After shutting myself away in the Forbidden Library¹, I realized one thing. Reading is freaking awesome!
I mean, seriously, were books always this entertaining? Every bit of new knowledge expands my world in ways I never imagined. In my "real" life, I barely picked up a book-what a total waste of time that was. No... that's not quite right. Reading is only this much fun because the original Hollow has such high base stats. If the old me tried to tackle a dense tome, I'd be in dreamland within three seconds. It really makes you realize-talent is a total cheat code.
I spent my days grinding my swordsmanship and magic, then spent my nights sharpening my intellect in the silence of the Forbidden Library. After about six months of this, a problem cropped up in the Heisenberg territory. Apparently, a brigade of thieves had moved into the northern region and were raising hell every night. According to Olvin-san, the house's private security forces in the north were attempting to suppress them, but the enemy was surprisingly capable and they were proving quite difficult to handle.
(This... is perfect.)
Judging this as the perfect opportunity, I headed to my father's office to volunteer for a little "Thief Hunting"-a blend of business and pleasure.
"What? You want to take on the thief brigade...?"
"Yes. I humbly request your commission for this task," I said.
As I voiced my request, my father stopped his paperwork and gave his beard a contemplative rub. "Hmm... Olvin, what's your assessment?"
Olvin, standing behind my father, answered instantly. "If it is Hollow-sama, I believe there will be no issues whatsoever."
"I see..." My father sank into thought for a moment. (Hollow did conquer the Witch's Trial² solo. He's turning eleven this year; perhaps it's time to start giving him this sort of fieldwork.) He finally gave a slow nod. "Fine. I will leave this matter in your hands, Hollow. But you understand, don't you? You are the man who will one day inherit the Heisenberg name. I will not tolerate a half-assed job."
"Understood, Father," I replied.
And so, today is a fun-filled day of Thief Hunting! I spent the day from morning to evening on my usual routine-strength training, sword work, and magic practice-while waiting for the night to fall. I threw on a black robe, pulled the hood deep over my eyes, and made my way to the streets of the northern Heisenberg town.
(Now then, where are these thieves hiding...?)
As I wandered through the deserted back alleys, a woman's high-pitched scream echoed from the distance. "Kyaaaaaaaaah!?"
Jackpot. That way. I sprinted toward the sound and found myself at a dilapidated tavern with a collapsed roof. And what did I see there...?
"Heh heh heh! Give it up! Resistance is futile!" a man shouted.
"N-no... please, stop...!" the woman sobbed.
A man in heat had a young woman pinned down, tearing her clothes to ribbons. "Hyuu! This one's a prize! You've got a hell of a body, babe!"
"How... how could you do something so horrible...?" she cried.
"Get this through your head, little lady. In this world, it's dog-eat-dog. Power is justice!"
"In that case, I guess I'm justice," I said.
I dashed forward and delivered a swift, effortless kick to the back of the man's head.
"Ogh!?" he yelped.
He let out a hilarious sound as he was sent flying into the distance. "Haha! Look at him fly. 10 out of 10 for form," I laughed. As I chuckled to myself, the woman looked up at me, trembling.
"H-Hollow... sama...?"
"It's dangerous here. Get moving," I told her. I stripped off my robe and tossed it to her with a careless flick. If a young woman ran around in that state, she'd just get caught up in another mess.
"B-but, I can't leave you here, Hollow-sama...!"
"Hey. Did you not hear my order?" I asked. I sharpened my voice, letting my crimson eyes glow with a cold edge.
"I-I'm so sorry...!" She scrambled to wrap herself in the black robe and bolted toward the main thoroughfare.
Man, did I scare her too much? Oh well. I have to play the part of the indolent and arrogant villainous noble. Since I saved her from that thug, let's just call it even. As I was thinking that, thirty men surrounded me. They were clutching daggers, clubs, and axes-nasty-looking weapons.
Amidst the tension, a massive man sitting on a beer crate lit a thick cigar. According to my meta-knowledge, his name is Glard Glanz, 50 years old, the boss of this outfit. Glard took a deep drag and exhaled a cloud of white smoke with a look of pure bliss.
"Fuuuu..."
Since I was downwind, the acrid stench of tobacco hit my nose. Hey, old man. Think about the kid's health here. Secondhand smoke is a serious hazard to a child's development, you know. I waved the smoke away, prompting Glard to let out a mocking sneer.
"Kuku... Got drunk on a moment of heroism, did ya? Don't know which brat you belong to, but you're a special kind of stupid."
"Honestly, you don't even recognize the face of your next Lord? I'm so disappointed I can barely find the words," I replied.
As our glares locked, the guy standing directly behind me lost his cool. "Who the hell do you think you're talking to, you little shit!?" He reached out to grab my head, intending to slam me into the pavement.
But in the next heartbeat-the man was swallowed into the Void with a thwip-pop.
