Ascension Rebirth - The corporate demon

CHAPTER VI

PART ONE

Special Agent Morgant Fallon here.

I've successfully infiltrated the enemy strong hold.

'Good work, Special Agent~ proceed to phase 2.'

Roger that, moving onto phase 2.

'God Speed.'

Hmm? Who was I talking to? Well, no one in particular I was just a little bored at how everything was going according to plan. This Duke was much stupider than you'd think; why would you listen to what a kid would say?

Was he really the one in charge of internal affairs? If we had this kind of man in our company he'd be cut almost immediately.

Regardless, because of that I was able to successfully enter the underground dungeon. By the way, anyone who calls their prison a 'dungeon' really needs a good slap.

My hands and legs were bound.

I was lying down on what seemed like concrete, but it was rather moist.

I could hear the sound of water dripping from the distance and because of how this room was made I could hear the echo as well. I'm pretty sure it was unintentional but it was really effective at cutting down the prisoner's mental points.

My vision was obscured by the darkness; I could only see about 1 meter ahead. At least put light torches or something.

I was left alone in this darkness.

No, I guess that wasn't quite true. There was someone else here behind me which I've yet to interact with. Still, to be alone with a girl in a room, oh how tense!

Just kidding.

"U-Ummm, who are you?"

It was the voice of a young girl, well of course it was. It was Elise Noire.

"Elise Noire?"

I asked just to make sure. God forbid that man to have more than one prisoner. Actually I wouldn't be surprised if he was keeping numerous people underground.

"Y,yes, how did- you know my name?"

Well that's because I'm here to save you, though I wonder if that's something I should say straight out? I feel like I can get more mileage from her if I say that I was also captured. You know like a sort of kinship.

Ah heck, I think I'm thinking too much into this with useless psychology. She's only a small child, I should just get to straight to the point. Oh great now I'm thinking like the Duke, did his nasty attitude rub off on my somehow?

Well, I doubt this child who has been here for a few days to have much mental ability left to discern such things.

"Yes you see I'm what you humans call god."

"G-God?"

"That's right, I'm here to save you."

"W-What does god want with me?"

Oi, why are you scared of god? I just said I wanted to save you.

"Just a second these shackles are really unaccommodating."

"?"

[Decay].

These cuffs weren't exactly brand name models so they were easily destroyed by my skills. It was so effective there was nothing left of the cuffs except dust.

[Decay has levelled up!]

A familiar UI box appears. I'm grateful for it for informing me but now wasn't the time.

Now then, I took a few steps towards Elise Noire to see her properly.

I heard that fire mages are able to use a spell called [Magic Light] to create artificial light in such situations but unfortunately for me I wasn't able to use magic.

I mean, I know right? I'm in a world full of magic and monsters and I can't use magic.

Well, I can use 'monsters' so I guess it's a fair trade?

Anyway, Elise Noire was in a pitiable situation. Since she was the daughter of a Duke she would have grown up wearing lavishing and expensive clothes. Now all that's on her back was just tattered rags.

How sad.

Her arms and legs were bound by shackles just like I was.

Her hair was unkempt and I could see bags forming under her eyes.

'Are you alright?'- I guess I shouldn't ask something like that.

"G-God is small."

"How rude."

"S-Sorry."

"Just stay still I'll break those shackles.

She closed her eyes tightly as if something painful would happen.

What was his name- ah, right, Pavlov.

So this was psychological conditioning. Whenever someone approached her it was to hurt her, at least that's what it would've been for the last few days. So she's developed a condition to flinch when someone gets close even if it's to help her.

Using [Decay] I broke all four of her shackles.

It didn't look like she had much energy to stand. Hunger? Fatigue? Stress?

It was probably all of the above.

I can't do anything about hunger but I should be able to alleviate some of her fatigue and stress.

[Transfer Life].

Using that skill I was able to heal her scars and some of her fatigue. I could see life returning to her eyes.

But I found myself falling to the floor as soon as I gave her some of my life. Just how badly was she treated?

Anyway, it wasn't good to stay here any longer. I rested a little to regain my stamina.

"Are you okay? You healed me but you are hurt for some reason."

"I'm fine I just need to rest a bit."

"Okay- I'm sorry being a burden to god."

Are you still calling me that? Well, that's fine.

After regaining my stamina I was able to move freely once again.

We were locked behind some sturdy bars. Actually I'm not even sure if my [Decay] was at a high enough level to break through these bars.

I placed my hands on two bars and casted [Decay].

As expected I wasn't able to completely erode them. They rusted a little bit but that was the extent of it.

Damn, did I already hit a dead end?

No, I guess I could use [Summon Skeleton Knight] to bash through it but that would cause too much noise. It'd be even more of a dead end if the Duke came to see what was going on.

I thought for a little bit.

"Umm, what should we do, god?"

"Just a moment I'm thinking."

"Okay."

She was pretty obedient. She was supposed to be a noble's daughter right? I thought her father would have spoiled her. Perhaps it was because of her time being imprisoned and learning the hardships of the world?

Well it was a good thing, I like children who listen.

Anyway these steel bars.

I tried using my brute strength to pull them apart. Actually I didn't think it would work but it did bend just a tiny little bit, but it was noticeable.

I then opened my [status menu].

Ugh, should I do it?

Arguably [Strength] was probably the most useful stat to me right now and probably in the future as well. [Intelligence] was probably useless since it has to do with magic. Also I'm smart enough.

[Dexterity] might be useful later on, but I'm not too sure.

As for [insight] I've figured out that it was for combat purposes as well. Specifically it allows my brain to process the information faster while fighting. So I'm able to react faster to enemy attacks.

I noticed this while I was fighting that large oaf during the first town we got to. It was because of the [Shard of Tyrving] that I was able to notice this. This stat was also perfect for me who was better at using my head rather than instinct for combat.

With that stat it would be easier to make on-the-spot tactics to accommodate my strategy.

As for dexterity I think it raises one's reflexes and accuracy, but like I said I was better at using my head rather than instinct so I think I can forgo that stat as well.

Okay, I've decided I'll go with [Strength] and [Insight] as my main stats, but how should I distribute it?

Should I distribute it evenly?

I think [insight] would be better for when I fight using my Skeleton knight, it would be easier to manoeuvre it if I can predict the enemy's movements.

But the problem then becomes what happens after the enemy gets too close to me. I'll be forced to fight by myself, if I didn't have strength then there was no way for me to directly react.

Also I've thought about creating skills that apply my basic draining abilities into my physical attacks. With that in mind should I boost my strength more than [insight]?

Alright, I think I can compensate for lack of [insight] with my superior intellect for now.

I'll dump everything into [strength] for now and adjust the [insight] levels as I see fit while I level up more.

With that I tapped on the [+] sign next to [strength].

I was getting a bit nervous but this was for the best.

Actually I had to tap on the [+] sign 60 times. By the end my fingers were slightly sore.

However once I pressed [confirm] after it asked me whether to finalize my decision I felt a strange surge of strength coming over me. My body felt extremely light.

I had only thought it would raise my destructive power but it seems that my speed and manoeuvrability also increased accordingly.

Yeah this was good.

I threw light jabs like I was doing shadow boxing.

"Umm, god?"

"Ah, sorry to keep you waiting."

