The Knight Commander of the Second Male Lead [Novel] Chapter 63

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 63

Chapter Title: Arrival of the Gold

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After that, the craftsmen sped up their work, and swords began to be completed one by one. Daggers to be distributed to everyone and the custom weapons each had ordered were handed out one after another.

The knight order members, just in case, all subtly tried chanting along with Nina in their private rooms.

In the meantime, a small, sturdy carriage arrived from the capital. It was puzzling that even such a small carriage was a three-horse team, but it turned out to be a high-value transport carriage reinforced with iron inside.

The Ebony Knight Order members who had come as escorts visibly relaxed the moment they arrived.

Opening the carriage revealed it packed with flat boxes, each brimming with gold coins.

The boxes looked small, but since they were full of heavy gold, they were moved carefully one by one. Nina showed off her strength by carrying three or four at a time.

A long letter also arrived from Lorokomo.

"What does it say? How much is all this? But where do we store this? Is it okay to just pile it up like this?"

Nina chattered away, lying down with one gold box as her pillow. Adrian opened the sealed letter with a paper knife and said,

"Don't we have anywhere particular to put it?"

"Where do people usually store this stuff? It's heavy and inconvenient."

Adrian lightly skimmed the letter with his eyes and answered Nina's question first.

"According to Lorokomo, each box contains a thousand large gold coins. And there are ten such boxes."

That made ten thousand large gold coins.

"...We made that much?"

Nina's eyes widened. One large gold coin was enough for a commoner family to live on for three months.

The annual tax revenue of the Rubaenu Ducal Family, which had no plains, was about ten thousand gold coins. If they had plains, it would be around thirty thousand. The Rubaenu was considered poor among them, while other ducal families brought in about double that—sixty thousand gold coins a year.

"The hair loss medicine is amazing. It's sucking up all the nobles' money..."

As Nina shook her head, Adrian added,

"They say reservations are already overflowing, and prices are skyrocketing."

Adrian tilted his head.

"Were there that many bald people in the Empire? This is just the first carriage, and a second one is coming soon. They want to know how much more medicine we can produce."

"A second one too? No, how much are they selling it for and in what quantities?"

"It's not specified. They probably thought it was too trivial for high nobles."

There was a slight sarcasm in his last tone.

Ordinary nobles would think mentioning exact amounts was vulgar.

At Adrian's words, Nina jumped up from her spot.

"Then we're really rich?"

To the excited Nina, Adrian tilted his head and said,

"With this? We'll know after this year's wheat harvest."

"Right. This is just from the hair loss medicine, yeah? What else does it say? Any other content?"

"Other merchant guilds will contact the ducal family."

"Ah, they want to prevent a monopoly. Still, no contact until they gathered two carriages' worth of gold."

"You can't swallow the whole market with one product. They figured we'd be fine left alone."

"Got it. But..."

Nina grinned.

"Kiril made something fun again. Like a medicine to treat rotten teeth?"

Not many people could endure a toothache, right?

"That..."

Adrian looked at Nina in surprise as well. Then he sighed and said,

"Why is the Rubaenu Ducal Family becoming a holy land of alchemy?"

"Hehe, it's all thanks to the Duke's grace."

Adrian chuckled at Nina's blatant flattery. Lorokomo's letter was quite thick, but Adrian read through it quickly.

After he finished, he handed the letter to Nina so she could check it too.

Lorokomo's handwriting was neat and easy to read. There were stories about how sales were easy because the effects were immediate, the need to hire more guild members, and finally, a brief summary of rumors from the capital's social circles.

Seeing that he knew the basics were an information war made her think he was a real merchant.

"Well, he's the salesman and guild master now. He probably hired a few on his own—can't we just trust Lorokomo with it? And what's this rumor at the end?"

Nina chuckled.

"Why is Duke Rubaenu's infamy so high? Hunchback, cripple, limping, monstrous appearance, half-Belak. Wow..."

Nina fanned the paper and asked,

"Didn't you go for title approval?"

"I did. They didn't grant an audience for a whole week, made me wait all day in the waiting room, and sent me away empty-handed. Surprisingly, the imperial waiting room had no chairs."

Adrian smiled crookedly. Nina frowned.

"They bullied you that pettily? Really bad."

"I came straight to the territory right after getting approval, so very few saw my face. Those people probably won't bother correcting the rumors."

"Yeah."

Nina sighed, finished reading the letter, then burst into laughter at the bottom.

"What? Adrian, did you see this? There's a rumor about me too."

"Of course."

Adrian looked at her as if to say why wouldn't there be.

In response, Nina looked back at him and asked, "What is it?"

Adrian made an uneasy, strange face and said,

"Nina, you're a spirit user."

"Yeah?"

Why confirm a known fact so cautiously? Nina tilted her head.

Adrian gave a wry smile and added,

"There are only four spirit users in the Empire, and kingdoms with even one try hard not to lose them. Known spirit users total just ten—no, only seven. Even fewer use weapons alongside them like us."

"Rare, so we get attention. Only four in the Empire... Besides me and Adrian, who else? Are their contracted spirits known too?"

Nina reread the end of the letter. Rumors were rampant, but almost nothing specific about her was known.

Amid that, the part about her beating and expelling all the Ebony Knight Order applicants made her grin.

The confrontation with the Eagle Knight Order was rumored too, but it was written as a rather unfavorable rumor, which delighted Nina even more.

Adrian continued his explanation.

"You're known for North Wind and Frost, and so am I. The other two are the same. Deron, master of the storm, and Alka, the rose fairy."

"Rose?"

The surprised Nina looked up from the letter, and Adrian nodded.

"What does a rose spirit do? Emit rose scent...?"

"Something like that."

As Nina rolled her eyes, Adrian playfully flicked her forehead and said,

"Apparently, it can seduce intelligent beings with it."

"Really? That's amazing. I never thought of that. Well, not all spirits are combat types. So Deron uses a weapon?"

"A bow."

"I see."

A storm spirit.

Nina was amazed and curious. She had never met any spirit users besides Adrian, nor had any occasion to.

Nina handed the letter back to Adrian. He lightly tossed it onto his table and looked down at the chessboard.

Seeing him gaze at the chessboard, Nina lay down and flicked the corner of the board with her fingertip, spinning a piece.

Adrian glanced at Nina, and she extended her hand.

"Show me your sword."

Adrian unbelted the sheathed sword and tossed it to her. Nina drew the blade.

"It really looks like a sword made of obsidian. It looks incredibly sharp."

Nina set the scabbard aside and examined the sword closely.

"Doesn't it remind you of ancient tribes? Using obsidian blades to extract the hearts of living sacrifices for human offerings?"

She giggled and twirled the sword, resting the flat of the blade on her shoulder. The edge hovered near her snowy white neck, making Adrian flinch involuntarily.

"If I were to be stabbed to death, a pretty sword like this would be nice. If Adrian were the priest, I'd gladly offer my heart while still alive."

As Nina moved her neck, her cheek brushed lightly against the blade.

"Nina."

Adrian gripped the blade tightly. Startled, Nina looked up.

"Adrian! Is your hand okay?"