IMYL 31

Chapter: 31

“Dear, dear!”

Baroness Harwin hurried over and removed the gag from Baron Harwin.

The moment Philip put down the five sacks of wheat on the opposite side of the zelkova tree and disappeared, Baron Harwin—who had been dangling from the top of the tree by a rope—slowly slid down.

If Philip had brought many people with him or if there had been no wheat, it looked like he would have simply cut the rope. If that had happened, Baron Harwin would have died instantly.

At that moment, the mysterious man who had jumped down from the tree to the opposite side carried the five sacks of wheat on his back and disappeared somewhere.

“Puha… ha….”

By then, Baron Harwin had reached the ground and gasped for breath.

The baroness quickly untied the rope.

“Damn it, those bastards moved this quickly….”

In truth, Baron Harwin had no memory of anything after the Western knights rushed in. He had been struck on the head and knocked unconscious.

“What happened?”

In response to Baron Harwin’s question, the baroness eagerly explained everything that had occurred.

“What?”

As he listened to the story, he widened his eyes in disbelief.

“You handed over Jezel Street and Veron? For just five sacks of wheat? Have you lost your mind?”

“It’s only temporary. Don’t worry.”

Baroness Harwin smiled smugly.

“Soon Tom and Dalia will bring Brisa here.”

Tom was the stable keeper of the baron’s estate.

Even if he wasn’t a knight, he could easily subdue a twelve-year-old girl.

“I also brought all the documents.”

Baroness Harwin took out papers from her clothes.

“Threaten her to sign again if she doesn’t want to die. Then we can take everything back.”

“Let’s say she signs for now. But do you think that girl will stay quiet? When her brother returns in a month—”

“That’s why we have to kill her now.”

Baroness Harwin raised her eyebrows.

“The kidnappers will be living as fugitives anyway, right? We can pin the blame on them! Even if Marquis Sayers comes back in a month, do you think he’ll care about a half-sister he never even knew existed?”

“Ah.”

Baron Harwin blinked in admiration.

“My goodness… you… I didn’t know you were this clever.”

“It’s all for the sake of our family.”

This place was even a hill on the border of the territory. Because monsters were said to appear there, it was rarely visited.

The kidnappers probably intended to risk their lives and flee into Count Joachim’s territory… but they wouldn’t even be able to defend themselves.

Just then—

“Mom! Father!”

Dalia came running. Behind her was Tom, carrying Brisa over his shoulder.

“We’re here!”

“Dalia!”

Baroness Harwin ran over with an excited voice and hugged her tightly.

Baron Harwin grinned and brushed himself off as he stood up.

“My goodness. You all did very well.”

Under the quiet zelkova tree at the foot of the hill, Tom placed Brisa down.

Baron Harwin personally removed the blindfold covering Brisa’s eyes.

Brisa glared at Baron Harwin with a gag still stuffed in her mouth.

“Now then, Brisa.”

He grinned and held out the document.

“Was it fun playing the lord of the territory you recovered for half a day? You’ve had your fun, so now it’s time to return it to the real owner.”

Baroness Harwin quickly placed a quill in Brisa’s hand.

“You have to sign.”

She whispered.

“Just like I did this morning. If you keep resisting until the end, your corpse will be buried in that damned potato field.”

Brisa didn’t put up much resistance, but she glared back and forth between Baron Harwin and the baroness with her wide eyes.

“Sign it, Brisa.”

Dalia giggled as she chimed in.

“Oh, are you going to talk about imperial law again? But what will you do? There’s no one who saw you being kidnapped.”

“….”

Even so, Brisa refused to grab the quill.

Baron Harwin raised his eyebrows and said,

“You see, Tom here is very good at beating horses. If you keep being stubborn like this, my lovely niece, Tom might start beating you the same way he beats horses.”

He grabbed Brisa’s chin ominously and threatened her.

“If that happens, you might not even be able to walk back to your territory on your own feet after signing. Let’s not exhaust each other, shall we?”

At that moment—

“My goodness.”

A furious voice came from the darkness.

“To think a scoundrel worse than a beast is my own uncle….”

Even Brisa, who had remained calm the whole time, was shocked. This was something she had never expected at all.

“I’ll make sure you’re the one who can’t walk on your own feet!”

The man who appeared while radiating killing intent was none other than the Northern war hero, Alphius.

Wait, what is going on?!

Why is Alphius here?!

With the gag still in my mouth, I couldn’t say anything and could only widen my eyes.

“Miss!”

Philip quickly ran over and lifted me up.

“You’ve worked hard!”

“Mmph!”

“Ah, I’ll remove the gag!”

“Puha!”

As soon as I caught my breath, I looked around with disbelief.

Being kidnapped, and Philip rescuing me—those were all things I had expected.

In the first place, it made no sense that Philip wouldn’t know about Tom hiding near Dalia. He was the capable vice-captain of a mercenary group who had finished a war alongside Alphius.

Even if he had been farming potatoes until now.

There was no comparison between him and a mere stable keeper from the central region, where not even a single territorial battle had occurred. That was why I had given Philip instructions in advance.

“If you disappear, I’ll probably be kidnapped. Just leave it alone for now.”

“What? No, why would you—”

“They’ll definitely try to threaten me and take back Jezel Street and Veron.”

“But does the young lady really have to go through such hardship?”

“I have to.”

All of this had been part of my plan.

“Just reclaiming Jezel Street and Veron isn’t enough for me.”

Those people were far too vile to coexist with.

Even if that future had disappeared, they were still the ones who eventually sold me off.

It was too risky to keep them as neighbors. They would surely keep waiting for a chance to hand me over to the Kingdom of Sebon.

“But then how exactly—”

“I have a method.”

I had prepared a way for everything.

But Alphius appearing here was completely outside my calculations.

The warp shouldn’t activate until a month later, though?

Even so, Alphius looked perfectly fine. He had definitely eaten my Awakening Herb at the right time.

“Because of the name Harwin, I didn’t realize it earlier. You’re my uncle? Huh?”

Alphius grabbed Baron Harwin by the collar and lifted him up. Then he violently threw him against the zelkova tree.

“And you still call yourself human? You kidnapped your starving niece just to take her territory?”

I, who had taken a territory after kidnapping a starving uncle, kept my mouth shut.

Meanwhile, Wendy—who had been hiding near the tree—tied up Dalia and Baroness Harwin.

“Um, Miss.”

Wendy blinked and said,

“I did as you instructed… but did you also plan for the captain—no, the Marquis—to show up?”

She muttered with an uncertain expression.

“If someone graduated second in the academy and can speak five languages, can they predict something like this too?”

“No way.”

I answered calmly.

“I’m extremely surprised right now.”

“You really don’t look like it… Anyway, the Marquis appearing here is surprising for you too, right?”

“His appearance is one thing, but what on earth is that dreadful piece of cloth tied around his neck? It doesn’t look like a cravat.”

“Ah… it’s a flower-patterned handkerchief.”

I was horrified by Wendy’s answer.

“Why would anyone tie a handkerchief around their neck?!”

When I saw Alphius at the funeral, he had been dressed in mourning clothes. He had looked perfectly neat. This was the first time I had seen Alphius in casual clothes.

In the original story, it said he only wore black clothes after turning dark! That’s why no one criticized his fashion!

The fashion sense of the protagonist who hadn’t turned dark yet was astonishing.

At that moment, Alphius was already punching Baron Harwin in the face.

Right then, I shouted loudly,

“Don’t kill him!”

Baron Harwin actually had to stay alive here.

Because…