Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Monbodt Panics
For Duane, facing the Broken Wave Gang of unknown strength, the prudent course of action was to lay low.
But if he did that, he would have a hard time justifying it to the hundred or so people who had followed him.
After all, he was the Lord of Black Forest Island, formally enfeoffed by His Majesty the King.
As Lord, his authority here was supreme.
Yet if he showed weakness to a gang right after landing, it would only make his men lose face.
In turn, their morale and his own prestige would suffer.
When building a new team, morale is crucial.
So, when Duane heard Kaelon say he could fight an Earth Tier Warrior, he chose to act without hesitation.
Though he never drew his Sword, everyone witnessed his decisive courage.
Raymond lightly spurred his horse, galloping away.
Farmland flanked the road, where numerous peasants toiled. A few curious onlookers watched the commotion at the port from a distance.
When they saw the fierce Knight galloping toward them, they were all terrified and unsure what to do.
Raymond reined in his horse and announced in a loud voice, "The Lord of Black Forest Island, Baron Duane Brian, has arrived!"
He pointed at a fairly robust young man. "You! Go inform Monbodt. Tell him to bring a few carriages here to extend a welcome!"
The young man stammered, at a loss, but one glare from Raymond sent him scrambling off in a panic.
"I’ll go right now, I’ll go right now!"
Raymond frowned slightly, taking in their threadbare clothes. ’The conditions on Black Forest Island are as terrible as they say,’ he thought.
He turned his horse around and rode back to the port.
Duane was now sitting on a chair that Owington had brought over. The man named Hardy had been trussed up and thrown before him, and Kaelon was in the middle of interrogating him.
Duane had expected Hardy to be tight-lipped, requiring some persuasion before he’d talk. To his surprise, the man spilled everything he knew.
In truth, Hardy was used to running rampant on Black Forest Island. Today was the first time he had ever been put in his place, and so utterly at that, with no power to resist.
Faced with Duane and his men, Hardy felt no loyalty to the Broken Wave Gang. Brotherhood was a luxury he could afford to discard.
He had to discard it. He didn’t want to die.
Before long, Duane had a better understanding of the situation on Black Forest Island.
The island was roughly divided among three major powers, with the Broken Wave Gang being just one.
In addition to them, there was the Holy Hand Association and the official representative, Monbodt.
Both the Broken Wave Gang and the Holy Hand Association were quite powerful.
The former was headed by an Earth Tier Warrior named Bard, while the latter boasted a Level 3 Mage named Daniels.
Duane hadn’t expected to find a Mage on such a remote island, let alone a Level 3 Mage, whose status was likely even higher than a Human Tier Warrior’s.
As for Monbodt, he had neither Warriors nor Mages under his command.
Monbodt was able to maintain his position purely because the Broken Wave Gang and the Holy Hand Association didn’t want to stir up trouble. They worried that if the Knights of the Pruck Kingdom returned to collect taxes and found the Civil Servant dead, it would trigger a full-scale investigation of the island.
Duane mused for a moment.
’If they’re wary of even Monbodt, they’re even less likely to try anything against me, a Hereditary Baron, right?’
Still, regardless of the circumstances, gaining control of Black Forest Island was bound to be a struggle.
Besides its Earth Tier Warrior Level leader, the Broken Wave Gang’s Vice Leader, Gaius, was said to have reached the rank of Advanced Warrior many years ago.
The gang also had two Middle Level Warriors, six Basic-level Warriors, and over a hundred members.
The Holy Hand Association, in addition to its Level 3 Mage, also had Advanced Warriors among its ranks.
If these two forces were to join hands, Duane would have a very difficult time dealing with them.
Therefore, it seemed best to avoid a direct confrontation for the time being, if at all possible.
He didn’t want to lose anyone, be it Kaelon, Raymond, or the other soldiers like Michele.
’But then again,’ he wondered, ’would the Broken Wave Gang and the Holy Hand Association really dare to move against me?’
While Kaelon was interrogating Hardy, the young man Raymond had terrified into delivering the message ran, panting for breath, into a large compound.
"Master Monbodt! Master Monbodt..." he called out anxiously.
It was nearly noon, and Monbodt was lounging in a rocking chair in the courtyard, soaking up the sun as he awaited his lunch.
He was one of the few people on Black Forest Island who could afford three meals a day. His residence was a castle built by the previous Pioneer Lord.
To call it a castle was an exaggeration; it was merely a compound of three or four buildings, each two or three stories tall.
It had no towers or ramparts, only a simple, crudely stacked stone wall enclosing it. Its defensive capabilities were practically nil.
As the Civil Servant, Monbodt’s duties, before the arrival of a new lord, included overseeing the island’s annual tax collection.
However, as the tax revenues had dwindled year after year, the Kingdom seemed to have given up on collecting taxes from Black Forest Island.
He hadn’t seen an official ship or Knight in many years.
Gradually, he had grown accustomed to treating the castle as his own home and thinking of himself as the island’s Lord.
The grain he collected was never picked up by the Kingdom, so it became his private property.
While he couldn’t afford to provoke powers like the Broken Wave Gang or the Holy Hand Association, they needed him to act as their public face when dealing with Kingdom officials. As a result, they had coexisted peacefully for years.
For Monbodt, with his men, vast fields, and numerous serfs tilling the land for him, life was exceedingly comfortable.
"Master, terrible news, Master!"
Perhaps because he was in such a hurry, the young man pushed open the slightly ajar courtyard gate and rushed inside.
His pleasant daydream was abruptly shattered by the shouts.
Roused from his doze and instantly furious, Monbodt bellowed, "What idiot is squealing out there? Is your rent too low?"
The young man was so frightened by the outburst that he immediately dropped to his knees.
"Master, please, don’t raise my rent!"
When Monbodt recognized the newcomer, his anger subsided slightly.
"Hmph. Black Ox. You’d better have a good reason for this, or don’t blame me for raising your rent!"
Black Ox was the young man’s name.
The name might sound rustic, but on Black Forest Island, where oxen were valuable livestock, it was considered quite a noble name by many.
Kneeling on the ground, Black Ox recounted what had happened at the port.
"That fearsome man told me to inform you that the Lord of Black Forest Island has arrived! He said you are to bring carriages to the port immediately to welcome him!"
The color drained from Monbodt’s face. At fifty-eight years old, his heart nearly seized up.
"What did you say?"
He crossed the distance to Black Ox in a few quick strides, bending over and gripping the young man’s shoulders fiercely.
"The Lord of Black Forest Island? You’re saying a Lord has come to Black Forest Island?"
"Y-yes, Master!"
Black Ox stammered in a panic, "That young Lord is incredibly powerful, and his men are even more so! I couldn’t even see what happened, but Master Hardy and the twenty-odd men with him were all taken down!"
Monbodt broke out in a cold sweat.
’Yes, this must be Nobility.’
’Only Nobility would act so domineeringly—beating people up first without even an investigation.’
Monbodt paced back and forth in agitation.
Although he sometimes fancied himself the Lord here, he knew full well that he was just a Civil Servant.
Now that the true Lord had arrived, how was he supposed to act?
He looked up at the buildings behind him, his eyes filled with reluctance and inner conflict.
With the real Lord here, he would have to hand over this compound, the hoarded grain and supplies, and so much more.
’What am I going to do?’