"N-No, it's okay but how do we get out of here?"

"Easily like this."

I casted [Decay] once more just in case but unexpectedly something else popped up on my UI box.

[New skill developed: [Strike+]]

Argh, this UI really wants to hinder me but I was curious to know what this [Strike+] skill was.

I pressed on the [inspect] tab next to the skill.

[Strike+: augment a physical attack with either [Life Drain], [Wither] or [Decay].]

HERE IT IS!

THIS WAS WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR!

HALLELUJAH!

Excellent this was exactly what I wanted to begin with. I started doing a little dance and punching the air.

I think that scene confused Elise.

"G-God?"

"Ah, sorry I keep getting distracted. Anyway, we're escaping."

"O-Okay."

Once more I placed my hands on the bars and used [Strike+ Decay].

Combined with my 95 strength stat those steel bars were like bread. I bent really easily and even broke.

Incidentally I think the average [Strength] stat for a fully grown adult warrior type adventurer was somewhere around 80 ~ 120. I was basing this off their levels so it should be correct.

It made a loud noise but I don't think anyone was alerted.

I made a gap large enough for Elise and myself to crawl through.

After going first and checking to see if the coast was clear I helped Elise get through as well.

"Thank you."

"Alright, I need you to stay closely behind me and not make a sound, is that clear?"

She didn't speak but nodded. Good, she was a smart kid.

The layout of the underground dungeon wasn't really that complex, really this was an affront to everything named 'dungeon'.

"Who's there?"

One of the guards came down, most likely because of the loud noise made while we attempted to escape.

We were hiding behind a wall that the guard just passed.

Sorry, I don't have anything against you, but if you discover that we escaped you'll undoubtedly report to the Duke.

After signalling Elise to stay here I slowly tipped towed behind him.

Now, reality wasn't like Hollywood movies, hitting the back of the neck doesn't really cause them to lose consciousness, however hitting their sole plexus with some force will cause them to have difficulties breathing. Worst case scenario they'll die but for the most part they'll fall unconscious.

Because they'll be winded it's also unlikely that they'll make too big of a noise.

"Excuse me~"

I called out.

The soldier, startled, tried to turn around towards me. I took this opportunity to punch him in the sole plexus.

"Guh-.!"

He fell down holding his chest and fell unconscious.

I massaged his chest a bit to make sure he didn't actually die.

When I felt a pulse I sighed in relief and continued on.

This process continued on until there was about 5 guard soldiers losing consciousness in the dungeon area.

Just how many soldiers are in this estate alone?

As I was crouched down and checking the pulse of the last soldier I knocked out I could feel a cold, pointy sensation at the back of my neck.

"Do not move."

Dammit, was it check mate already?

"Slowly rise and turn towards me."

I did as he was told.

What I saw was a fully armoured knight. He was rather buff from what I can tell under that armour and was also tall; standing at around 1.8m.

I couldn't tell because of the dim lights but his hair was probably red, and his eyes- well they were black because of the poor lighting.

From looks alone I could tell that he was the one in charge of managing these soldiers.

"Um, I know this looks suspicious as heck, but I don't want to be your enemy, so why don't we talk this out?"

PART TWO

Coffee.

How long has it been since I've had some caffeine? If I had to count in numeric value I would say it has been slightly over 4 years. That's right this world did not have such marvellous things as coffee.

For that alone this world was a worse place to live.

Instead we had tea.

I don't know what kind of tea this was but it was rather sweet.

Was I served something like this because I was a kid?

Well, Elise was happily drinking the sweet tea.

She was all nervous and fidgety at first but she was now calm and drinking tea.

"God, aren't you going to drink that?"

She asked with a smile.

I said no and gave her mine, to which she happy accepted and drank despite it being rather hot.

Sitting across the interrogation table was the knight captain of the Duke estate, also drinking the same sweet tea. I really couldn't see such a man drinking something so childish but I guess everyone in this world has some eccentricities.

Personally I don't really like sweet things all that much, if I had to say bitter things are more my cup of 'tea'. I take full credit for that pun.

Thank you, thank you. I'll be back on Monday to Friday, stay tuned.

Anyway, I was getting slightly ahead of myself.

So why was I calmly drinking tea with my captors? Correction why was Elise and the Knight captain calmly drinking tea while I watched with a bemused look?

Well, it turns out that the knight captain was a rather nice guy. Relatively, he didn't report us to the Duke yet and gave us a moment to explain our circumstances.

Incidentally behind the knight captain was two guards.

When I eyed them all he said was, 'You managed to knock out 5 of my men, this level of insurance should be understandable even for a child right?'

To which I nodded.

"First of all my name is Eric Bahal."

[Eric Bahal. Level 24, Knight Captain].

Hmm, how should I introduce myself…

"God."

"?"

The knight captain gave me a powerful glare.

"Sorry, please call me that for now, I do not wish to reveal my identity just yet."

At least it wasn't a good idea until I was sure I had his cooperation. It wasn't as though I had any delusions of grandeur or anything preposterous.

He gave me a sigh, he probably thought it was fine since I was a child. Had I been any older he would have most likely told me to stop joking around and hit me around a few.

Like I said, a nice guy.

"Fine, I want you to tell me why you were trying to escape."

I don't really think that question has an answer, or rather there's only one real answer to that question.

Anyway, for some reason I don't feel any aversion to this man.

"Captain, are you happy serving the corrupt Duke?"

"What do you mean?"

"Duke Vista is a corrupt man, you should know as much, yet you continue to serve him."

"My loyalty is not something a child needs to understand. Adults have their own business."

"Really? Because I can come up with a few reasons why you're following the Duke's orders."

Now I wasn't being pretentious when I say this. Learning to analyse a person's true character upon first meeting was a skill I acquired during my many years as a corporate employee.

It was mostly a mixture of [Cold reading] and [Warm reading].

Every day I would meet with various different people, it was kind of a required skill to get so far in my career. So I could say with certainty that I could deduce with 90% accuracy this man's true nature.

"?"

He seems rather confused.

Well, even if I was an adult he would probably have the same expression.

The kind of man he is was rather simple to deduce.

First of all he wasn't following the Duke out of loyalty, if that were the case he would have immediately notified the Duke as soon as he saw Elise Noire. If it had been just me it might be different but Elise Noire isn't someone he could ignore to this extent.

From the looks of it he rather enjoyed that sweet tea, I could tell because he managed to finish it rather quickly.

From that I could probably infer that he was rather soft hearted, also probably a family oriented person. Most likely he had children of his own.

All in all, what would really motivate this man was the sense of justice rather than loyalty. In that case it was simple, I just had to appeal to this sense.

But then why was this man following the orders of someone like the corrupt Duke Vista?

It wasn't hard to guess.

Most likely the Duke said something like 'if you don't listen to me I'll have your family killed'.

It was probably the same with the other soldiers as well. None of them seem to want to work here.

"In my opinion the Duke is forcing you to work here right? He probably has your family's safety compromised unless you work for him right?"

"Y-You, how did you?"

"It was a simple deduction."

"..."

Looks like the captain was lost for words, that's fine I'll just push this a little further.

"Captain, how about we make a deal?"

"... Deal?"

"I'll promise to guarantee your family's, your men's and their family's safety if you help me."

