I Inherited a Beautiful Wife and a Territory - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Inheriting a Beautiful Wife and Estate Episode 010

10. Bingo. I Knew They’d Come Here

The Quest that appeared after raising the Military category.

The criminal organization within it.

From the moment he saw this, there was something that required more attention than recruitment.

Before Cliff began full-scale training, when he was simply letting the soldiers eat their fill.

Cliff called one of them aside again.

“You’re the most senior among the soldiers?”

“Ah, yes. Lord’s representative. I am indeed the most veteran soldier in this estate.”

No matter how messy, an army was still an army.

If there was a criminal organization in the estate, they couldn’t possibly be unaware of it. Cliff decided to test him.

“Are there people in this estate who are hated by others?”

“Huh?”

“What do you think? Do you think there are any?”

“Why are you asking about such things…?”

The veteran soldier looked at Cliff with a puzzled expression.

At that question, Nigel, who was beside them, shouted angrily.

“How dare you question the Lord’s representative’s words? Do you think you have the right to know what the Lord’s representative is doing?”

“Eek, I-I’m sorry.”

Nigel was like the second-in-command of this estate.

And he was someone who had wielded authority in the estate for much longer than Cliff.

Naturally, the veteran soldier was frightened by his scolding.

“I still haven’t heard an answer?”

“Well… among the people the estate residents dislike, there’s someone called Be-Bellman.”

“Bellman? What does he do?”

“He’s a loan shark. Since he’s a moneylender, he naturally… receives a lot of resentment from those around him.”

Cliff’s eyes narrowed.

In this world, loan sharking wasn’t illegal.

So this alone wasn’t enough reason to call them a ‘criminal organization’ in the Quest. However, there was something puzzling.

‘The circumstances of people here should all be about the same…’

Being a loan shark meant he was essentially a merchant.

And merchants had to make profit somehow. But in this estate, there was nothing to gain from loan sharking.

If there was anything, it would be only one thing.

“He lends food and if they can’t repay, he takes their children as slaves?”

“That’s… yes, that’s correct.”

In this estate, the only thing that could make money was people.

So this Bellman wasn’t dealing in money but in human trafficking.

‘That’s certainly bad… but still, this alone isn’t enough to call them a criminal organization.’

There had to be something more.

The Quest he received.

It might be more difficult than he thought.

The fact that they were trafficking people meant.

‘They have connections to the outside, don’t they?’

There were external forces in league with them.

Forces that received and sold slaves from them.

Perhaps they were the criminal organization the Quest was referring to.

‘But if it’s an organization outside the estate, it’s beyond my current capabilities…’

Cliff looked at Nigel and asked.

“Are there people under Bellman worth being cautious of?”

“There are a few swordsmen that Bellman has hired. From the outside, they’re not at an impressive level, but in this estate, there’s no one who can match them.”

There were swordsmen.

Cliff filed away that information.

‘How should I handle this matter?’

While training the estate’s forces, Cliff pondered the method.

Then an incident occurred.

Bellman was displeased with Cliff gradually building up his strength.

It was natural.

For him to sell the estate’s people to outsiders, they needed to be poor. When food became scarce, the commoners would take loans using their children as collateral.

But with Cliff’s arrival, this was changing.

‘The lord is distributing food.’

Cliff’s actions.

First, Cliff had exempted them from taxes.

Because of this, each household had some breathing room. Next, Cliff was giving work to each family and distributing food.

That was why.

Also, he was now building up the army.

“Since a hundred soldiers are patrolling the estate together…”

Cliff’s jogging under the pretext of training.

This became patrolling as well. Several subordinates who had caused disturbances were thrown into prison.

So the organization’s activities were inevitably restricted.

“We need to get our guys out first.”

“What should we do?”

“What do you mean what? We need to bribe the prison warden. Damn. Real money is going to flow out.”

It was always like this.

Bellman thought he could easily get his subordinates back by giving bribes this time too. Even before, there had been times when his subordinates were caught and imprisoned like now.

Each time, Bellman had spent money to free them, so his subordinates acted fearlessly in the estate.

‘I don’t like it, but the moment I abandon that loyalty, they won’t be devoted to me either.’

So he attempted bribery.

However, this time the result was different from before.

“What? He won’t take it?”

“Th-that’s right.”

The prison guard refused the bribe.

That wasn’t all.

“That old man Nigel always visits the prison.”

“Damn. Anyone else I don’t know about, but that stubborn yet sharp old man…”

He understood why the guard wouldn’t take bribes.

He was being mindful of a fearsome supervisor. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.

Perhaps Nigel was just an excuse.

