I Became a Sick Nobleman

***

Looking at the sign of the Merchants of Beto, Ruel could see people with grim expressions crowding the front.

“A lot of people are here.”

Ruel smirked.

He had heard a lot of people saying there were no winners in a gang fight. However, thinking of the two monsters he had following him, he could only say it was a laughable idea to even think they could measure up to them. 

Ruel went inside without even looking at them.

“What do you think?”

Ruel asked the two people. The only answer that came was a snort. Ruel was satisfied hearing the meaning that it was not worth dealing with.

“Will it be okay?”

It was understandable.

He didn’t know those monsters well, so Ruel understood how he felt.

“It’ll be okay.”

Ruel gave a light answer.

After recognizing Cassion’s face, a guild member guided them to the owner.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, nobleman. I am called Jirie, the upper owner who runs the Merchants of Beto.”

“I won’t say much, who exactly am I dealing with?”

A cough followed.

Ruel sat roughly before Jirie answered.

He had a slight headache because his fever had yet to go away. 

Every breath he took made a sound.

Aware of what he looked like from others’ perspective, Ruel looked into Jirie’s eyes and grinned.

Ruel laughed.

Jirie was truly a merchant by nature.

Even though he knew Ruel was a nobleman, he was already putting a price on him.

“It’s the Merchants of Ribone.”

“I mean, being vicious is not the way of a merchant. You insist that I give you the merchant even though I’ve already bought it?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s not funny.”

It was a voice full of sincerity.

It was not a  merchant’s job to threaten someone to revert what had already been done.

A person who does such things is a thug.

“Oh, no! Go back!”

It was noisy outside.

“Get out of here.”

Bang!

The door opened violently along with the sound of a curious voice.

A man tall and big enough to reach the top of the door came inside.

“It’s a disaster to see a junkie crawling in.”

Ruel looked at the man and criticized him.

“What?”

He approached Ruel with a harsh sneer. But he couldn’t get close.

Cassion’s aura pushed him to stop walking.

“If you don’t want to lose your neck, don’t come any closer.”

“Hahaha! That’s funny.”

The man’s smile was directed at the coughing and spouting sick man.

“Is that the sick bastard who just barely hung on? Jirie!”

“It’s noisy, Cassion.”

“I apologize, I’ll take care of it quickly.”

In a blink of an eye, a dagger was already in Cassion’s hand.

It only took a step forward.

Rolling.

The man’s neck fell off the smile still on his face. It was not long before the body collapsed, spouting blood.

Blood poured out but not a single drop spilled toward him.

It was a very neat kill.

Ruel peeked at Aris. He was calmer than he thought.

“Ganien, if you’re bored, you can go out and play. I still have some things to say.”

“I finally have a chance to fight.”

Ganien squinted at his sword, complaining about not being put to action.

“At first, I was just trying to keep things clean. But the plan has changed.”

Ruel looked at Jirie and smiled.

“You’re going to be punished for touching a noble.”

Ganien stopped at Ruel’s words and asked, as he was about to go outside.

“Other than that, wasn’t everything outside already dealt with? Where should I go?”

“Merchant of Ribone. Tell him that I’ve taken one of their men’s neck because they dared to touch the nobleman.”

“Are you selling my name?”

“That’s right, if you act like how you are now, you can deal with it. There must be some pretty strong people at the merchant’s side.”

“Haa.”

Ganien sighed.

So far, Ruel’s words had been unambiguous, but this one was a bit vague.

It is true that he was part of the aristocracy, but he was a knight.

There was no justification for killing as a knight.

“Jirie.”

“Yes.”

“Tell me straight what Ribone’s superiors have done. No lies.”

“They are a merchant guild that’s famous for being messy. They’re related to the underworld, and we can’t mess with it, so everyone’s hands are tied.”

After hearing Jirie’s story, the Merchants of Ribone seemed to have deeper roots than expected.

There was nothing missing in the underworld check list, such as drugs, kidnapping, and human trafficking.

‘It’s hard, the underworld.’

