The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

Chapter 99 – I Should Have Gone When They Offered (3)

“Ugh! What the—?!”

Claude jumped back in surprise as Kaor charged at him without warning.

He hadn’t expected him to actually attack.

‘There’s not a single sane person in this estate.’

It wasn’t just Ghislain; even his subordinates were completely out of their minds.

Kaor’s sword flew at Claude with enough force to sever one of his arms in a single blow.

Clang!

But before the sword could reach him, Gillian’s axe intercepted it, blocking the strike.

“What the hell! Old man, you’re not gonna move? I need to teach this bastard some manners! Or do you want a taste of my fist too?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Drawing your sword in front of the Lord—do you have a death wish?”

“Oh, and using an axe is fine?”

“It’s fine because I’m stopping you.”

The two began to growl at each other.

Belinda, covering her mouth with her hand, pretended to be shocked, though her eyes were clearly laughing.

Claude, watching the scene unfold, let out a hollow laugh.

They had already forgotten about him and were now bickering among themselves.

“Enough.”

Ghislain quietly uttered the word and threw a sword toward the two.

Thud!

Both of them simultaneously leapt back without a word.

The sword buried itself deep into the spot where they had stood.

“There are a lot of people here, aren’t there? If you want to fight, take it outside and do it later.”

Despite reprimanding them, Ghislain couldn’t hide his smile.

As the Lord, he had to maintain his authority, so he intervened, but in truth, he loved the current atmosphere.

It reminded him of the mercenary group he had spent time with in his previous life.

Ghislain glanced over at Claude.

‘It seems like his true nature is starting to show. In our past life, how many times did I punch him when he cursed me with his finger?’

Claude took great pride in his abilities.

As much as he was confident in his skills, he was also reckless with his words.

He had clashed with the foul-tempered and crude mercenaries countless times.

‘Ah, those were good times.’

Claude used to provoke the mercenaries with his snide remarks, and people like Kaor, who couldn’t stand it, would charge at him.

Soon enough, other members of the group would join in, escalating into a brawl, and before long, they’d be downing drinks together as if nothing had happened.

Ghislain used to watch the chaos from the back, laughing and drinking. Sometimes, when his body itched for action, he would jump into the fray himself.

There was no sense of order or decorum, but back then, it was the only time he could laugh freely without a care in the world.

‘But I suppose things can’t be like that anymore.’

Feeling a tinge of bitterness, Ghislain shook his head.

While he reminisced in silence, the officials who worked in the Fenris estate were not as relaxed.

‘What… What is this madness? Drawing swords and fighting in front of the Lord?!’

‘Are all his subordinates mercenaries? How utterly vulgar.’

‘And the Lord just laughs it off? He must be mad too!’

The officials, who had always lived bound by rigid etiquette, couldn’t comprehend the free-spirited attitude that Ghislain and his subordinates displayed.

The previous lord had squeezed the life out of the estate’s residents, but at least he had maintained a certain level of decorum.

The other retainers had engaged in polite verbal disputes when dealing with the lord. No one had ever acted so disgracefully as these people.

‘It’s like a gang of bandits has taken over. The lord is no better than a mercenary scum.’

‘This estate is truly finished now.’

They all bowed their heads and pretended not to see anything, sweat dripping down their faces.

No one had the courage to bring up etiquette to a lord who had already decapitated several people.

Ghislain misunderstood the reason for the officials’ unease and calmly continued speaking.

“I understand your concern about entrusting so many responsibilities to someone whose abilities haven’t been fully proven yet. But he’ll do just fine, so there’s no need to worry. Right, Claude?”

“Ugh…”

Claude stood up, dusting off his pants, and glanced around.

Everyone in the hall was sneaking glances at him, pretending not to.

Feeling overwhelmed, he squeezed his eyes shut.

Where had it all gone wrong?

Ghislain had certainly said something impressive.

— Come to the Fenris Estate of Ritania. I’ll give you wings so you can fully showcase your abilities.

He had indeed given him wings—just that they were a bit too heavy.

‘Damn it, there’s no backing out now.’

He had already been called a gambling addict, a fool, even someone whose mind had rotted. Backing out at this point would only make him look ridiculous.

It was true he owed Ghislain a debt for life, so all he could do now was try his hardest.

With a miserable look, Claude lowered his head.

“I’ll… do my best…”

For now, there wasn’t much he could do, but as time passed, he figured he could slowly offload some of the work and manage somehow.

Seeing this, Ghislain smiled and added a final remark.

“Right, it seems like a lot of work now, but it’s only because it’s the beginning. You can definitely handle it.”

He meant it sincerely.

In their past life, Claude had handled this level of workload daily. At times, he’d even taken on more difficult tasks.

The estate was in such disarray that everything needed to be meticulously reviewed and nurtured. There weren’t many people who could fill in the details of the larger plan Ghislain had in mind, or make quick decisions to handle unexpected situations on their own.

“You’ve got the ability, don’t you? Isn’t that right?”

Claude seemed a bit overwhelmed at the moment, but Ghislain was sure he’d adapt soon enough.

With a relaxed smile, Ghislain looked at Claude.

In the end, Claude let out a deep sigh and nodded.

With the lord saying all this, half-hearted work would just wound his pride.

“Well, I’ll give it a shot, and if it becomes too much, I’ll let you know.”

“Good. Do you need anything else?”

“No. Please, just stay still. Don’t try to pile on anything else.”

Claude frantically waved his hands, looking horrified. Ghislain, meanwhile, turned to the estate’s existing administrator to inquire about the estate’s current condition.

“How many knights are left?”

“Most of them died during the war, and the few who survived have left the estate.”

Those who were freed after their sworn lord’s death had no reason to remain in such a barren estate.

