Chapter 133: A Warm Family Culture
The current head of the Brites family had a total of three children.
The eldest son, Nicholas Brites.
The eldest daughter, Flora Brites.
The second son, Odilon Brites.
Of the three, the eldest and the second were children born of the lawful wife, while only the youngest, Odilon, had a different mother.
“That really was exactly the sort of thing Elder Sister would do.”
Odilon, receiving a head massage from Rosalia, frowned.
“Cultist Kar. An agent of Deep Shadow serving as Elder Sister’s escort made a report related to you to the Thousand-Gold-Fire Guild under the Silent Alliance.”
“She must have hidden her identity perfectly, I assume?”
“She did. But the way she thoroughly concealed her identity was so unmistakably that of one of Elder Sister’s Deep Shadow agents that it actually made her easy to identify.”
The young master, holding [Comforter] between his index and middle fingers, slightly curled up the corners of his lips.
“Elder Sister likely intended to use the Silent Alliance, which Nicholas manages, to gauge the strength of our expedition.”
She had probably meant to indirectly assess the level of the expedition run by her adorable youngest brother.
Since we were still below the level where she would move to seriously check us, she had probably chosen to prod us lightly instead.
“Whether you or your team died, or whether the outlaws were all wiped out, Elder Sister would lose nothing. It is just like her to want profit without effort.”
A warm family culture full of schemes, tricks, and conspiracies.
This was exactly what happened when you joined hands with Odilon. You got entangled in all sorts of sinister and underhanded machinations from the Brites family.
“But… from what I heard, it seems she had her eye on our expedition even before you won the guild war.”
“The reason seems obvious enough.”
I poked one cheek with my index finger.
“It must be because the exploits shown by this lovely half-elf cultist Kar were too unusual to simply ignore, right?”
“……”
Hoo.
After inhaling a deep breath of [Comforter]’s healing smoke, the young master tapped the armrest of his chair.
“I cannot say that is wrong.”
“The part about me being lovely?”
“…I mean the part about you performing beyond expectations in District Six. But that alone is not enough.”
Beside him, Sergius nodded.
“Certainly. If it had been Lady Flora as she usually is, she would have paid no attention at all to the Moon Expedition, which still does not have a single Gold Badge explorer.”
Flora’s expedition was composed only of explorers who ranked among the very best in all of Pletika.
At this point in time, our members were not even worth comparing to them.
Ordinarily, she would not even have glanced at the current Moon Expedition.
In other words, Flora’s action of using the Silent Alliance to meddle with us counted as “new content.”
“There has to be someone.”
Odilon leaned back against the chair and muttered, “Someone currying favor by her side and conveying their own opinions to her.”
“…I do have a likely suspect.”
“If you say that, then it must be close to the correct answer. Who is it?”
Meeting Odilon’s gaze, I answered, “Balthazar the human Thief.”
District Four, managed by the Brites family, was the starting area for Thief-class characters.
There was a very high chance that Balthazar, the eldest of the “Le” family, was working as a Pale Shadow agent and informant for Flora.
“Butler, have you ever heard that name?”
“…No. He seems to be an agent who came in after Lady Michelle was driven out of the main house.”
Then it was probably fine to assume he had entered Pletika around the same time I did.
He could not have been with the Brites family for very long, yet had he already earned the trust of the eldest daughter?
Well, I suppose that is not too strange.
I myself had not completely captured Odilon’s heart yet, but I had at least become something like a reliable business partner.
So it would not be strange even if he had reached a position where he dared to advise Flora, the reverse mood-maker of the Brites family.
“Young Master, Lord Kar. How will you respond?”
At Sergius’s question, we answered almost simultaneously.
“Shouldn’t we multiply it several times over and strike back?”
“Of course we should repay it in kind.”
Our hearts were in sync.
I gave him a thumbs-up, but sadly the response I got back was a displeased frown.
“For now, there is no need to worry about Nicholas. After this defeat of the Hyena Guild, he will be busy devising a plan to approach Cultist Kar even more cautiously.”
