Nilma Argan briefly shot a greedy glance, but then, as if remembering that his opponent was the Lord before being the Labyrinth Mage, he slightly lifted his chin.
“I am Nilma Argan. I’ve come to deliver the words of my father, Lord Nilma Arbalte of Bolni.”
In other words, it seemed like a simple land grab; his father wanted to make a public accomplishment, so he sent his son in his place.
“After continued observation, it’s clear that Solar lacks the ability to repay the principal. Therefore, as per the contract, 750 Zenta of land south of the Senau River, along with the buildings attached to it, will now be the property of Lord Nilma Arbalte.”
The one-sided declaration made Ayra’s face harden. From the moment she saw the 2,000 soldiers, she had anticipated this outcome. Without power, this is what happens. There is no morality or cowardice in the power struggles between factions. It’s just the strong surviving and the weak vanishing.
However, as the Lord of Solar, she couldn’t just hand over her land without resistance.
“What is this supposed to mean? The summons clearly stated the deadline was by the end of this month. The interest has already been arranged.”
“Hah! You should have handed over the land the moment you failed to pay the interest. You’re lucky Lord Nilma Arbalte has been lenient until now.”
Argan sneered and laughed at Ayra’s words. Being just the heir to {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the Lord, he acted so arrogantly before the actual Lord of a land. There was nothing Ayra could do about it. This was the bitterness of being a landless Lord.
In Ayra’s view, Sobletz and Bolni had likely conspired to leak false investment information to her father, the former Lord. This maneuvered him into massive debt, allowing them to eventually seize Solar. But there were a few things that didn’t add up.
‘Why go through such troublesome methods to take over Solar?’
Objectively, Solar was a small, insignificant estate. There was nothing to be gained from it. If Bolni or Sobletz had truly wanted to take it, they could have waged war and seized it easily. Why were they going through all these clandestine schemes? Both estates seemed intent on quietly splitting Solar as if dividing a single bean.
“Now, open the gates! The southern land from the Senau River is ours, so this gate will belong to Bolni from now on.”
Argan ordered confidently. His demeanor suggested that, seeing his opponent’s age, he didn’t view her as much of a Lord at all. He even went further to mock her.
The most uptodat𝓮 n𝒐vels are published on freёwebnovel.com.
“How about this? Instead of being the Lord of such a soon-to-be-ruined land, why don’t you work under Lord Arbalte? Being a Labyrinth Mage, I’m sure you’d be compensated well.”
If Bloom, who was preparing to evacuate the villagers in the estate, had heard that, he would have immediately demanded retribution. But instead of anger, Ayra’s mind grew eerily cold.
Glancing at her own hand, the stones remained still, like a tattoo on her skin. Yet, above her head, a speech bubble reading ‘Loading......’ floated. No wonder her magic had been draining unusually fast. Ayra decided to buy more time, trusting in her spirit.
“This can’t be! According to the contract, there should still be time left. There are still two more days until the end of this month.”
She pretended to be outraged as she took out the exact amount of magic stone for Bolni’s share from her spatial pocket. Placing it on the table in the center of the tent, Argan burst into laughter. Even the messenger, who had been cautious before, seemed to regain his courage, and chuckled mockingly.
“What will you do if I don’t accept it before the deadline?”
Argan teased, making a show of opening the pouch with the magic stones on the table.
“Is this perhaps a fake magic stone? It’s said that fake magic stones are common in poor estates.”
He then knocked it off the table, letting it fall to the ground, and stomped on it triumphantly. It was a childish and humiliating act. Fuming with anger and barely able to contain her rage, Ayra thought again that she was right not to bring Bloom or anyone else along. This humiliation was something she could handle alone, since she wasn’t yet too emotionally attached to Solar.
“Fine. If that’s the case, how about this? As a token of affection, if you kiss my foot, I’ll overlook whether this is a fake magic stone or not.”
What? What did he just say? Ayra doubted her ears and looked up, only to see Argan pointing toward his groin with a smirk.
“If your feet are dirty, you can kiss here instead. You are a man, but your face is quite nice.”
“Ah, yes, of course. If it’s Lord Argan, it would be an honor.”
It seemed like the messenger was trying to suck up to Argan now, as he started talking openly. Even the knights in the tent burst into laughter.
This perverted bastard... Ayra tolerated the insults to Solar, but this mocking harassment aimed directly at her was something she could no longer stand. Fine, if this estate is going to fall anyway, I’ll make sure you suffer unbearable back pain for the rest of your life, popping every disc in your spine.
As Ayra glared at Argan, contemplating how best to rupture his discs, the sound of a ding rang out, and a new dialogue option appeared.
A question mark appeared in Ayra’s mind. What is this supposed to mean? Is it implying... I should inform?
Prataris was a large estate comparable to Bolni in power in this region, and it was where her family had once been headed to arrange a political marriage when the carriage accident occurred. Of course, this wasn’t a marriage to the direct line of the Prataris family. Her brother’s intended spouse was the adopted son of the Prataris Lord.
Now that her brother was dead, the marriage had fallen through, but would Prataris still help? No, even if her brother had married, it wouldn’t have been much help. It would have been nothing more than paying off the delayed debts with the dowry. The Labyrinth also wouldn’t provide any real help. If she even mentioned Argan’s name, it would just be met with ridicule.
Yet, this ridiculous option was the right answer. Why?
A flash of realization crossed Ayra’s mind. No, there’s something incredibly valuable about Solar. Something that if revealed to the world, it would cause a huge stir!
Sobletz and Bolni had been working so quietly to take over the estate without drawing attention... Ayra smiled inwardly. She didn’t know exactly what it was, but she knew it was incredibly valuable. This was why they had been so discreet.
She forced a cold smile as she asked with determination.
“Is Lord Nilma Arbalte’s intention to ignore the contract and unlawfully occupy this land?”
“Yes, I’ll ignore it. What will you do about it? Your soldiers are starving, and the spears they’re holding are all rusted. Do you think they can even hunt beasts with that?”
Argan sneered, but Ayra opened her mouth.
“Then I’ll immediately head to Prataris and inform them about this unjust occupation.”
Argan’s laughter stopped abruptly. Ayra didn’t hesitate to flick her robe and turn around. As she was about to leave the tent without a moment’s hesitation, Argan, sounding slightly panicked, shouted.
“What is this foolishness? Do you think Prataris will help just because they know about this?”
“Of course, they won’t help. But at least I’ll be able to tell as many people as possible about the injustice happening to me and this estate. Within days, a messenger will come from the Labyrinth to check on my safety, and through that messenger, I’ll spread this news to the whole world. How Bolni unjustly seized this land, despite how valuable Solar truly is.”
With those words, Ayra glared at Argan. She made sure to show her teeth as she sneered.
[Nilma Argan’s Favorability has decreased by 1.]
Current Favorability: 8
Only a drop of 1? Why? Was it my face? Should I be upset, or should I be pleased... Ayra inwardly rejoiced. It had just been a spark of inspiration.
<Emergency Quest Completed!>
[Crisis at the Lord’s Castle!]
Repel Bolni’s army (Completed) Convince Nilma Argan (Completed)
Warning: Quest failure will result in loss of lordship and territory management function.
Reward: Slight increase in support from the estate’s people
Soon, Argan’s face twisted, but he forced a smile.
He gestured, and the knights guarding the tent’s entrance blocked Ayra’s exit.
“Hahaha, it seems Solar’s Lord is very angry. I was just playing around for a moment... Well, if you say you’ll pay the interest, I’ll accept it. After all, the contract is sacred.”