Chapter 5 ─ Noble Wretches

"Well, how do you spell this?"

"It's spelled..."

It had been a few days since Rei met Rose.

She was learning the Kingdom's spelling with Walter.

Everyone already knows that she is the assistant to the future lord of these lands, so, if anything happens to her, their heads will roll.

"Err, where is Reidel-sama?"

"The young Master is meeting with a visitor right now, is it something important you should say?"

"N-No... I just wanted to know if we would eat lunch together."

"It won't be long now, so I'm sure we will."

"Hahahahaha!"

A laugh came from another room, there stood Rei with Harold.

◇◇◇

"This is the best!"

"Yes. The profits due to the new product are high, as agreed, your half."

Harold handed Rei a chest, when he opened it, he found a large pile of gold coins.

"You have 1000 gold coins, you can count them if you wish."

"No, I trust you, so I know they are complete."

"Guh... your trust in me makes me cry, young Master."

"Don't come crying to my house. More importantly, there is something that has filled me with curiosity."

"What is it that has you curious?"

"Yesterday my father brought a letter from the capital, in it he dictated that all the knights of the duchy should look for some suspects, but there is no information about it, only to arrest whoever looks suspicious."

"Do you know anything about it?"

"I'm sorry to say, but no. I haven't the slightest idea about it, I heard about it when I was in the capital, apparently it's since last week that something happened and everything is upside down."

"Could it be that some intruder or spy infiltrated the Kingdom?"

"I don't think so, if so, they would have found it already, Norden soldiers are very characteristic in the way they dress. Ah, unless they are Calvinists, in that case I wouldn't know what they look like."

"That's something that always caught my attention, what the hell is it?"

"Don't you know, young Master?"

"If I asked you it's because I don't know. Now answer me."

"Yes, sorry. You see, a Calvinist is the name given to a member of Prince Calvin's faction."

"Prince Calvin? Wasn't the crown prince's name Sigurd? A new prince came to take the throne?"

"That's not it. From what I heard, that's the name of the grand duke of the Frazier Principality."

"What has that fellow and even more to do with being called a prince, and with us?"

"Sorry again, I don't know the details, I only know that for a couple of years now that word has been spreading throughout the Kingdom."

"Calvinist... Huh?"

(Kurono once told me that those guys are dangerous to the Kingdom and to me, but he hasn't wanted to give me more details about it.)

Rei thought as he put his hand on his chin.

"Isn't there anything else you know?"

"... Oh! The prince and princess's tenth birthday has already passed, how was it could you tell me?"

"What do you mean tell you about it? We don't get invited anywhere. The only parties we go to are the one in the town in our territory, or the one in the neighboring territory."

"Hey, but you guys are the only family of dukes in the kingdom, plus all the important nobles were invited, including the Four Families."

"... I regret to say that we Redblade are not even considered to not even a letter of greeting for the birthday of any of our relatives living in the territory."

"Are you at odds with the royal family?"

Rei put his hand on his head after bowing it, in a lazy tone he replied.

"Who knows."

◇◇◇

"I'm hungry. haaah!"

Rei yawned due to hunger, but before he ate, he had to report to his father about the profits of his business.

He stopped at the door of the head of the house's office as he was talking to someone him.

"That's right my lord. All is going well."

"Umu, that's the way I like it."

His father was talking to someone.

"What's wrong Rei?"

"Nothing, dad is talking to him about business."

"Him?"

"Yes, my father's right hand man."

"Right hand you say!"

"Is something wrong with you?"

"Let me see him! Come in!"

"Well..."

As they entered the room, the two men became aware of his presence, one of them was the father, the other was a well-dressed man with slicked back hair, glasses and eyes closed like those of a toad.

"Good morning young Master, what brings you here?"

"Howdy Garreth, I came to brief my father on product sales."

(Garreth you said!)

Rei walked over and handed over the chest.

Garreth's closed eyes opened like saucers.

"Young Master, such an amount!"

"It's the month's earnings, it's little because it doesn't have much time since it was sold."

"Umu, that's a good amount for not even two weeks on the market, well done my son."

Garreth bowed and said.

"Young Master if I may, let me invest that amount in improving our territory."

