Chapter 93
As I approached the bastards, all five of them dropped to their knees.
“My lord!”
“Who the hell is your lord.”
“……”
“Weren’t you the ones who ran away yesterday?”
The moment I hit them with the blunt truth, the guys wore embarrassed expressions and then bowed their heads to the ground.
Soon, a senior gladiator who seemed to be the representative opened his mouth.
“W-We’re sorry! Everything happened so suddenly… we panicked! That’s all it was!”
“So, why did you come back?”
Their eyes were darting back and forth, obviously about to beg for a second chance.
“It was a momentary lapse… if you could just give us one last chance…”
Ha.
Exactly as expected.
How disgusting.
If you ran away, you should have kept going.
Why come crawling back now?
As I pondered for a moment, a thought crossed my mind.
“Did you guys hear the rumors?”
“…Rumors?”
“That I’m passing down swordsmanship and martial arts to the survivors. Isn’t that why you came back?”
“N-No, not at all.”
Yeah, right.
Eyes never lie.
Those rolling eyes clearly say you came because you heard it.
The classic opportunist look.
I thought I had weeded them out by traits, but I guess that alone has its limits.
I smirked and looked at the gladiators.
“Hey.”
“……”
“Do I look like someone you can take lightly?”
“Never, sir!”
“Then why come back? Did you think I’d take you in again after you ran away?”
“……”
“I clearly told you. That if you run away when it counts, that’s your freedom, but think carefully. What kind of future awaits someone who makes that choice? I don’t need you. Get lost.”
I had not even a speck of intention to take such trash back.
Just as I turned to enter the annex, ignoring them—
“M-My lord!”
One gladiator urgently reached out to grab my arm.
He really shouldn’t have done that.
The two knights stationed beside me weren’t just for show.
Srring!
Leonhardt and Seron.
The one who drew his sword was Seron.
His expression disappeared in an instant as he swung his sword.
“Kuaaaagh!”
The slash moved like lightning.
In an instant, one gladiator’s wrist was severed, and he clutched his arm, rolling on the ground.
Between his thighs, a bright yellow puddle formed.
That’s what you get for putting your hands on someone without permission.
Seron, now expressionless, looked at the gladiators.
“Young master did not grant you permission to make contact.”
“U-Uaaagh…”
As the terrified men quivered, Seron turned to me and met my gaze.
“Young master. Shall I kill them all?”
At his chilling question, fear gradually filled the eyes of the five gladiators.
They seemed to have finally realized the situation was nothing like what they had imagined.
I pondered Seron’s question for a moment.
Was there really a need to kill such pathetic trash?
Even if I just gave them a scare and kicked them out, it wouldn’t cause any trouble.
Besides, I didn’t want blood spilled near the annex.
I looked at Seron and shook my head, then addressed the gladiators.
“If you ran to survive, then stick to it until the end.”
“……”
I gave them a firm warning.
“Don’t ever appear in front of me again. Next time, I really might kill you. I have no mercy to spare for trash like you. This is your final warning. Now go.”
At my words, the gladiators hurriedly fled.
There was someone watching their retreating backs.
It was Seron.
***
Clutching his bleeding arm, Gilliam barely escaped the inner castle and looked at it.
His right wrist was gone.
Everything had happened so fast, he hadn’t even grabbed the severed hand in his haste to escape.
The five gladiators quickly took shelter in a secluded area.
Once they caught their breath, a bit of composure returned to their minds.
The first to speak was Gilliam, the one who lost his hand.
“…Damn it… those bastards!”
“Gilliam, what now? You said he’d take us back! Damn it!”
“Shut up! Who could’ve known it’d turn out like this! That crazy bastard Seron!”
“Hoo…”
“Damn it. That stuck-up noble brat… tch!”
Kyle Seltarion.
As Gilliam spat harshly at the ground, thinking of him, one gladiator spoke in regret.
“Damn it… I didn’t think he’d really teach swordsmanship and martial arts…”
“Shit. Who knew? I thought it was just a noble’s sweet-talking lie!”
“What do we do now? We ran because of you, Gilliam!”
The other four gladiators glared at Gilliam with resentment.
“…You bastards… didn’t you all agree because you wanted to live too!”
“……”
He threatened them with a fierce glare, and they lowered their heads.
Gilliam looked at them and spoke.
“…First, we get some money to survive, then we get out of this city. It’s that noble’s territory, remember?”
