Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

Silvia had only one principle when dealing with Henry Robertson: treat him exactly as he had once treated her—and that included verbal abuse.

The consequences of this approach were obvious. By the time Ron and the others arrived, there were no remains of the Mage to be seen in front of the Necromancer’s Mage Tower. Only a trail of blood snaking toward the entrance vaguely indicated that a living person had, in the span of just half an hour, endured the accumulated torment of several decades.

Sensing the arrival of Ron, Victoria, and the others, Silvia crossed her arms and smiled as she bowed to them. ”Please, rest assured. Everything went according to plan—it’s all over.”

”I kept my promise. I didn’t let any of you see the darkest side of it. Henry Robertson, *The Fourteenth Book of the Dead*—not a single piece of that scum remains in this world. I finished before you arrived.”

”That’s for the best,” Victoria let out a long sigh of relief. The Priest had repeatedly tried to slow Ron down on the way here for various reasons, and it seemed her efforts hadn’t been in vain. ”I was worried we’d walk right in on your... revenge.”

An old Mage tortured beyond recognition, on the verge of death, while a young Vampire Descendant showed no signs of stopping. If Victoria had witnessed such a scene, what would she have thought? How could she possibly face Silvia after that?

Fortunately, the scene that would have tormented her most never came to pass, so Victoria didn’t have to think about it anymore.

”Don’t worry. I wouldn’t put my friends in a difficult position. We had an agreement, didn’t we?”

Ron wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt the Vampire Descendant girl had become much sunnier after her revenge—the kind of sunny that wouldn’t turn her to ash.

”To be honest, just looking at this human-shaped bloodstain on the ground is pretty terrifying... ugh,” Legislator Daniel muttered under his breath, but his daughter poked him in the ribs, forcing him to swallow the rest of his sentence.

”There’s really no way to clean up the bloodstain; it’s already seeped into the ground,” Silvia said, spreading her hands helplessly. ”If I could, I wouldn’t have let you see this either, but I had no choice.”

”I have a way to clean it, but I’ll need to go back to the restaurant,” Baka, who was standing behind Silvia, suddenly spoke. He’d completely shed the ferocious air he’d had in his restaurant, appearing so simple and honest that the others hadn’t even noticed him at first. ”I have a specially made soap that can effectively remove stains like this.”

”Sorry, and you are...?” Ron raised an eyebrow. If he remembered correctly, this was the man who had threatened him with a knife not long ago.

”Baka. Owner and head chef of Baka Restaurant,” Baka said, bowing hurriedly. ”My deepest apologies for my offense to you at the restaurant, milord, but it was all part of my niece Silvia’s plan. It was so I could shatter Henry’s spirit at the last moment.”

”You two must be old acquaintances. Henry trusted you so much, yet you ended up standing against him in the end?”

”I wouldn’t have done it if I had a choice,” Baka said, looking somewhat dejected, though Ron couldn’t sense any actual regret from him. ”I want to live. I don’t want to end up as a... stain like that.”

”Baka. A Killing Demon, and also an Ogre,” Silvia said, ignoring Baka’s terrified gaze as she walked to stand behind Ron. ”Before I fled Carolina, he already had a three-digit body count.”

”Niece, you—” Baka exclaimed in shock. ”Didn’t we have a deal? I help you, you help me!”

”Of course I’m helping you, Uncle Baka,” Silvia said, unmoved. She glanced at Baka once before looking away. ”I don’t think my benefactor likes it when people hide things from him, especially when he’s the one who has to make a decision.”

”As I said, Baka’s hands are stained with blood, but he also saved my life—more than once. When Henry had me tortured and covered in wounds, I never would have survived to this day if he hadn’t provided me with enough flesh and blood. I would have never met you, my benefactor, or our friends.”

”So, for the final part of your plan, I specifically sought him out and added one last step to ensure Henry would suffer in both body and mind. He could have reported me to Henry, but he didn’t. He chose my side—our side.”

Baka wisely shut his mouth. He hadn’t really had a choice; he had simply seen which way the wind was blowing. The day Silvia found him, she had laid out the stakes for him. Facing a three-way pincer from Delusional Land, Rose City, and Carolina, Henry’s death was a foregone conclusion.

If he hadn’t known all this, he certainly would have continued to support Henry. But now that he did, even a fool would know which side to take.

’But will this young man before me really let me go?’ Baka’s heart pounded in his chest.

”I don’t know,” Ron said, hesitating for a moment as he looked the living, breathing cannibalistic demon up and down. ”Carolina certainly knows your background by now. And of course, so do I—and Rose City.”

”Under these circumstances, even if I let you live, where could you possibly go?”

”I’m willing to go to Delusional Land with you! Aside from human flesh, I’m also very skilled at cooking with other ingredients!” Baka said hurriedly. ”Please, rest assured, I’ll turn over a new leaf and become a new man! I—”

”Stop, stop,” Ron said, raising a hand to cut off Baka’s frantic vows. ”Frankly, I don’t really buy it. You can ask them. A few months ago, a man in my territory was executed for murder, and he had far fewer lives on his hands than you do.”

”How about this: you give me a plausible place you can go, somewhere no one knows you, where you can start over and support yourself with a legitimate business. If you can give me an answer like that, I’ll let you go.”

”But don’t let me see you anywhere outside that place. Otherwise...”

”This...” Baka bit his tongue, his face showing his difficulty. ”Milord, I’ve lived in Carolina my entire life! I’ve never been anywhere else!”

”Then there’s nothing to be done, is there, Silvia?” Ron glanced at the Vampire Descendant. With a wave of his hand, the *Weaving Introduction* was already floating by his side.

”Of course, Mr. Baka. If you don’t wish to die right now, you could also consider waiting for the Carolina patrol to arrive. However, I’m not very familiar with the laws here. ’Talents’ like yourself are usually—”

”If you’re going to do it, just give me a quick death!” Hearing this, Baka’s knees buckled, and he actually knelt. ”Just don’t hand me over to the Public Security Bureau! I’ll be sold as a slave! That’s a fate worse than death!”