Chapter 29: If you have come to the Duchy, follow the laws of the Duchy

That day, Perda saw from the highest point a group running toward the grand duchy of Valdrova.

There were approximately twenty people, all mounted on horseback.

Unless they had been raised in the Far East, all horses normally showed rejection toward the presence of a dragon.

However, these horses did not show that instinctive rejection even though they had been raised in the central region.

Horses trained to advance until the last moment even if they lost their lives or their legs were broken.

Only the most select elite of the Empire could ride horses like that.

Perda knew who they were.

“It is the Extermination Squad.”

Ruri, who was at his side, replied.

“If it is the Extermination Squad, it is the Empire’s organization that monitors the territorial lords.”

“That is correct. Originally it was called the direct auditing corps of the Imperial Palace, but they themselves changed the name to that.”

At first it was an organization created to monitor the corruption of the territorial lords and keep them under control.

The emperor had established it to win the hearts of the people.

“Until now they did not appear, but since Lord Perda arrived they began wandering around the Far East.”

Ruri spoke as if they were the root of all evils.

And she was not wrong either.

“Do you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because there was nothing to eat.”

“Nothing to eat?”

“Although they call themselves the Extermination Squad, in reality they are a band that extorts money from the territorial lords.”

It was an institution created with great ambitions by the emperor to win over the people, but in a few months it lost its original function and became corrupted.

In the end it transformed into state-authorized thugs who traveled through the territories threatening the lords under the pretext of supervision and purging corruption in order to extract money from them.

What was the grand duchy of Valdrova like before Perda arrived?

The castle was practically abandoned, and the local lords were only the front line that entrusted their fate to the back of Valdrova.

Since going there only meant danger and did not even cover travel expenses, they had simply ignored it.

“They are no different from wandering knights.”

“The only difference is whether they extort lords or peasants.”

“If they come with the excuse of an audit to extract money they will probably question you about the matter of Tesallos Walcher. Will it be alright?”

The murder of a noble was a serious crime.

The territorial lords who witnessed it had surely already made it reach the ears of the Empire.

“They will probably also mention the murder of a noble as an accusation, but it will only be one of the charges.”

“Have you committed some other crime?”

“No, but yes.”

Perda came from a family of knights.

Because of that he knew what word the Extermination Squad brought out first.

A word that made the hearts of territorial lords tremble.

“They will pressure me with charges of conspiracy and incitement to rebellion.”

Conspiracy and incitement to rebellion.

Few words made the heart beat so strongly.

It was an accusation that could mean anything depending on how it was interpreted, but that could also cost you your head.

Surely they would try to impose a nonexistent crime on him and proceed with that.

“Then it would be better not to speak with them from the beginning. Shall we expel them?”

At Ruri’s question, Perda shook his head.

“No. After all, they have come as guests. Should we not attract them properly?”

“Attract them?”

“They are people who are at the heart of the Arken Empire. If we persuade them in advance, would it not be very convenient?”

“Hmm…”

The only thing they had in their heads was blind greed.

Men who trusted only in the insignia they carried on their chest.

From their very origin they were beings full of weaknesses.

“That these types, who are not even worth as much as garbage, enter our castle…”

Ruri murmured.

She openly hated knights.

Her repulsion had reached a level never seen before.

It was natural.

Until recently she had been suffering because of the smell, and then even Valdrova had told her that she herself smelled bad.

“Lord Perda.”

“What is it?”

“If those barbaric idiots want to enter this castle, should they not wash thoroughly first?”

They had to do it.

If they did not, her face seemed to say she would start a rebellion.

“Do as you wish.”

“Thank you.”

After receiving permission, Ruri quickly went to prepare the bath water.

***

Karl Harvest.

The eldest son of the Harvest knight family, who served as the field audit chief of the Extermination Squad.

The position of chief did not seem very prestigious, but Karl had no complaints.

Because it was one of the few positions from which he could crush the territorial lords and behave like a king using the title of knight.

Recently a new prey had appeared for them.

Perda Valdrova.

A man who, expelled from the Rosnova family, ended up becoming engaged to the grand duchess in order to survive.