"...Huh...?" the thieves muttered. They froze, their eyes turning into dinner plates. Naturally-one of their own had just vanished into thin air.
"You... That magic!?" Glard's eyes widened in shock.
"What's wrong? You look a little pale. Don't tell me you're getting cold feet against a mere child?" I asked with a provocative smirk.
"Don't screw with us!!" the thieves shouted. The hot-headed goons charged all at once.
"You idiots, run!" Glard warned. It was useless.
Thwip. Thwip-thwip. Thwip-pop.
"H-help me, Boss-!"
One by one, the thieves were swallowed into the Void.
"Now then, what's the plan, Boss?" I asked. Wearing a villainous grin, I slowly closed the distance between myself and Glard.
"You... that magic... It's the 'Calamity' Xeno's <Void³-"
Thwip-pop.
Glard was swallowed by the Void as well-and then, there was silence. Thief brigade: Annihilated. Town streets: Purified. And they all lived happily ever after.
I returned to the manor to report to my father. "Father, I have disposed of the thieves."
"I see. That was fast. Where are you holding them?" he asked.
"No. I disposed of all of them," I answered.
"Oh?" my father muttered. His eyes widened slightly. (He wiped out a thief brigade in a single night and executed every last member? To have this much grit at age eleven... When I was his age, did I have this much potential? Unparalleled efficiency, martial strength that outclassed an entire gang, and a heart cold enough to kill without hesitation... Truly, he is my son.) He gave a satisfied nod. "Well done, Hollow. You are dismissed for the night."
"Excuse me," I said.
I left the office and went straight to my room-then I warped to the Void Realm. It was a vast, endless expanse of pure white. A closed-off world belonging only to me, the Master of the Void. Everything I had sucked in or sent away was stored in this special dimension.
(...Looking at it now, this place is a mess.)
Mountains, boulders, and piles of dirt I'd warped here during training were scattered everywhere. And of course, the members of the thief brigade were there, too.
"Hey guys! Glad to see you're all doing well," I said. I dropped the "Original Hollow" act and let my true self out. Honestly, pretending to be an arrogant prick is exhausting. These guys are never getting out of the Void Realm for the rest of their lives anyway, so I might as well be myself.
"Ah! You bastard! I heard you're the Heisenberg brat!"
"Hollow von Heisenberg, that face ssu! I'm never gonna forget it!"
"Get us out of here right now! Or I'll kill you!"
Ouch. A regular parade of insults. "If you want to leave that badly, I can let you out... but it'll be right in front of my father. You cool with that?" I asked.
The thieves' faces turned a sickly shade of blue. My father, Daphnes von Heisenberg, is a titan of the underworld, feared as the most villainous aristocrat. His terror doesn't come from his title-it comes from his overwhelming, raw power.
To be honest, the old man is scary strong. God-tier magic skills and an insane mana pool. Most importantly, his Origin Class Innate Magic⁴ <Affectation> is a complete cheat skill. My <Void> and my father's <Affectation> are regulars on the "Strongest Character" discussion threads back in the game days.
"If you leave the Void Realm, my father will kill you. Even if you luckily win some mercy, the Heisenberg laws are brutal-you'd be looking at life in prison or the chopping block. So, wouldn't you rather just live happily here instead?" I suggested.
"Y-you're insane...!"
"You're a total psychopath! How the hell are we supposed to live 'happily' in a place where there's nothing!?"
"You're a monster! Don't you have a heart!?"
Insane, psychopath, monster-a lovely stream of verbal abuse. "Honestly... look who's talking. Do you have any idea how many people you've victimized?" I asked.
Caught by a logic punch, they all shut up real fast.
"D-damn it...! If it's like this, we'll just kill you and find a way out to somewhere that bastard Daphnes can't find us!" Thief A shouted, pulling out a kitchen knife.
"Don't bother. You're wasting your time," Glard Glanz said. The boss, who had been silent until now, spoke up to stop him. "The magic that kid is using is <Void>. It's the same Origin Class Innate Magic as the worst mage in history-the 'Calamity' Xeno."
"W-wait, Xeno the Calamity...? You mean the guy from the fairy tales!?"
"A brat like that has the same magic as that Xeno!?"
"Wait, so is he like... insanely strong...?"
Glard gave a heavy, grim nod. "Strong doesn't even begin to describe it... he's a literal monster. Even if the entire Royal Army teamed up, they wouldn't be able to land a scratch on him."
Knowing the absolute, hopeless gap in their strength, the thieves' faces went from blue to white.
"By the way, old man, you seem to know your way around magic," I noted.
Glard gave a small nod. "I dabbled in it back in the day. I actually used to work for the Ministry of Magic."
"Huh. Were you any good?" I asked.
"I was decent enough."
"Then why become a thief?"
