A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

Chapter 79

79 – Festival of Silver and Iron Blood (2)

Nostrum’s trial is in the hands of the lord.

The judge is Yeongju.

The accuser, the so-called ‘prosecutor’ in the empire, is a knight.

And there is no lawyer.

You must prove your innocence yourself.

But here, a problem arises.

-I will challenge you to a duel!

He wants to prove his innocence through a duel.

To be exact, it’s not about being innocent, but proving that your ability is one that shouldn’t die in a place like this.

Nostrum believes that ‘strength is justice.’

This has a bit to do with the way Nostrum has survived until now.

-If the hero commits a crime, is it right to punish him?

-Even if we turn a blind eye to petty crimes, shouldn’t we think more about the achievements that saved the country?

-What if this man, who was carelessly killed, is the hero of saving the country?

A hero who emerges at every moment of crisis.

The secret to Nostrum’s survival despite numerous plagues so far.

A hero will survive the accusation and prove his skills by dueling against a knight.

Through a duel.

-That prisoner… I awakened mana right before I died!

In a crisis where his life is at stake, the hero may awaken his talents.

‘Actually, the nobles are using it better.’

If the prisoner proves himself by duel, that would be the end of it, but the nobles created a law called duel ‘proxy’.

When was it?

‘It happened a few generations ago.’

One of Nostrum’s heroes was a commoner female wizard, who used magic to kill a nobleman who tried to attack her.

In the future, she became widely known as the strongest wizard in her kingdom, but at that time, she was just a low-level wizard with a pretty face.

The person who reported her was her superior knight.

There is no way that a low-level wizard could win against a high-level knight, especially in a large venue like the court.

At that time, Lord Cadian said he came forward.

Lord Cadian said that he was an accomplice for a commoner woman who had no connection to her, and that he made a fuss about her by saying that he would fight a duel on her behalf.

It is said that this incident opened up the dueling agent culture.

Approximately 200 years have passed since then.

The culture of calling oneself a ‘black knight’ to save one’s beloved family, friends, lovers, etc. Has been transformed.

‘I bought a dueling agent with money and did that.’

Calling on a knight who is stronger than the knight going to the duel.

To call a knight who is the knight’s predecessor or a knight of the same generation.

A retired knight who retired from the Central Knights and moved to the countryside is called the first duel agent.

It could be said that it is a culture that is truly vulgar in many ways, but-

‘Everyone thinks that even if 1,000 people die unjustly in a duel, it will be enough if one hero emerges.’

Nostrum is such a country.

In fact, through that method, we have been victorious over empires, plagues, monsters, disasters, etc.

‘So when it was taken over by the empire, all the knights were destroyed.’

The moment when knights who just wielded their swords without any need to think hard suddenly found themselves in the court of the empire.

-What?! Are you saying there are no duels in the imperial courts?!

-The defendant should shut his mouth.

-If you are a prosecutor, raise your sword!!

-That prosecutor is not this prosecutor. Ha, this is why nostrum is…

Many knights kneel before the majesty of the law.

The concept that only strength is justice was also used in the Empire, but like Nostrum, only force was not the priority.

‘So when my father cut off the maids, I didn’t say anything.’

The day my father declared a traitor.

My father killed several maids.

Although it was publicly announced that the maids had leaked Gibraltar’s important secrets, of course murder is murder.

But no one held my father guilty.

If a nobleman, the local judge, commits a crime, the king must judge him, but even the king could not appoint the Margrave of Gibraltar to the court.

There is no way it would be a crime to file a complaint.

If the Margrave of Gibraltar were to fight a duel, the knight on the accusing side would probably have his head cut off.

‘The one who wins is the one who will do great things. That’s why he won, survived, and will one day become a hero for Nostrum.

This is the average thought of Gibraltar people – ‘common sense’.

However.

Although we all know that trials are conducted that way.

‘Are crooks not committing crimes because they are afraid of being executed?’

In the end, a trial only happens when someone is caught guilty of a crime.

‘It’s okay if you don’t get caught.’

Even if you commit a crime, it’s okay as long as you don’t get caught.

Even if he were to be put on trial, the Margrave would not fight a duel in person.

With such foolish thoughts, the festival scene is now overflowing with scammers.

First.

“Now, now! This is what we brought in from Sirene!”

“Is this an orange?”

“Well then! Kid. Did you bring the money? This is the porridge that is sold as a specialty in Sirene.”

Here, there is someone who sells goods by deception.

“Would you like to take a look at this? Hey, isn’t it red?”

“Wow!”

Amazing.

“Why is this red?! Is it orange?”