Nicholas’s character flaw as the eldest.
An excessively perfectionistic psychopath.
“And Flora is probably trembling and working on some other scheme. She will think her plan was wonderful and brilliant, and that the Silent Alliance simply ruined it through their own mistake.”
Flora’s flaw as the second child.
A hopeless narcissist.
“In that case, how about we keep watch on Lady Flora’s movements while attacking the Silent Alliance?”
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
We were unusually in tune today.
I held out a hand for a high five, but sadly the response I got was one of utter disgust as he avoided it.
“Young Master. Between absorption and destruction, which do you prefer?”
“You ask a question with an obvious answer.”
“I thought so too.”
That brief exchange made it perfectly clear how we would respond.
A bright smile that did not suit him hung on Odilon’s lips.
“The Silent Alliance. We will take control of all those outlaw guilds ourselves.”
It was a policy I could not help but find satisfying.
《The Wise One is pleased, saying this is an extremely wise idea!》
“My friend Pierre will become a close and valuable helper.”
“Right, that bastard was there. What is that outlaw doing right now?”
“He calmly returned to the Hyena Guild’s base as if nothing had happened. He said he would focus on taking control of the guild for the time being.”
The guild master was not a fool, so he would naturally suspect whether Pierre had anything to do with the failure of this operation.
It would take a little time to shake off suspicion and seize control of the guild in just the right way.
“Then we will have to secretly support that outlaw from the shadows. In the Brites family way.”
“That would be best.”
“Butler, get that outlaw’s contact information from Cultist Kar. Cooperate with him while remaining as cautious as possible.”
“Understood.”
If Sergius stepped in, an expert in covert work as a Stalker-class operative, things would likely proceed quickly.
It would not take Pierre very long to completely bring the Hyena Guild under his heel.
“Once control of the Hyena Guild is complete, we will meticulously take over the other guilds one by one.”
“Do you already have a plan in mind?”
“For now, I will entice the idiots little by little by telling them that if they take my hand, I will support them fully, and then foster division among them.”
Odilon now wore the most animated expression he had shown since the first time we met.
The youngest child’s personality flaw.
A sociopath who refused to understand the thoughts and feelings of others.
Every one of them carried some kind of problem.
That was all because the current head of the Brites family was such a fair man that he emotionally abused his children evenly without discrimination.
“Once the Silent Alliance has completely become mine, I will execute all of them except the capable ones. There is no point keeping too many outlaws under me when all they do is create noise.”
A terrifying scheme befitting the youngest son of the current Brites family and a sociopath to boot.
Trembling in fear, I cautiously opened my mouth.
“Instead of executing them, let’s offer them as sacrifices to the Evil Gods. Living offerings who rise with hope and then fall into the abyss of despair are delicacies the Great Ones enjoy.”
“That is even better. Understood. I will hand all the useless outlaws over to you.”
Brownmane, who had been watching this beautiful scene of sharing, trembled and averted his eyes.
“For the time being, I will support the outlaw Pierre and gather information only through Pale Shadow agents. We do not know how Flora will move….”
The sickly young master had apparently reached the limit of conversation for today and was beginning to slump like a slime.
“…I should head back up soon. Cultist Kar, do you have anything else to say?”
“I need to buy materials to use in the offering ritual with the corpses we obtained this time.”
“Discuss it with the butler.”
“I can spend as much money as I want, right?”
“Do as you please.”
Rosalia escorted the staggering young master out of the basement.
Butler Sergius smiled and said to me, “Lord Kar, what would you like me to procure for you?”
“I wrote it all down here.”
When I handed him the note I had prepared in advance, the elderly butler calmly inclined his head.
“I will have everything prepared by tonight.”
Near the central plaza of District Six stood a library.
Leaf of the World Tree.
Despite its name, it had a rather shabby appearance, but thanks to its particular charm and atmosphere, it still had no shortage of citizens who used it.
“Yaaawn.”
The librarian Kiji entered the library with a long yawn.
