I Planned a Su*cide Mission and Got Kicked Out of the Party

---

Philip personally held the funeral for his subordinates with the decorum expected of the Imperial Army. Swallowing emotional sorrow was one thing, but as soon as he got over the initial shock, practical issues began to emerge.

Humans, for better or worse, are adaptive creatures. If one adapts too quickly to good things, they risk losing their humanity; but the quicker one adapts to bad things, the more likely they can maintain a healthy mindset.

This may not hold true in every situation, but at least it applies to the flow of this war. Jeongjae had already adapted to a certain extent. The three years he spent counting the corpses were not wasted time.

“It’s better to prioritize recovery in the city rather than the beach.”

Jeongjae said as he looked out the window at the beach. Next to him, Jenis, who was diligently examining the asset management sheet, nodded her head.

“Of course. How about using the excess soil from the beach to fill the holes? We have quite a bit of troublesome waste…”

“Isn’t that just mixing ogre corpses with the refuse? If we do that, it would be like burying orc corpses in our village streets, wouldn’t it?”

“The professor burned them so thoroughly they’re pretty much fertilizer anyway. Even if they’ve turned into fertilizer, we obviously can’t just sprinkle that on our village’s vegetable fields. I was thinking of burying them anyway, so why not load it onto transport carriages and use it to fill the bombardment craters…?”

While it might not be a particularly efficient decision, it didn’t seem to pose too great of a problem. Although this was a world where undead and monsters roamed, it wasn’t a bizarre world filled with paranormal phenomena.

Burying orc corpses wouldn’t send bad vibes through feng shui, nor would it summon restless spirits to curse the village. If such things were a possibility, we would already be holding a memorial service for the hundreds of orcs sunk in the sea.

“Well then, let’s do that. It shouldn’t be an issue as it wouldn’t cost extra money.”

“If there are any costs incurred, just bill my father. This incident was ultimately a confrontation with Dracula, so it would also count as fulfilling part of my father’s commission. It’s perfectly reasonable to charge Harker for the funeral costs of the deceased soldiers.”

Jenis provided an unexpectedly favorable opinion for Jeongjae, making it hard to believe she was the heir of Harker’s House. Jeongjae briefly considered Jenis’ words and then rejected her proposal.

“Forget the funeral costs. In such matters, it is the party providing the money that should bear responsibility. I want to leave a strong impression that I’m the one standing behind this. Instead, let’s ask your main family to lend a hand regarding the recovery of the territory.”

Of course, Jenis’ argument that the fight with Dracula provided grounds for requesting additional support from Harker had merit, and it was worth considering her words. Jenis nodded, understanding Jeongjae’s intent.

“Then let’s use the territory’s finances for the funeral. As for the materials needed for the funeral, we can buy them directly from the villagers, so there won’t be any issues with preparations. However, the recovery of the territory… hmm, that’s a bit complicated.”

“Why?”

“The situation is bad enough that we need to keep the royal transporters here. To be honest, there’s no way to receive support. Sending simple funds might be fine, but receiving money now would be meaningless, right?”

Jenis was right. The currency prevalent in the empire was silver coins, but using gold coins might provide a substantial amount without the heavy burden, such as shipping via pigeons or crows.

If there had been a teleportation device installed between Harker’s House and Harriet’s Territory, light financial transactions could have been handled in a sitting position. However, installing a bothersome magic circle like teleportation in a location of no military value is neither easy nor efficient. Such an act would likely be something only an exceptionally capable mage-engineer like the Kingdom of Eramenia could afford to do without concern for the cost.

Regardless, if they wanted financial support, it was still possible to get it. While using flying creatures might raise concerns about interception, losing gold coins is still in a vastly better position than risking human lives.

The chance of the Demon King’s Army going after a measly gold coin purse was low anyway. The currency of the empire and precious metals are not in circulation within the Demon King’s Territory. Unless it’s a dragon, filled with a powerful desire for wealth, the demons wouldn’t even feel greed for gold coins, and there’s no way a dragon would infiltrate such a place to steal a pathetic gold coin purse.

