Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: 11. Bastard Master
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“Phew.”
Deia paced back and forth in front of the entrance, arms crossed.
Anyone watching might mistake it for indoor exercise because she couldn’t go out in Northsweden’s freezing cold.
But of course, that wasn’t it.
“How much time has passed?”
“I-it’s ten minutes left now.”
“Argh!”
Deia was already clenching her fists and trembling.
It had been fifty minutes since Deus left.
That guy who asked for just one hour to wait was, as expected, a damn incompetent.
“Exactly ten minutes. Wait ten more minutes, then request reinforcements immediately. Is the communication orb ready?”
“Yes, it’s prepared so I can contact them the moment you say.”
“Damn Verdi men. Every single one of them rubs me the wrong way.”
“M-Miss.”
The butler urgently cautioned her against her foul mouth, but Deia ignored him and continued.
“Did I say something wrong? From the moment the ridge outpost reported that the barbarians were charging in as a group, unlike their usual scattered crossings, I warned them!”
Darius and Deia had received the report that the barbarians weren’t trickling over sporadically as usual but were marching in like an army.
Deia had said something was off and they needed to gather maximum forces for full defense.
She, a mage, had volunteered to join, but Darius scowled and refused.
Where a woman would dare go to the battlefield.
“Damn family head, still stuck in his rigid old-man mindset!”
If someone has ability, use them—gender doesn’t matter.
He thought it would be enough and sent troops in waves, but they were annihilated, and finally Darius sortied himself with the remaining soldiers, only to suffer a humiliating defeat.
If they’d gone all-out from the start, this mess wouldn’t have happened.
“The second son bastard, I thought he’d finally come back after so long and stay put.”
He suddenly shows up asking for one hour, saying he could handle it himself.
“As if he could handle anything.”
In one hour, Count Tolk and Count Herameus’s forces would have already departed.
Because of that one hour, the barbarians could slaughter hundreds of Northsweden citizens.
“Butler, how much time left!”
“I-it’s five minutes now.”
“Enough! Just request reinforcements!”
She never should have listened to that worthless second son. Even if he’d been acting all serious and weighty like a different person these past few months.
‘Hey, your tits look bigger? Let me feel.’
‘Wanna do it with bro? Do it once and you’ll beg for it every day.’
‘Night’s too noisy? Why? Wanna moan like a bitch underneath too?’
‘You’re not a whore? Fuck, what’s the difference.’
“Fucking bastard.”
She couldn’t help cursing. Better than his old self where his mouth and dick moved in sync.
But his current act of pretending to have forgotten his past still disgusted Deia.
“As if that erases the past? What about the wounds you inflicted on others.”
The second son’s past actions had been enough to plant deep distrust of men in Deia.
Not that he liked women either.
If he had, Deia might have experienced love, but she was stubbornly heterosexual.
She had forsaken love.
To her, only Northsweden’s citizens mattered. On inspections, they always greeted her with bright smiles, thanking her with bread and flowers.
She loved Northsweden.
‘Give me just five minutes a day.’
“And then what? Five minutes?”
He probably planned some creepy bullshit with those five minutes.
If she gave him five minutes, he’d definitely stick out his tongue for some weird sexual harassment.
“That’s just like you.”
The moment Deia turned to head back into the mansion.
Creeeak.
The gate opened, letting in a blast of cold wind and blizzard. Nearby candles flickered wildly as if dancing fiercely.
Thud. Thud.
The same heavy, rhythmic footsteps as when he left.
Clothes pristine as if he hadn’t faced the blizzard alone, and a sleek cane.
Deus Verdi’s return.
Followed by a trail of numerous barbarians.
“You……!”
Deia’s eyes trembled in bewilderment. The scene before her was incomprehensible; her brain felt frozen.
“About two minutes left.”
Exactly fifty-eight minutes since Deus Verdi left.
“I planned to come five minutes early to spend time, but today, two minutes will suffice.”
Deia, unable to keep up with the situation, blankly took in Deus Verdi standing before her.
She was too stunned to call it staring.
