“H-How did you…!” Flora’s eyes widened and she stepped back in shock.

“If they, the Juliar Theocracy find out that you are the daughter of the one who signed a contract with a Great Demon then you’ll be hunted down, Flora Renard.” Arnold smirked.

“He didn’t sign the contract!” Flora shouted back.

“The Theocracy doesn’t see it that way, princess. To them, the moment he didn’t reject their offer meant that he was the Theocracy’s enemy.”

The Juliar Theocracy were the ones who preached and worshipped the Human God, Melis. They were the ones who maintained order in the name of the almighty goddess. In truth, however, they were the most corrupt cult in this world.

Even more so than the demons. In an attempt to rid this continent of their opponents such as other religious groups and/or threats to their status quo, they resort to underhanded methods like propaganda. For example, if they suspect that a person or organization was thinking of taking them on then they’d do their utmost to slay those individuals.

That was what happened to the kingdom where Flora was born.

Flora gnashed her teeth. She tried to forget about everything that happened back then but now the memories came flooding back.

“Are you going to tell them?” She smirked and broke apart her restraints. It wasn’t much but the juice managed to give her some of her energy back.

Enough to wring a random brat’s neck, that is.

“My, my. That was supposed to have restrained your aura. How is it that you’re that strong?” Arnold said with nonchalance.

Flora glared at Arnold. She bent her legs and burst forward.

It was speed that wasn’t possible for normal humans. She didn’t have the air of a warrior around her. Rather, that of a young lady from a well-off family. Appearances could be deceiving.

Flora swung her leg at Arnold. It was fast but not fast enough. Arnold only stepped back after releasing his aura.

Dealing with an emaciated girl wasn’t that hard.

“Kyaah!” Flora was suddenly thrown upside-down. It was done in a split second. Arnold flipped her while she was off-balance with one leg in the air.

She crashed onto the ground head first.

“!!” Arnold held her arms with an iron grip. She couldn’t believe the strength in his hands. She couldn’t even escape.

“You bear the sins of your father, Flora.”

Her father, Lucius Ashon Luthial II was given a choice to make his kingdom the vassal of a nation an undead ruled. The undead was a Vampire Lord that invaded a city and made it their domain.

The Great Demon who made the offer was one of the Vampire Lord’s subordinates. It was explained in the game that the king didn’t accept yet since he was wavering on if it would benefit his nation.

On one hand, the Vampire Lord could protect his nation, however, there was the worry over losing the trust and connections with other foreign nations. On the other hand, the one who made the offer was of undead origin. That was enough for the Theocracy to make a move.

The Juliar Theocracy didn’t let this chance slip by and used it to destroy the nation.

“Undead and the people of Goddess Melis don’t see eye to eye, do they? And look at you, the only surviving member.” Arnold said with a glint of mockery in his eyes. “This was the perfect chance for the Theocracy to kill your family. They feared all of you. No, you were one of their biggest fears. There had been rumors of a Sword Master going around. You could become even more troublesome if you were the vassal nation of that vampire as well.”

Flora’s eyes were turning moist and her face red. Her teeth made grinding sounds.

‘To think that I would be forced to submit to some guy in fancy clothes!’

When she looked up, she saw the mocking smile that Arnold was directing at her.

“That Sword Master was you, isn’t it? Now then, if you want to keep this between us, you will do as I say.”

‘This scumbag!’

◇

“…..”

“…..”

The two were walking side-by-side towards the carriage after exiting the building. Flora stole frequent glances at Arnold’s face.

“How did you know who I was?” Flora grabbed his sleeve to make him stop.

“Hm? You think I’d tell you that?”

Flora glared at him. “You’re a terrible person. Blackmailing a maiden to do your bidding.”

“You have no choice, your highness. Unless you want to see if I was bluffing?”

“…I apologize…” Flora lowered her head. “Whatever it is…I shall do it….”

Of course, Arnold wouldn’t fall for her words. There was the possibility that she would attack him again if he let his guard down.

Maybe it was Liam or Arnold, but he wasn’t so naïve as to take someone’s words as truth.

‘How did I end up having this unexpected meeting? Sigh.’

His only goal was today was to get the sword and buy a few other necessary things. He didn’t expect to meet the fallen princess here.

Flora Patena Lera Luthial. She was originally the one who taught the hero the Way of the Sword.

