Chapter 54
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: A Visit
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With a soft roll of his eyes.
For a moment.
The rabbit-eared boy, Naru, his long bangs obscuring his eyes, cautiously surveyed his surroundings.
The head of the family, beheaded.
The siblings, crushed beneath steel boots.
The lady of the house, riddled with holes like a beehive, and the youngest, his heart pierced by one of the hunter tribe.
And to top it all off, the building itself was utterly shattered and cracked, from the furniture to the walls, floor, and ceiling.
Just moments ago, it had been a respectable noble’s mansion, but now, witnessing the gruesome scene of a family’s massacre.
*Gulp.*
As Naru swallowed dryly.
It was the dark elf maid who spoke to the very person responsible for the tragedy.
“You just had to take on the family head yourself. You must be quite satisfied.”
“So-so.”
“…”
If he had just left it to her and cast spells from the back, it would have been handled more simply.
What was he thinking, getting himself into this state by needlessly stepping forward?
After watching the boy, who was covered in minor wounds, smile brightly with a blank expression.
Parsha spoke coldly.
“I’ll wrap your bandages. Hold out your arm.”
“I don’t really need bandages, though?”
“Just shut up and take off your shirt.”
“Hmm, you’re right. I suppose I have to change my clothes anyway.”
After a slight chuckle.
Dion, who had spread his arms to make it easier for Parsha to remove his shirt, spoke casually without looking back.
“Hey, you two.”
“Y-Yes, Gongja-nim.”
“If you have an order, just say the word, my lord! I, Karel, son of Chavera, will carry it out!”
“Go with Orr Kai and loot this entire mansion.”
“Huh? Ah, yes.”
“Understood! I, Karel, son of Chavera, will make sure to secure everything!”
Riya, daughter of Rea.
Karel, son of Chavera.
The two kobolds of the leader tribe, a man and a woman, faithfully followed Dion’s command.
It wasn't just because they were vassals, or because they had been repeatedly told to stay in Dion's good graces.
The named monster in the Hunter’s Forest.
And here, against Zemin.
It was because they had clearly witnessed Dion fight and hunt.
…Though, even if they hadn’t, the sight of the lobby right now would have made them obey his orders regardless.
And so, the two of them, along with the ever-enthusiastic Orr Kai, fled the lobby, and just as Parsha began applying medicine to his wounds.
A cautious voice was heard.
“A-Are you really going to be okay?”
“Okay? With what?”
“Causing this kind of incident.”
The bard, who had been watching Dion’s expression.
Naru continued, his rabbit ears twitching slightly.
“The Kahul family is, after all, a noble house. If things go wrong… no, nine times out of ten, this will become a problem.”
If it were a mere commoner.
Or at least, if it were within the Waryongjang.
No one would have cared whether an entire family was massacred or not.
Because nobles were beings who could kill a commoner just for being an eyesore.
But when the opponent is another noble, the story changes.
Blood ties and connections.
In a noble society tightly woven by these two, antagonizing one family meant making enemies of ten.
That was why disputes between nobles were usually settled with a reasonable compromise.
But Dion had gone and annihilated the entire clan.
The families connected to the Kahuls would now have to oppose Dion, if only for the sake of their own honor.
“It’ll be worse if the Kahul family has a backer, and above all, this is the Deformed City.”
Besides, Zemin wouldn't have acted so brazenly trusting only in a lower noble house.
If a high-ranking noble was involved in this, the repercussions would be severe.
The biggest problem was that this place was the Deformed City.
In a territory, the lord’s power is absolute.
In that sense, destroying a noble family that paid taxes to the city could displease the lord.
A true great noble.
The pinnacle among nobles.
—The Baekdaesega, the rulers of this Deformed City.
If the Baekdaesega were to actually step in, then everything would truly be over.
Whether it was the Waryongjang or Dion.
They would crumble overnight with a mere flick of their fingers.
“So?”
“Huh?”
“What do you want me to do about it?”
“W-Well, I think you should take some measures.”
He couldn't possibly be unaware of that fact.
Yet why was this boy so calm after causing such an incident?
Naru, feeling bewildered, uneasy, doubtful, and suspicious, still offered his advice cautiously.
Dion languidly asked the bard.
“In short, you want me to kill all the witnesses to silence them?”
“Um, that would be the best option.”
The guards lying near the entrance.
And the servants and maids trembling in various parts of the mansion.
Glancing at the survivors of this tragedy, the members of the Kahul household, Naru nodded.
The dead tell no tales.
If they just took care of all the witnesses, the culprit of this massacre would be buried beneath the surface.
If someone were determined to dig, it would eventually be revealed, but at least they could feign ignorance.
“Or, there’s the option of using some bribes.”
“To the powerful families, you mean?”
“It's better to satisfy the big fish than to waste money trying to persuade a bunch of miscellaneous nobles.”
After looting all of the Kahul family’s assets, adding a little extra on top, and offering it as a bribe.
And destroying the evidence.
If they even mobilized the Guild’s power.
They could at least avoid any problems arising from this incident.
While Parsha applied medicine to his wounds, Dion listened to Naru’s advice and nodded.
“True, that would probably bury this incident to some extent.”
“Right? So…”
“But why should I do that?”
“…Huh?”
Looking at the boy who was blinking like a rabbit hit by a slingshot.
Dion tilted his head slightly.
“Bluffer, why do you think I did this?”
“Uh… because the Kahul family tried to scam you after borrowing your lordship’s slaves…?”
“Right. Because they touched what’s mine.”
“…”
“If I don’t make an example of them like this, more bastards will keep trying to pull this kind of shit in the future.”