"A noble colleague pinned his crimes on me. Nobody would listen to my defense. Once you're off the rails, the slide to the bottom is fast... and before I knew it, I was here. Hilarious, right?"
"That's a sad story," I said. Everyone has a backstory. Getting to hear these hidden lore bits is one of the best parts of being here. "So, what's your game? You caught us alive instead of killing us. You must have a reason."
"You're quick on the uptake. I guess that Ministry of Magic training didn't go to waste," I said. I cleared my throat, spread my arms wide, and made my grand announcement. "I'm going to build a city here-Void Town-and I want to kickstart a new civilization!"
Back in the real world, there was a genre called City-Building Simulators. I always loved those slow, methodical games where you build something from the ground up. Ronzolkia has the concept of mana, so it's developed in its own unique way compared to the real world. If I mix in my knowledge of Japan... I bet something incredible will happen. If I can invent some useful tech, it might even help me clear the main story route.
(But to build a city, I need labor.)
And that's where the Thief Hunting comes in. Capture them in secret and put them to work. This way, the streets stay safe, and Glard and his guys get to keep their heads. Plus, I get to enjoy my city-builder game and use my new inventions to make the conquest easier. It's a perfect move that covers both my hobbies and my goals.
(Heh heh... I can't wait!)
As I struggled to hide my excitement, an awkward silence hung in the air.
"...Pfft." Then, the sound of someone snorting broke the dam. """Gyahahahahahahahahahahaha!!"""
A wave of explosive laughter erupted. "A city!? In a place like this!? You really are out of your mind!"
"H-hee... seriously, man, wake up before you start dreaming...!"
"You've got a hell of a sense of humor! I haven't laughed this hard in years!"
The thieves were clutching their stomachs, howling. Honestly, that stung a little. "Don't laugh at a man's goals," I muttered.
I narrowed my eyes and released the mana I usually kept under lock and key. In an instant, massive cracks spiderwebbed through the Void Realm as a pitch-black gale began to shriek.
(W-what is this... this insane mana pool...!?)
(I knew it... this kid is a freak...!)
(A-ba-ba-ba... abababababa...!)
The thieves' legs gave out, and they collapsed onto the white floor, trembling.
Summary:
Hollow volunteers to suppress a thief brigade as a way to test his combat skills and 'meta-knowledge.' After effortlessly capturing the thieves using his Void magic, he reveals his plan to use them as labor for a secret city-building project within his Void Realm. The chapter ends with Hollow intimidating the skeptical thieves with a massive display of mana.
Trivia:
- Hollow is only ten years old during this chapter.
- The Void Realm is a sub-dimension where items and people sucked in are stored.
- Origin Class magic is considered a legendary 'cheat' level of power.
- Daphnes von Heisenberg has magic that is also considered top-tier in 'strongest' rankings.
- Glard Glanz was a legitimate Ministry of Magic employee before being framed
Character Insight:
Hollow's motive is evolving from simple survival to creative territory management. He is using his villainous reputation to mask his more productive, gamer-inspired goals. Glard shows a level of intelligence that differentiates him from standard fodder NPCs.
Behind the Scenes:
The author uses 'City-Building' tropes to shift the story from a pure battle shonen to a management/development fantasy.
TL Notes:
1 ↩ A restricted area containing rare and dangerous magical knowledge.
2 ↩ A high-difficulty examination or ritual that Hollow completed solo.
3 ↩ The literal word for 'Void' or 'Emptiness,' often used to refer to Hollow's specific magic.
4 ↩ A unique magical ability inherent to an individual's soul or bloodline.
Notes:
• Hollow - Ten‑year‑old heir of the Heisenberg Duke house, now 150 cm tall, sports red medium‑length hair in a ribbon‑ponytail, crimson eyes, lean build, navy jacket and black trousers. Son of Daphnes and Leila, he is a reincarnated Japanese noble wielding Origin‑Class Innate Void magic, learning healing, and plotting as a polite yet ruthless villain.
• Heisenberg - Lord of the Heisenberg family. One of the Four Great Noble Houses. Noted for his immense wealth and territorial holdings.
• Olvin - A tall, composed figure with a refined, gravelly voice, serving as Hallow's swordsmanship instructor and a loyal attendant/knight of the Heisenberg family, reporting on territorial security and showing deep respect for Hallow's status.
• Glard - 50-year-old leader of the thief brigade. Former employee of the Ministry of Magic who was framed for a crime. Smokes thick cigars. The boss of the Thief Brigade. A man of mettle and pride who initially resists Hollow's manipulation before succumbing to hunger to save his men.
• Daphnes - Hollow’s father and current Lord of Heisenberg, a gaunt, silver-haired titan of the underworld with a long beard, he wields Origin Class Innate Magic: Affectation—a genius of twisted brilliance, driven mad by his wife Leila’s curse, ruling his lineage with chilling, vanity-fueled mastery.