"Why, isn't the territory better off?"

"No, no, no. The territory isn't close to being compared to the royal capital, is it duke-sama?"

"Garreth is right, in the few times I've been to the capital, I've noticed the difference between our territories. We are certainly a great difference in development."

"I see. Well, take it."

"Don't do it, Rei!"

"...?"

"Is something wrong?"

"No, here."

"I'm leaving."

Rei left the room.

◇◇◇

"What's wrong with you?"

Rei asked Kurono, and Kurono very emphatically said.

"Rei, you idiot! Why did you give him the chest?"

"What do you mean why? He's been my father's right hand man for years, for a commoner he's been a hard worker."

"You're assholes all of you!"

"Huh?"

Rei was shocked by Kurono's comment.

"Rei, that guy's a swindler, he's been stealing from you guys for years!"

"I beg your pardon!"

He couldn't believe what Kurono said.

"When he leaves the room, use open status on him and you'll see for yourself."

"W-Well..."

They waited for a while, and Garreth came out of the office.

He had the chest in his hands and a cheek-to-cheek smile on his mouth.

Rei was hiding near a vase.

He put his hand in position where Garreth's head was and said, "Open Status," and was shocked by what he saw.

"What!"

He was stunned by what he saw.

"It can't be..."

"Did you ever use it on him?"

"No..."

"What on earth has he been telling you?"

"... He said he was taking care of the paperwork and other annoying stuff."

"Have you seen the territory improved by him?"

"I've only been there once and they were building a bridge."

"Since when?"

"... Since five years they're still building it."

"... I'm not supposed to say anything else, right?"

Rei's expression was that of a very angry demon.

◇◇◇

"Where are we going young Master so late?"

Night fell, Garreth must be in his house, away from the other vassals in the territory.

Rei and Rose were using stealth to enter Garreth's dwelling domain, Rose could use it as Rei activated the ability for her to do so for a limited time.

Upon entering the dwelling which was a small mansion, they found guards patrolling.

This was odd to Rei as an official should not have guards in their home.

No matter who it was, this was odd for an official.

They went through various rooms looking for where Garreth is.

After a while, they found him in a small room relaxing with a device imported from the republic, a record player.

Sneaking in, they could see and hear what he was doing.

"Hahahahaha, you sure are a bunch of jerks Redblade."

(How did he say about us?)

Was what Rei was thinking.

Garreth was swirling his wine glass in a carefree manner.

"They really are idiots, they haven't realized that for years I've been ripping them off and only using 1% of what they've given me."

"Really the high ranking nobles are the biggest idiots! Especially that family!"

"It's the first time in my life I've ever seen so much crap together, hahaha! Best of all is that today, that idiot kid gave me a fortune!"

Garreth pulled out Rei's coin chest from a leather pouch.

"With this money, I'll finally be able to leave this dump, but before that I must buy my noble title."

The title of nobility is inherited, but at the same time it can be bought, it is thanks to the lack of allies or influential people for the royal palace.

Garreth would pull out the coins and with his eyes creepily wide, he kept telling more horrible things about his patrons.

"Once I have my noble title, I can say goodbye to this place."

"The best thing is that the Redblade will be punished for that event, this really is─ blehh!"

Rei was very angry at Garreth, he silenced the room as he taunted his family, before he could do anything...

"How dare you speak ill of your lords!"

Rose quickly reached behind her and placed the ribbon of her hair around Garreth's neck.

"Dare you not only speak ill of your lords, but also mock them and even blame them for your crimes! You're the worst kind of scum there could ever be!"

Her bright yellowish-green eyes showed an anger she had never felt before in her life.

The shade of her iris color was darkening, her mouth showed an expression of distaste for a ten-year-old girl.

"Rose, stop it."

"But Master, this guy─!"

"Let him go."

Seeing how serious her Master was, she released him.

The moment he was released, he started shouting for help.

"Guards, come quickly! Guards!"

"No one will come, Garreth."

He turned to see whose voice that was, he was surprised to see the one belonging.

"Young Master!!! What are you doing here!!!?"

"Cut the crap, no one will come to save you, let alone help you. You're on your own."

At first he was frightened, but that smile was erased by a wicked one.

