Don’t Run Away My Lord

24 – Salt Delivery Commotion (11)

“Eruga-nim…! Why are you throwing that person out? What did they do wrong?!”

Liana grabbed my arm.

“I don’t think they’ll let us in nicely anyway.”

With that simple answer, I entered Yeongju Castle.

Another soldier who had escaped rang the bell like crazy.

“Intruders! Intruders!”

Yeongju Castle was engulfed in a chaotic sound of bells, and torches flickered everywhere.

Soldiers, who hadn’t even properly dressed themselves, came pouring out with swords in hand.

“Oh, I didn’t expect things to turn out like this.”

Mera panicked and stood close to my side.

“Eruga, we can’t investigate like this.”

“Isn’t it enough to just talk to the lord?”

“Well, that’s true, but with soldiers coming out like that…”

“I’ll handle it.”

Dozens of soldiers surrounded us in a semicircle.

“Oh? Aren’t those the bastards who were transported in the Karabka?”

The soldiers who recognized us murmured in confusion.

“What idiot sounded the alarm for intruders?”

The soldiers looked at each other and uttered coarse curses.

“Ah, damn it! We had just gotten a good hand!”

Someone threw their cards in frustration.

Judging by the strong smell of alcohol, they must have been gambling while lounging around in the barracks.

“That bastard threw Delos beyond the wall!”

A soldier who had been standing on the lookout tower with a piece of paper cursed.

Other soldiers chuckled and jeered in response.

“What the hell are you saying, you bastard? Get down here! Don’t make a fuss in the middle of the night!”

“You’re just causing trouble because you don’t want to be on duty, you bastard!”

Someone threw a stone, and the soldier on the lookout tower shouted out in frustration.

“No, I’m serious! Look for Delos! It must be somewhere along the city wall…”

“Oh? Here’s Delos!”

One soldier found a man lying just beyond the city wall.

He lightly tapped the fallen soldier’s head with his foot.

“Hey, wake up. You fell asleep here. Get up, you brat!”

The soldiers who saw this started hurling insults at the soldier on the lookout tower.

“Can’t you remember a single person’s face properly? They’re the ones who went to Karabka!”

“Hurry up and wake Delos up so he can finish his shift!”

The soldiers began to disperse as if it was no big deal.

A soldier standing on the watchtower looked down at me, visibly frightened.

I quietly tilted my head at him, and he hastily nodded.

“Erga-nim… I almost lost my mind…”

Liana wrapped her arms around mine, her legs trembling.

“You have to save money to buy clothes, so stop worrying.”

I joked lightly and followed behind the scattered soldiers into the main building of Yeongjuseong.

“What on earth is going on…? I knew the soldiers of the territory weren’t very competent, but I didn’t expect them to be this lax…”

Mera muttered to herself, trailing behind me.

Loud noises could be heard from the soldiers’ quarters.

* * * * *

When I faced the soldiers guarding the main building, I responded actively, taking into account the previous situation.

“We’ve finished the transportation in Karabka and just returned. Lord, you asked for a report in person.”

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“Is that so? Come in.”

The soldiers let us in without any suspicion.

Even though Mera was a completely unfamiliar face.

“Investigator. What on earth is going on…?”

Liana murmured, and Mera answered.

“There’s nothing strange about it, Your Holiness. These soldiers of the frontier have never received professional training. They are just a bunch of ruffians gathered from the territory and given armor and swords.”

“But their armor is so shiny for that kind of thing…”

I remarked, looking at the gleaming plate armor.

“It’s an excessive display of weaponry. They armed these mercenaries with the money they made from drug trafficking. And look at these.”

Mera said, looking around the extravagant corridor.

“A minor noble wouldn’t decorate their domain to this extent. If it were at this level, they would have gone bankrupt long ago.”

Now I understood why Rianna found the territory strange when she first arrived.

In the end, it’s money earned from illegal activities.

And we were being used for it.

“I suppose they offered a substantial amount of money for your simple transport, right?”

“Yes. That’s why we were suspicious and took the job. They even offered a reward for dragon sightings.”

“Even if you combine all that money, it’s nothing compared to the value of the drugs carried in the carriage you were riding. So they willingly spent a large sum of money as a gesture of goodwill.”

“Heh… I almost ended up in jail for a measly amount of money…”

“With that amount, you wouldn’t go to jail, but to the gallows, Your Holiness.”

“Huh?!”

* * * * *

Without any restrictions, I ascended to this floor and forcefully pushed open the door to the lord’s office.