However, the real problem is that if the necessary items are indeed supplies for reconstruction, receiving money would mean nothing. For Jeongjae, who came from a world where everything could be bought with money, this was truly a strange truth.

If there’s no merchant selling the necessary items, even tons of gold coins would be worthless. Even if there were traders who could make a sale, if they couldn’t be brought here due to security concerns, having money wouldn’t mean anything at all.

In reality, throughout the war, the empire often struggled not with a lack of precious metals but with a lack of iron ore. No matter how much gold one had, if the mining amount in the mines is limited, it wouldn’t help weapon production unless they planned to create weapons from gold. Jeongjae’s predicament was no different.

“Then… let’s take our time with the reconstruction of the buildings. Even if we want to log the wood, we’d have to go outside the perimeter, and to be honest, sending the villagers out there for logging right now is a bit…”

“I agree. We have enough food and drinking water. Fortunately, while the seawater may be rotting, the wells haven’t been contaminated, and since the aquifer itself isn’t close to the coast, the groundwater should be alright.”

“If the water source were close enough to the sea to be influenced by seawater contamination, the water would have long been salted. Right, then let’s just give them a break for now. The people here also need to rest. As for immediate housing, we can figure something out somehow.”

One blessing in this misfortune was that, due to the high enlistment rate of the village, the housing space wasn’t critically lacking despite a few houses being destroyed. If they managed with a few people temporarily staying at others’ homes, they would provide living space for all villagers without significant issues.

It was a bitter fact, but if there was any advantage to be taken in the midst of it all, they had to seize it.

“Then the next issue is… um, yes, that transport problem. It was Violet, right? That woman who seemed to be acquainted with Bernard.”

“We can’t just send her back. It’s dangerous even with a guard. Honestly, even if Bernard came himself, I wouldn’t let him go out at such a time. If Bernard faced Dracula at night, there’s no way he would be able to win.”

“The professor himself was on edge. No matter how skilled a vampire hunter is, against such a powerful vampire at night…”

Naturally, the idea of Jeongjae personally giving her escort was also out of the question. Having just recently left the territory, Jeongjae had decided not to leave this land again—at least until the issue with Dracula was resolved.

“Let’s call her in and see what she wants. If she wants to leave here, we’ll have to find a way to make that happen…”

At Jeongjae’s words, Jenis nodded in agreement.

Fortunately, the two didn’t even need to think about how to safely send Violet away. Violet, who was summoned to the Baron’s office by Jenis, surprisingly liked the atmosphere of the territory and expressed her satisfaction in helping the people here.

“Honestly, I also had a run-in with a vampire recently, right? After that, I put protection magic on my carriage, but… I still feel uneasy, you know? So, if the Grand Mage can protect me here, I’d consider staying for a while! I’ve earned a decent amount of money, too. I can cover food and lodging, and, um, also…”

“Don’t worry about costs. I’ve heard that you’re cooperating with the reconstruction of the territory. Although we can’t offer a large reward for that, we can certainly guarantee provisions and lodging for you.”

Jeongjae was relieved that he wouldn’t have to think about how to safely escort Violet. Violet nodded in agreement.

“By the way, where would the residents evacuate to if this territory were attacked? I don’t think the castle’s basement would be very large…”

“If we had a basement, that would be good, but unfortunately, this castle doesn’t have one.”

“Really?”

Violet exclaimed in surprise at that statement.

“That’s strange. I heard rumors that there’s a tremendous treasure hidden in the basement of Harriet Castle… Oh! Is the existence of the treasure itself confidential? If so, I’m sorry! I won’t tell anyone, just pretend I didn’t hear it!”

Upon hearing Violet’s words, Jenis and Jeongjae exchanged glances, both with expressions of disbelief about such a story.

“Did Huck not mention it?”

“Surely not. That village chief was not the type of person to do that. Moreover, even if it were confidential, the lord has the right to that secret, and it stands to reason that he would have told me.”

