WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Oblivious

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◈ Prince of Rage ◈

Chapter 37

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It was a small, fortress-like building that seemed to have only the most basic features.

It had a thick cylindrical tower about three stories high, topped with a conical roof, with an ordinary house attached to it. It looked somewhat like a giant snail.

Did people live in the house and move into the tower in an emergency? Apparently not. Inside, the tower seemed to be used as living space as well.

If they had to fight, they could go up to the second or third floor and fire arrows or crossbows in every direction.

But a castle or fortress depended most on geographical advantage, and since this one stood on flat ground, it did not seem especially useful.

Still, in these unstable times, it looked like an excellent fortress for driving off thugs, ruffians, or small bands of bandits.

However, it had gone unmanaged for a long time without an owner, so there were many places that needed repair. The broken roof, rotten timber, and cobwebs all needed clearing, patching, or replacing.

Fortunately, there were people to do it. Valerie and his companions had bought this abandoned house on the outskirts of Gringen to use as their base.

They tore things down, hammered nails, swept away piles of dust, and gradually breathed life back into every corner of the house.

None of them were professional carpenters, so the finishing was not neat, but it worked well enough. If anything, they had made it excessively sturdy.

Only after two full days of cleaning and repairs did it become reasonably livable. It was truly exhausting work, but it was rewarding.

They had done it for us, not for anyone else.

Finally, he planted a flag atop the tower's conical roof. It was white cloth with a green, crouching frog sewn onto it.

Dye was not easy to obtain, and painting it so it would not fade required specialized skill, so sewing on cloth was their only option for now.

Arne and Skard watched Valerie plant the flag from the rooftop and muttered in dismay.

“Is this really happening...?”

“Widow-Maker Company would have been better...”

In any case, it had already been decided. They still needed to bring in furniture and household goods, but first, they celebrated. Barley beer, freshly baked bread, smoked meat, all kinds of vegetables, and grilled frog.

They threw all the food into a single cauldron, sat around it, and dug in. As they ate, the conversation turned to what they would do from now on, and Valerie explained his plan.

“First, we gain popular support. Second, we gain legitimacy through that popular support. Third, we use that legitimacy to absorb or eliminate other organizations. Fourth, we expand our power and take control of the city. That is our grand strategy and code of action from now on. Any objections?”

“...Could you explain first?”

Tearing into soft, freshly baked bread instead of the hard bread he had eaten for so long, Arne asked. He needed to know what Valerie meant before he could object.

“Gaining popular support means giving people work and paying them wages. At first, we will pay them for simply bringing timber or building stone. Then we will use those materials to build houses for them or improve this area. That gives them a way to make a living.”

The others stared at Valerie with expressions that showed they did not understand at all.

“Why do we have to do that? Isn’t that the sort of charity temple priests do? We’re a mercenary company.”

“It gives them something to lose. People who have something to lose fear losing it. Put simply, their livelihoods become tied to us, so they will be loyal to us in order to protect what is theirs. And if the city is threatened, they will have the will to go out and fight.”

People did not understand the importance of popular support very well. Rulers like lords and kings vaguely understood it, but Gringen had no proper ruler at present. The many organizations competing there were too busy exploiting people.

Valerie understood these principles not through theory, but largely through his experience before his regression.

How to gain loyalty, expand one’s power, and marshal it all into a single force.

It was something one needed to know in order to keep winning while growing stronger through battle, rather than being worn down by it.

“What about the second part? What legitimacy are you talking about?”

Knut asked as he ate frog meat Yorick had picked clean for him.

“Once we have built up our strength to some extent, we will stop people from collecting spot fees. Those fees are what stifle people’s livelihoods. A spot fee is just protection money by another name, isn’t it? We will provide the protection, so no one else gets to collect those fees.”

“So if the other side resists, we drive them out or kill them. If they submit, we take them in. Going after their source of funds directly puts them in a corner.”

Arne finally understood a little, so he explained the third part himself.

“When people gather, Skard will choose those fit to fight and train them. Arne will put people to work, manage them, and supervise them. Yorick will pay wages and handle all other finances.”

“What about me?”

Knut asked. After spending two days cleaning the house, he looked little different from a commoner.

“You have something else to do.”

“What?”

