“This will be your new home.”

David announces the declaration while gesturing towards an impressive behemoth of a mansion. Or more precisely, the land in which the building resides in.

Contrary to Rathos’ expectation, the home he was given is much larger than many of the others. Rathos was expecting a multi-story building within the [Nobles] corner, a place usually surrounding the castle where the ruling class would live.

But the home in front of him is large, taking up a significant amount of space. His villa at his former home was maybe only half as large.

David steps forward and opens the gates, giving Rathos a better look inside, allowing him to see the large front yard before the building.

A very unkempt front yard. Clearly, a [Gardener] would need to be hired to fix it up. Overgrown weeds galore.

“I do apologize for the rather untidy front yard. Nobody has lived here for several years and [Lady] Rose did not seem interested in keeping the home taken care of.”

Rathos continues looking at the building, finding that, though it is clearly in great need of cleaning, it is not actually in any form of disrepair.

“I believe Rose mentioned that this home used to belong to her uncle?” Rathos asks, immediately getting a swish from David’s tail. But it only lasts a moment before it quickly relaxes.

“Ummm, yes. Her uncle was one of the [Nobles] who had fought for the leadership of the city… and failed.”

Rathos looks at the man, frowning. It is no easy feat to kill off an entire population of [Nobility] in a city. While still keeping the city from turning into anarchy no less. If too much leadership dies too quickly, then an entire city would suffer. Only a truly masterful plan or an amazing skill would be able to keep a city running.

And considering that such skills tend to be only present in [Kings] or [Emperors], then Rathos is willing to bet it is the former.

After a moment of silence, David, uncomfortable of just standing at the entrance, ushers Rathos down the stone walkway and towards the home.

Walking up the steps, David opens the door and enters, Rathos quickly following suit.

The first thing he notices is how relatively clean the place is. Which, when he thinks about it, is very understandable. The building was being used to house injured [Guards]. It would be expected to have the building thoroughly cleaned so as to decrease the risk of infection.

A risk all the more dangerous considering the lack of medicinal potion creation here in the borderlands. With the low amount of mana present, few magical plants are able to survive to be turned into potions that could cure infection or heal wounds.

Which also means that Rathos must make his own supply last. He may even be forced to water them down just to make them last longer.

Looking to the right and left, his eyes widen at furniture stacked up on top of each other.

“The furniture? Does that come with the home?”

David stops and looks to the sides.

“Of course. It would not be respectful to merely give you an empty house and force you to buy all of the amenities. Especially now after you had given our beloved [Captain] such an amazing suit of armor.”

Rathos nods and gestures for David to show him around.

Twelve bedrooms, three master bedrooms, a library, a dining room, kitchen, closets, and even a rather spacious servants quarters comprising of over ten rooms. A lot of space and all of the rooms have basic necessities like a bed, desk, and chair.

Overall, the building was turning into a rather impressive home with no downsides.

At least until Rathos sees the basement.

“Now [Trader] Roth, before I take you downstairs, I want to tell you that much of the [Nobility] that lived in the city were disliked for their… mmmm, how should I say it…”

“Just show me.”

David nods and opens the door. He grabs a lantern on the side, quickly lights it and starts to head down with the [General] in tow.

Unlike the rest of the house, the basement is exceptionally dusty. The wood seems relatively old while a rancid smell strikes Rathos’ nose.

The smell of dead flesh.

Rathos frowns but continues to follow David while keeping his mind sharp and hand ready to unleash his blade attached to his hip. It was for this very reason that he had chosen to see the home first before anyone else can enter. His class and his enchanted items would make it close to impossible for him to be easily ambushed. Many [Assassins] and [Rogues] have tried, all had failed.

Only his two [Guards] would be able to do the same, especially considering that they used to be [Gladiators]. Combined with their very defensive armor and passive skills, it would be difficult to take them down.

Of course, neither compares to himself in skill and capability.

Finally reaching the bottom, David raises the lantern, allowing Rathos to see exactly why the basement reeked so bad and why it was not cleaned.

