Chapter 176

Two days before Lloyd goes to see Aria.

Viscount Norton had to work quite a bit to get rid of Eden. It was because the escort knights that had accompanied them had no guts.

In the end, he was left with no choice but to hire a skilled assassin himself.

"Where are you going?"

"Out, out for a second..."

However, it ended before he even tried. This is because the knights guarding the mansion blocked the Viscount.

Feeling pressured, the Viscount stuttered involuntarily.

"I must have said that I would ban private outings."

The caretaker, who had just rushed in, looked down at him coldly and said so. It was completely different from his first appearance when welcoming the Viscount warmly.

Viscount Norton didn't want to lose the trust he had built up just because of this, so in the end he had no choice but to explain the whole story of what he was doing.

"You're saying you hired an outsider as your escort."

"He's not really an outsider... I'd say he's a migrant who has lived in our estate for 5 years..."

"I have made it clear that it is only a few trusted close aides who can be brought to Garcia, Viscount Norton."

"Well, I'm really sorry about that."

He desperately explained. Eden was a really inevitable choice for an escort because Norton lacked talent.

"I am fully aware of my mistake. Please understand that I will try to rectify it even by getting rid of him."

"Hmm......."

A migrant with superior skills that even the Viscount takes all the risks and asks for an escort from. He was also the one who subjugated the bandits alone.

"I'll ask you to take responsibility for this later."

The caretaker decided that it would be better to uncover the migrant's identity first.

Meanwhile,

'I remembered.'

Lloyd, who had been listening to all these conversations outside the window, finally remembered.

'Aide to Duke Battenberg.'

The caretaker's identity.

Lloyd never paid close attention to things like people's faces and names. But he didn't care while having a good memory was two different things.

The faces he met often were bound to be remembered.

Whenever he met the aide in the Imperial Palace, he was always attached to the Duke like a shadow.

'If it's Battenberg...... It is the largest foreign force in Fineta that raised his daughter to the position of Empress.'

They were different from the Nortons, who had nowhere to lean on in the Empire. There is absolutely no reason to even send his closest aides to a place like this.

'Then since when? Am I missing something?'

But that was all. With this fact in mind, Lloyd tore off Carlin's scroll and left the mansion.

The caretaker hired assassins a day later.

"He seems to have crossed the border a long time ago, so it's not our jurisdiction."

The guild leader of the assassination guild said.

"What? It can't be. He seems to have disappeared since yesterday, but how the hell did he cross the border already..."

"Well, it wouldn't be the usual way."

Neither the Viscount nor the caretaker were dumbfounded. Eden had suddenly evaporated without a trace. And in just one day.

"He's like a rat. He noticed the hint and ran away."

Young Lord Norton, who missed the opportunity, gritted his teeth. But Eden had already run away, so there was nothing to do.

With that, there's no way to escape Garcia's suspicion.

"...did you lose him on purpose?"

"How, how could that be!"

"It wasn't just good swordsmanship skills. If he used movement magic, it's clear that there is a force behind him."

Let's talk about the details slowly.

The caretaker had to lock them up in the mansion for being so arrogant. The Nortons had to be interrogated there for a long time.

"Go back to Fineta for now and wait. Your disposition will be announced separately. I'm telling you, but of course you know that there is no point in running away."

They returned to Attis, wrecked and with no income.

It was when the Nortons returned after many twists and turns.

Lloyd, who they could not even see a strand of his hair, was sitting on the top seat of the banquet room with his legs crossed and waiting.

"You're a lot later than I thought."

"Huah!"

Why is this guy here?

When the guy who they even put in an assassination request was still alive, Young Lord Norton was so surprised that his feet went numb and he made a suffocating sound.

But first of all, he was furious that a commoner would dare to take the top seat.

"You lowly thing, come down from there right now?!"

That seat was reserved only for Norton's family head.

But Lloyd dug deeper into the chair and didn't move. Rather, as if wondering what to do now, he closed his eyes and even twisted his lips. He looked like he was watching a flying insect struggling alone.

'Is he really crazy?'

Young Lord Norton hesitated for a moment in surprise, but soon regained his composure.

This was rather good. Because the more cocky Lloyd was, the more the excuse for his execution.

'Okay, I'll call a servant right now.......'

However, something was strange.

'Is that guy like that... ... ?'

Young Lord Norton immediately found the source of his discomfort.

Most notably, the attire.

