A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

241 – Barcelona Terror (1)

[11:34 PM, December 31, 1998, Imperial Calendar, Barcelona District Governor-General, Gibraltar Territory.]

The night is getting deeper, and it’s time for people to lie down in bed and fall asleep.

Kka-ang, Kka-ang, Kka-ang.

The sound of something hitting echoes.

A sound like tapping the ground.

Or the sound of mining a vein with a pickaxe.

It mainly resonates in the mines over there, and sometimes the sound of people humming beats to the beat.

A sound that, if played next to a sleeping person, will make them wake up and swear.

But no one says anything.

This clear and beautiful sound only resonates in this office, and the source of the sound is the magic recorder placed on the desk in my office.

A magic tool containing voice recording magic.

A special object that reads sound vibrations as waves of mana and reproduces the sound as waves.

If Nostrum’s magic stores the sound stored at the time and emits it at a lower output, the Empire’s magic tool stores and emits information with a wavelength as similar as possible, even though it is not the sound at the time.

Kka-ang, kka-ang.

From noble mtl dot come

Inside that sound, disparate sounds are gradually becoming intertwined.

-Hehe, if you made it this far…

-Found! You b*stard!

The sound of a person shouting.

I pricked up my ears to hear a very faint sound buried in the light.

-Now, wait a minute! Hey, calm down! I would never do this…!

-A traitor to his people who mined Nostrum’s gold and tried to offer it to the empire!

-Shit, it’s not betrayal! I just-

Strife, anger, and golden ringing sounds.

Phu-uuk.

And the sound of cruel and brutal slaughter that follows.

“There’s no need to play it any more.”

I stopped playing the tape recorder.

“This alone will be enough for tomorrow’s trial.”

“Are you okay?”

“This alone is enough. Isn’t it self-evident who killed whom?”

Robert, standing behind the sofa in the office, spoke in a worried voice, but I answered by holding up a cup of somnus tea to him.

“If you tried to steal gold while working, you would die. Wasn’t it the same when you were the Marquis of Barcel?”

“For now… “

“Yes, yes. Even those who want to commit this kind of theft are going into the mine. Sir Robert, keep in mind. When a lot of people get involved, accidents are bound to happen, and if it involves money, it is bound to spread.”

I picked up a file album placed on the office desk.

“Accidents causing death and death occur even with just one month’s salary. How much worse would it be if it were a lump of gold?”

On the outside of the file album, organized according to the imperial paper classification system, is my handwriting: [December 30, E4 area miner mass murder case].

“Nothing much. One of the miners stole the gold he had mined, and before the other high-ranking miners who saw it could report it, they lynched him to death.”

Inside, there is a lot of information about the deceased, time of death, suspects, etc.

Although it was not written in my own handwriting, the details of the investigation by some of the 300 government-general administrators were well organized.

“It’s similar to what happened a week ago.”

“…”

“Didn’t you expect it would end up like this?”

“No, no. What makes me frustrated is that it’s not just this incident, it’s not just one or two incidents like this.”

And there is not just one file like this.

“Really, how is it that so many ‘crimes’ never end?”

“Of course…”

“Hasn’t it gone beyond simply saying that the number of people coming to mine gold mines has increased?”

“There’s that, but-“

“Even if it is just because people in Nostrum have thought that the accidents they cause have not been crimes, the way these incidents occur is too much.”

“That’s it-“

“There is nothing to kill, and there is no reason to kill someone by calling them a traitor or a traitor in the process of killing them. This is just giving them some justification for trying to kill them.”

“…”

Robert took away everything I wanted to say.

“Sir Robert.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. “I stopped without realizing it.”

“It’s okay. I still have 100 points left.”

“…Are there any left?”

“Wasn’t it a consideration to let me decorate the ending? Well, thank you either way.”

I pushed the folder containing the incident under the desk.

“Whose territory is the vein where this incident occurred?”

“I am the author of Harmania.”

“That was transferred from the Counts of Sirene, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. There was a big deal between the two families, and it is understood that the forests managed by Harmania were handed over to Sirene.”

Forest of Harmania Viscount.

It is an area in memory.

“An imperial-style villa will be built there.”

The Count of Sirene came to the villa to buy gold mining rights.

He purchased mining rights to several areas there, but at the same time, he must have looked at the villa itself where the banquet was held and thought of new ways to make money.

“A villa where the great hands of the empire who came over by ship can rest comfortably.”

Not everyone is as foolish as an incompetent king.

Maybe even the incompetent king isn’t that stupid in his own way.

Some people see the villa left behind by the Golden Dawn and try to create a resort like that and make it a place to entertain guests.

There are some people who realize too late that some kind of meeting took place at the villa and try to buy gold mining rights even by paying a premium.

There are some who sell the rights to develop coal mines themselves and benefit from them in the form of money, land, or children from the buyer.

“Seeing the big players in the empire who came to the villa, he said he wanted to start a business like that. After all, he is not protecting his position as a count in vain.”

“To…Count.”

Robert looked awkward for a moment, as if he was still used to the title ‘Master’, but he soon corrected his posture and called me by my official title.

“Shall we mobilize ‘them’?”

“…”

“If you need it, use [Golden Incense] Right now…”

“No, there is no need for that.”

I clearly showed my will by firmly shaking my head.

“Sir Robert, you have a position and authority. If you were the Marquis Roland or the Countess of Sirene, your judgment would be correct.”

“Have you already come up with a solution to all my concerns, Count?”

“That’s right.”

“But I will continue to tell you my concerns, Master. You won’t miss it, but you are also aware of my impressions from my perspective as a piece of information.”

“I am slowly becoming able to use the ‘complex speech’ typical of politicians.”

“Thanks to someone.”