“…How do we get money?”
“We sell information. Maybe get some revenge while we’re at it.”
Secrets of the Marquisate.
And the annex’s defenses.
There was plenty to sell.
Most intelligence groups were based in the slums, so they could sell information there.
As Gilliam grinned wickedly, the other four nodded slowly.
Just as they were about to move—
Step.
Footsteps rang out.
Naturally, they turned their heads toward the sound—and saw a familiar face.
“……!”
It was Seron.
He looked at the five gladiators.
“Worse than animals.”
The hellish illegal arena.
Not only had they been rescued from there, but they had been given enough support to live comfortably.
And yet, they showed no gratitude for what their lord had done for them.
Even such filth had been forgiven multiple times by their merciful lord.
“Though my lord may have forgiven you.”
He had not.
If such men were left alive, they could become obstacles to his lord in the future.
Staining his lord’s hands was unacceptable.
Such dirty work was for his loyal sword to handle.
“H-Heek! C-Captain!”
“The merciful lord spared your lives twice. Once when you ran, and again when he stopped me.”
Seron’s gaze held a deadly chill as he spoke.
He must have heard everything.
A sword-mad demon!
That killer would never let them live.
If he drew his sword, their heads would fly.
Gilliam hurriedly moved his legs.
Srring!
The sound of a sword being drawn echoed from behind.
It was a terrifying sound.
“But there won’t be a third time.”
After that quiet voice—
The heads of the fleeing gladiators began flying into the air one by one.
“Ugh… Aaaah!”
At the sound of screams from behind, Gilliam, who was running at the very front, instinctively quickened his pace.
However, the speed of the Sword Demon was far too fast.
Gladiators without even aura couldn’t possibly outrun him.
In the end, even the one running at the front was caught by Seron.
Cornered, Gilliam shouted desperately.
“L-Life gives you three chances! Just one more—!”
Slice!
That was the final will of the last remaining gladiator.
***
Ten days had passed since the rebellion began. The inner city, once stained heavily with blood, was slowly regaining its original color.
The same applied to the members within the family.
They had overcome adversity and were now diligently moving once more.
As expected, time was the best remedy.
There had been quite a few changes during that time.
One of the biggest changes was—
Flap!
—Erciel, summoning her spirit near me.
With Adolf gone, there was no longer any need to hide her spirit. Moreover, the rumor that she could summon a spirit had already spread throughout the family.
Though Padak could hide its presence, it only worked on people below a certain level.
Jacob, Malon, and even Kraft.
The top-ranked knights who had been on the platform could not have missed the sight. The same went for the mid-level knights.
I did ask them to keep it under wraps as much as possible.
But honestly, I didn’t think it would last long.
‘Only if one or two people had seen it, maybe.’
Since it was already half-public, and the villains within the family had been wiped out cleanly,
I simply told her to summon it freely.
Summoning and bonding with the spirit.
That was the training method of a Spirit User.
As I silently watched the spirit, Erciel tilted her head.
“Young Master?”
“Ah. Its appearance is a bit fascinating. By the way, do you still call it Asiris?”
“Yes. That’s this child’s name.”
“Isn’t it hard to pronounce?”
“Excuse me?”
“The name. Wouldn’t it be easier to call it something simpler?”
“I’ve never thought of that…”
“Then I guess you haven’t given it a nickname either?”
“No.”
“Can I give it one?”
At my words, she nodded.
I already had a nickname in mind.
“Hey.”
Flap!
“From now on, I’ll just call you Padak. That okay?”
Padak!!
The spirit trembled at my words.
Its wings began flapping furiously—could it be…
Does it dislike the name?
I couldn’t think of a name more fitting than this one.
For such a small creature with fluttering wings, the name Asiris sounded way too majestic.
Padak was a far more endearing name.
“Hehe…”
At my words, Erciel burst into laughter.
“Maybe it doesn’t like it?”
“Wait a moment.”
As I waited, her expression gradually brightened.
It seemed Padak had given a positive response.
“It says it likes it.”
“Really? I was worried it might be angry. Are you sure it truly likes it?”
The moment I spoke,
Padak shivered all over.
Flap flap flap!!
That definitely seemed like a good signal.
Quite the passionate way to express feelings.
“Then I’ll call you Padak from now on.”
Flap flap flap!
It looked absolutely delighted.
“By the way, Erciel.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Your current status… you’re a commoner, right?”
