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234. Forced Summoning (2)
After the situation was taken care of, Min-Cheol recalled his clones.
The clones performed maintenance on their gear and cleaned the blood off their bodies before disappearing.
It was enough to make Min-Cheol wonder what would have happened without them.
After that, Min-Cheol contacted Dan, who was on standby on the roof of one of the structures near the main building.
It was to tell him to come inside the mansion because the counts and marquis had been taken care of.
It didn’t take long before Dan carefully opened the door of the mansion and came in.
Dan lowered his body and looked around all over the place, similar to a scene in a spy movie.
Entering the lobby, Dan spoke in a whisper.
“Master. No one has followed me. Has the situation been sorted properly?”
“Mhm. As you can see, it has been taken care of without any loose ends.”
“Hm… I see. I’m glad that it’s been sorted without injury.”
“Why does your expression not match what you’re saying?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
“Is it because of Count Audu?”
“Ah, well. Since it was a dire situation, I guess it couldn’t have been helped.”
“I’ve already said this before. That kind of excuse is what the weak say.”
“Huh? Then…”
Min-Cheol opened his Mobile Storage immediately, then commanded Audu’s release.
Audu, who had been curled up in the corner of the storage was forcefully ejected in an instant outwards.
His look of confusion only confirmed that he still hadn’t grasped the situation.
Taking the center of the lobby, Audu looked around his surroundings before asking Min-Cheol a question.
“What is the meaning of this? And what happened? Why did you throw me into the storage…”
“I apologize for being rude without explanation.”
“Count Audu, please do not take offense. All of this was a plan that my master thought up for your sake, count.”
“By the way, did the counts and Marquis Leon leave?”
“That’s… Master.”
“I shall inform you myself. They are all dead.”
“Huh? You’re quite rude despite this being our first time meeting! I can forgive you for not revealing your identity and being rude. However! Don’t you know that those types of jokes are distasteful?”
“Listen well. Count Audu. I am not here to have a banter with you. I know I’m repeating myself, but they are dead.”
“T-That can’t be…”
“On top of that, I was the one to kill them. Now that you understand, I’m guessing that you are curious as to why only you were spared?”
“…”
“Dan. Can you bring those to me?”
“Yes, master.”
Min-Cheol asked Dan to bring the accounting book containing information regarding business with Swesi.
Dan immediately began to pick up the pages sprawled out all over the floor one by one and brought them to Min-Cheol.
Dan then organized the sheets crinkled from being stepped on and splattered with blood before handing them over.
Min-Cheol stretched out his arm to bring it in front of Audu’s face.
Receiving the accounting book pages, he stared at it for a while before opening his mouth.
“Is this… This is the reason why you took their lives, all nine of them?”
“Yes. That’s right. The reason why you are still alive is because the name Audu wasn’t present in this accounting book.”
“…”
“I am also aware that this accounting book isn’t the perfect tool to decide who is righteous and evil. I only know that you didn’t trade with Swesi, and it does not guarantee that you haven’t gone around doing other wrongdoings.”
“They had families they loved and things to protect too.”
“I know. But aren’t you also aware that their continued existence would cause further victims and deaths? I don’t like to say this, but I’m sure you can see that this is a case of sacrificing the few for the many.”
“…”
“However, you’re quite calm despite the death of your acquaintances.”
“It’s because I did expect this to happen at some point. Even if you didn’t, I knew that someone else would judge them eventually.”
Audu was far calmer than Min-Cheol had expected.
This was something that even Min-Cheol did not expect.
Right now, Min-Cheol wasn’t trying to convince Audu.
Simply put, what Min-Cheol was saying wasn’t something along the lines of these are reasons why I killed them and you must understand my actions because I was justified in doing so.
There was no reason to do so.
It wasn’t as if Min-Cheol had committed wrongdoings to Audu directly, and had let him live instead because he wasn’t listen on the accounting book.
The reason why he was thoroughly explaining to Audu was because he wanted ask something of Audu.
After all, he needed to convert Audu to his side in order to make sure that his plan could be carried out smoothly.
Audu did not refute or doubt what Min-Cheol had done.
Was it because Min-Cheol had enough strength to not only defeat counts, but marquises with ease as well?
That wasn’t the case.
This wasn’t an act in order for him to get out of this situation safely and preserve his life.
It was due to how he felt that his ideals that he could not back up with actions was oddly similar to what Min-Cheol had done.
It seemed that he was trying escape his guilt of looking away when his acquaintances committed evil through what Min-Cheol had done.
Understanding his thoughts, Min-Cheol spoke to Audu.
“Audu. I’ll need you to help me.”
“Huh? Me?”
“Yes. The reason why you’ve been spared. I guess you can think of it as a way to prove that your name not being written in this accounting book wasn’t the only reason for that.”
“What do you mean?”
“First, I shall tell you my goal. I am going to kill everyone in this accounting book.”
“Please continue.”
“If it is possible, I am also planning to take down Demon, who is rampaging at Larkenta’s castle. While Demon seeks the power of the nobles, we don’t know if innocents would be in harm’s way if this goes on. However, I don’t have much time left. Not even a full 20 days.”
