“Hey, Baron Yandel…?”

As soon as I came ashore, I saw the knights stiffen upon spotting me.

Well, from their perspective, it must seem like a ghost had returned.

After all, Jerome had forcibly thrown my unconscious body into the jaws of death.

“Um… are you all right…?”

One knight, sensing something strange, spoke from a distance without coming closer. For some reason, he didn’t even meet my eyes properly.

Maybe he feels some guilt?

“Summon Count Saintred. I have something to tell him.”

“Yes? Ah… yes! I’ll hurry to deliver the news!”

One of the knights standing guard by the tree dashed off somewhere, and soon Jerome Saintred appeared, accompanied by many knights.

He stared silently for a long time as if assessing my essence before speaking.

“I’ll take charge here. Everyone else, rest for a while.”

Okay, so for now, is this safe?

While thinking that, I maintained an expressionless face carefully.

This was the core of the plan.

Making Jerome believe I was the chief.

“…”

“…”

Even though we were ready to talk quietly, silence continued for a while.

I was the first to break the silence.

“Don’t worry. The ritual ended successfully.”

If anyone could say that, it wouldn’t be Bjorn, son of Yandel the barbarian warrior.

Jerome seemed relieved at last and spoke.

“Good to hear it succeeded. Now, as promised, hand over ‘that.'”

“…”

“Have you suddenly gotten cold feet? If so, I hope you let it go quickly. If you don’t give it up, you won’t be able to live properly outside in that body–”

“I have no regrets. But back then, there was something I couldn’t tell you…”

Trailing off, Jerome looked at me expectantly, urging me to explain.

“That thing is currently immobile.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Literally what I said. When I opened my eyes in this body, there was a Dimensional Stele beside me. And… that thing was fused with the stele. I tried countless times but failed to detach it.”

Surprisingly, half of this story was true.

When we opened the portal to escape, it only detached then. I heard it was then they realized monsters couldn’t use the portal.

However, Jerome didn’t know this and was furious.

“Damn it. Why tell me this only now?”

“Everything has its priorities, doesn’t it?”

“Now you mention that–!”

“What’s the problem? You intended to obtain that item for the king anyway. Bringing it here and using it would be enough, right? I haven’t found a way to remove it, but maybe you could.”

Taking the conversation boldly the other way, Jerome shut his mouth tightly.

Rather than suppressing anger forcibly, he seemed to be judging the situation calmly…

“…I have to check it myself.”

Jerome’s tightly closed mouth finally opened.

“I must verify it firsthand.”

“Hmm, then I’ll have the warriors clear the village. So you can take your time after we leave–”

“No, you can’t go anywhere until the verification is complete.”

…Yeah, I expected you’d say that.

“Do as you wish.”

Now, it was up to the chief.

The monster village hidden beneath the tree.

The order given to the exploration force who finally arrived was neither an assault nor an annihilation.

“Hold position until further orders!”

An indefinite standby order.

Still, at this simple command, knights, priests, and mages of the exploration force swallowed nervously.

The reason was simple.

They had to wait in a standoff with hundreds of village warriors.

“Evost, if those monsters move or show suspicious signs, charge and kill immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Also, keep a close watch on Baron Yandel while I’m gone.”

Judging by the nuance of ‘keep a close watch,’ the chief must have briefed the deputy commander to some extent.

Knowing his personality, it probably wasn’t detailed, just instructions to monitor me and prevent contact with my comrades.

“Are you really okay alone?”

“I am. As long as you do your part here, there won’t be danger.”

Jerome’s behavior was hard to call reckless.

He believed the chief inhabited my body.

If the village monsters are tied up like this, there’s no real threat inside the village.

“Ahem…”

Jerome entered the village alone, and the deputy commander awkwardly cleared his throat and approached me.

Ignoring that, I continued thinking.

‘Well, what happens next…?’

The chief said that once Jerome came alone to the cave, he’d handle the rest.

He was confident, so I told him to do it.

Even if the chief failed, I wouldn’t lose much.

Whether the chief subdued Jerome and took his body,

or Jerome fought back and killed the chief,

either way, it wouldn’t be bad for me.

Of course, if Jerome returned alive, my dealings with the chief would be exposed…

‘But he was going to stab me in the back anyway.’

Call it a fair deal?

There would be bad feelings, but since both were at fault, they could reconcile through conversation.

‘If the chief wins, that also has its advantages.’

So, the climax of the plan was left entirely to the chief.

It was also what he wanted.