The lord who was sitting at his desk and Izano, who was standing next to him holding documents, were both startled and looked up.

“What’s going on? You’re back from Karavka already?”

Approaching quickly, I grabbed the lord’s head and slammed it down on the desk.

“Crunch!”

“You deceived me and sold drugs?”

“Why are you suddenly… ugh!”

Blood dripped from Youngju’s forehead as he was repeatedly struck on the desk.

Izano stiffened, clutching the documents tightly, just watching.

Mera, upon seeing her, shouted.

“Izano! Finally, we meet!”

Izano’s face turned pale as she locked eyes with Mera.

“What?! The vigorous detective…!”

Without a second thought, Izano turned her body and leaped out of the window.

And with all her strength, she propelled herself beyond the window.

“Hey, you damn bastard!”

Mera, gripping the window frame and leaning forward, cursed inappropriately.

Her angry shout was drowned out by the noise coming from the soldiers’ quarters.

“For now, let’s handle the small fry first. Then naturally, that human will be dragged in as well.”

Mera, calming down, returned this way.

Youngju, with her head pressed against the desk, groaned in pain.

She spoke to Riana, who was standing next to her.

“Riana. If by any chance you’re thinking of performing divine healing…”

“No. I won’t do that. Those who do wrong must be punished.”

“Okay.”

Mera sat down at the desk and looked down at Youngju.

“I’m Mera, a narcotics investigator dispatched from Wangsung.”

“How did an investigator… come in here?”

“The soldiers here are quite enthusiastic, you see.”

“Ugh… those bastards… I should whip them all and chase them out…”

Youngju muttered as she sharpened her sword.

“You take care of that within the Youngju Castle. Let’s hurry. The narcotics, right?”

Tusenne Jajak didn’t say anything in response.

Mera grabbed the large seal placed in the corner of the desk and swiftly slapped it on the back of his hand.

“Ouch!”

“Eek…!”

Liana couldn’t bear to look and turned her head away.

“Answer, Jajak. Don’t make the investigator repeat the same question.”

“What are you talking about…? Narcotics…!”

“The narcotics, right?”

Crack!

“Ugh…!”

A frothy substance burst out from between Tusenne Jajak’s clenched teeth.

Liana covered her ears completely and stood behind us.

“Drugs?”

Crack!

“Son of a b***h!!”

“Drugs.”

Crack!

“aaah! They exist! I swear they do!”

Finally, a valid response came out of Tousen’s trembling lips.

I gently placed the seal back in its original position.

On the back of his hand, there was a vivid mark that read ‘Tousen’s Seal’ along with a deep red bruise.

“Where are they?”

“Ugh… Ugh…”

Youngju gasped for breath, casting fearful glances at me.

As I reached out my hand towards the seal, he urgently shouted.

“In the basement…! They’re in the basement…! Please, stop asking!”

“Of course they’re in the basement. That’s not what I’m asking. No, Mr. Erga. Please don’t stamp the seal yet.”

Mera raised her hand, stopping me momentarily.

“Tousen’s Seal. What I want to know is whether your territory is a transit point or a production site. Do you have fields and processing facilities?”

“We only handle distribution… Do you think we’d produce drugs in our territory without going crazy? Please, think logically!”

“Mr. Erga, please stamp it once…”

“aaah! We’re producing them! We’re producing… aaah!”

My hand was so fast that in the middle of his sentence, the stamp ended up on the back of his hand.

Bubbles started to form in Youngju’s mouth.

“Huh… Like this… Torturing nobles… and still… surviving… investigator…”

“Is this what you call torture? You don’t seem to know how they handle drug offenders in Wangseong.”

Mera said in a business-like manner while jotting something down in her notebook.

“And do you think drugs discriminate between nobles and commoners? Even a viscount is dragged away without any hesitation. What special treatment do you expect in a trivial case like this?”

Mera closed her notebook and smiled at me.

“Mr. Erga, please help me a little more. We need to gather evidence.”

“Of course.”

I grabbed the lord’s arm and made him stand up, leading the way.

“Don’t scream, don’t run away. Let’s go quietly.”

“Yes… yes…”

The lord stumbled as he guided us to the basement.

Strangely enough, there were no soldiers, not even servants, in the main building of the Youngju Estate.

It wasn’t even late at night, and according to my common sense, shouldn’t there be night workers in a place like this?

The reason became clear soon enough.

Passing by a half-opened door, Riana happened to catch a glimpse inside and screamed.