He had only just come to work in the evening after sleeping at home until now, yet there was not the slightest sign of urgency in him.
Since he owned the place and was also the only employee, Kiji was an invincible slacker.
I should bring in some new books soon….
He needed to work, but his eyelids kept drooping shut.
Should he just do it tomorrow?
Kiji had just sat at the reception desk and was dozing off while putting off his work when—
tap.
A small sound suddenly came from somewhere in the library.
A noise so faint that an ordinary person would not have heard it.
“……”
Kiji rose silently and moved toward the source of the sound without hesitation.
It did not matter much even if a thief had broken in, since he had placed an anti-theft Mystery that would destroy the mind of anyone who failed to return a book within a month.
But it would be a hassle having to retrieve it later…!
It is over here.
Between one bookshelf and another.
In a gloomy corner deep inside the library.
Holding a thick book, Kiji slowly walked forward and soon came face to face with the mysterious uninvited guest.
Then he let out a hollow little laugh.
“So it was a cat….”
The uninvited intruder in the library was a small cat.
Uniquely, its fur was a murky green color.
“…Huh?”
As Kiji quietly observed the cat crouching near the bookshelf, he narrowed his eyes.
Looking more closely, it was not a cat at all….
“…A lion cub?”
On a night that had grown rather chilly, I had gone down into the basement of our house.
“Cultist, these are the items the butler prepared for you!”
Rachel, the housemaid and Pale Shadow agent, bowed and held out a pouch made of luxurious cloth.
It was an excellent subspace tool.
I took out everything inside and spread it across the floor.
“First, please place these over there near the altar.”
“Yes, sir!”
Rachel immediately did as instructed and attached neat, square stones to the walls on both sides of the basement altar.
Then she arranged the high-grade candles in the proper places as well.
“Cultist, I will head back up now!”
“Wait a moment.”
I stopped Rachel just as she was about to leave after finishing her work and pointed at the idol lying on the floor.
A stone statue in the shape of a majestic crow.
I had bought it to replace the old stone idol, that standard basic cultist item, and this time I had prepared two of them.
“Would you like to take one of those?”
A formal invitation into the faith of the Twisted Truth.
“……!”
Rachel’s eyes widened, and she quickly picked up the crow idol.
“I will treasure it! Glory to the Twisted Truth!”
《At last, one more believer has been added! The Wise One is smiling in satisfaction!》
Honestly, it seemed less like sincere faith and more like she wanted to curry favor with me….
Still, Lidni was pleased, and Rachel would also be satisfied because she had gained my trust, so it was beneficial to everyone.
“O Lidni, this is only the beginning. Later on, you will have so many believers that you will not even have time to keep watching me.”
Offering reasonable flattery respectfully to the Wise One, I then turned my gaze to my assistant for the offering ritual.
“Abel, are you ready?”
“Of course.”
Holding the offering recipe notebook, Abel answered with solemn determination.
He looked slightly tense.
Since this would be the grandest offering ritual so far, it was only natural that he would not be able to stay completely at ease.
“Dead men, enter.”
In response to my voice, the three dead men staggered forward before the altar.
There would be three offerings today.
Since Lord Okail had not long ago been given the ultra-special feast known as the Eclipse Wyvern, this ritual would be for the remaining three.
Crackle!
Squirm!
Lord Sue’je and Lady Leria protested, asking why Lidni was receiving another offering.
“Calm yourselves.”
The Evil Gods had not the slightest intention of cherishing or loving one another, so this sort of jealousy between them happened as naturally as a daily routine.
The greatest difficulty faced by a cultist possessing the [Blind Devotee] trait.
At times like this, it was necessary to calm them all down.
“If you keep this up, then I will live the rest of my life as a modest half-elf with proper decorum. And I will not burn anyone or revive them into dead men either.”
The moment I declared that firmly, the two Evil Gods quieted down as though they had never caused a disturbance at all.
《Those filthy, gloomy things sure do complain a lot! :D》
“I am starting now, so please all stay quiet for just a little while.”
It was then that I began the triple offering ritual.