「Don’t joke around!」

A man’s angry voice reverberated through the room.

It was in a room in Bolton’s mansion. It wasn’t the room that Rei had raged in during the day. However, the current room desolated to such an extent that it wasn’t much different from the room Rei had destroyed earlier. Just a few hours ago, it had been properly organised, clean and well maintained……now, chairs had been broken by the master of the mansion, Bolton. Curtains were ripped, paintings on the wall trampled and vases with decorative flowers shattered. And……

「This is who I am!　This is what rank D immature brats are to me!　Don’t look down on me!　Shut up!　I know what you’re thinking!」
「Hii~! Forgive me……please…master……」

With an irritated voice, Bolton swung down a riding whip at a maid in her late teens who served in the mansion.

Her clothing was torn by the impact of the whip and her skin split, revealing raw flesh. The odour of blood drifted through the room due to the blood flowing to the floor. Sniffing that smell, a murky light appeared in Bolton’s eyes as he took pleasure in the violence and swung the whip again.

Bolton’s physique was unfortunate for the maid being whipped. Normally, Bolton could be called an elder as he was past middle aged. However, his build was still strong. Because he swung the whip with all his strength, it wasn’t something the maid could bear.

「Gi-……ga-!」

She couldn’t even say a word and could make feeble intermittent sounds at each strike of the whip. After seeing that the maid had already lost consciousness, he rang a bell that was in the room.

And after a few seconds.

「Bolton-sama, you called?」
「Take this thing away. Ah, treat her appropriately. It will be annoying if she dies. Although that Daska is a noble, he’s unsparing regarding commoners.」
「Yes!」
「So, what have you found about him?」

Throwing the whip in his hand to the floor, he headed for the room opposite.

The butler hastily gave instructions to his subordinate to treat the maid before following after Bolton and speaking up so as to not offend him.

「It has only been a few months since he first showed up in the city of Gilm. According to rumors, he’s an apprentice to a remarkable magician. He was told to acquire experience as an adventurer he to complete his training……is what I’ve been told.」
「Hmph, I guess. If there was an adventurer with a Griffon in Gilm for a long time, the rumors would have been spreading too slowly.」
「After that, he registered with the guild, following his master’s instructions. He seems to have taken subjugation requests mainly.」

Bolton sat down in a chair at the back of the room and let the butler continue his report.

It had been several hours since Rei had left Bolton’s mansion. This was the information that the butler had collected in this short time.

After all, his information network included all the weapon shops in Gilm, so information on Rei could be gathered without much effort.

「I see. So he also participated in the Orc settlement subjugation because of that.」

Giving a low mutter, he poured some liquor into a glass and drank it in one gulp while urging the butler to continue.

「Puwah~-. So, his strength……no, I don’t need to hear it.」

A that moment, the fear of death that he had tasted earlier went through his mind. Because Rei could make him fear that much, his strength was not low.

Muttering that, he felt a sense of discomfort.

「Wait. He is a magician’s apprentice……did you say?」
「Yes. It is unclear who he was the apprentice of, but his master seemed to be a recluse and the two lived by themselves along with the Griffon.」
「That guy didn’t use magic when he tried to kill me though?　But he had a magic casting tool……」

Saying that, he recalled the magic casting tool that Rei had.

Speaking of magic casting tools, there were usually rods or rings. Though rarer, there were also earrings, but what they all had in common was that they were all purely magic casting tools. But Rei’s magic casting tool, which he had seen earlier that day, was also a weapon……in addition, is also seemed to be an extremely powerful magic weapon.

Of course, it wasn’t like magic casting tools with other purposes didn’t exist. だが、However, to create a magic item with the ability to cast magic and have another special ability required a very high level of skill. Conversely, that was why it was more common for magic casting tools to only have that ability. In other words, to have the special ability to as a magic casting tool and a weapon, that large scythe was extremely precious……in fact, it was so valuable that he wondered if even the best alchemists in the Magic City Osus could make one.

(That magic item alone should be worth a substantial amount. Then there is the item box.)

Although he hated Rei, he couldn’t just pass up this opportunity. It was too good. Whether it was the various magic items Rei had or the Griffon, they were all the same.

「How is his network of connections?」
「Contacts, is it?」
「Ah. Even if we try to trap him, he looks like someone who will cause a lot of trouble.」

The butler wondered what his master wanted to say and spoke after thinking for a few seconds.

「If it’s purely personal connections, there’s Margrave Rowlocks. Although I’m going back and forth with time, there’s also the raid against the Orc settlement. At that time, Rei seemed to have been the one who defeated the Orc King that was leading the Orcs. Because of that, Margrave Rowlocks seems to have made his move then. As a result, he took the rank up test as a special case and is now rank D. After that, I can confirm that Rei took up a nominated request.」
「……So he’s connected with the Margrave. That’s troublesome.」
「And……」

The butler fumbled for the right words. Bolton turned his eyes towards him to prompt him to continue.

「That is, regarding the nominated request I mentioned just now……a while ago, I recall that the daughter of Duke Kerebel, a central figure in the Nobles Faction, came to Gilm.」
「……Ah. I heard about that. She seems to be called the General Princess or something.」
「Yes, that’s her. Apparently, the nominated request was for the escort of Duke Kerebel’s daughter.」
「What?　Then, what. You’re saying that brat is also connected to Duke Kerebel?」
「Although I can’t say for sure, that is a possibility.」
「……Damn it!」

If it was only Daska, the lord of the city of Gilm, it would still be possible to make arrangements to deal with Rei. Naturally, there was a corresponding risk and it would be dangerous if it was found out, but the returns would be sufficient to cover the expenditure. However, if he had a connection with Duke Kerebel as the butler said, it would all be for nothing. Margrave Daska Rowlocks was a key member of the Neutral Faction. As a key member, he also had a lot of influence. It wasn’t a difficult task to crush a frontier territory merchant if he used his power.