At first everyone mocked him.

They said he was an idiot who had chosen to be torn apart by the grand duchess rather than give up his status as a noble.

But he was not torn apart.

On the contrary, he was prospering.

Since he set foot in the grand duchy, the eastern region, which had long been stagnant, began to show signs of growth.

For now it was only that the Pascal trading company would establish a branch.

But soon more merchant caravans would begin to come and go.

That meant that large amounts of money would circulate in the east.

The grand duchy of Valdrova, which until then they had treated like garbage, began to look like a delicious prey.

The first to smell that scent were the Extermination Squad, an institution directly subordinate to the Imperial Palace.

That this development would accelerate and draw an upward curve was practically a fact.

But they completely underestimated Perda’s merit in that development.

“That only means that Valdrova has accumulated many treasures.”

They never imagined that it was possible thanks to Perda’s ability.

After all, he was a young man expelled from the Rosnova family.

“Since the current regent comes from a family of knights, he will know well how we operate.”

As someone from a knight family, he surely knew the Extermination Squad.

Because of that they thought it would be easier to speak with him than with other territorial lords.

If they gave him some money and sent him back, he would know that the Extermination Squad did not bother too much after receiving their share.

“We must squeeze as much as possible while there is still money.”

The grand duchy was dangerous, and Valdrova’s treasures could not be infinite either.

“But we should not trust too much either.”

Karl was not an idiot who believed everything would go exactly according to plan.

When someone becomes intoxicated with power that does not belong to him, he changes.

If Perda began to behave arrogantly after becoming regent, he had to be able to crush him.

Karl had already prepared everything for that.

“Has the response arrived to the letter we sent earlier?”

For the final review, Karl had sent a letter to Count Consilus.

The aide who verified the contents replied.

“Yes. They say he is now coming toward Valdrova Castle. It seems he will speak with them first.”

“Perfect.”

Karl smiled.

The informant who had told him about Perda Valdrova.

A collaborator who would strengthen the position of the Extermination Squad.

And also a witness.

With that he already had a card sufficient to crush Perda Valdrova.

No matter how he responded, he would not be able to escape the pressure of the Extermination Squad.

Finally they arrived at the entrance of the inner fortress.

Since it was a castle without servants, the place was desolate.

Normally territorial lords filled their castles with servants to show their prestige.

But inside the fortress there was only a man with gray hair in a military uniform and a girl wearing servant clothes.

The man stood looking down with his hands behind his back, as if he had been waiting for their arrival.

“Is that him?”

The third son expelled from the Rosnova family.

Just as they had heard, he was tall, but his body looked thin.

He was so fragile that no one would think he belonged to a knight family.

‘Since he was the regent, his gaze was not ordinary at all.’

His eyes had depth, and his expression gave the impression that he was not an opponent easy to deal with.

Most people would become nervous before something like that, but Karl had seen situations like that countless times.

People without substance who only pretended elegance on their faces.

Karl had even seen how those people ended up collapsing.

‘In the end he is nothing more than Valdrova’s kept man.’

In Karl’s eyes, Perda only looked like a pretentious young man.

Hiding his mockery behind the helmet, Karl dismounted from the horse and removed the helmet.

As the eldest son of a knight family, his face had marked features.

“Pleased to meet you, Lord Perda Rosnova. I am Karl, the eldest son of the Harvest family. I have been sent by the Extermination Squad, a unit directly subordinate to the Imperial Palace, to carry out an investigation.”

Karl greeted respectfully with his hand on his chest.

Perda accepted the greeting with courtesy.

“Pleased to meet you, Sir Karl Harvest. But I left the name of the Rosnova family behind a long time ago, so I would prefer that you call me Perda Valdrova.”

“Oh, excuse my mistake.”

It had not been a mistake.

He only wanted to remind him that he was the third son of the Rosnova family.

It was a way of saying we are from knight families, so you already know how this works.

Of course, that small trick did not work on Perda.

“What matter brings the Extermination Squad, which protects the subjects of the Empire, here? In this Valdrova Castle there are still not even subjects to protect.”

