Episode 12: The Marquis’s Estate is a Treasure Trove
The two men who had been glaring at me suddenly clutched at their throats, panicking as they struggled to breathe. I watched silently.
They nodded, startled, but I ignored them. Their faces turned crimson, their eyes wide, and they began to convulse before I finally loosened the collars.
They gasped for air, wheezing, so I waited for them to calm down before asking again, and they nodded desperately.
Confirming their compliance, I withdrew the magic from the bullets I had placed in their mouths.
“Answer the question I asked earlier.”
“Who do you think you are? Release me from these bonds and leave at once!”
This time, I tightened the collar around the neck of the man who seemed to be the Marquis, cutting off his air supply.
I watched him struggle, his face turning red, his eyes rolling back in his head, until he was on the verge of losing consciousness before I released him.
Once he had regained his breath, I warned all four of them again before repeating my question.
“Answer only what you are asked! I don’t intend to stay long. If you don’t feel like answering, I’ll just have to kill you. The seventeen guests from last night and the man who let them in are all dead. If you want to join them, I’ll send you after them right away. Understand? Nod.”
They all nodded at once, so I had them sit back on the sofa and confirmed.
“Yes… I am Norka Honings, Marquis Honings.”
“This guy said that he was among those who escaped.”
I took Gazelda’s corpse out of my Magic Bag and rolled it in front of the four of them.
Blood was flowing from her abdomen, but it was a perfectly preserved corpse. Kadif’s face changed, recognizing her.
“You killed her!”
“Of course. I’m not kind enough to let a thief who attacks me in my sleep go free. Your name came up, so I came here to find you cozying up with the Honings Marquis. Just as the rumors in town said. Well, that doesn’t matter. I want to sleep peacefully at night and stop any unnecessary interference. Marquis-dono.”
“What are you talking about? I have no reason to be attacked by thieves.”
“Exactly, I’ll return those words right back to you. I didn’t come all the way here for fun. If you don’t grant my wish, everyone in this room will die.”
“What is your wish?”
“I want a detailed document describing the connections between the family that was attacked yesterday and their business rivals, and a detailed explanation of why you ordered the attack yesterday.”
“I know nothing about such things! You must have the wrong person.”
“So, it seems I have to prove that I’m not here for fun. Are those two next to you your sons?”
“Yes, they are. What about it!”
“Since Papa is pretending not to know anything, they’ll have to be the first sacrifices.”
I said, and tightened my grip around the neck of the man sitting next to the Marquis.
He let out a single “Gueh,” but the ring around his neck quickly suffocated him, and he collapsed.
Since awakening in this world, I had killed many beasts, so I had become desensitized, feeling nothing even when a person died before my eyes.
“You baaaastard!”
I tightened the collar around the Marquis’s neck again to silence him, and then bound his body in multiple layers to prevent him from moving.
He was wheezing, but still somehow breathing, so I gave the fallen knights collars as well.
The knights’ faces turned pale as they understood the purpose of the collars, but I smiled reassuringly, “Your lives depend on your master.”
I couldn’t show my smile because my face was covered with a scarf, but it was the thought that counted.
The Marquis was wheezing, his face ashen, and he stopped struggling, desperately trying to breathe.
I loosened the collar and waited for his breathing to calm down.
“You’re next, but after that, it’s Papa’s turn, okay? What will happen to the Marquis family when the head of the Marquis family and his heir die, and then you die too?”
Hearing my words, the Marquis realized that I had no hesitation in destroying his family, and his face turned pale.
“Won’t you grant my wish?”
Seeing the Marquis hesitate to answer, I turned my gaze to the other son.
“It seems like your life doesn’t matter to him. What a wonderful Papa.”
“Wait! Wait, please! I’ll comply, I’ll write whatever you want!”
The Marquis desperately replied that he would comply with my demands. Kadif, who had been silently observing me next to him, changed his expression.
“Could it be…”
We had only exchanged words a few times, but it seemed he had realized my true identity, so I strangled him as well.
He said “Ugh,” his eyes wide, but he couldn’t speak even when he opened his mouth. He glared at me as he collapsed and stopped moving.
“If you try to do anything unnecessary, I’ll strangle you immediately.”
I said, and released the Marquis from his restraints.
He must have thought that I killed Kadif as a warning, because he silently nodded and sat down at his desk, where I secured him to the chair.
I read the paper describing his connection with Trigan, the chairman of the Trigan Company, but the writing was vague and ambiguous, so I slapped him on the head and ordered him to rewrite it.
After ordering him to rewrite it three times, I warned him again.
