Chapter 104: The Whole Story

Chapter 104: The Whole Story

Asher Morgan was born the third of three sons and one daughter in a rural area of the southern region.

The fiefdom he lived in wasn’t very large.

A small fiefdom, far from the capital, even worthy of being called a backwater.

However, they were happy there.

The fiefdom was small, and the poor feudal lord couldn’t live a lavish life, but

nevertheless, the fiefdom was full of vitality.

When the feudal lord went for a walk, the villagers always smiled and brought out their best quality food.

The delicious vegetables grown in the fiefdom were their only means of livelihood.

However, Asher didn’t particularly like this life.

While everyone lived a modest life and saved on expenses,

he, vain and never satisfied with small things, always yearned for the capital.

That didn’t mean he could go to the capital, though.

The Morgan family was a family no one sought out.

A family with no money, no power, and no particular distinction.

Though called nobles, they were nobles in name only.

The Morgan family could only be treated as nobles thanks to a war a former feudal lord had participated in.

On the precarious edge of that fading honor, they were walking a tightrope.

That’s why Asher always thought of himself as unhappy.

He always frowned and never smiled.

But, didn’t they say everyone gets a few chances in life?

The opportunity to restore their lost honor came unexpectedly.

Because war broke out.

-The Morgan family, as in the past, is hereby notified to fully display their excellent abilities and fight for the family’s successors and honor.

It was the phrase written at the very end of the letter.

A businesslike, absurd demand.

Unfortunately, the feudal lord could not ignore the King’s seal stamped below the letter.

It’s ridiculous. This is going to die.

The villagers were indignant, but the feudal lord thought differently.

He was already old, and his strength had declined, but

he thought that if he sacrificed himself to fight for the King, he could revive his family.

That’s why the feudal lord happily joined the Royal Army.

Taking his eldest and second sons with him.

Asher, the third son, was not conscripted.

Because the noble blood generally thins from the second child onwards.

He was never even considered a ‘successor’ from the start.

And about two weeks later, a letter arrived.

A letter from his father and brothers.

The youngest was relieved that his family was well.

However, Asher couldn’t hide an uncomfortable feeling in a corner of his heart.

He had always thought that

the fiefdom was like this because his brothers and father were incompetent.

That if he became the feudal lord, the declining fiefdom would immediately revive.

But he was the third son.

Asher couldn’t become the successor because of his brothers’ existence.

Of course, that wasn’t the real problem, but at least Asher thought so.

And, after about two more weeks passed,

another letter arrived.

-Your brother is very ill.

His second son was injured, it said.

He was hit by an arrow poisoned on the shoulder.

His younger sister burst into tears, but Asher didn’t cry.

The letters that came every two weeks arrived again a week later.

His second son had died, and his eldest son was in a panic due to mental stress, it said.

But still, the war continued.

And so, how many more times did he receive letters?

-Death Notification

What came to the family was a death notification that all the conscripted family members had died.

Afterward, Asher became the feudal lord, just as he had so desired.

An opportunity had come to him.

But he still couldn’t smile.

Because, quite naturally, all the thoughts in Asher’s head were garbage plans.

The revival of the fiefdom he had so longed for also didn’t go as planned.

It was understandable, to begin with.

The poverty of the fiefdom was not the feudal lord’s fault.

That extracting special products from such a declining and poor fiefdom was an astonishing feat that would make one’s eyes pop out.

The foolish Asher did not know.

He experienced great frustration.

He always drank. Soaked in alcohol, he even gambled away the fiefdom’s money that he shouldn’t have touched.

The fiefdom was now on the verge of collapse.

But, in that desperate situation,

Asher got another chance.

-Perhaps… would you be interested in going to the capital?

The catalyst was when he shared drinks with a merchant who had come all the way to this backwater.

There was an interesting item, so he bought one for him, and

the merchant, as if smelling something, offered to teach him gambling techniques and sat with him.

He was a peculiar person, whose voice and demeanor were refined, but whose buck teeth ruined his image.

The buck-toothed man brought up a story about a noble in the capital who had died in an accident.

