Upstart Pastry Chef ~Territory Management of a Genius Pâtisserie~ - Chapter 33

Chapter 33: The Thieves

The carriage moves briskly towards its destination.

So far, no issues have arisen.

However, I’m concerned about the movements of the man in front of me. It seems like he’s signaling something out the window.

I hope everything goes smoothly.

“Neigh!”

But it seems my hope was naive.

The horse neighs, and the carriage shakes.

“Hand over the Silver Flash!”

He shouts briefly, but ignoring my cries, the man leaps out of the carriage while clutching the Silver Flash.

Ah, so that’s his aim.

“Tina, please wait inside the carriage.”

“Kurt-sama, please be safe.”

Tina squeezes my hand tightly and looks at my face.

Though she clearly wants to accompany me outside, she understands that she’d only be a hindrance and swallows her words.

I stroke her head and then speak.

“I’ll be back soon.”

I need to resolve this quickly to reassure Tina.

◇

As I step outside, I see a group of individuals who appear to be thieves surrounding the carriage.

The man holding Silver Flash runs straight towards the thieves.

“This is the most obvious trap I’ve ever seen.”

I chuckle wryly.

From the start, this man and the thieves were working together.

I assess the situation. The servant who was handling the horses is lying on the ground, an arrow in his leg, and the horse is dead.

Most of the thieves are armed with bows, and the moment they spot me, they begin to draw their bows taut.

“Release! He’s unarmed. Even if he’s an Arnoldt, without his spear, he’s just a man.”

Shouts the man holding the Silver Flash.

Ah, so he knows that much about me.

It’s well-known in certain circles that successive generations of the Arnoldts wield an extraordinary power when wielding their spear, a power beyond that of ordinary men.

However, this isn’t information that a mere thief would possess. Someone, undoubtedly, is pulling the strings behind the scenes.

The thieves let their arrows fly.

Arrows rain down like a storm.

I reach into the pocket inside my coat and draw out a cake knife. However, I leave the protective cloth covering the blade intact.

I cannot stain the tool used to make confections that bring happiness with blood.

My thoughts quicken. Power surges within me.

My Swordsmanship Level III comes into play. Yes, merely utilizing my skill is enough.

Enhanced reflexes and thought processes allow me to discern the trajectory of the arrows. With my left hand, free of the cake knife, I deflect only those arrows that would strike me directly using a hand blade.

By avoiding the arrowheads, my hand remains unharmed.

The men who appear to be thieves stand dumbfounded.

“That’s impossible! If you don’t have a spear, you’re just an ordinary person, right?!”

“Sorry, but I’m not your average Arnoldt.”

I step forward with all my strength. In that moment, a deafening roar resounds, and the ground caves in beneath my feet, molding to my shape. With the momentum akin to that of a rocket, I leap.

The overwhelming physical prowess achieved through the combination of magical enhancement and skill. This is my full power, the strength I gained through rigorous training with Jorg.

The me of now possesses a power incomparable to the me of before.

I close in on one of the thieves.

With a palm strike from my left hand, I shatter his jaw, instantly cutting off his consciousness.

I don’t even give them the chance to scream.

It’s only when one of the thieves collapses that the remaining ones finally notice my movements.

Their perception of time is different. They can’t even recognize my movements.

I dive into the midst of the group with more thieves. As I dart through the gaps, I incapacitate them one by one with minimal movements, targeting their jaws and necks with palm strikes and hand blades.

“Hey, didn’t you hear? Without his spear, he’s just an ordinary person!”

“This isn’t the movement of a human!”

“What the hell is this?”

Their screams are cut short as I harvest them along with their consciousness.

And within a minute, I’ve wiped out all but two.

All that remains are the man who fled with the Silver Flash and one lone thief.

“Now then, shall we have a little chat? That’s why I woke you up in the first place.”

I addressed the last remaining thief menacingly.

From his equipment and the way the other thieves look at him, I know he’s their leader.

“You’re kidding me, aren’t you?”

“I’m not kidding at all.”

I knock down the thief who rushes at me in rage, pin him to the ground, and dislocate his shoulders and hip joints, rendering him completely powerless.

He screams, but I pay it no mind. As long as we can converse, there shouldn’t be any issues.

“And you, don’t try to escape either. You’re a fellow of the thieves, aren’t you?”

I smile at the man, Count Fernande’s servant.

“Tch, no, I’m not.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I really have nothing to do with it, I swear! Please believe me, believe me!”

He pleads, tears welling up in his eyes as he vigorously shakes his hands to emphasize his innocence.

But such lies won’t fly.

I place my hand on Fernande’s shoulder, forcibly dislocating it.

“Ahh, ahhh!”

Pig-like screams echo through the surroundings.

“Are you taking me for a fool? There’s no way such lies would work. You knew about Arnoldt’s power. You knew, which is why you tried to separate me from the Silver Flash. Because without it, you thought I was just an ordinary person. It was so blatantly obvious, even a fool would notice.”

This man was crude and pushy.

