boyutpedia Chapter 66 The Treasury of Bosodi
Chapter 66 The Treasury of Bosodi
Horst turned to look at Ron and the others, and drew a circle among them with his finger.
"You lot, come over here. I won't hold you accountable for what you did, and you can take any items you like from the treasure vault."
Chido was the first to respond. He put his lock-picking tools into the leather pouch at his waist and walked behind Horst. Ron glanced at Geralt.
Geralt shrugged, and the two of them walked over to Horst's side, Ron talking as they went.
"I've said before that I don't like people who try to be clever, but you probably didn't take my words to heart."
Evelyn glanced around. She was now alone with Ewald, while opposite her were Horst, two guards, Ron, Geralt, and Chidor. Her gaze lingered on Ron for a moment before turning to Ewald.
"You can't blame me for not having a sense of contract; standing on your side is practically suicide." With that, she strode across to the other side and stood next to Geralt.
Horst laughed, his laughter echoing through the underground hall. "Ha, you really are still that good-for-nothing. Now everyone around you has turned against you."
What do you intend to do, my dear brother? However, for the sake of our brotherhood, I can give you a chance: kneel down and beg for my forgiveness.
Ewald's face turned extremely ugly. His gaze swept over Horst's guards and Ron and the others, each of whom stood against him. He walked up to Horst and knelt down on both knees.
"It was my fault, please spare my life."
Horst looked down at Ewald, a slow, sly smile spreading across his lips. "Oh, of course, since my dear brother is so earnestly begging me..."
Before he finished speaking, Ewald pulled out a dagger from behind his back and stabbed Horst in the abdomen, stopping just before the dagger pierced his body.
Horst gripped Ewald's wrist. "You think I don't know what kind of person you are? You think I wouldn't be on guard?"
He yanked the dagger out of Aivad's hand, then punched Aivad in the face, knocking him to the ground.
He walked to the pile of treasures next to him, grabbed a golden candlestick, and slammed it down on Ewald, who was trying to get up. The sound of metal hitting skull filled the entire hall.
Horst straightened up, tossed the blood-stained candlestick aside, turned around, wiped his still blood-stained hands with a silk handkerchief, and spoke to Ron and the others in a calm voice as if nothing had happened.
"I'm the kind of person who never breaks my promises. Each of you can choose whatever you want to take."
Geralt took a step forward. "I want Maximilian Boussodi's house."
Horst stopped moving, slowly turned around, and squinted at Geralt. "No, this won't do."
Before Geralt could speak, he heard a low whistling sound as the wind picked up, and a flash of sword light appeared.
Horst's head tumbled through the air, crashed to the floor, rolled a few times, and came to rest next to Ewald's body.
Ron glanced at the brothers' corpses and added casually.
"These two are really like brothers; they both have a knack for wearing down my patience in the shortest amount of time."
The vault fell silent again. Ron turned around and saw the two guards still standing there, their hands on their sword hilts, but their swords were not drawn.
Their employer, Horst, still had his head beside his brother, his eyes still open. Ron's sword struck the shelf beside him with a soft thud, and the shoulders of the two guards trembled simultaneously.
"I'm giving you two choices: one, draw your sword; two, join my army, work for me, and your salary will be doubled."
The guard on the left swallowed hard, glancing at the head on the ground. Horst was dead, and they were out of work. They probably wouldn't find any employers willing to hire them in Bullburg. To die for Horst? No need.
The conditions offered by the man in front of them were quite good, and since he mentioned "his own troops," he was probably not some lone wolf thief. The two exchanged a glance and nodded almost simultaneously.
Ron’s gaze shifted to the small, thin figure in the corner who was still stuffing gold coins into his pocket. Cheetos was putting a thumb-sized ruby into his clothes when he felt Ron’s gaze on his back and froze.
He slowly turned around, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace. "Well, I don't need payment. Consider it a free service. Please let me off the hook. You see, I've finished the lock-picking job and haven't caused you any trouble, right?"
Ron didn't answer, looked at Chido in silence for a few moments, and then spoke. "Apart from the item Geralt wanted, you can choose a few things from the vault to take with you."
Chido's smile went from ingratiating to momentarily stunned, then returned to an even more forceful laugh. "Sir, you're too kind. I'll just pick out a few inexpensive little things."
As he spoke, he moved toward the shelf, his steps even faster than Evelyn's when she had just fled. Then Ron's gaze shifted to Evelyn's spot, which was now empty. Geralt leaned against the vault shelf and slowly began to speak.
"She slipped away while you were talking to those two guards. It seems she's the cautious type and doesn't want to gamble on your character."
Ron withdrew his gaze and did not pursue the matter. Geralt turned and walked towards the depths of the vault, took out a roll of parchment from the exquisite model of the golden hut, and unfolded it in front of Ron.
The paper is brittle with several creases along the edges. The ink is old, but the writing is still clear: Bosodi family inheritance document, heir Aivad Bosodi.
"No wonder Horst refused to give it to him; this document proves that Ewald is the rightful heir."
"I know about the Bolsodi Brothers auction house. It's the largest and most prestigious collectibles market in the North. It has a complex web of relationships behind it, and it's probably supported by Radovid. I don't need it, you can take it."
Geralt put the parchment back into the House of Borsodi. Ron walked to the table in the corner of the vault, picked up a pen, and wrote a few lines on the parchment. The writing was short and direct. He folded the note and handed it to Geralt.
"Geralt, I need your help with something. Go to the Seagull at the port. Erwin knows you." Geralt took the note, turned, and disappeared into the shadows of the secret passage.
A short while later, the sound of orderly footsteps came from the secret passage. Erwin walked at the front, followed by more than twenty regular soldiers and sailors. The torches made the passageway flicker.
He stopped at the entrance of the secret passage, his gaze sweeping over the two corpses on the ground, then over the piles of gold coins, oil paintings, statues, and precious jewelry that were about to topple over.
"Ron, the profit from this job you took on has exceeded my expectations. I thought I'd only make a few hundred crowns at most. This is enough for us to do so much!"
The soldiers began to pry open one box after another. The clattering sound of gold coins colliding came out of the boxes. The gold coins were not neatly stacked, but were stuffed into the wooden boxes like sand, making them airtight. With each step they took, they could hear the crisp sound of metal squeezing against each other.
The soldiers exchanged glances. They had seen military pay and bounties before, but they had never seen so much money stuffed into a wooden box like sand. One of them trembled slightly, then quickly turned his head away, forcing himself not to look anymore.
Erwin squatted beside a document shelf, silent for a long time. In front of him was a stack of neatly bound documents. He opened the top one, lifted his fingers off the paper, and looked up at Ron. The look in his eyes behind his glasses was not excitement, but dazedness.
"The land title deed for the entire row of warehouses in the Novigrad Port area is held by the Bosodi family. It bears the seal of the city council and the signatures of three notaries."
Ron took the paper and scanned it. The warehouse was located right next to the docks in the Novigrad port area. With its own warehouse, it could store goods in Novigrad without being taken a cut by middlemen or having to pay rent to others.
"Let's move it to the ship first, then continue searching when we get back; maybe we'll find something even better."