This Isn't Your House
Raden Zieghart broke into a wide grin the moment he arrived at the Annex. Sylvia and the Annex maids were clearing the garden, and thanks to that the path and everything around it was caked in dirt.
Perfect for picking a fight.
His butler, Merkin, would already have gone ahead and brought up the letter that had never been sent. The place was still a mess even though a member of the direct line had come calling — there were countless ways to start something.
Until that bastard shows his face.
He had come all the way out to this cramped, filthy corner of the estate himself, to humiliate Raon Zieghart and force the boy to his knees. He meant to keep needling until the brat took the bait and threw the first punch.
Sylvia stepped in front of him. She knew perfectly well he had come to make trouble, and still her gaze was calm. Raden sneered at the woman who would have been his aunt, had she remained in the family the way she was supposed to, and started in on her.
She did not rise to it. He dropped every courtesy, hawked and spat, crushed her carefully tended flowers under filthy shoes — and still she refused to take the hook. Sylvia's patience ran deeper than he had expected, and her expression was frighteningly composed.
Dammit...
Raden twisted his mouth. Even for him, laying a hand on Sylvia herself could be dangerous.
I can't just leave it like this.
He was still turning it over when his eyes fell on the maids clearing dirt alongside her. Their faces were calm, but they could not hide the tremor in their hands.
That's it.
He had his angle. Unlike Sylvia, those women had not mastered their emotions.
Raden smirked, hawked up a wad of phlegm, and spat it onto Sylvia's hands as she swept the ground. The oldest maid's eyes went wild the instant she saw it.
"This is too much! Direct line or not, if you come here picking a fight this openly, the Main House won't stand for it either!"
Just as he had expected, she took the bait and said something she should never have said.
Raden shoved Sylvia aside as she tried to stop him, stepped up to the maid, and cracked his open hand across her face. The Law Enforcement Division would come calling, just as the woman had said — but he was of the direct line. The worst he would get was a few days of confinement.
"You people really don't know your place. You're nothing but the dregs of this house."
He snickered and was about to grind his heel into the trembling maid when a low, rumbling pressure rolled out from the Annex. A boy appeared. His features were so harmonious they bordered on perfect.
So that's the bastard. Raon Zieghart...
A face handsome enough to be irritating only turned Raden's stomach further.
Steel whispered from a scabbard. Raon drew his sword.
That brat can barely even control his killing intent, and they say he took down the Green Lightning Demon and fought the Blood-Crazed Demon? Laughable.
Raon stopped right in front of his nose. Even watching the boy draw, Raden could only scoff. If the kid had any sense at all, he would not dare swing that thing.
"Don't tell me you're actually going to use that scary little toy. I'm of the direct line, you know."
Looking into the boy's eyes, he still seemed to have his wits about him. Raden was about to needle him a little further when Raon's mouth opened.
"So what."
The words had not even finished reaching his ears before a flash of red filled his vision.
"Hhk—!"
He tried to lurch back in shock, but it was already too late. The boy's sword was screaming for his throat. He squeezed his eyes shut, helpless — and a violent impact exploded right in front of his face.
When he opened them, Butler Merkin was standing in his way. But Raon did not stop. He seized the instant Merkin had not fully absorbed the shock of the sword strike and drove a fist forward. The punch caught Merkin square in the temple. The butler toppled backward and lay twitching.
"Y-you insane little—!"
Raden ground his teeth and ripped his own sword free.
"Do you have any idea who you're swinging a sword at?!"
"I know."
There was not the slightest tremor in Raon's voice. He had genuinely meant to kill him.
"A robber who trespassed on my territory."
"What kind of bullshit is that?! I'm the real master of this house!"
"This isn't your house."
The boy muttered another mad thing and brought his sword down.
"Fine! I was going to go easy on you — I'll tear your damn head off!"
Raden thrust, meaning to knock Raon's blade aside and bury his own in the boy's throat. But a strange rotation rose from that sword and began forcing his blade back the other way.
"What the—!"
He stepped back and twisted, barely managing to deflect it. As if he had expected exactly that, Raon closed in without a shred of fear and carved a diagonal slash.
"Ghk—!"
Raden groaned. The hand holding off Raon's sword was shaking. Once he had been forced onto the back foot, seizing the initiative again was no easy thing.
"Y-you dare raise a sword against the direct line? You and your mother will both lose your heads!"
"Then I'll just take yours first."
With those words, a slash so cold it burned grazed Raden's shoulder. He barely caught the blade plunging for his throat.
"Ghhhkkk!"
What the hell is this kid?!
Raon's swordsmanship crashed over him like a tide, without a single opening. The provocation had clearly worked — and yet it was Raden's own hands that were falling into chaos.
Damn it!
He wanted to draw the aura up from his core and counter, but the boy would not give him even that much time. From start to finish, all he could do was defend.
Time. If I just had a little time!
If he had even a moment to move his aura, he could kill this brat in a single stroke. The boy knew that, and he refused to give him a second. Raden clenched his teeth until they creaked.
No choice!
Even if it meant internal injury, he had to break this. Blocking Raon's sword, he forcibly wrenched the aura up from his core. Pain flared as his mana circuits seared, but a tremendous surge of power wrapped his entire body.
"This is the end, you crazy little shit!"
He swelled the muscles of his lower and upper body, then brought down the aura piled upon his blade — power enough to split Raon and the boy's sword in a single stroke. But the instant before that overwhelming slash could land, Raon vanished from in front of his eyes.
"Hhk—!"
A movement like a phantom. He could not even tell where the boy had gone.
"You're the one who's finished."