“Of course! It’s a red orange, a premium fruit that is said to be made only in very small quantities in Seirene!”

“How much is it?”

“This is 10,000 gold each – no! It’s 100 Somnus.”

“Can I just have one of these?”

I held out a piece of Somnus Gold with the number ‘100’ engraved on the back.

“Okay! Hey, are you here to run an errand?”

“Yes! My grandfather gave me a lot of money and told me to try the market!”

“Oh, that’s right. The senior is already teaching economics education.”

The merchant looked at me strangely and put one red orange and one regular orange in a paper bag.

“Huh? “I bought one?”

“It’s a bonus! Why don’t you go home and give it to Grandpa?”

“Wow! Thank you!”

I held a paper bag containing two fruits and bowed at a 90-degree angle.

“Goodbye!”

The merchant was happy and even waved his hand.

“What? Are oranges red?”

“They said it came from Seirene? Let’s see… It was grown at Glapados Farm… ?”

“Is there such a farm?”

“How do we know? Let’s see. It’s expensive, but… “

Perhaps it was because I shouted so loudly, but the people around me started to gather one by one, muttering.

“Welcome! Welcome! Haha!”

The merchant quickly forgot about me and was busy selling red oranges to the crowd of customers.

“Hey.”

So.

“There is no such thing as trash without conscience.”

He couldn’t hear me from far away.

“…”

Take a quick look around.

A boy in casual clothes, flinching and starting, was seen near the alley and quickly ran towards it.

“Hee, hee hee… !”

“It’s number 45. What are we doing here?”

“Ah, ah…!”

Number 45, one of the white boys, not a boy with his white hair covered by a bun hat, looks at me and rolls his green eyes from side to side.

“Well, that is…”

“Don’t you think that merchant has no conscience?”

“…Well, Master, you’re right…?”

“Uh.”

Number 45 kept looking me up and down.

“Why. Do you think it’s not me?”

“It’s like that now, but when I was in front of that guy earlier…”

“When did you notice?”

“When you say ‘hey’ and say it’s trash…?”

“Thank goodness. I was told to notice.”

I took out a red orange from the paper bag and handed the bag with the orange inside to number 45.

“You take it. Eat it as a snack in between.”

“Yes, yes…?”

“You may have eaten a lot of grapefruit, but you probably haven’t tried real oranges from the Kingdom.”

“Uh, well, that is…”

“How much does grapefruit usually cost in the empire? The article doesn’t even list the price per piece.”

“…It’s about 50 cents each…”

“50 cents.”

Click, click.

“So that merchant is selling about 650 pieces for 10,000 each?”

“Well, that is…”

“That’s why you came out because you were frustrated.”

“…”

I was tapped on the shoulder 45 times.

“Good job. You don’t have to record it. Later, when I settle the Somnus gold that those people brought, I will look at their faces and classify it separately.”

“Well, if you send someone else to collect the settlement… Ah, that! It’s not that I don’t trust your memory…!”

“It’s okay. I also recorded it.”

I took out a new Somnus Gold from the inside pocket of my clothes.

“This is Somnus Gold that I specially made.”

“Well, is that okay…?”

“Of course. I am the maker of Somnus Gold.”

In this market, I can produce currency in real time.

Of course, that also applies to others.

“Hey, master. Isn’t that a fraud…?”

“Fraud? Hmm. I don’t know. After purchasing imperial grapefruits through smuggling in Sirene, why bother going all the way to Gibraltar to sell them?”

I immediately cut a 10,000 gold grapefruit sold as a red orange in half, took out the core, and then put the rest back in the bag along with the peel.

“Eat the rest too. It reminds me of my hometown, but I must have wondered why they sell it so expensively.”

“Ah… Well, Master…”

“So you only bought one. The 10,000 gold I bought also includes the experience value of trying this empire’s fruit for the first time.”

A different sour taste from the oranges of southern Nostrum.

“Next time, I won’t buy anything with that money. Unless I’m a bigot-“

“Hey! Come here!”

I hear a familiar shouting sound.

“Choose whatever you want! I’ll buy you this!!”

“oooh—!”

“Noir! Noir! Noir!”

“…”

A tiger appeared.

“Hey, master.”

Number 45 pointed to the black iron plate that Noir held up in front of the merchant with a serious face.

“Is it okay to scratch that thing like that… ?”

“Uh.”

The merchant is happy and writes down his name, items for sale, and price with an iron needle on Noir’s iron plate.

“The more clumsy a conman is, the more blind he is to the small profit right in front of him, and the more he gets caught.”

Noir is currently diligently collecting information.

Haha! I, Noir Gibraltar, remember your name!”

