Before money, even family meant nothing.
In stories tangled up in money, familial affection was meaningless, and John was no exception.
For the son of the village chief, John’s circumstances were far from good.
The reason was Anna, his half-sister.
Though the village chief doubted whether John was truly his son, he doted immensely on Anna, the daughter of his favorite concubine.
He had even sent her to the academy despite the exorbitant tuition. That was how great the chief’s love for his daughter was.
If the village chief died, it was obvious that every bit of his inheritance would go to Anna.
I’ll never let that happen.
John had a good grasp of just how much wealth the village chief possessed.
After all, he had siphoned off a considerable amount of money so far.
The miserly village chief had even pinched and saved every coin for Anna’s tuition.
If John could get his hands on that money, he could live in luxury for the rest of his life.
If not for that bastard Ian, this would have been over long ago.
Like a rolling stone dislodging one already rooted in place, Ian’s sudden arrival had ruined John’s plans one by one.
Originally, he should have earned the villagers’ trust by now. Instead, that trust had gone to Ian, while John had become known as the village’s troublemaker.
The problem was trusting those fucking idiots in the first place.
When John had formed his gang, he had chosen men whose dispositions resembled his own.
If they wanted the same things, at least they would not betray him.
But after gathering nothing but men like himself, there was not a single one who could actually get a job done properly.
Torm had lost his patience and caused an incident at the Ceremony of Light, while Daevon had needlessly laid hands on a nun and brought disaster down on himself.
Now he had to carry out the plan with Kaelen and Finn, but he could not trust them either.
Kaelen often ruined things because of his damned hot temper, and Finn went without saying.
There was a reason he was called the Bat.
"Finn has definitely joined hands with the bandits."
"Obviously. That bat bastard always pulls shit like that."
Finn was called the Bat in the village not only because he dealt with bandits, but because he scammed people as easily as he ate, all for his own profit.
That was why traveling peddlers rarely came to Entiel Village.
No one wanted to get tangled up with Finn and come out worse for it.
The bandits probably did not fully trust Finn, either.
They only kept him close because their goals aligned. Finn was just that capable.
So for now, all John could do was take vague precautions.
"If he tries anything, tell me immediately."
"Got it."
"And..."
"What?"
John studied Kaelen’s face.
He was unreliable, but Kaelen was the only person John had left to lean on.
"I can trust you, right?"
"Ha, you don’t even need to ask."
Seeing Kaelen answer so confidently, John decided to trust him this once.
. . .
Finn prepared expensive liquor and called in prostitutes to lure Kaelen out alone.
It was a painful expense, but if he could siphon off the village chief’s fortune, he could invest as much as necessary.
"Over here. I brought in some decent bitches too."
"They’re pretty good-looking. Must’ve spent quite a bit."
"I stretched myself a little."
"I thought you hated me. What’s gotten into you?"
"Now that Pig and Swallow are as good as dead, the ones left ought to work together at least."
"You idiot, Torm’s still alive."
"Once a man gets castrated, he’s as good as dead."
"Heh. That’s true."
Finn offered Kaelen a cup of liquor, but Kaelen did not accept it.
At that, Finn got straight to the point.
"Kaelen, do you suspect me?"
"Anyone who doesn’t suspect the Bat is an idiot."
"Yeah, the Bat. That’s my nickname. But you know what? I became the Bat because everyone needed my skills."
"Good for you. So what are you trying to say?"
"Kaelen, come over to my side. John’s already on a sinking ship. That fucking idiot is worse than a hunter. Let’s loot the village together and leave for the Veloa Viscountcy. I’ll help you forge new identities through my connections."
"..."
Kaelen considered Finn’s offer for a moment. Just as Finn had said, Kaelen knew John had no chances left.
He could not stay under John forever.
Besides, Kaelen had to pay the church twenty gold coins for an indulgence.
Since he did not have that kind of money, Finn’s proposal sounded sweet to Kaelen.
"And after what you did to Iva, your standing in the village is terrible too."
"Fuck, I told you not to bring that up."
"Sorry if that offended you. But the villagers hate you. The moment they see an opening, they’ll come after you."
"Those weaklings are weaklings no matter how many of them gather together."
"Sure, but how long are you going to play in a little pond? Let’s work as mercenaries in the Veloa Viscountcy."
">Haa, fuck."
Finn’s enticing offer loosened Kaelen’s guard.
As he tipped back the cup Finn offered him, he asked again.
"So what’s the plan, specifically?"
"I knew you’d make the right choice."
At Kaelen’s answer, Finn smiled slyly and continued.
"By now, the bandits should be on their way to loot the hunter’s money. A lot of people will probably die in the process, but that’ll work in our favor."
"Then I take care of those bastards afterward?"
"That’s right. The two of us take all two hundred and fifty gold coins for ourselves."
"What about the village chief’s fortune?"
"Naturally, we take that too if we get the chance. I’ve already worked it out."
"Not bad."
Kaelen smiled at Finn’s plan.
Greed filled his eyes.
I’ll take all that money for myself.
Kaelen had no intention of following Finn’s plan exactly.
Once he had Ian’s money and the village chief’s fortune, he planned to kill Finn and keep every last bit for himself.