Unlike earlier, the two met when Luke tried adventuring for the first time. She saw how sloppy his skills were and insisted on training him. Throughout their time together, they grew fond of each other and became friends.

Flora joined his party when the Emperor announced that Luke had to slay the Demon King. As with most of the women in the story, she fell for Luke immediately.

I’ll definitely help you fight those guys, miss Flora! I’ll protect you!

No woman’s heart wouldn’t skip a beat if a man declared something like that. That very same day when Luke took down the Theocracy for their misdeeds of wrongfully slaughtering thousands, Flora had her first time with him.

It was so heartwarming how they fell in love that the fanbase couldn’t help but love it. Arnold was one of them. The game was sort of like an Otome game when it came to romance. It was especially so during the School Arc.

The pain and suffering she went through because of her father’s deeds was all blown away in the face of the hero. The things he’d do for strangers was unbelievable.

‘For now, I should let them get close.’ Arnold thought when they arrived at the carriage.

“Will I have to call you master now?” Flora asked as she squeezed those words out.

“No. Arnold is fine. Besides, you won’t be serving me.”

“Eh?” Flora didn’t get a chance to ask because Arnold opened the carriage door and shoved her inside.

“W-What’s going on?” Lauran was startled when someone opened the door so suddenly. She pinched her nose when Flora was thrown inside the carriage. The intruder smelled like grime and sweat. Fecal matter as well.

“Lauran, head to the public bathhouse and get this girl clean. Take this and buy her suitable clothes and a meal.” Arnold threw a pouch at her.

Lauran looked at the young woman. She seemed about two years older than her. Faded purple hair, big purple eyes and a slender but fit body.

The most noticeable factor however, was…

“But isn’t she a slave?” Lauran looked at the slave crest on her chest. “Is that really alright?”

“Don’t question me and get it done.”

“You’re leaving me alone?” Flora asked.

“Do you intend to run away?” Arnold narrowed his eyes. “This is your chance. This girl barely knows martial arts so you just might be able to escape.” He pointed at Lauran.

‘Although, I can’t guarantee you won’t be thrown with a spell.’

“You probably don’t know how slavery works since you’re from a nation that abolished it. If I wanted to, I could simply force you to obey me. Whenever you misbehave, I can activate that tattoo on your chest. It will send a shock up your spine. The intensity depends on the level difference between the master and slave.”

He needn’t say anything else. It was already proven that, in her current state, she wouldn’t be able to disobey him.

“…..” Flora shut her mouth.

That was actually on her mind. She would’ve incapacitated Lauran and run away.

“Good girl. Stay with Lauran for now. Once I get back, I want to have a talk with you, Flora. Luke and I will be busy for a while. We should be done by noon if the auction continues at the same pace.”

It was two hours since they arrived at the auction. It would be three hours until noon.

‘Maybe there’ll be enough time to visit the store.’ Lauran thought after looking at her watch.

Arnold didn’t say anything else and only closed the door after exiting.

“Good grief.” He sighed as the carriage began moving. “Let’s hope my luck won’t let me down.”

◇

Arnold returned to the room and sat back down. Everyone’s eyes were on him and followed his every movement.

“W-Where is miss Flora?” Luke asked.

“She’s being taken care of by Lauran.”

“Is that really okay?” Luke asked again.

“Haa…Yes. It’s fine. She won’t run away. I can promise you that.” Arnold crossed his leg and chuckled softly.

‘She needs to start with his training immediately.’

He blackmailed her because that was the only way to get her to agree to do what he says. He couldn’t take the risk that this world’s Flora would decide to train Luke with her own free will.

As a noble of the highest seat in the aristocracy, Arnold could pressure Flora as much as he wanted. Just to be clear, the only reason he bought her was to make her become Luke’s master.

Nothing else.

Arnold looked at Luke.

‘I’m not a romantic kind of guy so it’s impossible for me to get two people together.’

If anything, Arnold only knew how to make a woman fall in love and break her heart. This was why Olivia was so disgusted by him.

'Well, they don't need to get together anyway. She only needs to teach him how to fight with a sword. Whatever the hell they do afterwards is none of my business.'

“Hey, Luke.”

“Yes, big brother?” Luke blinked innocently as he looked at Arnold.

“I want you to buy Olivia a gift.”

“Eh? Why?”