Lately, the soldiers were really different from the old soldiers.

‘This is all because the Lord’s representative’s storehouse is well-stocked.’

Bellman believed all power came from money.

Previously, the Elimis family had no money. But with Cliff’s arrival, that money appeared.

So the soldiers who used to subtly show him favor had turned away.

‘That method would be best after all.’

His eyes took on a dangerous glint.

“What do we do now?”

“What do you mean what? We need to give him a blow so he can’t act up anymore.”

At Bellman’s words, those around him flinched.

“No, boss. But if we attack a noble…”

“Of course we can’t directly strike a noble.”

If it had been the previous Elimis family, he might have touched them.

He was someone who had no connections with outside nobles. But now Cliff was different.

Hadn’t Cliff said it himself with his own mouth?

That he was a person of the Duke’s house.

‘I don’t know if those words are true, but considering the level of the carriage and escorts that lord’s representative came here with…’

Also, recalling what Cliff had said, it seemed like those escorts had merely run errands for Cliff and would come again.

If they were knights of the Duke’s house, no matter how many of his own men there were, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

Bellman had that much awareness.

‘Damn. I might need to leave this land faster than I thought.’

He had planned to play king here for life, but it might not work out well.

But that wouldn’t last long either.

Bellman believed that Cliff would either leave this estate, or the Duke’s house would abandon this estate.

After all, even Baron Elimis, who was the original owner of this estate, had abandoned the estate and left. Cliff, who had lived comfortably in the capital city, showing interest in this estate was only momentary.

He just needed to endure a little.

“…Listen carefully to what I say from now on.”

He sent someone to the guard.

The operation time was at night.

At night, they set fire to the guard post.

“Fi, fire!”

And those who had set the fire shouted and made a commotion.

“Ahhh! Bandits! It’s a bandit attack!”

The prison was located close to the domain guard outpost.

Since a disturbance had occurred, the awakened guards would rush to the prison.

“The prisoners are escaping from the prison!”

The entire village became chaotic.

Bellman heard all that commotion from his own house.

“Will this serve as a warning?”

The swordsmen he had hired totaled three.

One of them tilted his head toward Bellman.

He couldn’t understand Bellman’s intention of stirring up the prison. It was a dangerous operation that could be seen as rebellion against the lord. However, the gains would be insufficient.

‘Even if we rescue our subordinates…’

Even if they rescued organization members, if they incurred the wrath of Cliff, the lord’s representative, the organization would be in danger.

“Of course this alone is useless. So you take four or five subordinates right now and go to the lord’s storehouse.”

From the beginning, Bellman had no interest in the prison situation.

He just wanted to draw the soldiers’ attention there.

“The reason the lord’s representative has power now is because his storehouse is abundant. Directly harming the lord’s representative would be wrong, but if arsonists set fire to the estate warehouse, that’s not something outside nobles would intervene in.”

“But if we do such a thing, won’t the lord’s representative become angry?”

“Hehe. If the lord’s storehouse burns down, the soldiers will have less reason to follow his orders. Morale will drop. And the lord’s representative is young but quite clever.”

Bellman acknowledged Cliff.

So he thought this operation would succeed.

“Since his storehouse burned down, he’ll need a new storehouse to replace that storehouse.”

To be precise, he would need a kind of financial backer to replace the grain in the storehouse.

‘There’s no one in this estate more suitable for that role than me.’

Bellman thought it worked out well instead.

He should use this opportunity to put a leash on the lord using wealth.

Since Cliff was clever, there was a high possibility he would join hands with Bellman who had wealth. Of course, Cliff might try to kill Bellman and confiscate his wealth.

But that would be unreasonable.

‘My wealth isn’t that kind of material thing.’

The lord couldn’t find his wealth.

Even more so if he killed him.

So Bellman decided to leisurely wait for Cliff’s visit.

‘The lord’s storehouse just needs to burn down.’

During that time, Bellman decided to create an alibi.

He planned to shout that this disturbance had nothing to do with him.

So the swordsman who received Bellman’s instructions moved to the storehouse.

‘I just need to set fire here, right?’

If it had been a storehouse that was normally heavily guarded, this kind of operation would have been unreasonable.

But now, attention was probably focused on the prison disturbance.

As expected, he was able to easily approach the location of the estate warehouse.

Hiding his body in the darkness, slowly.

He moved as if crawling.

When moving like this in black clothes at night, most people would find it difficult to discover him. Especially now when attention was drawn to the prison side, it would be even harder to notice him approaching from the opposite side.

Unless the opponent was a mana user.

“…Bingo. I thought you’d come here after all.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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