It was unfortunate, but Ghislain had already anticipated this, so he simply nodded without saying much.

“What about the soldiers?”

“Most of them were dragged off to war. Only thirty-two remain.”

Ghislain pondered for a moment before letting out a sigh.

“We’re severely lacking in manpower, so I’ll appoint someone to lead the military later. Belinda, you’ll take the position of head steward and manage the servants. As for a tutor… I think it’s best to drop that role for now.”

“Understood.”

Belinda responded with a bright smile.

‘It’s a bit disappointing to stop teaching, but managing those who serve the lord is important too.’

Ghislain also assigned Gillian and Kaor to continue managing and training the mercenaries for the time being.

He had something else in mind for them later.

After tending to his close subordinates, Ghislain turned to Claude.

“Then, let’s get started right away.”

“What? Already? But I haven’t even gotten a grasp of the estate’s situation yet.”

“You can figure it out as you work.”

“But… don’t I need to know something before I start…?”

Before Claude could say anything more, Ghislain gave his orders.

“Start with a population survey. Since the estate has been pillaged for so long, many of the people will have fled to the mountains as slash-and-burn farmers. Find every single one of them and bring them back to the villages.”

“Ah, okay…”

“The estate’s people are starving, so we need to import food in large quantities. Prepare enough to feed them for at least six months.”

“But we won’t know how much is needed for six months until the survey is complete… How much should I buy?”

“That’s for you to figure out.”

“Me?”

“Who else, me?”

“…….”

With Ghislain speaking like that, Claude couldn’t argue. Administrative tasks were his responsibility now.

Ghislain’s role was only to provide the overall direction.

Since these were all things that needed to be done eventually, Claude sighed and nodded in agreement.

But it didn’t stop there.

Orders continued to pour out of Ghislain’s mouth like a flood.

“We also need to improve the food supply. Assess the farmland and see if we can secure more.”

“Identify the outdated facilities and prioritize which needs repairs first…”

“Reinforce the walls and gates. From what I saw on the way in, they’re a complete mess. Start with the soldiers’ access routes…”

“Repair the roads that connect the towns and villages within the estate. Extend them to the Forest of Beasts near Ferdium…”

“Take stock of the military supplies and replace any worn-out equipment…”

“Determine how many functioning wells we have, and we’ll build waterways. Fill the reservoirs…”

“We also need to improve the estate’s sanitation. Redo all the toilets and check the drainage. Set specific standards for the pits and ensure they’re only built in designated areas…”

“Construct warehouses and secure Runestones, medicinal herbs, minerals, and building materials…”

“And do this… and that…”

As the list of tasks grew endlessly, Claude’s face turned pale.

The other administrators who were listening didn’t fare much better.

Fearing that the workload might spill over onto them, they kept their heads down.

Ghislain was essentially ordering them to overhaul the entire estate from top to bottom.

And all of this was being given to Claude alone.

Ghislain showed no signs of stopping his barrage of tasks. Acting out of sheer survival instinct, Claude abruptly raised his hand, interrupting the lord.

Better to get hit now than to be crushed by all that work!

“This is way too much for me to handle alone!”

Ghislain raised an eyebrow, bewildered.

“I gave you authority over personnel, didn’t I? Hire people and delegate.”

“Oh.”

Claude looked around.

Moments ago, everyone had been looking at him as if he were trash, but now, they were all avoiding his gaze.

He randomly pointed to someone and asked, “What’s your job?”

“I-I just manage the warhorses…”

“Oh, really? Then you will be able to handle the military supplies too! Come work with—”

“I-I’m suffering from an illness… I was just about to retire… cough, cough!”

Claude shook his head as he scanned the others.

Ghislain had told him to hire the people he needed, but there wasn’t anyone to hire.

The higher-ranking officials had already been executed for their crimes of participating in the war.

As for the lower-ranking ones, there was no point in promoting them into roles they couldn’t handle. Giving them responsibilities they didn’t understand wouldn’t help.

And besides, the positions they vacated would still need to be filled by someone else anyway.

‘Well, if there had been competent people here, they wouldn’t have dragged me all the way to this place!’

Claude had expected there to be a lot of work when Ghislain piled on the titles.

But this was beyond his wildest imagination.

Even the chancellor of a kingdom wouldn’t be able to handle the tasks Ghislain had assigned.

Finally, Claude couldn’t hold it in anymore and shouted in frustration.

“Damn it! You’re leaving everything to me! I can’t do this!”

Ghislain smiled warmly and responded.

“Oh, come on. Have you tried? You’ll be fine. Just try it first, then complain.”

“There are way too many tasks that need to be done all at the same time! Give them to me one at a time! I’m only human!”

“No, we don’t have that kind of time.”

Ghislain cut him off firmly.

With the Delfine Duchy focusing on the royal family, he needed to strengthen his power as quickly as possible.

However, Claude, not knowing the underlying urgency, lost the last of his motivation to even try.

“I can’t either! I don’t want to die buried in work! If you’re going to kill me, just behead me and make it quick!”

Claude shouted with bravado. Ghislain squinted at him before gesturing toward Kaor.

Kaor, clearly excited, started twirling his sword around.

“W-wait! You’re seriously going to behead me?!”

Claude began to stumble backward, panic setting in. He frantically glanced around for help, but the officials averted their eyes, while the mercenaries even blocked his escape routes.

‘He’s not kidding! Is this guy even human?’

Claude had already marveled at how insane Ghislain was several times, but this was beyond madness.

To owe a debt to someone like this—it was as if his life was already over.

He was destined to die in this wretched estate, slaving away until the end.

Thud!

That thought triggered something to snap inside Claude’s mind.

‘This estate is hopeless. My life is ruined.’

Confronted with the crushing reality, Claude fainted on the spot.