The power of the north. Count Dous recently became a bit ufortable with it.


    <em>Kwang!</em>


    “You haven’t found those rats yet?”


    “… I apologize. We cleared out all the bandits in the area, but the whereabouts of those slush funds couldn’t be found.”


    The problem started with the Barco family.


    Dous and Barco.


    The powers of the north and northeast regions had formed a tight friendship. There was nothing bad for them.


    Count Dous didn’t have connections with the Central Government, but he had a good amount of influence in the north, while Viscount Barco had good enough connections that Dous didn’t.


    So, they helped each other. They were still close even though their rtionship was not strong enough for them to make sacrifices for one another.


    But he didn’t know at that time that such a rtionship would cause problems.


    “Count Dous. Could you lend me some money?”


    He received one call. Before the war with Lawrence, Viscount Barco was gathering as much money as he could with his connections apart from the Golden Bank.


    Defeat was not anticipated. It was necessary to prepare for any foreseen variables, so he borrowed money from friendly forces such as Count Dous to bring Homer and others.


    Count Dous was also sure of his victory. He never thought that Barco would be defeated by Lawrence, so he lent him a huge sum of money with the thought of further strengthening their rtionship.


    He thought he would be getting back the money soon. Barco would take Lawrence down and make more money, so there was no chance he wouldn’t be able to pay it back.


    But Barco lost and died while escaping that night too. The person from whom he could have recovered the money had vanished.


    Dous was stunned. It was too much money. He was in a bad situation as well, so he needed to get that money back.


    But the problem was the Golden Bank. They had already attacked Barco and collected everything they could, and they didn’t push their luck after the man died because there was nothing they could do. They kept silent.


    So did Dous when it came to lending the money.


    Fortunately, Count Dous knew a way to get his money back.


    ‘The Barco family has a slush fund that wasn’t revealed to the outside world. The Golden Bank would not be able to determine its existence, but I am aware of it because Viscount Barco told me about it while drunk. Only if I can get those funds can I earn more than what I lent.’


    So he hired the intelligence guild. He eventually found it after investigating the surrounding clues—a small number of ingots.


    The gold bars that had been hidden in the northeast were to be loaded into a wagon and moved without the knowledge of anyone else.


    It was the perfect n. If it hadn’t been for the group of bandits along the way, the gold bars wouldn’t have disappeared.


    Count Dous said,


    “There is no way that those band of thieves could have dealt with such arge amount of money. Be sure to find the whereabouts of the gold bars, even if you have to search the entire Cairo Kingdom. It isn’t Barco’s money but mine, and it cannot be taken away by anyone else.”


    He had red eyes. The financial problem was solved, but he needed more just in case difficult times came.


    In the surrounding area, the traces of the bandits were clean. Thousands of people had perished, but Dous had no intention of stopping until he got that gold.


    Right then, he received information from the ck Moon Guild.


    “Lord! We found the whereabouts of the gold bars!”


    Donovan, the head of the ck Moon Guild, came to Count Dous.


    “At first, I thought the slush funds was in the hands of some bandits. But the men transporting the slush funds were dead, and with them were the corpses of notorious thieves around the area. But no matter how much we looked around the ck market, there was no sign of the gold bars being sold. Converting the gold bars to coins needs a special set of skills, so we thought they would have no choice but to use the ck market to make use of it. As a result of lurking around, we found a clue to the gold bars.”


    “Right. Then what kind of bastards stole my gold bars?”


    “The thieves were not thieves but the nobles of the Northeast Alliance. They are the ones who stole it.”


    “What!?”


    <em>Tak.</em>


    He immediately got up.


    The Northeast Nobles’ Alliance.


    What did this mean?


    “First, it is true that the bandits attacked the troops transporting the slush funds. But at the same time, the nobles found out about this, and after defeating the bandits, it seemed like they found the carriage with ingots. Perhaps they are in trouble now. Knowing that it was your wagon, they still chose to take the gold ingots by burying the truth. In addition, there is proof that the bars were sold on the ck market a month ago. It was the same number and shape as Barco’s slush funds, and the person who sent it there was one of Viscount Conrad’s men.”


    “Those fucking bastards!”


    He was enraged at this. Just how much trouble had he gone through for these gold bars? Different emotions kept piling up on him, and now that he needed them for an emergency, only anger remained.


    Watching Count Dous in anger, Donovan bowed his head, suppressing the smile on his lips.


    ‘There is no lie in the information. In fact, the northeastern nobles did find the carriage loaded with gold bars, and even though they knew it belonged to Count Dous, they still made the choice to steal it. I just made this known. The alliance could havemitted a perfect crime, but by turning the Lord into an enemy, a crisis is created.’


    The ck Moon Guild—it was an information guild with the highest reputation. But people didn’t know what kind of change they went through.


    The ck Moon Guild was taken over by the Lower District Sect led by Lucas, so on the surface, they acted alone.


    ording to Roman’s orders, the information was to be leaked.


