Settling Business

Vol 3. - Chapter 13 - Settling Business

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Hearing the old man mention his names, Vlad began laughing coldly, asking him in a sarcastic manner.

"Old man, aren't you bored of selling poor children to their end?"

"Aren't you here to kill me, child?" asked Darell, giving Mathias a smile, which looked rather wicked combined with his wrinkled face.

"Depends on my mood, since I am a moody person. Also, from the way you blocked my willpower you aren't someone to go down so fast."

"I see, then what do you want from me? An apology for selling you into slavery?" asked Darell with a chuckle, walking toward another part of the building, followed by Vlad, welcoming him to take a seat in what seemed to be a meeting room.

"Eight years have passed since that time. At first, I wanted to kill you for everything that I suffered in that mining camp, but with the years I spent there, and the others I spent outside of captivity, my rage settled down. It is truly as you said, you gave me the chance of becoming who I am now. Prince of Kaysang, future monarch of Kaysang."

"Bahaha, would you believe me, I don't care about who you are now. How many people have I not seen? From the king of pirates, Gol. D. Roger, to every single Sea Emperor, and also the Admirals and World Government Agents. Ahh, those are such good memories of my times with Captain Shiki, now he probably rots in Impel Down lowest level."

"Seems like fun, encountering all those people." said Vlad casually, not interested in the people he mentioned, yet the old man wasn't done, turning melancholic and starting telling some stories about his wars with the Pirate King.

It was quite overdramatic, and from how things sounded to Vlad, the old man's accomplishments were boosted, nevertheless, he left room for believing the old man. Darell told about lots of places he visited, and the crimes he committed, as if they were badges of honor to this villainous old man.

"And, even after you passed your prime and turned into an old bag, you continue with your antics. Rather, downscaled compared to the shit you have told me, does it bring some satisfaction seeing people suffer?"

"Bahaha, I am just an old man now, what satisfaction could I get when I await my end. However, I will tell you why I do this since you are the only child, I sold that I see returning to me alive."

"Sure, go on."

"First let me tell you something about me. I was born in this kingdom, in Sagletius, the Forsaken District, I lived in that chaos and saw the death of my family, killed by some criminals, to me joining the syndicates, and later at the first chance I had, journeying on the sea, exploring out, trying to make a living out of piracy. There, I met Shiki who was chasing after Roger, trying to avenge one of his many losses, that's when I joined him."

Such was the start of the old man's life story, someone of low origins, who suffered a lot in his life and constantly choosing the worst paths in life, living on with these circumstances.

Darell didn't go much into details, only creating an image to Vlad about who he was, and why he was doing what he was doing, until Vlad who had contemplated on the story, mentioned.

"This is the reason you are doing this dark trade? Hahaha, isn't it noble and twisted at the same time? To think you would be thinking of such a thing, you fill the spot of distributor for those slaves captured by the pirates in the South Sea and all over the world, just to give them a chance at life." laughed Vlad in a hearty manner, as if he started showing his twisted side.

"Bahaha, no comment. I don't have to explain my actions to anyone, only God can judge me."

"Yea, whatever with your God. What you tell me is that if I kill you, I would destroy the wheel keeping things stable in South Blue? Really now? Would the slavers be upset that they no longer can make money? I can simply kill all of them and end the problem."

"BAHAHAHA, you wish you could put an end to those bastards capturing slaves? Will you kill Charlotte Linlin? Will you kill Kaido? Will you kill the Celestial Nobles? Stop lying to yourself kid, you are just a nobody of the South Blue, only with this decayed kingdom holding some history and prestige. The real monsters of this world can kill you instantly once you step on their feet and insult them, so you better don't mess about.

When you kill me, probably at first there will be no reaction, but when people start finding there are no more slaves for their kingdoms, territories, businesses, or pleasures, guess what kid, more brokers like me will appear on the underworld market to fill the void spot."

Vlad looked at Darell with his eyes shifting to an abyssal color, and with a cold composed voice, no longer laughing, he told the old man something that scared him a bit, after all these years, and seeing all sort of messed up things, his skin still got goosebumps.

"There's so much to life that ignorant fools don't understand, and many like you underestimate my capabilities to adapt and fight back. You say I am not able to kill such people? I totally agree with you, as I am I can't kill them, but who would stop me from ending them in 10 years? 20 years? 30 years? My body is still young, my powers are still sprouting, and my control over the Haki is as insignificant as an amateurish child.

My feelings and instinct are enough to tell me that I can't match them right now, but once I have mastered everything about my body, powers and self, no one will stop me. Only time itself will be my undoing."

