Chapter 103: The King’s Men Came at a Bad Time (Review Bonus)

Chapter 103. The King’s Men Came at a Bad Time (Review Bonus)

Ten minutes later, we were already standing in the yard.

Me, my wives, the servants, and every free guard currently stationed at the estate.

It was quite a crowd.

Some of the guards were new recruits, and I noticed several of them repeatedly glancing in my direction before quickly looking away whenever our eyes almost met.

Understandable.

They worked for House Valen, but Seris had recruited most of them, not me.

That distinction was important.

If I personally handled recruitment, no one sane would apply.

Actually, considering the current economy, perhaps I shouldn’t underestimate people.

I stepped forward. "First." I swept one hand across the empty section of the yard.

My Dimensional Ring flashed.

Heavy impacts immediately shook the ground.

Massive corpses appeared one after another across the stone yard.

The S-rank monsters from Hollowgrave.

Not all the creatures I’d killed, obviously. I planned to process them rank by rank, starting with the S-rank monsters.

Even so, everyone went silent.

The Dreadhorn Abyssal Lynx alone occupied a ridiculous amount of space, its six enormous legs sprawled across the ground while its bone-spine mane remained intimidating despite the rather significant disadvantage of being dead. Beside it lay the Graveshell Tyrant and Voidmaw Cave Drake.

The new guards stared.

One servant’s mouth fell open.

Another guard slowly looked at Seris as though reconsidering every story he’d heard about the master of the estate.

Liora calmly inspected the corpses. "Those are quite a catch."

"Thank you."

She walked closer, studying their condition. "I understand why you needed this many people to handle them."

"Indeed." I smiled. "But these aren’t the only ones."

Several servants visibly stiffened.

"So we need to work quickly. I can’t spend all day processing monster corpses." I looked at my wives. "Do any of you want something from them before I separate everything for sale?"

Nia’s hand shot upward. "Me! Me!"

"Tell me what you want."

"The heads."

I stared at her.

Nia was already walking happily toward the corpses.

My beautiful fox wife stopped beside the Dreadhorn Abyssal Lynx and pointed around its neck like an experienced butcher examining premium merchandise.

"You need to make a clean cut around here. Very clean. Don’t damage the horns or mane." She moved toward the Cave Drake. "And this one too. Keep the neck scales intact. If the cut looks ugly, they’ll lower the price."

Ariel blinked. "Someone wants to buy the heads?"

"Yep!" Nia’s tail swayed happily. "When Rey showed the results from his previous hunts in the banquet, several nobles started bragging about how they could hunt S-rank monsters."

I understood.

Nia continued cheerfully, "Based on their actual power, I don’t think most of them could survive meeting one."

I folded my arms. "So you’re going to sell them trophies."

"Exactly! They can hang the heads in their estates and conveniently forget to mention who actually killed them."

"I can organize another auction for the price," Nia added.

"Fine. The heads are yours. Anything else?"

Lily raised her hand more politely. "I need the blood and some bones. Maybe two or three bones from each monster."

"All the blood?"

"All of it. I need it for making medicine and, uh..." Lily hesitated. "My gardening."

I slowly turned toward her. "Your gardening?"

She nodded innocently.

I stared at my fairy wife.

She smiled.

I suddenly became extremely curious about what the hell she was growing in that garden. Maybe I should inspect it later.

"Fine. Blood and bones."

Seris stepped forward next. "I want the hides. All of them if they’re still usable. S-rank hides can be turned into excellent armor. For us, or we can sell whatever remains."

Liora immediately intervened. "For the chiefs only, Seris. We’re not giving S-rank hide armor to new recruits."

Several new guards looked mildly disappointed.

Understandable.

They’d been employed for five minutes and had already started hoping for equipment worth more than their family homes.

Seris nodded. "I agree. Finding suitable craftsmen will be your and Nia’s responsibility."

Nia gave a cheerful salute.

I turned toward Ariel. "What about you?"

Ariel considered the corpses before shaking her head. "I don’t need anything from them. I’d rather ask Liora for additional funds for the estate expansion once everything is sold."

Liora nodded. "Then I’ll take responsibility for whatever remains after everyone gets what they need. The more usable material we can sell, the better."

"Fine."

Now came the fun part.

I raised one hand.

[Abyssal Darkness Manipulation]

Darkness poured from beneath my feet.

The servants stepped backward.

