The Abandoned City (4)

A nameless knight of the Rose Order, whose name I didn’t know.

As soon as I finished asking my question, she disappeared like a ghost before I could even stop her.

Once again, I couldn’t get answers to my questions.

But…

Badump—

My warrior’s heart sensed danger instinctively and began to pound wildly.

Was my hunch correct, or was I way off?

There was no way to know right now.

But one thing was certain, the royal family needed to answer a major question if they were planning to blow up Bifron.

‘Noark.’

Does Noark know about this plan?

They hadn’t stationed any significant troops along the walls connected to Bifron.

It looked like they knew something… but what?

‘What are both sides really after?’

My head felt like it was about to explode.

Still, I didn’t stop thinking. I let the thoughts keep rolling, one after the next.

And before I knew it…

“Haa…”

I didn’t know.

I hoped something brilliant would suddenly come to mind if I kept thinking like this, but…

Whooooosh—!

In the end, I turned my back to the strong night wind and descended down from the city wall.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time left.

The deadline given by the Rose Knight was approaching fast.

Twelve hours…

Does that even make sense?

After sunrise and once noon passes, an entire city district will be blown away.

Well, the explosion is still just my theory… for now.

Thud.

Time was tight, so after climbing down part of the wall, I jumped from a reasonable height.

Crash—!

The landing made a loud noise, but…

‘Well, everyone needs to wake up anyway.’

What else could I do if the landlord was kicking us out?

We had to pack up quickly, taking only what was necessary.

***

As expected, there’s definitely something about Bifron that I don’t know.

But…

‘Let’s give up around here.’

After days of investigation, I had gained absolutely nothing.

If I had managed to uncover something, things might have been different, but as it stood, there was no other choice.

Follow the royal order and leave Bifron.

But there was a catch.

[A strange question. They were never permitted to enter the living districts in the first place]

The Rose Knight who brought the king’s message said that only people from District 7 were allowed to evacuate. Bifron’s residents couldn’t be brought along.

In other words, this already-abandoned city was about to be abandoned by us too.

‘This one’s easy.’

It wasn’t very hard to figure out the solution.

So…

“B-Boss? What brings you here at this hour…?”

Coming down from the wall, I went straight to Jingjing’s house and ordered:

“Gather all the residents of Bifron. Every single one of them.”

“Huh…?”

“I’ll explain later once everyone’s here. We don’t have time. Tell them to leave everything behind unless it’s essential.”

Even if he didn’t understand, he must’ve sensed how serious I was.

“Are we… leaving?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll start gathering them right away! H-How much time do we have?”

“Before 9 a.m. The sooner the better. I’ll take care of my allies. You focus only on Bifron’s residents.”

“Yes, boss!”

Jingjing, who had just woken up, quickly threw on his coat and rushed out as soon as I gave him the exact time.

And then…

“A Rose Knight came to you?”

“Yeah. She said they’d open the checkpoint in District 4 around noon, and we should escape through it.”

“Nothing else?”

“Oh, and she said we can’t bring Bifron’s residents.”

“Knowing your personality, I doubt you just said, ‘Okay.’”

“Nah, I just said okay.”

“……?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got a plan.”

After sharing that brief conversation with my allies, I asked them to gather the District 7 explorers.

Then, after some time passed…

And before long…

At the Dimensional Plaza, which I had designated as the meeting point, explorers and residents began to trickle in after hearing the news.

“I… came because it seemed urgent…”

“Does anyone know what’s going on?”

“Fejain said we need to leave quickly…”

Without a proper explanation, the people in the square grew uneasy. But instead of calming them down with a detailed explanation, I focused on the preparations that needed to be done before noon.

I mean, solving the problem was better than wasting time sympathizing and worrying, right?

“Paper! Gather all the clean paper you can find!”

“Anyone who can write, gather here!”

There was a lot to prepare, so I couldn’t do it alone. I recruited anyone I could find and put them to work.

Well, of course, writing was a prerequisite, so Aynar was an exception…

“Aynar! Didn’t you say you’ve been learning to write for the past three years?”

“……Hah, hahaha! Misha! Learning is a lifelong journey, you know!”

Aynar still couldn’t write—only read.

Honestly, I couldn’t understand how someone could read but not write, but whatever.

Anyway.

One hour, two hours, three hours…

Time flew by, and as dawn began to break, nearly everyone in the city had gathered in the plaza.

And so…

“Everyone, listen up! The Baron has an announcement!”

Now was the time to explain the situation to everyone.

I could’ve explained earlier, but…

No point in repeating the same thing twice, right?

“Ahem.”

Without bothering with a stage, I used [Gigantification] to enlarge myself and looked down at the crowd of thousands.

Then…

“I’ll keep it short! Last night, I received word from the royal family!”