Darell saw from Vlad's body the willpower he was releasing unconscious, having an intense blood-dark color, and whenever they would hit him, he was experiencing a weird sentiment of chaos and madness.

'This kid is a legit monster, just like the ones Captain fought in the past. He doesn't plan to play the short game, instead is conscious of his abilities and is willing to wait before showing his fangs to the world. Bahaha, it would be fun to see what the future of this decayed country would be when this little monster grows older.'

"You got some potential brat. Your speech even made this old man feel something in the 16 years since Shiki's capture." said Darell with some theatrical flavour before continuing, with a deal to Vlad.

"Let's do this brat, I've read the news about you and it seems you took interest in raising the population of this kingdom, correct? I can help you out with this problem of yours, and start getting all the slaves from the underworld market in South Blue to you."

"Hmph, why would you even bother helping me out? Sure to backstab me by approaching me and getting into my good side." questioned Vlad, finding such proposal out of place.

"Not at all, I just want to give you some kids and all sorts of people to see how this kingdom would look in your hands. A hobby of sorts. Also, with age I started getting tired of dealing with all the logistics and flux of people getting on my hands, organizing auctions, changing places to avoid annoying people."

"What an old bastard, you want to use me and soil my hands in this dirty business?"

"Tsk, annoying kid, don't be stubborn. Haven't I told you, I am doing this to give unfortunate souls a chance at a future, something I didn't have? Them landing in your hand would be a blessing in disguise. You can do whatever, send them free for them to return to their homes, integrate them in your kingdom, keep them as slaves and so on. I really don't care, as the mechanism works without breaking and everyone is satisfied." added Darell, trying to explain to Vlad his intent, lowering his alertness on him.

"Price?" asked Vlad, aware that this offer wasn't free, coming from Darell's "magnanimous" heart.

"All batches landing on my hand, I will give them to you at a 25% discount."

"50% discount and not cutting your head off." said Vlad in a cold voice gazing straight at the old man's brown eyes.

"Heh, not cutting my head off? Such a unique offer. Let's go with 35%"

"40% and I will not stick my nose in your business."

The old man sighed, and just nodded his head, extending his hand to seal the deal, to which Vlad returned the gesture, making the old man sweat a bit, keeping his face straight while Vlad was about to break his bones.

"Deal, child. You better don't throw your tantrums around with me."

Sealing his deal with the old man, he broke the handshake, leaving the old man look at his hand that was slightly purple, and returning back to his seat, taking a relaxed stance, he mentioned.

"I want all the children inside your building to be sent to Sol without even a single scratch on them, or sign of malnutrition. Regardless of their race or place of origin, I will take them all. Got it, old man?"

"If I told you we got a deal, that will just be me delivering the goods. Hehe, anything else, young master? We squashed the past enmity with this partnership."

"Don't get ahead of yourself. Apart from this, I want you to give me a list with all your clients, and lastly two questions for you."

"Sorry, but I can't give you that list of clients, it is not in the trade to give away your clients."

"Old man, what I want to do with those people is to release the slaves they bought. Even if I don't get that list, I would still achieve that target, but it would be forceful. My Black Army is not something some rich guys can attempt to stop."

"Only the ones from the Kaysang Kingdom. The rest of the people I have been doing business with, are none of your concern."

"Sounds good with me."

"What about those questions, what else do you want?"

"Well, first I was curious about the situation of this city and how it turned the way it got." asked Vlad, in a detached manner, to which the old man nodded his head calmly, responding without minding the question.

"This is the doing of Count Grailly suppressing his people, taxing the people until they dried down. That fool killed off most of the opposition to his rule, and as such, all the innovative people either got killed or left this place for Valent or Alderhine, only the cowards remained here, suffering and dying off like fish suffering from a drying lake."

"Sigh, such greedy and incompetent people. I really don't have another word to call them. This greed will be their undoing in the end because they already stepped on my head with their act of killing off my citizens." remarked Vlad to which Darell shrugged his shoulders, noting something from his interaction with Count Grailly.

"I don't care about your citizens that much, I've had my fair share of interactions with the people of this county, and they are just sheep's without will to fight back against the fate striking them. Regardless, from my own point of view, my partnership with Grailly was decent at best. He even sold me this land for auction at half the price, a really good person, haha." laughed Darell when recollecting about his interaction with Count Grailly.

"I see, last question before I leave. Do you know who the one called Joker in the underworld circles is."

"Kid, do you really look forward to killing yourself or something? Either way, maybe getting killed would be better for me and my peace. Listen, since I am in good mood, I will tell you something. I don't know his real identity, just that this guy is a really influential broker dealing with all sorts of illegal goods. From the way he managed to bypass the controls of the Marines in order to bring his goods to all places of the world, he has high connections in the Marine Echelons."

