Chapter 73

"What, what do you think you're doing!? Svend!?"

Viscount Ulfart, with a sword pressed to his neck, shouted in a state of utter shock.

Looking up at his relative's face with a troubled expression, Svend let out a deliberate sigh.

"What do you mean, 'what do you think you're doing'... Didn't I say it? A family coup."

"Y-You intend to take the Ulfart Viscountcy!? Someone, there's a traitor here! Is anyone there!?"

"It's no use, my lord. The people of the house have already been taken away by other soldiers. No matter how much you shout, no one will come here."

"H-How could you, a traitor like you, infiltrate my mansion!?"

"Thanks to the cooperation of a kind person. Perhaps it's true that a friend in need is a friend indeed?"

Svend's explanation was evasive, but the viscount surprisingly敏锐地 grasped the truth.

"C-Could it be... there's a traitor in my mansion? In my mansion...!"

"Exactly, my lord... You're surprisingly perceptive."

"D-Don't joke with me! There's no way anyone in this mansion would betray me!"

The viscount stomped his feet on the ground.

The sound was so loud that Svend's face slightly twisted.

"Can't you understand, my lord? You, who betrayed the kingdom for your own safety, should understand the feelings of someone who turns to the enemy for their own sake."

In the Ulfart Viscountcy, there were several traitors, including the steward.

They had been approached by Svend before, but ultimately, they agreed to bring Svend and his men into the mansion in exchange for the safety of their families and property, as promised by Raidor.

Just as the viscount had sold himself to the empire for his own desires and safety, those who served in the mansion also had things they needed to protect.

"How can you stand for this! Who do you think I am!? I am the chosen one, the head of the Ulfart Viscountcy! It's unforgivable for anyone to betray me!"

However, those who harm others without hesitation are often the least willing to accept being victims themselves. The viscount, putting himself on a pedestal, turned red with anger and shouted.

"How dare you, how dare you!?"

"Be quiet already. It's really grating on my ears."

With a sword pressed to his neck, the viscount couldn't move. One of the swords pressed to his neck pierced him slightly.

The wound was just a small cut, but the viscount screamed dramatically.

Shaking his plump body, the viscount looked at Svend with a pleading gaze.

"S-Svend... I saved your life. I took you in when you lost your home and family, and even gave you a place to live. Why are you doing this to me...?"

"Oh? You only kept me to use me, didn't you? You planned to either take over my family when the Arbeil Dukedom was restored or sell me to the empire for a reward, right?"

"T-That's not true..."

Struck by the truth, the viscount turned pale.

Svend never believed that this greedy man had taken in his relative out of kindness. The viscount's shallow plot had been seen through from the beginning.

Still, the viscount, unwilling to give up, continued to plead for his life.

"T-Then why did you come to the Ulfart Viscountcy and this town? If you knew you would be used, why...?"

"It's obvious... for revenge."

"R-Revenge?"

The viscount repeated Svend's words like a child.

Staring coldly at the viscount, Svend gritted his teeth.

"Yes... I came to you, my lord, to kill you, the one who betrayed the Arbeil Dukedom and sold it to the empire. I deliberately came to you for that purpose, my lord."

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