Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Death Sentence
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The thin threads binding Sein's entire body were no ordinary items.
They were crafted by drawing out mithril into fine strands—something only master-level blacksmiths could produce.
“I’ll provide the answer to that, Sein.”
Sein narrowed his eyes and looked toward the source of the voice.
Men wearing white masks.
‘Delan.’
They were Demorus’s guards, the protectors of Demorus’s bloodline and vassals.
“Yeah, I was wondering. Tell me.”
“Killing a successor candidate as a successor candidate yourself warrants the death penalty.”
Ha.
Sein let out a hollow laugh.
“You treat the candidates’ lives like flies, though?”
“That’s because candidates and successor candidates are different.”
Their voices were flat and emotionless, as if feelings had been excised.
Swish.
The silver threads binding Sein began to loosen.
They figured he would stop here once he understood the price.
“...!”
But Sein was not one to stop.
Spurt!
Blood sprayed out like a fountain.
“Gaaahhh!”
The snake-faced Jagar screamed in agony.
“Now you look halfway decent.”
A straight gash ran across one eye on the vile snake’s face.
“Faces like yours are supposed to look more vicious anyway.”
“You bastard!”
Jagar unleashed his full power, radiating thick killing intent.
“I gave you a free plastic surgery, and this is how you thank me? But...”
Sein grinned.
“You sure about this?”
Jagar had aimed to kill Sein in one strike, but he failed to achieve his goal.
His thrust fist halted midway.
“Didn’t you hear earlier? Death penalty.”
Silver threads now coiled around Jagar’s entire body, and Delan guards pressed daggers to his throat.
“Want to test it?”
“...Sein.”
Sein turned his gaze away from Jagar, who was barely suppressing his rage.
There, people dressed in garments blending black and gold watched the scene.
No.
‘Figures.’
It had been their doing from the start.
They had used the easily excitable and manipulable Jagar to probe Sein.
Just as Sein had daringly tested Demorus’s laws and the family head’s power, they too had daringly tested Sein’s temperament and abilities.
“I said I’m sick of tests.”
He addressed them, not Jagar.
“Next time, skip the idiot and come at me yourselves. I’m curious what Demorus’s death penalty really entails.”
Sein stepped back.
Delan began loosening Jagar’s bindings.
Rustle...
The moment the silver threads slackened and lost their power.
Boom!
Jagar launched himself at Sein like a cannonball.
If killing was off-limits.
“Then suffer the same!”
He thought the same method used on Sein would be permitted.
Flutter.
But Jagar’s goal failed once more.
This time, it wasn’t Delan.
“You think I’d just take it?”
Sein had extended one hand and gripped Jagar’s outstretched left arm.
“Uaaahhh!”
The arm wouldn’t budge an inch.
When Sein slowly released his hand.
“The main family brats aren’t all that.”
Handprints from Sein were clearly visible on Jagar’s left arm.
*
*
*
“It’s an honor to meet you, Sein. I’m Perio, your head maidservant.”
Several people stood before Sein, bowing politely in greeting.
“We will do our utmost to serve you, Sein.”
Their mechanical voices belonged to the servants assigned to Sein by Demorus.
“Sein.”
Roberta spoke to him.
“It might be best to send them away.”
“Why?”
“......”
She approached slowly and whispered.
“They’ll be Demorus’s eyes and ears.”
After several clashes in the Pleasure Hall, Roberta seemed to have realized what the main family was like.
Connected by blood, yet no different from strangers—no, worse, like an enemy camp.
“Rather than later...”
As his self-proclaimed bodyguard, she was preparing every contingency.
“I welcome them.”
But Sein ignored her, spreading his arms toward the servants.
“We will serve you with utmost sincerity.”
“Sein.”
Roberta looked worried.
“You seem to have more to learn.”
“...?”
“Do you think Demorus’s eyes and ears will vanish if you send them away?”
Of course not.
“We’re inside the monster called Demorus. It’s pointless no matter what you do.”
“I know that. But...”
She meant they needed to be more cautious.
“Avoiding danger doesn’t solve everything, Redhead.”
