The Biography of Albrecht - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Translator: Nezu

Editor: Daed

Albrecht forced his way to Georg’s mansion with the remnants of his fading consciousness. He saw Diego running towards him as he approached the mansion.

“Albrecht!”

Albrecht lost consciousness on the back of his horse.

***

Albrecht was lying in bed surrounded by Georg, Diego, Elena, Martina and Anna. A doctor was treating his wounds.

The doctor examined Albrecht’s blood with various tools and said, “He was poisoned with a finger mushroom poison. It’s not a deadly poison but there’s no cure for it. He will need to recuperate for a long time.”

Diego asked anxiously, “For how long?”

“Well, it’s different for everyone. The poison can induce dizziness in the patient. It could take as early as one week or as late as one month for him to recover.”

The doctor brought a bucket for Albrecht in case he needed to vomit. He also told them to give him meals that were easy on the stomach such as porridge. After he had finished giving them instructions, he picked up his tools and left.

Georg thought that this was enough. Rutger’s side had already lost their trump card. He thought that if the family leaders united and attacked Rutger all at once, the man would have no choice but to give up and die.

However, a soldier, who suddenly opened the door, brought unexpected news.

“My Lord, we’re in big trouble! The Pollard family attacked our warehouses!”

“Gachelin?!”

Georg was an astute merchant. After a long time in the dark world of merchants, he had already gained discerning eyesight and had become very clever.

‘Gachelin, you damned man! So you’ve already decided to betray me!’

Gachelin was the middle-aged man who blamed the other two during their meetings that his business was bad.

He was the head of the Pollard family whose main business was fishing for herring.

He went on to assert a monopoly on the herring business to the two family heads, both of whom refused saying that it was ridiculous. Roybeck’s sea was full of herring even if one only checked out the shore. How could he declare a monopoly if anyone could catch herring just by throwing a net into the sea?

Gachelin’s counter-argument was that the two other heads had a monopoly on wheat and timber. Though he was successful in his herring business, he didn’t like how the other two were the same as him because he was in a position where he couldn’t change the prices and always had to be on guard.

“I have to check out what’s happening outside. Take good care of Sir Knight,” Georg told Diego before he left.

Diego looked down at Albrecht with worried eyes. He also felt anxious about the current situation.

The conflict between the Great Families and Rutger turned into war as one of the families decided to join forces with Rutger. The city was now divided into two factions. Most of the citizens were openly associated with the Great Families but were also secretly connected to the Thief Guild due to their weakness like their debts and political relationships.

Therefore, people suspected of being related to important people were dragged outside in broad daylight to be beaten or tortured.

The streets looked so desolate, not even ants dared to pass by. The houses of the people appeared empty.

While the Great Families struggled financially for a long time due to Rutger’s relentless attacks before, Rutger had been able to profit by using Albrecht for free. Now they were troubled again by Rutger’s attacks.

Rutger had deliberately poisoned Albrecht to immobilize him. He used this time to launch an attack, and to reorganize his troops who would later deal with Albrecht once his attacks succeeded.

After attacking for three days, Rutger sent a threatening letter to Albrecht to test the waters of the extent of his victory.

‘Come to warehouse 17 while the sun’s still out and before it completely disappears. If you don’t, Elisa will be thrown into the slums to be raped to death. Come unarmed.’

Albrecht handed the letter to Diego after reading it. Diego read it too but had nothing to say to him. He wanted to tell him not to go, but Albrecht seemed intent on leaving. The sun had long since crossed the middle of the sky.

“This has nothing to do with you so let me get this straight. I won’t blame you even if I die. This is between me, Elisa, and Rutger.”

His remarkable, monster-like recovery power and resilience that had once helped him before also helped him heal most of his wounds in three days.

However, unlike the wounds that he got from his father, he would likely be marred because he had been stabbed by iron daggers.

But it doesn’t matter.

Albrecht stood up and felt a little dizzy but not so much that he couldn’t move. He strained his body to get out of the room. Behind him, Diego watched him go with concern.

Albrecht contemplated on his way to the warehouse. He knew since he was young that he was unusually strong. He learned martial arts from his father and later realized that he had an innate talent for it. Then he yearned to go outside and see the rest of the world.

After that, he was driven out of their estate, killed several people, and easily slaughtered countless knights and mercenaries. One day, he began to have the illusion that he would never die.

But he almost got killed by civilians. Right, he was still human—flesh and blood like anyone else. There was a chance of him dying in that warehouse he was on his way to.

Before, he thought of following his father’s teachings without fail, but only for as long as he could. Even so, he would face his problems head on even if he needed to risk his life.

Should he consider this situation life-threatening? Who was Elisa to him? Elisa was a first-rate prostitute, but her job was irrelevant. She was just a tool that Rutger utilized to manipulate him.

However, he knew that he treated him genuinely when she was with him. Her soft, gentle touch; her bold yet lovely way of speaking; and her skin…

It would be good if she had fun while working. Albrecht at least sincerely liked her during the time he spent with her.

‘A show of chivalry to protect a whore. There’s something quite appealing to that.’

With these thoughts running through his mind, Albrecht reached warehouse 17. Dozens of guild members and heavily armed mercenaries were stationed nearby.

A guild member standing in front of the warehouse raised his arms to let Albrecht know that he should raise his arms too. Albrecht raised his arms to let them check if he had brought any weapons. After confirming that he had no weapons, he was told to raise his head sideways and enter the warehouse.

Many boxes were piled up inside. There were also many members waiting inside either standing or sitting on the boxes. There were ten mercenaries wearing high-quality chain armor. Their gazes landed on Albrecht without a word.