Chapter 10

10. Haelin, look at that card.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Haelin Paige."

I'm flustered.

The scroll was densely filled with information about Haelin Paige.

The Paige family's troublemaker.

A dice game addict.

A troublemaker of the Bardum Tower.

Despite all these words, Haelin Paige was an incredibly beautiful woman.

White skin. Delicate features. Deep, expressive eyes.

I inadvertently met Makur's gaze.

He, too, looked flustered.

I had imagined a grumpy-looking female mage based on the information, but she was very different from what I thought.

Indeed, preconceptions can be misleading.

"Hmm... You can go now."

"Ah, yes."

Thud.

The heavy door closed, and the room became quiet.

"It's an honor to meet the new lord."

Since we were of the same rank, I didn't bow, but her attitude was unexpectedly polite, despite the grand titles preceding her name.

Indeed, nobles are nobles.

I recalled the etiquette that had long been buried in my memory and returned the greeting.

"I am Kamyn Listretto, the lord and knight of Halrun. It's an honor to meet a mage from the tower after a long time, Lady Paige."

Haelin's eyes sparkled at my words.

"Ah, have you met mages from the tower before?"

"I've worked on many missions with mages from the Erjua Tower and the Soronil Tower."

We only worked on the worst missions together.

Thinking about it still makes me angry.

Gareth, that bastard!

And those guys from the two towers are no different.

—Kamyn, it's fine, use a wide-area spell!

—Yes, Duke!

Casting a wide-area spell without hesitation in the presence of allies.

Mages are definitely crazy.

"…I see."

Haelin's expression turned uneasy at my comment about being familiar with mages.

But it was only for a moment.

After a few formal exchanges, she fumbled at her waist.

"Take this first."

She extended a small pouch. The jingling sound suggested it was the new lord's support fund.

I took the pouch and peeked inside, seeing shiny gold coins.

One gold coin is 100 gil.

Roughly ten of them.

A few silver coins were also visible.

In total, it contained a bit over 1,000 gil.

However, I already knew from the investigation of the Berth Duke's family that the new lord's support fund for Halrun was 3,000 gil.

Gareth had given me an additional 5,000 gil, so technically, the kingdom's support was less.

Of course, 3,000 gil is not a small amount.

I had leveled the land and built a 100-pyeong mansion with 5,000 gil, fully furnished with high-end items.

Gareth, that bastard, did have a conscience.

"The support fund is a bit low, isn't it?"

While I was wondering how to start the conversation...

Haelin Paige, perhaps feeling guilty, took the initiative.

"The kingdom's situation hasn't been good lately, as you probably know."

I nodded in agreement, trying to figure out how she would justify it.

"Well, that's true."

"The kingdom is heavily investing in the western frontier territories."

I had never heard of this.

Just looking at Halrun's state, it was clear that it wasn't a place receiving investment.

It was just a vague piece of land where former slaves were put to work to cultivate it.

Once the land was cultivated, part of it would revert to the kingdom and become a new territory.

Of course, I had no intention of letting that happen.

"Since I'm the new lord, I'm not very familiar with this... In what areas is the investment being made?"

"Most of the money has gone into establishing the western barrier."

"Ah."

Indeed, the barrier I had seen with my own eyes was of a considerable level.

"To build a permanent barrier system, all the kingdom's towers have been dedicated to research. Naturally, an enormous amount of money was spent... and the result is right there."

As I seemed to be buying it, Haelin Paige began to speak passionately, her veins almost popping out.

"Such an incredible device was installed in the western frontier. For the safety of the west! Naturally, there would be shortcomings in other areas."

Haelin started to steer the conversation in circles.

After about 30 minutes of interjections, I began to feel tired.

She was quite a chatterbox.

Desperate to cover her mistakes, she was relentless.

The ice-breaking was enough.

I had a rough idea of Haelin Paige.

It was time to draw a conclusion.

"I've heard that the head of the Paige family is a remarkable person."

"Really? Do you know my father?"

"Unfortunately, I've never met him in person. But someone I served closely often praised him. He said that even if the kingdom's inspection department locked him up for 100 days, they wouldn't find a single flaw."

Her face showed discomfort.

For the first time, Haelin looked flustered when I mentioned her father.

"Yes, yes. My father is a very upright person."

Haelin resembled him in that way.

But a blank canvas is easier to stain.

A late-learned thief is more terrifying.