I started with the key point to grab their attention.

“Oooh!”

“A message from the royal family?!”

“Can we finally leave this place?”

As expected, the crowd erupted in excitement.

Honestly, I’ve given so many speeches now that steering people to react exactly how I want has become too easy.

…Do other people find this as easy?

I didn’t know, but for now, my focus was on the speech.

“That’s right! They said they’d open the 4th district checkpoint so we can leave the city!”

With the main point delivered…

“Ooohhh!”

“We’re saved—!”

“But!”

Time for the twist.

Bad news makes the good news sound even better later.

“Damn it all, the royal family said not everyone can go.”

A hush fell over the plaza as my words cut through the cheers.

“………?”

Thousands of confused, stunned faces.

Then a resident of Bifron locked eyes with me and asked:

“Not everyone…? What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. The royal family will only accept those from District 7.”

“T-Then… we’re excluded?!”

The name tags weren’t even necessary at this point. The expressions in the crowd made it easy to tell who was from Bifron and who was from the 7th District.

“……!!!”

The Bifron residents’ eyes widened as if they’d just been handed a death sentence.

“…….”

The 7th District explorers hesitated, unsure how to react. The divide between despair and relief was stark.

And in that tense atmosphere…

“Then! Then why did you call us here?!”

Someone in the crowd shouted in anger.

“If you were just going to abandon us, why bother?!”

The politeness was gone from their tone.

Not that I could blame them.

People pushed to the edge were bound to react like this.

So, naturally…

“Because I am taking you with me.”

I grinned as if it were all a joke, and the angry man’s expression froze.

“……Huh?”

“Are you deaf?”

“N-No, it’s just… the royal family clearly said they w-won’t take us…”

Ah, right.

From their perspective, this made no sense.

Defying the royal family in this cursed city was unthinkable.

Especially since Bifron’s residents had spent their entire lives suffering the consequences of rebellion.

“They did. And I said I’m taking you.”

“……B-But! You’re a Baron, aren’t you?!”

“A Baron? That’s right. But what’s your point?”

The man looked up at me with trembling eyes.

And then…

“Why…?”

His voice shook as he asked:

“Why would you go this far for us?”

Ironically enough…

This was a question I had asked myself.

What I was about to do wouldn’t sit well with the royal family…

And it would make things harder for me in noble society.

So why had I made this decision so easily?

The answer was simple.

“Because I wanted to.”

“Huh…?”

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”

“N-No, that’s not what I meant…”

“Anyway, that’s all. Everyone, follow the instructions and fill out the paperwork! That’s it!”

With that, I ended the announcement, and the residents began signing documents under the guidance of my allies.

By the time everything was done…

‘That was close.’

The checkpoint gates opened right on schedule.

***

Squeak, squeak, squeak-!

The checkpoint gate, which had been closed for a long time, opened slowly with a creaking sound.

Gulp!

The crowd gathered in front of the checkpoint swallowed nervously and focused their attention.

And in that moment…

Clank, clank.

Knights bearing the royal crest marched forward, forming a path with metallic footsteps as if waiting for someone.

“H-Here they come…!”

A murmur spread through the crowd as a lone woman stepped out from behind the knights.

Tap, tap.

Dressed in the same uniform as the knights, but it was immediately obvious—this was a disguise.

After all, it was the same Rose Knight I’d seen yesterday.

“There are…”

She scanned the crowd before her gaze settled on me.

“More people than expected?”

Her eyes carried an unspoken question: What kind of trick is this?

Not that I had any reason to back down.

It wasn’t like I’d done anything illegal.

“What’s the problem? Is there an issue with more people?”

At my sly question, she shook her head indifferently.

“None.”

“…….”

“After all, those without permission won’t be passing through these gates.”

Despite the unexpected situation, she showed no agitation, infact she seemed relaxed.

These women really weren’t to be underestimated.

However, her last line was exactly what I’d been aiming for.

“Then it’s settled. After all, those without permission won’t be passing through.”

I smirked, and for the first time, her brow furrowed slightly.

“What do you mean, Baron?”

Instead of answering, I pulled out one of the prepared documents and held it up. Her voice trailed off.

“This is…”

Heh. She didn’t see this coming—

“What is this?”

Ah. She didn’t understand what this document meant yet.

Well, to be fair, if I hadn’t spent days digging into Bifron’s secrets and gathering every scrap of information, I wouldn’t have thought of this solution either.

Aside from leaving through official certification at fourteen, there was exactly one other way for Bifron’s residents to gain passage.

Grin.

I didn’t bother hiding my triumphant smile as I explained.

“An employment contract.”

“An… employment contract?”

“Put simply, it means that from this moment forward, these people are retainers of House Jandel.”

Oh, and just to be clear—no salary included.

.

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