I had purchased her at a slave auction, but I hadn’t stamped the slave mark on her.
Normally, one had to be branded and then sign a slave contract to become an actual slave.
So she was technically still a commoner.
At my words, Erciel nodded.
“Yes.”
“You’ll soon be promoted to semi-noble, so be prepared.”
“…Excuse me?”
“You played a huge role this time, didn’t you? Naturally, you deserve a reward. I’ve already told Big Brother. I’m thinking of promoting Seron to semi-noble too.”
They were my direct subordinates and had played major roles in the rebellion.
To be honest, if I were being strict, Seron had done just about his share and no more.
But isn’t this the kind of moment when connections and influence should be used?
Over the past ten days, I had handed over three modified sword techniques out of the six besides the Storm Sword.
Of course, Abel didn’t refuse my request.
With my current power, promoting someone like Seron to semi-noble through some roundabout means was totally doable.
Give and take.
Such a marvelous phrase.
“…Are you serious?”
“Yeah. Why would I lie to you?”
“…It’s hard to believe… Don’t noble families have a limited number of slots for semi-noble promotions each year?”
She had a point.
The Imperial Family allocated each family a certain number of people they could promote to semi-noble annually.
For a marquis family, the total was 600.
Considering that even the prestigious Hamilton Ducal Estate received 800, it was quite a generous allotment.
On the other hand, powerless baron families often got less than twenty.
‘That’s why we need to recover our strength quickly.’
Rumors about the Seltarion Family’s internal crisis were beginning to spread across the Empire.
I was trying to keep it under wraps, but soon people would start talking about the extent of the damage too.
It was too major an incident to be completely hidden. Even if I downplayed it, people would assume we lost at least 30% of our total power.
That would significantly reduce our influence. While we wouldn’t be dismissed outright due to our long-standing prestige,
If we didn’t recover quickly—
‘The number of semi-noble promotions we’re allowed might be reduced starting next year.’
Humans tend to love kicking others when they’re down.
“Is your training going well?”
“Yes. I can summon much more often now, so my elemental power seems to be gathering faster too.”
“I’m thinking of making a magic circle soon to help with your training.”
“A magic circle?”
“Yeah. If you train on top of it, your spirit power will recover much faster. You’ll also be able to bond more deeply.”
Tilting her head at my words, she asked,
“Are you talking about a spirit training circle, Young Master?”
“Yep. You know it?”
“Yes. I read about it in a book. It said they’re made using spirit stones… If it’s that, you don’t need to make it for me.”
“Why not?”
“The book said that compared to the spirit stones used, the efficiency is really low, so the circles were considered obsolete. There’s no need for you to go through the trouble just for me…”
“It’s fine. The one I’m planning to make compensates for those flaws. So you don’t need to worry.”
Spirit stones.
These were fairly rare items, though not as rare as mana stones.
If they were, I wouldn’t have asked the Marquis for high-grade spirit stones when Erciel summoned her spirit before.
Mana stones were used in powering magical items or making artifacts, so they had many applications.
But spirit stones had very limited use.
Besides being used for summoning spirits via magic circles or summoning higher-level spirits,
They weren’t really useful elsewhere.
You might think that alone makes them rare, but—
‘That’s not exactly true.’
The people who needed spirit stones were almost exclusively Spirit Users.
And Spirit Users weren’t commonly found on the continent.
So while supply was low, demand was even lower.
I could’ve gotten spirit stones easily before, but I hadn’t made a training circle yet for a simple reason.
Erciel.
Her proficiency was too low.
If someone with low skill entered a spirit training circle—
‘They might explode and die if unlucky.’
My magic-infused training circle had greatly enhanced efficiency, but that came with increased internal pressure.
Someone who entered without proper preparation could suffer major setbacks.
It was similar to the magic circle I used when I reached 2nd Circle.
Back then, I barely blocked the incoming mana with mid-grade mana stones, but unfortunately,
Spirit training circles didn’t have that kind of filtering mechanism.
You just had to brute-force the overwhelming spirit energy.
There was a real risk of losing her if I made her use it too early,
So I had held back until now.
‘But now, it’s doable.’
She had spent nearly two months bonding with her spirit.
She was definitely ready to use a training circle.
Her talent was that remarkable.
Now it was my turn to help her fully blossom.
With the knowledge I possessed, it was entirely possible.
—
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