As soon as Daniel died, the man who took over the mansion announced himself as the vice-leader of Abandon.
With the boss dead, it’s only natural for the vice-leader to take over, right? So he moved in first to claim the boss’s mansion?
Whoosh!
“Wow, that was quick. Your boss’s corpse probably isn’t even cold yet.”
It had barely been a few hours since Daniel’s death, and this guy was already cleaning out the estate.
Just like any slum scum, he has no loyalty or honor. Daniel should’ve seen this.
“And what’s this? Vice-leader? You? Would anyone believe that? You must be asking for a beating.”
At first, I thought it was a lie. If he really had such a high position, wouldn’t he have gone down with Daniel when they bit the dust together?
“Forget it, let’s leave this for now and talk later.”
Gahhh! This is real, you crazy woman…!!
Well, he had some reason for it, I guess.
He wasn’t the most trusted confidant of the boss; instead, he was more like a rival trying to snatch the boss’s position.
They say Daniel got personally involved for that reason.
It was meant to show his supporters that their leader was still alive by taking care of some trouble himself, right?
Then he ended up getting sliced up on my watch.
The second-in-command felt threatened by the first-in-command who, wanting to show off his power and charisma, ended up dead. For the vice-leader, it was sheer luck he never expected.
But, life is a game of fortunes, and behind that luck followed my misfortune.
Either way, this guy claimed to be the organization’s second-in-command, so he had some knowledge. On the other hand, he lacked caution, patience, and determination.
Was he exactly the talent we were looking for?
If he had only a bit more stamina, he would have been perfect, but that was the only disappointing part.
“Save me… save me….”
Ugh, quit the whining. You’re not a fish, and you won’t die from this, you know?
“……”
“Uh… Hilde, this guy’s dead…”
“…he’s dead alright.”
He abruptly went belly up mid-interrogation, so I couldn’t pull any information out of that useless head of his. What a shame.
Is he really that weak?
I tried to pace myself and be careful not to be too cruel since Friede was watching, yet he just up and died?
Is this guy a human or a goblin?
For a vice-leader, he had a truly pitiful endurance, hardly able to keep up with his own subordinates.
“First, I’ll clean this up tomorrow… and for now, let’s get some rest.”
I kicked the corpse with both knees and elbows lodged out and pushed it into the corner of the warehouse while stretching out.
Yawn!
“Are you tired?”
“Yeah. Feeling a bit sleepy.”
My body was perfectly fine, but I was oddly tired. Embarrassingly so, to the point I yawned loudly.
Maybe it’s because it’s been a while since I last did this kind of thing?
I might be slightly mentally exhausted. Torture is not exactly the most enjoyable job.
Still, thanks to me sacrificing myself to take on the responsibility, our party could rake in enough income to cover the inn-burning incident.
Apparently, Daniel hoarded all the spare funds in the organization and stuffed them in his mansion’s vault. I had a feeling that would happen.
That money now belonged to us.
Though it was a bit of a strange sum for an organization, which meant he spent a lot on luxury, it was enough to restore the burnt building and buy a beastfolk slave.
…Oh, by the way, I didn’t end up finding the membership card that sparked all this chaos.
I have no clue where that sniveling rat Daniel might have hidden it, and not even the vice-leader knew.
He said that since he’d be the boss now, the exchange would issue a new one without hassle, so he didn’t care about the whereabouts of the card.
Hearing that left me speechless, and I wanted to kick him in the gut.
I thought someone at his rank would at least be informed, but it made me furious to have my expectations denied right to my face.
—
The bed placed in the middle of the bedroom was unbelievably luxurious and large. A person could lie down and roll around with five others without feeling cramped.
With fancy wooden material decorated with gold leaf and intricate carvings…
The mattress was stuffed with feathers and plush, the bedding a beautifully dyed purple silk, and the comforter was filled with wool, keeping it warm.
“Wow, no kidding, this is some noble-level opulence.”
I couldn’t help but question how much of a complex this guy had. I mean, gold on every piece of furniture?
At this point, one might as well consider it a mental illness.
“Let’s just get rid of this. It’s a bit awkward to lay on.”
“Uh, um… should we?”
I tossed aside the bedding and lay down on a cloak spread atop the mattress.
Sure, I can overlook the mattress, but I did not want my body touching that bedding and comforter.
So what if it’s high-quality? It ultimately belonged to Daniel and that vice-leader from earlier, who must have been rolling around on it. Gross.
Plus, judging by the bed’s size, they probably weren’t just lounging around; they likely had two or three women lying with them regularly.
Did they even bother to wash the comforter after that? Probably not.
No matter how good the quality, I politely declined such items. It felt filthy enough to think I’d get an allergy just lying on it.
So I simply lay on the cloak.
Fluffy…
“Nope, Elly. Don’t touch that.”
Slap!
