Lord of Estaria Page 8

  “Yeah, they’re all nice.” She giggled as her lips were getting closer to mine.

  Ahem. “Marquess Miller, you asked for reinforcements?”

  Bloody hell. Is this a cartoon? Can’t I have a moment of intimacy today? I just want to have some sweet time, that’s hardly a crime.

  You hear me, God?!

  “Oh, it’s you.” I was surprised when I saw Tarren and Vlard on the doorway. They were on the west gate when I first came to Tsarigrad. They spent a lot of time on that post, so it almost slipped my mind. “You were the vice-captain of the guards, right?”

  “I’m glad you remember me, m’lord.” Tarren smiled. “Most people think that I am an ordinary guard.”

  Yeah, I had that same thought for a moment.

  “So who’s the target?”

  “I don’t know, some noble a guess.” I answered Vlard’s question and stood up when the other girls walked into the room. All of them seemed to be ready.

  “What?” Tarren was surprised. “You know that there will be repercussions if we invade a noble’s property without some kind of evidence, so please, tell me that you have at least that much?”

  “Oh, I have evidence. The location of the hideout, to be specific.” I said and then looked through the eyes of one of the rats I positioned outside the pleasure establishment. “I need you to send guards and soldiers to a place called ‘Traveler’s Dream’. Watch out the surrounding buildings as well, because they have a net of secret passages.”

  “That place is a brothel. A low class one.” Vlard said as he looked at me suspiciously. “I doubt that there are nobles in that building.”

  “That’s a cover.” This people were getting on my nerves. “Send your people at once, it’s an order.”

  “Yes, m’lord!” Tarren talked to one of the guards, while I used that time to inform the girls and the twenty soldiers about the appearance of the underground hideout, and the approximate number of enemies.

  When Tarren informed me that he sent an order for fifty men to watch the brothel, I opened a Portal and pushed him through it.

  “As you see, once you go through my magic gate, you will find yourself in the underground lobby. I want groups of at least three people! No one is allowed to die, you hear?”

  I was glad when I saw that Tarren was fine. Up to this point, I was the only living being that crossed the portal. The girls never seemed interested to try, and I didn’t want to experiment with them right now.

  “In groups of three, alright?” They giggled when I repeated that, and we all crossed the portal. Can’t these girls take things more seriously?

  Tarren and two guards were already engaged in a battle with two individuals, and more were coming here as the sound of clashing swords traveled through the underground passages.

  “Bind.” Vlard and another Mage took care of the enemy, and I gave them some rope because the spell won’t last for long.

  Our forces split, and I rushed to the boss room, hoping that the guy hadn’t run away. That is one of the reasons we avoid killing anyone. If the head figure escapes, we should be able to squeeze information from some of his underlings.

  “Who are… Aaaaa!”

  When I run into one of the criminals I cut his arm off with Trinity axe and then broke his leg. Two other guys were coming from a side passage and I shot them with Fire Bullets. It’s completely fine to destroy their limbs. The important part is that they were left alive.

  Um, if they happen to die from blood loss, then I will consider that as God’s will. There’s nothing I can do about it.

  I left the three thugs screaming in pain and continue to walk forward. This tunnels weren’t as nice as the lobby, they looked more like caves with light crystals embed into the rough surface. When I was close to the boss room, several soldiers charged at me with their swords.

  Evade, stab, break an arm, kick… They couldn’t keep up with my speed so it was relatively easy to trash them. I never thought that beating criminals could be this fun.

  “Where are you going?” When I got into the room, I saw the boss waiting, while one of the Mages was making an opening in the wall.

  “Stop him! Kill him now!” The Noble screamed at his soldiers, and the bastards attacked me.

  Poor fools.

  I deployed my Domain and my Darkness Tentacles lift them from the ground, then threw them aside.

  “Fir Ball!”

  “Wind Spear!”

  Two Mages Cast their spells, and I used Uhra’s trick. Their attacks disappeared into the Portals, which then appeared behind them. They were surprised when their own magic attacks hit them back.

  Then I shot them with Fire Bullets before I cast Air magic to bind them while they cried in pain.

  Since not one of the people here was strong enough to resist my magic, I decided to play with them. It should be fine as long as I don’t kill them.

  “Argh! My arm!”

  “Let me go! No!”

  “Get away!”

  The Earth Mage managed to open a hole, but tentacles wrapped around his, and the boss’ legs. Oh, you thought that I forgot about you? Ha! The moment when your hopes crash down is my main dish, there’s no way I will let it go cold.

  “Do you know who I… Ah!” When the Noble tried to act smug I dragged him away and toss him aside. He hit a table, knocking down several metal chests and rolled on the floor. Man, I think he broke a few bones. A pity I can’t ask him since he’s screaming like an orc in pain.