"Don't think you've won, you fucking brat! An adult will never lose to a fucking brat like you!?"

"Rose, go."

"Roger!"

Rose who had calmed down, again showed that same face that a girl shouldn't show. She did parkour jumps to the couch, the nightstand, and the bookcase to be behind his head.

She used Garreth's long hair as a ribbon to choke him.

His eyes wide as saucers seemed to want to pop out of their sockets.

"... Mercy... please..."

Garreth was about to faint, Rose released him at Rei's command.

*Cough*

As he was touching for being about to suffocate, Rei asked him─

"Answer, what are you up to?"

"Brat... you don't know who you're messing with. There are very powerful people behind this hit, there's no way you can do anything, it's too late now."

"What hit?"

Garreth was taken aback by it.

"... Aren't you coming about tonight?"

"I don't understand what you're talking about? I don't care either, but that thing you say sounds like something bad for my house, so talk."

"Don't think I'll talk, I'm not afraid of some shitty brats─"

A loud bang sounded, Garreth had his face to the opposite side of the front. He wondered what happened.

Then he felt a warm sensation going down his sideburn.

"Huh?"

He touched himself to see that it was warm wet feeling, he was shocked and fear was marked in his eyes as he saw blood dripping down where his ear was.

Rose showed him with a smile his severed ear without a scratch.

She used a razor that Garreth had on the desk in his drawer.

"My ear! My ear! My ear! My eaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!"

"Rose, that was unnecessary."

"I apologize young Master, but this scum deserves the worst torture. Now, speak. Tell us what's what tonight."

Rose was approaching with the razor to Garreth, while Rei looked at her with a face that implied he didn't understand what was going on.

A scream approached was heard that night.

◇◇◇

*knock*

"Garreth-sama, I brought you your eight pm tea."

Said a servant who after knocking on the door, entered.

Upon doing so, he shouted as if he had seen the worst thing in this world.

"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

In front of the servant, Garreth's lifeless, skinless body hung from the chandelier.

The safe behind a family portrait was destroyed and emptied of all its contents.

There was also a letter that said he used magic on himself and that no one entered. That it was the method of atoning for his crimes.

◇◇◇

"There they are."

Rei and Rose found themselves hiding at the border of their territory.

Since it was nighttime, it was normal for a bit of fog to cover the surroundings.

They used stealth to hide and be in a position where they could not make noise when they stepped.

They observed a group of hooded men.

Group A were unloading some large bags, while group B were the men in the carriage.

The man from group B was talking to one of group A.

"The delivery this time was very dangerous, we had to stay in hiding for a week, I've never been through anything like this before, you know? The palace was really on our heels relentlessly."

"Is the delivery safe?"

"Of course. See for yourself."

The man held up a leather bag that had a blue mark all over it.

At that moment, the bag moved.

"It moved!?"

"What's in there for it to have moved?"

While they were wondering that, another unexpected event occurred.

"Noooooo! Mamaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, help!"

A boy in dirty clothes ran out of the carriage.

One of the men from group A saw him, ran after the crying child.

He used the sleeve of his sword and hit him, the boy fell unconscious.

"This is..."

Kurono who had been silent finally spoke.

"If Garreth was a swindler who stole from your family, this man is much worse. He's part of a network of kidnapping and selling children according to the game."

(I was actually surprised when I learned of this event, but I don't remember the uproar in the palace. Could it be something original to this world?)

"Rei, just watch and then you will act when I tell you to."

"..."

"Is something wrong?"

"They're done. Kidnapping is a serious crime, their families will be executed when their identities are known. The worst thing is that they use our territory to carry out their dirty deals, I don't like that."

(Says the one who wants to be a Cheat Lord... Oh!)

"Attentive Rei, it looks like they already finished the transaction."

The man from group A handed a black leather bag to the man from group B.

"Here's the payment."

"Thank you for it."

"Hehehehehe, we will be rich. The amount of money is more than last month."

"Off you go now, we must leave this."

"Okay, bye."

The men of group B left, while the one who looked like the head of group A said.

"You guys take this to the mansion. You must not waste time."

"That person will be angry."

"On the order!"

