Crowned With Crime

A deal with the devil

I'm still here. Being a Linderberg is like having lice; you can't get rid of us. We come back every year, stronger than ever.

Business was booming at the start of 1528. I eventually lost track of the years. What year was it again? Uh, 85, 86, 90 years? Anyway, it doesn't matter.

The Mage Guild was the latest addition to the family. All I needed was a handful of herbs you could gather from nature. Between that, the bank, and the bribes, it was going pretty well. My only goal now was to get my family up the ranks of the town hall so that my efforts wouldn't have been in vain.

Edward Junior could live a few more years, but Champlain and I were already old. The successor was supposed to be him, Paul Linderberg, trained in a guild of artisans, but between us, he was a bit of an idiot. I hope his children, my great-grandchildren, will be a bit smarter.

Meanwhile, we continued our little routine in this lovely little town of Lyubeck. Every night at the same time, I set fire to all the houses of my rivals, and around 4 a.m., it's bomb time, a bit more traditional.

Since the village rooster died in a fire, it's the bomb explosions that tell the inhabitants what time it is. It shows that humans can adapt to anything.

To climb the hierarchy of the town hall, I have a plan. The position of landowner, the gateway to a town hall position, is currently held by Arthur Lancaster, a member of the Lancaster family. The problem is that Atwood Lancaster, also from the same family, was bound to vote for his retention. So the solution was simple: abuse my powers.

'May I never see you around here again, you're banished.' And there you go, now he can't vote. See? Politics is much simpler. Ah! I think it's 8 o'clock, the 8:05 bomb tells us it's time to go to work.

By the way, while I was quietly planting my bombs, I happened to stumble upon a fight outside the tavern. Thieves were fighting with the town bishop right in front of the guards. This was a clear case of the rich abusing the poor.

Ah, but we have to help these poor innocent people, right? It just so happened that among the injured in this brawl was also the person who was supposed to attend my son's trial. His absence had, unfortunately, resulted in the immediate cancellation of the trial.

Well, maybe next time he'll hurry up and arrive early, or in another life perhaps. Oh, come on, it's fine, isn't it? He's a bishop, he believes in heaven, doesn't he? So, in a way, I'm doing him a favor.

Oh yes, in the meantime, I also burned down the church. What? The bishop was dead, and with the guy I had banished, it cleared up some territorial space. Plus, that way, Paul could easily step into the game.

So it was my son, Edward Junior, who also left the inner circle to make way for my grandson's wife, Narissa.

They are young and vigorous while I felt myself slowly dying. Unless... unless I made a pact with the devil and drank this potion. A potion made from coagulated demon blood and the heart of blind orphaned babies strangled at birth. But was I really ready for such a sacrifice to live longer because of that? OH HELL YEAH.

'Move aside, pigs!' Castille Linderberg is back. Getting a second youth feels amazing.

My goal now that I had become young again was to see my son die. I mean, watching your kids die of old age is pretty cool, right?

So, I began to live long enough to see my great-grandchildren. Narissa, Paul's wife, had just given birth to a child, a boy. Seriously, was it too much to ask to have girls once in a while?

But it's good to have boys. They are strong and will carry on the lineage. Sure, they don't sell for much, but at least I was happy with the good news. Narissa was a builder's daughter, which meant we were finally going to get our mine. No more material shortages and supply issues that put us in trouble. Now, we'll be able to shit gold coins, so let's celebrate by burning down some buildings and poisoning the town's well.