I Regressed to My Ruined Family – 41

 #I returned, and my family was ruined (42)

Ethan grabbed Jiphron by the collar.

“Let… let go!”

His struggling was quite annoying.

Smack!

The moment he slapped him across the cheek, the guy fell silent as if he were dead.

The tremendous force knocked him unconscious in an instant. Even though the baron was being beaten in front of them, no one moved.

“From now on, the position of baron is vacant. Therefore, I will personally govern the Romenton Barony for the time being.”

Finishing his words, Ethan lifted the baron up and approached the knights.

The remaining knights were the ones who had attacked him because they were following the orders of their master, the baron.

These knights had a certain amount of respect for the Duke of Ardan, or at least they were not hostile toward him.

That was why he spared their lives.

“Where is the prison?”

“…It is located near the training ground in the west.”

“Throw him in there.”

“The… baron, to prison?”

“I said not the baron.”

“…”

Oh my god.

He really intends to throw Zippo in prison!

There was not a hint of humor in Ethan’s words. This was definitely not a joke.

“If this guy isn’t in prison when I return, you will be held responsible.”

“……”

Even though knights are supposed to be loyal to their masters,

there were few who could remain loyal in a situation where their lives were being threatened so openly. The knight who had received Ethan’s direct order was one of those few.

“Do you have a complaint?”

No one came forward.

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He chuckled and handed the baron to the knights. The hesitant knights carried the baron on their shoulders and headed toward the dungeon.

Ethan’s gaze immediately turned to the soldiers.

These were the foot soldiers who had fiercely rebelled against the baron’s orders.

They were the ones who reminded him of the duke’s family in the past.

Ethan bowed his head slightly.

“Thank you all.”

“No… No, it’s our duty!”

The foot soldiers jumped up.

For commoners like them, this was simply the way they thought. They did not believe that they had done anything so great as to warrant a bow from the descendant of such a great family.

Meanwhile, Ethan continued.

“I promise you here and now. From this day forward, everything in the Viscountdom of Romenton will change.”

Gulp!

The soldiers swallowed hard.

When they were young.

In the Kingdom of Haiden, the Duchy of Ardan was renowned as the most livable region.

It was a family that was cruel to its enemies but warmer than anyone else to those within its walls.

That was why the residents of the duchy were extremely proud and had always respected their dukes.

The Grand Duke was a descendant of that duke. His words were those of a man who could be trusted above all others.

The exploitation and oppression would disappear, and the glory of the past would be restored.

Hope filled the eyes of the soldiers.

“If His Highness will rule the barony, I will defend the land with my life!”

“I will do the same!”

Amidst the excited soldiers, one soldier raised his hand and said.

“Grand Duke! M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-

The duke had shaken hands with his parents and blessed them.

After that, William’s parents’ work became so successful that they were able to save enough money to open a respectable shop in the city.

Although the previous duke had passed away, his descendant was standing right in front of him.

“If only I could shake the prince’s hand!”

He wondered if he too could build a respectable family like his parents.

Ethan nodded eagerly at the soldier’s words.

When he had inspected the domain with his father in the past, he had offered prayers of blessing to some of the commoners.

“It’s not difficult.”

Ethan approached the soldier.

“What is your name?”

“Mo… William!”

“William. May blessings be upon you.”

Just as his father had taught him.

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Ethan blessed him.

“Thank… thank you! I will never wash this hand until the day I die!”

“…You should wash your hands. Blessings don’t disappear just like that.”

“Yes, sir! Thank you!”

William bowed his head. Just then,

“Your Highness! Please bless me too…”

“Me too…”

All the soldiers raised their hands. It seemed like there would be a lot of handshakes today.

* *

After shaking hands with all 200 soldiers, Ethan entered the inner castle. Everyone inside the castle had grim expressions on their faces.

Starting with the five-star knight, the commander of the knight order, all the way down to the four-star knight, the deputy commander, everyone had met their deaths.

The knights had not even been able to touch a single hair on the Grand Duke’s head, so there was no need to hear more to guess how formidable he was.

“He hid his abilities.”

The rumors that had spread throughout the Barony of Karagas were proven to be false.

Thanks to that, Viscount Zifron was imprisoned without putting up any resistance. He had always spoken ill of Helmut, but in the end, he met the same tragic end.

A single figure entered the quiet inner castle.

As if it were the most natural thing in the world, he arrived at the viscount’s office and knocked on the door.

“Your Highness. May I come in?”

“Yes.”

Soon after, Silvia entered the office.

“You have now recovered two baronies.”

“We still have a long way to go. What about Prexian?”

“I have already informed my master. He should arrive here within a day.”

Finishing her words, Silvia handed him some documents.

Ethan unfolded the documents.

Just like when they captured the Caragas domain, various strategies were written densely on the pages, as if they were attempting to disrupt their information.

It didn’t look bad to him.

The more the enemy let their guard down, the easier it would be to make a move.

He nodded in agreement and turned to the second page.

“This is information on the vassals and relatives of the Baron of Romenton.”

He examined the contents carefully.

The documents she handed him were filled with information on the relatives of the baron and their connections to the vassals, as well as the vassals’ actions up to that point.

