"You, you've been kidnapped."
"... What?"
Unbelievable.
Impossible.
Me?
Me, Richmond?
I, who hold sway over Daparachia, the central and trading city of this region?
I got kidnapped by some ignorant nobody?
"....."
He couldn't believe the situation he was in.
This wasn't a dream?
This was real?
He, Richmond, had been kidnapped by some fool who used to sell weird potatoes in the plaza?
"Hah, haha... This is absurd."
The moment he realized this was real, Richmond let out a hollow laugh.
Then, he hurled venomous words at Kim Jangcheol, who was smiling brightly at him.
"... Fine. I don't want to believe it, can't believe it, but even so, I can't deny reality. So let me ask just one thing. How did you get into my storage room?"
It was absurd.
The storage room beneath the mine boasted top-tier security.
Cramped, complicated tunnels.
Golems stationed everywhere.
And he got through all of that?
How?
He couldn't help but feel curious.
Kim Jangcheol shrugged in response.
"I snuck in. Got lucky too."
It was true.
He had been as stealthy as possible.
And luckily, he'd had the cooperation of Aged Kimchi, which made it possible.
At that answer, Richmond furrowed his brow.
"Got lucky, huh..."
Was there a tiny gap in the golem security system he'd trusted as flawless?
Or had he just been terribly unlucky?
Either way, he had no choice but to admit the storage room's security had been breached.
At that moment, he quietly looked down at his left hand.
"....."
The ring was still there.
That bastard Kim Jangcheol hadn't taken the ring.
And when he focused, he could faintly hear the thudding footsteps of golems walking somewhere nearby.
Thanks to that, he realized something.
This place wasn't unfamiliar.
It was still somewhere inside the storage room.
Probably one of the auxiliary storage rooms connected to the main storage.
Richmond caught a glimpse of hope, a way to turn the situation around.
And he began acting on the calculations he'd made to turn that hope into reality.
"How dare you! Even so! Do you think it makes sense to treat me like this?!"
He shouted.
As loud and thunderous as possible.
So that a nearby golem might hear.
"I offered to do business with a fool like you who used to sell potatoes in the plaza! I was going to open up a better opportunity for you to sell your potatoes under favorable terms!"
"... Huh? You were?"
"Of course!"
"Tsk? From what I remember, it seemed a little different."
"What?"
Richmond hesitated.
Kim Jangcheol stared at him, not even blinking, and said,
"Let's be honest. You didn't approach me out of kindness. You let me and my companions stay at your mansion because you had some ulterior motive."
"What are you—"
"Oh? It's true, huh? You were planning to storm into the room where me and my companions were staying, as early as tonight or by tomorrow at the latest, to imprison and torture all of us? Wow, your personality is something else."
"...!"
Thud. Richmond's heart dropped.
What the hell.
How?
How does this guy talk like he's seen right through me?
In chilling horror, Kim Jangcheol continued his piercing analysis.
"And wow, you were going to whip us until we confessed where the chuno came from, tie us to a chair, cover our faces with wet towels to stop us from breathing... And if that didn't work, you wouldn't let us eat or sleep either?"
He even added—
"Oh? That secretary you drag around with you, turns out he's the one who normally handles the torture?"
"......."
How?
How did he know?
I didn't say anything.
"Damn. No wonder that guy looked so ominous the first time I saw him. His face really gave it away. And you... what's this? Unlike the others who went through your torture chamber, you were planning to kill me for sure, huh?"
"....."
I don't know.
What the hell is going on?
Does he have some kind of mind-reading skill?
"And... there were other people who went through your torture chamber before? That means... what you were planning to do to me, you've been doing to others all along, haven't you?"
"Wh-What nonsense are you saying?"
"I'm the one asking questions. You know it's true."
"What are you—"
"Be honest. How many times have you done it? Ten? Twenty?"
"I don't know!"
Thump, thud.