Raon's voice from behind sent a shiver racing up his spine. He spun around fast — but the boy's fist was already against his stomach. The brutal impact folded Raden at the waist.
"You—"
"I'm not done yet."
Raon's sword shot toward his heart. Terrified of the blade streaking in like a bolt of light, Raden squeezed his eyes shut and screamed.
"Uwaaaagh!"
Raon did not drive his sword into Raden's heart. He stopped the blade a hair's breadth from the boy's chest.
There were two reasons. The first was Sylvia's voice telling him to stop. The second was the two swordsmen of the Heavenly Sword Squad — the Clan Head's personal guard, stationed to protect the Annex — standing in front of Raden.
"You stood there and did nothing while Helen was being attacked, and now you show up?"
The Heavenly Sword Squad swordsmen did not so much as flinch at Raon's icy voice.
"Stand down."
They dropped into a lower stance and built a firmer wall, as if determined to protect Raden.
"Haaah—!"
The instant Raden realized he was alive, he toppled backward. Drool ran from his mouth as he jabbed a finger at Raon.
"K-kill him! Kill that crazy bastard!"
"..."
"What the hell are you doing?! I'm of the direct line, and that little colt just attacked me!"
The Heavenly Sword Squad swordsmen did not move, even at Raden's order. They simply stood there like statues.
"Move."
"Stand down."
"Hah..."
Raon drew up his aura and hissed steam through his teeth. The Heavenly Sword Squad were nothing like Raden's butler. These were not opponents he could beat with a surprise attack.
"Raon. That's enough!"
"Young master..."
Just as he was about to circulate the Tenth Flame of the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames, Sylvia and Helen came forward and caught his arms. The moment he saw the tremor in their eyes, the rage that had filled his chest and skull melted away like spring snow.
"Y-you sons of bitches! Do you have any idea who I am?!"
Raden shrieked as he staggered to his feet.
"I'm the son of the Lord of Jinmu Hall! Kill that bastard! No — I'll kill him myself! Get out of the way!"
"Young Master Raden. Please step back."
The Heavenly Sword Squad swordsman on the right turned and blocked Raden. They had placed themselves between Raon and Raden both.
"We take orders from the Clan Head alone. Both of you, stand down."
"Ghk — you damn watchdog! I got hit, you hear me?!"
Raden ground his teeth and raised his sword. He was about to pour every last drop of his aura into an attack on the Heavenly Sword Squad swordsman when Butler Merkin, who had been unconscious, came running up from behind and seized his shoulder.
"Y-young master. You mustn't!"
"Shut up!"
The way he gnashed his teeth and thrashed was exactly like a rabid dog.
"Young master. This will only..."
Merkin whispered something in Raden's ear, and the thrashing arms and legs slowly settled.
"Let go."
Raden shoved Merkin off, passed the Heavenly Sword Squad, and locked eyes with Raon. His gaze gleamed like a beast's.
"Raon Zieghart."
"I'll carve humiliation and pain worse than death into you. You just wait."
"Same to you."
A blood-red flash of lightning sparked in Raon's eyes.
"I will never forget what you did here. You never know when that neck of yours is going to come off, so you'd better break the habit of shutting your eyes the moment you get scared."
"Ghhhkk! You little maggot! If it hadn't been a sneak attack, you'd already be buried in that dirt!"
Raden burned with madness and tried to charge, but Merkin held him back, leaving him to thrash only his arms and legs.
"Y-young master! You have to leave now!"
"I will never forgive this! I'll tear this entire Annex to the ground!"
"Young master!"
Merkin dragged Raden away by force and left the Annex.
Only long after Raden and Merkin had vanished did the Heavenly Sword Squad swordsmen drop their defensive stances and approach Raon.
"This incident will be reported to the Clan Head. You would do well to prepare an explanation."
"Is that advice? I thought you people didn't care about anyone who isn't of the direct line."
"Raon. That's enough."
Sylvia's hand tightened on his right arm. Raon clicked his tongue and sheathed his sword. The Heavenly Sword Squad swordsmen offered no reply. They simply bowed their heads and disappeared.
"My lady. Young master. I-I'm so sorry. I couldn't hold myself back. I couldn't even act my age..."
Helen came before Raon and Sylvia and dropped to her knees.
"No. You have no idea how much courage it gave me when you stepped forward."
Sylvia's face was drained, but she smiled as she helped Helen to her feet.
"Helen didn't do anything wrong."
Raon nodded. The one who had caused the trouble was standing right there — there was no reason for someone who had done nothing wrong to ask for forgiveness.
"Raon."
Sylvia wrapped her arms around him from behind.
"You've gotten so strong. You have no idea how reassuring it was when you stood in front of me."
Laughter and tears spilled from her voice at the same time.
"Don't worry about what happened today. Mom can take care of all of it."
"No, I'll—"
He tried to turn and speak, but Sylvia was holding his shoulders so tightly he could not get the words out.
"It's all right. Just trust Mom."
With that, Sylvia began clearing the filthy ground and the torn flowers and shrubs. At her calm expression, color started returning to the frightened maids' faces.
She's strong.
Sylvia should have been more shaken than anyone here, and yet she was the one putting everyone else at ease. Whether it was because she had become a mother, or because she had always been this strong, her heart was firmer than anyone else's in this place.
But.
Raon crouched down and helped Sylvia clean the defiled ground, then closed his eyes.
This is something I have to settle.
Experience and instinct whispered the same thing. The one who could resolve this was not Sylvia. It was him.
And...
He had no intention of letting that little colt who had insulted Sylvia and laid a hand on Helen walk away as he was.
A slow breath left him. No one saw it — but Raon's eyes burned a deeper, fiercer red than they ever had before.