Ruel looked sideways at Ganien, who was angry at him for justification, and soon gave Cassion a look.

“It’s okay. You can touch them.”

“Why?”

“Did you go out for a drink last night?”

“… !”

“I cut off their necks.”

What he did last night for a drink was to get rid of the boss of the underworld.

It was work done in one area, but it was still quite large.

Ruel asked calmly in contrast to his surprised heart.

“Who’s the second in command?”

“Are you going to meet them?”

“Later.”

There must be an uproar since the boss died suddenly. It made no sense to go now.

“Ganien, how are you now? Are you ready?”

“Where is the location?”

“Cassion, let him know.”

Ruel spoke and looked at Aris. When he made eye contact with the boy, he smiled warmly.

Aside from being used to seeing death, an escort had to be cool anytime, anywhere.

Aris stood beside him like a tree, still without receding.

While Cassion and Ganien were out, Ruel asked Jirie a question.

“How much am I worth you?”

“Noble, if you don’t mind, may I ask who you are?”

“Ruel Setiria.”

Like those with gold in their hands, Jirie’s eyes glinted with the classic greedy gaze of a merchant.

Contrary to the rumors that he was weak, he was quite useful.

Jirie bowed and answered Ruel’s question.

“The Lord is more valuable than any jewel I have ever seen.”

There was a lot of flattery. Ruel rubbed his arm in a surge of goosebumps.

Ruel asked for something else instead of talking.

“I’ve helped you once, so you owe me one, right?”

“What do you want?”

“Give me two swords, one of the most famous swords you have, and one for my escort standing  next to me.”

“We’ll get it to you as soon as possible.”

I thought it was a kind of investment, so I didn’t spare anything in obtaining Jirie.

In the end, I knew that money came from valuable people, not valuable objects.

“Well, Jirie.”

“Yes.”

“I bought the merchant group, so follow my instructions.”

“Please give me your order.”

“Cut them all.”

Jirie revealed emotion for the first time. Ruel understood. They were like his hands and feet, so how could he cut them like branches?

But it was necessary.

The reason Beto Merchants’ were ruined was because of the spies that Ribone had hid inside the group.

Ruel was bold.

“Fire them all and hire new men with the money I gave you. It’s an order.”

“That’s…”

“It’s good to trust people, but if you don’t want them to get burned, shouldn’t you set fire to the ones who’ll cause them to burn first?”

When he heard that there was a spy, Jirie closed his eyes tightly. He seemed to be aware but couldn’t bring himself to do it

‘Yes, how could a person be perfect?’

Tsk. Ruel said with a deliberate tongue-clicking sound.

“Give me the list before hiring a new person. You know where I’m staying, don’t you?”

“… I know.”

Ruel got up from his seat because his business was done.

“Let’s go, Aris.”

“Yes.”

Aris looked at Ruel and Jirie alternately, before following Ruel.

Feeling Aris’ hesitation, Ruel opened his mouth.

“You look confused.”

“Oh, no.”

“You can choose a spy. But you can’t choose who sympathizes with the spy. Do you think that just because you cut out the rotten parts, the other parts won’t rot? I don’t think so. That’s all.”

Tak. Tak.

The cane rang loudly in the hallway.

“Aris.”

“Yes.”

“What I say is not absolute, look at it with your own eyes and judge for yourself.”

“I see.”

Aris grinned.

To be a judge of your own, not a living doll. That was what Ruel was telling him.

Kill your emotions, don’t think about it. Aris was glad that was not what Ruel said.

Suddenly, Cassion jumped out of the shadow in the hallway. Aris covered his mouth in surprise.

“We’ve got a carriage ready.”

“Yes.”

Looking at Ruel, who didn’t care, Aris was ashamed of himself for being flustered.

“It is natural to be surprised. The only reason I’m not is because I’ve seen it a lot.”

When he said it was okay, Aris lowered his hand that covered his mouth.

“Ca–Cassion-nim, can you teach me, too?”

Cassion shook his head after a moment of hesitation.

“I don’t think so.”

“Why can’t you?”

“You don’t want to be an assassin.”

