The Puppeteer's Trap
Regardless of whether it was yes or no. "Young Master..." "Are you constipated lately? Why do you look like you're about to die?" Exactly one week had passed since I poured every cent I had saved as the second son of the Duke into the kingdom's largest assassination guild. In that time, Leng had withered away like a man with a three-hundred-million-kart bounty (roughly one billion in my previous life) on his head. Seriously, what is wrong with him? I’ve already spent all the money and need to start earning more, but looking at his complexion, I’m afraid to ask him to do anything.
"The job you're doing today. Are you really going through with it?"
"Of course. If we don't do this, you're the one who dies, remember?"
"Is there... isn't there a more moderate way to end this?"
"Moderate? You want me to find someone to die in our place? Get threatened with assassination? Have the family teeter on the brink of collapse? Then have a prince on a white horse appear, shouting, 'Actually, I’ve spent years collecting evidence of their evil deeds!' and have the Royal Knights..."
"...Do you know anyone who would move to wipe them all out at once? I don't. So, what was that reaction just now?"
The moment I mentioned the Royal Knights, Leng started acting like a cat seeing a cucumber for the first time. What is this? Did this idiot really get tangled up in something wrong?
"Don't tell me..."
"Yo, Young Master...?"
"You aren't thinking that because you committed this illegal act, you can't join the Royal Knights anymore, are you?"
"......"
In the first place, with your skills, that’s not a place you could enter anyway. Even in the game Silver Teeth Night, the most insane bastards among the NPCs were the Royal Knights. PK. Player Kill. If you kill people for no reason, the player becomes a criminal. The order of those who chase you is [Bounty Hunter] > [Soldier] > [Knights] > [Royal Knights]. Up to the Knights, a player could manage with physical skill, but the Royal Knights were just insane NPCs sent to kill you. Especially the Captain of the Knights—the moment they appeared, it was a direct ticket to execution. I remember it was better for your health to hand over your gear to someone you knew before you lost it.
Anyway, with Leng’s talent, he might reach the level of a regular knight if a miracle or a stroke of luck occurred, but the Royal Knights are impossible from the start. Just work hard by my side and aim to be the Valentia Chief of Staff. That’s exactly your level.
"That’s not it..."
"No? Then why the hell are you acting like that? Then, don't tell me... was there someone you liked among the noble daughters we kidnapped? Should I let her go?"
"I told you, no..."
"Leng."
"Yes."
"Even if we are crushing criminal bastards, don't touch married women. That’s really a bit..."
"Ah! I told you it's really not that!!!"
That was the joke part. It seemed like something really had happened to Leng. My guess was—
"Hmm. I didn't think Leng would sell me out to the enemy. I'm disappointed."
"Who did you sell me to, and for how much? If you tell me honestly now, I’ll let you live."
"......"
Keeping his limbs intact would be an optional add-on that required negotiation, but he’s a friend who has followed me diligently for over half a year. I should at least ensure he can feed himself. I could even be lenient enough to let him walk with the help of his arms. Honestly... if it were the original Carix, he would have lopped off his head the moment he sensed something, so this much is me being generous.
"I... didn't sell you."
"That’s half a lie. What is it?"
"Can you read minds too?!"
"No. I just memorize the reactions of anyone I observe closely, whether I like them or not. I can roughly tell what they’re thinking and what they’re about to say. For instance, based on this conversation, the next thing you’re going to say is... 'Young Master, are you actually a monster?'"
"..."
"So, is that the answer?"
"........."
Is this what a silent affirmation feels like? It was both funny and pitiful to see Leng, who wouldn't even open his mouth, covering it with both hands.
"It's no use covering your mouth like that. If you try to run, I'll break your legs. And if I don't get an answer and just keep asking questions, it won't even take me three minutes to find out who you blabbed this operation to and sold me out to. Leng. Don't make me hurt you with my own hands."
