“Leonis! Where have you been?”

Christopher was grinning from one ear to the other, motionning for Arthur to come closer in an impatient and eager manner.

“It’s a party for the kids. I would’ve made them uncomfortable if I stayed any longer.”

“Hahaha yes yes! I’m going to the after-party. You always refused to come with me… how about it? Do you want to have some fun?”

Arthur furrowed his brows and looked back at the grinning and joyful man.

“Depends what kind of ‘fun’ it is.”

“Don’t worry about it! I’m certain you’ll like it a lot. The after-party is not for everyone, it’s reserved for a handful of selected individuals.”

After a few seconds of contemplation, Arthur agreed by nodding his head once. Meanwhile, Evelyn was giving Christopher a venomous, almost deadly, glare, which went unnoticed by both him and her master.

Arthur never heard of this ‘after-party’ and since Christopher was insisting on bringing him along, there was no reason for him to refuse. He had accomplished tonight’s goal and it wasn’t better to mingle with the aristocracy a bit more, maybe try to make a couple of helpful friends who share his same ideals or motives.

Lord Lerandal guided Arthur outside of the manor then they got into a massive black carriage.

“Ah, maids and butlers are not allowed.”

Seeing Elise follow Arthur into the carriage, Christopher faked a cough and spat those words.

“Why not?”-Arthur

“It’s an unsaid rule… but if you really trust her then I don’t particularly mind.”

Arthur glanced at Evelyn but she just sat there, expressionless and unresponsive. He wanted to get her opinion through an exchange of stares but she did not deign to respond.

“I would prefer if she came too.”

…

They only traveled for a couple of minutes before the carriage stopped in front of a relatively small manor, seemingly unkept and uninhabited.

“It’s here?”

“Yes. The after-party is a bit special… I won’t tell you more. It’ll ruin the excitement.”

Christopher chuckled and practically jumped off the carriage, his plump body comically hopping toward the manor.

Arthur inspected the estate and followed the noble. He wasn’t excited or anything, just intrigued about this secretive ‘after-party’. Since it was in a secluded place, it was definitely illegal, which made it even more suspicious.

Soon, Christopher, along with Arthur and Evelyn, entered the manor and were greeted by two knights standing guard in the main hall. The two bowed to the two nobles and tried to block Evelyn only to be stopped by Christopher Lerandal, who signaled them with his eyes.

Christopher knew the layout of the place and, with quickened steps, guided Arthur to the basement, which wasn’t as dusty or deserted as the upper floors.

There was a red light which provided little illumination, but what caught Arthur’s attention were the multiple cries coming from the spacious and bustling basement. It was cries of pleasure and pain, and when he finally stepped inside and got a clear view of the place, he was momentarily flabbergasted.

Fortunately, he managed to quickly collect his thoughts and snap out of it.

“Hehe, what do you think?”

Christopher winked at his friend and pointed at the closest thing; It was a large wooden wheel on which a naked female was bound. Her wrists, ankles and waist were bound by metallic shackles, which glued her body onto the slowly spinning wooden wheel, suspended vertically to fully display the ‘target’.

“You can find all types of amusement here.”

Evelyn too, was surprised, but she didn’t let it show in her face. Her hands were behind her back, trembling ever-so-slightly… she followed her master and refrained from expressing her opinion.

As for Arthur, he soon broke into a smile, looking pleased with what he was seeing.

“Yes, I never expected this. Truly an eye-opener.”

“What did I tell you? The after-party is the main event for us.”

Christopher started explaining a couple of things to Arthur, his beady-eyes jumping from one bound girl to the other, “There are throwing knives here. As you can see there-ah! Young Sam! Impressive precision! You hit her thigh… Ehm, like you just saw, you use the knives and try to hit her. If you hit a vital point, it’s 50 points… There are prizes too.”

Christopher pulled Arthur to another, small room, in which there were at least six naked people, males and females. Put simply and literally, it was an orgy, though people undertaking it seemed to be under the effect of drugs or alcohol.

“If you want, you can join them. The vials there are drugs that increase your libido. There are four of these small rooms… we call them ‘the room of pleasure’.”

Christopher was too excited to let Arthur talk or react, he kept dragging him across the basement and showing him all kinds of available entertainment.

“I’ve done my job. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to relieve my accumulated stress.”

Christopher shamelessly removed his clothes right in front of Arthur and entered one of the orgy rooms, his unpleasant laughter echoing throughout the dimly lit basement.

Arthur, on the other hand, stood still, his eyes carefully scanning every inch of this place. He was memorizing the faces of the nobles present here. In fact, it wasn’t hard to distinguish the nobles as they were the dominant ones.

Too shocked by this twisted and disturbing place, Arthur covered his face and lowered his face, too engrossed in his thoughts. Were it for Evelyn, who softly called him, he would have stayed like this for a while.

“Master?”

Arthur removed his hand and revealed a wide and satisfied smile, which wasn’t the reaction his maid had expected.

“We should try some of these. They look quite fun.”