“There is an organization called the Black Hand. You will manage them.”

Valerie was ruthless now. Until then, he and the Black Hand had helped each other, making them allies of a sort. Now, he intended to swallow them whole.

“What kind of people are they?”

“They are a kind of thieves’ guild. Compared to other thieves’ guilds, they are more secretive and discreet. Something like that.”

“Sounds interesting.”

Valerie assigned everyone a role that suited them. They had only just entered the world, so he did not expect things to run smoothly from the start.

Still, he believed it would work out in the end. He had achieved results even in circumstances more desperate than this.

“And remember this. We will protect this city, that’s all. We will not take either side in the war. Of course, if necessary, we will use both sides. In my estimation, the Duke will probably fall in this war.”

Whether they believed him or not, the grand stories Valerie spoke of did not feel very real to his friends. They would understand once they experienced them.

Knut said nothing.

Having earned the nickname Salt Prince, Valerie had an excellent reputation in Gringen.

Gathering people was not difficult. In fact, he did not even need to go out and recruit them. People gathered on their own.

Under Arne’s direction and that of the hired architect, they carried building materials, built houses, stacked stone walls, plowed kitchen gardens, and dug, processed, and dried peat.

There were people watching the scene from a distance. They wore triangular pieces of cloth folded over their mouths and noses. They were Black Hand members. More specifically, they were the trio who usually negotiated with Valerie.

“What are they doing? Is this some kind of charity work?”

The Black Hand were meticulous and discreet, and their assassinations were certain. But they could not help being ignorant of something they had never seen or heard of before.

Managing a city.

“They seem to be planning a peat trade. But why are they building houses?”

“What is that flag? What shape is that? Is that a frog?”

“I did hear people calling them the Frog Mercenary Company.”

“The Frog Mercenary Company? Can someone even form a mercenary company with a name like that? This isn’t children’s play...”

In truth, names like Widow-Maker Company or Groin-Ripper Slayers were more fitting for a mercenary company. Mercenaries preferred names that sounded threatening and impressive, so they were generally named that way.

“What are you staring at so intently?”

Someone spoke from behind them. The three moved as swiftly as squirrels and hid themselves.

“I already saw all of you. What’s the point of hiding?”

Valerie said as he approached, with Knut beside him.

Even at Valerie’s words, they did not reveal themselves. Knut looked up into a tree.

“That person climbed up there.”

They had used a method of silently climbing the tree from outside their target’s field of vision, but Knut spotted it immediately with his sharp eyes.

“Let’s just speak normally now, Raily.”

At Valerie’s words, one of the three flinched. It was the person who usually spoke with Valerie.

Secrecy was both their greatest weapon and their weakness. Once their identities were exposed, they became helpless. The Black Hand were like sharp glass swords.

Unfortunately for them, Valerie had regressed, so he knew exactly who they were.

Before his regression, Valerie had risen to a fairly high position as an assassin, and this trio had effectively formed the organization’s leadership at the time.

He only learned later, after taking control of the army, that they were orphans from the same monastery.

Though they were not yet, they had been legendary figures in their field at the time, people who helped the Black Hand seize control of all Gringen.

He did not know whether they were now something like middle managers.

“H-how...?”

One of them stepped forward with their mouth and nose still covered. Their eyes trembled.

“Isn’t it funny? I only said your name, and now your organization will suspect you. If they catch you, they will probably torture you. Roy, Ella, I know you have both been hiding every time you met with us too, so come out.”

Roy and Ella felt their hearts drop. Whatever else they might have concealed, their real names were top secret.

“Will you be tortured, or will you speak with me? Stop making me wait and come out.”

Only then did the other two jump down from the tree. The fact that they made no sound as they landed showed that they had trained quite well even now.

The Black Hand trio looked at Valerie and Knut with wary, frightened eyes. Perhaps because they were afraid, they kept their mouths tightly shut and did not speak easily.

“Listen carefully, you three. From now on, the Black Hand will be a subordinate organization of our Frog Mercenary Company. You will handle intelligence. Knut here will serve as the intelligence officer. Put simply, you will teach Knut the ropes from now on and obediently do as he says.”

Knowing their real names was unbelievable enough, but Valerie had abruptly made an impossible demand. The trio could not grasp what was happening or how they should respond.

