"What did you just say?"
The guard's face twisted grimly as he puffed out his chest and strode toward Yuri. His chest muscles bulged—seemed like he'd trained them well.
"You little punk…"
The guard bumped into Yuri and tried to push him with his chest.
Before Laurent could flip out, Yuri reached out and stopped him.
"What do you mean, what did I say?"
Yuri chuckled, then slid some money into the guard's back pocket.
And whispered into his ear.
"I was just trying to discreetly pass along a gift to you, sir. Hehehe…"
The guard felt a weight settle near his hip.
Thanks to his long, corrupt career, he could estimate the amount just by the feel of it.
Like frozen ground thawing in spring, his heart melted softly.
The corners of his lips lifted on their own, and soon he was grinning brightly.
Turns out, he was a man capable of making such a face.
"If you kids act up again, you'll be in trouble. Got it?"
"Yes, sir!"
"I'm letting it slide just this once, so say thank you."
"Thank you!"
"Go on in, get to it. Next."
And just like that, Yuri's group passed through the city gates without issue.
Jared looked at Yuri like he was seeing a fascinating artifact.
"Your Highness."
"What?"
"Well…"
"Your eyes are being insolent."
"You really grew up in the royal palace, right?"
"Yeah. You were there with me, weren't you?"
"Then why are you so streetwise?"
"What did you say?"
Yuri kicked Jared in the butt.
As they bantered, they finally entered the city and the interior of Euzeth came into view.
It wasn't quite a royal capital, but it was a very bustling city.
Carts loaded with goods constantly moved along the streets, and from the distant marketplace came a steady stream of noise.
"Welcome to Euzeth."
A small child ran up from the street and held out a flower.
"Buy a flower, please."
Seemed like the kid made some pocket money off visitors.
Laurent smiled as he took the flower.
"Hey kid, how old are you?"
"Seven years old, sir."
"Working already? You're quite impressive."
"The price is…"
"No need."
Laurent pulled a shiny silver coin from his chest pocket and placed it in the child's hand.
"Use it to eat something delicious with your parents."
"Thank you!"
The child's eyes widened. He pocketed the coin and bowed deeply to Laurent.
Laurent smiled.
"So cute."
But that happy feeling didn't last long.
Before the child could return to where he'd been standing, two shabby-looking men appeared and grabbed his clothes.
"That silver coin—where is it?"
"Hand it over, now."
The coin ended up in their pockets.
As Laurent stared blankly, they gave him a sideways glance, smirked, and disappeared into a dark alley.
Seemed they couldn't wait to snatch it, given the coin's value.
Yuri placed a hand on Laurent's shoulder.
"You ever hear of 'beggar rings'?"
"What's that?"
"What you just saw."
"You mean… they exploit the kids?"
Yuri patted his shoulder, then started walking again.
"Yeah. Try to make sure there are no kids like that in Francaise."
"Isn't there a way to stop it?"
"The territory would have to change at its root."
"What if we take that kid with us…"
"Laurent."
Laurent knew he was being unreasonable, so he couldn't say more.
Yuri, watching him, chuckled.
"Alright. I'll figure something out. Just trust me and wait."
"Yes, understood."
"For now, let's focus on our job."
Yuri began walking again, scanning the surroundings.
"Should be near the market…"
And then, he spotted what he was looking for on the ground.
Yuri stared at a flyer lying there, and Jared laughed.
"Wow, loan sharks are pretty clever these days. 'Uncle's daily loan,' huh? Trying to seem friendly so people will borrow money? Hahaha…"
"Exactly."
Yuri roughly memorized the location written on the flyer and continued walking.
Gorio and Uncle's Daily Loan had already taken over most of Briol's back alleys. Getting rid of one beggar ring was no big deal.
The real issue was how to protect the children left behind.
"Laurent."
"Yes?"
"Should we start an orphanage? Is your family rich?"
"Rich enough, but compared to Your Highness…"
"I'm just the third prince. Nothing special."
