EP.136
As I slowly got off the carriage and stood still at the absurd sight, a man who had been kicking the wall of Charlotte’s house, which had been roughly smeared with dirt, as if he was going to collapse, came towards me.
Since he was a loan shark, he was making a decent amount of money, but he was wearing cheap, silk clothes and a sword with all kinds of odd decorations.
As he approached me, he touched the handle of the sword as if he was planning to remove it at any moment and said with a hint that he was in a dirty mood.
“Look, young officer. Instead of standing there with your eyes strained and uncomfortable, let’s just go our separate ways quietly. “I just came to get some money from the people who live here.”
To get a sense of what kind of guys they were, I left my hat with the two stars on it in the carriage, and although it was a bit stuffy, they were even wearing livery coats to cover their shoulders with their rank insignia.
In the eyes of that man, no matter how high I am, I will only be seen as a captain.
However, ordinary loan sharks act like tyrants in front of commoners and serfs, but they are crawling around in front of nobles, especially nobles to whom they did not lend money.
It seems like these damn guys have the backing.
“Well, just go on your way. What are you doing to stop the carriage and make it visible to others? You have to think about the future as well. Even though we look like this, we are loan sharks with Baron Welf and Secretary Oldenburg looking after us. So, if you fight against us here, you will get hurt, your career will be blocked, and it will be a hassle in many ways. You’re so young and your blood boils so hot that you can’t decide what to wear and what not to wear, and you’re going to lose your life. “
Then, as the man gave me a glance, the bad guys holding things like wooden sticks, hammers, and axes began to surround me.
A decent officer would have been surrounded by about 5 thugs with weapons and the only person watching his back was a baron or a secretary (equivalent to a colonel). If he had gotten involved out of chivalry, he would have quietly retreated, scared by the premonition that his life would be dealt a blow. Maybe.
By title alone, I am a Viscount, and by military rank I am a major general, so among administrative officials, I am on the same level as a manager who commands secretaries.
Also, I’ve developed my skills to become a semi-sword master, so I can take down those sloppy things on my own.
If you are a conscientious loan shark who only collects the interest rate stipulated by law, I may be able to save you by paying the principal and interest on your behalf.
“How much does Charlotte owe?”
When he heard that, the man laughed as if he had lost his mind and responded to my words with a jeer.
“I will tell you that the noble master seems to have a very close relationship with Charlotte. The total principal and interest is 150 gold. However, it has been quite a while since that damned house is dragging its feet by giving out 1 gold a month without getting anything in return, thus increasing the amount of money that needs to be repaid. If I didn’t have money, I would have to give my daughter to solve the problem, but I can’t even see where my eldest daughter, who was the most valuable, went. I have no choice but to take at least my youngest daughter. Now that I’ve told you everything, I’m sure you’ve decided to go. “I believe that the officer, who has a bright future ahead of him, has no intention of being hostile towards the Baron and the Secretary.”
Honestly, 150 gold is money that I can give away right now.
But the problem is that those children are trying to exploit Charlotte’s family, who can be said to be my subordinates, with interest exceeding the level set by law.
On top of that, by charging ridiculous interest rates, they were sending most of Charlotte’s wages home, making it pointless to steadily repay the money.
From the beginning, they must have been targeting Charlotte or her younger sister, who had better looks than money.
Of course, there is a possibility that even if they take you, it is not enough, and they will force you to let go even more.
“From what I heard, the debt she owes is only 40 gold. Since the debt was owed 4 years ago, it probably won’t exceed 90 gold at most. “Where on earth did the remaining 60 gold come from?”
“I haven’t been able to repay my father’s debt for quite some time, so it’s increased that much.”
“What kind of bullshit is that…” I
was about to continue talking, but a person who appeared to be the leader of the loan sharks stood in front of me with a sword drawn and an irritated expression on his face, and spoke in an argumentative manner.
“Do you think wearing an officer’s uniform means you won’t get stabbed? Are you going to die? Well, honestly, it’s true that inserting a knife is a bit awkward. If you interfere with our path like this, I have no choice but to show you how spicy I am. That’s all I can see. “It’s so bad.”
Then, the captain tried to hit my chin from top to bottom with his right fist, probably because he wanted to show me the spicy taste right away.
Seeing that, I sighed as if I couldn’t do anything and hit the man’s chin with the sheath at my waist.
“Stop talking like a dog and attack me. “I can handle 20 of you by myself.”
Then I said as I pulled out the sword from my waist.
“I will give you one last warning to those here. Since you attacked first, the special exception for nobles applies under imperial law, so I would be innocent even if I killed all of you here.”
As soon as they heard those words, the remaining four men rushed towards me with their weapons, or tools used for stealing money.
I had no intention of killing those weaklings like you.
Because the special laws for nobles apply, and even though it is a noble thing to stand up for my personal maid named Charlotte, if you kill someone while you are suspended, you will have to be called in by His Highness the Crown Prince and be scolded.
However, if I don’t kill it, it will be processed into a good anecdote by bards who are thirsty for all kinds of rumors, which will help spread my reputation.
Anyway, the worst thing here are those bastards.
“I don’t know who that bastard is, but our backs are much stronger! Screw you!”
“This is the guy who broke your brother’s jaw. “Break four of that noble bastard’s ribs.”
“Why the f*ck are you interfering with the business of people who are struggling to make a living!”
After saying that, the four men all rushed towards me.
