ACT 7 Viscount Ark

The meeting will start in 5 minutes!

The chief director of the Kings Hall shouted. The soldiers blew through the trumpet and announced that the meeting time was imminent.This meeting was to decide the aristocrats that would be dispatched to the 10 territories in the Sinius Principality. Once the trumpets starting sounding, the aristocrats began to gather in the Kings Hall.

Now, it is time to start

Ark who was standing at the entrance of the Kings Hall and looked at the nobles with bright eyes. After a moment, he saw a grey-haired old man surrounded by other nobles.The old man that looked like a raccoon was Duke Sarkin.

Ark quickly ran over and lowered his head.

Duke Sarkin-nim, hello?

Huh? You are?

Im Baron Ark.

Ah, you are the upstart foreigner who managed to become an aristocrat?

Duke Sarkin muttered with a mocking smile. The nobles trailing Sarkin muttered among themselves. But Ark just pasted a casual smile on his face and nodded.

Yes, I am that upstart foreigner.

Bah. Yes, then what business does a foreigner like you have with me?

I came to tell you this despite your disrespect.

I dont know what youre saying but I have nothing to say to you.

Duke Sarkin looked Ark up and down with an unpleasant look and turned his back.

Arent you going to regret it?

What?

I picked something like this up.

Ark laughed as he took out a scroll from his bag and shook it. Anger flared in Sarkins eyes at Arks provocation.But his face stiffened after he looked at the contents of the scroll. He suddenly ran forward like an angry wild boar and stretched his arm towards the scroll.However, a sixty year old man was no match for Ark.Ark just turned his body like he was dancing and Sarkin fell to the ground. When Sarkin fell, the nobles flinched and grabbed their sword hilts.

You bastard! What are you doing?

Oh? Why dont you wait and see?

Ark muttered and laughed.Duke Sarkin got up and yelled.

Stop!

Huh? But

Didnt you hear me? I want to talk with him so you guys enter the hall first.

Sarkin stared at the nobles and gave them an order.The nobles looked puzzled by Sarkins changed attitude but obediently entered the Kings Hall. Ark whistled and clapped like he admired Sarkins behaviour.

As expected of Duke Sarkin-nim, your judgement is really fast.

You bastardwhat? How did you get that?

This letter? Didnt I tell you?I picked it up. This letter has Duke-nims seal on it. So this upstart foreigner came to talk to you.

Then its not necessary to speak for a long time. Give it to me.

So you admit that this letter is yours?

Sarkins face stiffened at Arks question.His forehead wrinkled and he started at Ark for a while with narrowed eyes before saying in a cold voice.

And if its not?

Then I have no reason to give this letter to Duke-nim.

.What will you do if its mine?

I dont know. The contents of the letter are quite suspicious.

Ark smiled and lifted the letter.Duke Sarkin read the contents of the letter with a perplexity.

To. Nadin

Secretly transport the <Laurels of Purity> that has been salvaged to my mansion on the night of the full moon.

From Sarkin

The Laurels of Purity was one of the 22 tokens of the Sinius Principality that Daltin spoke about.It was a token which granted the right to own the territory to Schudenberg Kingdom! The problem was that the Laurels of Purity havent been reported to the King yet.In other words, this letter was proof that Duke Sarkin had commanded his subordinates to sneakily obtain the tokens.However, Sarkin shook his head and stubbornly denied it.

I never wrote that letter!

But isnt this Duke-nims handwriting and even your seal?

Its a plot! Someone clearly faked that letter in order to trap me in some plot!

That might be true.

Ark grinned and nodded.When Ark nodded, Sarkin flinched and asked in a low voice.

Perhaps..it is you?

That might be true.

Ark jokingly replied.Then Sarkin looked at him with outraged eyes.

You must be crazy. Do you think you will be safe if you do something like this?

Shouldnt you be more worried about yourself than me?

Why should I be worried when you are the one who counterfeited a letter? If I call for an investigation then it will instantly be revealed that this is a counterfeit.

Yet the content of the letter is between Duke-nim and your subordinate. Shouldnt you be worried?

What?

Because it doesnt matter if this letter is a counterfeit or not.

Ark narrowed his eyes.And Sarkin twitched like he was worried.

W-what are you saying?

Obviously this letter might be a counterfeit. If examined then it will be revealed whether it is a counterfeit or not. But even if the latter is fake, it will still raise suspicions. Especially if the letter is present during a meeting related to the territories of the Sinius Principality. Since this letter contains potential problems, Marquis Daltin and Halben will no doubt raise objections and the King might even order Duke-nims mansion to be searched. Isnt Duke-nim worried about that?

Thats right. This was the plan Ark came up with.The letter Ark was holding was one that Jjak-tung created.Ark had asked Daltin for any letters from Sarkin so Jjak-tung could fake his handwriting and seal.Jjak-tung was currently level 350 and his Counterfeit skill had reached High class. It was to the extent that Jjak-tung could produce SA counterfeits. However, that wasnt the reason why Ark faked the letter.There were various specialists that dealt with official documents. Even if it was made with a High Class Counterfeit skill, it would still be revealed as fake.

However, that doesnt matter!

There was currently a subtle psychological war between Daltin, Halben and Sarkin over the Sinius Principality. In such a situation, the letter would raise suspicions even if it was discovered to be fake.The King and aristocrats wouldnt be able to leave it alone. And if such problems arose then Ark had already instructed Daltin to raise a huge fuss.

In order to dispel the suspicions, the King would have to order Sarkins mansion to be searched. And Sarkin has no justification to refuse a house search. That would be like admitting the allegations were true.