"What?"

"You see, even though I'm rather young, because of a few circumstances I have connections with Count Lucius Rosenberg. Not only that my father is a close friend of the Tetrarch's family. With that I can secure everyone's safety. If you want I can even secure a source of employment too."

The captain made a complicated face.

"Is that true?!"

It wasn't the captain who said that. It was the two soldiers behind him.

"You guys-"

"Captain, I don't think this child is lying, perhaps it might be because I want what this child is saying to be true that my judgement is cloudy but I think we should trust him."

"T-that's right captain, how much longer do we have to live under this bastard's corrupt rule? This kind of opportunity might never come to us again."

Looks like I don't even have to do anything further, the two soldiers were doing my job for me.

The captain took their suggestions but he seems rather unconvinced.

"... Could you tell me your name?"

I think a devious smile came on my face, this wasn't good but all the pieces were lining up so perfectly. Anyway, now that I have their cooperation I don't think I need to hide my name.

"Morgant Fallon. Son of Mardoc Fallon; student of Morgant Milis."

The name [Morgant Milis] was someone I had only heard about recently. A few weeks ago my father told me the story of his teacher, how he was a gallant knight for the country and the many deeds and exploits he accomplished for the country.

Even this knight should have heard of the name.

"I see- Morgant Milis."

The knight captain took a deep long breath.

"Very well, what needs to be done?"

Excellent. This was going much more perfectly than what I had initially planned.

"Then I shall start explaining my plan now…"

PART THREE

I had left Elise Noire in the care of the knight captain. She would be much safer with him rather than myself.

When I told her that she wasn't the true culprit behind the murder of Duke Noire all he said was 'As I thought'.

Yeah, I wouldn't really believe a six year old would be capable of patricide.

Anyway the plan spread rather quickly amongst the soldiers in the estate. I even got the chance to apologize to the guards I knocked out.

They weren't that angry about it, rather they asked me what kind of technique it was and if I could teach them later.

According to the watch I received from Sebastian the time was around 2AM.

The Duke should be in deep slumber by now, it was the perfect time to search through his office for incriminating records. I really wouldn't be surprised if he did keep them in his top drawer.

The servants and serfs in the estate all allowed me free access because they were now in on the plan as well. There was not a single soul in this entire estate that was loyal to him.

"Thank you."

I said to the maid who unlocked the door to the office. She was a blonde haired elf, it was the first time I've seen an elf up close. They're just as pretty as pop culture said they were. She had a strong composure to her, perhaps she was a former adventurer?

"It was my pleasure- please, bring him down."

I gave a thumbs up. I don't know if it meant anything in this world but she seemed to have understood my intentions.

The moonlight shined through the large window at the back of the room. It was a really beautiful sight. This bastard, even though his heart is so black his sense of art was pretty good.

I stood there, dazed for a solid few seconds before coming back to my senses. No good, I have to find the evidence.

The light reflected on the moon was enough to allow me to search through his cabinet and drawers.

None of his stuff were ever in order. It was hard to find anything of note.

"Perhaps you're looking for this?"

Amidst the darkness there was a shadowy figure sitting on the sofa where I sat before. He was holding a piece of paper, most likely those are the documents I need to convict the Duke.

I couldn't tell whether it was a man or woman, so I'll assume it's a man, even the voice was obscure, but I did understand who it was.

He's most likely the assassin that killed Duke Ciel.

It wasn't any sort of amazing deduction on my part that I was able to guess that. It was because I was able to see his name and title.

[Orion Valteare. Level 43, Assassin]

Level 43... he's even stronger than father.

With a level discrepancy this large I won't be able to beat him not matter how hard I try.

I was starting to feel vulnerable here standing in front of someone who could insta-kill me.

Should I run? He might let me go since I'm a child.

No, I can't just abandon the mission after coming this far.

Ah, I know why don't I show him some magic tricks; my hidden talents as a corporate devil.

I sat down on Duke Vista's office chair and crossed my arms. As I did I tried to muster up as much of an overbearing aura as I could with this tiny body.

"I've been expecting you- Orion Valteare."

"?!"

The assassin instantly stood up.

"You- boy, how do you know that name?"

Oh, this is working better than I expected.

"Like I said, I've been expecting you. You're the assassin that killed Duke Noire at Duke Vista's request are you not?"

"..."

Spot on huh?

"The Duke has lost the support of his subordinates. No, perhaps it's more apt to say that he never had support in the first place. Right, they've actively mutinied."

"What are you trying to say."

"Like I said, I was expecting you. So it would be logical to assume that I've set it up so your name will be spread as soon as I die."

"..."

He tried to pull out a knife before but he's sheathed it. Wonderful, he's buying into my bluff.

"The Duke who's had his subordinate rebel is the same as a sinking ship. Wouldn't it be better to jump ship while you can? I can promise that your name will be kept in the shadows."

"... Boy, who are you?"

"God."

"'God'?"

"My real name isn't important, just call me that for now. I'm sure if you tried it wouldn't be hard to find out my name."

"Hmm."

"What do you want?"

"Ideally, I want the documents in your hand and any other incriminating evidence that the Duke has. It's past his time to sink."

"You could just be bluffing, even if I killed you here my name may not be spread."

Oh~ well aren't you Mr tough. Sure, you can say I'm bluffing and kill me here but are you sure you want to take that gamble?"

"..."

He seems hesitant, was he vexed that he was being cornered by a child?

"Well the domino has already started to fall. Even if you don't give me the documents, I've arranged it so there will be a large riot in this city soon. The only way to stop that riot is if Duke Vista is brought to justice. I suppose even you can't stop an entire half a city. Depending on your next move your name may or may not be included in the shouts of that riot."

"Hmph, even if my name is thrown to the light what do you think that will accomplish?"

"Nothing much I suppose, you're an assassin after all, but what about your siblings?"

"... How did you know I have siblings?"

"Like I said, I've been expecting you from the very start."

It wasn't some amazing psychological trick or ESP or anything absurd. It was simply [Warm reading] and [Hot reading].

I've linked the correlations between those with siblings and those in lower socioeconomic brackets. There's also a link between those with siblings/lower economic brackets and those with morally questionable jobs; like an assassin for example.

Of course that doesn't mean that I'll be correct in always assuming they have siblings but for the most part they should.

I'm questioning his morals for two reasons. One, he's an assassin and two, he's working for Duke Vista.

So yes, the fact that he was the assassin of a corrupt noble tipped me off that he had siblings, though rather than an assumption it would be more apt to say it was an educated guess.

I also thought that this threat would work because the chances that all of his siblings were assassins that were good at subterfuge were rather low.

Don't underestimate me, I've been a corporate slave for many years, this kind of thing I could do with my eyes closed.

"... Heh. Looks like you've thought everything through. You're pretty smart for a child."

"Yeah, I get that. Look I don't particularly want to be your enemy, in fact I thought that maybe we could start a brand new friendship from this experience. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours- sometime in the future."

"... I see."

He placed the documents on the tea table, stood up and walked closer to me.

When his face was finally reflected in the moonlight I saw him.

No I guess I should say, I saw her.

Short brown hair, blue eyes. I couldn't tell her figure because she was wearing light armoured clothing but she probably had a nice figure due to her line of work.