I dodged the hammer that the guy holding the hammer in front was swinging at me and then cut his calf with a knife.
Then, I shot the left instep of the guy swinging the bat behind me, picked up the bat he had missed, and stabbed the right shoulders of the two men approaching from the left and right.
Then, as I approached the captain, who had been proud until recently, but whose jaw had stopped moving very well, I took off the coat I was wearing and threw it toward the carriage.
I asked kindly, showing me my epaulettes.
“I know who is watching your back, but I am Director Peter Yeager. So, tell that to that handsome baron or secretary. “If you want to discuss anything, come directly to Director Jaeger’s mansion.”
Then he said, throwing a bag containing 40 gold in front of him.
“Just take the principal, disappear and never appear before my eyes again. “If you mess up again, that handsome baron or secretary will get in trouble.”
Even the loan shark must have realized that he couldn’t deal with a secretary or a baron in front of me, even though he was a major general, so his pronunciation was a bit leaky due to his broken jaw.
It seemed like he was roughly saying this.
‘I understand. Please just save me.’
However, from what I saw, if the two people behind me found out that the head of the loan shark was making a fuss about me, they would take care of their loss.
There is a high probability that those friends will be found dead in the slums, difficult to identify.
But anyway, later on, by borrowing Laura’s connections, they will investigate and make the two bastards who were behind her pay the full price.
Then, the men who had been making a fuss just now desperately ran away, going through all sorts of trouble to get away, and I helped Charlotte, who was sitting in the carriage, get off.
“You can rest assured that loan sharks like that will never come to your house again.”
After patting her on the shoulder to reassure her, I went into the house and spoke in a gentle tone to my mother, who was older than Charlotte’s younger sister and brother, who looked to be in their early to mid-teens, shivering in the corner.
“Those guys will never come to this house again in the future. So don’t worry and come out here.”
And no matter how much the loan sharks are scum who have given up on humanity, they will never come back here again to try and beat me up because I have more power than their subordinates.
Because those idiots who have given up their morals as humans are infinitely smaller in front of people who are more powerful than them.
After waiting for a while, the three people in the corner came out with expressions of a little less fear.
Seeing me with two stars on my rank insignia made me stiffen with a different meaning this time, so Charlotte stepped forward and continued to explain to the bewildered mother and children.
“This is Director Jaeger, whom I serve. On his way home from work, he said he wanted to visit my house, so I stopped by, and when he saw the debtors, he chased them all away. He also paid off all my debt. “There is no debt in our house anymore, Mom.”
When she heard those words, Charlotte’s mother, younger sister, and younger brother, who seemed to be about to enter the academy, had blank expressions on their faces, as if they were shocked by the sudden great luck.
It seemed that they were unable to come to their senses due to the shock that the enormous debt that had been bothering them had been resolved, and that an extremely high-ranking person whom Charlotte served was now in their shabby home.
However, he soon realized that he was being rude in front of me, a nobleman, and he tried to get down on both knees, so I stopped him and said,
“I come from a commoner background anyway, so there’s no need to be so strict. And although I unintentionally helped you by coming here today, I am indebted to Charlotte in many ways, so I just came to repay you a little.”
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“…. Is that so?”
“You are a great help by not only attending to me but also helping me with the administrative work of my unit. If it weren’t for Charlotte, I think I would have had a really hard time organizing my documents. “Thank you so much for raising my daughter so well.”
As someone who still retains some Korean values, it was a bit awkward to use informal language towards her civilian family, and a woman who has lived much longer than me.
Charlotte’s mother and younger siblings looked as if they were about to cry with emotion just by showing her this kind of respect.
And now, what I have to do to gain Charlotte’s unwavering loyalty is to provide appropriate help and open up a way for her family to survive.
“Also, after listening to her situation, I learned that she had a hard time raising her children alone after her husband left. So, let’s live comfortably in a better place other than this house. “I have a house big enough for three people to live in, so let’s move there.”
The house I’m talking about that is large enough for three people is the house I bought with a reward when I just became a captain.
It has about 4 rooms, and is the type of house that low-class nobles or fairly well-off commoners live in.
Then I looked at the boy in front of me and asked.
“Have you ever thought of going to the academy? “If you are confident that you will pass the written exam, I will give you a letter of recommendation when you apply for the academy next year.”
This isn’t just a proposal I’m making for Charlotte’s sake; it’s also a proposal I’m making for my reputation.
What if I, who rose from commoner to noble the fastest in the empire, opened the way for the seemingly talented younger brother of a private maid from a fallen merchant family to become an officer by being commissioned at the academy?
It will become a pretty good rumor and spread throughout the country.
“I will work hard!”
“Then, in five years, we will become officers and meet in the military.”
“thank you! Director! “I will work really hard.”
That’s because I had a schedule left to squeeze in with Laura in the evening.
He promised Charlotte’s family a decent job and adequate support suitable for their circumstances, and said as he got into the carriage to go back immediately.
“If you want to move, there will be a lot of things to pack and do by the day after tomorrow, so stay with your family until then.”
“Thank you, Director. But I want to serve the warden, or rather the master.”
I thought it was a bit unusual that the title for me was changed from “major” to “master.”
Her change in attitude must be an expression of her changed mindset that she will repay the favor throughout her life because I helped her family in both material and material ways.
Good. From now on, we will have to solidify our surroundings like this.
A word from the author (author review)
An illustration of Laura looking at Director Jaeger with a lovely smile has been added to the illustration collection.
See next episode