More precisely, their minds were so tangled that they could not think at all.

Valerie completely blew their minds with words even more shocking.

“The Guild Master is the head of that monastery, right? They gather abandoned children and children with nowhere else to go, raise them, and send the useless ones out to beg. Or they sell them off early. If they are dexterous, the monastery head makes them pickpockets. If they fail to meet their quota, the monastery head cuts off their fingers. Then they select the outstanding ones and turn them into assassins. Am I right or not?”

Before his regression, Valerie had not come from the monastery. Thus, no matter how capable he was, there had been a limit to how high he could rise within the organization. The Black Hand’s upper ranks consisted only of those from the monastery.

“...”

“Let’s put a stop to that now. We will kill the monastery head and make sure they cannot do that to children anymore. You will not need to hide your faces all the time either. You will not need to hide your names. You only need to work for us instead.”

It sounded simple, but even if it was good for the trio, they found it hard to accept the situation itself.

“Knut is the Third Young Master. He is on the run right now, so he has no authority, but he is at least powerful enough to back you. You can be officially recognized. That is what you have always dreamed of, isn’t it? Living proudly and ordinarily, like everyone else. I will make that happen. Think it over carefully.”

Having said that, Valerie turned to leave with Knut.

After a moment, Raily urgently called out from among the trio.

“W-wait.”

Valerie turned back, and Raily asked,

“How... how did you know?”

“Hm... You are still inexperienced. It all shows in your eyes. Your childish thoughts, I mean.”

He could not say that he knew because he had regressed. Even if he did, it was not something they could believe.

That did not mean what he had just said was a lie. The trio Valerie had seen before his regression had eyes with almost no life in them, nearly like machines.

He did not know what they had gone through to become that way, but at least now, there was life in their eyes. If that went out, there would be nothing more Valerie could do for them except kill them.

“Hey.”

One of the three lowered her mask and spoke. It was Ella, the woman of the trio. She was missing a little finger and had a scar across her cheek.

“Give us a definite guarantee.”

“Of what?”

“That you will keep us safe.”

Valerie looked at Ella’s face. Revealing it meant she had no way back now.

Perhaps unwilling to leave her alone in that position, Raily and Roy lowered their masks as well.

They all had youthful faces. They looked about fifteen or sixteen, around Valerie’s own age.

“If we take too long, they may notice. Not because word will leak, but because there will be subtle changes in your behavior. So we will kill the monastery head tonight. That is your guarantee of safety.”

Valerie spoke coldly. But no one there was any less cold. A firm answer was more comforting than a half-hearted invitation.

“...The monastery head is not an easy opponent. We are not living like this for no reason.”

“Do I look like an easy opponent?”

The trio had watched Valerie all this time. To them, he was a perfect person.

Because they had been covert allies, perhaps the trio had observed Valerie’s abilities more closely than anyone else.

Whether it was planning and execution, schemes, swordsmanship, or anything else, he possessed the highest level of ability. He had strength, courage, wisdom, resilience, and the boldness to make decisive choices.

He was enough to make them wonder if legendary heroes had truly been like this. No, even legendary heroes had flaws one by one, yet Valerie did not seem to have even those.

He had no material greed, was not a womanizer, and showed no human weakness that might make him waver.

Perhaps because of those things, or perhaps because of something more, it was true that the trio had slowly begun to nurture a little hope whenever they looked at Valerie.

If it were this person, then perhaps...

But they could not approach him first.

“There will never be another person like you. That may be why this is the moment to stake the gamble of a lifetime.”

Raily spoke. With everything exposed, they seemed strangely powerless, and their eyes were mournful. For the Black Hand, having their secrets exposed was no different from receiving a death sentence.

Valerie said to Raily,

“Sorry, but I don’t gamble. I only take on challenges. And my challenges never fail. Come to the house later. We will discuss the operation.”

After leaving those words behind, Valerie turned and walked away with Knut.

The trio remained there, standing like abandoned children. No one spoke. There really was no turning back now.

Could they truly kill the monastery head? Could they truly trust Valerie until the end?

As Raily had said, it was the moment of a lifetime.

The moment to choose, when everything would change.

It was somewhat forceful, but Valerie pushed them into it like that.

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