"Then boy, I'll take you up on that offer."

I nodded, that was the only thing I could do.

She smiled when I did, it was rather devious smile, similar to the one I always make but when she does it, it makes it feel so much more menacing. I got a cold sweat running down my back.

"I'll be sure to falsify information relating to you or your group when I present these. Though I imagine you have already taken steps for that already."

"Heh. You're right. I'll be seeing you later, boy."

With that she disappeared in a shadowy effect. Why's this teleportation trick so popular these days?

Though I admit it wasn't as impressive compared to when Astaroth or Kyrios did it.

Anyway I hope she doesn't wish for something terrible like to kill a person.

I picked up the documents left on the table.

It wasn't just an assassination order, there were a lot more things as well. Evidence of corruption, bribery reports, black market deals, buying and selling of illegal human slaves, evidence of cutting corners during important construction plans.

Just how much of a scum was this man?

I felt sick just reading it.

However something interesting came into my view.

A few reports that had nothing to do with the Duke's crimes.

[Denial of trade with the Demon Race].

[Camila Kingdom's cooperation request: Denied]

[Northern continents human/demon outpost sabotage].

[Banning the trade of Red Stone].

[Partnerships with the red knights.].

…

I see. So this is what it was about.

Yeah, it was a little hard to believe that Kyrios was such a kind hearted person. Specifically after he said that he didn't want to get involved in human affairs, which when I think about it this clearly is. One human is killing another, there are no demons involved other than the witness Chrom.

From what I could gather by hastily flipping through these documents they had to do with anti-demon agenda.

Astaroth told me that the bad blood between humans and demons were a thing of the past but I wouldn't discount the possibility that some of the humans or demons still had some xenophobic tendencies.

So Duke Vista, not only was he a scum but he was also flying the banner of the anti-demon agenda.

So Kyrios was just using me to take the Duke down.

When I think of it that way I don't like it, but the Duke isn't someone I could let go with a clear conscience.

Tch, for now I'll just think of it as a mutually beneficial agenda.

If he told me outright I wouldn't be feeling like a fool and that I was dancing atop of his palms.

Regardless, I took the documents with incriminating evidence with me.

I separated the ones relating to anti-demon policies and the ones that caught my interests away from the batch of evidence. These won't be shown during my audience with the Tetrarch but something I'll use to research more about this world.

I'm especially interested in this one labelled [Partnership with the Red Knights].

Checking the time it was about 4AM.

The Duke was unlikely to wake up anytime soon but I should hurry. I need to get back to the duke's house and organize my next plan of attack.

Though I say that it's more of a coup de grace.

The job I gave to the knights of this estate should go without too much of a hitch since most people seem to hate this man's guts.

I decided to leave through the back door but as soon as I did I was attacked.

I was barely able to dodge thanks to the [insight] stats. I think I should add more to that stat than I initially planned to, it was pretty useful.

I turned to see who it was that attacked me.

When I saw it I was a little startled.

It was something straight out of a horror move.

Zombies. Walking corpses. Undead.

[Zombie. Level 12]

Whatever you want to call them.

But why where they here? There shouldn't be any monsters here.

There were about 12 of them.

"Guuuhhhh~"

It's flesh was peeling off its body. Disgusting.

I probably had enough stats in [strength] to smash it to pieces but I didn't want to touch it even with a ten inch pole.

[Summon Skeleton knight].

A giant skeleton knight burst out of the ground just like during the afternoon.

Its red eyes glowed brightly in the night giving it a much more sinister look.

I commanded it to destroy the zombies at hand.

These zombies were higher level than me but seeing as how the adventurers that were at least 1.5 ~ 2x my level were struggling I thought I wouldn't be that hard to kill these.

They're really the classic kind of slow moving zombies.

My skeleton knight used its lance to pierce one of the zombies instantly killing it.

I thought there would be some sort of resistance but it was so easily defeated. I don't think it deserves the levels it had.

Slash. Pierce. Shield bash. Stomping.

It wasn't that long before all of the zombies were dealt with.

[You have gained a level] x2.

Even though they were incredibly weak they still provided experience points. Actually I've noticed something.

If I defeat a foe that is of a higher level than me the experience I gain is multiplied up to a maximum of 2x the ordinary experience. Conversely if I hunt monster that are lower level than me the experience I gain is lessened to a minimum of 1 exp.

This was a system that was placed in a variety of games to prevent a player from just farming the same monsters over and over again.

In a way it makes sense in reality as well.

If I keep fighting weaker foes I wouldn't get stronger. On the other hand if I continuously fight with stronger opponents I would gain experience that much faster.

Now I should probably leave before the neighbors or the Duke wakes up from the noise that these zombies made.

Incidentally the zombies turned to dust and disappeared leaving not a trace.

I unsummoned the skeleton knight and left the scene.

Everything went perfectly but for some reason I don't really feel that it was my win.

For starters there were three points during that entire operation where I would have failed.

The first was when I met the Duke and was given sleep-inducing drugs to drink. If it had been poison instead then the entire plan would have fallen apart.

The second time was when I was caught by the knight captain, if he was the loyal type them the plan would have also been a failure.

The third time was with the assassin. She was waiting for me. If she wasn't half as accommodating then we would have gotten into a fight that I'd most likely lose, even killed if I took the wrong steps.

I can only say that my luck was extraordinarily good this time around but I don't want to start depending on that in the future.

I was feeling a little depressed from thinking like this. I thought I had everything under control but reality was much different from theoretics. I need to remember this.

Then there were those zombies. From what I can tell these were unrelated to anyone inside the estate. They didn't look like stray monsters, that'd be impossible, they couldn't have just wondered in from the outside.

Meaning that they were created from the inside.

Could it be another necromancer?

I should have at least analysed the zombie's life force to see if I could create something similar. Although I don't want to create zombies, they're unpleasant to look at.

Maybe I could create something like a ghoul if I tampered around with [summon skeleton knight].

These questions were piling up.

For now I'll focus on the mission at hand then I'll deal with the zombie issue.

I took a glance at my watch.

It was already 5AM, it would rather rude to just barge right back in the Duke's house.

I didn't set a time limit for my return but they shouldn't be expecting me to return too quickly.

I'll just regroup with Chrom, there was also that promise that I made to her about fighting my skeleton knight. I want to get that out of the way as well since I'll likely be busy after I deal with the Duke's matter and I can't expect her to wait for me to be ready.

With that in mind I headed to the inn that Chrom was staying at.

I know I did whatever I felt like this time around so I hope she isn't feeling a sense of uselessness.

The inn was rather quiet since it was early in the morning. The sun hadn't even risen yet.

I thought there would be the sight of adventurers getting ready for some quests but even they were asleep.

I knocked on the door to Chrom's room.

"Yes? Ah, master you've returned."

"Yeah, everything went well, all we need to do is have you testify against the Duke and everything will solve itself."

"I see, I'm sorry that I wasn't of any use to you."

Yeah, I thought she'd say that.

"What are you saying? You still have a vital role to play."

"I know but I feel like I was overly useless."

"Chrom, just because there wasn't a fight doesn't mean you were useless. Just being there in case I needed you was a great help. It calmed my nerves when I thought I could get backup whenever I needed so don't say that you were useless."

