Chapter 13: Another Payoff

Cagary City, the nearest sizable city to Bichi Village, was a so-called “stone city” that looked far more advanced than the ramshackle hamlets of the Wildlands. It was also home to many big landlords and wealthy merchants in this region. Basically, anyone able to live inside such a city had money.

After Farra showed his iron plaque proving his noble status, he led his people through the city gate. When he once again reached the gate of Kone’s residence, the doorman already recognized him.

“Greetings, Lord Jago. May I ask what brings you… ?”

“Go inform your master that Farra Jago has business with him.”

“Yes, please wait a moment…” The guard obediently sent someone to announce the visit.

Kone, who was enjoying conjugal bliss with his wife in his room, suddenly heard a knock at the door.

“Master.”

“Tsk, didn’t I say not to disturb me at this hour?!” The interrupted Kone roared in displeasure.

“Forgive me, Master, but that Baron Jago is here again!” the butler hurriedly reported.

“What? Jago? Why is he here?” Hearing that surname, Kone looked utterly baffled. He scrambled up at once, hastily threw on his clothes, and rushed out.

“Why has Jago come again?”

“I… I don’t know either…”

“…Forget it, bring him in first!”

“Yes, Master.”

Very soon, Jago arrived with several attendants in tow.

“Ah, Lord Jago, what free time brings you here today…” Kone had just forced a smile onto his face when he saw the men following behind Farra, and the smile froze instantly.

“Kone, do you know these men?” Farra asked without any small talk.

“I do not!” Kone shook his head at once, his heart thumping. One never visits the temple without a reason. Ever since Farra had blackmailed him last time, Kone felt that nothing good would come of seeing him. His intuition was fairly accurate.

“Really? Heh, you four, come over here!” Farra turned, dragged the four assassins to the front, and barked, “Kneel!”

“Thud…” The four of them knelt before Kone in unison.

“Lord Jago, what is the meaning of this?” Kone demanded.

Farra did not answer but told the kneeling men, “Your employer is asking you a question; are you not going to respond?”

“Employer??” Kone looked utterly confused. Then the leading man shouted, “Forgive us, Master Kone, our assassination failed!!”

“What… !!?” Kone gave a violent shiver, sprang back a step, and stared at the kneeling four in horror. “What assassination? What are you talking about?!”

“Did you not order us to assassinate the Low Baron named Farra Jago?”

“!!!!” Hearing the man’s words, Kone felt his scalp go numb. His hair practically stood on end. “When did I ever tell you to assassinate Jago?!”

The moment Kone blurted that out, Farra drew the iron sword at his waist. Clang… the blade rested directly on Kone’s shoulder. The sudden move made the butler and the guards jump in fright. Kone’s guards instinctively put hands on their hilts. Behind Farra, Axi and Yanis also tensed fully, ready for combat. The atmosphere turned tense in an instant.

“Lord Jago, what do you mean by this?!” Having been threatened at sword-point again and again, Kone could no longer maintain his fake smile; anger filled his face.

Farra spoke in a low, unhurried voice, “So you do recognize them?”

“I do not!!” Kone snapped back to his senses and shouted. “Everyone here clearly heard what you just said; will you still claim you don’t know these four?”

“I really don’t know them! It was just a slip of the tongue, just a slip!” Realizing he had stepped into another pit, Kone hurried to explain… yet the more he explained, the messier it became.

“A slip of the tongue, meaning you tacitly admit these four are yours, yes? Very well, Kone, every word you speak will become evidence in court that you hired killers to murder a noble!”

“I!!!” Kone took a sharp breath; after blurting that one word, the rest stuck in his throat.

Farra gave him no chance to defend himself, and said with a cold laugh, “Allow me to remind you, Mr. Kone. My immediate liege is His Majesty. If you hired killers to murder me, may I regard it as a provocation to His Majesty, a contempt for royal authority, and an attempt at treason?”

“I!!!!!” Hearing the string of deadly charges, Kone’s face flushed red, the veins on his neck bulged, and he was too anxious and flustered to regain the initiative.

“Enough. Come with me, Mr. Kone. We are going to Cagary City’s noble court! I am filing treason charges against you; if the court here lacks the authority, be ready to accompany me to the royal capital!”

“!!!” In general, if the local court lacked the rank to hear a case, one had to appeal to one’s liege for judgment. Yet Farra had no liege… his immediate superior was the king himself. Therefore, an appeal would go straight to the king. In this era of the Nosbaro Kingdom, the king was basically a figurehead. Nobles fought each other constantly and controlled the kingdom’s highest decision-making power. The king had no real authority. It was very similar to the late Zhou dynasty in a certain parallel world. Even so, royal prestige still existed. The great nobles still nominally swore fealty to the crown and jointly upheld it. Kone, a petty rich man in some remote backwater, could never afford to challenge that. If he dared, the court would dare to condemn him to death.

“Come with me!” Farra withdrew the sword, sheathed it, and grabbed Kone’s arm.

The nearby guards immediately tried to block him, but Farra glared at them and said, “Anyone who dares interfere will likewise be charged with treason! Do you wish to rebel?”