“It does not seem like a suitable topic to discuss standing out here. What do you think if we go inside and discuss it there?”

“Go inside to talk…”

Perda was receiving them in front of the gate of the inner fortress.

He briefly looked back.

After exchanging glances with the young servant, she nodded.

“It is possible, but you will have to follow the rules of our castle. Is that acceptable?”

“What rules?”

“Recently a rule was established in our castle. All knights must bathe before entering.”

Karl frowned.

It sounded like a direct humiliation, as if they were saying they stank.

“Who established such an absurd rule?”

The servant of the red dragon Valdrova, Ruri Silverwind.

“I established it.”

But Perda answered that it had been him.

He only wanted to avoid unnecessary questions.

Pointing with his chin at the silver plate armor, Perda continued.

“You are wearing things that make you sweat a lot. It is easy to fall ill, especially in the Far East, where sinister energies lurk. Maintaining cleanliness is the first thing. That is why I established the rule of bathing regularly.”

“Hmm…”

Karl did not like the idea of having to bathe first upon arriving in another lord’s territory.

But if they were already in that territory, the correct thing was to follow its rules.

Besides, he had felt the impure air of the east during the entire journey.

“Understood. Since we are in the grand duchy, we will follow your rules.”

“Thank you.”

Perda slightly turned his head toward Ruri, who was waiting.

As if she had been waiting for that moment, she approached and greeted the audit group.

“Welcome to Valdrova Castle. I am Ruri, who will be in charge of assisting you with your bath. Please, this way.”

Karl’s gaze could not hide his disappointment.

Ruri was a beauty with silver hair and silver eyes.

But her body was that of a young girl without curves.

A girl with nothing to see or feel in charge of the bath made any expectation disappear.

‘I will bathe quickly and leave.’

Of course, that was only what Karl thought.

‘I will not allow a single drop of filth to remain on their bodies.’

Ruri was more determined than ever.

In her hand she held a rough scrub brush.

The spirits she had summoned also each held a scrub brush and waited inside the bath.

All prepared to tear off even the last layer of filth stuck to the skin.

“Ahhh!”

“Save me!”

“Agh! Aaaagh!”

That day, the screams echoed continuously in Valdrova Castle.

***

After the bath, Perda and Karl met in the reception room.

Perda discovered something surprising.

‘His skin really became clear.’

The difference was so great that it looked as if a layer of skin had been torn off.

Karl, completely scrubbed, swallowed his anger in silence.

“Thank you… for the hospitality.”

“It is nothing. Not even I expected them to treat you with such hospitality. Let us have a cup of tea.”

“Yes.”

Karl and Perda raised their cups.

To facilitate the conversation, Perda opened the topic.

“So, what matter brings the Extermination Squad here?”

“As I already said, we have come to investigate. Do you know what you are accused of, Lord Regent?”

“I do not know. That is why I ask.”

“Understood.”

So he pretends not to know.

Karl recited the phrase he had prepared.

“Perda Valdrova, regent of Valdrova, is currently being investigated under suspicion of conspiracy and incitement to rebellion against the Empire. Do you understand?”

It was exactly the accusation Perda had anticipated.

Although it was obvious, he decided to play along.

“I see. So you have come to decorate me?”

“This is not a moment for jokes with the Empire’s chief auditor.”

“Was it not a joke? You said conspiracy and incitement to rebellion, so I thought it was that. The only thing I have done is contribute to the development of this territory.”

“We know that the regent works for the development and stability of the Empire. However, once a complaint is presented, we are obligated to investigate.”

“The complainant?”

“We cannot reveal it. It is confidential information.”

It is not that they cannot reveal it.

It is that it does not exist.

“We have heard that you recently signed a contract with the Pascal trading company.”

“That is correct.”

“We have also heard that improvements to the roads and the supply of materials are being carried out with full support from Pascal.”

“Not completely. I also contribute a small part.”

Even if it was minimal, it was important to have participation.

That was why Valdrova Castle contributed around 1%.

The idea had been Stephan’s.

“All of this can be investigated under the charge of conspiracy and incitement to rebellion against the Empire.”