“After all, acting can’t keep up with the real thing.”

“It’s orange, the same color as our youngest’s eyes! Wow, it’s literally like a jewel!”

“The kid is good. “The kid.”

From noble mtl dot come

I just poured the remaining grapefruit into my mouth.

“Number 45.”

“Yes, master.”

“Please take care of him.”

“…I’m not telling you to get married or anything, right?”

“…”

“Oh, no. It’s not that I don’t want to get married-“

“Do whatever you want.”

I pressed No. 45’s disheveled bread hat again and then turned to the other side.

“Collect information diligently. There is no need to ask directly, so be safe.”

“Yes…!”

Currently, some of the Whites are wandering the streets in disguise.

“I will find and tell you all the imperial items that were not seen in Gibraltar…!”

What kind of merchant brought in the goods of the empire.

* * *

Festival, 11:55.

The timing of Gibraltar’s festival is a bit unusual.

Usually, if you think of a night market, a festival starts around 4 PM and runs until midnight-

-Noisy.

Her father forced her to keep the festival until 8 o’clock so that her mother could go to bed early.

Instead, the event starts early in the morning, and now is when the festival atmosphere begins to ripen.

‘It’s almost lunch time.’

Everyone knows that the peak fireworks display is in the evening, so merchants are trying to sell as much as possible before then.

If there’s one thing that can’t be left out at a festival, it’s definitely food.

If agricultural products or industrial products brought in from abroad are lined up in a row, the smell of delicious food wafts out from a separate area.

From bread to meat fried in oil.

‘It’s okay not to buy things, but if you’re hungry, you have to eat.’

No matter how determined you are to not spend money, if the smell of food irritates your nose on an empty stomach, you will eventually open your wallet.

Of course, what comes out of the wallet is not gold, but Somnus gold –

“Hey, customer.”

“Why?”

“This… “

“Oh, what? It’s money, right?”

Slowly.

“I’ll return this to you, so would you like to give me gold?”

One by one, people appear who think, ‘I can do this.’

“Instead, I will only accept 10% of the cost of the food.”

“Uh, really…? Then it’s good for me. Huh.”

A man who had eaten lunch early receives Somnus Gold from the merchant, then takes out gold coins to pay for the food.

‘It’s something like that.’

Inconveniences and obstacles regarding the new currency called Somnus Gold.

Considering the conservatism of Nostrum, there is no way something like this could be used properly in the first place.

‘Even if it’s a one-off event, not everyone can tolerate discomfort.’

It’s too trivial an issue to report or arrest someone like that.

‘Still, you have to leave it in your eyes.’

Since it was part of the expected scenario, there is no particular problem.

‘Is everyone putting their lives on hold because of their father?’

Perhaps everyone is scared that their father will try them if they get caught, but the kind of groundbreaking crimes we thought about haven’t happened yet.

‘If it had been the mayor of the empire, there would have already been incidents of missing children, counterfeit money, and mayoral rights violations.’

My child disappeared.

Isn’t this fake money?

Who gets permission to do business here?

‘I can roughly understand why people who say they miss the days of naive nostrum say that.’

Among the several revolutionary soldiers who were captured before the traitorous Margrave Gray, there were those who told such stories.

-The life of the empire was too complicated and difficult for us to follow, and the people of the empire often turned on us based on that.

‘Still, it’s a bit provocative-‘

“Ah.”

It was visible.

“Hey.”

Front.

“Ah, hmm. Everyone.”

In a place where there are no stalls, a man in an expensive suit is saying something to a crowd of children.

“Guys, do you understand? We need to collect a lot of things other than gold, right?”

“The piece of wood has a sharp end, so it’s difficult to remove…”

“Can’t I just steal gold? I just need to be lucky and catch a thousand or even ten thousand gold.”

“Use…! This has a much higher probability! The lowest one is 100 gold…!”

It’s normal for petty thieves to occur at festivals or places with lots of people.

‘Friendly.’

Did they sacrifice somnus flowers for somnus gold just to scare off pickpockets? I personally feel a sense of shame-

“Collect as much Somnus gold as you can. They say they’ll cash it out, so buy it at a low price. Whether you steal it or buy it, we’ll collect it all.”

Oh.

“Then what if it becomes unusable in the market?”

“At that time… Hehe.”

The man smiled wryly and pointed to the sky.

“When evening comes, it will be dark and hard to see, right?”

“Yes.”

“And there’s still a long time left before the sun sets.”

Oh.

“In the meantime, you kids will make this and then give it to the merchants when they sell it. Do you understand?”

“This is fake.”

“Fake or whatever.”

Finally.