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Cardenia, the capital of the Kingdom of Rutania, was huge, as if showing the might of a great power.

The moat surrounding the castle walls was filled with water and looked like a wide river.

It feels like it has a majesty that could stop anyone who comes in.

The mercenaries who followed Jiselle were speechless in amazement at the overwhelming sight they were seeing for the first time.

"Wow… … Amazing. This is the Kardenia I've only heard about… … ."

"The castles in other territories were nothing more than toys. The one in our territory wasn't a castle at all. It was just a cave."

"It's big, but it also looks a little different. Doesn't it look cooler? It must have cost a lot of money to build."

Cardenia developed as the capital of the kingdom for hundreds of years.

It was characterized by a unique atmosphere with a mix of classic-style buildings and newly constructed buildings.

Even if the situation was better than that of Ferdium, the territory they lived in was ultimately just a poor territory in the outskirts.

I never imagined there could be such a huge city.

Even Belinda, who was known for her talkativeness, blinked her eyes and couldn't open her mouth, and even Gillian, who had been a mercenary in a foreign country for a long time, let out a sigh of admiration.

"Oh my… … . I feel intimidated just looking at it."

The mercenaries looked up at the castle walls and sighed without realizing it.

It was a majestic sight that made one lose all will to fight just by looking at it.

It was questionable whether anyone would be able to get over the walls if something happened in this castle.

No, it didn't seem like it would even scratch the wall, let alone turn it over.

On the one hand, I felt even more desperate that the lord would not cause any trouble here.

"Wow, whoa… … . What is it?"

Exclamations suddenly burst out from the mouths of the onlookers.

The sunset turned the surroundings red.

The red light reflected off the windows of the countless tall spires that rose within the city and scattered in all directions.

It was as if the entire city was glowing red all by itself.

While everyone was watching the wondrous sight in awe, Jisel was glaring at the castle with cold eyes.

'Cardenia… … .'

An impregnable, invincible fortress, a city protected by the goddess.

This place, which had been praised in countless different ways… …was mercilessly destroyed by his own hands.

The mercenary king's army quickly swarmed Cardenia as soon as the declaration of war was made.

Within a week of the outbreak of war, Giselle had annihilated all the lords in his path and taken over Cardenia.

The speed and destructive power were unprecedented in history.

At that time, Jisel and his staff took the fastest route to the castle and dug in. That was the reason why Cardenia was so helpless.

Of course, this was possible because the only target of his revenge was the new king, Duke Delphine.

'It didn't take long to conquer Cardenia, but… … we ultimately failed.'

His goal was not to conquer Cardenia, but to kill the Duke of Delphine.

But when Giselle entered the palace, Duke Delphine was no longer there.

Even now, Giselle still does not know why the Duke of Delphine, who ascended to the throne, was not in the palace.

All I know is that I failed.

An enraged Giselle searched the entire kingdom for the Duke of Delphine.

'It was my mistake. I should have stepped back and held the line again.'

They burned the North, trampled the South, massacred the West, and plundered the East.

From then on, he was called a vengeful demon rather than the mercenary king.

The Kingdom of Rutania did not sit idly by either.

The hidden strong men appeared and blocked his path.

Ugh.

Jiselle, who was lost in thought, ground her teeth without realizing it.

The red glow of the sunset over the Kardenia Castle resembled the color of the blood shed by Giselle's men at that time.

Even now, Jiselle can vividly recall the feeling of her throat being cut, and the emotions she felt at that moment.

'In this life, I will definitely… … you guys.'

– Heeeeeeeing!

"master!"

"My lord!"

At the urgent voice calling her name, Jiselle suddenly came to her senses and raised her head.

The horses were trembling in fear as they felt the murderous aura he was giving off.

"Whoa, whoa."

Jiselle immediately calmed down the horses and made them live.

Belinda asked, unable to hide her worried expression.

"Why are you suddenly like that?"

Other people also looked slightly nervous.

It was understandable to be bewildered when this chaos suddenly broke out while I was sightseeing at a tourist attraction.

Jiselle, who had been suppressing her emotions, scratched her head with an awkward smile.

"that is...."

"that is?"

"Uh… … I did that because I didn't like that last name."

"No, why don't you like it?"

"It's bigger and fancier than our castle. I don't like that. It makes me feel like I'm just showing off."

Jiselle shrugged and talked around sheepishly.

The group all looked at him with dumbfounded faces.

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"So now… … you're saying that surname was so jealous that he even vented his anger?"

"I told you, you have a really unique personality. I can't understand it."

There were whispers coming from here and there.

It was a ridiculous excuse, but everyone seemed to accept it because Jiselle had built up such an eccentric image up until now.

But Belinda and Gillian didn't take his excuses at face value.

At first glance, Jiselle seems to act as she pleases, but upon closer examination, she is a person with her own principles and plans.

I've never shown my will to live for such an unexpected reason.

The two of them seemed worried and tried to say something, but Giselle waved her hand to stop them.

"Okay, okay. I was just thinking about something else and got too engrossed in it. Let's get in quickly."