    Count Dous was unaware that he was a puppet in the n and yelled in anger.


    “Get in touch with those nobles right now! This time, I will tear those bastards who stole my money to shreds!”


    It was as expected.


    Count Dous, a fearsome man, chose to move right away.


    Just from one contact, fire fell on the foot of the Northeast Nobles’ Alliance. The atmosphere wasn’t that great because of Roman, but the problem was that something more serious happened.


    “How the hell did this happen?”


    “Count Dous is the power of the north. I don’t know what will happen if our rtionship with him goes wrong.”


    Count Dous said he would give them three hours.


    Before that, all the nobles of the alliance should get together and provide an exnation. And the people of the alliance who heard this were scared.


    “… as we thought, we shouldn’t have touched Count Dous. Unlike gold coins, gold bars cannot be used so easily. It was always a matter of being caught, then it might be better to contact Count Dous and offer a deal.”


    “Right. Everyone knows what kind of character Count Dous has, right? He is not going to let this pass.”


    Count Dous. He was called the beast of the north. Once he gets angry, he is famous for taking the other man down.


    So regardless of how powerful they were, they couldn’t do anything against Dous.


    Viscount Conrad said,


    “What is everyone talking about? The Barco family’s slush funds do not belong to Count Dous. We also lent money to Barco, and we have the right to take our share of the funds. And wasn’t Count Dous the first to steal it without letting anyone know of its existence? Should he have acted like a rat if he was going to speak of such righteous things? Do not walk with your head down. As soon as the word sorryes out of our mouths, we are done.”


    As he said, they all lent money to the Barco family. Barco borrowed money not only from Count Dous but also from the Northeast Alliance and others who supported him.


    It could be the antipathy toward Dmitry. But because of that, Barco copsed and lost a lot of money.


    Stealing the slush funds made sense. It wasn’t like they were touching someone else’s money. It was their right to bepensated.


    “… would those words work on Count Dous?”


    “It doesn’t matter if he listens or not. Can we just spit out the gold we earned? We already spent the money, and the moment we admit that it was our fault to Count Dous, we might have to spit out more money than we stole. Count Dous is too much, so from now on, we need to move as one voice, and we have to focus on the fact that Count Dous is the one who touched the gold without informing anyone.”


    “It makes sense.”


    “Let’s do what Viscount Conrad says. Haven’t we already crossed the line?”


    Everyone spoke. Although they were weak alone, they always showed courage under the name of the alliance.


    Right on time, a person came into the conference room and said,


    “The Dous family is calling.”


    The nobles of the Northeast Alliance, including Viscount Conrad, gulped at that moment.


    It was as expected. As soon as themunication was connected, Count Dous didn’t hide his emotions.


    [What the hell is this? You are now stealing my money? Exin yourselves to me!]


    Anger was clearly visible on his face, and his voice was like a lion’s.


    Facing Count Dous’s angry face, Viscount Conrad spoke as calmly as possible,


    “How about we all calm down for a second, and it isn’t ‘my money.’ I understand why Count Dous is angry, but the Barco family’s slush funds do not belong to anyone. Like Count Dous, we have lent him money, too. If Count Dous had informed us of the existence of the funds and asked for a greater share, we might have been satisfied with a reasonable amount at a loss. But wasn’t it Count Dous who stole the money?”


    He went after the tail. He attempted to divert attention away from the issue by pointing out Count Dous’s fault.


    It was a reasonable statement. It was within the scope ofmon sense, but the problem was that emotions had already umted over time.


    [What are you fucking bastards spouting after stealing my money? It is my money, and from the moment I discovered Barco’s slush funds, they belonged to the Dous family!]


    “Count. Calm down…”


    [Shut up!]


    And he stopped talking.


    Was it three months ago?


    Count Dous held a party for the nobles in the northeast. At that time, he didn’t say anything about the slush funds, but he said he was upset because he lost some money that he was transporting.


    And Viscount Conrad and the other nobles were there. They obviously knew what he was talking about, but they were acting with pretentious faces.


    It was funny. Even for a moment, what had been gratefully epted as constion came back to them as more rage.


    [At the party three months ago, you people gave me fake tears and said, ‘Count Dous, we didn’t know that happened to you, but I am sure things will work out.’ Did you think it was fun? Tough ‘hahaha’ together? Do I look like a noble on the same level as you?]


    He couldn’t be stopped. Viscount Conrad continued to say something, but this would never reach Count Dous.


    The Northern Beast—he was triggered. And if he didn’t express his rage, it seemed like he would die.


    [Listen carefully from now on. As soon as I am ready, I will call the Central Government and ask for a territorial war with you. How dare you bastards in the northeast area try to touch me? I will show you the poor strength your people have since you lost the protection of Barco.]


    <em>Tak!</em>


    Themunication was cut off. Viscount Conrad tried to call back again, but no one answered, making the nobles’ faces go pale.


    “… it seems like a pretty huge deal.”


    At those words, the nobles felt their minds wander into the sky.