"I see, thank you for your kind words."

"Actually Chrom do you think you have a bit of time? I want to make good on that promise from earlier."

"Promise?"

"About fighting my skeleton knight."

"Oh, of course, whenever you're ready master."

"Good, I think we should do that now since I don't think we'll have much time once everything starts."

"Understood, if we leave the city there is a small space outside that we can fight in secret."

"Wonderful, lead the way."

"Yes, master."

...

...

By the time we arrived at the designated area it was 6AM. It took an hour to get here but as she said the area was very discrete. I couldn't even see bugs here.

"Whenever you're ready master."

"Alright."

[Summon Skeleton Knight].

Just like before the skeleton knight burst out of the floor. This skill really wasn't for the faint of hearted. This spawn animation was ridiculously scary if you didn't expect it.

The towering skeleton stood just meters away from Chrom.

She unsheathed her claymore and defended with her white shield.

My skeleton would move according to my will so it didn't take too much concentration to get it to fight. Rather what was important wasn't concentration but perception.

I would almost say it's a little unfair since I can see the entire battlefield while the opponent can only see what is in front of their eyes.

My skeleton took a few steps with its obsidian colored shield and lance.

When I did so Chrom got into a defense posture.

I don't think she should worry too much since the skeleton is only level 13.

By the way, my skeleton is deceptively fast. Just because it's a towering hunk of metal and bones doesn't mean it didn't have speed.

I wasn't able to showcase it earlier in town because I didn't make it move but against Chrom I had to.

My skeleton lunged lance first towards Chrom who skilfully block with her large white shield.

"Guh."

She was being pushed back a little.

She pushed the lance to the side and dodged to the right. My skeleton was now fully exposed.

However I can see that and I can react since I had the view of the entire battlefield.

As Chrom was about to strike with her claymore I made my skeleton block with his shield.

There was a slight crack on my minion's shield. As expected, she's far different from an average adventurer.

I made my skeleton push forward with the shield.

She did not expect this and took a few steps back.

I hope she doesn't die from my next attack.

I made my skeleton throw his lance towards Chrom's direction.

She was startled but she regained composure almost immediately and blocked it with her shield. The lance bounced off the shield and hit the floor.

She's really accustomed to fighting.

But this was what I was hoping for; because she had to defend her entire body behind a shield her vision was no obscured.

Using that opportunity my minion charged with his shield towards her location.

It was a little unofficial skill I dubbed [shield charge].

Because she was not ready she was sent flying backwards.

However she regained her footing and landed almost perfectly and retaliated immediately. I was amazed.

She charged at my minion as particle effects emitted out from her sword.

Was it some kind of skill?

I tried to defend my skeleton with its shield but when the attack connected the shield was blown away.

There was only bits and pieces of it left.

What amazing power.

Her attacks did not stop there and she continued to pursue my skeleton, however as I said my skeleton was deceptively fast and I was able to avoid all of her attacks.

My skeleton was now weaponless but that didn't stop me from making it attack. I threw a flurry of punches which were all shielded.

She knew how to effectively switch from offensive and defensive modes.

Chrom found an opening and charged at my minion with the same skill that destroyed the shield.

I've already deduced that the weakness of that skill was it could only be a straight up attack. It was easy to dodge after knowing that.

So I laid a little trap.

I let my minion dodge as she was flying herself a skeletal hand burst out of the floor and caught her by the legs.

That's right, a second skeleton knight.

I was saving this up as a trump card later on but I wanted to test out if I could actually do it. Experiment successful.

"Guh?!"

She seemed genuinely surprised.

She was not being held upside down. If only she were wearing a skirt, how wasteful.

"?!"

A sudden burst of light emitted from Chrom's entire body.

When the light subsided both skeletons were destroyed.

"What?"

"Phew."

I didn't expect that. No, even if I did I doubt I could have done anything about it.

[You have gained a level].

Of course I did.

Well, this match has been eye opening for me.

"Good work."

"Thank you, I didn't think I had to use my hidden technique."

"What was that?"

"It's a homunculi' special technique. We blow ourselves up."

"What?"

"More correctly, we detonate our souls. Because we are created constructs we can freely detonate our souls, even if we do that we won't die and our soul will rebuild itself. However doing so requires enormous amounts of mana and the time to rebuild our soul is lengthy, therefore it can only be used once a day."

"That's- unexpected."

Were all homunculi just walking bombs just waiting to go off anytime? I think I would have died if I was directly involved in that fight.

She herself wasn't particularly damaged from the explosion.

Next time I fight a homunculi remind me to back the heck away before it gets angry.

"Yes, to think I was pushed to the brink like that, you have good combat senses master. No wonder Lord Astaroth has chosen you. I shudder to think what you will become in the future."

"Thanks for the fight it was a valuable experience."

"No, I should be thanking you, because of this I was able to understand my own inadequacies."

We shook hands.

...

...

After arriving back at the city the sun had already come up.

7:30 AM.

It was about time I returned to the Count's house to prepare my materials. Chrom followed obediently behind me.

She was like Lina but less annoying. So I guess her personality kind of overlaps with Lena's?

When I came close to the large arching gate the guards let me through. I guess I was already considered a guest of this house.

As soon as I walked through the front door I felt my entire body being picked up and hugged.

Lina? No this sensation was much more firmer.

"Son! You're safe!"

"F-Father?"

Standing behind father was Lena with a rather displeased look. No she was obviously not displeased because I came back but because she was in this house where her mother was.

"I heard you did something amazing."

"F-Father, please put me down it's embarrassing! And I haven't done anything yet. I still need to report this to the Tetrarch."

When father finally put me down he turned his gaze towards Chrom.

"So who's this?"

"She's and important witness to a crime."

"I see- sorry for making you keep my son company."

"No, master has been quite accommodating."

Father looked towards me with a quizzical expression.

"Master?"

"Because I made the plans she started calling me that. Don't worry too much about it."

"I see, so that's why."

It wasn't father but Lina who came up to me who said that. She must've been quite curious since yesterday but didn't find the time to ask.

Lina and Lena- they were still on bad terms with each other. They eyed one another but didn't utter a word.

It can't be helped I'll try to think of something after this entire thing is over.

"Count Rosenberg, I know it's shameless of me but I was wondering if you could grant me some of your favor."

The Earl who was standing passively came up.

"Favor?"

"Yes, earlier I made some 'promises' with the knights at the Duke's estate. They said they would testify against him as long as they could secure their families."

"I see, that could be easily arranged."

"Thank you."

Wonderful, with this everything should unfold itself now.

I was feeling a little depressed by I feel a smile on my face, and such an evil one at that.

PART FOUR

-DUKE VISTA CALROS' SIDE-

When I woke up it was already 9AM.

I may have overslept, but it wasn't as though I had anything important today.

In fact I'm in a rather good mood this morning.

A little brat came over yesterday relating to some information about the death of Duke Noire. At first I didn't think it would be that vital but to think he was right on the mark.

Thankfully he was just a little brat and stupid.

'I respect Duke Vista' was it?

"Hahaha."

Still, the maids should have come to wake me up. Were they being negligent?

Tch, perhaps it's time to get a new batch. I don't need incompetent fools in my estate.