I couldn't hold back when the lord said that.

The group said nothing more and hurriedly followed Giselle who was walking ahead.

Even though the sun had set, there were still many people in front of the gate. They were people waiting for their turn to be checked.

As it was a royal capital, security was tight and checks were thorough.

"Please show me your identification."

A knight clad in iron armor stood in front of Giselle and her party.

There was not even an ounce of movement in his expression, and he looked like he wouldn't bleed even if he was stabbed.

The knights around him were no different.

They were on a different level from the soldiers at the checkpoint I had seen on my way to Brisbane before.

The knight received Giselle's identification card, looked it over, then took out a map from his bosom and spread it out.

"Baron Giselle Fenris, vassal of the Ferdium Margrave. Confirmed. What brings you to the capital?"

The knight raised his chin and spat out in a commanding tone.

Belinda and Gillian frowned at the sight.

If it were a normal situation, I would have yelled at him for being rude, but here I hesitated to do so.

It was because I was intimidated by the aura of the huge castle.

But unlike the other two, Jiselle nodded and spoke comfortably.

"I came to do some business."

"Who is the general manager at the top?"

The knight asked formally, thinking that Jiselle was simply accompanying the owner.

"This body is the person in charge."

"… … The Baron himself runs the business?"

"Why? Can't I do that?"

"No, that's not true. Then please tell me the personal information of the group and the list of goods."

Giselle answered, nodding to Claude.

"He knows my personal information… … There's no list of products. They're cosmetics. I made them myself."

"yes?"

The knight frowned at the unexpected answer.

Even that was a very small change that you wouldn't notice unless you looked closely.

However, Jisel and his group, who had been staring intently at the article, felt a strange sense of victory upon seeing the movement in that moment.

'Yeah, you guys are shocked too, right?'

The knight examined the carts one by one with a half-hearted expression.

Although she thought it was strange, Jiselle was secretly impressed when she saw them thoroughly searching the area, even mobilizing soldiers.

'The military discipline is really high. Our territory soldiers should be like that too.'

The knight, who had checked several carts, asked cautiously.

"You said… cosmetics?"

"Yes, this body was created."

"It's not toxic, is it?"

"I told you, it's just cosmetics. If you don't believe me, open one and check."

The knight lifted one of the cans and carefully opened the lid.

The knight did not take his suspicious gaze away as he sniffed the scent and rubbed a little bit with his fingers.

"Well, the scent is nice. It feels good on the skin too… … ."

"Shall I give you one? As a souvenir of my visit to the capital."

The knight shook his head. The scent was nice, but he didn't want to accept such a suspicious item.

Jiselle smiled mischievously and asked again.

"It's expensive, but don't regret it later. It's a luxury item that you can't even see with the low wages of knights."

The knight grimaced at the provocative remark.

"No need."

"Okay, if you don't like it, then don't say anything else. Don't say anything else later. You don't have any complaints about me, do you?"

"That won't happen."

The knight who had been caught up in Giselle's constant drinking glared at him with white eyes.

Kaor giggled when he saw that.

"Hey, now you look a bit more human. Your expression never changes, so I thought you were a wooden doll."

Then the knight turned to Kaor with a murderous look in his eyes.

The other mercenaries, who were not much different from Kaor, were also twitching the corners of their lips.

The knight nervously wrote a few words on the guest list and spat them out roughly.

"passing!"

Jiselle smiled and gestured to her group.

"Okay, let's go in. We'll pass safely."

Belinda followed behind Giselle, looking at the knight with pity before finally saying a word.

"Sir, you'll regret not accepting it now."

"what?"

Belinda said nothing more and just walked away.

Claude, who was entering after him, winked at the knight.

"What the hell are those weird guys?"

Whether the knight was shocked or not, the party was busy exclaiming in admiration as soon as they entered the castle.

"Wow!"

The castle, which we entered after passing through the three layers of walls, was truly a different world.

It was a much more bustling place than any other estate I had ever been to.

The streets were filled with shops selling all sorts of things, and every alley was bustling with people.

"I've never seen a place with so many people."

Everyone nodded at one mercenary's words.

There were so many people that it was dizzying to just look at them. The city itself felt like a living organism.

Unlike Brivant, no one seemed to care even though Giselle and her group were making a lot of noise.

Because there were more than a few people similar to them.

Giselle left the group to explore the surrounding area, and took two large inns before complete darkness fell.

There were too many people to stay in one place, and there was no proper place to store the wagons.

Then, as soon as I unpacked at the inn, I called Claude to check what I had to do.

"First, I need to find a place to stay."

Since there were a lot of people and luggage, it was expensive to stay in an inn and it was inconvenient to move around.

Like other great powers, he had to establish a suitable base in the capital.

Claude nodded in agreement.

"We'll need a store to sell our goods anyway. I'll have to look for a decent building. After that… … . I guess we'll have to start promoting ourselves. How about attending a banquet and getting to know the nobles?"

A lukewarm answer came back.

"Why?"