Was that the sound of his heart pounding?
Or the sound of a golem walking toward the place he was imprisoned?
Hoping desperately it was the latter, Richmond raised his voice again.
"What kind of nonsense is this, accusing an innocent man!"
"'Innocent man' refers to all those people whose farms and livelihoods you took away, who disappeared without being able to protest."
"Nonsense!"
"Yeah. You called their protests nonsense. You ignored them. Figured that even if they cried out, no one would listen to beggars."
"....."
"You thought it didn't matter. Most of them would give up eventually. Disappear one way or another."
"I—!"
"Did any of them take their own lives?"
"....."
Thud! Thud!
The thuds were growing louder.
Was it his heart?
His guilty conscience being revealed?
No.
It was a clear rumble from the ground.
The sound of a golem's footsteps approaching.
With growing certainty that a golem was near, Richmond raised his voice even more.
To let it know where he was.
"I don't know! I had no reason to care about such people!"
Crash!
Just as he finished shouting.
The half-closed door burst open with a loud bang.
In the rectangle of light from the open door stood a large, rugged silhouette.
A golem.
Upon seeing it, Richmond cried out in hope.
"Over here! The intruder is here!"
That was it.
Now he'd live.
Kim Jangcheol, maybe you got lucky sneaking in here, but it ends now.
No matter how skilled you are, there's no way you can beat a golem head-on.
'You can't!'
Certain of this, he raised his hand.
The ring containing a blood sample for identity verification—he held it high toward the golem.
But at that moment—
"Tsk? Shall I go first?"
Kim Jangcheol stepped in front of him.
And raised his right fist toward the golem.
At that sight, Richmond was dumbfounded.
'What is he doing?'
He was thinking that when—
The golem stared intently at the fist Kim Jangcheol raised.
Then—
Beep-beep!
With a gentle voice, the golem spoke to Kim Jangcheol.
– Blood composition confirmed. Welcome, VVIP Lord Richmond. How may I assist you?
".....!"
What?
Whaaat?
Whaaaaaaaat?
With the feeling that his eyes were about to pop out of his head, Richmond stared at Kim Jangcheol's fist.
Thanks to that, he was finally able to notice it.
The bright red smear on Kim Jangcheol's fist.
No matter how he looked at it, it looked like a bloodstain.
His own nose, which had been punched by that very fist earlier.
The nosebleed that must've burst forth because of it.
That bloodstain on that fist.
In other words—
'My… nosebleed?'
That was what he used to pass identity verification in my place? That bastard?
"..... N-No way—!"
He shouted.
Full of resentment, clinging desperately to the hope that was crumbling in real time.
But what came back was a cold reply.
"Tsk. That's enough. Go back to sleep. Oh, and while you're at it, bleed out some more of that nosebleed so we can stamp a bunch of access passes."
Once again, a fist filled his vision.
Squelch, thud!
".....!"
His head snapped back.
Both nostrils burst open with another explosion of blood.
His vision darkened once more.
'Ugh! This is…'
If only this wasn't reality.
Blackout.
The world went dark.
Richmond lost consciousness in despair.
***
"So, you're saying that this is... a glass bottle filled with the precious nosebleed of Richmond, the tyrant of the merchant world who controls the agricultural distribution network of this region and the central city Daparachia?"
"... Uh, Young Master Reivaj, your description is a bit too vivid."
"I'm just... so shocked, that's all."
".... Don't most people get speechless when they're shocked?"
"Sorry. I guess I'm the opposite."
"In any case, what you said is correct. This, is Richmond's nosebleed."
"...."
Kim Jangcheol proudly said, shaking the glass bottle.
A bottle that once held wine, now emptied and replaced with the rare and vile nosebleed of a corrupt wholesaler, sloshing inside.
All eyes of the group turned toward it.
And each of them reacted with awe and concern.
'What the hell is he planning to do?'