  “You like walls, don’t you?” I asked the Earth Mage and started slamming him against the rock surface like he was a rag doll.

  Why? Just why do I like messing around with the weak? No, don’t think about it right now, and enjoy the fun. But remember to keep him alive.

  “Hahaha!” It was harder than I thought. Restraining myself from killing them was so freaking hard. I enjoy the chaos. The screams. The sound of broken bones.

  The people cried when my Fire projectiles pierced their limbs, as they tried to crawl away like worms. A couple of arms and a leg were ripped off. It couldn’t be helped, right? It was so hard to hold back against this trash.

  “N-no,” The dog girl was shaking in fear, backing away from me until her back hit the massive chair. “D-don’t, please. Please.”

  “Oh, c’mon. You have that dagger.” I said and stood in front of her with my arms spread wide. “Why don’t you use it? Here, try stabbing me. I heard that you liked to stab people.”

  “No! No, no, I don’t.” She took her dagger and throw it away. “Please. Please don’t kill me. I’ll do anything you want. I swear. Please.”

  “Anything?” The girl looked afraid and desperate. It was sexy in a sick way.

  “Yes! Just don’t hurt me! Please!” There was a sign of hope in her teary eyes when she thought she I may spare her life.

  I can do that. Still, this was so wrong. But I can’t resist.

  “Suck it.”

  “Eh?” She was confused for a second, but then she got the meaning. “Yes, master!”

  The dog girl wrestled with the buttons until it was out, and then she took me in her mouth.

  I am a scum.

  A murderer, psychopath, and sex offender.

  “It’s so dark, where are… Darling?” Lina was appalled when she saw the scene. And the rest of the girls as well.

  I do have some shitty luck, right?

  “Don’t stop!” I warned the dog and then turned to look at the newcomers. Nine of my wives were there at the entrance, staring at me. “This is your fault! All of you had better things to do than attend to your own husband. Now shut it, or else….”

  “Beautiful.” Lillian walked into the room with a happy expression and inhaled the air. “It looks like the end of the world. Lord, is that girl serving you properly? If not, I can do it instead.”

  Ah, my magic is affecting her again. I forgot that her demonic nature resurface when she comes into contact with my Dark Magic. And since the Domain was still on.
..

  “Huh? Oh.” She shook her head, and her expression became sober when I canceled the spell. Then she looked at the kneeling girl. “My lord, aren’t you ashamed?”

  “No. What about you?” I shot back without mercy. “You looked very happy just a moment ago.”

  “That… is your fault. Your magic makes me…” She blushed while struggling to find the right words.

  “Everyone, inspect the room. But be careful! There might be concealed traps somewhere.” I ordered them and patted the dog’s head. “Good girl! Such a good doggy.”

  My wives used low level healing potions on the criminals to prevent excessive blood loss, and then they bind them with ropes. Everything was going fine.

  “Oh, crap!” I grabbed the girl’s hair and trust. So good!

  What? Don’t you all have a job to do? Stop staring!

  I put it in my pants after the girl swallowed. I couldn’t mess around too much because I still had a job to do.

  “A good girl needs a reward.” I said and used my special magic touch. The dog-kin was enveloped in treads of Darkness that stimulated her body and soul. They slide under the two pieces of clothes and started wiggling wildly.

  It only took twenty seconds for her eyes to roll back in her head, and for her garments to get dump.

  “Lucky bitch.” Evrlir brooded as she tied a rope around a man’s arm to stop the bleeding. And the poor bastard cried when she tightened the bond too much.

  The used up dog passed out, and I dropped her on the wet floor before I went to the secret passage. The noble wanted to run this way so we should inspect it.

  “Kriss! This looks like hell!” Tarren exclaimed when he and the guards arrived in the doorway. I saw that his soldiers were dragging some prisoners.

  “Here,” I opened a portal in front of them. “This one leads to the Palace garden, near the guard facilities. And if you see a zombie rat there, don’t kill it.”

  “Yes, my lord.” He said, and they took the criminals trough the hole.

  “Can you keep this up for a few more minutes? I would need to bring some mages to inspect the entire place.” Vlard asked me as the soldiers took all the thugs away.

  “No, it’s too hard to keep this up for a long period.” Then a zombie mouse come running, he was hidden behind the metal chests this whole time. “But you can take this one with you, and I’ll open a portal once you are ready.”

  “Ah, thanks?” The Mage took the dead mouse with a disgusted expression, and put it in his pocket. Then he went through the portal with the others.

  This was going to be a long night.

  Chapter 10

  “This way, my lord.” A maid led us into the room. We were all tired and wanted to get some sleep, but we received word that Empress Nalisia wanted to see us when we returned to the palace.

  It was already past morning when we finished inspecting the criminal hideout. Vlard brought not only the Mages but also over a hundred soldiers and scribes that the Warden Empress sent to record the loot.

