I Regressed to My Ruined Family – 39

 #I returned home to find my family ruined (40)

Ziphron, head of the Romenton family.

His heart raced as he listened to the urgent news delivered by the knight commander.

“The Grand Duke is visiting?”

“Yes! We just received a report from a knight stationed at the outer walls. He reported that the direction the carriage was heading in clearly indicated it was heading toward the inner walls.”

The Grand Duke!

The Romenton family was the closest to the Carugas barony in terms of distance.

Nevertheless, Jifron was secretly reassured by the assurance of Count Irdan, the leader of his faction.

“Why would the Grand Duke attack the Count of Karagas first? It must be because of the mess they made. Isn’t that right?”

“That’s right.”

“The Grand Duke’s hatred is so deep that he killed Baron Helmut himself. If we leave things as they are, he will start to target the nobles who belong to Chayman’s faction. All we have to do is watch the situation and pick up the sweet pieces of cake.”

“Haha! As expected of Count Irdan!”

“Yes! Those under Count Cheiman will get a taste of his wrath. As we’ve seen before, the Grand Duke is not a man to be trifled with.”

Until he fell, the Grand Duke was renowned for his intelligence.

He must have realized that Count Cheiman was behind Helmut.

There was no doubt that his spear was aimed at a noble belonging to the Count of Cheymen’s faction.

That was why Zifron was waiting patiently, watching the situation unfold from afar.

But why did the Grand Duke come here himself?

“What is the reason for your visit?”

“He did not say.”

“Huh…”

The viscount’s sigh was heavy with worry.

Seeing this, the knight commander tilted his head.

“Viscount. The Grand Duke is a difficult man, but he’s not enough to worry you so much, is he?”

That was true.

Murren, the knight commander here, had broken through the five-star wall a month ago.

For a baron, it was rare to have such a powerful knight. In addition, there were two other four-star knights.

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It was all thanks to the mana breathing technique they had obtained from the Duke’s family.

They hadn’t been able to purchase all of the core techniques yet, but that would be resolved soon.

They were collecting a considerable amount of taxes from the people of their domain every month.

“It’s on a completely different level from the Count of Karagas.”

In terms of the knights’ power, they were no match for them.

After all, the commander of the knights was only a 4-star knight.

However, there was one thing that worried him.

“…The issue of immunity is a problem. To put it bluntly, if the Grand Duke causes a commotion, it could be a big problem.”

The power of the Grand Duke.

That wasn’t something to be greatly afraid of.

After he occupied the barony and left, he was able to obtain various information.

When he accepted an invitation and visited the city of Poert, half of the knights in the inner castle were out training.

“I heard that the knight commander himself led the training.”

Manhattan, the knight commander of the Barony of Caragas.

It was known that he had personally requested this training from the baron.

Judging from the situation, it was clear that Menhattan had betrayed his master.

A sneer appeared on Jifron’s lips as he thought of the former Baron Helmut.

“He must have let his guard down.”

He had sent an invitation with due respect, so he probably thought that if he appeased him a little, the Grand Duke would calm down and restore their relationship.

Therefore, Helmut must have been careless. Wasn’t that the reason why he sent half of the knights to training at the request of the commander?

It was uncharacteristic of Helmut, but it wasn’t incomprehensible.

“He’s getting old and his instincts are dull.”

Ziphron and Helmut had been at odds with each other for decades. As such, they knew each other well.

Helmut.

He was intoxicated by the sweetness of power and had forgotten the harsh reality.

The temperament that had once been so cautious that he would not even touch a single stone had disappeared, replaced by arrogance and a violent temper.

That must be why he sent the knights out at the request of the Grand Master. Zifron had no intention of making the same mistake as Helmut.

“Fortunately, all the knights are inside the castle.”

He was confident that he could easily subdue the Grand Duke if he tried to use his power.

However, there was one thing he feared: the intelligence he had shown long ago.

If the Grand Duke had not fallen, the ten branches of the family would not have been able to manipulate the duke so easily.

“If that intelligence still remains…”

There must be some significant reason behind this visit.

He had to find out what it was.

“Arm the knights as much as possible. Prepare the soldiers as well.”

“Yes, sir. If you give the order, we will make sure that the Nam family cannot cause any trouble.”

“Huh. Knight Commander. I am counting on you.”

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Ziphron remained vigilant.

He prepared for every possible contingency.

* *

Near the center of the outer city.

Silvia spoke quietly.

“I’ll wait here. If I go with you, I’ll only get in the way of the Grand Duke’s battle.”

“Do you have somewhere to go?”

“Yes. I have set up a branch of the intelligence organization here.”

It seemed that she had prepared many things that he had not seen before. Ethan nodded readily. Silvia was an excellent strategist, but not a combatant.

As soon as she got out of the carriage, several people began to escort her.

They must be members of the intelligence organization.

Soon, she disappeared from sight.

With only Ethan and the coachman remaining, the carriage passed through the center of the city and arrived at the entrance to the inner castle.

“They’ve prepared well.”

Ethan smiled when he saw the entrance. As if welcoming enemies, more than twenty knights were gathered near the gate of the inner castle.

It wasn’t just knights.

There were also common soldiers armed with all kinds of weapons stationed here and there.

They looked quite fierce.

If someone unfamiliar with the situation had seen them, they would have thought there was a rebellion in the inner city. Soon, the carriage reached the city gate.

“Stop! Who are you?”

Ethan raised his identity badge in response to the loud voice coming from the gate.

“You are the Grand Duke of Ardan. What brings you here…?”

“Do you need a reason for a member of the Duke’s family to visit a vassal family?”

That wasn’t the case.