Half of the men in group A went a different way from the way they came according to the markings on the extra carriage they brought.

"Let's go back home."

"Understood."

The man took off his hood and Rei could see who it was.

"Barry!"

The chief of the knights, the man had trained Rei since he was a child.

Rei's face from how angry he was, was no longer that of a child but that of a demon.

"Another one who has fooled me again!"

◇◇◇

After a few hours of travel.

Barry and the others arrived at their secret base located outside the Redblade estate.

"It was a very tiring day. But the payoff this time is very big, hahaha."

"So you're betraying your master for a few coins, eh? Quite the mangy dog no doubt."

"...?"

They turned quickly to see who the owner of that mysterious voice was.

Sitting on a barrel in the middle of the darkness was Rei.

Barry acted normal as he didn't understand what was going on.

"What are you doing up at this hour, young Master?"

"Could it be that you went out for a walk?"

"If so, allow me to escort you back to the mansion."

"Stop this nonsense. I saw the whole thing, saw what you were doing with those kids in leather bags."

Barry's smile faded, both, he and the other men put their hands on their swords, their looks serious.

"You saw it all, didn't you?"

"Good. In that case we won't hold back. I've always hated you, you snotty little shit."

"Once I kill you, I'll make sure you get eaten by dogs─ no, I have a better idea, hahaha."

"I'll take you to ´that person´ to put you on display too."

All the traitorous knights drew their swords.

"The son of a duke will give a lot of money no doubt!"

"Get ready brat of─"

At that moment, the tops of all but Barry were detached from their bodies.

He belatedly realized what happened, a bead of cold sweat was running down his cheek.

"Huh? What was it─?"

"Now it's your turn."

Rei's hand glowed, and a gust of wind went straight to Barry's ankles.

"My legs! What the fuck happened to them! Uwaaah!"

"Shut up."

Rei stomped him in the face repeatedly.

"You dare to belittle us, insult us, but most of all me. Your future lord! Such disrespect is equivalent to absolute death with torture!"

His foot stopped, Barry's nose was shattered, much blood running down it.

"Answer me, or I will torture you in very horrible ways before I kill you."

"Where did those men take those leather bags?"

"No... I'll tell you─ poah!"

He kicked his face again, then stopped and used instant healing.

Barry's face and legs regenerated, then he cut them off again and stomped on his face again and repeated the same process for several minutes.

"Say it, or I'll break your face again and cut off your legs."

Barry's bloodied mouth moved slowly and he spoke an important name.

"Molly... Edmundfree... Countess Molly... Edmundfree."

"I know her." Rei said as he wiped his shoe.

"She is a woman who doesn't get along with my mother as my mother is beautiful and she is a very ugly old hag."

"Rose."

"Yes."

Rose came in with a rope.

"Take care of that guy. Then tell father to call the capital forces who are near here."

"And you Master?"

"I'll go take care of that old hag."

"Aye aye, take care Master."

"Hmph!"

Rei looked at Rose with a confidence worthy of an arrogant man.

"This problem is between territories, there's only one choice to make here."

Rei rose up due to levitation magic.

Rose waved goodbye to him, then her smile changed to a dark one.

"Now, how should I deal with you, maybe take you to wild dogs or feed you to the monsters or maybe chop you into pieces while you're still alive?"

"No... stay away..."

"Please... forgive me..."

Rose's attitude was that of a very charming submissive girl, but this Rose is not the same Rose from the game. All because of Rei's handiwork.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

A dry sound was heard for several minutes.

◇◇◇

In a mansion far from the border territory with the Redblade, a secret meeting was taking place.

Some carriages were stopping at the foot of the entrance, leaving their masters who were wearing a mask.

The carriages returned the way they came, a man knocked three times on the door in musical rhythm. A part of the door opened and a person peeked out.

"Password?"

"The sweetest honey is that which is not yet ripe enough."

"Password correct."

The door opened and the man stepped inside.

Once inside, he watched as another group of well-dressed men like himself were wearing masks.

"It's a pleasant surprise to see you here."

"Same here."

"Didn't you say last time that you couldn't make it for the next auction?"

"Yes. It's just that work has me very stressed and I want to relax."

"Ohoho. We're the same way."

