Black Rattan House (2/2), Mespel Family

At the end of the black market was a mansion in 10,000 square feet of area. 

Inside the mansion's upper floor was an office room where a man looking in his thirties with a scar on his face and dark blond hair sat behind a table on his comfortable chair—Natan Zor, the leader of Black Rattan House.

Natan was talking with two other men who sat before them. Those two men were wearing gray suits with black ties. One was a young man in his mid-twenties, and another was a middle-aged man, both black-haired.

"Three girls above twenty and below twenty-five with no affinity…Alright, I'll arrange it," Natan said with a nod. 

"How many days will it take?" the middle-aged man asked.

Natan grinned and showed his index finger. "One."

"They better not give us any trouble even if they disappear," the young man said, his expression stoic.

"No worries," Natan leaned back on his chair with a carefree smile. "As for the pri-"

*Trink…*

Natan's words were interrupted by a phone call as he picked up a crystal banana on his table that rested on a stand and picked it up before putting it at his left ear.

"What's up, Brim?"

[ Brim: Boss, That baldie brought so- Arghhh! ]

*Boom!*

The three of them stood up in shock upon hearing a loud explosion.

"What's going on?" the middle-aged asked, his brows creased.

Mana whirled around him and the young man.

"I don't know," Natan said with a dark expression as he rushed to the window and looked outside. Instantly, his gaze caught a pair of ruby eyes looking at him.

"So he is there," Arlott said as he stood on the lawn outside of the mansion. 

"What are you planning to do, Arlott?" Luna asked.

"I heard many bad things about this Black Rattan House," Iris said, slightly stiff. She knew that she was no match for that man who arrived at the window.

"Relax, girls," Arlott chuckled and waved his hand, putting Iris and Luna into a dark brown crystal barrier but allowing them to see outside from inside.

"No one here can break this barrier, so you are safe," Arlott said before the wind gathered around him and formed a pair of faint cyan-green wings at his back as he swiftly flew up and floated before the window.

Natan grunted and threw a punch coated with flame towards Arlott, but before his punch could reach him, he felt a sudden jolt to his body, and his world turned upside down.

When he regained his vision properly, he was on the ground outside, with both of his knees crushed.

"Arghhhhh!!" 

What happened was that Arlott had swiftly grabbed Natan's head with his superior physical prowess and slapped his head to make him dizzy before crushing both of his knees with two crystal shards. Lastly, he simply used the wind to pull him and throw him down.

"Now then, who are you two?" Arlott asked as he faced the father-son duo after entering the office room.

"I am from the Mespel family!" the middle-aged man quickly answered while sweating bullets. Giving his family name meant that he might not need to be involved in trouble.

[I sense a Devil's aura in them.] Laverna's surprise voice rang in Arlott's head.

"Mespel? Ah, a hundred nobilities," Arott laughed out loud while he answered Laverna. 'They were involved in some devil summoning when I was alive and were stripped of their family status as one of the hundred ancient families.'

[Well, It seems that they haven't stopped obtaining powers from devils. This is a good thing, Arlott. You have to get their secrets.]

'It seems that you have a plan.'

[Yep. Look forward to it.]

"Who the hell are YOU?" the young man in his twenties asked, his fists coated in blue flames.

"Shut up," the middle-aged man glared at his son before he forced a smile at Arlott, "So you know Mespel is an ancient family. It seems that you are someone renowned."

"Do I look like I am someone renowned?" Arlott chuckled as he pointed his finger at himself. "I may look like I am in my early twenties with my height and body, but I am just a eighteen-year-old kid."

"So, what do you want?" the middle-aged asked in nervousness.

'Why the fuck is Dad scared? It's not like he is weaker than Natan,' the young man thought, slightly angry at his father's behavior.

"I don't want anything from you," Arlott stepped to the side, away from the broken window, and said with a smile, "How could I dare to do anything to the Mespel family? I might a get a devil behind me."

When Arlott uttered the word 'Devil,' both father and son stiffened.

"So, we can leave?" the middle-aged man hesitantly asked.

"No," Arlott smiled. "Go outside and stand beside Natan."

"Let's go," the middle-aged man grabbed his son's hand and quickly flew through the window by conjuring a pair of black feathered wings and left the window before standing beside Natan.

Meanwhile, Arlott pointed his finger on the floor as it turned before a condensed flame laser shot and made a circular cut before pulling out the slab. 

In the room below, there were around fifty kids under fifteen years old held captive.

'Are they good enough?'

[Yep, we just need ten of them, and I've marked them. Also, I sensed a few black souls in the mansion. Let's get them for the resource.]

…

"Dad! Why the fuck are we listening to him?" the young man questioned furiously.

"Because Leiro told me to," the middle-aged man said, his expression dark. "Leiro told me not to mess with that young man, or we won't even know how we'll die."

"W-what?" the young man was shocked. "Leiro did? N-No way…."

"You think I am joking, you dumbass?" the middle-aged angrily slapped his son's face. He was already stressed upon encountering this strange trouble. After all, Leiro was a Devil contracted to him, and Leiro was way more powerful than him, but even Leiro was scared upon seeing Arlott and told him to act servile against Arlott.

Beside them, Natan lay unconscious on the ground, but he woke up a second later, and his eyes opened.

"W-who are you…what do you want?" Natan asked with heavy breathing, his mind still rattled. 

Coincidentally, Arlott was also finished with the harvest inside as he arrived before the trio.

Luna and Iris just silently watched from inside the barrier while talking to each other and wondering what had happened.

"What I want is your soul, a black soul that revels without guilt," Arlott grinned as a fishing rod appeared in Arlott's hand. It was a pale, dark blue ghostly fishing rod, and the moment it appeared, the middle-aged man started trembling.

"Soul?" Natan confusedly uttered before the fishing rod's hook entered Natan's head, causing his eyes to turn white.

A second later, Arlott pulled the hook as Natan's soul came out in the form of a faint white blob.

[Good. Now, we have enough souls for the project. But there's a change now that we have this Mespel family. Let's bait a devil as well. In the end, Luna and Iris will gain more than we initially planned.]

'Sounds fun.'