He probably underestimated me, a rural noble.

“Furthermore, I knew you signaled outside after you took custody of the Silver Flash. I pretended not to notice deliberately. And then the thieves arrived. Was that a coincidence?”

I place my hand on his left shoulder as well.

But there’s one thing that brings me relief. In this matter, Count Fernande himself is not involved.

He may not know that my proficiency lies in swords rather than spears, but he does know that I possess magical abilities. Challenging a mage with such limited forces would be unthinkable.

This attack was designed under the assumption that it would target only individuals proficient in spear skills. Therefore, Count Fernande should be innocent.

If he had betrayed me, I would have become distrustful of everyone.

“Huh, huh, no, no, it’s not—”

“What’s not?”

I quietly interject, not allowing any room for argument.

“I-I really, I’m not involved. I have nothing to do with this.”

“Then let’s confirm.”

I walk over to the thief.

I put away the cake knife and pick up a fallen tree branch, breaking it and sharpening one end to a point.

“Hey, thief over there. Is this man one of your comrades or collaborators? If you’re lying, I’ll gouge your eyes out.”

The thief starts to urinate involuntarily.

Unable to resist, his limbs immobilized, he can only comply.

“Y-Yes, that’s right. Once that man stole the spear, the plan was to attack you. We heard that without the spear, you’re just an ordinary person, and it seemed profitable, so we attacked. He’s a collaborator.”

“N-No, that’s a lie, it’s nonsense!”

The Count’s messenger protests loudly.

“Is what that man saying a lie? If so, I’ll gouge your eyes out right now.”

“It’s true! We were paid, and—”

The thief pleads desperately for me to believe him.

Well, that’s probably the case. Whether it’s true or not, I’ll be able to tell by looking into his eyes.

“I see. Just by looking at this man’s desperation, it’s clear he’s not lying. But what about you? If you still insist on lying, there’s nothing left but hell for you. If you speak the truth here, I’ll spare your life.”

Brandishing the tree branch, I coax the man into reluctantly revealing the truth.

◇

After binding the leader of the thieves and the servant who collaborated with them with rope, we set off towards Eclava, where Count Fernande, resides, placing them on the carriage platform.

With these two, we’ll obtain the necessary information. As for the remaining thieves, I tie them up to trees since they’ll only be a hindrance. What to do with them, I’ll leave to Count Fernande.

The injured servant, an unrelated victim, is being treated on the spot as much as possible and resting in the carriage with Tina.

I take the reins and drive the carriage myself.

In place of the deceased horse, we’ve borrowed one from the thieves.

For thieves, they have surprisingly good horses. I almost want to take them back to the village just like this.

◇

Following the servant’s guidance, we arrive at the mansion of Count Fernande.

As we arrive, the servants warmly welcome us.

However, upon hearing about the betrayal of one of the servants and the attack by the thieves, they panic, and the servants rush back to the mansion.

After a while, Count Fernande, accompanied by his servants, appears.

“Thank you for coming, Kurt… And I apologize for the trouble this has caused.”

Despite his overwhelmingly high status, Count Fernande bows his head to me. This man has a generous spirit. He lacks the arrogance often seen in high-ranking nobles.

“Please raise your head. Count Fernande, is also a victim. His servant was injured, and he lost a horse.”

“I’ve only heard about the attack by the thieves and that Lasse was involved. I’d like to hear the details.”

“Lasse is the name of the treacherous servant.”

“Yes. As far as I’ve gathered, a man claiming to be an envoy of a certain nobleman deceived Lasse with a large sum of money and attempted to assassinate me. It seems there’s a noble who doesn’t take kindly to my engagement with Farne-sama.”

“That’s a serious situation. But to pick a fight with you of all people, they must be reckless.”

“As an Arnoldt, I’m not afraid as long as I don’t have my spear. They were probably misled into thinking they could kill me after taking my spear and orchestrating the attack with the thieves.”

“How foolish… both those who attempted to attack you and Lasse, who accepted such a proposal for money.”

This incident stems from the jealousy of nobles.

It seems they resented the fact that a third-rate noble like me could secure the backing of Count Fernande and obtain the beautiful Farne-sama.

Perhaps they even aimed to take my place afterward.

“I have no intention of stirring up trouble, so I’ll leave the rest to Count Fernande. The man who seems to be the leader of the thieves and Lasse are still alive, so feel free to handle them as you see fit.”

That’s a clear indication to extract information and settle the score.

Count Fernande will surely use his reputation to uncover the mastermind behind this.

“Of course. Leave it to me. I’ll take care of things properly.”

From here on out, it’s their territory.

I have nothing more to say.

“Kurt, I’ll make sure to make amends properly. My servant has caused you trouble, and that can’t be changed. Let me prepare something for you before you leave.”

“I appreciate your kindness.”

To refuse now would tarnish Count Fernande’s reputation and could also be seen as the Arnolt family rejecting an apology.

I’ve decided to graciously accept Count Fernande’s goodwill.