Maybe I’d grown fond of him after keeping him by my side for six months. Seeing as the option to hunt down and slaughter all his relatives and kin took three seconds longer to surface than it would for anyone else, I really was a soft-hearted person.
"Ac-actually..."
Leng quickly told me what happened a week ago. On his way back from commissioning the assassins, he was caught in the act by a knight of the Royal Knights and Princess Lilit Valkart, who was attending the Academy. He said he had held out, thinking he would rather commit suicide right there even with a blade at his throat. However, Princess Lilit threatened that if he didn't tell her everything right then and there, she would lead the Royal Knights out and wipe out the Duke's family. So, he had no choice but to confess the reason for kidnapping the noble wives and daughters. Then came the follow-up threat: he was never to tell me that this fact had been discovered and was to stay by my side as usual. If he revealed any of this and I stopped my actions, she would carry out the aforementioned threats.
"I'm sorry!! I have committed a sin worthy of death!!!"
"Haa..."
As soon as he finished, Leng slammed his forehead into the floor with a thud, over and over. Honestly, I was disappointed. I had trusted him as a loyal student and intended to go all the way with him, but to think he would disappoint me like this.
"Leng. You really made a poor judgment in many ways."
"Young Master, please!! Just end it with my life!! Please, just spare my widowed mother and younger brother...!!"
"If you don't shut your mouth, I might actually bring those two here."
"Ugh!!"
Leng hurriedly covered his mouth with his own hand and buried his face. I didn't particularly intend to kill him. I was disappointed, but this wasn't betrayal; it was a phenomenon that occurred while trying to be loyal to me and the family. Above all, the fact that he was telling me only today, on the day of the operation, meant the plan had reached a point where it couldn't be stopped. He had foolishly judged that if he told me now, I could solve it neatly like usual and create time to escape. He had been groaning beside me for almost four hours since morning, wanting me to realize his insides were rotting away. Seeing him like that, killing him would be a bit too much.
"Ugh...!!"
"Leng. I'm really disappointed. If you had told me that very day, there would have been many ways, and I could have prepared even more. But to speak of it now of all times. I find your judgment so regrettable."
I stomped on the back of his head, expressing my disappointment and pain.
"But I know your actions were distorted by your loyalty to me and our family. So, I won't kill you or your family."
"Ughhh...!!"
The wooden floor couldn't hold up, pushing Leng's hands and head into the ground. "But if I don't punish you, the same thing will happen again. That’s how lessons work. If it doesn't cause harm or pain to oneself, it’s easily forgotten. So, what I’m giving you now is both a punishment and an opportunity."
"!!"
The wood couldn't hold and split, but he couldn't even scream properly. It seemed he could still endure it thanks to reinforcing his body with mana. Well, that’s fortunate. Honestly, if this guy hadn't even protected his own body out of loyalty while I was stepping on him like this, I wouldn't have used Leng again.
"Leng. If something like this happens again, it’s fine to prioritize your own life in that moment. No, make sure you do. But you must never fail to report to me because you succumbed to the opponent's threats. Even if my life, our family's name, my father, my mother, or your mother and brother are hostages. Don't keep it to yourself. If you tell me, what could be solved in a minute will become an unsolvable dilemma if you suffer alone, leading to ruin. Do you understand?"
"..."
There was no way an answer would come back. He had his mouth covered with his hand and his face pressed against the stone floor beneath the wooden floor, so there was no way he could answer—
"Ugh-der-stood..."
"Huh."
I hadn't lifted the head I was stepping on. He had answered by biting down on the palm of the hand that was buried inside his own mouth. This guy is truly a gem. It would have been better if he were just a bit smarter. It’s very regrettable.
"Ugh-ack...!!"
"Good, Leng. Then from now on, we’re going to screw over that princess who sees me as a source of dopamine. Because of your stupidity, time has become tight, so we need to move quickly. You won't make a mistake this time, right?"