Violet, who had been listening to Jenis and Jeongjae’s conversation, tilted her head.

“Is that… is that so? Then is it true that there really isn’t any basement at all? I’m sorry. I just heard a rumor when I was running the tavern…”

“What rumor was that?”

Jeongjae asked with curiosity. Violet nodded slightly and explained.

“Well… I heard that the lord wouldn’t have been assigned to such a place for no reason. There’s said to be a secret basement hidden by the previous Hero in the Harriet family’s territory, and the treasure hidden in that basement is so valuable that the Hero sent the lord to protect it…”

“I’ve never heard of that before. Were there no further details?”

Jeongjae thought that Walter would have told Jeongjae about such matters beforehand, but it was certainly possible that Walter didn’t reveal all his true intentions even if he had an underlying purpose.

“Well, that’s the world of rumors for you. Some say the treasure is not really a treasure but a hidden secret of the world, or that it’s a code that only people from this world can read…”

Both Jenis and Jeongjae jolted simultaneously. A code only someone from this world could understand. Both of them thought of the English alphabet and sentences made up of those letters.

To be precise, it isn’t really a code. Anything could be learned with just a few days of study, and people from this world could easily learn simple English. However, in a world with an extreme shortage of books or materials related to English, while letters could be easily learned, studying vocabulary was not easy. Thus, it could be said that besides Jeongjae and Count Harker, there are very few who can truly read English.

The details of these passing rumors were strikingly plausible. Jeongjae looked at Jenis and spoke.

“If the hidden secret itself is the treasure, it wouldn’t be strange if Huck didn’t know about it. No, only Walter, with a rightful claim to the title, might know of its existence…”

While trying not to dwell on it too much, according to the information Jeongjae had, Harriet’s Territory stood in a rather ambiguous position.

The Hero, Simon Harriet, went missing after leaving behind only a daughter. That daughter later became the lady of Hellhound Marquis House, neglecting the management of the estate and eventually chose a path to becoming an official in the royal court, following the Marquis’s directives to agree to hand over Harriet’s Territory into the jurisdiction of Harker’s House.

In this case, Harker’s House could be given the title succession rights or the appointment of a baron. If she wanted to walk completely on the side of the royal faction and found it burdensome to transfer the territory to local nobles, she could return the barony succession rights to the Emperor or transfer them to a branch noble of the Hellhound family.

However, Simon’s daughter, while persistently neglecting the management of the territory, held on to the title succession rights until her grave. This succession right continued to be passed on to the next heirs of the Hellhound family.

At some point, it wouldn’t be strange for the title to have been traded or lost, but the descendants of Simon Harriet, while seemingly unwilling to manage the territory directly, never relinquished their authority over it.

Walter Hellhound’s willingness to transfer Harriet’s Territory into Jeongjae’s hands was unprecedented.

If that rumor contains even a fragment of truth… if this land holds a ‘secret that is meaningless to those not from Earth but may have significance to those who are’…

“Dracula wanted this castle. It seems he wasn’t trying to demand this territory. At that time, he stated he would ensure the safety of the residents and provide ample time. He even promised that it would be fine to watch him, that he wouldn’t deploy the Demon King’s Army in this territory. He seems to be quite obsessed with this castle… to make such demands.”

Jeongjae muttered. Dracula was, after all, a vampire who came from Earth. A Eastern European, no less, who had aspired to conquer the world and attempted to move to London would naturally know how to read English.

“Dracula knew something. He knew that there was indeed something in this castle.”

Jenis understood Jeongjae’s words. Finally losing his patience, Jeongjae leaped from his seat.

“If that’s the case, he won’t give up easily. We have to discover what’s in this castle before Dracula returns. Jenis, assist with the search. Starting today, we’ll scour every corner of this castle.”

“Understood! This time, we’re launching a search operation!”

Jenis jumped up, saluting with a thud. Violet looked on with a blank expression.

“D-do I have to help too?”

“Just sharing the rumor is enough. I should thank you first. However, you can leave the search of the castle to me and my aide; you can go now.”