“…”
“That’s why I need you to be on my side.”
“The reason being?”
“The nobles of Larkenta would believe your words.”
“You mean… Are you asking me to be a spy to deceive the nobles?”
“Simply put, yes. I need you to bring them to me.”
“…”
“I shall give a bit of time. Think carefully. Decide if they are really needed for the future of Larkenta.”
“…”
After the conversation ended, Min-Cheol reopened his Mobile Storage.
Audu walked into the storage on his own.
It must be that he was deep in thought.
The door to the storage closed, and Dan came up to Min-Cheol with his query.
“Master. What are you planning?”
“I thought about it, you know? You said that summoning someone through Soul Messenger can be done by knowing the target’s face and name alone, right?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“I was planning to contact the nobles with the bait of Demon’s location to chip them down.”
“Yes, but what’s the issue?”
“But the nobles aren’t stupid and they wouldn’t just accept my summons, right? Even if they do accept it, it’s obvious that they would be suspicious. That means that they could come in far greater numbers.”
“So you’re saying that you’ll be using Count Audu for this?”
“That’s right. If he is someone that is liked by all the citizens of Larkenta, it’s likely that he is also popular amongst the nobles. There may be those who are jealous of him or find him stubborn though.”
“I think the plan is very solid. However, for them to respond to the summon means that they will be facing death very soon after, right? Do you think that Audu, who had been with the nobles for a very long period time, can betray them? And if Count Auru alerts the nobles to the truth by deceiving us, wouldn’t the situation become really bad for us?”
“Yep. He can do it. I noticed that his ideals are the same as mine. And even if he tries to deceive us, we have the scrolls. We’ll just have to run.”
“Hm…”
Dan thought that just like how Min-Cheol gave him a chance, Min-Cheol was now giving Audu as chance as well.
Dan, who was originally a member of Swesi, had been kidnapped by Min-Cheol’s overwhelming strength.
He was lucky that he had been chosen, otherwise, he would’ve shared the fate of his allies of being annihilated without a trace from the many Meteors and Icebergs.
It was true that he didn’t see the wrongdoings of the nobles as evil and didn’t have the slightest desire to change the world at the start.
He should be thanking his lucky stars for being taken in by Min-Cheol, living with a slightly better sense of morality due to his meeting with Min-Cheol.
On the other hand, look at Audu.
Despite a short conversation with Min-Cheol, it was easy to see that he viewed the way the world worked with disapproval.
He even felt regret for not being able to stop the wrongdoings the nobles committed.
And he was also aware that him alone living a righteous life would not change this world.
From Audu’s point of view, this was why he could see Min-Cheol’s existence as a hero who was here to completely change this world.
A short yet long 20 minutes had passed, and Min-Cheol opened his storage once more.
“Count Audu. Have you come to a conclusion?”
“Yes. I have decided.”
“Let’s continue the conversation outside. Let out the count from the storage.”
Coming out, Audu’s expression was far more darker than before.
He wasn’t able to meet Min-Cheol’s eyes and only stared at the ground.
Dan was quite nervous because of the change in Audu’s behavior.
He was worried that the Audu would not help Min-Cheol and instead turn his back.
However, this wasn’t the case for Min-Cheol.
He believed that Audu would definitely assist him in changing the world anew.
An unknown amount of time passed. Audu opened his mouth to speak with a struggle.
“I shall aid you.”
“Sir count! Really? Are you really going to help master?”
“It must’ve been a tough decision. I thank you.”
“What must I do?”
“First, we’re going to bring the nobles here using Demon as bait. It doesn’t matter how many if it only involves the counts, but it’s a bit of an issue if marquises get involved.”
“Hm… It looks like you can face up to 3 at the most, master.”
“I see…”
“But I do not know if the nobles will respond so readily. They are upset that Demon has killed their slaves and knights, but…”
“You need not worry if that’s the issue. Right now, the nobles of Larkenta are trying to kill Demon with everything on the line.”
“…”
“The Castellan Mithrael has put a massive bounty on Demon’s head. The sweet promise of rising in rank.”
“So that’s why even a marquis has gotten involved trying to catch such a small fry.”
“That’s right. If we use Demon’s location as bait, the nobles will definitely bite.”
“That’s good. Then let’s not waste any time and start right away.”
“Master. If we’re going to start, let’s start with the marquises. I believe it would be more convenient for you rather than to deal with the counts, who will be moving in groups. And since there is a massive power gap due to how much power you possess, you should be able to stay miles ahead in terms of combat strength.”
“Is that alright with you, Count Audu?”
“Yes… I shall try contacting one right now.”
“Good.”
Audu acted as Min-Cheol had hoped for.
There was no longer a need for Min-Cheol to go hopping from one estate to the other to seek where the nobles were hiding.
All he had to do was to devour each of those accepting Audu’s summons.
Dan stood the side, opening up the accounting book to inform who to summon next, announcing the start of the perfect plan to grow stronger at an unreasonable speed.
“I guess all I have to do now is to wait under the tree for the persimmons to fall?”
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