Episode 104
"...It's already this time."
It seems the long break has finally come to an end.
After all, the academy's opening day is tomorrow.
"Kania, what's for lunch today?"
While processing work in the mansion's office with such thoughts, I suddenly felt hungry and asked.
"Today's lunch is barbecue."
"I see, sounds delic... Huh?"
I was about to reflexively compliment the voice I heard, but soon realized it wasn't Kania's voice and turned my head.
"Irina?"
"I'm in charge of lunch and dinner today. Kania needs to rest a bit too."
"Ah... I see."
Nodding quietly at Irina's words after she returned to the mansion yesterday, I soon wore a puzzled expression and asked her.
"Irina, by the way, where did you go all this time?"
"I went to do some training for a while."
"Training? You could do training in our house's yard..."
"Training using the dark mana inside my body."
Saying that, Irina stretched out her hand and began emitting dark mana. To think she could wield dark magic so simply just because she has dark mana in her body—perhaps Irina truly is a genius.
"Frey, I have one favor to ask."
While I was thinking such thoughts and watching Irina, she opened her mouth with a serious expression.
"If something dangerous happens in the future... use this scroll."
"Something dangerous?"
"Yes, for example... when your identity is about to be exposed."
Saying that, she took out a scroll with colorful magic circles drawn on it from her bosom and handed it to me.
"If you use it at that time, that scroll will protect you."
"Irina? This is..."
After saying that with a determined expression, Irina left the room before I could say anything.
"...What is this?"
After staring at the scroll for a while, I put it in my bosom and stood up from my seat.
'Well, since Irina gave it to me, it shouldn't be dangerous.'
Soon after finishing my thoughts while drinking the coffee on the desk, I pushed all the documents aside and stood up.
- Creak...
"Hah!"
Opening the door while still holding the coffee cup, a scream filled with fear came from below.
"A-ah, hello..."
Wondering who it was, I looked down and saw that little kid I brought from the market district before.
"What are you doing here? You belong to Lulu, don't you?"
"Ah, th-that's... I was going to tell Lulu-sama about lunch time..."
"I see, then go ahead."
I answered nonchalantly to the girl who was sweating cold sweat, probably still afraid of me, and passed by her with a blank expression and started going down the stairs.
"F-Frey-nim. Thank you for treating my younger sibling..."
"Treated a sibling? I don't know anything about that."
When the girl tried to thank me, I was startled and quickly cut off her words, and the girl started to look puzzled.
"B-but... my sibling was admitted to the hospital today..."
"I don't know about that. I have no interest in you lot who are nothing but Lulu's pets."
Speaking to her in a cold voice, I finished going down the stairs and quietly added.
"So, be grateful to Lulu who cherishes even dirty things like you."
Though I said that, laughter kept escaping from my lips.
Because it was I who sent a boy with a serious illness to a healer at Lulu's request.
I always think this, but doing good deeds is always fun.
.
""Hello..."
Lulu and her maids greet Frey, who was sitting in the dining room with an arrogant pose.
"Lulu, come next to me."
"Y-yes..."
Watching them, Frey calls Lulu to his side with a gentle voice.
"P-please have your meal."
When Lulu, sitting on Frey's lap, spoke with a reddened face, the maids who were watching cautiously began to carefully reach for the food.
"You can use knives and forks."
However, when Lulu urgently added, the maids turned pale and bowed their heads deeply.
"I'm sorry, I was wrong. Please forgive me."
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry."
They were maids who had been called 'pets' by their master, locked in warehouses or prisons without a single ray of light, receiving only nutritionally worthless food waste.
And naturally, using knives or forks was not allowed for them either.
They had tried to pick up food with their bare hands without realizing it.
"Just once, please forgive us just once..."
And realizing their mistake, the maids began to beg while looking at Frey with fear-filled eyes.
After continued education, the fear of having made a mistake on the first day of eating with Frey made them think the violence they had naturally received like breathing for the past several years would continue.
"Lulu, try eating this. I got it with difficulty."
But instead of the whipping or punching that was expected, Frey just handed food to Lulu sitting on his lap.
"Ah..."
"Good, well done."
When Lulu received the food with a reddened face, Frey smiled and started talking.
"Lulu, by the way... are you managing your pets well?"
"Yes, y-yes..."
"Right. As I promised last time, those things are yours, so you need to take responsibility and manage them. Understand?"
"I under...stand."
When Lulu quickly nodded at those words, Frey, who had a satisfied expression, looked at the maids and spoke.