What a nuisance. But knowing Roberta’s potential and ambitions, Sein decided to endure it.
“Redhead?”
“Use them.”
Roberta didn’t seem to fully grasp it.
“You’ve got the power, but that brain is the issue. Dye it or something.”
She nodded despite the insult.
She had watched and realized that everything Sein did had its purpose.
“I’ll watch and learn.”
“Hear that?”
Sein said to the servants.
“My bodyguard suspects you.”
“No need for concern. As your servants...”
“Let’s skip the nonsense.”
Sein smiled brightly.
“Do your jobs. Just know that someday, you’ll pay for those actions.”
A light warning—that should suffice.
“We will keep it in mind.”
As expected of Demorus servants, they were quick on the uptake.
“I’ll explain the general aspects of life in Demorus to you, Sein.”
The head maidservant, Perio, spoke politely while standing.
“As a successor candidate, you have the authority to form a private organization within Demorus.”
“Private organization?”
“You may use it for any purpose, but it must be staffed solely by main family personnel.”
Sein’s eyes narrowed.
He understood.
‘It’s competition too.’
How many of Demorus’s main family members could he turn into his own people.
“What about the other successor candidates’ organizations?”
Perio explained in detail.
The numbers already varied greatly among the candidates.
The largest was.
‘Cullan’s the frontrunner, right?’
The eldest son of the main family, whose maternal family was Vinsen—one of the three great underworld families equal to Demorus.
His private organization took the form of Cullanes, a militant unit, numbering around a hundred.
The smallest was predictably Barze.
One reason for the exchange tournament had been this; Barze had entered with numbers similar to Sein’s and formed an organization, but it had zero members.
“Additionally, as a successor candidate, you may use Demorus facilities, but...”
Perio took something from her bosom and handed it over.
A ring gleaming bronze.
“Your current rank is Bronze, so there may be usage limits.”
“How to raise the rank?”
“Complete main family missions.”
Was it because this world stemmed from a game?
Even this felt like a game.
“And...”
Perio explained everything Sein needed to know about Demorus.
“If you have any questions, feel free to ask anytime.”
With that, Perio and the maids left.
*
*
*
Demorus resembled less a single family and more a small nation.
A natural fortress built into sheer cliffs.
It rivaled a castle in size, housing the Demorus main family and even a village for servants’ families.
Clang! Clang!
Clear metallic rings echoed, sparks flying.
The first Demorus facility Sein visited was the smithy.
“Oh.”
Gazing at the sprawling smithy, Sein let out a genuine exclamation.
It reminded him of Domor Dapa, once one of the empire’s largest forges.
Dozens of furnaces blazed endlessly, and mithril ingots rolled casually on the floor.
“Not bad.”
Examining the finished and displayed weapons, praise came naturally.
‘I heard imperial tech flowed into the underworld.’
Indeed, traces were evident.
Especially the empire’s smelting techniques, which had heavily influenced Demorus.
Clang!
The smithy’s sight left even Sein impressed.
“What are these?”
Unfamiliar ores and weapons of strange designs.
Oddly, no one paid attention to the stranger entering the smithy.
Clang!
They simply focused on their work in silence.
‘Demorus grounds, after all.’
Here, they could immerse in their craft without worry—that trust and security was Demorus’s gift.
“Hmm.”
He had only meant to look around, but his blood stirred.
Sein loved Sanctuary itself, and the thousands of lives within it.
Yet some lives captivated him more.
Fwoosh!
Staring into the furnace flames brought peace.
Clang!
The hammer strikes ringing in his ears cleared his mind of all else.
-The blacksmith’s life.
That unassuming life held infinite potential, and it was the one Sein had played the longest.
“Been a while since I swung a hammer properly.”
No permission needed.
Sein soon picked up a rolling hammer and a piece of metal from the floor.
Fwoosh.
He calmed his mind gazing at the roaring flames.
Clang!
A clear hammer strike echoed.
At that moment.
Twitch.
The artisans hammering away paused for the first time.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Hammer strikes resounded.
“......”
Unaware, Sein focused in the safety Demorus provided.
Clang!
At some point, the only hammer echoing in the smithy was his own.
Clang!