“Stop!”
The flames halted directly before Isaac’s face.
A rat-faced bastard, who must have been hiding until now, had pressed a blade against the throat of the head of the Richgold Merchant Company.
“This is fucking insane.”
There was not a single uninjured part of Howard’s body.
His face was split and bruised, and blood leaked from his torn wounds, staining his clothes dark red.
The rat-faced man’s eyes darted around as he searched for an escape.
“Th-that’s right! Drop your sword unless you want to see this fat old man’s head fall off!”
His mouth shouted boldly, but his feet slowly crept backward.
He seemed determined to put as much distance between us as possible.
“I said drop your sword!”
THWACK—!
“Huh?!”
Isaac’s gaze, which had been searching desperately for a way out, creaked toward his subordinate.
“Ghh…….”
The rat-faced bandit’s body slowly toppled backward.
THUD.
“D-did a sword just grow out of him?”
Isaac stared at his fallen subordinate in horror.
The Demonic Sword had flown like an arrow and pierced the exact center of the man’s forehead.
[I shall enjoy this.]
The grime-covered soul released a horrific scream as it was drawn into the sword.
“Gasp! Haa…….”
The head of the Richgold Merchant Company witnessed the scene, lost consciousness, and collapsed.
“Y-you…….”
A groan escaped Isaac.
With both his subordinates and hostage gone, there was nothing he could do.
“GRAAAAGH! Die!”
Nothing except scream and charge at me.
“Why are you suddenly telling me to die?”
His skills were riddled with openings and flaws.
He had spent his entire life exploiting the openings of others, so he had apparently never considered closing his own.
CLANG—!
“I don’t intend to kill you.”
I placed my sword against his neck.
“Wh-what do you want?”
“Let’s see. First…….”
THWACK—!
I struck the back of his neck with the hilt, and he collapsed.
“Get some sleep.”
I tightly bound the unconscious bastard.
[Will you not kill him?]
“No.”
I still had a use for him.
[What a shame. Of all the men here, he is the one who makes my mouth water most.]
“Don’t worry.”
She would get to eat this bastard soon enough.
After loading Isaac into the carriage, I approached the head of the Richgold Merchant Company.
He lay unconscious with his face buried in the ground.
Just in case, I placed a finger beneath his nose.
Fortunately, he was still breathing.
“Good grief. You shouldn’t sleep here.”
I hoisted the unconscious merchant company head over my shoulder.
“You’re rather heavy.”
His flesh—no, his build—was apparently not for show.
Grunting with effort, I loaded him into the carriage.
I did not forget to secure the bandit even more tightly and gag him.
“Let’s go.”
It was time to finish the request.
***
“Sir!”
When Mitchell saw me approaching with the carriage, she ran out of the cave.
“What happened? Where is Father?”
“He is in the back.”
I leaped down from the horse.
RATTLE.
When I opened the carriage door, the head of the merchant company appeared in a terrible state.
“Father!”
Mitchell drew a sharp breath upon seeing him.
“F-Father’s condition……!”
“It appears those men subjected him to severe torture.”
“H-how could they?!”
Tears filled her sharp eyes.
With hands trembling like aspen leaves, she shook her father.
“Ugh. M-Mitchell?”
Had he reacted to his daughter’s voice?
The man who had remained unconscious until now suddenly opened his eyes.
“What happened?! Why are you here?! Were you captured by those bastards too?!”
“No, Father.”
She turned and pointed toward me.
“This warrior saved both you and me.”
“Y-you are!”
The merchant company head’s eyes widened.
“You were clearly controlling a flying sword…….”
Good grief.
He remembered that?
“You must have seen things while suffering such terrible pain in body and mind. A flying sword? That would be absurd.”
At this point, I had no choice but to brazen it out.
“Is……that so?”
“Yes. I did rescue you, but you must have misunderstood what you saw during the battle.”
“I see.”
What could he do when I said that was what happened?
His savior had told him so.
What, was he going to doubt the man who saved his life?
After staring blankly for a moment, he shook his head and regained his senses.
“Come to think of it, those were not the first words I should have said to my benefactor. I should have thanked you first. Thank you for saving both my daughter’s life and mine.”
He bowed deeply.
“There is no need. I merely fulfilled the duty I accepted.”
“Depending upon the circumstances, nothing in the world is more difficult than fulfilling one’s duty.”
He slowly rose and took my hand.
His legs trembled, and his face was horribly swollen, but nothing could conceal the wisdom within his gaze.
“Thank you. You are the benefactor who saved my family and my merchant company.”
He bowed deeply once again.
“Father, I promised our benefactor that we would give him anything within our power as repayment.”
“Well done. Naturally, we must.”
Those were welcome words.
My primary objective had been to feed corrupted souls to Fafnir, but that did not mean I had never considered placing the Richgold Merchant Company in my debt.
“I am grateful, but may I receive that repayment at a later date?”
We had not yet found the true culprit who sold them out.
Perhaps reading something in my eyes, the merchant company head’s gaze began burning with passion.
“Of course. Once I have removed the rats nesting within my household, I shall give you the most precious thing I possess. I swear upon the name of Howard Richgold, master of the Richgold Merchant Company.”
Now that was more like it.
A man destined to become the owner of the Empire’s greatest merchant company needed at least that much boldness.
“Thank you. Let us discuss the rest after you return home.”
I helped the two of them into the carriage.
“We are departing.”
The carriage wheels rattled as we descended the mountainside.
It was time to return them home.
***
“Master!”
“My lady! Are you unharmed?!”
The moment the two stepped down from the carriage, the members of the household rushed out and attempted to support them.
“No. That will not be necessary.”
Howard pushed away every hand offered to him.
“Where is Tony?”
