How to Live with the Golden Totem

#005 The Youngest Son of the Notorious Newly Rich Family (5)

“Haha, I’m glad things wrapped up easier than I expected!”

After dropping a heap of luggage, Dorf felt considerably lighter on his way home. He wore a grin reminiscent of a salesman who just closed a big deal.

In his hand was a rather luxurious parchment that surprisingly showed no signs of aging, which he claimed was one of the copies of the vision held by the Baldwin family.

“Though it’s called a vision, it’s essentially just a way to handle magic. Sure, there are some prestigious families with special visions that can only be mastered by their blood relatives, but beyond that, it’s merely a type of knowledge. Sharing it doesn’t make it disappear. Besides, with this, we’ve gained enough food to keep the inhabitants alive for ten years! Isn’t that quite the benefit?”

Indeed, when comparing endlessly replicable knowledge to tangible assets, one might see it that way.

That is, unless you factor in the aristocrats’ pride and the advantage of monopolizing exclusive knowledge.

“In that regard, it’s quite peculiar how the Empire has nationalized almost all visions except for a select few and even established institutions to study and develop them.”

Passing knowledge secretly within a family certainly holds the advantage of keeping the opposing party in the dark about countermeasures.

However, since only a minority is involved in its content, unless a brilliant genius emerges to innovate the technique, progress tends to crawl at a painfully slow pace.

After all, the Empire has been reigning as the hegemon for decades for a reason.

“Are you sure it’ll be okay? It seems like we’ve made some serious enemies.”

“Haha, no need to worry, Young Lord Chrome. Lord Baldwin is a wise man,” Dorf continued with his usual sly grin.

“As you saw earlier, they can never touch us. As soon as the food supply is cut off, the inhabitants will starve, and the territory’s army, which is barely holding together, will fall apart.”

“What about the possibility of asking aid from the royal family or other noble families?”

“The new royal family isn’t on good terms with the noble families that long for the old one. Other noble families won’t move unless it benefits them, and most of those aligned with the old royal family aren’t foolish enough to get involved in such a pointless endeavor. The only possible allies might be some remnants of the anti-Empire faction.”

But, Dorf added, “Once you team up with them, the Baldwin family will instantly be branded as traitors and terrorists. They’d give the new royal family just the excuse they need to send in their regular troops and wipe us out. If that good lord had ever been the type to place such a bet, he wouldn’t have come this far in the first place.”

“Hmm.”

That certainly seemed valid, but why did it leave such a pit in his stomach?

Logically speaking, there were no flaws in Dorf’s assertions.

But still…

“If people were rational and logical, the world wouldn’t be in such a mess all the time.”

Even with all this magic, it was still fundamentally the same place where people lived.

And how was this place any different?

“Hey, Dorf. Just in case, order a thorough watch around us—”

—KRAK!!!

—An ambush!

…Damn it.

“Those damned bastards!! Where the hell did those scoundrels come from?!”

“…!”

The situation visible beyond the wagon’s door wasn’t looking good.

At a glance, there seemed to be just over ten assailants, but the nature of the ambush—a narrow path flanked by trees—made it impossible to know how many others lurked in the shadows. The wagon driver and porters, initially clueless, froze in terror after one unfortunate soul got his throat cut, sputtering blood all over without even the chance to fight back.

The masked intruders moved gracefully and precisely, and although the leader, Clark, was holding his ground, the rest of the ‘Brown Wolf Mercenary Group’ was struggling to tackle a single assailant, often needing several people to manage just one.
With Skills Overwhelming Enough to Face a Veteran Mercenary Group Head-On.

Even though their identities were concealed, they couldn’t hide their well-coordinated movements.

Predicting the assailants’ identities was easy.

“Fools…!! What does it even mean to mess with us now?!”

Dorf mumbled in shock, and one of the large men assigned as his guards stepped forward to ask, “What should we do, Lord Deputy?”

Dorf, realizing the encirclement wasn’t too thick ahead, responded quickly. “Focus on clearing a path! We need to get out of here!”

“No, wait—”

Despite my disbelief, the guards swiftly climbed onto the driver’s seat and passenger area of the wagon, starting to move it. The masked assailants tried to block the way, but the guards’ thrown daggers and stones created a momentary distraction, allowing them to bolt through.

I could hear the panicked shouts from workers and mercenaries alike, but the wagon didn’t stop.

“Stop this thing!!!”

“Now’s not the time to worry about those left behind! We just need to get through the woods first—”

I shouted at Dorf, who still seemed oblivious and was acting like an adult scolding a foolish child. “You dense man! Those who ambushed us wouldn’t leave their encirclement so loosely open in the first place!!!”

Right after that, a heavy crash was heard, and my body flew into the air.

My vision spun as the cries of the panicking horses and the sound of something breaking filled my ears.

BAM!!!

“Gack!”