Since it looked like he would have trouble getting up on his own, I grabbed the back of his head and pulled him out of the floor. Leng looked up at me with torn lips and burst capillaries in his eyes and answered.
"I will... ensure that something like this never happens again."
"Yeah. But."
His answer was slightly wrong, so I corrected him.
"This is the second time."
The first time was when he didn't even know there were traitors among the escort knights. I hadn't expected much then, so I just let it slide. But if he makes a mistake while thinking there will be a third time, that will be a truly unfortunate event for Leng. I made sure he understood.
*****
"Your Highness. It is said that all thirteen wives and daughters of the noble families mentioned that day have indeed been kidnapped. They seem to be trying to find them quietly, keeping it hush-hush, but this is not something we can just leave alone."
"Oh~ Jena. We'll find them all by today, so there's no problem, right?"
"Your Highness...!"
A week ago, she had seen the plotting of the young Duke Carix and even caught a witness. Princess Lilit had left him to run wild, saying she didn't want to punish him for something that hadn't happened yet.
"Jena, aren't you curious too? Just how much power does the young Duke have? He’s a powerhouse strong enough that even you, a promising talent among the Royal Knights, can't guarantee a victory. A man like that has been hiding his strength until now; isn't this a chance to see his true colors? Opportunities like this don't come easily."
"Your Highness. Do you really have to do this? This isn't right. You know that standing by is also a crime, don't you?"
"When did I stand by? I prepared for today, the day the incident actually happens, didn't I? A company of Royal Knights will raid the scene of the evil deeds prepared by the young Duke. I prepared it so thoroughly."
"But this is an evil deed that could have been prevented!"
Originally, Jena had intended to ignore the Princess's orders and report it to her superiors alone to stop Carix. According to Count Leng Dust, his escort knight, this was being done to cut out the rot within the Academy. And to strike down those involved in the death of the former young Duke, Deolis. But the problem was that she didn't know which of those thirteen families were truly involved in the crime. In other words, this situation was a deranged revenge drama that dragged in other families who might be innocent. That was why Jena had tried to ignore the Princess's insane curiosity and report it to the Knights.
-Jena. Go ahead and report it. I’ll explain the whole situation to young Duke Carix immediately.
-How do you think it will turn out? In my opinion, if a human is capable of committing such acts out of revenge, if I push them just a little more extremely... you know?
The possibility that it would transform from the kidnapping of thirteen noble wives and daughters into indiscriminate assassination. Moreover, the Princess's magic used for threats was a power that Jena’s strength couldn't control. In other words, if the Princess truly got angry and pushed young Duke Carix, a more uncontrollable disaster could erupt.
"Jena. Just watch with anticipation. If a problem arises, I'll take responsibility, okay?"
"..."
She couldn't even fulfill her responsibilities as the Princess's guard, nor could she wield chivalry even when staring a crime in the face. Jena could only bow her head in frustration.
"Now. Show me. Young Duke Carix. Your power, you who haven't even come to greet me once. I'll watch it properly."
The blue-eyed Princess, distorted by her curiosity toward the strong, smiles innocently.
*****
The number of people managing the Academy's facility ledgers was quite large. It was an amount that one person couldn't manage alone. And because if you left it to one person and they embezzled even a little, the damage would be enough to make you scream.
Because so many people managed the ledgers, the position of Academy internal manager was at a level where it was bought and sold with money.
"Ah~ isn't there any woman to eat?"
It didn't pay well, and it didn't look good on a resume. But since someone born into a noble family couldn't do the same work as the lower classes, families competed to shove their incompetent sons and daughters into Academy management positions to protect a non-existent honor.
And now. Hubel Vintlin, the second son of the Vintlin Viscount family and a current 7th-grade mage who roamed the streets soaked in alcohol, was a human who looked like a picture-perfect example of what happens when such a person falls to the very bottom.
"Hey. Fuck. Did you just glare at me?"
"Yes? Are, are you talking to me?"