With a brutal smile, Aris swallowed without realizing it.

‘Cassion-nim is an assassin?’

“Let’s go.”

Ruel rushed them.

***

The wagon moved.

“Don’t be like a dog that needs to shit. If you want to say something, say it.”

Cassion looked at the restless Aris and said,

As soon as Ruel got on the wagon, he fell asleep after opening the button on his suit.

“Are you really an assassin?”

“Will you believe it if I slit your neck in the blink of an eye right here?”

Aris was frightened for a moment, but soon turned into anger. Cassion waited because he wondered where the anger was directed at.

“Even if you really do that, I can’t respond…”

“That’s funny.”

It was so funny. He got angry because he knew he was weak.

“I don’t know what Ruel-sama offered to you, but if you don’t like it here, then quit.”

Cassion sighed as he saw Aris in shock.

“He’s a very difficult man to follow. He asks for a lot of things, and he expects a lot. He treats my body like a stone, making me think that I should learn medicine too. He is a person who is worried about things going wrong if he sits quietly in the mansion like any other head of state.”

Cassion’s heart ached a little when he spoke a little of his loyalty.

As he turned around and complained, Cassion confessed the complaints he had accumulated over the months in front of the sleeping Ruel.

Aris gave a subtle look at the strange words of praise and criticism.

What should he call this?

“… Well, that’s it for complaints.”

Cassion’s expression changed. The inside of the carriage instantly became cold.

“Ruel has an illness unaccounted, and we don’t know when it’s going to be fatal. In dangerous situations, the condition can be mild, and in contrast, it can be serious at critical moments.”

As Cassion became serious, Aris corrected his posture and listened to the conversation.

“The escort is different from me, the butler. You have to deal with the entirety of the situation. Can you do it? Under any circumstances, can you be a person who can protect the Lord?”

Every word was heavy.

Aris couldn’t say anything with his hands on his lap.

The wagon was filled with silence.

After a long silence, Aris opened his mouth.

“I don’t know…”

Cassion smiled with his eyes.

“I’m glad you aren’t taking this lightly. “

“……?”

“If you said you could handle it, I was going to stop the wagon. Think about whether you can be an escort in that position.”

This is the end of the advice.

It was Ruel’s choice, but in the end it was up to Aris to do his part.

‘Because the beginning is important.’

He will continue to support Ruel well if he gets the foundation right in the beginning.

It’s going to be harder because he wasn’t normal in the first place.

Cassion saw Ruel, who had not awoken throughout their conversation.

He was always sick, but Cassion thought he was a little too sick today.

***

Otherwise, it wouldn’t be such a mess.

“You’re here?”

As he followed the bloodstains down to the basement, Ganien was sitting in a chair.

It was even more creepy because it was the only clean site in the room.

Ruel could not get any closer and grabbed his chest.

Cassion glanced at Ruel and said,

“How about lowering the momentum?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m a little pissed off.”

“Did they insult you?”

Ruel asked, holding onto his chest.

“Right. Exactly blasphemy against the Blue Knights. Was it a little too grand?”

“What about the boss?”

“There.”

There was only a desk where Ganien pointed.

Holding the sword again, Ganien swung at the desk.

Under the desk neatly cut with wind pressure, Ruel saw a man curling his body in a fetus position and shivering.

“… Aah! A monster, a monster!”

Seeing Ganien, he trembled, going into a seizure, bursting into bubbles and passing out.

“Ha.”

Ruel swept down his face.

“That was grand.”

“Don’t you just need the data?”

Ganien threw something at Cassion. When he opened his hand, he saw a key in his palm.

“The key to opening somewhere. I’m going to calm down.”

“Aris, follow me and talk to me so I can calm down.”

“I see!”

In pursuit of Ganien, who had gone away, Aris moved his feet.

“Cassion.”

“I’m not a thief.”

“Find something that fits the key, and I’ll be looking for the data.”

“… Ha, I see.”

“Now you’re asking me to do everything,” Cassion said, diligently moving on.

Ruel looked at the room where Cassion went and burst into laughter.