Antagonize the nobles?
Get on the Baekdaesega’s bad side?
I couldn't care less about that crap.
If anyone touches what’s mine, no matter who they are, I will thoroughly crush them, obliterate them, and make it so they can’t even feel regret.
In that sense, this was something that had to be done.
It’s a warning letter to everyone, from the Deformed City to Odobaekryeong.
So what do you think I’d do to an obstacle trying to bury this warning letter?
Looking at the boy who asked with a bright smile from behind his half-mask.
Naru froze.
“B-B-But, if you expose this incident openly, the problem could get bigger…”
“Yeah, it could.”
“Then…!”
“But, Bluffer.”
*Pfft.*
Letting out a dry laugh at Naru, whose face had gone pale as if he'd just come back from the dead.
Dion stood up from his seat.
And…
*Thwack!*
“Ugh?!”
It was instantaneous.
Kicked in the stomach, Naru collapsed to the floor.
Dion grabbed the boy’s rabbit ear with one hand and spoke coldly.
“Do I look like a pushover to you?”
“Ah, uh?”
“Or is this it? A silent protest, threatening to cause a scene if I don’t give you a brokerage fee?”
“O-Of course not.”
“Then what’s this?”
What did he mean by ‘what’?
Naru couldn’t ask.
Before he could even form the question, Dion yanked Naru’s ear, forcing him to meet his gaze as he continued.
“Did you forget, or are you pretending to? That the broker who brought me this job in the first place was the Guild.”
“…!”
“In other words, the Guild, and by extension, you, are also responsible for this.”
Naru’s face turned pale.
Why do people pay expensive fees to use brokers?
Is it just so they can pick and choose from a wider variety of better jobs?
Of course, that is one reason, and there are many brokers who take fees for just that.
But that’s a system where the client,
the problem-solver who took the job,
and even the broker,
could die at any moment and no one would find it strange—a method that only works in the gutter.
The biggest factor for a high-class Awakened mercenary in deciding whether to take a job wasn’t the pay, but the guarantee.
Even if the pay is lower, at the very least, they won’t stab you in the back.
It’s so simple,
but that’s what makes the guarantee so important.
That is the broker’s most important role.
It was why renowned high-ranking Awakened Ones, and even nobles, usually took jobs through a broker.
To prevent the client from skipping out on payment,
or committing fraud.
It was to create an entity that would take responsibility or provide compensation in their stead.
Thus, Dion continued languidly.
“From the moment I took this job and this happened, the biggest responsibility lies with you guys. Right?”
“But, that’s—”
“That’s what? That you’re too incompetent to take responsibility?”
“…”
He had things he could say.
That they had vetted them thoroughly.
That they had also kept an eye on the slaves.
That since they hadn’t even received a fee, there was a limit to the manpower they could mobilize.
But any excuse,
Naru did not make.
No, he couldn’t.
What would happen if he made such pathetic excuses in this situation.
If he couldn’t even make that judgment, he wouldn’t have been able to call himself an envoy of the Guild, even in name.
“You know, I’ve made a lot of concessions for ‘you’.”
“Enough to accept the collaboration proposal ‘you’ brought, even though you only managed to scratch the surface about the Goemokjang.”
“But if this is the result, well. How should I judge ‘you’?”
With a pale face.
His lips only trembled.
Looking at the Myoto tribe boy who couldn’t utter a single word.
Dion spoke with a faint smile behind his half-mask.
“That the Guild, like the commoners they are, are just ‘scammers’ who only think about ripping off nobles to make a quick fortune?”
“No! The Guild doesn’t commit fraud! Never!”
“Never?”
“Yes, never!”
And.
Spasmodically.
The rabbit-eared boy, even with his ear gripped tightly, widened his eyes and shouted.
Naru, who asserted this without wavering, even before blood-red eyes that would make even a high-ranking Awakened cower.
After looking straight into those eyes.
Dion smiled brightly.
“Then the Guild should be able to handle a problem of this magnitude on its own, right?”
“…!”
“Isn’t that right?”
Hearing those words.
Naru bit his lip.
If they were to cover up the incident itself, that would be one thing.
But to clean up the mess with all the details revealed and ensure there are no repercussions was an absurdly difficult task.
It was a challenge bordering on impossible, even if they squeezed out every bit of the Guild’s influence.
But…
“…Yes, I’ll figure something out.”
“Hmm, really?”
“Really.”
Whether it was possible without his help.
Dion didn’t bother to confirm.
He just smiled brightly.
“Glad to hear you can handle it. To be honest, I was starting to have my doubts about whether I should keep working with the Guild.”
“…”
“See, friends are a good thing to have.”
*Please, let it not be a bluff this time.*
Watching Dion speak with a beaming smile, Naru could only bite his lip.
『Achievement: Family Annihilation.』
『Achievement: Kahul Family Subjugation.』
『Achievement: Retribution Against a Thief.』
『Achievement: A Swordsman Who Surpassed the Master.』
…
…
『Special effect of 【Blood Fiend Star】 activated.』
『2-Star Class 【Swordsman】 has been plundered.』
『Unique Trait 【One Strike, Two Halves (R)】 has been plundered.』
『【Black Mage】☆☆☆ Lv8→ Lv9』
『【Ghost Tracker】☆☆☆ Lv1→ Lv2』
『【Berserker】☆☆ Lv8→ LV10』
『【Thug】☆☆ Lv7→ Lv9』
『【Barbarian】☆☆ Lv1→ Lv4』
『Upon reaching LV10 in 【Berserker】, the Class's mark is engraved upon your soul.』