“Deputy Head Tony collapsed while searching everywhere for you as soon as he heard you had disappeared.”
“His body and mind rapidly weakened, and he is currently bedridden.”
Bedridden?
The head of the merchant company snorted.
“He sold out the man he had shared hardships with like family, yet it seems even he possesses enough of a conscience to feel guilty!”
“P-pardon? Master, what do you mean?!”
“The only people who knew my destination and travel route were my bodyguards and Deputy Head Tony! My guards were all killed in the sudden ambush, so who else could the culprit be?!”
“That cannot be!”
“Why would the Deputy Head do such a thing?!”
As the household erupted into murmurs, Howard’s fierce gaze struck them.
“What are you doing?! Bring Tony before me at once!”
No one could understand where such strength came from in a body that had been beaten and tortured, but Howard’s booming voice shook the mansion.
“Understood!”
At his thunderous order, the household members moved quickly.
Apparently, the claim that he was bedridden had not been a lie.
The man they dragged out looked emaciated at a glance.
“Why did you do it?”
“M-Master, what are you talking about?”
“Why did you sell me out?”
“I-I did not do it!”
Tony Mikkelson.
He was clearly the man who had become the head of the Richgold Merchant Company in my previous life.
And the man who committed suicide shortly afterward.
I quietly stepped forward.
“Is someone in your family ill?”
My question startled him.
“H-how did you know?”
“Someone who showed no improvement regardless of the treatment suddenly began recovering after taking medicine given by those men.”
His face turned deathly pale in an instant, and he threw himself flat upon the ground.
“I-I am sorry! I was wrong! My wife had shown no improvement no matter what medicine we used. When she began recovering, I must have lost my mind.”
“Did those men approach you and give you the medicine themselves?”
“Yes.”
I seized Tony’s face and pulled it upward.
“Was the medicine they gave you a colorless and odorless potion in a bottle approximately one handspan tall?”
“H-how do you know that?!”
“Ha.”
I released him with a sigh.
“That was no miraculous medicine. It was the exact opposite.”
“Wh-what do you mean?!”
“What they gave you was a narcotic called Demon’s Nectar. It is a terrifying drug capable of causing addiction with only a few drops.”
Everyone reacted with shock.
Tony, in particular, refused to acknowledge the reality before him.
“Th-that cannot be! Her complexion clearly improved after taking the medicine!”
“That was merely a temporary result caused by the drug’s painkilling effects.”
I stared directly into his eyes and continued.
“Did she not begin requesting the medicine more frequently and in larger quantities?”
“Stop.”
“The people who initially offered it for free gradually began demanding greater sums of money.”
“S-stop.”
“In the end, they demanded an amount you could never afford and told you to surrender the head of the merchant company if you wanted more medicine. Am I wrong?”
“Stop!”
Tony stared at Howard with a devastated expression.
He no longer appeared capable of enduring the knowledge that betraying the man he had trusted and followed like family had accomplished nothing except turning his wife into a drug addict.
“Do you have any final words?”
“I know I have no right to ask this, but please take care of my wife.”
“……I shall.”
I severed his neck with a single stroke.
SHNK.
He collapsed before he could close his eyes.
‘Fafnir, don’t absorb this man’s soul.’
[I had no intention of eating it. Those who are pushed into wrongdoing are undercooked. Their souls are merely bitter and astringent.]
‘Right.’
The merchant company head stood before me with a troubled expression and lowered his head.
“I apologize.”
“You are the greatest victim here, Master Howard. Why are you bowing to me?”
“This happened because I failed to properly care for the people beneath me. I have no excuse for dragging you into this.”
I grasped his shoulders and raised him.
“A man who lives by the sword is bound to become involved in matters involving blades. Do not trouble yourself over it.”
“I cannot do that.”
He ordered the household members to properly prepare Tony’s remains, then firmly took my hand.
“Please follow me.”
I followed him inside the mansion.
Only his daughter Mitchell came with us.
CLICK.
After moving a carpet aside and turning a handle, the floor opened.
“This is our family’s secret vault.”
We descended the stairs into a space as enormous as the mansion standing above it.
Every manner of jewel, treasure, and gold bar was piled inside like mountains.
“Take as much as you wish.”
“How do you know how much I’m capable of carrying?”
“None of it would have mattered if we had died. No matter how much you take, how could I consider it wasteful?”
I slowly looked around the vault.
“I’d love to pack up everything I can carry immediately, but…….”
I removed the disguise I had worn throughout the day.
“Would you mind if I delayed receiving my reward?”
“Young Master?!”
“We greet Young Master Pietro!”
Howard and Mitchell were stunned for a moment before quickly dropping to their knees.
“Stand. Your body is already in poor condition.”
I helped them rise.
They still appeared bewildered.
“But why would you, a young master, be working as a mercenary……?”
“You don’t need to know that.”
I looked at them.
“I’ll have to join the army soon. You know about it, right? The Illegitimate Unit.”
The date of my enlistment was drawing closer.
“Would you like us to submit a petition asking that you not be sent into the army?”
“No, no. Not that.”
Father was already trying to prevent me from going. I was the one insisting upon it.
“You know what the conditions in the Illegitimate Unit are like. There is no one in the Empire who hasn’t heard of them.”
“Then you mean……?”
“Could you donate some money to the army?”
If I took the riches now, Father would only confiscate them.
It would be better to use the money for both my comrades and me.
I did not want us to be forced to stop fighting demons because we ran out of money while struggling between life and death.
“Understood.”
Resolve settled across Howard’s face.
“Before you enlist, Young Master, I shall transform the Illegitimate……no, the Noble Unit into the unit with the finest conditions in the Empire.”
“Good. I’ll be counting on you.”
It was the moment the Illegitimate Unit gained a powerful patron.