The next morning, three carriages stopped in front of the Riorden estate.
From the first carriage stepped a man in a black coat. He carried a leather document case in one hand. He smiled like a merchant, but the hands of the two mercenaries following him hovered near their sword hilts.
Clerks from the government office stepped down from the second carriage. Ink bottles, document files, and an order bearing a red seal were in view.
The third carriage carried empty crates.
Crates meant to hold the seized goods.
The fact that the crates were empty meant that they had already decided what they would take.
One servant stepped back at the sight of those crates. He was a coachman who had served the Riorden estate for ten years. Kael of his previous life could not remember his name.
But he remembered the words written on one side of the seizure list.
Dismissal.
Two months of unpaid wages.
Seizure was not a procedure for taking away goods.
It was a ceremony for telling the people inside the house that this was no longer their home.
That was why Kael looked at the empty crates for a long time.
The crates were empty, but they already held many things.
Ria's marriage arrangement.
Ian's future.
Selena's dignity.
His father's final name.
Rowan Kale clicked his tongue in front of the entrance.
"Polite thieves, aren't they?"
Kael was looking down from the window.
He did not go down right away.
In his previous life, he had often stood at the front alone in moments like this. He had judged alone, signed alone, and taken responsibility alone.
And in the end, he had been abandoned alone.
This time had to be different.
Selena was below, Rowan stood at the entrance, and the government clerks had their ink bottles as well. The moment those ink bottles began to move, this would stop being a fight and become a record.
"Thieves don't come in openly."
"Then what are those?"
"Thieves who come in carrying documents."
Rowan snorted. Every time he laughed, his shoulder armor creaked. The leather straps bore traces of having been reinforced twice, and the tip of his scabbard was worn and faded.
"Young Master."
"What?"
"Will they put my overdue wages in those crates too?"
"Was it three months' worth?"
"Four months. I would be disappointed if you reduced it to three."
"Then we must not let them take it all the more."
"That is what I was waiting to hear."
Rowan's smile vanished.
The estate was quiet. The servants had gathered at the end of the corridor, and Ria was looking down from behind the second-floor railing. Ian peeked out with only his head while Selena held him by the hand.
Selena Riorden stood in the center of the entrance hall.
She looked exhausted, but she had not fallen apart. Her dress was old, but her collar was not disheveled.
The door opened.
"My apologies for troubling you so early in the morning, Lady Riorden."
The man in the black coat bowed politely.
"I am Marco Beltran of the Beltran Guild."
Marco Beltran.
His name appeared often in the ledgers of fallen nobles. He did not wield a blade himself, but he held out interest sharper than a blade.
Marco was smiling.
It was the smile of a man certain that his opponent had already lost.
"And this is Treasurer Orban Gray of the Eastern Administrative Office. He will ensure that today's seizure procedure is carried out lawfully."
The man in the gray official uniform stepped forward. Thin lips, and an order bearing a red seal.
Orban Gray gave Selena a slight bow.
"We will proceed according to procedure."
Procedure.
That was the word bureaucrats always used when they took someone's home away. As though the existence of procedure made plunder cease to be plunder.
"I hear that the Baron remains bedridden."
Marco said.
"Then, if Young Master Kael, the heir, will sign, that will suffice. As this is a matter of family property, Lady Riorden should attend as well."
Ria gripped the railing tightly.
Kael slowly descended the stairs.
Marco's gaze turned toward him.
"Ah, Young Master Kael. You must be clearheaded today. There are many places for you to sign."
Marco opened his document case.
"The Riorden Barony's total debt is 4,800 gold coins. With overdue interest, procedural costs, clerk fees, and seizure enforcement costs added, it comes to 6,230 gold coins."
Selena's face hardened.
"That differs from the amount we heard yesterday."
"Procedural costs were added overnight."
"It increased by more than 1,000 gold coins in a single night?"
Marco gave a helpless shrug, as though apologetic.
"The law is slow, but interest is quick, my lady."
Ria leaned out from behind the railing.
"Do you think that makes any sense?"
"Ria."
Selena stopped her quietly.
Only then did Marco lift his head as though he had noticed Ria for the first time.
"You must be the young lady of the Riorden family. Do not worry. The children of noble families always have options. You might find a good guardian, or lessen the family's burden through a suitable marriage arrangement."
The blood drained from Ria's face.
Guardian.
Marriage proposal.
They meant collateral.
Kael of his previous life had learned that meaning far too late. It was after Ria had left. Her letter said she was going to a good family, but the ledger said debt guarantee settlement.
Rowan's hand moved toward his sword.
Kael stopped him with a look.
Not yet.
Marco smiled as if he had calculated even that response.
"We of the Beltran Guild do not like seeing blood. Blood is difficult to wipe away, and awkward to enter into the ledger."
He unfolded the seizure list.
"First, the western warehouse of the Riorden estate. The southern vineyard. Two carriages. All silverware. And a bundle of old military supply-related documents."
Kael's eyes stopped.
A bundle of old military supply-related documents.
Just as he thought.
They were not after the estate.
"They are useless documents, but anything is useful for settling a debt."
Useless documents.
Kael did not smile.
Instead, he opened his eyes.
Red letters spread across the debt contract Marco had brought.
Illegal interest rate.
Hidden fee.
