Winds of Corruption Sweep into Radia! (2)
“Reporting after failing? You incompetent fools...”
“They were probably just tying up loose ends with their dead comrades.”
“Tch. Should've scouted other major guilds if I knew it'd turn out like this...”
Viscount Evid, having heard that the adventurers who failed to subdue the Hero Eater had come calling, set down his teacup with a scowl of irritation.
It wasn't just the failure itself that annoyed him. He'd fully anticipated that possibility. This whole affair had been a casual ploy to boost morale among the major guilds—anything but that divine beast would do.
But it had backfired spectacularly. The Blue Wolf Guild he'd sponsored disbanded after their leader, a hero candidate, got himself killed. And who steps in to rescue the survivors and slay the Hero Eater? That damn divine beast.
Now whispers were spreading among adventurers that the beast was better than most heroes. Even among a few nobles, talk was turning to whether the lord's family truly deserved attention. The momentum was shifting weirdly.
It was meant to be a light opening move to corner that divine beast and the increasingly odd lord's household. Instead, he'd handed them a huge boost. Evid mentally scrapped the long-brewing plan in his head, fatigue washing over him at the thought of starting from scratch.
“What a pain... Leaving that crazy mother-daughter duo unchecked...”
His head throbbed for some reason, his body heavy as if weighted with lead. For days now, Viscount Evid had been sunk in this strange lethargy. Rethinking his scheme to topple the lord's family felt utterly exhausting.
Energy drained from his body; a profound apathy made him want to think of nothing at all. To shake off the listlessness, he reached for the bitter tea his wife had bought, sighing deeply.
“What should we do with the waiting Blue Wolf adventurers?”
“What's there to report now? We already know everything. They're just here to make excuses and beg for handouts. Give 'em some consolation money and send them packing...”
“Hoo... Can't we at least hear them out, dear?”
A soft woman's voice drifted in on an unpleasant scent. Evid pulled back his hand from the teacup and turned to his wife, Arina.
“...Haven't seen you without a cigarette lately, Arina.”
“Oh? You might not know, but these are all the rage in Radia now. Doesn't the scent smell divine?”
“Urgh...”
The moment he inhaled the thick smoke wafting from Arina's mouth, Evid felt his strength ebb further, pressing a hand to his forehead.
His young wife, quite a bit his junior. He'd let her little indulgences slide as youthful whims. But he couldn't fathom how she found this trendy—or why the scent appealed to her.
A grassy, burnt stench like smoking weeds. And an eerie, fishy undertone that chilled him. Like stepping into a monster pen. The whole house reeked of it intensely now, after just a few days.
Shaking his head at his incomprehensible young wife's tastes, Evid gripped the teacup.
“But... why the adventurers? Something happen?”
“After years of fetching rare monster parts for us, you won't even meet them now that they're no longer useful? That's heartless. Especially when only three women barely survived.”
“Urgh... They're the ones who dealt with the servants anyway, so why bother...”
“Can't you at least thank them for their hard work? Were you always this cold?”
“Fine. Fine, I get it.”
His head pounding from Arina's cigarette smoke, Evid instructed his secretary beside him to fetch the adventurers. The elderly man, seemingly relieved at the break from the haze, nodded and hurried out.
Left alone with his wife, Evid gulped down his tea. Arina, her makeup heavier lately and outfits slightly altered, met his gaze with a smile, exhaling denser smoke.
“How's the tea I bought? The female servants love it...”
“...Hmm. Still can't tell. This is the top seller these days? I've kept drinking since you said it's good for the body...”
“...Hee hee♡”
Lately, Arina wasn't just smoking; she'd tossed out their varied teas for this odd-tasting one. He drank it reluctantly for her sake, but to Evid, it was just unpalatably weird.
A fishy aftertaste that turned his stomach. Thick, sticky, clinging to his throat. He forced it down for health benefits, but each sip stirred an uneasy dread in his chest that never faded.
...Guess I'll have to prepare my own tea from now on...