"Beside this, I will give you a lead, a small detail I managed to pick from the list of goods that guy trades in the Underworld Market, he got his hands on 'Adam Wood' supply. That wood comes from the New World. Whoever has ships built by that wood, they are legit people who don't mess around."

Hearing what the old man had to share with him, he took it with some grain of salt, not fully believing, yet not doubting the information, and after this getting from his seat, Vlad walked to where the kids were placed, all blindfolded similar to how he was.

On his way to this room, the guards and staff of this auction house were trembling in fear when Vlad walked past them, not even wishing to gaze at the cold eyes of the young man, as he walked together with Darell.

"Let them sleep. They suffered plenty in their little life. Don't forget what I told you old man, not even a scratch on them. Better tell this to the ones watching them, or something worse will happen to them."

The sound of saliva being gulped echoed in the building, with everyone in the house being able to hear Vlad's voice that wasn't suppressed, being spread out by his dark energy which amplified the fear in their hearts established by his [Conqueror's].

"Aye kid, I will remind those useless guys not to mess with my goods and business. Haha, otherwise this old man will have to escape."

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After one hour he talked with Darell, settling down his business with Darell and successfully not killing anyone inside the building, he walked out of the building and from the moment he got out and went with the old forested path, beasts would start targeting him.

Gazing coldly at these beasts who clearly lacked fear or any primal instincts, from his hand a [Blood Sword] the size of Nemesis, his Longsword Heirloom, he walked casually and the moment the beasts would lunge, clawing him, a blood path would ensue.

"Insignificant animals. Even wild animals know to run when faced with a monster." commented Vlad after he cleaved apart all the beasts that wanted to kill him.

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Nonetheless, far away from the direction of the mansion, there was one person watching Vlad slay those beasts, Darell himself, who was remarking on his fighting skills.

"The boy is good with the sword, he didn't even pull his real sword, instead used his devil powers. So his nickname matches with the devil power, no wonder those nobles were all shitting themselves when the boy was mentioned."

"I should start preparing the kids on their journey to Sagletius and fish out other captured people from those sea sharks."

Returning back to the building, he instructed his staff and guards how to behave and how to handle the kids, offering them more food, and starting their preparations to take them to Sagletius.

There was not even a voice of displeasure, visibly affected by their encounter with Vlad, and as such when the little kids in the room that went to sleep after being touched by Vlad's conqueror's, awake slowly.

"What happened, did those bastards hit us again behind our backs?" inquired one of the children who woke among the first kids, where responses followed suit from the others who woke up.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH YOU LITTLE BUGGERS!" shouted one of the staff members, turning this room silent, giving the kids a scare, with the weaker ones trembling in fear, even crying and pissing themselves.

"Good, I got good news for you little cursed fucks. Someone will buy you ahead of time, so when we take you out from this place, be good and listen to us and you will be fine."

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Vlad who arrived inside the city used his blood powers to find where Robert was, thanks to a vial he gave him with [Primordial Blood] and soon reached a tavern that was still open looking rather clean and maintained compared to the rest of the buildings of this city.

Getting inside, he could see some people by the counter talking with the innkeeper, among them being Robert who was listening to them talking.

"Young man, we can't do anything about this situation. We revolted at first, but the Count brought his guards and slaughtered us, going as far as taking revenge on our families, taking everything from us. That's the reality of Grailline, the remaining ones are just here trying to support our old parents, and those who have no other place to go." said one middle-aged man at the table, having a large scar on his face, and when they heard the door of the tavern being opened by Vlad, they greeted him.

"Welcome. You should be the person this young man mentioned? Vlad? Here, take a seat, and drink something."

"Thanks, but no need. Can someone tell me how many inhabitants this city still has?"

"Huh, this is quite the awkward question. Boss, any idea, you are the one keeping account of the deaths of people and helping out around those who don't have what to eat." asked another guy the innkeeper who looked at them with a sad expression.

"Let me get my notebook since I don't even wish to remember that number." responded the innkeeper who turned from the counter to walk to his drinking shelves, opening a cabinet, taking a notebook from there and passing it to Vlad who took a seat by the counter row seat.

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[Year 1516 Month of April - There's only 1500 people inside the city] (A/N: This note was taken one month ago, and this date should also answer your questions about the timeline, cannon starts at 1522, so 6 more years to go)

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Looking up at the dates, and years, he could see that from the year 1497 things turned worse and worse, which made him believe that from how the city looked to be having 35.000 people, a decent number for a provincial city, turned into a ghost city when the year the Royal Family had its worse year by far, the year of the Bloody Massacre was 1497.