"Yeah! Then who else is here besides you!!"
"Oh my...!!"
Although he had learned the handwriting copy magic, which is quite difficult among life magic, thanks to his family's support, he was a man who had twisted his own fate, as is typical of broken human beings.
"My lord! Don't do this! This is a matter of my family's livelihood...!!"
"Ah!!?"
It is said that if he could have fully utilized the handwriting copy magic, he could have sat in a significant position in any noble family and performed ghostwriting or accounting duties. But because of the alcohol he had lived with since he was young, he became a severe alcoholic and a fool who even lost the utility of magic.
"These fucking commoner bastards...!!"
He was a human who had shoved himself to the bottom like that, but even as such trash, because he was a noble child, an opportunity came. For example, on the day the successor to a certain Duke's family died, he received a request from a high-ranking noble to manipulate the Academy carriage operation ledger he managed. He obtained money he could never have touched in his life with his own power.
"Do you know who I am!?"
He was trash by nature, but when he drank, he fell to a level of sewage that couldn't even be classified. It was impossible for such a human not to cause an accident when he had money and even held a weakness—or something like it—of a high-ranking noble. Especially because he did the insane thing of forcibly touching noble daughters, not even commoners, just because he was a noble himself, he had risen to the number one existence that had to be quietly erased by the high-ranking noble involved in the previous incident. His own family knew this, but he was the only one who didn't.
Yeah. The situation had changed strangely since a week ago.
"Oh. Isn't this young master Hubel!"
"Uh... who are you?"
The one who stopped him, who had been kicking a powerless middle-aged commoner, was a young man who had a good physique but a face covered in scars and was acting very obsequious.
"Ah! Don't you remember me? You know, from the shop you used to visit often over there..."
".........Uh. Really? So what is it?"
"No, it seems you haven't been coming by much lately, so I greeted you because I was glad to see you."
The direction the young man pointed to was the red-light district he used to frequent before he squandered his money on gambling. Honestly, Hubel couldn't even remember the young man's face. Anyway, since he was out of money and craving alcohol and women, he found himself listening to the young man who said he worked there.
"There are new girls who came in today, how about it? Won't you come by once?"
"...New girls?"
"Yes! And they are all top quality! Uh... this is just between us, but some of them are from fallen noble families."
"!"
At the young man's words, who spoke loudly and then whispered secretly as if it were a real secret, Hubel was hooked immediately.
"Hey."
"Yes?"
"But I... am a bit short on money right now."
"Hey, what are you saying? You are the second son of the Vintlin Viscount family, after all."
"..."
"Go ahead and have a taste first. If you put it on a tab, well... wouldn't our boss take care of that?"
"...You fucking bastard."
"!?"
"Hey! I like you!"
Hubel, reeking of alcohol, slapped the young man's thick shoulder. In the end, he was hooked by the young man's words and climbed into a small carriage, and like that.
"Target loaded."
He was moved to the fishing spot Carix had prepared.
*****
It’s not surprising at all, and it’s a setting I’ve talked about before, but the Carix Valentia Duke family owned a large amount of land located on the outskirts of the capital to make it easy to do bad things. And the thirteen noble wives and daughters kidnapped this time were being held in an unmanaged abandoned building on that vast property.
"Huh? What is this. Why are they all tied up?"
Hubel, who was so drunk he didn't realize at all that he had come to the Valentia Duke family's property, which was much further out on the outskirts of the capital, couldn't grasp the situation even after seeing the noble daughters wearing pretty dresses with gags in their mouths.
"Ah. Is it that kind of play this time?"
Like a guy whose brain was in his lower body, he judged in the opposite direction at incredible speed and already took off his pants, approaching the noble daughters and noblewomen. And the daughters and wives, not knowing why they had been kidnapped, screamed "Ugh, ugh" as they saw a man approaching in nothing but his underwear. The situation was rushing toward an R-rated scene.
"HUBEL VINTLIIIIIN!!!!"
