3 bar menu

Volume 6 Chapter 1 Part 2

However, since they received information from an informant of theirs, there is no choice for them but to punish the offender severely. And it is the way of the Rossini family to always give generous rewards to those who supply them with information.

That is their way of preventing the villagers of the island from coming together by having them monitor each other and instill mutual distrust in their hearts in such a way.

After sending troops to Marza village, the villagers captured Theo’s father and handed him over to the Rossini family’s representatives. Records indicate that the execution took place in the village square. The tenants then robbed the farm, and their only son, Theo, was driven out of the village and he eventually ended up in the slums of Laxia. His whereabouts after that are unknown, but it is presumed that he most likely snuck onto one of the slave ships and reached the continent as a stowaway.

「Why did the villagers of Marza decided to side with Theo Cornero? 」

「Most likely because Salvador went too far in his eagerness. Since Marza village was a hometown Theo Cornero, who’s currently the biggest enemy of our family, then he probably thought that he needed to make an example out of the entire village. Also, when the people of the village ratted out Theo Cornero’s father years ago, the village was exempted from its tax duty for a year as a reward, but it seems that the tax collection force collected two years’ worth of taxes from it the following year, so that must be the reason why they refused to cooperate with us in recent years. 」

Juzel sighed heavily. That’s no reward, that’s just delayed punishment. The number of informants has decreased in recent years, and that was probably the reason behind that decline.

「Who allowed the tax collection to proceed like that?!. The lord of Marza village?! 」

Pederico let out an angry voice.

「Most likely your subordinate Lords who 「forgot」where their territories start and where they end. A year-long exemption from the tax duty meant that the tax collectors have been deprived from their source of income for that amount of time, so they figured that this would be an ideal way for them to get back what they lost. I swear, the ingenuity of the slum tax collectors knows no bounds these days.

「It was your job to organize the slum tax collectors and keep them in line, wasn’t it? 」

Pederico looked back at his eldest son Doni.

「I made sure to teach them all the rules, and those who broke them were always severely punished, but can you really expect me to known about everything they’re doing outside of the city limits? 」

Doni answered bluntly.

Juzel’s older brother was known as The Beast of the Rossini Family, and was universally feared even by the most cunning of the slum dwellers. That’s because no one could ever hope to really control him, and the people whom he made to be tax collectors are known as the guardian hounds of the Rossini family, but there’s always a risk that they might turn back into a pack of Rabid dogs and bite the hand that was feeding them until now.

「Well, here’s no point in talking about what happened in the past now. If the situation isn’t brought under control as soon as possible, a rebellion will spread throughout Sistina, and if that happens, we’ll be done for. 」

「Shouldn’t we just kill Theo Cornero then? 」

Doni laughed at Juzel’s words.

「That is an absolute requirement that shouldn’t even be discussed. On top of that, we should promise to reduce taxes for the villages that did not cooperate with the rebellion. The villagers of Sistina need to be reminded one more time that if they try to participate in a rebellion against us in any way, they’re going to be punished for it, but if they stay quiet and behave, then they’re going to be rewarded. 」

「Yes, we need to let them know. 」

「But if we do that, then won’t we be overindulging them way too much? If we’re going to be way too lax with them, then that might get us into trouble as well. Need I remind you that there are records that rebellions have broken out in the past precisely because of that as well? 」

「You want us to relax? Now that our tyranny is being discussed even in the furthest reaches of the continent? To be honest, I would’ve preferred if we could go back to the normal style of governance. That way, we wouldn’t have to be worried about the people of the island revolting against us anymore. 」

「Up until now we managed to get by somehow, but we all know that the residents of the island hate us. That’s why we have no choice but to continue suppressing any of their attempts at rebelling against us with force. 」

「I know that. 」

Juzel shrugged his shoulders at his brother’s words.

「Ever since I became the Lord of this island, the Rossini family has been hated by the inhabitants. There is no going back from that now. 」

His father said in a grave voice.

「Right now, the most important thing for us to do is to kill Theo Cornero. After that, we can think about what to do with the rest of the island’s residents. 」

「Since the residents of Marza village have joined the rebellion, Theo Cornero should no longer be able to run away and hide. In that case, we should organize an army for the penal expedition and crush them with everything we have. Leave it to me. 」

Doni stomped his feet on the ground loudly.

「The neighbors of Marza might join the rebellion. We’d better gather enough people before we leave. 」

Juzel advised his brother.

「You really like to be overly cautious, do you? 」

Doni said in amazement.

「No, it’s just as Juzel said. If you’re going to be defeated, all the residents of Sistina will definitely revolt against us, so take all possible measures and mobilize as many soldiers as necessary. Three thousand, no, five thousand. Take the guests of the house with you as well. After all, we’ve been keeping them here precisely for emergencies like this one.

「Five thousand soldiers? And the guests of the house at that? 」

Doni frowned at his father’s words.

「What, you don’t trust me? I should gather as many soldiers as possible and then move out immediately! 」

「Salvador did the exact same thing, and we all know how well did that end up for him. He took only a few hundred soldiers with him, and what was the result? All it took to defeat and kill him was the population of a single village. 」

「… I understand. 」

Doni wasn’t the least bit satisfied with such a resolution, but he still nodded his head for the time being and left the room in a quick stride.

「Since brother is going to be busy gathering and training soldiers, then I’ll take care of preparing supplies, food and transportation. 」

Juzel also said so and left the room right after his older brother, leaving Pederico alone in his office.

「I’ll leave it to the both of you. 」

When he called out towards the door where his sons have left, he sat back in his chair and covered his face with his hands.

(I shouldn’t have let Salvador go…)

Originally, he intended to leave the tracking and killing of Theo Cornero to his second son, Juzel.

However, Salvador encountered Theo’s party at a restaurant in the city center, causing a commotion. He seemed to feel that this meeting of theirs was fate, and said that he wanted to kill Theo with his own hands.

Pederico hesitated, but he ultimately allowed him to go. At that time, he never would’ve suspected that any of the residents of Sistina would actually respond to Theo’s call and side with him.

(I let my guard down…)

Salvador was originally a free-spirited, hedonistic person, and he knew that he wasn’t suited for battle. Even when he was sent to study in Elam, he learned little of what a true Lord needed to learn, only engaging in decadent and frivolous activities.

monarch needs, and only learned to play decadent games.

However, he also had a mysterious business acumen, such as hosting various types of plays and games in his hometown and making g great deal of profit out of them. He also had many playmates among the children of his subordinate Lords, and was very popular with the young girls who lived downtown. It was always lively wherever he went.

Unfortunately, over the course of the years, a deep sadness seemed to drain all of Pederico’s strength, and now he no longer felt like doing anything that he could do when he was younger.