Chapter 23: A Trap

Sian made his way to <Lagron’s Forest> in delight. The sisters looked a little suspicious, but there was no way that they were of any danger to him and the place was in the middle of the capital, so he was relieved.

As he enjoyed the food, Rasha and Kirat focused on examining Sian. He seemed to be relaxed with the good food and he actively joined their discussion.

“So… your parents are merchants that trade with the Con Kingdom?”

“Yes. They are away right now, so my sister and I are the only ones at the mansion along with some workers. Oh, Kiras, don’t you need to apologize for something?”

“Oh… I am sorry for what I did, Sir Sian.”

“I’m sorry. She loves to prank people, but she’s a lonely girl.”

They apologized according to their plan. Carrying out an examination on a public road while hidden from ordinary people was not something anyone could do, and it required an explanation. Luckily, Marquis Narasha had acquired an artifact that could make one invisible. It wasn’t perfect, but it seemed like it would be a good explanation.

“It’s okay, Miss Raat and Miss Kiras. Don’t mind it too much. Besides, her falling unconscious was my fault. I should be the one who needs to apologize.”

Sian replied politely without thinking, but the sisters were startled. What he said meant that he knew she tried to scan him. They did not expect this. No Bander user had ever sensed the Exar that was used to examine them.

“Sir Sian… What do you mean that it is your fault?” Rasha asked calmly, pretending not to be surprised. She needed to find out what he knew. Sian became curious and answered, “Aren’t you apologizing for Miss Kiras using Exar on me? It’s okay, she could’ve just been curious.”

Sian had already experienced it once from Shuville, so he thought Kiras was an Exer. Exer abilities varied a lot, so he was not sure what she was trying to do, but a young girl like her didn’t seem to have bad intentions.

Rasha and Kirat were relieved that Sian did not know what they were trying to do. But they also raised their guard against him for being able to sense such a weak flow of Exar. As such, they could no longer investigate as Sian might grow suspicious.

*

“Elder, did the Marquis contact you back?”

Keratan, one of the people, asked the Fifth Elder. No one in their group doubted that they could kill the man. Even if he was a genius who had become a Grand Bander at the age of seventeen, it still seemed possible.

The only thing that stopped them was Marquis Narasha, who was hesitant after he found out that the man was the son of the Roman family.

<If he becomes a problem in the future… I guess we have no choice. But you should not be discovered. Even if you do, you should not leave a trail that leads back to us. The Count is neutral for now, but his son’s death will not keep him neutral any longer.>

The Elder gave his answer as no one in the capital knew that they were related to the Marquis. They were going to lure him out of the capital before taking care of him.

<Yes… the Marquis has decided… Let’s be quick… We will do it as planned..>

Everyone seemed excited to hear that. They were excited to be able to fight after such a long time. Kirat and Rasha however, looked concerned, but they shook it off start preparations.

“Dinner… Dinner… Heh.”

Sian was heading to Raat and Kiras’ mansion with a bright smile on his face. Their parents had invited him over after returning from their travels. He couldn’t go empty-handed, so he purchased a small gift beforehand. He was looking forward to having dinner with the beautiful Raat and the soon-to-be beautiful Kiras. He knocked on the door when he arrived.

“Hello?”

“Welcome, Sir Sian von Roman. They are waiting inside. Please, come in.”

A man invited him in, and Sian smelled the scent of good food as he entered. However, something seemed off.

‘It’s too quiet…’

Sian thought that the return of merchants would cause more activity, but the mansion was too quiet. He dismissed it thinking that it could have been because their father who hated noise and decided to focus on the dinner.

“Greetings! I heard my daughters caused you much trouble! I am Keratan. Please come in.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Sian walked into the dining area. There were guards inside the room.

“Where is Miss Kiras?” Sian asked, and Keretan answered with a smile,

“She is not here. It’s too dangerous.”

Sian looked confused, but Keratan drew the sword at his waist, which Sian had thought to be decorative, and lunged at him. At that signal, all the guards inside the room attacked Sian.

‘This doesn’t feel good.’

Kirat thought as she watched the mansion from a nearby hill. She was not a fighter, so she had to retreat. She wasn’t weak, but fighting was not her specialty. Their plan was perfect.

<Call him out to the mansion and kill him.>

It was simple but effective.

The mansion had no recorded owner and no people living nearby. They hated using excessive force, so they prepared an ambush. Their life in the Great North Forest did not give them the luxury of mercy. They had to kill anyone in their path at all costs to survive.

The Fifth Elder had lived for fifty years after becoming a Grand Bander.

Even if the man were a Grand Bander, he would not stand a chance.

However, Kirat was worried.

Intense energy was leaking out of the mansion, signaling the beginning of a fight. Kirat decided to keep watching and tried to activate her skill when a quest window popped up.

[Quest: Rescue Kal-Rasha and your people.]

-Your people are in danger. Rescue them.

[Reward: Rescuing Kal-Rasha: 40,000 Exp. The rest: 20,000 Exp per person.]

Kirat’s face turned grim. Her people, including her sister, was in danger… The reward Exp was high; it meant that the task was very hard. Kirat began running toward the mansion. At that moment, an enormous, pressuring force of vicious energy burst out of the mansion.

‘Ugh…!’

She almost fainted but steadied herself. She needed to save her sister.

Sian looked at the sword lunging at him and wondered, ‘What’s going on?’

He was expecting a good meal, but the man claiming to be the father of Miss Raat was trying to impale him with a sword. All the guards surrounding him also didn’t seem like regular guards.

All of them were stronger than his brother. What was weirder was that Miss Raat was among those guards.

‘Did Miss Kiras die from her injuries or something?’

It seemed absurd, but he could think of no other explanation. As he was pondering, he saw that Keratan’s sharp sword had almost reached his nose.

‘Okay, let’s beat them up and ask.’

There had to be a reason for them to attack, as even Miss Raat, who was so kind, was among the attackers. He had been doing good deeds until now, and it wouldn’t be right to kill them without knowing the reason. Thinking this way, he complimented himself for being merciful and drew his sword from his belt.

After dodging the sword that almost reached his eyes, he tried to strike the guard next to him, but he was stopped. He felt his body being frozen by a strong, dark Exar clinging onto him. He looked over and found a woman disguised as a maid looking at him, swirling Exar over him.

He tried to shrug it off, but it wasn’t easy.

Adding to that, a strong force approached him from behind.

‘This is about… Father’s? No, a bit stronger.’

His father’s force felt more dignified, while this force behind him felt more vicious and angry. He couldn’t avoid it while thinking of other things like he did before.

He quickly moved his sword to block the attack from the back. After parrying the attacks from all sides, he moved to a corner of the room.

“Hmm… Can we solve this with a talk? I haven’t killed anyone yet, so I wish to resolve this peacefully.”

Keratan and the others smirked. They liked that he was honest, but he had to be killed. They all attacked.

‘Why can’t they listen?’

Sian sighed. They were trying their best, putting their lives on the line, but he was just annoyed. It would’ve been great if he could finish all of them with a smack to their heads. However, these people were strong, and a man who looked especially strong on the other side didn’t seem to want to let him do that so easily.

He decided to use his power just for a bit.

“Ugh… I hate this, but you started it, so…”

Sian unleashed ‘something’ that he had locked up five years ago.

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