Kingdom Foundation (4)

"Kill me if you must! But you're finished. I've had my revenge!" <Count Hayna>

"You've got it all wrong, I don't care what Ronen thinks of me anymore." <Julius >

"What?" <Count Hayna>

"I'm rather grateful. Thanks to you, Ronen and Hero Elheat's relationship has been strained to the breaking point. That's what I've been trying to achieve." <Julius >

"You think you can survive in Lunan with Duke Ronen staring at you? My father died a horrible death because Duke Ronen gave up on him." <Count Hayna>

Revenge for her father and rebuilding her family.

It's not that I don't understand her desire to accomplish this, but she used the wrong means.

"Look at the big picture. How long will this rotten Lunan last? I don't care about Ronen, I'm going to start a new Kingdom one uncorrupted by these oppulant nobles, and the destruction of Bridget was just one part of that. I've never been loyal to Ronen so it would be better for you to take a new path. I'll tell you one thing; soon Visigoth will begin their re-invasion for real this time and Ronen will not be able to stop them, because I have no intention of helping this time around. There are many other ways to rebuild your family, many other ways to take revenge. You don't need Ronen to favour you, do you?" <Julius >

"What the hell are you talking about?" <Count Hayna>

"I'm saying you need to use your head and think. Your father died a horrible death after being abandoned by Ronen. So why don't you kill Ronen and get revenge?" <Julius >

If she showed her anger towards me and targeted me, I would kill her right then but she was still useful.

"Why don't you direct your revenge at the immediate cause and not at me?" <Julius >

Yes, it was this very spark, the spark that would lead her to target Ronen.

Anyway, I said all I had to say, so I signalled Zeff and she was free to go.

But she didn't move, she just stared at me in a daze still laying there upon the floor.

I left her to her own devices and we left the mansion.

Yuri, who joined us soon after, suddenly asked me a question.

"By the way, what the hell do you think you're doing? If Visigoth's re-invasion is not so far off...After all, the people of Lunan are..." <Yuri >

It seems that she heard everything we said.

"A foolish king and a greedy duke, I don't care what happens to them, but I'm not going to let my people die in a war. In the end I shall save all the people who wish to live free from these corrupt influences." <Julius >

"..." <Yuri >

Yuri didn't say anything to my answer; she turned her face away when I looked at her.

***

 - - Back at the captured fortress - -

"What, you're trying to escape?" <Zeff >

Gensema tried to escape and was caught by Zeff.

"I did everything you said! Please, let me go!" <Gensema >

"Sorry, I didn't say I'd let you go." <Zeff >

"The world is cause and effect, right? You do bad things, you suffer the consequences." <Julius >

I said, and handed Gensema over to Zeff.

"Do what you want." <Julius >

"Are you sure?" <Zeff >

"Yeah." <Julius >

I nodded, Zeff bit his lip and grabbed Gensema's hair then dragged him away.

"Help me, please! Please…..! You can have it all. If you need gold, just tell me. I've got tons of it!" <Gensema >

Gensema cried and clung to him even more but Zeff didn't say anything.

He stared at Gensema and swung his sword at that moment, Gensema's head flew up into the sky.

"Help...guh..." <Gensema >

The head was detached from the torso while the mouth was still moving.

For a few seconds before he lost consciousness he made a lot of noise while he was decapitated.

Those few seconds he must have seen his torso with his head in the air.

A few seconds of despair might not be enough for the scum who plunged so many people into misery, but it was a fitting end.

After killing Gensema, Zeff walked towards me and suddenly kneeled.

"How can I repay you...? How the hell do I..." <Zeff >

His question was really stupid.

"Do you really want to repay me?" <Julius >

"Of course I do!" <Zeff >

"Then get stronger, that way you can be more useful to me." <Julius >

Hurry up and become an S-class.

A loyal S-class subordinate, I needed something like that.

The stronger he gets, the lower his chance of dying, which is good for Miri.

"I only need to get stronger? Then I'll have more opportunities to return the favour?" <Zeff >

"That's the idea." <Julius >

"Then I'll be strongest." <Zeff >

"Hehe you'll have to try hard to surpass me!" <Julius >

Throwing a light taunt to encourage him.

He didn't speak for long, which was typical of Zeff.

I understood his enthusiasm though.

But there is something else that is more important right now.

Even with Gensema's death, the Doro Trading Company has not yet been destroyed.

Destroying their fortress in Lunan and killing its representative only means that the boss died.

The branches all over Lunan and all over Visigoth were still intact.

It is similar in structure to modern-day criminal organizations such as drug traffickers.

It is not easy to know the exact nature of the organization because of its tightly guarded secrecy.

In addition to the general manager of drug trafficking, there are other positions, such as stocking, sorting, storage, transportation, field manager, vendor, watchman, and treasurer.

Those at the executive level usually do not appear in public.

They have vertical but not horizontal connections, so each member only knows the ones directly above them.

In most cases, they only know each other's faces, but not their names, even if they are doing the same work.

As a result of information obtained from interrogating the prisoners of war at the fortress, it seems that Gensema also operated in secrecy, controlling only the fortress and headquarters in Lunan, and issuing orders without showing his face to the other branches.

In other words, the Doro Trading Company is still alive, and I can make it mine.