“This is a dungeon,” Rathos says, looking down at the cages and various torture equipment sprawled about. Both sexual and otherwise.

“Yes, the former owner had a deplorable taste in causing both pleasure and pain down here.”

Rathos can only agree as he looks around at the rather spacious basement.

“Unfortunately, even with the bodies removed and the blood cleaned up, it still continues to smell horrendous.”

Rathos looks around, taking steps forward, David following along, shining light.

And then Rathos stops, his eyes finding something. A crevice behind a shelf of instruments. Barely perceptible, the smell strongest here.

Rathos moves forward, feeling the shelf, putting his finger behind it. His eyes harden.

Bending forward, Rathos tightens his hold on the shelf and pushes. A snapping sound is heard, a sound of a possible lock breaking. Rathos moves the large shelf, revealing another room. A hidden room.

David, wide-eyed, moves forward and shines his lantern, finding the source of the smell. Over twenty cages are seen, many filled with rotting corpses. The former living beings had died of starvation.

“May Eir have mercy…” David says, a look of horror upon his features.

But Rathos shows no emotion to the scene. Instead, he turns and extends his hand, grabbing a torch. He moves the torch towards David. David looks at the torch for a moment, before realizing what Rathos wants.

Moving his lantern closer, he lights the torch, illuminating the room, finding that it is significantly larger than what was expected. It seems the underground room extends all the way under the front garden.

Passing by spoiled foods, dirty water, cages of corpses, the two quickly move to the end of the room, finding small cages with corpses. Cages of children, all having starved to death.

David immediately bends forward and hurls. He can handle the smell, even corpses, but children are something that he cannot take.

Rathos continues to stare, his face unmoving, but his emotions are in turmoil. He had expected horrors, mistreated [Slaves]. But not like this. Never like this.

Rathos turns to David, watching the man retch continuously for a good five minutes before the man stops. Tears can be seen coming out of his eyes. But not tears of pain, tears of horrified sadness.

Rathos, moving his hand forward, helps David up, seemingly carrying him to a chair nearby.

Rathos takes his waterskin and moves it to David, who takes it without fuss and drinks his fill.

“Those children. I know those children,” he starts, hands shaking.

A moment of silence passes, Rathos allowing the man to slowly get ahold of himself. He has seen panic, of [soldiers] looking lost, unable to believe what they can see.

The best way to deal with such people is to let them come back to themselves.

“I had an orphanage before the purge. The children would go out to play, to be kids. But every once in awhile, they would go missing. I would search the whole city, looking for them. But I could never find them…”

He shakes his head, tears coming out of his eyes. He looks towards the corpses.

“Little Jerris, Anthony, Allis, Endir, Barsis…”

David starts to cry again, loudly now. Wailing in sorrow.

Rathos can only watch. It was clear to him that David loved them. That he considers these kids family. He probably feels responsible.

“I failed them…”

Rathos takes a moment. Looking up at the ceiling, his thoughts traveling way back. Of his first daughter… and her gruesome death.

“Failure hurts… it hurts a lot. It will follow you and will never go away. It is a hard thing to overcome. When you fail at your responsibilities… and that which is most precious to you is taken away.”

David turns, looking towards Rathos, listening to his words.

A tear comes down Rathos’ face.

“But it is not the end. It never is. You will only truly fail them if you give up. Make their suffering worth something. Change, adapt, become better.”

David looks at Rathos. He wipes his face with his shirt, cleaning what he can. His hands tighten hard, knuckles turning white.

“I will.”

Rathos nods before standing up, helping the man to his feet.

They move slowly, exiting the dungeon, a kinship formed between them. One of history and loss.

***********************************************

“So he told you that?” Rose asks as she takes a bite of cake from her abnormally large fork.

David nods, sitting at a table, unable to look his [Lady] in the eye. The sights he had seen, it had deeply both demoralized him but also given him strength.