"What are you doing? Not eating?"
Then, the maids turned pale and began reaching for knives and forks.
"Listen while eating. I have something to say to you."
Soon, the maids who had been holding knives and forks as Lulu taught them for several weeks froze without even picking up the food when Frey spoke meaningfully.
Is Frey finally showing his true colors?
Was Lulu actually in on it too?
Was the happiness of the past few weeks just brief, and now hell is starting again?
"Starting tomorrow, where you'll be staying is Sunrise Academy."
""What?""
The maids, who were thinking such thoughts, couldn't help but raise their voices at Frey's statement.
"Starting tomorrow, Lulu is returning to the academy, and it would be troublesome if pets like you don't follow along."
"B-but... we don't even know how to write..."
"That's not my problem. Figure it out yourselves."
Cutting off a maid's trembling words, Frey stood up, carefully seated Lulu on the chair, and spoke.
"Then enjoy your meal."
"W-where are you going?"
"Lulu, what did I say you should do with pets?"
"W-we will eat well..."
"Right, that's all you need to say. Then, stay well."
After saying that and Frey left the dining area, all eyes of the maids focused on Lulu.
"U-um, that's... I mean..."
Lulu, who was blankly staring at the maids looking at her with slightly fearful eyes, soon looked at Kania who had been glancing at her for some reason.
"You are not enrolling in Sunrise Academy... you've been hired as maids in the commoners' dormitory."
"U-us?"
"Yes, Frey-nim gave an absolute command to put you in the academy."
Then, Kania quickly changed her expression and began explaining.
"It's fortunate that Frey-nim has no interest in you. If he had even a little interest in you... you probably would have gone to the basement."
At the word basement, the maids' expressions turned pale, and Kania smiled gently.
"But Frey-nim thinks of you as gifts given to Lulu, that is, 'things.' That's why I was able to orchestrate this operation."
"Operation?"
"Yes, actually the person who proposed putting you in the academy was... me."
When Kania said that, the maids began looking at her with dumbfounded expressions.
"Right now, the young master has no interest in you, but if you keep staying in this mansion, you'll eventually become targets."
To such maids, Kania quietly opened her suit to show them.
""......!!!""
Then, numerous scars and handprints on Kania's body came into the maids' view.
Scars and handprints left in vivid red color were especially concentrated on Kania's sensitive parts.
"This is, from just before."
Kania, who showed the maids the clear handprint on her neck, smiled bitterly.
"I cannot give such pain to you who have already experienced enough hell. That's why I evacuated you to the academy, not the mansion."
"B-but... isn't the academy also the same in that Frey-nim is there?"
Kania, who was about to finish speaking, tapped the table with her finger for a moment at a maid's question, then answered.
"The academy is actually safer. There are many watching eyes at the academy, and the young master leaves the academy and heads to the mansion's basement whenever he feels like it."
"Ah..."
"And, the reason I sent you to the academy is not simply to protect you from the young master."
At those words, the maids looked puzzled, and Kania stood up and said.
"Work as maids and learn writing at the academy. Once you learn all the writing, you will be officially enrolled in the academy."
"Y-yes?"
"Then, have a delicious meal."
Leaving behind the still bewildered maids, Kania smiled and started going up the stairs.
"T-thank you!"
When she had almost gone up the stairs, a girl stood up from her seat and thanked Kania.
""Thank you...!""
Then, the other maids who were watching also stood up together and began thanking Kania.
"Hah."
In that situation, Kania sighed briefly, then put on her characteristic mechanical expression and began walking down the corridor.
- Whoosh...
With each step forward, the scars on her body gradually disappeared.
- Knock knock knock
When the hideous scars had almost disappeared while emitting black smoke, Kania began to gently knock on Frey's door.
"Did you hear their gratitude well?"
"That was for you, Kania."
"I just followed the young master's orders. You know that well too."
After a while, Kania, who entered Frey's room, began talking with her foolish young master.
"By the way Kania, are you not hurt?"
"What do you mean?"
"I asked you to leave handprints all over your body. Seeing they're still on your body, it must have been quite painful..."
"To prevent a penalty from occurring for the young master, I had to do it thoroughly."
Hearing Kania's words, Frey nodded but said with a worried expression.
"Still, can't you make handprints with dark magic? I think you did that last time..."
"Sigh, scars are easy to make but handprints are difficult to make."
"Then, do I have to leave handprints directly whenever this happens in the future?"