Lloyd was only wearing a plain shirt and pants, but a closer look reveals a completely different look. From fabrics to cutting and embroidery. It looked like everything was put together in a high-end salon.

'I've never worn such a luxury item before.'

Lloyd's face was even more splendid when dressed in fancy clothes. He posed a much more noble figure than Young Lord Norton, who had become messy with all the trouble.

'Is that shirt button a diamond?'

It can't be.

'It looks like he picked up a plausible imitation from somewhere and wore it.'

It was when Young Lord Norton opened his mouth to make a loud noise.

At the same time, the door closed with a bang. He turned around immediately.

Black Falcons dressed in black uniforms stood guard like a huge mountain, with the parlor door closed. It was Cloud who stood as their representative.

Even among the Black Falcon, when a knight with an extremely large physique stood in front of him, it felt as if he was being eaten by the shadows.

"What, what are these guys! Guards! Guards! Knights...!"

Young Lord Norton trembled, raising his voice to the limit.

Come to think of it, all the employees have not been seen since before.As he was desperately looking around.

"I got bored of waiting, so I took care of them earlier than you, so I ask for your understanding."

Lloyd said, pointing to the pile of fainted Norton Knights on one side.

"De, dead..."

"They didn't die. Because the wife didn't want them killed."

Of course, you will surely die. As Lloyd said so, he flicked his finger, telling him to come closer.

Young Lord Norton, rather pale, took a step backwards.

"Uh, uaah...!"

But behind him, the Black Falcons stood guard.

"How, how about Mother and Father!"

"They must pay the price for their sins. But I have decided to show mercy so that they will not see their son's end with their own eyes."

Because the wife is so merciful. Lloyd was adding a little bit of bragging.

Aria, who returned from her business, opened the door on the side of the parlor and appeared.

She is with Vincent.

'Who is that flashy flamboyant?'

He couldn't quite grasp the situation, but Young Lord Norton's face turned bright as if he had found a savior. And he cried desperately.

"Ma, Madam! Your husband is trying to kill me! If you don't convince this madman right now, you'll inevitably suffer great harm too!"

It was a threatening tone, pretending to be concerned about Aria. But he meant: If she doesn't stop Lloyd right away, she won't be safe either.

'You liked me.'

Aria sneered to herself.

Young Lord Norton who tried to take the wife by killing the husband. How trash and stupid it was.

Aria didn't even want to show him mercy. She approached Lloyd's side, neatly ignoring Young Lord Norton.

"Did you wait long?"

"Not really."

Lloyd, who didn't budge no matter how Young Lord Norton screamed, was now stepping aside and placed Aria in his spot.

Young Lord Norton was stunned for a while with his mouth open.

"You're talking..."

In a sacred voice he had never heard in his lifetime.

Lloyd and Vincent stood on Aria's either side, with her sitting at the top seat.

Vincent glanced up and down Young Lord Norton and sarcastically flipped through the papers he was holding.

"Wow... you guys are really amazing. Isn't it hard to pig out like this?"

"Do, do what?"

"You've been collecting from the remote area such crazy amount. Is this what you call a creative economy?"

There was so much corruption that it hurt to say it all.

As they had gone out of the Emperor's sight, it seemed like there was nothing to see. Even the gutter rat's subordinates, who once ruled the power of darkness, went away.

"I thought you were only using the bandits to bring things to Garcia. You didn't miss a moment and you used the bandits to collect all kinds of money too at the same time, right?"

Stealing valuables was rather the good side. Young Lord Norton encouraged the abduction of permanent residents and did not hesitate to traffic them.

"Oh, Brother. You know what?"

Vincent said with a chuckle.

"Last time, it was this one that lured the bandits to Sister-in-law who was alone."

There was no need to analyze that garbage brain to know why. Vincent added without hiding his disgust.

"What are you going to do now?"

Lloyd said, looking back at Aria.

"Let's see."

As Lloyd often did, she tapped her finger on the handle, immersed in thoughts.

Suddenly, she felt a gaze.

As Aria lifted her head, Lloyd took her hand on the handle, as if he had waited for her to look up. And he kissed her hand, and said.

"Wife, just give me orders. I'll take all the responsibility."

It was the first time she heard it. Is there an answer he wanted?

It was the first time he showed such a desperate look, so Aria couldn't take his eyes off him for a moment.

"Make him feel the same pain as the sins he committed, even the share of those who suffered innocently."

Aria opened her lips and gave the answer he wanted.

Lloyd followed her orders and drew his sword.

"As you command."