“!” The guards froze and halted.

“Wait.” After being dragged two steps, Kone finally came back to his senses. “Have you something else to say?” Farra stared at him.

“…” Sweat drenched Kone’s entire body in the cold weather. At this point, arguing over who had hired the assassins seemed meaningless. Once they set foot in court, the four would certainly identify him. If he went, he was finished… utterly.

“Well, ah-ha-ha… Baron Jago, I really didn’t do this…”

…Farra turned his head and kept pulling him.

“But!” Kone hurriedly spoke again, “I am still willing to compensate you for the offense these four committed, as a token for your exhausting trip from that distant countryside to Cagary.”

Farra let go and asked, “Then how much will you pay me for spiritual loss, lost time, and labor?”

“…” Kone froze; except for the last one he had never heard of those fees. “Well, how about ten silver coins?”

“Ten silver coins? Then let’s go to court.”

“Thirty! Will thirty do?”

“Do you think a noble lacks such petty cash?!”

“Fifty! I really can’t offer more, Lord Jago! I have parents, children, and several concubines to feed; life is truly hard!” Kone fell to his knees, sobbing and sniffling.

Farra cast a look of disdain at him. A mere fifty silver coins was nothing to these fat cats rolling in wealth. One silver coin equaled one thousand copper coins; fifty coins amounted to fifty thousand… a large sum, yet trivial to a noble.

“One gold coin, and the matter ends here! Otherwise you are coming to court with me, and once convicted of murdering a noble, all your property will be confiscated!”

“One gold coin… !!?” Kone’s voice shot up. “Lord Jago, one gold coin is more than I earn in a year!” One gold coin equaled one thousand silver coins, one million copper coins… so much that several handcarts could not carry them! He absolutely would not agree.

“If you cannot produce it, we cannot settle privately!”

“I truly can’t, Lord Jago, and I couldn’t scrape up one gold coin on short notice! How about five hundred silver coins; that is everything I can manage, not a coin more!”

“Very well, five hundred silver coins it is.” Farra agreed without the slightest haggling.

“…” Kone felt swindled yet again. Reluctantly, he ordered the butler to fetch the money. Spending money to stave off disaster was a merchant’s habitual tactic… Even if the matter really had nothing to do with him, it was useless… merchants were mere money bags to be bled by nobles. Compared with the tributes other nobles demanded, Farra’s request was moderate.

“Hold on.” Farra stopped Kone. “Do not give me the silver coins; convert them into goods of equal value.”

“Goods, huh…” Kone stroked his beard. “What kind of goods do you need, my lord?”

“Grain, draft oxen, sheep, all kinds of vegetable seeds, metal farm tools, slaves, and craftsmen.”

Hearing the list, Kone immediately understood his intention. “You plan to open up the wasteland?”

“Exactly.”

“With respect, Lord Jago, that land has little arable soil, the yield is miserable, and in fact it is uninhabitable. Even if you buy so much, it will all be thrown into the water.” Kone felt pained… after all, it was his money! Watching Farra casually dump it into something likely to yield nothing made his merchant’s instincts twitch.

“Heh…” Listening to Kone, Farra suddenly felt sure the four assassins were not hired by him. Since not by Kone, it could only have been Kaida. Apparently even merchants differed among themselves. More than that, it was a collapse of rites… from the inside out… The Nosbaro Kingdom’s cohesion and deterrence had eroded to the brink of collapse.

“Just do as I say; you need not worry about the rest.”

“…Yes.” Seeing Farra’s calm expression, Kone felt the same impression he had at their first meeting. This noble seemed somehow different from the others. Any other noble would never do such a thing. Besides, the fact that Farra had been enfeoffed in such a desolate place was odd.

Could that god-forsaken place really hold something he valued? After all, Farra was no fool… he would never do something unprofitable.

“Then I’ll leave these four to you.” Having settled everything, Farra pointed at the four men on the ground. “I promised them that if you admitted guilt, their crimes would be pardoned. I now honor that promise… I’ll pursue the matter no further, and as for them, I return them to their owner. Handle them yourself.”

“Very well…” Kone’s expression turned icy as he watched the four kneeling men.

“You four really did try to assassinate Baron Jago?”

“Th-this, we…” The four stammered.

“Answer me, or I’ll have you chopped up and fed to the dogs!”

“Y-yes! We really did attempt… attempted to assassinate… a noble…” The four shuddered in terror and admitted it.

“…” Kone’s face was as calm as still water. Seeing that their right hands had all been cut off, he had already guessed they might truly have done it. Yet hearing them confess still set off huge waves in his heart. It was actually true… ?! Someone really dared hire killers to murder a noble?

“…” After a long silence, Kone let out a long sigh. “Ah… Nosbaro…!” Things were getting messier and messier. No one had dared do such things before. But now they had.

“Master, how should we deal with these four?”

“…Dump them in front of Kaida’s courtyard.” Kone glanced at the butler, his tone icy.

“Yes…” People who act too boldly will capsize in the gutter sooner or later. In these increasingly chaotic times, moving cautiously and reading the wind is the best strategy.