But why was it so quiet? At this time of day the maids should be running around doing the chores and the guards should have morning practice. Yet I hear the sound of neither.

I was feeling a little sluggish but I get up. Lately I've gotten more fat.

I think I should exercise a little more, don't want to die early, I need to live for all those I've left in the dust. It's a sort of tribute really, that a man of my stature would even care about such trash.

That reminds me there was that one woman I was obsessed with all those years ago. I wonder what ever happened to her, though I figure that she probably died in a ditch somewhere. It'd be a fitting end to a person like that.

I told her I would save her daughters if she abandoned them, and like an idiot she does it. No, I shouldn't say that it was a genuine act of mercy on my part.

She wouldn't have been able to live with them much longer in her condition.

Well whatever, I shouldn't let the past concern me too much, it'd just stress me out.

Getting out of bed I move towards the door.

I really can't feel any sort of presence outside the door. Why was the house so empty.

Tap, Tap, Tap.

I hear the sound of footsteps. However it's only one person.

Good, I can finally get some answers.

When I run out the door I meet a woman. She was in her mid 20s.

Her blonde hair was done up in a ponytail and despite her frail looks she's actually pretty muscular if you look closely. Her ears go up into a point.

An elf.

I think her name was Latrica or Latricia or something, I don't know these peasants all have the same name.

I remember that she used to be a former adventurer, which would explain her well toned body.

She's only been here for a few weeks so I haven't had the opportunity to take her to bed yet.

However, she, who should be wearing her maid uniform wasn't. Not only that she seemed to have a large pack on her shoulders.

"What's going on here?"

I asked with an intimidating tone. Once these peasants get scolded in that kind of tone they shiver in their boots and turn meek. It's one of my many talents as a leader.

However this woman didn't shiver nor cower.

She only stood there looking down at me with disgusted eyes. She was a little taller than me so it couldn't be helped.

No, wait yes it can, she should be bowing before me. I was getting a little pissed off at her attitude. What's with this bitch?

"Eh- What was your name again- Windows? Oh! Vista, right. Anyway, yeah I quit so- yeah."

With that she tries to leave.

What? Quit?

"Wait!"

I call out.

She stops and turns towards me once more.

"What?"

What's with the attitude of this bitch? Doesn't she know who I am?

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I just said I'm quitting, I don't want to work for scum like you anymore."

Scum?!

"You take one step out that door and I will have my guards execute you on the spot! You here?!"

The bitch stops moving.

Yes- that's right, now she realizes the situation she's in.

"Yeah well, good luck with that."

She leaves through the front door! I don't know if she was brave or stupid!

This is why I don't hire former adventurers, they're all muscles and no brain.

"Guards! Execute this fool!"

"..."

What?

No one responded.

"Guards?!"

"..."

Again there was no response. The bitch has already left.

Just what in god's name is going on here?

I try to search all around my house but there isn't a single soul. No one was practicing outside either.

I then go downstairs to the dungeon to see if anyone was there. At least those two brats should be there.

When I go down none of the guards that should be there were there.

In fact the cell that the two brats should be were empty.

No, it wasn't just empty the steel bars were broken. How in hell did…?

I go back upstairs and go to my office.

I sit down on my desk while clutching my head. I feel like tearing out my hair, just where did everyone go?

I feel like the position of my chair has been shifted a bit. I sit on this chair almost every day so something like this I can tell straight away. Has someone been messing in my room?

Even the position of the papers seem slightly different…

As I was about to open my drawer I heard a knock on the door.

Finally maybe I can get some answers.

When I open the door I see two armoured soldiers waiting for me. They weren't my estate's guards.

No… they were the Tetrarch's personal guards.

The [Tetrarch Knights]!

But why are they here?! Just what in blazes is happening?!

"C-Can I help you?"

My voice sounds extremely pathetic right now but that can't be helped, the [Praetorian Knights] aren't people who are mobilized often. There are only few instances in which they are.

Hunting down criminals. Subjugating dangerous monsters. Escorting high priority nobles and VIP.

So they shouldn't have any reason to be here.

"Tetrarch Rodric summons you to his castle. You are to appear in 3 hours and no more."

The knights give me a piece of paper with an official seal.

This wasn't a joke. Halfway through I was expecting someone to come out and say 'Just kidding!' but no, this was really happening.

The Tetrarch wants to see me personally? Why?

When I inquire about that the Knights give me a dirty look and say that it's none of their problem so they don't care to know.

These bastards, just because they work under the Tetrarch directly they think they can be so insolent. Tch, I'll have to deal with them once this entire thing is over.

I'm starting to feel nervous.

PART FIVE

-DUKE VISTA CALROS' SIDE-

After getting prepared I arrive at the Tetrarch's castle. Every time I see it I want to throw up. Such a pretentiously large castle, just who does he think he is?

I mean I know he's one of the four Tetrarchs but still, this is utterly unfair.

For some reason there was a large number of people waiting outside.

They split and make way for me.

Hmph, guess even ants will know their place if you squash them enough, they're giving me hostile looks but that's no different from always.

Great men are always feared and hated.

When I arrive at the Tetrarch's throne room it's lined up with knights in silver colored armor.

They have impressive discipline.

There are also many spectators as well, other nobles and some commoners. Why are they here?

In front of me I see Tetrarch Rodric.

The man's an old fool. His white hair and wrinkled up face shows that he's nearly at the age he should retire, but the persistent fool won't die.

Standing next to him is his son.

I think his name is was [Rian Mil Avon Ariadyne].

He's the next Tetrarch or so I hear, I hope he'll be useful.

"I have arrived as you commanded, Tetrarch, why have you summoned me?"

I start to ask.

The tetrarch sits on his throne leaning against his arm and looks rather disappointed.

He shakes his head.

What, why is he acting like this? Is he a spoilt brat? Well, he did grow up in such an environment I wouldn't be surprised if he was just a little kid inside. Well, whatever.

"Come in."

The Tetrarch commands.

When I see who enters my eyes widen.

No- it can't be.

Three people enter.

The first one is Duke Ciel's daughter. The one I had convicted to execution. Why was she here?

She looks- better. More healthier. The light in her eyes that I so painstakingly acted to get rid of has returned and she's giving me an awful glare.

Standing next to the little brat is an even smaller brat.

It was the brat from yesterday!

The one who said he had evidence of my assassination, but why was he here?

He has a devious smile as he turns towards me. What was that look for? It looks like he's saying that he's won.

Next to him was a stunning beauty.

White haired, azure eyes. An armoured female adventurer of some kind.

I know this woman! She was the one who defeated my elite guards back then, so she's the witness?!

I see, I get what this is all about!

The small boy walks a few steps and bows to the Tetrarch.

"Thank you for allowing me this audience, Tetrarch Rodric Mil Avon Ariadyne. I am known as Morgant Fallon, son of Mardoc and Rio Fallon."

He's different than yesterday. He looks more- mature.

"It was a request from someone important and my son's friend Mardoc after all, how could I refuse? Then, state your business here, boy."

'Someone important'? what the hell does that mean?

"As you command. I am here to talk about this man over here."

He points towards me.

What?

"For what purpose?"

The Tetrarch is seriously considering this child's words.

"For various things but primarily for the assassination of former Duke Ciel Noire and framing his daughter Elise Noire for patricide."