Dorf, who landed between me and the ceiling of the overturned wagon and was now acting as my human cushion, let out a scream akin to air escaping a deflated tire, but thanks to him, I escaped with only minor injuries.

One of the guards riding with us had unfortunately fallen awkwardly, his neck twisted at a grotesque angle, while another clutching his left ankle writhed in pain as it appeared he had fractured it.

Dorf, who appeared to be relatively unscathed, seemed knocked out; even slapping him didn’t cause him to stir, only to breathe.

“Ugh, seriously…!”

Crawling out through the partly opened door of the wagon, I spotted a thick rope tightly fastened at the height of an adult man’s knees where the forest path ended.

I couldn’t tell if they had initially planned to lure us this way or set it up as a contingency, but we had clearly walked right into their trap.

The guards who had been sitting on the driver’s seat earlier were now sprawled on the floor, each being stabbed in the neck by different masked figures while one other stared silently in my direction.

Having three of them instead of just one was enough to drive me up the wall.

Realistically, wouldn’t this situation typically involve just one remaining alive until an unexpected twist occurs for the protagonist?

With my mind filled with fear and anxiety, someone among the masked assailants finally spoke up.

“Don’t do anything foolish and stay still.”

I found it absurd and replied, “Seriously? Even a worm wriggles when you step on it! Telling a person coming to cut my throat to just sit there quietly? What kind of nonsense is that?”

“…You have a filthy mouth, brat.”

The man continued, “Unlike the others, you have value as a hostage. If you cooperate, I guarantee your life.”

“A hostage, you say?”

I rolled the term around on my tongue. A hostage situation hinges on the hostage being of significant value.

I might have some worth, but would the head of the family willingly agree to negotiations?

I seriously doubted it. He’d probably think he could just have another kid instead.

What’s more, what guarantee do I have that his words are true? Approaching him trusted could easily end with a swift stab in the back, leaving me unable to fight back and knocked out with no chance of a second round.

Whether a third shot at life even existed was anybody’s guess.

Thus, the answer I had to give was already determined.
“- Are you planning to switch careers to become a hostage-taker from the next lord?”

I didn’t miss the slight tremor that rippled through the man’s body.

With all my strength, I dashed into the thick underbrush of the forest.

The sound of something swinging fiercely and the sickening thud filled the air simultaneously, and I felt a sharp sting as what must have been some kind of shrapnel grazed my earlobe.

I had no time to inspect my injury or even look back.

Right now, I believed that in a clumsy forest filled with obstacles, my smaller frame would give me an advantage, so I kept running.

Though my body, raised in a bountiful environment, was nutritionally healthy, I lacked the stamina for such a sprint.

Before long, my lungs were on fire, and my heart was pounding violently.

From behind me, I didn’t hear any reminders to stop or curses, but instead, the sounds of grass and leaves crunching beneath their feet rang out one after another.

And as to whether I would join my remaining companions in the forest first, or whether the assailants would catch me first, the outcome was about to unfold.

Thud.

“…! ! !”

I stumbled over a protruding rock.

There was no time to brace for a fall.

My body was propelled forward and crashed against a massive tree.

Without a human cushion like before, the impact was jarring.

I flailed to get back up, but my limbs felt paralyzed as if I had been electrocuted, refusing to cooperate.

In the distance, I could see the assailant advancing towards me.

As he pushed through the underbrush, I noticed his mask was torn, revealing a bloodied cheek—maybe from getting scratched by a branch.

He didn’t pause his stride as he drew his sword from its sheath.

Damn it, it seemed he had no intention of keeping me as a hostage.

In that moment, boiling with frustration at having been duped…

Rustle! Someone stepped in front of the man.

A girl with brown eyes and tied back shoulder-length brown hair stood silently, bowing her head before him—the youngest member of the mercenary group.

“…….”

I watched as a hesitant look crossed the man’s face, and his arm holding the sword lowered slightly.

And I could see from my position propped against the tree what would happen as he opened his mouth, intending to say something to the girl.

The girl suddenly brought the hilt of her sword down fiercely onto the man’s foot.

─Crack!

As he reflexively lifted the injured foot, clutching it, the girl swiftly kicked out the other ankle.

─Thud!

With his balance lost, he fell, and before he could react, a blade had already been drawn from the scabbard right beneath his neck.

─Shick.

Just three strikes.

With just three decisive attacks, the girl had taken down a man who was several heads taller than she was. She wiped the splattered blood from her hair with her hand and turned to me.

At that moment, a certain template background setting flashed in my mind.

“She didn’t know her parents.”

“Few were there to help a little orphan from the slums, and she never had the luck of encountering such a person.”

“Instead, she possessed talent—a natural ability to understand and wield any weapon skillfully and an impressive physique.”

“She plunged into the world of mercenaries, quietly sharpening her teeth in a harsh environment.”

“For the day she would soar high.”

Among the diverse and powerful templates, she was a character favored by many players for her high freedom and exceptional combat skills.

“The Nameless Demon” was gazing at me.

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