Evelyn frowned and took a step back but did not speak, though it was apparent she was affected by this ‘after-party’ and the cruelty happening here.

Most of the victims here, either women or men, were mostly beastmen. They had dog ears, cat ears, and even fox ears, though some were elves or half-demons. They were suffering a fate worse than slavery… treated like literal objects to enteratin the desires of the nobles.

‘I expected a level of twistedness… but not to such a degree.’

Arthur walked to one of the spinning wooden wheels and carefully approached the bound girl, who looked no older than fifteen years old.

He leaned his face closer and stared at her hollow eyes and unresponsiveness to the grievous injuries all over her body. She wasn’t dead but would be soon, however, that didn’t stop the nobles, especially the young ones, to keep throwing the knives at her.

Strangely enough, all those victims made Arthur think of his past self, when he was imprisoned in that dark and cold room for months.

He pitied their fate but wasn’t foolish enough to attempt to save them or get them out of this hell. However, there was another and simpler alternative.

“Evelyn, give me one of the knives.”

The maid hesitated for a second before picking a knife from the table and handing it to her master, who backed away from the girl, slowly raised his hand then used all of his strength to throw it.

As he threw it from a short distance, the knife accurately hit the girl’s forehead and killed her on the spot.

“What are you doing?! I was waiting for my turn.”

A young brown-haired noble immediately lashed out at Leonis, but when the latter turned around and looked at him with a creepy smile, he averted his gaze and stutteringly mumbled a couple of inaudible words.

“Pardon me, I find it immensely pleasurable to stab their foreheads.”

The youth gritted his teeth and walked to another wheel only to find Leonis already standing in front of it with a knife in his hand.

Arthur went around all the five wheels and killed four girls and one boy. Each time one was killed, a knight would come in and replace the corpse with a fresh victim.

“You’re doing it on purpose!”

The young noble had had enough and finally snapped at Arthur, but that only made the latter walk toward him.

Leonis was much taller than the furious youngster, who had to lift his head and look up.

“You have such a nice forehead… would you be so kind as to let me try you once?”

“W-what are you-”

Arthur leaned his face closer and blew air on the kid’s forehead, making him tremble and scurry away like a scared chicken.

Once he got rid of the young noble, Arthur turned to face Evelyn and asked,

“Would you also like to try? It’s surprisingly refreshing.”

“...”

It didn’t take a fool to notice that Arthur was purposely killing the victims, but since it wasn’t against the rules, no one stepped forth to stop him or question his ‘cruelty’.

For the next ten minutes, Arthur repeated the process and killed four more people before leaving the basement.

He soon returned to the surface and found his carriage waiting for him right outside the manor. Still looking calm and a bit relieved, he got inside and sat down while letting out a long and heavy sigh.

His personal maid sat across him and kept giving him a meaningful stare, her face as unreadable as ever.

“My dear Evelyn, what do you think about the after-party?”

Surprised by his sudden question, the maid tilted her head in confusion and, after a momentary pause, replied.

“It was fun, master.”

“Fun? I thought honesty was one of your perks, yet you say ‘fun’?”

“...”

“Tell me, is torturing, raping, and drugging defenseless people falls into the ‘fun’ category? Or am I simply too old to fathom the true meaning?”

"If I have offended you, master, then I beg for your forgiveness.”

The maid bowed her head then resumed her straight sitting posture. Meanwhile, Arthur looked outside the window and pondered for an indeterminate amount of time.

“How would you feel if you were them? Would it still be fun?”

“I have never tried it so I don’t know, master.”

“One does not need to try that to know if it’s fun or not.”

A bout of silence flowed between the maid and her master, though it was soon broken by the former. She wanted to ascertain something, thus did she ask him, hoping for some sort of confirmation.

“Master, why did you kill them?”

“Why not? You’re a smart person, Evelyn. I’m sure you can think of an answer by yourself.”

“...”

****

“Here is your Black Tea, master.”

“...”

Arthur was sitting in his office and absent-mindedly looking at the starry sky. He didn’t even notice Evelyn’s arrival of the refreshing smell of Black Tea.

“Master, will you be attending more ‘after-parties’?”

“Unfortunately, I will not.”

Arthur looked at the maid and, with a quiet and barely audible tone, gave a short response.

Evelyn bowed again and, unexpectedly, displayed a momentary faint smile.

“It is late, master. Good night.”

"Yes yes… good night to you too.”

He dismissively waved his hand at her then stood up, walking to his balcony and emptying his Black Tea in one gulp.

After a long time passed, in which he simply looked at the star-filled darkened sky, Arthur put down the cup of tea. He leaned against the wall and tried to control his trembling hands but it was futile.

He tried his best to remain composed and erase everything he had been through on Earth and what he had seen in that basement. Alas, it was easier said than done.

“You can’t fail, Arthur… you can’t!”

For a long while, the shaking did not stop, neither did his voice, which kept reminding him to stay strong and do what’s necessary for his survival… no matter the cost.