To sum it up very simply, in 3 lines.

-I also have some free time. Can I teach you?

-Don’t show off.

-Yes. Still, I’ll do it just in case.

Well, I guess we can put it a little vulgarly.

“Don’t worry. Even if you die after being accused of being a traitor, there won’t be any major problems right now.”

“The hatred towards the people of the Empire, or rather the Empire, is coming to the surface. To the point where fellow Nostrum people are accused of being traitors and killed.”

“Whether it is an actual feeling or one is using it as an excuse, it is also true that the anger and disgust towards the Empire itself is revealed along with veins of gold.”

“Because the imperialists are coming and pounding the veins day and night?”

“Yes, too.”

Kang, Kang, Kang.

Although it is not an actual sound, the sound of gold mining being dug up with a pickaxe rings in my ears like an auditory hallucination.

“Until now, I didn’t know because the Golden Dawn was thoroughly managing it, but when tens of thousands of people started digging with pickaxes, amazing things started to be discovered.”

Digging up huge chunks, splitting and splitting the chunks to see if there are gold nuggets, and sometimes finding the ‘gold vein’ itself.

“I thought it was gold, but it was just sulfur, or the gold mine that I thought would be inexhaustible was actually drying up… “

“Is it because there is a vein of gold under the family graveyard and the entire graveyard is being dug up now?”

“From the descendants’ point of view, did they win the lottery? Some say that their ancestors disguised themselves as graves to hand over gold to their descendants.”

“Thanks to this, there isn’t much of a fuss because all these so-called grandchildren show up.”

“Of course.”

The gold that was there was depleted.

Gold that didn’t exist before appears.

“I really feel disgusted with humans. Do we have to go to this length for gold?”

“People’s perspectives change depending on their location. What would it have been like before Sir Robert became the Knight of Gibraltar?”

“…He must have been digging with a shovel right now to get home after spilling gold dust in his work clothes pocket.”

“That’s it.”

The situation is a jumbled mess as to whether it is gold, yellow, or a golden magic stone.

“The Empire described the current situation here as [Barcelona Gold Rush].”

“In the column where you are concerned that a large amount of gold will be released that could adversely affect the price of imperial gold?”

“It’s funny that the people who secretly stole and counterfeited the kingdom’s gold coins are now saying such things, but don’t hate them too much.”

Sir Robert is now filled with anger and disgust.

“Not all humans are trash, sir.”

“In terms of percentage, what percentage do you think it will be?”

“A scholar in the empire claims about human nature that ‘humans are born evil.'”

“I think I will support that statement from now on.”

I have no choice but to believe in the evil theory.

“No, to be honest, it’s only been a few months since the mining rights were sold, but does it make sense that there are 5 accidents a day? And that’s related to gold mines!”

“That’s right.”

In Barcelona, crime is currently occurring all the time.

“Citizens are saying strange things! This happened because you came as governor and sold all the land!”

“That’s so sad. When I hear someone who points out mold in their house and tries to clean it, he says that the mold has increased because of that person.”

“That’s right! Something like this didn’t happen during the days of the Marquis de Barcel. Damn. It’s just that at that time, the Knights of the Golden Dawn suddenly cut off everything.”

“Yes. If I make a legal ruling in the imperial style, all the precious time I have with Astasia may end up listening to criminals whine.”

Since they were saying that something that no one had ever pointed out as a ‘problem’ was a problem, solving it soon fell on the governor-general and 300 imperial administrators.

“Whew. Master. Do you have any kind of preparation plan? Wouldn’t it be better to just handle it according to ‘tradition’?”

“Tradition? Ha. Instead of white gloves, throw miner’s gloves, hold shovels instead of lances, and compete fairly, with the winner taking the gold nugget?”

“As a bonus, they tell you to remove the corpse with that shovel.”

“It’s okay. But I don’t want to do it because the corpse will rot on top of the gold and the gold will become contaminated.”

“Is gold also polluted?”

“Maggots boiling on the gold and ‘information’ covered in blood remains. If you clean it well and sell it, no one will know.”

“Haha… “

A duel, not a trial.

I’d rather tell you to figure it out on your own.

“Anyway, let’s wrap up this incident like that. Huh. I can’t believe I’m spending the time after the new year with Sir Robert.”

“But you’re not going to Orosol, and you’re not calling Princess Astasia here.”

“That’s right. Having a lot of enemies is always going to be difficult.”

That’s right, I can’t pay attention to the murder caused by gold right now.

“Ah. It’s about time. Sir Robert, congratulations on turning one year older.”

“Congratulations on having one year left until adulthood. Master.”

The reason why there are two Sir Robert in the Governor-General’s office even at the end of the year 98 of the Imperial Calendar.

“New Year-“

Wow!

Something flew inside, breaking the window.

The round sphere spun around and fell at our feet.

Suddenly.

The moment Robert touched the sword at his waist once, the sphere split in half.

“…Wow, you are congratulating me very lavishly, Master.”

“It’s not over yet, Sir Robert.”

I slowly walked towards the broken window, then lightly twirled my cane and held it back.

“If you let your guard down, it will fly like this one more time.”

The moment a sphere was about to fly towards me, I swung my staff and hit the sphere.

Kwa-eu-ang!

An explosion that occurred in the air.

Something transparent appeared, and soon a black figure fell down.

“It’s an attack by dropping Explosion Magic Stones by a flying dragon that the people of the Empire are most afraid of. Haha. It’s been a long time.”

“It’s been 13 days.”

“To me, those 13 days feel like 13 years.”

It is terrorism.

“It’s really a grand celebration starting at midnight on the New Year.”

I am currently suffering from terrorism.

“I’m really glad that there are many people who want to become Baekun themselves.”