"By the way, isn't madam here? I'd like to say hello to her."

"I haven't seen her, but she must be getting the goods ready."

"How nice. I'm anxious to see the pets she got."

◇◇◇

"Hurry quickly, the auction will soon begin!"

Shouted to the servants a well-dressed woman, elegant, first-class jewelry, but with a frightening face with a long nose and a mole on her cheek.

She was Countess Molly Edmundfree.

A villain of this game, a woman of vulgar origin, married thanks to her charms to a good man. Whom, she killed after having made him leave everything to her name.

As she grew older, she became older and uglier.

For that reason, she sowed hatred and jealousy to young and beautiful girls.

That is why they are all here today. For her services that no one else can provide.

"I want my mom!"

"I want to go home, uwaaah!"

"I'll be good, I swear! I'll never eat my cake before dinner again!"

Boys and girls from different families, whether of commoner or baronial origin, were abducted every new moon.

The palace did not know their meaning, they thought the children escaped since they were from the farthest parts of the capital or from noblemen's territories.

To Molly, the children were nothing more than an article for sale and purchase.

"She's missing a tooth, put regular clothes and bleach on her."

"This child got measles, put some fancy third rate clothes on her."

"Oh no, but what happened to you. You'll go first."

She would inspect the children and tell the servants who dressed them in the best clothes.

This was an illegal slave auction.

An event removed from the game as beta testers felt disgusted by the theming. Even if the game was a +18. There were things they couldn't put in.

Molly's eyes were shocked at the sight of a little girl. Jealousy and rage gnawed at her insides.

"... This little pest has a unique beauty. Give her the fanciest top-notch dress we have. She'll come out on top in the end!"

"Now then. I'll be off to greet the guests."

"If you delay, even for a minute, your families will be part of the next auction!"

She left the dressing room after saying that.

◇◇◇

"So that's the place."

Rei arrived after a few minutes of flying to the address Barry told him.

When he arrived, he noticed that there were guards, he activated stealth so they wouldn't notice him.

He kept walking along the roof until he got down to a window.

He couldn't hear what the man the light was pointed at was saying, so he activated a new cheat ability.

"Super Hearing."

Now he could hear what he was saying.

◇◇◇

"Gentlemen from different places! It's my pleasure to welcome you to this auction held once every four months!"

"We will proceed to bring in the first merchandise."

The light shone to the lower left section, from which a boy emerged.

"His name is Maurice, he's eight years old, and he's missing a tooth."

"How much are you offering? The starting price is fifteen gold coins."

"Sixteen gold coins."

"Twenty gold coins."

"Will no one give more?"

"The final price is twenty gold coins. Sold to pallet lord #27."

"What is this place?"

Said Rei who didn't understand what this was about.

"Well, next are the twins Patrice and Morris. Their age is─"

◇◇◇

And so the minutes passed until it became an hour.

The auction was almost over.

Rei was furious.

The children were being sold like cattle.

Finally, the last sale came.

"This ends the auction."

"Please admire her!"

A beautiful girl in a blue dress walked in.

She was frightened, the trembling of her body noticeable from afar. She wanted to cry, but was holding back the urge to do so.

"Very well, as you can observe, she is a girl with unimaginable beauty. We started the bidding after revealing her name, so─"

"One hundred gold coins!"

"...!"

"I bid two hundred!"

"I three hundred!"

"Five hundred!"

The little girl was so frightened to see the men wanting to buy her. At this point, tears were streaming down her cheeks.

Molly was in her box watching everything.

"Hmph. It looks like today's auction will be successful. The money I'll make here will be enough for them to give me the title of marquise, ohohohoho."

*Broken window*

"What was that?"

The window shattered, something broke through it and fell in the middle.

It was Reidel.

Who was very angry.

"You bastards, you make the nobles look bad."

"Who is that child?"

"How did he get in?"

"He's my taste, I want him."

Rei raised his hand and pointed it at some men.

"Disappear, you pests."

"Black Bullet."

The tops of some men disappeared.

He turned to look at the girl to say.

"Get lost from here. Unless you want to see this."

She ran off the way she came out.

Some guards approached pointing their swords at Rei.

"Don't move you fucker!"