  I had to drink a couple of mana recovery potions to open Portals for them, like I was some fantasy terminal.

  Anyway, the lads worked fast and efficiently; I hope she will give me some of them when I reclaim my territory.

  They also brought the Earth Mage who was working for the noble with them. He was in a worse state than when I played with him, and he cooperated like a good little bitch. Torture can do miracles sometimes.

  We found more secret passages and a vault. There were books with records of everything that was being sold on the black market, names of small thugs that worked for them, loan debtors, shops, accomplices…

  We found the Empire’s Al Capone.

  “My Ladies,” I bowed deeply to the three women that were drinking tea in Empress Nalisia’s office. Aside from the Warden Empress, there also were Sozida and Kilie Zreatva, a bird-folk, and another one of Emperor Ailmar’s wives.

  “Did the Mages found all the paths and secret passages to the hideout?” Nalisia asked while looking through the various documents on her table. Three of the scribes, who were appraising the value of the stolen goods with us a few hours ago, were now standing behind the Empress.

  “Yes, Your Grace. They put guards on all the entrances, which is a good thing since I used most of my mana.” Now I don’t have to open Portals for them anymore.

  “Such a convenient spell.” Empress Kilie said as she looked at me. “Nalisia was just describing how you found the criminals and… Um, who is that?” She asked curiously when she saw the dog-kin girl sitting on the floor, wagging her tail.

  “My dog,” I said simply and patted her head. “She’s a good girl, right?”

  “Woof!” The girl rubbed her cheek against my thigh. So adorable.

  “Marquess Miller, don’t you think that is degrading to treat a woman in such a barbaric way? You are aware that other nobles will speak ill of you if they see this?”

  “You people are weird,” Sozida smiled as she sipped her tea. ”My son just has good taste.”

  “Thank you, mother.” I bowed respectfully to Empress Sozida.

  “You’re welcome. And know that I won’t mind if you want to play funny games with my daughter, that may soften her personality a little.”

  “Mother!” Lillian looked like she wanted to fight with her.

  “Lillian, we are having a civilized conversation here. If you want me to beat you that badly, at least wait until I finish my tea.” Sozida kept her refined appearance, but there was a dangerous glint in her eyes.

  She wasn’t joking. I heard that Empress Sozida was as strong as an A-rank adventurer. No wonder Lillian was the commander of a knight order. She probably endured a harsh training from an early age.

  “Alright, lets get down to business,” Nalisia said and took several of the documents. “I barely closed my eyes when the aides told me about your raid. The next time you do something similar, at least inform me beforehand.”

  “Yes, Your Grace.” Did she expect me to hit a jackpot again? I wouldn’t mind, but there shouldn’t be more big organizations here. Maybe another city?

  “First, the man you caught, is Baron Leon Lisinev. He is in charge of a small territory in the south, close to the Urun border.”

  If I remember correctly, that place should be far in the south. If we traveled twenty days for Tolia with a big army, but only a dozen days with 500 people. That means that a merchant caravan would need about a month to reach Tsarigrad from the moment they cross the Urun border.

  “We used a magic device to interrogate him, and we were fortunate to secure most of his memories before his mind broke. Then we executed him.”

  A device? ‘Secure his memories’? That sounds interesting, I should look into it. But I suspect that it is ‘Classified’ information.

  “Now, regarding the underground hideout, there were roughly 77500 gold coins, 324000 silver coins and the copper coins were melted into ingots. We found 738 of those.”

  “Kriss! That is quite the sum!” That amount surprised Empress Kilie. I know how she felt. When I saw all that money, I was already wondering what could I buy with it.

  “And there were three chests with jewelry worth approximately 25000 gold.” Nalisia said and put that piece of paper aside. “Those are all yours now, according to the Empire’s law. But you can’t have the books, since they are crucial for further investigation.”

  “I don’t need them.” I shrugged my shoulders. Though that was a lie, I really wanted to know the names of the other people who were involved. And if there were nobles, I could rob them.

  “As for the items in the rooms, there was a huge quantity of different merchandise with the approximate value of… More than 97000 gold coins. They hoarded a lot of things that couldn’t be sold at once, as to not raise suspicion.”

  “How did they came in possession of all those goods?” Sozida asked curiously, “One man, be it a noble or not, can’t do that by himself and a few mages. There would need to
be a larger organization.”

  “You are right,” Nalisia confirmed her words. “We found some information revealing that he was collaborating with a Murim sect. Those fanatics wanted to cause trouble at the south border like always.”

  “Now that you mention it, we didn’t have a war with them for over a decade.” Kilie put her cup down and took a cookie. “They were probably using Baron Leon to raise founds.”

  War? With a southern kingdom, perhaps? Well, if a kingdom was protecting a sect, then it would be justified.