The knight who had asked the question suddenly fell silent.

With that, there was no way to pry any more information out of him.

“Are you going to keep the gate closed?”

“Wait… just a moment!”

Soon, a murmur could be heard, and the gate slowly began to open.

“Come in.”

The carriage entered.

The inner gate closed again.

Ethan smiled at the sight.

It seemed like they were showing him that there was no way out, so he shouldn’t make any rash moves. But to Ethan, it just looked cute.

The carriage stopped.

As soon as he opened the door, someone came out to greet Ethan.

It was Baron Zifron.

He was the head of the Romenton family.

“Heh heh. Grand Duke. What brings you here without warning?”

His smile was full of ease.

The reason was simple.

The small town of Ulldon was not only his home,

Because standing beside him were five five-star knights, starting with the knight commander Murren, and two four-star knights standing guard.

No matter how strong the Grand Duke was, he would not be able to fight all of these skilled warriors at once.

“They must be at least four-star knights.”

A 4th-rank knight was skilled enough to take on five or six 3rd-rank knights.

With that kind of skill, he must have beheaded Helmut when the knights were away.

Considering that he had only just awakened, it was indeed an astonishing rate of growth.

Soon, the Grand Duke looked at Zippron and said,

“The reason for your visit? It’s simple.”

Ethan opened the ledger.

“You’ve been up to something interesting in your domain. Have you already forgotten the contents of the vassal contract?”

The ledger showed the taxes sent to Baron Romenton every month. Jifron smiled wryly as he looked at the list.

“Huh. How did you get that?”

“Is that important?”

Yes, it is.

That’s not what’s important.

“Hmm. It seems that my tax collectors made a ‘mistake.’ I will caution them. Knight Commander?”

“Yes.”

“Conduct a thorough investigation of the tax collectors involved in this matter.”

“Understood.”

Seeing them exchange words back and forth, it was enough to make one laugh.

“Mistakes. Seeing that they have been making mistakes for over ten years, it seems that the baron is truly incompetent.”

“Heh heh. Your words are a bit harsh, Prince. Mistakes can be corrected, can’t they?”

Ziphron responded smoothly. Of course, Ziphron had no intention of correcting the matter.

Or rather, he did have a plan.

He planned to hang all the informants who had handed over the ledgers in the town square.

“He’s very relaxed.”

Ethan recalled what Sylvia had said.

He heard that he had revealed some information that was not true about the process of destroying the viscount’s domain.

“He must have handled things much more skillfully than I thought.”

Otherwise, the viscount would not have been able to act so arrogant.

He must think that the balance of power has completely shifted in his favor, which is why he is acting like that.

Even though he did a good job, he did it too well, and that was the problem.

Ethan looked at the three knights standing next to Zifron.

That wasn’t all.

The knights standing guard on the inner wall of the castle began to slowly surround him.

Even at a glance, there were nearly thirty of them.

“Enemy troops.”

If this was all the troops Jifron had prepared, he didn’t think he would lose.

Ethan drew his broadsword in one swift motion.

At that moment.

The knights’ prayers turned sharp. The knights who drew their swords followed suit and raised their weapons menacingly.

“Grand Duke? What are you doing? Have you gone mad? How dare you draw your sword here!”

There were more than twenty official knights of the third rank, as well as knights of the fourth and fifth ranks.

Even if the Grand Duke was a genius of the century, he couldn’t defeat his own knights when he had only been awake for less than three months.

Therefore, the only conclusion was that he had gone mad.

Could it be that he had come here just to cause trouble, relying solely on his immunity, regardless of his intelligence?

It was then that Zifron tilted his head.

“The decision regarding the Romenton baron has been made.”

“…What?”

“The Baron of Romenton has violated the terms of his feudal contract. In accordance with the laws of the Duke’s family, we will seize Romenton Castle as of this moment.”

Ziphron’s face contorted.

He could feel the knights surrounding the Grand Duke becoming restless.

And no wonder.

The one speaking now was the eldest son of the Great Hero’s family.

Whether those words had any real effect or not, the knights couldn’t help but show their unease.

He felt dirty.

The knights here were like his own children.

But they were so easily swayed by a single sentence!

The name Ardan was still deeply engraved in the knights’ hearts. Jifron, who had barely suppressed his anger, said.

“Grand Duke. Is there really a need for us to clash? The real enemy is not me. It is Count Cheiman. He is the root of all this…”

“Don’t worry. That bastard will follow you to the afterlife anyway.”

“…Are you out of your mind?”

There were more than thirty knights and over two hundred soldiers in the inner castle.

He wanted to start a fight here?

The Grand Duke was definitely insane.

Knight Commander Murren.

He raised his voice fiercely. He glared at Zippron, emitting a growling sound.

“Viscount. What should we do?”

“Huu. Grand Duke. If we stop here, this incident will be forgotten…”

“You have a long tongue.”

“…It seems you are the type who cannot understand kind words. This is truly heartbreaking. Murren?”

“Yes, Baron.”

“You may tear the Grand Duke limb from limb, but bring him back to me alive.”

Murren nodded.

It would be more difficult to subdue him while crippling him than to kill him.

However, he was confident.

Even if he had to face the Grand Prince alone, he would have no trouble subduing him.

“Grand Prince. I will make you regret your reckless behavior.”

Murren’s figure disappeared.

He had moved behind the Grand Prince.

Pooong!

“Guh!”

With a tremendous explosion, Murren’s figure shot up into the sky.

His armor was horribly twisted. He had tried to launch a surprise attack but was struck first.

“…What?”

The baron and the knights around him stared wide-eyed at the figure of the knight commander flying far away.