"I'm the firstborn, but only from a count's family."
The commoner-born, salaried escort knight Jared, walking beside them, stared at the two dumbfounded.
But the rich boys' conversation showed no signs of ending.
"Francaise is a pretty wealthy territory. I heard all the fields you can see from the castle spire belong to House Flandre."
"So what? The whole country belongs to His Majesty anyway."
"I'm telling you, I'm just the third prince."
"And I'm just a count."
Jared looked up at the sky and sighed deeply. He thought of the friends back home who had once looked up to him for getting a job in the royal palace.
"Disgustingly lonely…"
***
Euzeth was a vast domain.
Though most people were concentrated in the city attached to the lord's citadel, many still lived scattered in small villages.
So Yuri hadn't expected to run into any familiar faces right away.
But then something unexpected happened.
"Make way, we're escorting a criminal!"
As soon as Yuri's group secured a place to stay and stabled their horses, a commotion erupted on the street.
People parted to the sides, and in between them was someone inside a mobile cage, surrounded by soldiers, being escorted away.
Then Yuri recognized the familiar profile of the bowed criminal.
He muttered.
"See what I mean."
"What do you mean?"
"Now that the war's over, no one's living right anymore."
"Sorry?"
"Don't recognize him?"
"Uh…"
Jared's jaw dropped.
"No way—that's Sir Raymond?"
"When did he become your 'sir'?"
"We agreed to address each other as brothers back in the Allied Army."
"How unexpected. Didn't think Sir Raymond would associate with someone as frivolous as you…"
"Poor knights connect in their own way. What would royalty know about it?"
"As expected, you're frivolous."
Maybe it was that bond, but Jared's eyes blazed with determination.
He began counting the escort soldiers. Yuri jabbed him in the ribs.
"You maniac."
"Let's attack."
"Things always work out in time. First, let's ask what's going on."
"Ask who?"
Yuri jerked his chin toward the back of the prison wagon.
"Those guys over there."
Jared's eyes shifted.
Just as Yuri said, a group of men were marching behind the procession holding placards and protesting.
They were all familiar faces.
"Every one of them's from Euzeth—former Allied Army."
"Looks like it."
"Raymond ending up like that must have something to do with why we came."
Yuri grinned slyly.
"Let's follow those guys."
Yuri's group blended into the crowd like regular townspeople and trailed behind them.
The Allied Army protestors occasionally raised their voices to draw attention.
"Sir Raymond is innocent!"
"Free him now!"
"Wicked lord, wake up!"
"Stop the persecution of Allied Army veterans!"
The knight leading the escort turned around and scrunched his nose.
"If they keep making a fuss, beat them up."
"Yes, sir!"
The soldiers responded loudly, clearly annoyed as well.
At that, the Allied Army group quieted down immediately. They watched their surroundings for a while, then, when things seemed to settle, they shouted again.
"Free Sir Raymond!"
"Sir Raymond is a noble knight!"
They were being just annoying enough to avoid getting beaten.
Jared, watching the scene, muttered.
"Looks like they picked up Your Highness's ways while serving in the Allied Army."
"You saying I act like that?"
"You're good at hit-and-run tactics."
"That's called strategy."
In the end, Raymond was taken to prison.
The Allied Army group stood in front of it, hands on their hips, looking deflated.
"If even Sir Raymond ends up like that, won't they take all our money too?"
"What the hell are you saying? We should be thinking of saving him."
"Gotta save both."
They dropped their placards and trudged away.
Yuri stepped in front of them.
The group hadn't noticed him, too busy looking down at the ground, and looked up with scowls.
"Who are you…"
The man at the front locked eyes with Yuri.
He furrowed his brows.
He clearly recognized the face, but couldn't place who it was.
Yuri spoke first.
"Impudent bastard."
"Excuse me?"
The tone made the formal language come out automatically.
"You've already forgotten me? No wonder you're so bad at cards—your memory's goldfish-level."
"No way…"
"It's that way."