"That is a serious accusation. Duke Vista Calros is a noble, if you have wrongly accused him of this even if you are a mere child, you will not be let off lightly."

That's right, even with a witness there was no way he had solid evidence, the words of a brat can be easily countered. There's no need to worsen my situation.

'Worsen'- was I already thinking pessimistically? No good, I have show that I'm not in the wrong.

I give a smile, but when I do everyone looks at me in disgust.

"Of course if you want evidence we have a witness."

I stay calm. The white haired woman is that witness but she does not have any credibility, she was neither a noble nor anyone important to this country.

"And the one you have brought is that witness?"

"Yes- Chrom, present what you saw."

"Understood."

The white haired woman steps up and kneels before the Tetrarch.

"I am known as Chrom, I have lived as an adventurer for all my life. Recently I was granted stay at the residence of Duke Noire, and at the time of his death Elise Noire was with me, it would be impossible for her to be the killer."

"If she is not the killer, do you have any ideas on who it may be?"

The tetrarch asks while eyeing me.

"On the night of his death, I met with a skilled assassin, I was disgracefully beaten. I assume that is the one responsible for assassinating Duke Noire and most likely Duke Vista who had motives to kill the Duke was the one responsible."

"Hmph, you sure talk a lot now, how can the words of a mere adventurer be trusted? Perhaps it was you who killed the Duke and is now trying to frame me. Regardless you have no solid evidence to prove that I ordered the assassination of the Duke."

The Tetrarch doesn't speak.

"Well, why don't we put that thought on hold for now?"

The boy started to talk, what's he up to?

"What do you mean?"

The Tetrarch asks.

"Like I said, there are various things I wanted to talk about regarding Duke Vista Calros."

He pulls out a document, it looks familiar.

"This is documentation regarding the deals that Duke Vista has in the black market."

"Hmm?"

The Tetrarch orders one of his men to bring him the report. How lazy is the bum?

The Tetrarch's face darkens as he reads the report.

"Where did you find such a report?"

"In Duke Vista Calros' very office."

"What?!"

I unintentionally yell out.

The Tetrarch turns towards me but ignores it, he looks back at the boy.

"So you broke into his house?"

"Oh, no, no, no. I was granted permission by Duke Vista himself. To confront him about the assassination as I was unsure. It would be folly to bring this up to milord without solid proof."

The Tetrarch gives him a nod as the boy continues.

"When I brought this up with the Duke he had drugged my drink and had me sent to his prison, I would say unjustly."

"Hmph, the words of a lesser noble, a boy at that, how can you trust it? The truth is I have never laid eyes on this boy."

"Is that right?"

The boy looks at my direction and gives me a devious smile. I felt cold sweat running down my back.

"Milord, would I be fine if I brought another witness?"

"Granted."

The one who came in were soldiers of my estate and some maids.

Eric Bahal stood in the middle. That bastard, why is he here? Does he want his family to be in ruins?

"Greetings milord, it is an honour to be in your presence, I am Eric Bahal, a former knight captain that served under Duke Vista Calros."

"Speak."

The Tetrarch orders.

"Yes, as the boys says, he was indeed granted permission by the Duke to enter his estate and his drink certainly was drugged. I say this as a knight of this country, the other servants will also testify."

"...?!"

I couldn't speak. My case was already falling apart.

"Is that all. Boy?"

The Tetrarch's expression is already pretty grim.

"No, I have more evidence of Duke Vista's corruption."

As he says more and more documents are pulled out.

[Bribery Reports]

[Illegal human Slave trading]

[Construction deficiencies]

[Conspiracies to overthrow the Tetrarch]

[Corruption investigation Report].

[False construction report].

It was all there.

Even the [Assassination order].

No, no, no, no, no! this isn't how it's supposed to be!

"T-This is slander! These are fabricated documents!"

The boy gives me a devious grin.

The tetrarch doesn't even seem to be interested in what was written in those documents, my actions may have spoken louder than any word. I was visibly shaking, I must look plenty pathetic.

"Really? Even though it has your own official seal?"

"It, it was stolen a few days ago!"

"Oh~? Is that so? How strange I seem to recall you had it in your office yesterday, I'm sure if we search your office we can still find it."

"That, that was…"

Before I could even answer the boy turns back to the Tetrarch.

"These are all lies! Fabrications!"

I try to justify myself more, but even to me it's obvious.

"Milord, currently outside this castle there are literally thousands of people lining up to see the Duke fall. Supposing that everything I've said up to now was found false, even then a leader who has lost both his integrity and the support of his subordinates and people has no right to claim rule. Such a noble would only be a hindrance to this great country."

The tetrarch nods.

Are you serious?! You're going to take that?!

And you call yourself the ruler of this country?!

"What the boy says is true."

The Tetrarch stands up and points towards me.

"I've judged that all evidence present of your crimes are permissible. For your various crimes you will be sentenced to death!"

DEATH?! WHY?!

WHY ME?!

"NO MILORD! THIS IS ALL A FARCE!"

"SILENCE!"

At his shout I shut up immediately. No- how can this happen?

"You are a disease to this country. Your existence itself will not be permitted in my realm. You are to be executed immediately."

"NOOO!"

PART SIX

-MORGANT FALLON'S SIDE-

The Duke was dragged out screaming by the knights.

'Sentenced to death' huh.

It doesn't feel real.

I was expecting it from the beginning but when he really said aloud those orders a sense of guilt riled up from within me.

Did I just really condemn a man to his grave?

All these nobles standing on the side, most likely they've also committed some sort of crime but they weren't being judged. Well, it was unrealistic to completely get rid of corruption within any sort of government so I didn't put too much thought in it but still.

The only difference was that Duke Vista was an arrogant man and did all of his dirty work out in the open.

My father who was watching from the sides with Lina, Lena, the Count and Dian, gave me a thumbs up. Why was he so happy while I was feeling like shit?

No, it's not the world that's wrong, it's me that's wrong for thinking it was. After all, this was the kind of world it was.

No, that wasn't right either, I was just pinning the blame, if a man like Duke Vista existed in my previous life he would have been sentenced to death or at least a life sentence as well.

It was me who was weak.

I keep talking like how I'm bigger than I really am but deep down I'm just an ordinary man as well. Sure, for a four year old it may be impressive but that will disappear within a few years.

The future- huh, I haven't put too much thought on that as well.

It's already been four years since I've came to this world but I haven't even thought what I wanted to do with this second life. I thought it was fine to continue on like I have been but when I think about it the world I know and the world that is are two different places.

After the trial was over everyone was dismissed.

I sat outside on an elevated and empty area watching people leave with a refreshing smile on their faces. Most of them were commoners and peasants that were unhappy at the Duke.

They were all happy at the Duke's execution.

'How grim' I thought.

"Oh, here you are master. Thank you very much!"

Chrom came up and said with a smile. She was with Elise who was holding tightly onto her. I guess they really did have some sort of personal connection.

"U-Um, god! Thank you very much for saving me and avenging my father!"

Cute, I thought.

I gave a wry smile in return.

"What's wrong master? Did something happen?"

"No- I just thought that it feels really disturbing to have killed a man."

"But you haven't dirtied your hands yet?"

"It's the same, I condemned him to death with my words and actions."