If one followed the sword path, one could see that the sword was swung only twice.

‘He must’ve been really pissed off.’

“Cough, cough.”

Ruel coughed and searched the desk Ganien cut first.

It was neatly cut, so the inside of the desk was clearly visible.

He sat down on a rather clean chair and flipped through the papers one by one.

‘There is nothing worth writing about.’

After roughly throwing it on the floor, Ruel searched the owner’s body.

He took off all the bracelets and necklaces that looked expensive, as well as the rings on both hands.

Ruel searched his pocket and found one that was deeper than it looked, so he stretched out his hand and took something out.

‘It’s smooth.’

At that moment, he felt something slipping out of his body.

He barely managed to support his staggering body, checking what was in his hand.

It was a statue made of gold.

It was so heavy that he couldn’t lift it up and had to let  it go.

Bang.

Ruel’s body also collapsed because he could no longer support the statue that was lying on the floor.

There was no strength in his body. Still, Ruel laughed.

‘It’s like the magic pouch that Cassion has. It looks like it’s connected to the warehouse, right?’

He didn’t know if it’s because he was not set as the owner or if that was just how it’s supposed to be, but he knew it.

The accumulated wealth was going to be huge.

While his body was shaking, Ruel laughed.

“Haa.”

A sigh came from behind.

“What’s going on here?”

Cassion got goosebumps when he saw Ruel’s smiling face.

“What’s wrong with you? Did you pick up something wrong?”

“Magic pocket. I found it.”

Blood suddenly gushed out of Ruel’s nose.

It was similar to the symptoms that occurred when one ran out of mana or aura.

Cassion looked around and found the golden statue that appeared out of the blue.

It was taken out of the magic pocket, with its glass-like body.

“Are you crazy!”

Cassion felt his heart ache and inflated a very small amount of aura into Ruel.

“No matter how much money there is, how can you touch someone else’s magic pocket? Have you sold the face of a householder?”

Ruel’s mouth opened with his face looking as if he was about to faint. 

‘Did you find a place to use the key?’

“I found it! I found it, so we’re here!”

When Cassion screamed, his heart felt like it was about to tear. Cassion broke out in a cold sweat.

If Ruel died, he would die too.

That was the effect of the Mana’s vow he took to be a loyal butler.

The aura he had been giving to Ruel stopped.

Just like the way Ruel’s body broke when mana was injected, so would the aura.

If he gave more than this, Ruel’s body would not be able to withstand it and would collapse.

The nosebleed stopped. At least the minimum amount of life he needed had been filled. Cassion was relieved for now.

“I told you not to use magic pockets.”

Whether it was mana or aura, they were like blood that sustained life.

The countdown to death would begin the moment it was depleted, and one would die if it was not filled again within a certain period of time. That was true for everyone.

“… I didn’t know.”

Ruel wiped his nosebleed and made a sincere face.

I really didn’t know. What can I do if I had already done it?

“Don’t get up. I’ll take care of it.”

Cassion put Ruel in a chair, stripped the top of his jacket and put it in his pocket.

“We’ve found a secret room. I’ve packed it with a lot of money that Ruel likes, and I’ve also packed the well-stored documents.”

“How about material for the story?”

“Enough.”

Ruel also made the impression that he had found money and evidence. But now, he felt dizzy and nauseous as if he had anemia.

“Are you going back to Jirie?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll go alone.”

“No, I’m coming, too.”

Jirie was a merchant. Ruel knew he couldn’t show weakness to him already.

He had to go boldly and reaffirm his worth in Jirie’s mind.

Cassion knew that, so this time there wasn’t much protest.

“Don’t forget to make a copy before that. You should be the only one holding the original unconditionally.”

“I have them all, so don’t worry.”

“Then go ahead and sit down for a while.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Cassion handed something to Ruel and disappeared.

When he unpacked it, it was cookies made by Astell.

Ruel ate a cookie and closed his eyes.

He tried to fill up the shortage of mana by moving the power of recovery quickly even for just a moment.

Crunch.

‘I want to eat meat pie now too.’