Fifty enormous black blades formed in the air around me, thin and curved like oversized surgical scalpels. Their edges gleamed violet-black beneath the morning sunlight.

Somehow, the new guards became even quieter.

I looked at the floating blades. "I’ll take the cores, several blood samples, and some bones for research." My fingers moved. "The rest is yours."

I flicked my wrist.

The surgery began.

My hands moved like a maestro conducting an orchestra.

Up.

Down.

Left.

Right.

Fifty blades moved simultaneously.

Dark edges slipped through scales, hide, muscle, and reinforced bone with precise cuts. There was no wild hacking, no unnecessary damage. Every movement had a purpose.

The monster cores came first.

One after another, darkened crystalline cores floated from the opened bodies.

I examined them.

The cores belonging to monsters that had demonstrated higher intelligence were visibly darker than those of ordinary corrupted creatures.

The Maledict Sovereign Crystal’s influence.

Another piece of evidence.

I swept my hand.

The cores vanished into my Dimensional Ring.

Next came my samples.

Bones separated cleanly. Small quantities of tissue went into prepared containers. Several organs remained intact because monster organs were surprisingly valuable, alchemy, medicine, noble collections, magical crafting, and occasionally cuisine.

Rich people ate strange things.

Then again, I’d once watched a modern billionaire pay an obscene amount of money to eat a magically preserved fish gland.

Human civilization advanced.

Human stupidity remained immortal.

Nia’s requested heads came away with perfectly clean cuts.

The hides followed.

Lily’s bones were separated without cracks.

Within minutes, what had initially looked like a collection of enormous monster corpses had become an organized processing operation.

Eventually, the bulk of what remained was flesh.

And blood.

A tremendous amount of blood.

I glanced toward the servants. "I need containers for the blood."

Several servants rushed away in panic.

Others grabbed whatever containers were nearby.

Buckets.

Basins.

Large kitchen vessels.

One servant returned triumphantly carrying something that might have been suitable for washing clothes.

I stared at it.

Then at the S-rank Cave Drake.

Then back at the basin.

The servant’s triumphant expression slowly died.

Yeah. No. That was adorable. Completely useless, but adorable.

I waved them away. "Forget it." I raised my other hand.

[Obsidian Earth Manipulation]

The ground rumbled.

Several servants jumped.

Black crystalline earth pushed upward from the yard, folding and reshaping itself under my control. Walls rose, curved, thickened, and separated until multiple enormous basins stood beside the monster remains.

One basin for each creature.

Obviously.

You didn’t mix blood from different S-rank monsters simply because separating it required effort.

That was how researchers got stabbed. Usually by other researchers. Sometimes by me.

I checked the basins.

Now extraction.

[Voidwind Manipulation]

Wind curled beneath the remaining flesh. Several enormous sections of monster meat lifted into the air.

The guards stared upward.

I closed my hand.

The wind tightened. And squeezed. It was essentially the magical equivalent of wringing out a wet cloth. Except the wet cloth weighed several tons and could have eaten a knight yesterday.

Blood poured downward.

Thick streams splashed into the corresponding crystalline basins while I controlled the wind carefully enough to prevent contamination.

Lily watched with intense interest.

Nia looked delighted by how much money was floating around the yard.

Liora was probably calculating profit.

Ariel supervised the increasingly horrified servants.

Seris watched the guards.

Perfect family activity.

Then I heard horses. Fast ones. Hooves thundered beyond the estate entrance.

Three riders appeared moments later.

Two Royal Knights. One royal official. All three wore the King’s crest. King Aldric’s people.

They slowed at the entrance, then looked at me.

Wait... No. Not me.

Their attention went straight to the enormous chunks of monster flesh hovering behind me while Voidwind Manipulation squeezed the blood from them like gigantic wet red cloths.

All three visibly shocked, before they turned pale.

One Royal Knight stared at the severed Dreadhorn head resting neatly to the side.

The other looked like he was reconsidering whether delivering royal messages was worth his salary.

The royal official tried his best to remain composed. His posture stayed straight, his expression professionally neutral, and he somehow maintained the dignity expected of someone representing the King.

But yeah.

He was the palest of them all.

Blood continued dripping steadily into the enormous crystal basins.

-Drip. Drip. Drip!

I cringed internally.

Perhaps there were better ways to make a first impression on royal representatives.

But yeah, this definitely wasn’t one of them...