How a Second Life Knight Lives

44. The Day of Catching the Gorilla.

The attendant started trembling as he looked at the tray I handed him.

“What do you mean…”

Seeing him trembling like that, it was clear he hadn’t received any training as a spy or assassin, just the usual training as an attendant of the Count’s household.

But it was obvious he had done something to the food.

I grabbed the attendant and threw him down.

Then I took out a rope and tied his wrists and ankles together behind his back.

This way, he couldn’t pull any tricks.

“Please, spare me! Why are you doing this? No, I was wrong!”

Incoherent cries burst out from the attendant.

At the same time, the soldiers standing guard in the hallway rushed in.

“An assassin. Seal off the lord’s castle and prevent anyone from moving! Arrest anyone trying to leave the castle!”

In an instant, the lord’s castle was sealed off, and the knights and the head attendant came running.

“Head attendant. Good timing. Bring a dog.”

“What? Yes, understood.”

The head attendant quickly realized what I meant and soon brought a dog from somewhere.

It was a dog that wasn’t picky about people.

It would even eat food given by strangers.

The dog ate the food on my tray, started gagging, and rolled on the floor in pain.

And shortly after, it died right in front of us.

It took about the time to drink a cup of tea and eat a biscuit.

The attendant who saw this was in a daze.

The head attendant also looked as if the sky had fallen.

“Head attendant. Who is this person?”

“He is Waiman, from a family that has served the Count for four generations. In that family, one or two people have always served as attendants or scribes.”

The chamberlain, who barely managed to pull himself together, quickly answered my question. It was obvious that he was afraid he might get caught up in it himself.

“Then you must be tight-lipped.”

“Certainly more than the average person.”

“Threats won’t work, it seems. Then let’s use water. Water always knows the answer.”

“Excuse me?”

The chamberlain asked dumbfoundedly.

And indeed, Oiman showed everyone that water knows the answer.

When you submerge your face in water and hover on the sharp edge between life and death, everything feels futile.

The only desperate thing is oxygen, just that one thing, nothing else is needed.

At that point, you will say everything.

If it seems like you are thinking of something other than oxygen, you can ask the water again.

That’s how Oiman confessed who instructed him to put the drug in the food.

Surprisingly, the mastermind was the head of the Hogberg family, to which Oiman belonged.

And it is said that the head of the Friberg family was also present at the scene.

Oiman continued to make excuses that didn’t hold water, but who would believe them?

Claiming he thought it was a laxative!

Good grief.

That’s another problem.

How can the fiancée of a count hold her head high here after suffering such humiliation?

If the purpose was to make me a laughingstock, it was plausible.

However, the drug the chamberlain mixed into the food was not a laxative but an instant poison.

Instant poison is not easy to come by.

And if ingested, it would have killed me.

Even if my stamina was at MAX.

…Probably?

I need to check this later.

After the confession and the revelation of the mastermind, the knights began to move.

Shortly after, Countess Linnea and Lady Sarah, the head maid, entered.

“William. Thank goodness. When I first heard about the poisoning, I thought I had lost you too.”

“Countess. I’m not that easy to get rid of.”

You received a title and land, but isn’t it a contract that you have to endure for five years?

I can’t die leaving that behind out of resentment.

As I spoke comfortably with a light smile, Countess Linea’s face softened considerably.

She still looked surprised, but at least her major concerns seemed to have lessened.

However, Lady Sarah, the head maid, was pressing the chamberlain with a face as cold as frost.

“Isn’t he from the Hogberg family?”

“Yes, Lady Sarah.”

“I can’t believe it. The Hogbergs have served for four generations. If this is how it is, there’s no one we can trust.”

“At least it’s fortunate that it was an internal communication rather than an outsider. There wasn’t any direct attempt to harm the Count, was there?”

“That’s not for you to judge, Nilsen. Make a list of those among the chamberlains and servants in the lord’s castle who are related to the Hogbergs. And call the head maid.”

“Understood, Lady Sarah.”

Chamberlain Nilsen hurriedly left the room.

And as if to replace him, Master Johan appeared.

Two knights who acted as his lieutenants followed behind him.

“I’ve heard everything. The guards will go to the Hogberg side. Since they were servants, just bring them in. But the Freeberg side is a bit lacking with just the guards. They were quite influential at one time. I and the knights will lead the domain army and go directly.”

“I will go with you.”

“Hmm? Why? Why don’t you have dinner again with the Count?”

“Until I compete with Master Johan, wasn’t Claesson of Freeberg the recognized second-in-command of the Count’s domain? I’m curious to see who is stronger between him and me.”

“He’s nothing special. When my master settled here, he crushed that family, and I’ve stepped on them too. You won’t have any problems.”

I cannot tolerate having someone else deal with the person who sent me poison.

If they tried to cut my throat, shouldn’t they offer theirs as well?

I am more than willing to cut it.

*

Freeberg and Hogberg have always had close interactions.

Generations ago, the two families lived as neighbors in the mountains near Kalmar.

The word “Berg” in their names means mountain, which is why it’s included in their family names.

After moving to Kalmar city, one side joined the domain army and climbed the ladder step by step, while the other became servants or lower clerks of the Count’s household.

As a result, after several generations, Freeberg became a powerful family that once controlled the domain army, while Hogberg became one of the small roots supporting the Count’s household.

Even though the status of the families changed, they continued to interact steadily.

So it was not unusual for the heads of the two families to gather in one place for a secret conversation.

However, the content was far from ordinary.

“Sir Clason, why did you change the target? Didn’t Mr. Erik Kalmar clearly instruct you to target the Countess?”