It was an offer to send him to the capital if he wanted, as a position was open.

At first, he didn’t believe it.

But only after he showed him the capital’s seal, which was impossible to forge,

he nodded vigorously.

-But… why are you offering this to me?

-Well. Your eyes, Asher-nim, seem to hold ambition, shall we say?

Even when asked why, he only consistently replied with ‘you have ambition.’

However, this was not a bad offer at all, so

Asher, thinking it was a windfall, eagerly accepted his offer.

And finally, he arrived at the capital.

It was a place full of splendor.

More pleasure, entertainment, and debauchery than Asher had imagined.

There, he could get anything he wanted.

He had sold all the useless fields in his fiefdom, so he had quite a lot of money.

The merchant bought all of that too.

How much time had passed like that?

While enjoying pleasure, he found a woman he liked.

In a physical sense, not love.

Her name was Scarlett Friedman.

Her father had died in the war last year, leaving her alone, she said.

A red-haired, arrogant woman who protected her family alone.

For some reason, she resembled his old self, so

he was filled with the urge to break Scarlett.

This was a kind of self-loathing.

That’s why he proposed adoption and tried various tricks, but

the haughty noble Young Lady with a sensual aura didn’t even glance at him.

Just when he thought it would end like this,

God, as expected, gave him another chance.

By chance, truly by chance,

he was able to hear Scarlett’s secret from that merchant.

The plan was conceived then.

Because there was no reason to hesitate anymore.

He found people and decided on an escape route.

The kidnapping succeeded after much time and effort.

He thought he could now enjoy her firm body to his heart’s content, but

it didn’t take long for that opportunity to turn into a natural disaster.

****

“Hee, hee-hee-hee-hee!”

A scream involuntarily escaped Euston’s lips.

He reflexively raised his arms to guard his body.

Because the first place an enraged human would aim for was obvious.

Being the most instinct-driven, he instinctively sensed what was dangerous.

But contrary to his expectations, Euston was truly top-notch.

Clank-

He thought he would be hit in the solar plexus or face, but Euston suddenly lowered his body sideways.

Then, as if expected, he struck Asher’s side with a blood-stained gauntlet.

Thwack!

A tremendous sound, and Asher let out a silent scream.

But Asher didn’t fall.

He endured, gritting his teeth, even while making a pained expression.

And then, he lifted his leg and powerfully thrust it forward.

Whoosh-

Naturally, Euston twisted his body to cleanly dodge the attack, then

fiercely struck Asher’s unguarded spot again.

Crack!

“Ah, ah-ah-ah-ah!”

Asher finally screamed because he was hit in the same spot again.

However, Euston’s attack wasn’t over yet.

He glanced at Scarlett, who was weakly panting, then

Thump-

He used his arm to push Asher against the wall.

“You, you son of a-“

Asher, still having the strength to shout, screamed and opened his mouth wide.

Smack!

At the same time, a gauntlet flew towards Asher’s mouth.

Crack, a chilling sound was heard, and blood splattered.

However, Asher couldn’t even scream.

Because another heavy punch flew towards his neck.

Wham!

“Gasp, cough-“

Asher gasped, letting out painful breaths, as if suffocating for a moment.

“Hoo-woo…”

Euston let out a faint, hot breath, then

clenched both his fists with all his might.

Soon, his fist landed on Asher’s chest again.

Wham!

The next punch was to the abdomen.

The punch after that was to the side.

The punches, gradually picking up speed, transformed into a barrage of murderous blows, and

Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-

the gauntlet relentlessly struck, precisely targeting only vital points and effective hitting areas.

Blood splattered everywhere, and the sound of something breaking was heard.

Finally, after striking his shoulder with all his might,

Thwack!

he fiercely kicked his leg.

Crack-

With a chilling sound, Asher fell with a thud.

“Hoo, huff…”

Euston breathed roughly for a moment, then

picked up a blanket lying around.

Rip, rip-

And then he tore the restraints on Scarlett’s neck and limbs, and covered her with the blanket.