The city of Bardum, a place of debauchery, quickly transformed Haelin, who had been raised strictly.

I had all the information on Haelin, while she knew nothing about me.

My dispatch to Halrun was very secretive.

Thus, the outcome of this confrontation was decided from the start.

Haelin wouldn't understand why I suddenly brought up her father, Kazuto Paige.

I smiled and opened a drawer.

"Lady Paige. Since today is our first meeting, how about a bet?"

"Um... a bet?"

"I've recently developed an interest in games."

Her face was turning pale.

Thud.

"These dice games, to be precise."

As two dice were placed on the table, her eyes widened.

Even someone who had bet her life on dice games wouldn't want to see them now.

"The stakes... 1,963 gil would be just right."

It was the exact amount of the new lord's support fund that Haelin Paige had lost.

At that moment, something unexpected happened.

Thud.

"I'm sorry, my lord!"

Haelin Paige slammed her head on the table.

So hard that I was worried blood might come out.

I smiled crookedly.

The game ended too easily.

* * *

Riding side by side through the western forest, I began to coax her.

"How did you end up losing so much? And why did a mage like you get interested in dice games, a form of deception?"

"Well... at first, a close friend said it was fun. When I went, it felt like I had entered a new world."

Indeed.

The gambling dens in this world were no different from clubs in my previous life.

Under the loud music, alcohol, and glamorous people, a sticky world of gambling existed.

Carmelia Bardum, the baroness who created the kingdom's most luxurious pleasure district, was a woman with a deep mind, even the rogue Gareth couldn't treat her lightly.

"At first, it was just for fun. I started with just 10 gil."

Everyone starts that way.

Haelin Paige rambled on.

I listened to her story as if watching a documentary.

It was a familiar tale.

The friend and the gamblers were all in cahoots.

She had been set up by seasoned characters.

How pitiful.

Haelin Paige was an innocent mage when she was first dispatched to Bardum Tower.

The whiter the paper, the easier it is to stain.

A pure mage raised under a strict father would be an easy target.

Haelin's bad luck was being assigned to Bardum Tower.

"I see. That's unfortunate."

"...Sir Listretto, can you just turn a blind eye this once? I'll pay the money back somehow. If you want interest, I can give that too..."

"Can you really pay back 2,000 gil? I know people who are addicted to gambling well."

It's not easy to get out of a gambling addiction.

I haven't seen it firsthand, only on screens.

It was a real documentary.

I had a few acquaintances who went bankrupt due to gambling.

Haelin Paige's face darkened.

"...I know. It won't be easy, but please. If my father finds out, I'll be excommunicated from the school."

Excommunication. Indeed.

A person as upright as Kazuto Paige could excommunicate his only precious daughter.

Nobles in this world place great importance on honor.

"My lord... please."

"We've arrived. Let's start by replacing the core."

"Yes... "

I smiled inwardly as I watched her, looking dejected, replace the core.

She was now completely under my control.

But I had a good idea.

If it worked out, I might be able to completely bind Haelin Paige.

"Can I watch a bit?"

"It's forbidden to show it to civilians, but as the lord, you're also the manager of the barrier, so it's fine."

The western lord is responsible for managing the barrier, apparently.

...I just learned that.

Haelin placed the gargoyle core she brought from Bardum on the ground and recited a spell to deactivate the device.

It seemed to be a slightly different spell from Makur's.

The core's color turned red, different from before.

"Is this your first time seeing it? It has to be in this state to remove the core. If you touch it at any other time, the barrier's defensive magic will activate."

"I see."

As Haelin touched it, the core was sucked in.

"Hmm, the core's capacity has indeed decreased. That's strange... I just replaced it not long ago."

Despite being a gambling addict, she was the favorite disciple of the Bardum Tower's head, and she seemed reliable when working.

Haelin muttered with a serious expression.

"I'll have to check the concealment device for a moment."

"Will the barrier be affected without the core?"

"There's some mana stored in the concealment device, so it should be fine for a while without the core."

"I see."

The core seemed to be like a battery for the barrier device.

Listening to her, I got a rough idea of the mechanical principle.

I just asked out of concern that monsters might come out of the forest if the barrier disappeared.

That would be the end of my slow life.

Even if Gareth was scheming, I wanted to live quietly here as much as possible.

For that, there was no reason to hesitate to use a powerful mage as a buffer.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong?"

Haelin was greatly flustered.

"Oh no... There's a problem with the device."

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