IARMDH - Chapter 8


“That's why I borrowed some more money.”

Judith swallowed dryly. She only explained to Henry that she was to pay the debts of the Rhineland family, but did not tell him the details.

“I started a business. I was short on capital, so I borrowed some more money.”

“To the moneylender? To that Smith, perhaps?”

Henry, who had been listening quietly, intervened, and Judith nodded.

“You already owe him 200 million gold and he lent you more money? I heard that Smith is a very evil person.”

The rumors seem to have been exaggerated. Erne and Henry exchanged glances as if they were puzzled.

“...He didn’t just lend it to me.”

Judith licked her lips, her eyes wide with anxiety.

“I put up collateral.”

“Did you have anything to pledge?”

“Yes, well, titles and....”

“Can a title be used as collateral?”

Clearing her throat for no reason, Judith confessed that she had decided to adopt Smith as her son.

Henry shook his head, and Erne stuck out his tongue, saying that it was a creative collateral that he had never heard of before.

“You had a son before you even had a wedding.”

“He’s not a son yet.”

"Just pay your debts," Judith said grumbling.

“But, Ma’am, what else have you got besides the title?”

He heard her say 'with honor' earlier. Henry hit the nail on the head.

Judith hesitated even more than before, then smiled awkwardly and pointed at herself with her finger.

“Body Waiver.”

Judith tried to explain urgently, saying that it happened when she couldn't pay her debts or give him a title, but she couldn't make the two men understand.

Erne and Henry simultaneously clicked their tongues and sighed, looking at Judith as if they were looking at an alien creature.

“You’re crazy.”

You are the first person crazier than me. Judith was recognized as crazy by the mad dog of the empire.

“Why did you do that, really?”

Even Henry, who had been secretly taking Judith's side, rebuked her as if it was not the case to that extent.

"Everyone."

Judith clapped her hands to get their attention.

“I can pay it back. There’s no problem. The business is going very well.”

She continued her explanation, looking back and forth between Henry and Erne.

“If the house prices return to normal, I can make 400 million gold. After paying off the debt, I’ll have 200 million gold left. Then, if I split that in half, how much will it be?”

“100 million gold?”

Erne answered as if in a trance, and Judith clapped her hands as if he had done well.

“That’s right. Sir Erne, if you were to go somewhere and earn 100 million gold, how much work would you have to do?”

Ern nodded, thinking, “I guess it would be 100 million gold.”

“But if we just live in this mansion for a few years, we can earn that money without having to work hard!”

Erne was delighted. He was annoyed by everything, but he needed some money to buy alcohol. But he could earn money without having to work so hard.

In any case, to investigate his own death and other things, he needed to stay by Judith's side for now.

Henry says that Judith didn't lie in her story, but does that mean they can stop being suspicious? So, at least for now, it wasn't bad.

“Then, until the house prices go up? At least you should have enough money for living expenses.”

“I already earn and pay the interest and living expenses.”

Erne's lips rose lazily at Judith's answer.

“Then I guess I just have to stay here quietly and not die.”

The nuance was so ominous that Judith swallowed dryly.

“It sounds like you’re not doing any work at all. Is it just me, Sir Erne?”

“No, you heard me correctly.”

He nodded, leaning languidly against the head of the bed. His lazy lion-like appearance seemed to be speaking to Judith.

I'll just receive the food here, so you go catch the food and bring it to me.

“Living expenses are already included anyway. What difference will it make if you add one more spoonful to that?”

Why would someone who doesn't even earn money judge that? Huh? When Judith cursed with her eyes, Erne opened his lips with a blush on his face.

“Then should I file for annulment of marriage? I don’t care, but it would be disadvantageous to someone.”

When you return from the Countess of Rhineland to Miss Harrington, the moneylender who would have been your son will come running in a hurry to bring someone to you and sell you into slavery.

Judith clenched her fists at the sound of his muttering as if he was talking to himself. It’s annoying. It’s so annoying.

Shouldn't the nickname be changed from "Imperial Mad Dog" to "Imperial Quiet Dog"?

“What do you want to do?”

Erne raised both hands, saying that he didn't care. Judith could only nod, her fists shaking.

In any case, it was to Judith's advantage to remain married to Erne.

“Don’t worry. I just need alcohol.”

It was the moment when a drunkard entered Judith's life.

“Oh, I need clothes too.”

And that too, a naked drunkard without a single thread on.

***

“What on earth are you thinking?”

"What."

“Why do you want to continue living in a dead state?”

Erne was walking around the market wearing the clothes Henry had brought him, with the hood of his robe pulled down over his head.

“Then the guy who killed me won’t let his guard down and act like that.”

He absentmindedly pulled out a dagger from the weapon shop and swung it lightly.