He needs to become better. He can’t just stop at merely running a city better. Sure, the city is prosperous, his laws are being followed properly. [Slaves] are being treated better, fed better, and all orphaned children will have a home. The taxes are being used to feed and train them while protecting them from enslavement. And thanks to Scarlet's efforts, the [Guards] will protect these children. No longer will a [Butcher] or [Baker] take the law into their own hands and punish the children for some misdeeds.

David flexes his right-hand fingers… all four of them.

“I’m going to have those [Rogues] removed.”

That's all he says. One of the few things in the city which had survived the cleansing. [Rogues] and [Thieves] still live, hiding in the quickly shrinking slum parts of the city. A couple more years and David believes he would be able to force the [Rogues] out from where they are hiding.

“Didn’t you tell me before that they would eventually be forced out within a few years?” Rose asks, already knowing the answer. Her memory is fantastic and she wholeheartedly believes that violent confrontations would happen. The slums are getting cleaned up quickly, the [Guards] would end up becoming more vigilant, eventually dealing with the Silentclouds who will resort to far more open combat. Many would die, but they would eventually be removed.

“Every second I wait, the Silentclouds are killing and harming innocents. Murdering and raping. I will have them removed at all costs.”

David looks up, his eyes finding hers. She looks at him, his hard resolute expression.

A vicious smile blooms on her lips, mouth slightly open, showing her chocolate covered teeth.

“End them my [Viceroy]. Show them what happens to those who torture and kill. Make them pay for their crimes.”

Rose’s eyes sparkle as her Aura expands, slamming into David like a freight train.

David’s eyes harden. He stands up, resolute. All exhaustion completely removed.

He bows towards his [Lady].

“I must go. There is much preparation to be done,” he exclaims before walking out with his head held high. Resolute.

Rose watches him leave, her grin widening. She licks her lips, A manic expression on her face.

***********************************************

“Boss, are you sure about this?”

Senjin looks behind him, at his underling, a Thirty-two [Rogue] wearing entirely black clothing, like his own. He looks at the others behind him, feeling uneasy about this whole situation.

“Yes. This is our break. We need more members. The [Trader] is clearly wealthy with an enormous amount of enchanted items.”

The second in command, the same one who asked, swallows hard.

“This is different from our usual thing. We rob far away from the castle, not near it. It’s not safe.”

Senjin glares at the [Rogue], annoyed that the man does not understand.

“The city is becoming prosperous too quickly. It is becoming harder and harder for us with less and less people to rob. The [Guards] are increasing in number around us. In a few years, I doubt we could ever survive.”

“Then why not kill the [Viceroy], or even the [Lady]?”

Senjin rolls his eyes. The idiot knows nothing of who they are talking about. Sure, Senjin is a level seventy-two [Rogue] with many skills under his belt, but he is still not an [Assassin]. His skills like [Soundless Movement] or [Enhanced hearing] are indeed useful, but entering the domain of a high level [Lady] poses many dangers. His master had warned him that many powerful [Nobles] will develop skills that allow them to know if someone unwanted had entered their home. Only [Assassins] are naturally able to ignore it.

“Because if I kill the [Viceroy], the [Lady] will swarm the [Guards] and burn our home in anger. As for killing the [Lady],” Senjin shakes his head.

“Too risky, even with my level. We need these enchanted items to boost our current members.”

The man goes silent upon the realization that the enchanted items would be distributed to the current members. Senjin knows all too well the power of greed and how to best use it.

With that business finished, Senjin activates his [Night Vision] skill, allowing him to see through the darkness, quickly finding that no lights exit the windows and no clear signs of sound. Everyone is asleep, which is good and partially unexpected. Senjin was expecting to see a [Guard] or two roaming about the estate. They were to be his first targets to die before moving to the rest of the members inside. Killing would be the easiest way to obtain all of the goods that the [Trader] possess instead of obtaining only a couple.

“It seems all is silent. Everyone is asleep. Keep quiet and follow.”