"...Yes, it seems so."
Saying that with a slightly embarrassed expression while quietly turning her gaze, Kania soon discovered an object on Frey's desk.
"Young master, this is...?"
"Right, that's what that damned old man made."
At Frey's answer, Kania picked up the object with a curious expression.
- Robe of Deception EX
When wearing this robe, you can perfectly hide your identity.
(However, physical ability and magical ability become extremely low.)
Soon after checking the note attached to the black robe, Kania frowned and asked Frey.
"If you wear this robe, how weak do you become?"
"I can't even swing a sword properly. With Star magic, I can only produce a single flash."
"Then... no matter how good the stealth ability, isn't it useless?"
When Kania said with a disappointed expression, Frey smiled and stood up.
"Kania, what can exert the most powerful force among what I have now?"
"Isn't it Star mana?"
When Frey shook his head at those words, Kania, who was thinking for a moment, opened her mouth again.
"Then, perhaps your appearance?"
When Frey frowned slightly at those words, Kania quietly bowed her head and said.
"I'm sorry, I really don't know."
Then Frey took the robe back from Kania, put it on, took out a white mask from his bosom and put it on, and answered.
"...It's money."
"What?"
Kania, who was looking vaguely at Frey who started to appear unclearly in her vision, asked again, and he answered while fingering the gold coins emitting red energy from his hand.
"Hero, demon king, whatever—money solves everything."
.
That night, somewhere in a corner of the market alley.
"Seeing that you know this place, you don't seem to be just some nobody."
The Emperor of the back alleys, or Count Justiano, called the ruler.
"But how long will you keep hiding your appearance?"
He asked in a low voice while looking at a person sitting arrogantly on a sofa, wearing a black robe and white mask.
"You're having a headache because of this gold coin lately, right?"
"...That is."
However, when the unidentified figure took out a gold coin emitting ruby smoke from his bosom and placed it on the desk, Count Justiano clenched his fist, unlike his usual self, having failed at expression management.
"It's counterfeit gold coins with a curse effect that brings misfortune, and they're slowly spreading in your territory these days."
"Hmm..."
"If nothing else, the imperial family gets really worked up about gold coin counterfeiting, so if the truth comes out, it'll be quite a sight."
When the unidentified figure provoked Count Justiano, the count quietly raised his hand and began signaling to the subordinates standing behind him.
"You shouldn't do anything reckless. I've already sent a letter to the imperial family. If I don't cancel it directly, you're definitely finished."
"...What is your identity?"
But when the man spoke in a calm voice, Count Justiano gritted his teeth and asked.
"That's not for you to know, but I want to make a proposal to you."
However, the figure in front of him ignored his words with his arrogant tone.
"Hah."
The count, who was glaring at such a man, soon withdrew the signal he was going to send to his subordinates behind him.
He judged that attempting to eliminate the figure in front of him by force was too dangerous, as he was a skilled person to the extent that even the highest grade identity confirmation magic and illusion removal magic didn't work.
Moreover, he instinctively smelled money from his words saying he came to make a 'proposal' even though he held his fatal weakness.
"To put it straight to the point, sell me all ownership of the market alley located in the imperial capital."
"What?"
However, the count had no choice but to frown again at those words.
"Do you have that much money?"
"Isn't this not the time to be asking that?"
"Then are you telling me to sell the land that lays golden eggs without receiving money? If we do such suspicious things, neither I nor you will be safe."
"For an emperor of the underworld, you're too timid."
"An emperor or ruler always has enemies eyeing their position. In my case, there are quite a lot of them."
Saying that, the count quietly stroked his beard and continued.
"And you know it too, don't you? That because of my subordinates and forces that have infiltrated every corner of the market alley, even if you get ownership without my cooperation, it's useless."
"Then what?"
"Just accept the exact price. This is already a big concession."
Then the unidentified figure sighed and placed a magic contract on the desk.
"Put your hand on it and check."
Hearing that, the count, who reached for the contract with a skeptical expression, soon smirked and asked.
"You, what exactly is your identity?"
"I told you, it's not for you to know."
"Will you cooperate with me in the future too?"
When the count, who saw the enormous gold spread before his eyes, changed his attitude and asked, the unidentified figure smiled quietly and said.
"Pay in a lump sum."
The next morning, the entire ownership of the market alley located in the imperial capital was transferred to the unidentified figure.
It was the refreshing first start of Frey's shadow identity, who would come to be called the 'Money Hero' by the world.