“Listen, Hogberg. Let me ask you one thing. If something were to happen to the Countess, would Erik Kalmar have a chance? Could he become the Count of Kalmar?”

“Since he has the closest bloodline, wouldn’t that be the case?”

Clason of Friberg shook his head.

He did not agree with Hogberg’s naive assumption.

“If the Emperor were present and the Empire were at peace, that might be possible. With some manipulation and bribery, Erik Kalmar could become the Count. After all, he is the last of the Kalmars. But, my friend.”

“Yes, Sir Clason.”

“The Emperor is not in his place. That’s the problem. So now, it’s an era where the sword speaks. Bloodline? Even if his great-grandfather was the Count of Kalmar, does Erik Kalmar have any foundation here? He left Kalmar 15 years ago. How many people do you think remember his face, even if they remember his name? If it weren’t for Duke Glenn, we would have ignored him too.”

“That’s true.”

“Think about it. If the Countess were to vacate her position, what would happen? I think Kalmar City would become a battlefield. It’s clear that Duke Maximilian and Duke Glenn would rush in. Erik would be used and discarded by Duke Glenn. And I would also be doomed. Isn’t it a good justification? To avenge the Countess. That’s why I didn’t follow Erik’s request. He’s too adventurous.”

In fact, Clason hesitated quite a bit when he received contact from Duke Glenn.

The pro-Glenn faction in Kalmar City was swept away when Morgan was purged. Although not many died, there were quite a few who were ordered to self-reflect and were hiding at home, watching the situation.

Duke Glenn couldn’t order such people to do anything.

If he contacted them, they would run to the Countess, seeing it as a perfect opportunity to prove their loyalty.

So he understood that the proposal came to him, who was also a political rival of Master Johan.

Duke Glenn’s request was not too unreasonable.

He wanted to use Erik Kalmar to moderately threaten and shake Countess Linnea, thereby forming public opinion within Kalmar City.

That was within the realm of possibility.

But then Erik Kalmar made an absurd request to poison the Countess.

Clason was dumbfounded.

Did he not realize that he was just a tool for Duke Glenn?

Or was he openly declaring his madness?

Did he really think I would agree to such an absurd proposal? Really?

As Clason was about to get angry, he was struck by one possibility.

What if, instead of the Countess, he could poison the Countess’s fiancé?

He suspected that William’s very appearance was the work of the vassal group centered around Master Johan.

He was also suspicious that Baroness Sarah’s influence was heavily involved.

So if he could poison William, he could not only strike a blow to Master Johan, who had been an adversary since his father’s time, but also to the arrogant Baroness Sarah.

Moreover, he thought he wouldn’t have to worry about finding the culprit.

Clearly, they will interrogate and torture the servants who served the meal, the cook who made the food, the supplier who provided the ingredients, and even the maids around them to find the culprit, but it will be impossible to get a proper answer.

The Hogberg family’s servant training includes enduring torture in case of emergency.

Rather, I am certain that the words of those who cannot withstand the torture will only add to the confusion.

As long as they are not singled out and tortured intensively as the culprit, they can buy enough time.

And when the situation calms down, it is possible to pull them out of prison.

It seemed entirely possible.

Even without using Erik, he could threaten and shake the surroundings of Countess Linnea himself.

Duke Glenn would reconsider his value.

And thanks to the provocative letters Erik sent to the influential people of Kalmar City, he would be framed and become an obvious target for elimination.

Then, only one person with the castle of Kalmar would remain.

Who knows what will happen after that?

That’s what I thought at the time.

“Sir Clason. Wait a moment. Something is strange. It’s too bright outside.”

Hogberg stopped Clason, who was passionately speaking, and approached the window.

Torches surrounding the mansion of Friberg came into his view.

And he could also see the figures of the territorial soldiers holding the torches.

“Sir Clason. It’s the territorial soldiers. They have surrounded the mansion.”

“What are you talking about?”

The two stood side by side and looked out the window.

And they had the same thought at the same time.

We have failed!!

*

The mansion of the Friberg family was quite large.

Even with a hundred territorial soldiers brought along, it was not enough to properly surround it.

To occupy such a large space in this expensive land!

Indeed, it was a family that had lived as the power of Kalmar City for generations.

But that ends today.

Bang! Bang!!

The front gate at the boundary of the mansion fell with a few axe strikes.

The guards who were supposed to be guarding the front gate had long since fled.

While the estate soldiers were surrounding the mansion, the knights brought by Master Johan entered the mansion grounds.

Master Johan and I followed them.

We quickly reached the main building after passing through the garden.

In front of the main building, there were private soldiers raised by the Friberg family.

There were about 20 of them.

Some were relatives of the Friberg family, and some were called up from among the tenant farmers.

They all held weapons, but their fear was evident.

The heavily armed knights and the estate soldiers with torches surrounding the mansion were not something the small number of private soldiers could withstand.

As we arrived in front of the main building, two middle-aged men walked out from inside.

One was an ordinary-looking man, but the other had a different physique.

A handsome gorilla.

That was the exact impression.

“Clason Friberg. You are under arrest for incitement to murder. The attempted murderer has already been arrested and confessed to everything. You are guaranteed the right to a fair trial in court.”

The declaration of the senior knight caused a stir among the private soldiers.

However, the gorilla walked out slowly, as if he didn’t care at all.

“It seems you tried to use your head inappropriately and ended up collapsing on your own. Throw away those scraps of paper. If you knock me down, you can take me away, but if I smash you, I will leave this place.”

Hearing those words, I pushed through the knights and stepped forward in front of the gorilla.

The guy who had put a knife to my neck was trying to escape?

That’s not happening.

I thrust my special iron rod forward.