"Wait. Your hair…"
"It's called a magical artifact, you idiot."
At that, the man's eyes widened and he rushed forward, throwing his arms around Yuri.
"Your Highness!"
"Hey, that's a bit too close."
Not just him—others in the Allied Army group ran forward and hugged Laurent and Jared too.
They looked truly pitiful, like they'd suffered a lot.
"Right after the Allied Army disbanded, we went through so much…"
"I heard from Fidesz."
"Yes. This sort of thing was happening nationwide, so we sent Fidesz just in case. But for Your Highness to come in person, truly…"
"Now do you get it?"
"You seem to have a lot of free time."
"What?"
"Just kidding. Hahaha…"
Meeting as royalty and commoners outside of the battlefield made things awkward at first, but since Yuri's attitude hadn't changed, the Allied Army men soon relaxed.
"Heard you lost all your money playing cards?"
"What are you talking about? I've cleaned my hands of gambling."
"Just saying."
"But it's true I did lose money. Those damned lords…"
Yuri followed them to a house tucked in a corner of the city.
It was an ordinary family home. A dog wagged its tail and greeted them in the yard.
"It's humble, but it's my home."
Yuri looked a bit surprised.
"Might be too small for Your Highness…"
"You actually have a real house?"
"Excuse me?"
"I thought with your card debts, you'd be living in a crumbling shack."
"Well, my wife's family has some money."
"And the debt?"
"That was my personal debt."
"You bastard…"
Still, he hadn't bet his house or family—so he'd drawn the line somewhere, even as a gambler.
Inside, his wife greeted them and showed everyone to their seats.
Since Yuri hadn't revealed his status, she just thought he was one of her husband's acquaintances.
Once seated, Yuri grinned.
"Ace, you've got a wife far too good for you."
His name was Ace. Yuri used to joke that he was born to play cards.
"Hehehe…"
Ace chuckled bashfully.
"So, what happened?"
"Sorry? Ah, you mean how I got such a great wife…"
"No, I mean the Allied Army situation."
"Oh, that. I don't know either. They suddenly started collecting taxes…"
"There wasn't supposed to be income tax on compensation."
"They just made it up. Called it a Veteran Public Safety Fee or something…"
"What's that?"
"They said we might have gotten violent fighting orcs, so they're collecting extra money for public safety."
"Wow…"
Yuri was impressed. It was a novel idea.
"Then they took all the Allied Army Brotherhood funds and didn't give them back."
"Was that Genard's doing?"
"Probably. All the lords pulling this crap are tied to Genard."
"There is a faction behind him, yeah."
"They say it's because the money's origin is unclear…"
"How's a donation supposed to have a clear origin?"
"They want us to disclose who donated what. If we don't, they say it's dirty money."
"Meanwhile, they keep their own warehouses locked tight, calling it personal property…"
Yuri closed his eyes.
In his past life as a mercenary, he'd experienced plenty of noble tyranny. His entire mercenary company had once been stiffed on payment.
Back then, they protested with force and finally got what they were owed.
But how could these men fight against powerful nobles like that?
"Your Highness,"
Jared, who had been listening quietly, asked,
"Even if the compensation was generous, why would they go this far? It's not that much money from a lord's perspective."
"If money's lying on the street, you pick it up—even if it's small. From a lord's point of view, it's just easy to snatch."
"Bastards…"
"Still, it is a bit strange."
Yuri tilted his head. Jared had a point—they were going a little too far.
Yuri asked Ace,
"Was there anything that happened right before Genard started doing this?"
"If something happened… hmm…"
Ace paused to think.
"I'm not sure, but there is one thing that stands out."
"What is it?"
"Feels like they started harassing us after that."
"After what?"
"Well…"
Ace scratched his cheek, embarrassed.
"I went around talking about how amazing and awesome Your Highness is. I mean, who in the Allied Army didn't? But then knights came and told us to stop talking about the Allied Army."
[T/L: Read more chapters on Ko-fi page "RevengerScans" : https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]