I’m a Rookie, but I’m an Experienced Professional - Chapter 109

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

Chapter 109

The next day, as soon as I arrived at work, I went to the nobleman’s office and told him everything that had happened the night before and all the confessions the men had made.

“That should be enough to drive the Baron and Baroness Kroshvand out of the territory.”

Callix Crowbell’s lips curved up diagonally.

“I’ll send the knights immediately.”

“That won’t do.”

When I stopped him, he looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Why? Wasn’t setting a trap to drive them out the whole point?”

“That’s true, but if you take direct action, they’ll claim to the palace that Duke Crowbell framed them.”

Although the men had testified, there was no evidence to back up their testimony.

So if the Baron and Baroness stubbornly denied everything and the palace sided with them, Callix Crowbell would end up looking like a fool.

“So instead of driving them out, we need to make them leave Belheim on their own.”

“Do you have a good method for that?”

“Of course.”

I nodded with a sly smile.

The drainage construction was an important opportunity to increase my influence.

“Please leave it to me again, my lord.”

Since they had tried to interfere with that, I intended to make them pay the price dearly.

* * *

“Did you hear that story? My goodness, the Baroness of Kroshvand tried to dump a massive amount of filth into the drainage ditch!”

The next morning, the shameless misdeeds of the Baroness of Kroshvand spread through people’s mouths and instantly throughout all of Belheim.

“The reason she interfered with the construction was ultimately about money. Once the drainage is completed, magical protection won’t be needed anymore, and then she wouldn’t be able to receive the enormous brokerage fees she was collecting from introducing mages!”

“No wonder. She was making such a fuss about how the drainage construction would harm the aesthetics, and why go through unnecessary trouble when magical protection could solve everything simply… It was all to line her own pockets!”

The murmuring quickly turned into fierce criticism.

“Look over there, see how she’s hiding like a mouse, unable even to open her curtains.”

“So what if she’s related to the royal family? Sucking the lifeblood from the territory’s people to fill her own belly, tsk tsk.”

People deliberately passed by Kroshvand Manor and spoke loudly as if they wanted the Baron and Baroness to hear.

With the situation turning out this way, the Baron and Baroness Kroshvand couldn’t step even one foot outside their mansion.

“If you hadn’t dumped filth in the drainage ditch under construction, this wouldn’t have happened!”

Baron Kroshvand shouted irritably.

Then the Baroness snapped back as if she found it absurd.

“How is this my fault? You’re the one who said we had to somehow prevent the drainage ditches from being built in District 2 and District 3!”

“You should have done it in moderation. What if we got caught!”

“Did I know we’d get caught? It’s all because of that commoner wench…”

As she remembered being humiliated by Eileen last time, the Baroness couldn’t contain her anger and struck her chest hard.

“For now, let’s try sending a letter to Her Majesty the Empress. To see if she can provide help.”

The Baron immediately sent a letter to the Empress.

But even after several days passed, no reply came.

Meanwhile, people’s anger didn’t subside but rather grew fiercer.

Someone threw stones at the mansion’s fence, and someone else overturned a waste bucket in front of the main gate during the night.

Even the merchants who used to frequent the mansion daily no longer showed their faces.

Even the servants packed their belongings and left one by one.

Eventually, only an eerie silence remained in the mansion.

In the garden where beautiful roses had bloomed in abundance, filth thrown by people was scattered about.

Unable to endure this situation any longer, the Baron and Baroness Kroshvand hastily left Belheim with only a few belongings.

* * *

“Eileen, wait and see me for a moment.”

After the regular meeting ended, just as I was about to get up, Callix Crowbell called only me aside.

Since I also had something to say to him, I obediently remained in the meeting room.

After everyone left and only the two of us remained, Callix Crowbell spoke.

“Last night, I heard that the Baron and Baroness Kroshvand left Belheim.”

“Really?”

They only lasted ten days before leaving?

Moreover, I thought they would come find me at least once to cause trouble, but there wasn’t even that.

If they were going to retreat so anticlimactically, why did they make such a big fuss?

How disappointing.

“You have excellent talent not only in construction but also in driving people out. Impressive.”

…This is sarcasm, right?

It was ridiculous to hear such words after doing something helpful for him, so I narrowed my eyes.

“At times like this, you shouldn’t be sarcastic but should say thank you for helping, shouldn’t you?”

“What?”

“Thanks to me using rumors to drive out the Baron and Baroness Kroshvand, you didn’t have to dirty your hands and avoided giving the palace any reason to find fault. So you should say thank you.”

If it were the old me, I couldn’t have imagined such bold talk, but now he wasn’t that frightening.

I had gained confidence that unless I plotted rebellion or committed some equally insane act, he wouldn’t kill me.

When I spoke clearly, Callix Crowbell looked at me as if he found it absurd.

“…You’re the first to make such a demand of me.”

“I’m glad I could be the one to inform you.”

“Hah.”

He let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded, then pressed his lips tightly together.

‘He doesn’t want to say thank you to the very end.’

What a personality, really.

According to the System’s explanation, his twisted personality was largely influenced by repeated regressions.

Having repeatedly experienced inescapable death no matter how much he struggled, his humanity had worn away and his temperament had inevitably become savage.

‘Separate from that, his innate personality seems pretty damn awful too.’

The Callix Crowbell who appeared in the original work hadn’t regressed, but his personality was still terrible.

“Well, if you have nothing more to say…”

“…Thank you.”

Just as I was about to say I’d be going, Callix Crowbell spoke as if tossing the words out.

When I stared at him in surprise, he cleared his throat with a slightly embarrassed expression and averted his gaze.

“And what I said earlier about your talent being impressive wasn’t sarcasm but genuine praise.”

The fact that it was praise is even more absurd.

“My lord, from now on when you need to give praise or say thank you, just say ‘well done’ or ‘thank you’ directly.”

Since his way of speaking was twisted from the start and perfect for causing misunderstandings, I kindly taught him how to correct it.

Though the bridge of his nose twitched slightly as if he didn’t like my criticism, surprisingly he didn’t argue back.

“More importantly, we succeeded in driving out the Baron and Baroness Kroshvand, but I’m worried the palace might send a new spy.”

The Empress hated Callix Crowbell as much as she adored her son. So she would never give up on keeping him in check.

“The Baron and Baroness Kroshvand had been in Belheim since before I became lord, so I couldn’t drive them out, but I’ll make sure any newcomer can’t set foot here from the start, so don’t worry about that.”

“That’s fortunate then. There won’t be anyone harboring malice and interfering with the drainage construction anymore.”

Furthermore, it meant future construction projects would proceed smoothly, which was good news for me.

“Will the drainage construction be completed as scheduled?”

“Yes. Though it was briefly delayed due to the unpleasant incident, it will definitely be finished before the summer monsoon arrives.”

“Really?”

Suddenly his eyes darkened. He fell silent for a moment as if pondering something, then asked me carefully.

“Then perhaps… could you also prevent the plague?”

“What? The plague?”

Architect, hero, and now I have to play doctor too?

“Starting this fall, a plague with high fever, abdominal pain, and diarrhea will spread throughout the entire Empire. The mortality rate is high too.”

If I hadn’t known anything, I would have wondered what nonsense he was talking about, but knowing he was a regressor, it didn’t sound ordinary.

I also knew well how many lives plagues had claimed in medieval times.

“You’re good at coming up with ingenious ideas, so I wondered if there might be a way to prevent it… but I suppose it’s impossible.”

“No.”

Like fate, it happened to be deeply connected to what I was about to tell him.

“I think I can find a way to stop the plague.”

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