This was one of the reasons Ark made the Counterfeit letter.Ark was convinced that Sarkin had the missing tokens. However, it was impossible for Ark to sneak into Sarkins house to secure the evidence. Then the only way was to rally the government authorities to search Sarkins mansion.If the tokens were found in Sarkins house then he would quickly be ruined.

But if the token isnt found at Sarkins house

Then it would be Ark in a difficult situation.He would be charged with forgery and blackmail and would rot in a jail cell.

Thats why Ark met with Sarkin before submitting the letter to the King. And Sarkin had removed his subordinates as soon as he saw the letter. Sarkin made some instinctive judgements the moment he saw the letter.And Arks conviction became even stronger after seeing that judgement.

Obviously Sarkin left the tokens in his house!

Y-you..!

Duke Sarkin grinded his teeth together and trembled at Arks words. Ark just smirked and laughed.

Shut up you old man.

What, what the?

Werent you the one who started it first? Do you think I dont know about your scheme with Nagarans funding? But you misjudged me. Even if I have to die, I wont let go of my dirty nature. If I have to die then lets die together.

Ark growled and approached Sarkin.Sarkin winced and murmured.

.What do you want?

Now youre ready for a proper conversation?

You seem to be misunderstanding something. The nerves of the nobles are sharp over the problem of dividing the territories. I have no wish to strain His Majestys mind with such an ugly accusation.

As expected from a noble, Sarkin still tried to avoid showing any weaknesses.He thought for a short moment before suggesting.

Do you want the funding for Nagarans military supplies? Will that settle it?

Is this a joke?

Ark shouted with a displeased expression.

That is a fair compensation that the allied forces shouldve received in the first place. It is a difficult situation because youre the one who played a trick in the middle. Yet now you think offering it as compensation will settle things? Furthermore, that is Schudenberg Kingdoms money. Doesnt that mean you wont be damaged?

The meeting will commence in 1 minute! All aristocrats who havent entered yet then please hurry! The Kings Hall will close as soon as the meeting starts!

Once again the chief director in front of the Kings Hall shouted.A hurried look appeared on Sarkins face.This was why Ark used the counterfeit letter to threaten Sarkin before the meeting started.If the cunning Sarkin had time then he would secretly try to hide the tokens somewhere else. However, if there were only a few minutes left until the meeting then he wouldnt have time to think.

Then what do you want?

If you sign an agreement that you will provide the funds to restore Silvana then I will leave it alone.

What, what the? You..!

Sarkins face wrinkled after hearing Arks answer.All the funds necessary to restore Silvana?

Wasnt it shameful?When considering the amount of money required to restore Silvana, it took a lot more than 300,000 gold.300,000 gold was just the money required to put out the urgent fire and restore some businesses. Millions of gold were actually required to make sure that Silvana was perfected recovered. No matter how much influence he had, Duke Sarkin would go bankrupt if he had to pay the millions of gold.

Im not crazy. You think I would pay all of that for a fake letter? Okay. It seems like your brain isnt working. Time is wasting so Im going to go. Do what you want. Sarkin turned around like he didnt care anymore.

Ark felt his heart drop.In fact, forging a letter to threaten Sarkin was just a gamble. If Sarkin ignored it then he couldnt hand the letter to the king.The reason was simple.If the king didnt give the order to search Sarkins house then Ark would be the one in trouble for forgery and blackmail. It was a very high possibility.And there was no guarantee even if Duke Sarkins house was searched.Searching a house wasnt as easy as it sounded.And Duke Sarkin wasnt stupid so he wouldnt just display a dangerous item like the tokens somewhere in the open. It would be hidden in a secret place only he knew. There was no guarantee it would be found by the searching soldiers.Yet Sarkin still tried to negotiate with Ark because of his insecurity.Even if the probability was only 0.1%, there was still a chance that Sarkin would lose everything. So he had tried to compromise. Sarkin tried to leave which meant that Ark had exceeded his limit.

If Sarkin leaves like this then I will be the one in trouble!

W-wait a minute! My words just now were a mistake. I only asked for funds to restore Silvana castle!

The distressed Ark hurriedly rushed in front of Sarkin and exclaimed. But that was also a failure. Sarkin instantly snubbed him after Ark showed a weakness.

Im sorry but I have no intention of negotiating with you anymore.

W-wait. My words just now were also a mistake. As a matter of fact y-yes! I just want you to pay the cost of reconstructing the temple that was destroyed during the battle. The 300,000 gold for Nagarans military supplies and the cost of rebuilding the temple!

The cost of rebuilding the temple?

Sarkin stopped moving.Ark was talking about the Asyeosu temple which covered the entrance to the secret dungeon.

In fact, the secret dungeon had been revealed to the world so there was no reason for a temple to cover it anymore.However, his pride wouldnt allow him to leave with just the 300,000 gold provided by the kingdom. The temple reconstruction would only cost 10,000 gold.If it was that much then it wouldnt be a burden on Sarkin.

I suppose we can compromise with that.

The meeting will commence in 30 seconds!

Once again the voice of the chief director was heard.Although previously Sarkin was the impatient one, the situation had now reversed. If the door to Kings Hall closed then Ark wouldnt even be able to claim the 300,000 gold for Nagarans military supplies.Ark hurriedly pulled out a merchants agreement and scribbled the contents of the negotiations before giving it to Sarkin.

-A Merchants Agreement.

<Contractor: Sarkin=Ark>

As a sign of sincerity, Sarkin will pay for the costs of rebuilding the temple in Silvana. The contract will end with the temple is completely rebuilt.

* The above contract will place the moment Duke Sarkin receives the funding for Nagarans military supplies from the kingdom.