I grabbed the wrist of Eleadra, who looked overly fond of the wool comforter, to stop her.
“Touch that? You’ll get sick.”
Eleadra tilted her head in confusion like she didn’t understand what I meant, but thankfully, she didn’t push back and settled on the cloak instead.
Her unexpectedly agreeable attitude was probably influenced by my motherly tone, as if I were comforting her while worried about her health.
“Disease… medicine… yuck…”
Or maybe the mention of getting sick made her think of the bitter herbal medicine that suddenly popped into her mind.
Children everywhere always fear needles and medicine. This world’s herbal drinks are known for being horrendously bitter anyway.
Considering that Eleadra’s mental state is no different from that of a child, hearing she’d have to take medicine after falling ill must’ve sounded quite frightening.
But does a vampire even get sick…?
Who knows. I’d have to meet a coughing vampire to figure that out.
Yawn… Momma…
Well, if dementia counts as an illness, then the vampire lying before me is a perfect example of it.
Nonetheless, the three of us lay down on the bed that Daniel passed on to us, wrapping up what had been a tumultuous day.
Eleadra curled up resting her head on my left arm, while Friede, in competition, borrowed my right arm to lay her head down and drift off.
Ow, my arms…
Thanks to that, I had to put up with the uncomfortable position of having my arms crossed like I was on a cross as I forced myself to try and sleep.
…But I was so tired that I fell asleep pretty quickly regardless.
—
So, what should I do from here?
Just before falling asleep, the next steps I organized in my mind were exceedingly simple.
First, I’d properly eliminate and subdue the surviving officials of Abandon, then declare myself the new ruler of the slums and go to the central auction house to request the membership card.
Next, using that membership, I’ll check the list of auction items and find Ashel to buy her before the bidding opens, even offering a little extra.
Finally, I’ll take care of the useless officials’ heads, liberate the slums, slip out of Pesengwigel, and never look back.
Isn’t this plan systematic, efficient, and even encompassing cleanup?
It’s not such a difficult thing to do.
The vice-leader, currently resembling a sacrificial lamb, confessed before he croaked that most of the remaining officials from Abandon were weak and cowardly.
Once I took care of one or two poisonous ones, the rest would gladly roll over and serve me.
I had also acquired the personal details of those ‘toxic ones,’ so now it was just a matter of tracking them down and eliminating the threat.
Of course, my plan didn’t end there.
Whenever embarking on something, I must always have a backup plan prepared just in case.
Honestly, I had overlooked this a bit, but considering the recent bloody occurrences, I had secured a solid contingency this time.
First, let’s say Abandon refuses to submit to me and continues to resist.
In that event, I plan to systematically behead the surviving officials, displaying their heads in the slums for all to see.
Let’s see how long they can resist while watching their leaders fall.
Even if the higher-ups shout resistance, the lower ranks will soon start fearing for their heads, surrendering to me.
In pyramid organizations like Abandon, the numbers typically increase as you go lower, and with more people comes a larger proportion of those who could care less for self-preservation.
Now, if I successfully subdue Abandon but the exchange refuses to issue me a membership, claiming I’m some nobody they’ve never heard of,
then I’d need to make another visit to the Guild.
The Guild Master might have issued a “no visitors” decree because he was too busy to entertain some drifter. However, he couldn’t deny a meeting request after I took Abandon down in a mere day.
Surely, out of curiosity, he would want to see me.
If I could just meet the Guild Master, getting the membership wouldn’t be that hard.
I only needed to find a slave, and I would be living this city once I offered to hand over the entirety of the slums in return.
‘…Alright, this is a decent backup plan I set up.’
I fell asleep with that conviction.
—
And the next morning.
“Drugs! Get the drugs in, or I’ll cut his head off!”
BANG!
The slums I returned to early in the morning had turned into a battlefield. Beastfolk with hairy ears and rabid homeless people were locked in a bloody brawl.
“What the hell is going on…?”
All the plans I had neatly laid out crumbled in that moment. There was no way conquering the slums was feasible in a situation like this.
“…Hilde, what on earth did you do yesterday?!”
Friede, who followed me to keep an eye on me, stared at me with a mix of disbelief and confusion.
I felt so wronged.
“Hey, this isn’t my fault…?”
I truly felt unfair.
The beastfolk rampaging in the slums were clearly a gang from Bagest. I hadn’t laid a finger on those beasts.
In other words, this ruckus stemmed solely from a conflict between the slum dwellers and the Bagest thugs, and had nothing to do with me.
Right?
“Where’s that Eagle girl-! Is she hiding, huh?!”
…Well, that wasn’t right.
Unbelievably enough, those brutes were hunting down none other than Krimhilde of the Shadow of the Eagle—meaning me.
“Uh… maybe it’s because of me?”
“……”
The look in Friede’s eyes turned icy as she stared at me.
It was winter.