He had simply entered her field of vision.
Tap.
Deus’s hand rested on her head—warm, unlike someone who had just braved the blizzard.
“Snow got on your head.”
He gently stroked her hair, then passed by.
“Butler, take them to the drawing room.”
“……Pardon?”
Even the butler was slow to grasp it, so Deus paused before continuing.
“They’re our family’s new servants.”
He hadn’t just repelled the barbarians—he had captured them as prisoners.
* * *
No one welcomed the idea of hiring Scrap Merchants’ members as new Verdi Family hands.
Darius alone jumped up the moment he saw Pindenai, raging that he’d kill them.
But now, I held the most power in this mansion.
I had turned the barbarians that neither Darius nor Deia could handle into our forces.
Plus, hiring them at half the pay of other servants left no room for cost complaints.
Of course, not all Scrap Merchants could work as mansion servants.
Most would set up separate residences in Northsweden to serve as citizens’ helpers.
Hauling heavy loads, starting farms, clearing snow—simple labor.
Deia naturally refused.
Too dangerous.
But I promised full responsibility and pushed her to trust me.
If Pindenai and the Scrap Merchants were as I remembered from the game, they weren’t bad at heart.
They were the type who dreamed of such ordinary lives in Northsweden.
Fighting for freedom, after all.
Of course, that alone might not suffice, so I made a separate contract with Pindenai.
“Hmm.”
Seated in my room’s chair, I extended my hand. A white flame crystal floated up.
This was a fragment of Pindenai’s soul extracted via necromancy. With my skill, I couldn’t force it out, so I obtained it consensually via contract.
For the five years she worked under me.
The moment Pindenai or the Scrap Merchants betrayed me, I’d shatter her soul without mercy.
Not the whole, but a fragment—enough to reduce Pindenai to a half-broken doll.
“Satisfactory.”
I leaned back in the chair, interlacing fingers behind my head and closing my eyes.
Quite a few messy situations had arisen, but I achieved excellent results.
From wielding magic with mansion souls proving highly effective in real combat.
I’d acquired Pindenai, a near-top human force on the continent.
She wasn’t at her in-game level yet.
The protagonist was in third year when she appeared as a villain, so three years before her game debut.
She lacked her gear from then too.
‘Still, it’s enough.’
I’d already obtained the seed. Water it, give it sunlight, and let it grow.
Thud thud.
A rough knock echoed from outside. Deia had taken Pindenai for maid training and reported she’d start duties today.
The rough knock suggested Pindenai.
“Come in.”
I said flatly, and the door opened to reveal a white-haired woman.
Her face radiated irritation. Tightly clenched fists holding back shame, huffing breaths.
I immediately knew her full-body discontent stemmed from her outfit.
A black dress topped with a fancy white-frilled apron.
The skirt shorter than expected, paired with black stockings, and a white-frilled headband.
Yes, in our terms, a maid outfit.
A very revealing one.
“……What’s this joke?”
Even I was surprised.
No, quite shocked.
I never imagined that beastly Pindenai in such attire.
At my question, Pindenai unusually flushed red and snapped in irritation.
“Your exclusive maids all wear this by force! You bastard!”
“…….”
News to me.
But it didn’t seem like Deia’s prank, so probably original Deus’s taste.
“Ha.”
My head throbbed.
Thinking of what this bastard did to his maids already made me dizzy.
“First, your speech. Use honorifics. You were taught.”
“M-Mas….”
“…….”
Unable to part her lips properly, Pindenai scowled and yelled.
“Bastard master! If you’ve got work, order it quick!”
“…Good enough.”
Who gives precise orders to a wild dog? Just praise for coming when food’s spilled.
This was sufficient for Pindenai.
No hindrance to work.
“That reaction pisses me off.”
Aware she was being belittled, Pindenai grumbled but pulled a cigarette from her pocket anyway.
I extended my hand and burned it to ash.
“What the—! Scared me! If you’re lighting it, do it gently!”
“No smoking in front of me.”
“……That wasn’t in the employment terms, bastard master.”