So they formed an information group.

It seemed like they had been working hard all this time.

“This place is rotten to the core.”

“Yes. It needs to be cleaned up. We will proceed once His Highness makes a decision.”

“All right.”

The first thing he looked at was the personal information of the vassals related to taxation.

Eight out of ten were bureaucrats who were so corrupt they were completely rotten.

He lightly marked them with an X. These guys were beyond redemption. It would be best to confiscate all their property and send them straight to the guillotine.

So, X marks began to appear one after another on the documents.

“Come to think of it, how is the gathering of officials going?”

“So far, we have gathered more than thirty officials. All of them have experience working in the duke’s domain and are of good character.”

“Leave about ten in the Baron of Karagas domain and bring the rest here.”

There would be a lot of empty positions to fill, so he needed people to fill them.

With about twenty, the domain’s operations would not come to a standstill.

“I will do as you say.”

Next, he entrusted the command of the private soldiers to Silvia.

He left it to her to deal with those who had attacked X and to bind the baron’s relatives.

She nodded lightly.

It had been less than a day since they had occupied the Romenton baron’s residence.

The purge was already proceeding rapidly.

* *

A day had passed.

During that time, the number of prisoners in the dungeon had increased dramatically.

This was because there were so many people who had done things worthy of imprisonment.

A person was moving toward the dungeon.

It was Silvia.

Several knights stood guard near her.

Silvia looked at the building where the prison was located.

This prison was not underground but located in a building above ground. It was a three-story stone tower.

She climbed the stairs to the prison. Zephron was locked in a room at the top of the building.

“Get up.”

“…”

Just one day.

Locked in a solitary cell without a single ray of sunlight, Zephron’s complexion had turned completely dark.

It was as if she had been lost in thought for a very long time.

“Who are you?”

“I am the Grand Duke’s strategist.”

“…Why are you here?”

“I have something to ask you.”

Silvia replied calmly and took out a few tools.

When Jifron saw them, his face turned pale. They were clearly tools designed for torture.

For him, who was tied up and unable to move properly, the situation was pure terror.

“What… what are you going to do! You madman!”

“You must know roughly what happened to Helmut, right?”

“…

“If you want to go peacefully, just answer my questions.”

His expressionless face and blunt manner of speaking gave the impression that he would not budge an inch.

This kind of person was one of the most terrifying types of human beings.

As Jifron’s body trembled, Silvia asked,

“The duke’s belongings. Where did you put it?”

“If you mean the relic… Are you talking about the black liquid?”

“Yes.”

At those words, Jifron rolled his eyes. The black liquid that had flowed out of the former duke’s body as he closed his eyes.

He didn’t know what it was used for, but he could tell just by looking at it that it was something unusual.

It was an item that all ten branches of the family had coveted, and in the end, an auction was held to determine its owner.

There were eight bottles of the liquid, and luckily, Jifron was able to win one of them at the auction.

The Grand Duke’s strategist is looking for it himself?

It must be something useful. Just as greed began to creep into his heart,

“You’re reacting just like Helmut.”

Silvia said casually as she picked up one of the tools.

It was small but sharp like a thorny tree, with points sticking out here and there. Silvia stabbed it into Jiphron’s thigh.

“Ugh… Aaah!”

“Your answer?”

“That… That’s in my office… Inside! Stop… Stop stabbing me, you madman!”

The feeling of a sharp blade spinning inside his thigh was so painful that it was enough to make him faint.

Only then did Silvia release her grip.

She immediately took something out of her bosom and sprinkled it on Jifron’s thigh.

“What… is that?”

“It’s a hemostatic agent.”

‘You… you’re crazy!’

Why would she apply a hemostatic agent immediately after inflicting a wound?

It meant that if he resisted, she would cause him as much pain as possible.

This guy was truly insane.

“Second question.”

“Ugh…”

Ziphron blinked hard.

At that moment, he instinctively realized that if he didn’t give the answer she wanted, he would feel the same pain over and over again.

“Do you know anything about an organization called the ‘Cult’ that serves the Yongin tribe, or a group of skilled magicians?”

“Do you know anything about a group called the ‘Cult’ that serves the Yongin tribe, or a group of skilled magicians? They must have come looking for you at least once.”

The bookman who asked the question fiddled with the needle.

He didn’t know when it would pierce his thigh again.

It was terrifying enough to drive him mad.

It was when she raised the awl.

“Wait… wait a moment! Think! You have to give me time to think!”

“I’ll give you one minute.”

Ziphron spent the most intense minute of his entire life.

58 seconds.

59 seconds.

The minute was almost up.

“I… I remember! Are you talking about those crazy cultists?”

“…Cultists?”

“That’s right…”

Ziphron hurriedly continued. Silvia began to listen intently to his story.

After obtaining the information.

The first place she headed after escaping from prison was the Grand Prince’s office.

“Is the job done?”

“Yes. I was able to obtain some interesting information along with the location of Palhwan. Do you happen to know anything about a book called ‘The Book of the Dragon Clan’?”

“…The Book of the Dragon Clan?”

“I heard it’s a book praising the dragon clan.”

It was an intriguing story.