"How did he get in here?"

"Never mind, kill him!"

The guards approached, Rei again waved his hand like a whip.

"Cutting Wind."

The gust of wind cut through the guards like butter.

Then... Rei began a carnage.

◇◇◇

"W-what's going on?"

Molly watched from her box as Rei mercilessly slaughtered nobles and knights.

Some she burned, some she drowned, and some she threw a wall over.

Many tried to escape, but a wall of earth was behind the gates.

Molly watched this scene in horror, she said to the servant at her side...

"Call the guards outside!"

"That's impossible Madame, the windows and doors are sealed, we can't call for help. In fact, I don't think they can even hear the screams despite banging on the ports as well."

She flashed her white teeth in discomfort.

"In that case take me to the secret part to escape from here!"

"I refuse to die."

Molly stood up and the servant led her to a room.

◇◇◇

"Forgive me! Ahh─"

"I don't want to die."

"I'll give you all the money you want! Just let me live─"

Rei didn't care about the money or anything offered to him, he just wanted to cut off their heads.

"A noble should be a person who proves to the commoners that he is elected to rule their territory. You are just trash who think you are nobles, that you want to behave as such is only an insult to me."

"If you really are, die with your heads held high! Hahaha."

Once he finished with the main hall, he headed to other rooms.

◇◇◇

"What's taking you so long?"

Molly said to the servant.

"I-I´m doing it, but the door won't open."

"I don't care, hurry up!"

A secret door was hidden behind a bookcase.

"So you're the last one, huh?"

A voice came from behind her.

The servant turned around first, and looked at Rei with blood on her body.

"Beat it."

The servant ran off after seeing Rei.

Molly was left alone, she was shaking.

"What do you want, do you want money?"

"I'll give you all the money you want, just let me go, okay?"

"Of course I'll let you go."

A smile showed on her face Molly.

"But to the other world."

Which was wiped off by hearing that.

She grabbed a cane and ran in Rei's direction.

"You fucking brat! Don't think you're a big deal!"

She came closer and her hands disappeared.

"My hands, uwaah!"

Rei gave her a disappointed look.

"That's all you've got? Pathetic. You brag so much and you shut up right away."

With no hands, Molly cried because she could see the bone and flesh of her limbs.

Rei reached over and put his hand on her head.

"They weren't a threat against me."

A dry sound was heard.

◇◇◇

"Now, what do I do with you?"

The nobles and guards were executed.

The only ones left were the children and servants.

Rei gathered them all in a room that is not dirty.

"Umm, to get them out of here. It would be troublesome to fly them out one by one."

"So I'll do this."

He put his hands on the floor and a magic circle began to glow.

"You're lucky I've been practicing this for years. Otherwise, you would have ended up like the frogs I experimented on."

He activated one of the most mythical cheat abilities of all.

"Teleportation."

Rei and the others inside the magic circle disappeared and after a while appeared near the location where Rose and some knights were waiting.

Upon arrival, the servants and children began to vomit.

"This is the first time they have experienced this, is vomiting normal."

"More importantly, Rose, did you bring them?"

"Yes, the knights from the capital are coming, I came with the knights from the duchy."

"Well, mission accomplished. I eliminated the pests that were near our lands."

"The Master is quite a virtuous lord."

"No. I'm a future Cheat Lord, make no mistake."

"Sure, fufufu."

"Err, sorry."

Rei and Rose turned at the timid voice of a girl.

She was trembling.

"Ma- May I know your name?"

"Huh? What for or what?"

"Master, it's polite to know your savior's name."

"Ehh, how boring."

He placed his hands behind his head and said.

"Rei. Reidel Redblade, a pleasure."

"Ah. Thank you so much for saving us, Reidel-sama! My name is..."

"Forget it."

"I don't care, we won't see each other again anyway."

After saying those words, he turned around and left.

◇◇◇

After a while of Rei and Rose leaving, the capital's cavalry arrived.

"Princess!"

"Princess Elicia! Are you all right?"

The knights arrested the servants who without resistance revealed that they were being threatened by the countess.

The princess, a beautiful girl with glowing eyes. She was looking in the direction where Rei left with moist eyes.

"My... prince."