"That's how things are in this city, young man. We really can't do much with the number of people willing to fight. My scars tell from experience there's no way to win against them, even when those guards come from the castle to raid us, we can only grit our teeth and let them do as they please."

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Nodding his head, Vlad soon could hear the screams of people, mostly women, and the maniacal laughter of some men who were shouting all short of profanities. The middle-aged man with heavy scars on his face, placed his hand on his sword hilt telling Vlad and Robert in a respectful manner.

"You two step back, those bastards are once again raiding the city, this has been the 6 time already, each day one raid happened."

Vlad listened but didn't care much, turning his body toward the entrance of the tavern, and with the extended hand, a group of 10 guys wearing armor and being armed, barged in the tavern.

"WE RETURNED YOU SHEEPS. NEW ORDERS FROM THE CAPTAIN, TWO BARRELS OF STRONG SPIRIT AND YOU WILL LIVE!"

"Sure, just don't do something stupid and calm down." said the innkeeper trying to act fast, and not anger those armored guys.

"RIGHT NOW! THIS IS AN ORDER YOU DUMB SHEEP!"

Yet before they knew it, ten stakes flew from Vlad's hand, piercing their hearts, and pinning them on the ground outside, and magically being turned vertically, with their guts and blood painting the mud ground.

"Young master what have you done??"

"Nothing much, just sent to hell some rats. Let's go little Robert, little Aerius, I already made my mind on this case, the judgment is. Total Annihilation. All the Grailly House will be wiped out from this land starting this day.

By my Royal Rights to pass judgment on these lands as I see fit, I, Vermilion Zagreus Vlad, deem House Grailly unworthy of their status as nobles and even citizens of Kaysang."

"Finally, I got sick of seeing those uncles being so scared to even talk about their situation." said Robert, placing his hand on his longsword.

The people in the tavern were shocked to hear Vlad say such words, and they still believed he was an adventurer who got curious about their cases, trying to be a hero like in the fantasy stories they used to hear when young.

"Young man, please don't do something stupid. There are 3500 armed guards stationed inside the castle."

"Well, well, don't we have some war deserters on our hands. They try to boss around this place thinking my army will not get to them? Hmph, well bad luck, their commander is here, ready to take care of business. You people remain here, and protect yourselves, in case some rat escapes my eyes."

"Take care you guys and don't worry about us, we are strong." called out Aerius who got off Robert's head starting to fly like an eagle, ascending and looking at the situation.

His golden eyes and keen hearing heard the cry of women, and noticed down a street how one group of 4 guys tried to r@pe a young woman in her twenties, crying her soul off, screaming for help.

"No one will help you Sheep. You got abandoned by God and by the Count."

"She is not abandoned by the Ruler of this country, you insects."

Hearing Aerius' voice, they turned around to look at the street, but they failed to check the sky, where Aerius impaled using his sharp beak, exiting his heart, and following a surprising attack, cleaving the heads of the guards using his sharp talons.

"You … Are you the Sky Guardian, Ziz? Are the legends really true?"

"Hehe, that's right girl. Just that I don't remember much about myself, but this desire of wanting to protect you people is still there inside me. It is quite weird even to me." said Aerius gazing with gentle eyes at the woman who barely had some clothes on her.

Once the guards who heard the sound of conflict, got to see Aerius and the dead bodies of their own comrades, they charged directly at the gryphon.

"Ahhh, Sky Guardian, be careful those evil people are dangerous."

"Don't worry, human, I used to be called a God for a reason. [Sky Domination]"

As Aerius said that he ascended in the skies enveloping the guards in an air pressure chamber that dropped them on the ground, soon raining down windblades that cleaved them apart.

"Fuck, I got excited and forgot I was still weakened by the fight with the Bearman." said Aerius who felt his body going weak, dropping from the sky, yet his fall was saved by the woman who took him in her arms, holding him to her chest.

"Are you alright, Lord Ziz? Have you got hurt somewhere?"

"I am fine, just go somewhere and hide, I just got over-excited and used some powers I shouldn't have. Right, another thing, human girl, I am called Aerius, not Ziz. Ziz is just the story those guys gave me when they wrote the story."

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A/N: How was the reunion with Darell, disappointing. Should he really have killed him as he wanted when he was just reborn in this world? I don't know the right answer, I've seen some comments about wanting Vlad to kill people around, but does it really follows his established personality from all these chapters to go around killing people without justification?

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As for now, he has all justifications, and morality by his side in passing judgment on those bastards and defectors.

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Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and still remain present and comment something lol, it will not break your fingers to type something I assure you.

Also, don't forget to vote. This is the 4th chapter in a row updated. By the way, there's also a discord server, don't forget of that too.