Guarantor's signature mismatch.
Kael shifted his gaze. Red lines ran across Orban Gray's seizure order as well.
Military Supply Depot inspection record missing.
Entry records for Warehouse No. 3 of the Grayden Military Supply Depot deleted.
Linked to the Seventh Eastern War Supply Manifest.
Warehouse No. 3.
It was the storage section where Riorden's supplies had last been recorded.
The moment he tried to look deeper, his temple throbbed. The red lines gathered around a single faint name in the air beyond the rear of the hall.
Seradin.
It was still blurry.
But it was enough.
Marco was the creditor.
Orban was the procedure.
Behind them was a noble.
"Why are you smiling?"
Marco asked.
Only then did Kael realize that he was smiling slightly.
"Because it is an interesting list."
"You find a seizure list interesting?"
"Yes. Especially the final item."
Marco's eyes flickered for the briefest moment.
"The bundle of old documents, you mean?"
"You said it was useless."
"That is correct. Still, it is needed to settle the debt."
"You will go out of your way to take something useless?"
The air in the hall shifted slightly.
Selena looked at Kael. Edric quietly lowered his gaze. If those documents truly were useless, there was no reason for them to be in such a hurry.
Marco recovered his smile.
"Old documents left behind become seeds of disputes. We are helping the Riorden family make a clean new start."
"A new start requires you to take the documents?"
"We are removing unnecessary attachments."
Unnecessary attachments.
Kael recorded those words in his mind.
What they feared most was not debt.
It was the attachment of grasping a right they had thought dead once more.
Orban cleared his throat.
"Young Master Kael. Today's procedure is being enforced according to the debt contract. It would be best to avoid unnecessary arguments."
"Unnecessary arguments should be avoided."
Kael looked at Orban.
His face was pale with the fever from the night before still lingering. Yet his gray eyes were cold. Orban found those eyes more uncomfortable than that young face.
"I will ask only necessary questions."
"If you have questions, submit them in writing. The government office will proceed according to procedure..."
"Grayden Military Supply Depot, Warehouse No. 3."
Orban stopped speaking.
Kael did not miss it.
Orban's fingers pressed against the corner of the order. The paper creased slightly.
"What do you mean?"
"I merely said the name of a warehouse."
"It is unrelated to today's procedure."
"Is it unrelated?"
Kael descended to the center of the hall.
"The Riorden Barony's old military supply documents are included on the seizure list. Those documents are connected to the Grayden Military Supply Depot. And if the person who managed the entry records for that depot is the Treasurer of the Eastern Administrative Office."
He looked into Orban's eyes.
"Is it truly unrelated?"
Orban could not answer at once.
Marco intervened.
"Young Master. It seems you have not fully recovered yet. There is no need for you to discuss anything complicated today. You need only sign."
"Do you dislike complicated matters?"
"We prefer clear matters. If one has incurred a debt, one repays it. It is very simple."
"A fine principle."
Kael said.
"I think so too."
Marco stopped smiling for a moment.
In that brief silence, Ian whispered softly from behind Selena.
"Is Brother winning?"
Selena did not answer.
Kael had not won anything yet.
He had merely seen where the other side's leash was.
Ria spoke softly from the railing.
"If you win, will you send those crates back too?"
Ian raised his head.
"They're empty, so can't we take them?"
Rowan gave a snort, perhaps because he heard.
"A good idea. Seizing the crates brought here for seizure would make for a fine appearance."
Selena spoke quietly.
"Sir Rowan."
"It is a joke. For now."
Marco held out a document.
"Please sign."
Consent to seizure.
Kael took the paper.
Ria drew in a breath. Rowan's hand went to his sword again. Edric's gaze deepened.
Kael picked up the pen.
Marco's smile returned.
At that moment, Kael pushed the consent to seizure aside.
"One blank sheet of paper."
Marco blinked.
"Pardon?"
"Bring me a blank sheet of paper."
"Young Master, what is needed now is your signature."
"Exactly."
Kael spoke calmly.
"Should I not write one as well?"
Orban asked with an uncomfortable expression.
"What are you going to write?"
Kael looked down at the seizure list.
The estate.
The warehouse.
The vineyard.
The bundle of military supply contracts.
And beneath it, red letters.
Attempted seizure of rights.
Target: connection pending.
Kael raised his head.
"A bill."
Marco's smile disappeared completely.
"To whom?"
Kael did not answer.
It was still too early to name a name.
But soon, he would.
Marco Beltran.
Orban Gray.
And Seradin, hiding behind them.
Kael accepted the blank sheet of paper.
Instead of signing the seizure order, he began to write the first bill.
The moment the tip of his pen touched the paper, everyone in the hall heard the sound.
Scratch.
It was a very small sound.
Yet at that sound, Marco's mercenaries held their breath, Orban's junior clerk gripped his ink bottle tighter, and Ria came down one step from the railing.
Those who had brought empty crates feared a blank sheet of paper for the first time.
Selena said nothing.
She was watching the first letter Kael wrote.
It was neither hope nor trust.
It was the feeling of perhaps.
In a house that was collapsing, it was the most expensive asset.
Today, it was the first line.
If the first line went wrong, the entire ledger would be wrong all the way to the end.
This time, Kael would not miss the first line.
Never.
Not again.