Reivaj stared at Kim Jangcheol, feeling like his common sense was evaporating in real time.
Just earlier, he'd been pestering Ruslan and then claimed he was too embarrassed and went out for a walk. And now, just a few hours later, he returned holding Richmond's nosebleed?
"....."
It was enough to make one question their sanity.
'... Right?'
Hoping someone would share his sentiment, he turned to his loyal servant.
And saw his servant staring at the bottle of nosebleed with intense curiosity.
"Wow, rich folks bleed the same color, huh?"
"...."
"Heh. That gives me hope."
"Hope? What kind of hope?"
"That someday, even if not me, my descendants who carry my blood could become filthy rich."
"I-I see…"
Reivaj gave up on any hope of sympathy from his servant.
Meanwhile, Zephyros, watching his lord, felt his heart stir for the first time in a while.
"Did you take care of Richmond?"
"Uh, not quite 'take care of'—I just kidnapped him."
".....Kidnapped?"
"Yeah. And while I was at it, I found out where Richmond's agricultural storage is. Also secured a way to freely enter and exit it."
Clink!
As he said "way," Kim Jangcheol once again shook the bottle of nosebleed.
Baal asked,
"Baal wants to see the storage! A place full of food, Baal likes!"
"Yeah, me too."
"Then I'll drink that double nosebleed!"
"Tsk, gross. This isn't something you drink."
"But don't we have to drink it to get into the storage!"
"Nope, not at all."
Kim Jangcheol shook his head with a grin.
Then he revealed to everyone the plan he had put together while locking up Richmond in the corner of the storage.
"Listen up. First, we now know where Richmond's storage is. We've got the means to access it. And we've got Richmond kidnapped and locked away."
"That's all illegal cri—mmph!"
Reivaj's mouth was covered by his servant just as he was about to object.
Kim Jangcheol continued explaining.
"From now on, it's a race against time. Why? Because if Richmond doesn't return home by the end of tonight, his secretary will start to suspect something."
Zephyros asked,
"Won't they already be suspicious?"
"Not yet. Richmond sometimes stayed overnight in the storage when checking inventory. It's not unusual behavior."
"How do you know that?"
"Roughly? I just do?"
"....."
Kim Jangcheol answered shamelessly.
In truth, he had picked up that juicy little detail while chatting with Richmond earlier using his mind gazing skill.
Zephyros continued questioning.
"Then, we have to pull this off tonight?"
"Exactly. That's the plan."
"So, what exactly are you going to do?"
"I'm going to bring people in."
"People?"
"Yeah."
"What kind of peop—"
"Just listen carefully."
From that point on,
Whispers, murmurs.
Grinning slyly, Kim Jangcheol laid out the details of the plan.
And assigned each person their role.
The eyes of the group trembled non-stop from the mental shock.
Everyone thought the same thing.
'...Huh?'
Is this... even possible?
Can this plan really work?
Doubt filled their minds.
Not just Reivaj, but even his potato-like servant.
Even Zephyros and Baal, Asurat and Sirgi, who trusted Kim Jangcheol to their bones, reacted the same.
Even Aged Kimchi, who had helped kidnap Richmond, tilted his head slightly in doubt.
But Kim Jangcheol didn't waver in the slightest, despite their skepticism.
"Alright, let's move out."
Pushed forward by him, the entire group carried out their roles.
All through the night.
Frantically moving, preparing, executing.
And finally, as the faint light of dawn began to shine—
Thousands of citizens of Daparachia began to rush toward the mine where Richmond's hidden storage was located in an open-run frenzy.
In each citizen's hand was a crumpled flyer, distributed far and wide throughout the city overnight.
The contents of the flyer were simple.
[Richmond Storage, Today Only!]
[Tearful Going-Out-of-Business Bargain Sale!]
[T/L: I am not getting any support from webnovel platform, so please support me and read ahead chapters on my ko-fi page "RevengerScans" : https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]