Viscount Evid, who deferred household trifles to his young wife's tastes, tilted the cup, thinking he'd avoid it henceforth. In his grimace at the foul flavor, he missed it.
Arina, exhaling smoke, watching him with a strange smile.
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“...Are you sure you're the adventurers I met before?”
“...Hee hee. Yes, Viscount.”
“...Hah. Unbelievable...”
Evid sighed, frowning at the three women kneeling before him. Their faces rang a bell from the recent gathering of over ten Blue Wolf members, but they looked utterly transformed.
Trashy outfits exposing too much skin. Disgusting tattoos on the bare flesh. Like they were advertising themselves as whores, their embarrassing display left him unsure where to look.
Even rough, free-spirited adventurers have limits...
Any lingering pity evaporated; Evid clicked his tongue and averted his eyes.
“Fine. You're here to report the quest failure, but I already know it all. Take some consolation money and consider your dealings with House Evid done.”
“No. We're not here to report.”
“Save the excuses. I'm busy—handle the rest with my secretary...”
“We're here to punish you, Viscount♡”
“I said no excuses... What?”
Viscount Evid, eyes closed and forehead pinched in disgust as he leaned back. At the adventurers' words, he snapped his eyes open—to see his elderly secretary's head burst in red spray, tumbling to the floor.
His loyal retainer, like a second father after decades of service. Shock engulfed Evid as the old man's body crumpled, blood gushing. He dove under the desk, bellowing.
“Y-You mad bitches!? Guards!! Seize them!!”
Fumbling behind the desk for guards, Evid couldn't grasp what was happening. Noble estates weren't just bigger than common homes. Essential security magic warded against threats.
Magic lethal enough to kill should have triggered defenses. How did it happen so easily?
Panicking, he rummaged for the pricey defensive artifact in a drawer—but it was gone, despite being there before.
“...Puheot. I already cleared out the artifact in there, dear.”
“Arina, you're here too...? What did you say!?”
Realizing his wife was present, Evid started to call her—then froze at her giggling. What had she just said?
Peering blankly over the desk, he saw Arina standing with the adventurers like old accomplices.
“Y-Y-You!? What are you doing!?”
“Thanks, Marina♡ For cleaning up this withered trash♡”
“No problem. Gotta tidy up proper before Master arrives♡”
Ignoring him, Arina chatted amiably with the adventurers like friends. Lighting cigarettes with a shared magic tool, the four women puffed away. Evid shrieked in disbelief.
“Arina!? Did you orchestrate this!?”
“Pfft♡ Not my plan, but... yeah. I disabled the security magic and pulled the guards♡”
“A-Are you insane!? Why!?”
“Hoo...♡ So shameless...♡ Blind to your own sins♡”
Giggling with the adventurers amid the smoke, Arina loosened her dress like it choked her. It shifted to a tight bodycon number, panties peeking from the hem. Tattoos etched her exposed skin.
To Evid's eyes, she looked just like one of them.
“Y-You... Why...”
“Master. The lord has arriv— Kyaaak!?”
Still reeling, trembling as he stared at his wife, a maid burst in to report—screaming at the corpse.
“Kyaaaa!! A b-body!? Who— Mmph...!”
“Shh. Quiet now. A noble's maid shouldn't raise her voice, right?”
“H-Hek...! L-Lady Arina...?”
“Go fetch Lady Ceres and Master. Very politely. Got it?”
Clamping the maid's mouth, the viscountess smiled sweetly, ordering her to greet guests. Realizing something dire, the pale, shaking maid nodded and stumbled out.
Arina turned to Evid, cowering under the desk.
“Well, dear...♡ The one here to punish you has arrived♡”
“P-P-Punish...? Arina, what...”
“Kuku...♡ Your memory's trash too, huh♡ Know who's coming...?♡”
With the adventurers, Arina leered at Evid like garbage, cackling wickedly. The room's beastly stench dizzied him; her laughter pierced his heart.
The air thick with animal musk. Emanating from his own body too.
“To punish a fool who overstepped without knowing his place... Maou has arrived♡”
The four livestock readied themselves to greet their master.