"It's not the same! That man was deserving of death from the start."

"... Perhaps, but don't all people deserve a second chance?"

"... What are you trying to say, master?"

"Honestly I don't know either. What is it that I want…"

I felt a hug from behind me. It wasn't really comfortable even though it was from a beautiful older sister character. She was wearing plate metal armour after all.

"I think you're thinking too hard about this, master. What you did today was correct. As you said you may have condemned a man to death, but in exchange you saved the life of a little girl and many others who may have been wronged by the Duke."

"..."

Was that truly how it was? I wonder.

I turned to face them once more with a smile.

They really look like sisters when they stand next to each other.

With that Chrom and Elise left after trying to make me feel better. I appreciated their efforts but I think I'll get over this with time.

"Still, I guess this was your plan all along wasn't it… Kyrios?"

"Heh~ so you knew I was here."

From a shadowy effect a masked man appeared. ."

"So, what does the vampire lord want with me?"

"How cold, you should be more respectful, aren't I your senior as a demon general?"

"I don't remember being initiated into the demon army. It was Astaroth that forced onto me this title. In the first place, isn't weird to have a human as a demon general?"

"The decisions of our Demon Lord are rather cryptic at times, but I don't see much of a problem with you being one of us."

Kyrios was smiling happily as he said that. Well, you couldn't really tell because of his mask but it I knew because I'm me.

"So, why are you here? I thought you couldn't enter human cities?"

"That's not true, I said I couldn't be seen in human cities because of my status, I never said I couldn't enter."

"So as long as you evade sight you're fine?"

"That's right~"

How annoying.

"..."

"Well then, I should thank you for helping my subordinate regain her honour-"

"Drop the act, I know you only used me to get rid of a hindrance."

I interrupted him.

"My, what ever do you mean?"

I threw some documents towards him."

He picked it up and started reading.

"Hmm~ you're much more resourceful than I had initially thought."

"You know if you just told me straight up I would have helped you."

It wasn't as though I was particularly against a human-demon alliance.

"... I'll keep that in mind for the next time."

"So there's going to be a next time, huh…"

"I think our friendship will last a long time. I hope you feel the same."

"I don't care anymore. I just feel exhausted."

"Say, I ran into a little unexpected trouble when I was at the Duke's estate."

I changed the topic.

"Unexpected trouble?"

"Right, as I was leaving the Duke's house I ran into zombies, I don't think it had anything to do with the Duke but it was probably targeting me specifically. Do you know anything about that?"

"… No, I've been in this city since you arrived but this is the first time I'm hearing anything about a zombie attack, did Chrom not protect you?."

"Chrom wasn't with me."

"I see."

So then, what were those zombies there for?

"I'll try to look into it."

"Thanks."

"Of course, you did help me out quite a bit this time. Was there anything else you wanted to ask?"

"... Hmm, do you know a person called Orion Valteare?"

"I heard she was an elusive assassin but nothing too impressive, just another human in my eyes. Why?"

"Nothing, it's just that she was the assassin that killed Ciel. If she hasn't caught your interest then I guess she really was just a small fry."

"Hmm. You didn't speak her name in front of the Tetrarch though?"

"I made a deal that I wouldn't. I was necessary in order to receive those documents."

"I see, if you deem that necessary then I won't pursue any further."

"Thanks."

"Then if there is nothing else I shall take my leave."

With that he left in a shadowy effect.

I really want to learn that skill too.

PART SEVEN

-LINA'S SIDE-

"..."

What- did I just hear?

Eh?

I just followed young master to give him a congratulations but I think I just heard something big. I feel like I wasn't supposed to hear that.

The young master was working with a demon? Eh, wait does that mean Chrom was also a person from the Demon race?

I think they casually just said the name of the demon lord as well.

Eh?! What?!

What should I do?! Should I consult with master on this?

Ah, but it seemed like the young master wanted to keep this a secret!

Ahhhh~~ what to dooo~

This is too much for my dumb brain.

We were now back at the Count's house getting ready for a little celebration. All of the people from Duke Vista's estate were hired by the duke and they were now working here.

I must say that the knight captain is rather handsome…

Now wait, now wasn't the time for this.

As I was rolling around on the bed provided to me by the duke I was racking up stress in my head. This really was too big for me to handle. I knew that the young master was special but to think he had connections like that.

"Sister, what are you doing lying around?"

My little sister Lena comes in without even a knock.

"Lena- I, I don't know what to do."

"What are you talking about, stop lying around and help us get prepared with the party."

This little sister of mine didn't care about what I kind of turmoil was going inside me right now. Well, it was best that she didn't know about this side of the young master but...

As I thought, I think should at least tell master about this.

I decided to get off my bed and go help prepare. Mother was still asleep. Apparently once she falls asleep she could stay asleep for a few days.

By the Count's estimates she should wake up either tomorrow or the day after.

Is what was supposed to happen but one of the maids came running in.

"Excuse me! The madam has awoken!"

I instinctively direct my gaze towards Lena.

She averts her gaze. I expected as much.

"Lena, let's go."

"I, I'm not going."

"We don't have time to argue, we don't know when mother will fall asleep again. At least let her see your face."

"What does it matter, your face, my face, it's the same anyway right?"

"No, we're different."

"I don't care, I'm not going."

She still hasn't forgive mother. In such a situation I should be more like young master. Even if he's hiding some big secret, he's always putting other before him.

I get down on my knees.

"Sister?"

I bow. That's all I can do.

All I can do is beg.

"Please- see mother."

"... Just once."

I looked up with a surprised stare.

"W-what? How can I refuse with you begging me from the floor?"

...

...

Mother was sitting up back on her bed.

The count, Dian, Master, young master and my sister were all there.

"Lena-"

My mother calls out my sister's name. Lena tries to avert her gaze.

However, I could see tears falling down Lena's face.

"Oh- Lena."

My mother get's up from her bed and stumbles a bit falling over.

"Honey!"

The count goes immediately to support her. I do the same from the other side.

Mother lets go of us and starts walking towards Lena while stumbling.

They are finally face to face.

"W-What?"

Lena says rudely but I know she doesn't mean any insult. That girl doesn't really express her emotions much so she doesn't know what to do in such situations.

Mother hugs her.

When she does the tears become much more intense.

"T-This is unfair!"

Mother gently strokes her head.

"Uwahh~~!"

We all smile wryly at this touching scene.

I think it will be fine now. I think deep down Lena has already forgiven mother long ago.

I look out the window and gaze up at the large full moon.

Yeah, I think everything will work out fine.

END REPORT

[Status Menu]

Morgant Fallon. Level 14

NECROMANCER/DEMON GENERAL

Strength: 95 (65+30)

Dexterity: 35 (5+30)

Intelligence: 35 (5+30)

Insight: 35 (5+30)

[Status point: 15]

[Skill menu]

(AUGMENT) [Strike+]: Level 1

(ACTIVE) [Summon Skeleton Knight]: Level 3

(ACTIVE) [Transfer Life]: Level 5

(PASSIVE) [Life Force Sensory]: Level 15

(ACTIVE) [Life drain]: Level 5

(ACTIVE) [Wither]: Level 3

(ACTIVE) [Decay]: Level 9

(AUGMENT) [Aura Field]: Level 1