Chapter 54: Surrounding and Annihilating

"Oh my, Wolf. Did you come to see me? Looks like your patience finally ran out."

Hilda was puzzled yet delighted to see me arrive unannounced, but she seemed to have had different expectations. Unfortunately, when I told her I’d come to see her father, she sulked. I’d sweet-talk her later. She wasn’t the type to stay sulky for long anyway.

"So what you’re saying is that the Judicial Department wants to use us to hit Finance?"

"To be precise, the Judicial Department wants to expose the corruption connecting Rafel, the merchant guild, and Finance. Given the Judicial Department’s relationship with Finance, they want to share the burden with us."

"Scheming behind the scenes again. Sneaky old man. The Judicial Minister is planning to use us as a shield, but if we can legally go after Finance, it’s not a bad proposal."

As expected, investigation had become attack.

Had the Judicial Minister perhaps expected me to rein in the War Minister?

Honestly, that was a fantasy.

"I’ll mobilize two hundred duchy troops."

"Um, Father-in-law? This isn’t a war."

"Hmph, we need to surround and annihilate them so those slippery slum bastards can’t escape!"

Deploying a battle-hardened combat unit just to suppress the slums. I gave up entirely on tempering my father-in-law’s belligerence. I didn’t have the authority to decide in the first place, and if my father-in-law had made up his mind, there was no stopping him.

"Shouldn’t we coordinate with the Judicial Department before moving troops?"

For now, I tried to hold my father-in-law back to at least buy time for the Judicial Minister to act. From my perspective, if we moved without any consultation, the Judicial Minister would be blindsided. But my father-in-law waved the idea off as if it were beneath consideration. What kind of Russian-style blitzkrieg was this?

"Michael, take my son-in-law and go surround the slum area first. If you’re short on troops, take all the idle guards."

"The guards are under the Judicial Department’s jurisdiction, though. That’s overstepping..."

"They’ll provide support if we ask! Hurry up! I’ll go see His Highness the Grand Duke right away."

Act first, answer for it later.

Even if it was my father-in-law, could a War Minister really do this?

In the end, Michael and I headed to the slums ahead of the main force. Hilda kept urging me to absolutely not do anything dangerous and to focus on directing my subordinates, and she lent me Schatten. I brought Hans, Ted, and Oscar to link up with Michael. Of course, I’d also donned my plate armor and red cloak.

"Thanks to the armor and cloak, you look like the commander-in-chief, brother-in-law."

"Hilda prepared it for me. She said I need to look the part of the Gale Knight."

"The moment the engagement was set, she stopped caring about her brother."

Michael was less impulsive than my father-in-law and had a more easygoing temperament. I thought I could get along well with him. If he succeeded the War Minister, wouldn’t the belligerent military become a bit more stable? In any case, when two hundred troops began marching, the public road descended into chaos.

"What? Has a war broken out? Why are duchy troops suddenly on the move?"

"Wait—that’s the Gale Knight!"

"Oh! I saw him at the investiture ceremony!"

Normally when armies passed through, commoners found it deeply unsettling. Foreign armies even more so. In truth, most armies that refrained from plundering the villages they passed through were already considered well-disciplined. The fact that people were gathering like this was purely because of my reputation.

"Prestige comes with its own burdens. You’re learning that firsthand, brother-in-law."

"At this rate, we might as well be announcing to the slum that the army is coming."

"Announcing? Interesting way to put it. Then let’s send an advance party to surround the area."

Michael gave orders to his officers and dispatched 150 troops to Rafel’s territory based on the information I’d provided. Now that was what a real commander looked like. My own forces numbered three at most, but as a unit commander, I was the second highest-ranking person in this army. So my subordinates’ expressions were visibly bolstered.

"Surrounding the slums is simple enough, but telling friend from foe among the residents isn’t easy."

"Leave that to me. I’ve secured a rough list through Bodo."

"Oh, really? Looks like I’ll be leaning on you quite a bit, brother-in-law. Please handle the identification."

Claiming I’d secured a list through Bodo was, of course, a lie. No matter how clever Bodo was, he hadn’t had enough time or manpower to advance the work that far. The manpower I was thinking of was qualitative, not quantitative. I planned to identify them using the Manager Scouter.

First, I told Michael to round up everyone in Rafel’s territory.

If they resisted, suppression was unavoidable, but if they submitted peacefully, I intended to take care not to brand innocent people as Rafel members. The Manager Scouter could sort them out.

"We’ve sealed off the entire designated area as ordered!"

"Good. Now arrest everyone inside the perimeter. You may kill those who resist."

I’d thought killing was a bit extreme, but clashes were inevitable regardless, and leaving the fieldwork to Michael—who was experienced in these operations—was the right call. In fact, after surrounding Rafel’s territory, small skirmishes broke out here and there.

"Infantry, shields forward!"

"Archers, take aim! Fire!"

"Maintain formation and advance!"

However, even if this was a slum organization that strutted through its territory like they owned the place, once a combat unit was deployed, they didn’t stand a chance. While skirmishes flared sporadically, not a single man from the suppression force was killed. There were only five wounded, but over ten Rafel members died. I confirmed as much through the scouter.

"Clear. Clear. Arrest that one."