“Haa, haa… you’re late…”

“I apologize. In the middle, the mercenaries hired by that bastard blocked my way.”

Clatter-

Saying that, Euston threw off his helmet.

The helmet was completely dented and stained with blood, allowing one to guess the situation.

“Hee, hee-hee…”

He stared for a moment at the girls trembling beside him, then

slowly placed his foot on Asher’s still erect member.

Slam!

Afterward, a disgusting squelching sound was heard.

At the same time, Asher twitched and convulsed.

His unconsciousness was the meager mercy Euston gave him.

Despite the horrific scene, Euston didn’t even bat an eye.

After thoroughly crushing it so that it could never be healed even with recovery magic,

he turned his gaze to Scarlett.

“…What would you like to do?”

Euston’s face was filled with malice as he spoke.

A truly enraged expression that no one had ever seen.

That single phrase, filled with deep hatred, contained many meanings.

Scarlett stared at him, spacing out for a moment.

She cleared her throat, then rubbed her stinging cheek.

“Deal with it… as quietly as possible. First, kill all the related mercenaries.”

“What about the mansion servants?”

“First, talk to them a bit… if they disobey or can’t keep a secret, deal with them the same way.”

“Understood.”

Saying that, Euston left the room, leaving his helmet behind.

“Phew…”

It was a close call.

Just as she always installed magic on Cecil, Scarlett also installed security measures on herself.

That was a necklace that acted as an alarm buzzer.

It was a magic tool that reacted immediately if she lost consciousness or received an excessive shock.

It was fortunate that this place was close to the capital.

If not, she would surely have-

Crunch.

Just imagining it made extreme disgust well up inside her.

Snap-

She snapped her fingers towards Asher, who was lying on the ground.

Then, a gentle swirling wind.

The wind brushed every corner of Asher’s body, stopping the bleeding.

His body shape was also slightly corrected, so his bones wouldn’t pierce his organs and kill him.

But that was all.

There was still much to interrogate this man about. He had to be kept alive and taken to the mansion.

She snapped her fingers again, and the man floated up and flew out towards the mansion.

His body would stand before the carriage.

With this, the cleanup was mostly done.

Scarlett returned to her usual calm expression and stared at the trembling girls.

‘Not slaves… but women that bastard bought, it seems.’

Usually, 99% of slaves were elves.

But the girls’ ears were blunt, so they didn’t seem to be elves.

If they just kept quiet about what happened here, there wouldn’t be a big problem letting them go.

“Hey, you two.”

“Hee, hee-hee… I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I, I made a mistake…”

When she asked indifferently, for some reason, the girls’ bodies trembled even more.

Was it a side effect of abuse?

Things had gotten a bit troublesome. Coaxing and comforting people was not Scarlett’s forte.

She sighed deeply, then

slowly continued speaking, as if it didn’t matter whether they listened or not.

“Listen carefully. Your master, I’m taking him now, extracting what I need, and then killing him.”

The girls seemed not to understand what Scarlett was saying.

They merely twitched and reacted to the word ‘kill.’

Regardless, Scarlett continued speaking.

“So… if you want to live, run like hell south from here. You’ll reach the capital in three hours.”

Even at her words, the girls had blank expressions.

Well, if she had done this much, she had done everything.

“I’ll take this.”

Scarlett chose the most ordinary-looking outfit from what seemed to be play costumes.

A maid outfit.

She slowly put it on, then peeked her head out the window.

And then, she leaned forward sharply and snapped her fingers.

Whoosh-

At the same time, the wind enveloped her body.

Euston would take care of the disposal of this mansion, and

Cecil’s safety at home was more important right now.

If someone was capable of kidnapping her like this, there was a possibility they knew information about the mansion.

‘First, I need to expand the scope of my investigation.’

Scarlett clenched her fist and began to fly towards the mansion at full speed.

What if.

Just in case.

Cecil’s safety might be at risk.

Cecil in her current state could do nothing. She was very vulnerable to danger.

If she was unlucky,

she could die from some possible trick.

Like what she almost suffered in the past.