“I told you I didn’t intend to stay long. I don’t intend to order you to rewrite it any more than this. If I kill you two, I won’t have to worry about being attacked in the future, and the three Baron families will have an interesting succession battle for the Marquis family. Choose whether you want to live or die!”
He handed over a paper describing his connection with the Trigan Company and what kind of favors he had provided.
Next, I had him write about the circumstances of the attack on the Kokkola Company and what he intended to do with the Kokkola Company after the attack. Finally, I had him write down the names of the stores he had destroyed using similar methods.
I quickly read through the documents he had written over a long period of time and decided that this was good enough, so I had him sign them.
“Well, I’m sure you’ve written it all vaguely, but it’ll do. Let’s have you sign and put your blood seal on it. I’ll compare the signature with other documents, so don’t try to deceive me.”
I handed him a document without a signature, and he seemed to think he had gotten away with something, but he was too naive.
Besides, I don’t think this document can be used to prosecute him, but it will damage the Honings Marquis’s reputation and cause him to be frowned upon by the royal family.
Now, let’s get down to business.
I released the restraints on the feet of the fallen knights and had them stand against the wall as usual, then re-secured their feet with thin, rod-shaped shackles.
I also had their arms tied behind their backs, but I left the collars on and taught them that they could be tightened or loosened at will.
When I released the restraints on the hands and feet of the knights standing on either side of the door, I warned them that the Marquis and the others would die if they did anything rash, and had them return to their posts.
I put the corpses in my Magic Bag and completed the preparations.
I had the Butler summoned, and when he arrived, I had him summon the Healing Magic users and all the members of the magic squad.
“The Healing Magic users and all the members of the magic squad?”
He looked at me suspiciously as I stood next to the Marquis, but the Marquis shouted, “Hurry up!” and he rushed off to summon them.
I didn’t risk danger and sneak into the Marquis’s estate for nothing. My main goal was to read and memorize magic and skills.
I had already read the Marquis’s Magic Pouch, a high-performance 3-360, and memorized 10 of them.
The Magic Pouches of his two sons were 3-180, and I had memorized 10 of those as well, so all that was left was to read and memorize the Magic Bags they should have.
I learned one thing from reading the Magic Pouches: they were shockproof, cut-resistant, and magic-resistant, and I was able to read and memorize them.
When I tried attaching them to my Orc leather 2/60 Magic Pouch, it became a shockproof, cut-resistant, and magic-resistant Magic Pouch.
I also attached shockproof, cut-resistant, and magic resistance to the clothes and boots I was wearing.
The magic of shock resistance, cut resistance, and magic resistance was also [read and memorized] as [shock resistance, cut resistance, and magic resistance x 10].
The Marquis and the second son had fire magic, but the heir had no magic.
The knights’ magic and skills were nothing of interest.
The group led by the Butler trooped into the office, so I had them line up in front of the knights against the wall and had them turn to the right.
There were three Healing Magic users in white clothes, so I started reading from them.
In the meantime, I confirmed that there should be an Appraisal user and a Space Storage user, and ordered the Marquis to have them summoned.
I tapped them on the shoulder and ordered them to report the magic and skills they had been granted, then tapped each of them on the shoulder and checked while reading.
“Healing Magic, Magical Power is 65.” (Read… Healing Magic) (Read and Memorize) x 4, [Healing Magic x 4]
“Healing Magic, Water Magic, and Cooking Skill… Magical Power is 77.” (Read/Memorize) x4, [Healing Magic x8, Water Magic x4, Cooking Skill x5]
“Healing Magic and Appraisal Skill. Magical Power is 92.” (Read/Memorize) x4, [Healing Magic x12, Water Magic x4, Cooking Skill x5, Appraisal Skill x4]
Healing Magic and Appraisal Skill with Magical Power of 92, huh? I don’t know how skilled they are, but they probably can’t hope for a free life.
I read and memorized the Healing Magic of the three, and the total Healing Magic became 12, but there doesn’t seem to be any difference in the magic itself.
“With a Magical Power of 92, is your healing ability the best among the three?”
“No… I’m second best.”
“Thank you. You three can return to your posts.”
Magic seems to depend more on the power of imagination than the amount of Magical Power. Magical Power probably affects the number of uses or the power of the magic.
There were two Appraisal Skill users, but their Magical Power was 84 and 88, and neither had any other magic, so I read and memorized their Appraisal Skills and sent them back.
There were also two Spatial Storage users, but one had just received it and was still in training, so I decided to read from the veteran.
I got the Healing Magic and Appraisal Skill I wanted, and if I can get Barrier Magic and Teleportation Magic, it will be perfect.
I’m looking forward to reading from the magic squad.