The only concern was if the two conspired again behind my back while I was away…

‘I’m so worried. Neither the chief nor Jerome is trustworthy.’

The more I thought, the more pessimistic I got, so I ended those thoughts here.

After all, there was a plan for such a contingency.

For now, watching the situation was best.

“Evost, can you talk with the comrades for a moment?”

Just in case, I asked the deputy commander, but he refused without hesitation.

“I’m sorry. When the commander returns, I will strongly request that Baron be allowed to talk with his comrades. Please wait until then.”

“…Understood.”

I worried about my captured comrades but quickly let go of regrets. Judging by his stubborn attitude, no persuasion would work.

‘…I have to ask Misha about the Resurrection Stone too.’

Not out of curiosity, but rather for fact-checking.

The source of the Resurrection Stone is 100% Ibaekho.

I also roughly guess why he gave it to Misha.

‘Ha… That bastard always does this whenever I start to trust him.’

Honestly, I don’t even feel betrayed anymore.

I’m just fed up with his persistence.

“Phew…”

Time passed quickly as I thought about various things under the knights’ watch.

Then…

“The count has returned…!”

Jerome Saintred, who had entered the village alone, came back and stood before me.

For some reason, I felt tense.

‘Is it the chief, or himself?’

The answer was soon revealed.

The exploration force commander looked at me and extended his hand.

“Baron Yandel, thank you. Thanks to you, we were able to deal with him.”

So, it was a success.

I don’t know what happened when the two were alone.

The only thing I know for sure.

‘The chief won.’

The chief subdued Jerome Saintred and succeeded in taking his body.

Simply put, the entire exploration force filled with royal elites was completely deceived by some strange guy.

Now, the command of this exploration force was ours.

“Evost, release all of Baron Yandel’s comrades.”

“…Yes? But…”

“Don’t worry. Everything I did to the Baron was a plan to deceive the ‘chief.'”

“…Yes?”

Our deputy commander seemed surprised by the Novelirht (Don’t copy, read here) commander’s change of position, so I spoke up.

“The chief had a secret way to watch everything happening on the island. To deceive him, we needed to deceive everyone, including you.”

“Yes? Then…”

“It was all an act from the start. To easily capture that chief.”

After that, I didn’t explain the details.

There wasn’t enough time to go into detail, and mistakes might happen…

“Baron Yandel, you did well. That acting couldn’t have been easy.”

“Haha! This is nothing!”

The deputy commander was still skeptical but couldn’t say anything as we laughed together.

What could he do when we said so?

Besides, people tend to believe positive things about themselves.

“Uh… I did feel something was strange. I followed, thinking there was meaning behind it… But it seemed like the commander was treating Baron Yandel like a scapegoat…”

If this whole situation was our cooperation with Jerome, no trouble would arise.

Maybe that’s why?

Though some had doubts, the exploration force didn’t question what we said.

‘The first hurdle ended smoothly.’

Actually, convincing the exploration force was important.

That way, the chief living as Jerome Saintred wouldn’t lose face, and the next plan could proceed naturally.

‘The problem is not getting caught before then…’

But even that didn’t worry me much.

I could tell how meticulous he was from what happened later.

“Commander…! The monsters are starting to rampage!”

“They must have realized their leader is dead.”

When the monsters shouted in the ancient tongue and screamed, the chief gave orders without hesitation.

“All troops, charge! Annihilate the monsters!”

An order aimed at subordinates he had been controlling like puppets.

“Nia Rafdonia…!”

As the exploration force prepared to attack, the monsters were slaughtered helplessly.

They didn’t even put up proper resistance.

It wasn’t because they lost their rallying point, the chief.

“What the hell… did he do to make them unable to resist?”

“Nothing special.”

“…?”

“I just told them to half-heartedly fight and then die. They’re useless now, aren’t they?”

…What kind of bastard is this?

Though it gave me chills down my spine, I understood the behavior.

‘…They’re intelligent and can communicate in the ancient language, so this method must be the most certain.’

The dead don’t speak.

The problem is, now I’m the only one who knows the chief’s secret.

Still, I decided to stay cautious but not think only in the worst way.

There was some positive side after all.

“It’s all over now…”

After cleansing the village, the chief, having taken Jerome’s body, said to me,

“Baron Yandel, your contribution in this battle was great. I would like to offer you a fitting reward…”

“…”

“The essence, magic stones, equipment you gathered–tell me what you want.”

I gained a legal way to feed on the royal bloodline.