Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: The Lord's Bargain
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The knights pressed me on what exactly I had to do, but I just laughed it off vaguely. It was a silent signal that I had no intention of answering.
In truth, I could have told them.
Even if it was sudden and utterly unbelievable, who would object to killing the bastard who had dragged them down to this point and picked fights at every turn, without any repercussions?
Even Iris, with her strict adherence to principles, would at least tacitly approve.
But the reason I kept what I was about to do hidden was the off chance that the lord might be eavesdropping on conversations inside the castle.
While players couldn't use it directly, the game definitely had magic that allowed continuous surveillance and eavesdropping on specific areas. The NPC who wielded it was the Arcana Magic Tower Master.
That was why the Arcana Magic Tower Master, who became the boss on the human-hostile route, was notoriously brutal in every sense.
He monitored players using surveillance and eavesdropping spells blanketing the entire magic tower and grand archive fields while holing up in his boss room, blasting spells nonstop.
In other words, from the moment you entered the magic tower or grand archive until you reached the boss room and took down the Arcana Magic Tower Master, the whole field was essentially the boss fight.
‘That NPC must have cast the spell restoring everything in this castle to its original state, and I have no guarantee he didn’t install detection magic at the lord’s request on top of it.’
From the start, the magic on the castle differed from the game, making it hard for me to say for sure.
In the game, there hadn’t been any surveillance magic installed, of course—but there, both the lord and the knights were all men, whereas now one side was women, and the other wanted to turn them into sex slaves.
For that perverted lunatic, eavesdropping wouldn’t be strange at all.
So, I could brush off trash-talking the lord with the knights to avoid suspicion, but I had to keep my plan to deal with him completely under wraps.
If it got out, even claiming it was a joke wouldn’t save me.
“What are you doing here again?”
“I’ve come to report the monster subjugation to Lord Einhart.”
I used the Ability Check Orb to pour all my stats into divine power, asked Iris for one favor, and headed to the mansion. The guard at the main gate was as rude as ever.
It was almost entertaining to see him act like that, oblivious to his impending fate.
As I led my horse into the mansion grounds in search of the lord, the servants scowled and grumbled loud enough for me to hear before leading my horse off somewhere.
Cursing me on their way out, as if making sure I heard, was par for the course.
Once again, a maid guided me to an empty drawing room, where I waited for quite a while. I thought he’d been a bit more courteous when making the offer, but now that he felt superior, this was the treatment.
“You’re here.”
“Yes, my lord.”
The lord finally waddled in with his massive bulk only after a long delay, once the drawing room table was laden with refreshments. His physique was fascinating every time.
“I saw the proof of subjugation you brought. You took down alone the monster that Claudia reported as a failure.”
“It was nothing.”
“Yes, yes. Kuhuhu. I do have an eye for people.”
‘An eye for people?’
I barely stifled the laugh threatening to burst out at those words.
If he truly had an eye for people, wouldn’t he have noticed the man sitting right in front of him was plotting his demise?
“Enough small talk. Why did you request to see me? Surely not just to report something so trivial. Don’t you have work to do by now?”
The lord leaned back against the sofa’s armrest, his face smug beyond belief. It made me want to punch him square in it.
But I had business to attend to, so I met his gaze with a serious expression.
“Could you promise to keep everything I say from now on strictly confidential?”
“Very well, I promise. Speak.”
“You have to swear seriously. That you’ll keep this matter absolutely secret.”
Seeing me dig in so stubbornly, the lord realized this was no ordinary affair—his smile vanished, and he replied that he understood.
I pulled the demon-possessed book from the pouch at my waist. The moment he saw it, his eyes nearly bulged out, greed slowly filling them.
“That is…”
“Surely you can guess what it is, my lord.”
It was a book radiating ominous energy, something clearly unnatural. The lord stared blankly before hurrying to the window, rolling up his sleeve himself to draw the curtains, then returning.
“Tell me now. Where did you get it?”
“It appeared after I killed that monster. Seems it was tied to a demon.”
“Demon…”
I lied without batting an eye. The key here was getting the lord obsessed with this book, no matter how. The details didn’t matter.
That’s how it worked in the game too. No matter what absurd option you picked, as long as the lord ended up taking the book, it was clear.
Common sense dictated that no one doing a deal with a demon would spill the conversation details to others. If it got out, no amount of power or connections could save you—you’d be dead.
“And can you make out the symbol on the cover?”
“Hmm, no. No idea.”
I pointed to the jagged letters protruding from the cover, and he shook his head. I didn’t know them either, but that wasn’t the point. Time for another lie.
“I once overheard some knowledge about these. If I may presume, it seems connected to the Demon of Lust.”
“The Demon of Lust? What’s that?”
“It promises men infinite stamina and turns women into bodies of endless sexual desire, climaxing at the slightest brush of a man’s touch.”
All lies, of course. Bren 4 had no such demon straight out of an erotic tale or adult game.