「Trapping him, will be dangerous. Then……hmm. Hey.」
「Yes, what is it?」
「Contact all the weapon shops in Gilm. Get them to refuse to sell weapons to that brat Rei. As for that magic casting tool, since he uses it as a weapon, he should need to take care of it. If so, he will rely on weapon shops. If he is refused by all weapon shops……then, the message to that brat should be clear.」
「That is……isn’t that, directly interfering?　Galahat-san had said there wouldn’t be a second time.」

Galahat. Hearing that name, Bolton frowned his eyes unpleasantly. To Bolton, Galahat was someone who came out of a relationship between his father and a mistress in his father’s old age. Just thinking that they were connected by blood was enough to make him feel discomfort in his heart.

「That good for nothing. Even though I don’t like it, I have him as a guard because he’s related by blood. If he’s swept away by a rank D brat, he’s not worthy of being rank B.」
「Bolton-sama, in the first place, that adventurer Rei defeated a rank B monster, an Orc King, when he was rank G. Even though guild rank is a measure of ability, it’s dangerous to apply that to this person called Rei.」

At the butler’s words, Bolton gave a slight scowl. Even he could understand that the adventurer named Rei was a different person than the others. In any case, in the city of Gilm, he managed all the weapon shops, and yet Rei had tried to kill him without any hesitation. Although he didn’t die in the end, he abhorred the fact that it was due to Galahat’s help.

「It’s fine. If he tries to do something again, we will judge him under criminal laws then.」
「Bolton-sama……then, I will inform all weapon shops in the city……but is that really fine?」
「You’re being obstinate. Just do as I tell you.」
「Certainly.」

The butler left with a deep bow.

Seeing that, Bolton had a great feeling as he imagined what would happen to Rei from tomorrow as he drank.

 

 

「Guh……」

While Bolton was drinking in dark pleasure, in another room in Bolton’s mansion, Galahat woke up with a groan.

「Galahat-san!」

Seeing Galahat wake up, Murt, who was sitting in a chair near the bed, gave a happy cry.

「T-This is……?」
「This is the infirmary.」

When you had as much money and power as Bolton, you never knew when thugs would attack. Aside from that, there were also injuries that could be incurred during private training. Because of that, Bolton had hired a doctor that lived in his mansion. It was in that room that Galahat had woken in.

「The infirmary……? -!?　My brother! Guh-!」

Lifting up his body suddenly, he felt pain from the ribs that had broken from the impact of Rei’s attack.

「Galahat-san!　It’s absolutely necessary that you rest!　According to the doctor, if you had been brought in just 20 minutes later, he wouldn’t have been able to use healing magic on you!」

Murt told him with tears in his eyes. Indeed, the ribs that had broken due to Rei’s attack had injured his internal organs. Galahat hadn’t died because the doctor that Bolton had hired with his money was skilled in healing magic. Rei’s single attack had that much power and he had forced himself to move after being injured.

「Murt, ah, what about my brother?」
「Ahh, he’s safe. He has no injuries. That Rei also kept his promise and left without doing anything more.」
「……I see, my brother is safe.」
「Certainly for Rei but……」

Seeing Murt go quiet, Galahat turned to look at the bed beside Murt.

Moving his body slightly, he endured the pain, turned his eyes and saw a girl there. However, because she was sleeping in the infirmary, she was not in a normal state.

「This is……」

Galahat was at a loss for words when he saw the girl. There were several scars on her back and even if healing magic was used, those scars would unlikely go away. Because she was injured on her back, she was sleeping with her chest down. ……No, she was unconscious.

「She’s one of the maids who serves in the mansion. She was hit by Bolton……」
「What!」

Galahat was at a loss when Murt told him. Even he had never thought that his older brother……would scar a girl for life. It was in a fit of anger as well.

（……No, that’s not right. I can’t say it’s impossible if it is my older brother.）

「Sorry.」

Galahat gave a quiet apology.

「Why is Galahat-san apologising!　This is all the consequence of Bolton’s actions!　Though what he did to this girl is terrible……」
「Still, to vent his anger like that in a tantrum……wait. A tantrum?」

Galahat felt a sense of discomfort at his own words.

Although Bolton was his older half brother by blood, Galahat knew his character well. Yes, for example, he would never forgive anyone who made a fool out of him. And for the sake of profit, he wouldn’t care about what would happen to others. However, his brother also had a cowardly aspect. He had suffered direct damage from today’s events, it was obvious. Then why had his brother still thrown a tantrum and almost beat a maid to death?

(I thought my brother would have been scared by the events and won’t go after Rei anymore. But what if I’m mistaken?)

Yes. Galahat was certainly a B ranked adventurer and was a person with great strength in the city of Gilm. However, that was only his capabilities as an adventurer. A connoisseur of magic items. His sense of smell for money was far behind Bolton’s. And if Bolton smelled money from Rei.

「Galahat-san?」
「……Murt. Listen carefully to what I’m about to say.」

Galahat couldn’t move right now. The only thing he could do was to rely on his companion who looked up to him.

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