Even nobles didn’t have unlimited funds, and if they could cut costs, they would. And this wasn’t just any expense—it was the massive cost of military supply.

Any sensible noble would rather exploit a weakness than act out of anger.

With Dominic’s explanation, the previously dejected guild leaders were instantly encouraged.

If everyone had committed the same offense, then they couldn’t punish some and forgive others arbitrarily.

If one was forgiven, the rest had a good chance of being forgiven too.

“But in that case, aren’t you the one who loses, sir? If you can’t provide military supply at a price the Duke finds acceptable, this time he really won’t let you go.”

“Don’t worry about me. There’s a way.”

To one of the leaders’ questions, Dominic left the sentence unfinished. In truth, he not only had a way to avoid losses—he could even make a huge profit.

But why share that method with them? It was enough for Dominic to be the sole beneficiary of this deal.

‘The Duke may think he has my weak spot, but no matter how this plays out, I’ll be the one who comes out on top.’

A cold smile formed on Dominic’s lips.

The Duke’s wrath had long since left his mind.

He had lived through too much to be frightened by a crisis like this.

***

“W-what is that…?”

“It’s beautiful…”

When Lucian arrived at Asagrim leading the members of the tribe, exclamations of amazement erupted everywhere.

Just by seeing a real wall, the members of the tribe could no longer hide their surprise.

To them, that white wall, flawless to an extreme degree, looked like a divine creation.

“His Highness has arrived!”

“Open the gates!”

Atop the wall, upon confirming the return of the lord of Asagrim, they began to move in agitation.

Shortly after, the massive gates opened, and the vassals who had come out to receive him appeared.

At the forefront stood Hans, whom Lucian had left as the territory’s administrator.

“Your Highness, I am glad to congratulate you on your safe return.”

“…Hans? Are you all right?”

Lucian blinked in astonishment at the sight of him. He was so thin that it seemed as if simply touching him would make him collapse without strength.

At Lucian’s concern, Hans smiled weakly and nodded.

“I’m fine. With a bit of rest, I’ll recover. Now that Your Highness has returned, I can finally breathe easy as well.”

“…I’m sorry. I left you the position thinking nothing would happen, and I never imagined such schemes would take place while I was gone.”

“There is nothing Your Highness needs to apologize for. Everything happened due to my lack of ability. The one who should apologize is me.”

Hans smiled bitterly, as if he had become fully aware of his own shortcomings.

However, perhaps thanks to the hardships, he now exuded an experience and composure he had not had before.

If the current Hans were to face the merchants’ demands again, it would not be so easy to push him back.

“All right, go in already. The residential areas for the outsiders have all been decided, so leave it to the other administrators and get some rest.”

“You’ve already finished everything?”

“Yes. Would you like to check it?”

Hans handed Lucian the documents he had organized.

After quickly reviewing them, a brief exclamation of admiration escaped Lucian’s lips.

Although there were slight differences from his initial plan, in essence they matched, and those small differences even corrected points he himself had not taken into account.

“Well done. There’s nothing to add or remove.”

“I’m glad you’re satisfied.”

“Good. I’ll leave this matter to you. Before that, I’ll do one more thing.”

Lucian returned the documents to him and turned around. As he did, the tense gazes of the tribe members focused on him.

Then he spoke the words they had longed to hear for so long.

“This is the land of salvation! The place where you will put down roots and live from now on!”

“…!”

“You will no longer have to tremble from the cold while waiting for death! Rejoice! You and your descendants will prosper in this land!”

— Uooooooh!

The instant he finished speaking, a deafening roar shook the white walls.

Some jumped with joy as if crazed; others embraced each other in tears.

At last, they truly understood that they would live in Asagrim.

Lucian decided to leave them until they calmed down and entered the interior of the castle.

By the time the cheers ended, the administrators assigned by Hans would begin guiding them to their new dwellings.

For now, it was better to let them fully enjoy the joy of having escaped a thousand years of cold.

***

“It’s changed a lot.”

A short sigh of admiration escaped Lucian’s lips as he headed toward the White Castle.

Although not that much time had passed, Asagrim had advanced even further.

The increase in population was evident, and the convenience facilities had expanded considerably.

Even the shops opened in densely populated areas seemed to have been placed after careful planning.

“Did you design all of this?”

“I only carried out the work following the advice of the other administrators. I recorded the minutes of the meetings where those opinions were presented, so please review them when you return to the castle. Surprisingly, there were many capable individuals.”

At Hans’s calm response, Lucian’s eyes widened slightly.

Receiving advice was one thing, but knowing how to use it properly was also a skill.

The incompetent often ruin everything by trying to impose their own ideas over those of others to claim the credit.

However, Hans not only accepted the advice, but even left detailed records of the meetings, exposing points that could potentially be used against him.

It was something impossible without great confidence in having acted correctly.

‘…This kid, if he goes through one or two more trials, won’t he grow tremendously?’

The guilt he had felt moments earlier vanished, and Lucian began to look around with gleaming eyes, searching for new trials to impose on Hans.

As he continued explaining, Hans felt an inexplicable chill run down his spine and shuddered without knowing why.