"!?"
But the fishing spot Carix had laid out was unfortunately rated for all audiences, not R-rated. At the voice of a middle-aged man echoing like thunder in the dark night sky, Hubel, who had been stiff with the thought of enjoying a woman for the first time in a while, froze stiff in a different sense.
"Uh, uh...? Margrave Gilos...?"
A high-ranking noble who possessed considerable military power within the kingdom and had been guarding the border for 80 years, making even the royal family yield a step. And since the opponent who had ordered him to manipulate the ledger on the day the former Duke's successor died had suddenly appeared in the red-light district(?) leading dozens of knights and calling out as if to kill him, it was a bolt from the blue for Hubel.
"You, you dared to cross the line...!!"
"W-wha, wha, wha, what are you talking about!?"
Hubel, who was so flustered and truly didn't know, asked while biting his tongue several times. He noticed belatedly that he was in his underwear and moved to put his pants on. But what entered his eyes as he moved like that was the sharp blade tips held by the knights the Margrave had brought.
"Your Excellency the Margrave!? W-what on earth is this situation!!"
"Ha, haha... Hahahaha!!! Yeah, yeah. I see. You're acting like a real piece of shit!!"
Hubel didn't know the situation at all, but the situation Carix had constructed was very simple. After kidnapping the daughters and wives of thirteen noble families, Carix himself imitated the handwriting of Hubel, who was an alcoholic, right-handed, and steeped in elitism and arrogance, and sent threatening letters to all thirteen noble families. Saying, 'I have your wife, I have your daughter, so if you don't send more money than promised, you will see something unpleasant. I will also reveal the young Duke's business.' And here, forging Hubel's handwriting didn't mean copying Hubel's letters. He followed the parts where he could only forge 90% due to his trembling hands from alcoholism, and sent them using the handwriting of different nobles.
"Marquis Gilos! Did you find him!!"
"Ah. I found him. He was just about to violate my daughter and wife."
"That, that crazy bastard...!!"
"You really must be dying to die!!"
Result. Far from the young Duke's death, it was 'What money promised? Fuck, when did I promise to give anything, my daughter and wife were kidnapped?' Excluding the families who were truly in mourning because their daughters and wives had been kidnapped without even knowing what was going on. The heads of the families who knew about the young Duke as soon as they saw the contents and thought of Hubel, who knew how to use handwriting copy magic, didn't even have the leeway to check the situation deeply and immediately tracked him down and found him. Naturally, thanks to that, they couldn't even conduct a counter-investigation regarding Leng, who had been digging into Hubel and themselves. Three family heads came to this spot. Normally, they would have used people to move secretly, but Hubel had crossed the line and kidnapped their precious wives and daughters. It happened because they thought all justification lay with them.
"I, I don't know about any such letters!! What did I do...!!"
"You are making foolish excuses even after we confirmed it through a mage. The minute handwriting copy failure that couldn't exist if not for your trembling hands. Did you think we would miss that?"
"That’s why I told you! I said this idiot should have been dealt with immediately!!"
"Damn it... I owed a debt to the Vintlin predecessor, so I protected him until now, but this guy dares to touch my wife without knowing the grace?"
"Th-that's why! I don't know anything about it!! In the first place, there are three family heads!! And there are over 10 women inside! Wh-why are you yelling at me!?"
Hubel was aggrieved. And it was understandable that he was aggrieved. However.
"Heh... Ah. This is fun. But the most aggrieved one is our brother. So don't be too aggrieved."
Carix, who had been sitting on the carriage driver's seat and watching the situation quietly, looked at them with a sneer, thinking of ending this stupid fishing trip now.
"Is there anyone else coming? I sent the invitations all the same, surely there aren't any latecomers, right?"
As he set fire to the abandoned building where their precious people were.
"They say it's heartbreaking if you can't even see off your family on their final journey."
He declares that he will give them the same pain his parents suffered.