“He must have had a purpose to kill me and marry me to that thing, and he'll be coming for me sooner or later.”

This was different from a murder out of spite. It was clearly a murder with a purpose, but the purpose and method were completely unknown.

Even for a human who did not value life and wished to die, it was extremely repulsive for a corpse to exist without decaying. Erne was no different.

“If they find out I’m alive, they’ll hide. That’ll only make me more of a bother, so is there really a need for that?”

Erne was determined to find the culprit. Even though he was dead and unconscious, the mere fact that someone else had done something to his body was quite unpleasant.

“Could it be because of a curse?”

"Curse?"

“I was talking to your wife the other day and we were talking about the cursed mansion. I asked her if she wasn’t scared of living there alone since there were rumors that it was a mansion where people ate people.”

Then his wife said this.

Henry continued to explain.

“If you think about it, it’s not the mansion, but the Rhineland family and it’s a curse that was placed on someone in this generation. If you think about it, it makes sense. Even though you cut ties with the family, the curse wouldn’t be so forgiving.”

If a curse had been placed to wipe out all the bloodlines of the Rhineland that were still alive, Erne would not have been able to escape.

“That can’t be true. The condition of the body is different.”

Although he had cut ties with the family, Erne had heard news and rumors about the Rhineland Counts.

In just one day, he turned into a corpse with his blood sucked out.

He knew one way to create such a corpse. He couldn't be sure that the Count's family had died that way, but he was certain that he hadn't been killed that way.

“Well, anyway, once we catch the culprit, everything will be revealed.”

“Then you’ll live with the Countess until you catch the culprit?”

“That’s right. There’s a high chance that the culprit will approach that thing again.”

“Then after you catch the culprit? Are you really going to live together until the house price goes up?”

Erne frowned as he hurriedly selected a ready-made shirt, trousers, and a robe with a large hood in the clothing store.

“No way.”

Judith seemed to think that Erne was greedy for titles and mansions, but he was not particularly interested in such things.

When the House of Rhineland sent assassins to tell him not to covet the countship, he thought about going and taking it all away.

But after the Rhineland Counts' family died out, all those feelings disappeared.

If he were to inherit the title of Count, there would be paperwork to take care of and taxes to pay, and just thinking about it was annoying. There was nothing he wanted to do after becoming a Count.

“She said she would give me pocket money even if I didn’t work, and that she would sell the house and give me half when the time came, so it was tempting.”

Of course, it was a joke. He had no intention of being tied down to Judith for a little money.

It wasn't like he had any other plans. Up until now, Erne had lived doing what he had to do as a member of the Knights. But if there was no more work to do, how would he live?

'That's something to think about after I've finished everything I need to do.'

Erne dismissed the long-winded thought. Thinking deeply and acting cautiously was not in his nature.

“Didn’t you see your wife’s expression when she gave you your allowance?”

I see. 

Judith didn't even try to hide her reluctance to give. If he asked for one more silver coin, she looked like she would draw her sword. He could really feel her murderous spirit.

“Come to think of it, have you received your Knights Templar pension?”

"No."

“Then, can’t you just accept that and live off of it? Don’t be afraid to spend your allowance and worry about what other people think.”

"No."

No? Henry looked at Erne with a puzzled look.

“She was the one who offered to take me in first, so why do I have to use up my pension?”

How bold of you to talk about living off of me, my friend. Henry mourned Judith for having to live with such a man.

“I'd hire an assassin if you asked me to split the money from the sale of the mansion as promised.”

Erne was quite interesting because he was the first person to show his greed for money so blatantly like Judith.

“That lady was just blinded by greed.”

“That’s what you say to your wife. You can’t treat a lady like that, Erne. If you don’t say her name, call her Miss Harrington, or call her by her name.”

Erne, ignoring Henry's nagging, recalled the sight of Judith's back as she worked hard to make the candle.

Judith, who was humming a tune with a pale face, was so absorbed in her work that she couldn't even hear Erne's noise behind her, coughing, or knocking on the door.

They say you have to work hard because you have a lot of debt, but wouldn't it be hard to get things done if you experienced a corpse coming back to life?

But Judith concentrated on making candles as if nothing had happened. It was as if she was possessed.

“Are you by any chance in that mansion... No.”

“Well, if you’re going to talk about it, then talk about it!”

“It’s nothing much, just go to the police station and borrow a shovel.”

“Why the shovel?”

When Henry asked again, Erne looked at him as if asking something so obvious.

“I need to dig my own grave.”


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Comments

  1. The ML is rather... Unique. And the rumors didn't lie about him having no conscience, and all of that. I wonder how his character would develop but for the meantime he baffles me LOLOLOL imagine having a pension but not planning to take it, as well as just confidently and cockily living off of someone's hard work. Ugh. Anw ty for the translation!

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