Chapter 53 Omar is Furious
Omar asked, "What? What did you say? All my grain merchants are dead? What about the gold?"
The furious roar sent the servants in the courtyard scurrying away; Baron's anger was terrifying.
He was on his fifth servant in a year, and this one had lasted the longest. The secret was to leave Baron's sight when he was in a rage.
"They're all gone. The men we sent found no trace of the gold," the knight said in a cold voice.
Inside the castle, Baron Omar's eyes bulged, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the knight, his breath hot on the knight's face. "Who did this?"
The knight remained calm, ignoring Omar's anger, and said, "Lord Henry, the newly appointed nobleman of Eldoria, your servants conspired to murder him, but the plan failed, and they were executed."
Omar said, "What? Those fools? What were they thinking? Who gave them the audacity? How dare they conspire to kill a nobleman?"
Omar cursed, "Utterly foolish!"
The knight rolled his eyes, and he thought, 'You brought this upon yourself; who else would dare to plot against a noble? Your overbearing behavior has certainly rubbed off on some of your underlings.'
Omar asked, "Eldoria? Isn't that Carter's territory?" Omar's eyes darted around; he was about to vent his anger, but why hadn't he seen a single lowly servant?
"Yes, Carter sold the land and noble title to Henry more than ten days ago," the knight replied, looking at the parchment.
Omar shouted, "Damn it!"
Omar's face darkened. He remembered that despite Eldoria's isolation, it still had a small income from copper coins. He had sent people to sell wheat there and had been controlling the wheat trade in Eldoria for two years now.
It could increase his income by a dozen or so gold coins every year, and he had yet to receive this year's gold coins, and now it was all gone.
Omar had his hand in the wheat trade in three or four small cities like this one, and the grain trade was the most stable, providing him with forty to fifty gold coins in income every year.
"Where is Carter? I'll deduct the gold coins I lost from his profits," Omar said arrogantly, "and then I'll go and kill that Henry and get my gold coins back."
"He left two days ago, saying he wanted to go back and pay his respects to his hometown; after all, in a little over ten days, Eldoria won't be his anymore," the knight said with a hint of sarcasm. In his view, the person who gave up his land and title was the most foolish.
"That old fool, he completely ruined that land," Omar sneered, full of disdain for Carter.
He never thought that he had already controlled the wheat trade, reducing Carter's income. Omar's attitude was that my mistakes are not mistakes; other people's mistakes are mistakes.
"Baron Omar, Carter mentioned before that we should take the opportunity to seize Hyratos and Eldoria," the knight reminded.
Omar was slightly stunned, then burst into laughter, "Hahaha... interesting, that old Carter is a good candidate for a bandit, ruthless enough."
The knight felt a hint of self-mockery in these words; others did not know, but as a confidant of Baron Omar, he knew that among the dozen or so cities nearby, the biggest bandit was the one formed by Baron Omar.
"Baron Omar, are we going to proceed with the plan as before?" the knight asked in a low voice.
"Yes! The plan remains unchanged. Have them infiltrate as quickly as possible. Keep a close eye on those orcs. Anyone who causes trouble will go without food for two days; that will keep them in line," he ordered with a stern voice.
Omar raised his hand and clenched it in the air, his eyes bursting with a fiery light, and said, "I must gather five hundred gold coins this year; I don't want to stay in this remote place anymore; I want to go back to the mainland."
The knight replied, "Yes, my lord!"
The knight also did not like the western land. It was too barren, especially in winter. The weather was cold, and he could only stay in the house all day, and he had to stay for four months. By the time he came out in the spring, he was almost useless.
Baron Omar, the youngest son of the Earl and also the most unruly son, was driven to this western land by his father, who asked him to earn only five hundred gold coins a year so that he could return to the Earl's mansion and qualify as the heir to the Earl's title.
The annual income of the Baron's territory is roughly around a hundred gold coins, while the Viscount's territory is only over five hundred gold coins a year, which is the standard on the mainland; in this western land, minus two-thirds is the real income.
That is to say, the annual income of the Baron's territory in the western land is only over thirty gold coins, which is impossible for Omar, who is eager to return to the mainland, to gather five hundred gold coins in this barren land, so he can only find another way.
What is the fastest way to get gold coins? Of course, it is to rob others of their gold coins; last year, Baron Omar robbed two hundred gold coins, and this year, he plans to rob three hundred gold coins.
'My elder brother, if I bring back five hundred gold coins, I wonder if your face will be very ugly?' With a cold smirk, Omar thought to himself.
If it hadn't been for his older brother's interference, he wouldn't have been banished to this western frontier. He had dreams of courting some duke's daughters, or even princesses, in the Royal City.
The knight knew that Baron Omar was about to enter his fantasy again and quickly interrupted, "Baron Omar, do you want me to send someone to Eldoria?"
"No, there's no need to squander resources on that insignificant location. We'll deal with it once we've conquered Hyratos. Then we can send someone to eliminate him," Omar said dismissively, completely undervaluing the importance of the distant small city.
The knight replied, "Okay!"