Without waiting for a confirmation, Senjin drops down from the wall he had been standing on, entering the garden. His feet touch the ground, making no noise. His second lands next to him, silent as well.

As for the others, some do make noise, having dropped on a branch, but their padded feet muffle the sound considerably.

Regardless, Senjin gives a hard glare at the perpetrators. Many beastkin have impressive hearing. If such sounds were to be reproduced within the house, then the whole plan may go to shit.

“Keep quiet. Watch your footing. Do not make noise and follow the plan.”

This time he waits, making sure he gets a nod from everyone as he starts moving through the veritable jungle that is the garden.

And to his delight, it seems his members have heeded the warning, making sure to move slowly while keeping their footing from touching anything that may make noise.

Moments pass and he finally reaches the front door. He touches the nob, finding it locked. With grace, he reaches back and takes out a lockpick. He inserts it, wiggling many times before a barely audible click is heard.

He waits, listening, and finds no new sounds. His hand twists the nob and he pushes the door open. He enters smoothly, looks around, making sure the coast is clear before signaling the rest of his group to enter. They move slowly, padded feet making no noise. He points forward, towards the back and upwards.

He knows the layout of the house already. He had been here before and had worked for the [Noble].

Making a fist and moving it down, his team spread out, moving towards the rooms, daggers unsheathed.

He also moves, making his way up the stairs, towards the end of the corridor. Towards the last room, the master bedroom.

Touching the handle, Senjin smiles, finding it unlocked. He enters slowly, looking around, finding a decently decorated room. Taking a quick look around, he moves towards the bed, dagger unsheathed. He looks over it… and finds it empty.

Warning bells quickly mount in his mind. That this doesn't make sense. Something is wrong.

And then he hears the screaming, the yelling from down below.

But before he can react in any way shape or form, he finds a blade entering through his back, exiting his stomach.

Blood pools from his mouth, eyes widening. The blade retracts as quickly as it had entered. Senjin turns his head, watching slowly as the [Trader] walks away, not even waiting for the dead man to fall.

________________________

Rathos leaves his room, finding another [Rogue] that is attempting to enter his daughter’s room.

The [Rogue] turns to him, attempting to unsheathe his blade, but is far too slow as Rathos’ own sword ends his life.

Quickly moving down the hall, Rathos moves towards where all the screaming is happening. Blood and bodies dot the entrance, Beros blocking the only exit. His blade is bloodied while he stands there looking bored.

A [General] has many skills for war, but skills for war can be used outside of it as well. So when his skill called [Imminent Attack] rang, he instantly knew that a large group of people were coming.

So he awoke and moved everyone to the now cleaned up dungeon while making a plan.

One of his [Guards] would block the exit while the other will end the lives of those who dare trample into his home.

Moving down the stairs, Rathos moved towards the back, walking past strewn bodies, most dead, others dying. But he ignored them, instead walking farther down, past the kitchen, immediately finding his [Guard] impaling a [Rogue].

Moving to the other side, Rathos finds a girl, a [Thief] nestled in the corner, crying. Her eyes are covered but she is shaking and crying in a corner. Fearing for her life.

Petite, young, but high level enough to have some skills. It was quickly clear to Rathos that the girl may very well not have wanted to go.

“Are there any more?” asks his [Guard].

Rathos shakes his head towards the bearkin, before pointing towards the girl.

“I sense none besides the girl. Has she been a problem Darius?”

His [Guard] shakes his head, “No, when I made my presence known, the others rushed me. She stayed behind and hid. She never unsheathed her weapon nor done anything else.”

Rathos nods.

“Then watch her. As long as she does nothing, leave her alive. She will need to be interrogated.”

Rathos moves the away, but not towards the dungeon to report that everything is ok. No, he moves back to his room, past the corpse beside of his bed, and exits to the balcony.

He looks in the distance, to the area of the city where the poor live. He frowns. A building is burning in the distance while [Guards] can be seen surrounding it.

Rathos wonders if the timing was planned, or merely a coincidence.