The demons here were just bloodthirsty monsters. They killed men and raped women—not sparing the women after, but killing them too.
But the lord didn’t know that, and I could see the desire in his eyes ignite fully. My part was done. The book would handle the rest.
“Hoo…”
His gaze turned ravenous. As he chuckled “Heh heh heh” and reached for it, I slyly pulled my arm back. His hand flailed in the air.
“No can do, my lord. You know better.”
I grinned cheekily. He glared for a moment, then seemed to realize I held the upper hand in this deal, leaning back with a long sigh.
“Fine. What do you want?”
“Well, I figure you know better than I do what I might want.”
I wanted nothing but his life, but in deals like this, you let the other side propose terms.
I kept my sly smile, while he furrowed his brow deeply in thought. After agonizing for a while, he finally spoke cautiously.
Much more politely than before.
“I get the gist of what you want. I’ll hand over a woman for you to break and ruin as you please. She’ll surely satisfy even your tastes.”
‘…Is he insane?’
When did I ever say that?
I suppressed the urge to smack him upside the head while managing my expression. Even if I did, he wouldn’t give up the book—but the aftermath would be trouble.
“I’ll hear the details first. Who is it?”
“My daughter.”
I nearly dropped the book in shock. I gripped it tightly to avert disaster, but he’d clearly noticed.
He smirked.
“Quite the reaction.”
“Of course. Your daughter? You’re fine giving her to a wretch like me?”
“Naturally. I can always have more kids, and she’s not one I cherished anyway. The heir’s seat goes to a son, of course. Take my daughter—use her as a sex slave, whore her out for cash, whatever. I’ll just pick another woman and breed more.”
He guffawed to himself, his jowls and belly jiggling in unison.
I’d misjudged. Not “is he insane?”—he was insane. Far worse than in the game.
“So, do we have a deal?”
“One more question. As your daughter, her beauty is guaranteed, right?”
“Hm? KraHAHAHA! Right, I forgot to mention! I guarantee her looks! She’s beautiful, naturally! I even considered sampling her before she came of age!”
‘…’
Tsk.
I’d tossed it out casually to avoid suspicion—something you’d ask about any woman—but I never expected that response.
As in some cursed timeline of the cards, I felt bone-deep that there was always a lower bottom. I couldn’t have imagined such utter depravity.
“Understood. I accept. Call your daughter here. But what will you tell her?”
“Do I need a reason to handle my own child? She obeys her father’s command!”
Thrilled at the deal, he grinned ear to ear.
‘Ugh, that lunatic.’
My feelings aside, the deal was sealed.
I stowed the book in my pouch so no one else could see, and he ordered a maid to fetch his daughter.
Soon, panting breaths accompanied a girl entering the room. Long black hair to her waist, dressed elegantly with golden eyes.
She’d apparently sprinted here, catching her breath before clasping her hands at her abdomen and bowing politely to us.
Less like greeting her father, more like facing a high noble.
“You called, Father?”
“Greet him, Aurora. This man is taking you.”
“Yes?”
Aurora’s golden pupils trembled faintly. From her perspective, it must have been thunder from a clear sky. Honestly, I hadn’t expected the lord to throw her under the bus so bluntly.
But separately, I felt satisfaction that things were falling into place. Not because I could use her as a sex slave—of course not—but for another reason.
To clean up smoothly after killing the lord, without chaos, I needed to put his daughter in the now-vacant lord’s seat. That’s how the story progressed without hitches.
Part of my shock earlier at his offer was that I’d been pondering how to meet his daughter, and now it was handed to me on a platter.
“F-Father, what do you…”
“No backtalk. It’s decided.”
She stammered in a trembling voice, but he shut it down firmly, refusing argument. Sorrow and despair filled her golden eyes.
“Well then…”
The lord reached out grinning, and I handed over the pouch. He shook my hand with a sleazy smile, cradling the pouch preciously as he left the drawing room.
“Ugh, fuck.”
I scrubbed my hand furiously on the sofa.
Now, the drawing room held only me—racking my brain on how to start talking—and Aurora, head bowed in despair.
No good ideas came after pondering, so I was about to go with the safe “Um…” when—
“I apologize for arriving unprepared to serve you properly, due to this sudden decision.”
‘Huh?’
As she bowed, I froze mid-motion, mouth agape. Ignoring me, she continued.
“If you wish to sample my body, I’ll gladly accept. However, in this state, I fear I can’t serve you correctly, so I must prepare myself first.”
“No, wait a—”
“Please wait for me at the top floor of the mansion’s annex.”
Before I could stop her, she turned and left without listening. Her figure vanished in an instant.
Left alone, I stood dumbfounded in the room.
‘…She’s not planning to run off just like that, is she?’
Misunderstandings could be cleared up, but not if she despaired into suicide first or bolted outright—that would put me in a real bind.
‘Please don’t.’