Betrayal upon betrayal upon betrayal.
But then...
"Cough, cough! Fuck, what is this?"
While enjoying the prostitute’s services, Kaelen gradually felt his body growing sluggish.
"Looks like the drug is finally kicking in."
"Finn!"
"What are you glaring at me for, you idiot?"
Only then did Kaelen realize Finn had done something to his drink.
"You son of a bitch! You dare betray me?!"
"What are you talking about? You were planning to betray me too."
True to the man called the Bat, Finn knew exactly when to betray someone.
"And fuck, why should I help you?"
Finn repeatedly slapped the paralyzed Kaelen across the face.
Smack! Smack!
"Does that hurt? How’s it feel getting hit by someone you looked down on for being small? Annoying? Pissing you off?"
"Fuck, your punches are weak as hell. They don’t hurt at all, idiot!"
"Really? Then how about this?"
Provoked by Kaelen, Finn drew the dagger hidden in his clothes.
Fear crossed Kaelen’s face, and Finn sneered at the sight.
"Pfft! You really are nothing but this. You act tough as fuck on the outside, but deep down, you’re a coward."
"Shut up, you fucking bastard!"
Stab!
"Urgh?!"
When Finn drove the dagger into his thigh, Kaelen writhed in pain.
"You fucking bastard!"
Kaelen wanted to tear Finn apart for betraying him, but that fire did not last long.
"Want to see whether you can still talk like that after I castrate you?"
A cold sensation against his crotch sent sweat streaming down Kaelen’s back.
He might truly be castrated, just like Torm and Daevon.
The thought made Kaelen tremble in terror.
"Why can’t the mighty Kaelen say anything now, huh?"
"Fuck, I-I was wrong."
"What was that? I can’t hear you very well."
"I was wrong. I’m sorry. Please forgive me!"
"Maybe I’ll consider it if you bark like a dog."
"Woof! Woof woof!"
"Pwahahaha!"
At Finn’s command, Kaelen barked like a dog.
It was humiliating, and bowing to someone like Finn wounded his pride, but if he were castrated, he would no longer be living as a man.
It was degrading, but he had to endure it. Endure and endure.
Of course, his efforts meant nothing.
Stab!
"Gah?!"
"You dumb bastard, you believed me?"
As the dagger pierced through his testicle, Kaelen howled like a beast.
"Aaargh! I’ll kill you! I’ll tear you to pieces!"
"Pwahahaha! Try it if you can!"
As though repaying all the resentment he had built up, Finn leisurely savored the sight of Kaelen suffering.
"Kaelen!"
"W-What?!"
Finn recoiled in shock at the sudden appearance of the man who had attacked him.
"John?"
He was supposed to be somewhere else, led away by a prostitute.
"Die, you traitorous bastard!"
"Fuck, where did all the prostitutes go?!"
John had drawn his sword himself to punish the traitor.
At that same time...
"Move quickly. We don’t have time!"
Part of the bandit gang hurried to abduct Isabelle.
. . .
"Did you hear? They say the wife in this house is an incredible beauty."
"Fuck, how about we have some fun with her before we leave?"
"Get your head straight. Our target is the gold. Let’s not get ourselves fucked by being late for no reason."
"What a scared little bastard."
"You crazy bastards, don’t you know that if you let your dicks do whatever they want, you’ll get fucked?"
"Isn’t that not what that saying means?"
A bandit group of around six or seven men headed in a line toward a house some distance from the village.
"Let’s finish this quickly while the others draw their attention."
A swift-footed man was the first to climb over the fence.
That was when it happened.
Crunch!
"Aaargh!"
The bandit’s foot suddenly sank down, and a nail concealed in a pit pierced through his sole.
"Fuck, what is this?!"
"What a fucking unlucky idiot."
The nail was rusted.
He needed to treat the wound with a healing potion before tetanus set in, but for a farmer, getting a healing potion was like plucking a star from the sky.
An Entiel Village resident could at least receive a nun’s miracle, but these men were bandits.
Hoping for a nun’s miracle was nearly impossible for them.
"If you want to live, cut your foot off quickly."
"We’re going ahead."
"Watch where you step! Don’t get caught like someone we know."
"Pwahahaha, let’s hurry up and fuck that bitch!"
"You sons of—"
Whoosh!
The man with the nail in his foot was about to hurl curses at his companions, but something flying swiftly toward him stopped him.
Thwack!
The spikes attached to it pierced through the bandit’s leg.
"Aaargh!"
"W-What is that?"
It was a spiked whip made of bamboo.
It was not merely meant to drive off animals.
It seemed filled with malice meant to kill people.
"Damn it! It’s a trap!"
The quick-witted bandit shouted and fled first.
But from the moment they trespassed onto his territory, they had already been in the hunter’s palm.
Crunch!
"Fuuuuuck!"
In the end, the screams of bandits who stepped on traps while fleeing filled the field.
"What’s that noise outside?"
"Someone probably fell down."
"Really? Shouldn’t we go help them?"
"They aren’t badly hurt. More importantly, I came to tell you about Sister Isolde’s condition."
Ignoring the bandits writhing in agony, Reina continued speaking with Adelia.
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