“You need to make a good impression. This is the most important when meeting a woman. Especially on the first date. I want you to give it to her as well.”

‘What did she like again?’

Arnold tried to remember the wiki page he read a long time ago. He was googling Olivia.

Blood crystal, he remembered.

“When you spot red crystals, I want you to buy that.”

“O-Okay.”

Olivia had a hobby of collecting rare gemstones, magic crystals and diamonds. It was one of the few joys in her life as royalty. As she was the princess of an entire empire, there was never the shortage of money to acquire any gem her eyes laid upon.

However, the red crystal was a different mineral. To those who knew not of its worth, it was a garbage item, but to Arnold who played the game, it was like a treasure.

The crystal could be used for many things. Summoning artifacts, jewelry, mana battery that could be used to fuel an entire city, and so on. Even a small piece of the crystal was priceless. Given its uses and properties, Arnold wasn’t surprised.

Mineral were also ranked with letters such as: F, E, D, C, B, A,S and SS. This particular crystal was actually a star ranked mineral.

Of course, Arnold wouldn’t reveal its secrets. He had a plan to buy a large amounts of these crystals to make sure his wealth for the future was secured. You couldn’t be a lord of a city and have no money. He also didn’t want to rely on his father for money, unless necessary.

It would come in handy indeed for a spirit user like Olivia. She could literally carry her Spirit Beasts around her neck. That was enough reason for her to be overjoyed once she found out its uses.

‘Luke might be able to win her heart with such a gift.’

It was an unusual color despite being a crystal, but once everyone found out its value then the demand for it would skyrocket.

Sadly, it wasn’t that common a mineral. Only one place had an abundant amounts of these crystals.

The reason Arnold agreed to his father's order of becoming Whitage's lord was mainly because the mountains near the forest of the city had thousands of kilograms of these crystals. Once he became lord, the land will become his alone.

Being a person obsessed with money, Liam wouldn't make their prices cheap.

--We will now bring out the weapons we have gathered from around the world!

The doors on the stage opened.

‘Here it comes.’

Arnold leaned forward in his seat. His gaze was expectant.

--Feast your eyes upon these magnificent weapons. This is the weapon of a frost giant. That one over there is a rapier bought from the legendary 9th star powerhouse Margrave Vance, the Piercer!

‘What a load of crap.’

Arnold knew that he was only spouting such lies to get a reaction out of the crowd. The weapons were probably just bought from an unknown blacksmith. Even the appearances of some of them were fake. They probably had craftsmen decorate the weapons. That would motivate the people to buy said weapons.

Arnold’s gaze wandered on the stage. He could remember what the sword looked like, so it shouldn’t have been difficult to spot it.

“!!!” His eyes landed on a rusted sword that was on the waist of one of the guards. Just by looking at its unique double edged blade, he could tell that it was what he had been looking for.

‘They must’ve thought that it was worthless so they gave it to a random guard.’

Although it was dirty, appearances could be deceiving.

‘How do I get it? Should I give the guard money?’

That would be suspicious since there was no reason for the son of a Great Noble such as him to care for a sword like that. He could buy anything else. If the guard was quick-witted, he would immediately understand that the sword was worth more than they bargained for. If that was the case then he’d demand more money for it.

‘Well, I can’t just kill him. Dammit.’

Arnold thought in frustration.

The people were already bidding for the weapons brought on stage.

◇◇◇

Luke glanced at Arnold.

‘Why isn’t he buying one?’

The whole point of coming today was to purchase a sword. Luke already had a sword in mind.

It was a sword with a golden hilt, a sharp curved blade and a gem for decorative purpose. It was the most fitting for a heir compared to the other trash they brought out.

Luke hesitated to tell Arnold. He had never really asked for anything before in his life. That much was understandable. He was a meek and shy person after all.

“U-Um, big brother?” Luke pulled Arnold’s sleeve. The latter seemed deep in thought as he didn’t respond.

Luke shut his mouth.

--Thank you everyone for placing your bids. Please fetch the weapons after the auction as doing it now would cause a ruckus.

Luke sighed in disappointment. All he had to do was ask Arnold to buy the sword for him.

Arnold suddenly stood up and walked away. By the looks of it, he was going to the backstage. It wasn’t off-limits per se but that didn’t mean just anyone could enter it.

‘Where’s he going?’

Luke could only wonder.