Among the slum residents who cooperated while trembling, I released those with no connection to the organization and had the soldiers bind anyone with even the slightest tie. The duchy soldiers receiving my orders were wide-eyed at how I sorted them out as if by instinct. But Hans—why were you looking so proud?

"Arrest those two as well."

"Damn it!"

The Rafel members who tried to slip past calmly, pretending to be ordinary residents, resisted and were quickly surrounded and beaten into submission. If they hadn’t resisted, they’d have gotten off with just being bound. Then again, even if they’d gone quietly, cruel torture awaited them at the Judicial Department. From what I could tell, the Judicial Minister was a man who relished the practice.

In any case, while I smoothly picked out Rafel’s members, the corpses kept piling up and duchy troops accumulated casualties bit by bit as well. Crushing a slum organization was this easy once the army was mobilized. If they’d dealt with Schlange properly back then, things would never have spiraled the way they did.

The crushing itself wasn’t the hard part—the aftermath was. If the authorities properly policed the slums, criminal organizations couldn’t easily take root, but that was never done effectively. Similar outfits would inevitably spring up again.

So the government had tried to keep the organizations on a tight leash as controllable entities, but these people hadn’t known their place and had caused too many incidents. As a result, the army was deployed, and aside from Treppen, every organization was as good as finished. I was curious how they’d deal with Treppen later. It was a slum organization all the same.

Regardless, the fact that I could manage things this efficiently without personally drawing my longsword and charging into the fray was encouraging. As expected, a noble needed a solid backing. Beyond prestige, I carried the title of the War Minister’s son-in-law, so most nobles couldn’t pick fights with me carelessly.

The difference in military power was enormous to begin with.

"I announce to the residents of this area: if you submit to investigation peacefully, no violence will occur. I advise you once more—do not hide in buildings. Submit to investigation peacefully."

Michael and the officers blocking the other exits kept bringing people in, bound and lined up like a chain gang, but the frequency gradually tapered off. By now it was safe to say there were no more residents coming forward voluntarily. So this time I activated the Searcher Scouter.

My Searcher Scouter excelled at detecting hidden spaces.

From that point on, it was simply a matter of searching buildings methodically.

Since Rafel members’ resistance had been so fierce, only a handful had been taken alive, and not a single executive-level figure was among them. They were either hiding somewhere or had slipped away before we’d closed the net. Well, Rafel had essentially collapsed regardless, so finding evidence and documents took priority.

"Open the door!"

"Forget it—just break it down!"

The duchy soldiers, already blooded from the fighting, had grown very rough.

They smashed open locked doors and went in. Then women’s screams echoed from inside. Women’s screams? I ordered the soldiers to bring the women out. Most of them were barely clothed. I made it clear to the soldiers that they were not to lay a hand on them.

But Hans seemed startled—he appeared to recognize one of the women.

Who was she? The woman was in a wretched state, but her face didn’t ring a bell for me.

"...Matilda?"

Could it be that Matilda from Rosemary’s?

The woman Hans had been fond of—for whom I’d sent Oscar to pursue marriage talks, only to be told she’d made a pact with a knight—came to mind. After I’d matched Hans with Priscilla, Matilda had slipped from my memory entirely, but I hadn’t expected to find her here. As Bodo had once said, women who disappeared into the night like that usually met unhappy ends.

"H-Hans? Please help me!"

"Sir Wolfgang! M-Matilda! O-oh my God!"

Just Matilda’s presence here told me everything I needed to know—these women were victims. I immediately sent someone to Beien parish to fetch the priest and nuns. And I impressed upon them that these women were pitiful souls who’d suffered at the hands of Rafel’s despicable crimes.

"You’ve endured terrible hardships. Sir Knight, we will care for these sisters."

"Thank you. And this is a personal donation. Please look after the sisters well."

"Ah, this much! As expected, Sir Knight is a faithful warrior of Christ."

I had twenty silver coins on me, so I donated them all. No need to thank me—I planned to bill Michael later and recoup it as operational expenses. In any case, if I showed this much sincerity, the church and convent would take proper care of the victims. My compassion extended exactly that far.

I continued searching the buildings methodically. I found hidden compartments in building after building and pocketed a nice haul. Hidden spaces were meaningless against the scouter. Being able to legally search buildings and pocket money like this was a rare opportunity.

I’d have to turn over important clues and stolen goods, but those were of no use to me anyway. In total, I searched ten buildings and managed to pocket thirty silver coins. Less than what I’d taken from The Pauper’s Crown—disappointing.

Fortunately, hidden leather pouches turned up in another building.

There was a mountain of copper coins inside. The silver coins were weighty too. And one treasure map.

I combed through most of Rafel’s territory, but beyond rescuing the victimized women, there were no meaningful results.

By results, I meant evidence and leads.

I pocketed a total of 58 silver coins and 1,485 copper coins as spoils of war.

And I had to set aside performance bonuses separately—that was only human nature.

Michael would see to the duchy troops, but I was the only one who could look after my own people. So I gave Hans, Ted, and Oscar five silver coins each for their hard work. My subordinates grinned from ear to ear at the generous bonus. Ted especially, who’d been suffering under so much mental strain, seemed the happiest.

Shouldn’t life be made more enjoyable with nice windfalls like this?

In any case, if I could determine the identity of the executives or the boss, I could track leads using the Searcher Scouter. Until then, it was best to maintain the blockade on this area and prepare for any contingencies.