Chapter 268: The Overgrown Ruins(2)

After his mother’s show of affection and her complete lack of reaction to his murdering a couple of men, Lucian slowly shifted his gaze towards the six men.

He released them from the pressure.

The killing intent that had been weighing down on their bodies disappeared, allowing them to slowly rise back to their feet. But even then, they looked even more frightened, not daring to raise their heads, afraid to look directly at him.

The man who had previously thought about capturing Selene and using her as leverage for their survival... even he had abandoned that thought for two obvious reasons.

A man who could immobilise them without even moving from his place could easily kill them without much effort... and the other reason was that... he wasn’t sure if he could do anything to the monster’s insane mother, who stood silently beside him, looking completely calm.

Her gaze was completely cold and indifferent, despite having just heard him casually admit that he had killed multiple people... something no normal person would react to like this.

’Both fuckers are psychopaths.’

But of course... Lucian had no intention of leaving even the slightest possibility of that happening.

Lucian took the contract from Kanna, briefly looked through the parchment before handing it towards the men.

"Here... sign this contract."

The Boss looked at the parchment and slowly took it, reading it with confusion.

’Unable to threaten or harm them...? Punishment...?’

After a few seconds, the Boss raised his eyes towards Lucian, and seeing the confusion on his face, Lucian decided to explain.

"That is a Magical Contract. It will bind you and make sure you don’t break the rules I’ve written in there."

The men’s eyes widened in disbelief upon hearing that.

Some of them couldn’t believe something like this existed, and for a moment, they even thought that it was simply a bluff—since none of them had yet learnt about the existence of witches.

"If you want to know the details... just know that you will have to listen to every one of my orders without fail, no matter what they are.

"And if you try to harm me... or even my mother, especially..."

The atmosphere suddenly became heavier, and as his blood-red eyes swept across them, all of them stiffened—with one shivering violently, since he had just been thinking something similar a moment ago.

"Then you’ll feel an excruciating pain in a certain region..."

Lucian didn’t elaborate on where, but something in his tone made them feel very wrong, and they couldn’t help but think.

’It’s not that right...?’

Just thinking about it made their legs shake, and the Boss, who could clearly see it in the parchment... felt like literally crying.

"I-Isn’t that a sla—"

"I don’t give a fuck about your complaints."

Lucian’s head snapped towards the one who had opened his mouth.

Lucian then slowly raised his hand. A small fireball appeared above his palm, burning furiously, and the temperature around them began to rise.

"I have six of you. Killing one or two won’t change anything."

His cold words settled over them, and their faces went pale as they understood that they were actually signing a slave contract.

And if they refused to listen to Lucian, they could face a fate that might be considerably worse than death.

Eventually, all six of them nodded, and one after another, they signed their names onto the parchment.

Once they finished, Lucian and Selene did the same—as Lucian had specifically made sure that his mother was included as one of the masters of the contract as well.

The parchment then suddenly began glowing faintly, the letters in it lighting up with blue light, and then—

[Ding~!]

A notification panel appeared before Lucian’s eyes.

[Master Slave Contract has been established—]

[Error!]

[Error!]

[The Contract has been reject—]

’I’m willing. Keep the contract.’

Lucian interrupted internally the moment he saw the screen.

If he wasn’t establishing the contract, then he couldn’t become the Master in actuality.

And even though it didn’t matter much right now, since these men were already too afraid to go against him, it would still be an inconvenience if they somehow found that the contract wasn’t actually binding them.

Also, he couldn’t torture them much if he didn’t do this.

Though... he had no idea whether the unknown entity would agree to his request.

[...]

[Ding~!]

[You are going under a Master Slave contract.]

[Contract Establishment Complete.]

’So you can listen to my thoughts...?’

He instantly felt the wisp of mana entering his body.

Unlike before, when he had felt the binding sensation, this time, the sensation was only slightly uncomfortable.

The six men instantly felt something wrong as the wisp of blue light entered their chests. They instinctively looked at themselves, confusion spreading across their faces.

"Hmm..."

Lucian mused to himself, watching their reactions.

For a moment, he couldn’t help but feel curious about how well the contract worked and about the limitations of the orders he could give them.

But he decided to focus on something else for now.

His gaze shifted towards the emotionless maid standing a few steps beside him.

"Kanna... can you do one more job?"

Kanna looked up at him, confused by his questioning tone, but still, she eventually nodded.

"Yes, Master Lucian."

Lucian let out a faint smile, then brought out a piece of paper with a few items that made Kanna’s body still faintly.

She couldn’t help but wonder where he had gotten so many weapons, though she felt like the Duchess might’ve gifted them to him.

If only she knew... the Duchess’s disciple had stolen them right before her eyes... and was now casually handing out A-Rank and B-Rank weapons to other people as if they were biscuits.

One A-Rank weapon he had already given to Leonardo... the other given to Chloe just yesterday—which was a B-Rank poisoned dagger.

And now... two more.

Kanna silently accepted the envelope and the two weapons, and without questioning what was inside it, she stored them inside her shadows.

Seraphina’s body froze briefly as she heard the words coming out of Lucian’s mouth.

She quietly listened as he explained what he wanted Kanna to do.

After a few seconds, Kanna nodded.

"Thanks for doing everything... and tell me if there’s anything you want."

Lucian said softly as he stroked her long black hair.

Kanna’s body trembled slightly... and her expression faltered as she heard those genuine words coming from him. It wasn’t something she had expected from anyone in her life, so it was... unbelievable.

But then—

Lucian blinked as the maid suddenly disappeared before his eyes.

He tilted his head faintly, and a light chuckle escaped him as he thought about her reaction.

Meanwhile, Seraphina narrowed her eyes as she watched the interaction.

Wasn’t her son... a bit too close, and perhaps showing too much affection to that girl?

Lucian turned around, his gaze falling upon the ancient-looking stairs before them.

"Anyways, let’s go."

He had to complete a dungeon too.

And at least this time, he wouldn’t have to spend the entire dungeon trapped inside the same enclosed caves as before.

***

In an unknown office room...

A man sat in his chair, quietly doing his work, with several papers spread across the desk, while multiple files containing information about the newly and famously awakened were placed in front of him.

Though he couldn’t find anything too interesting... most of them were mediocre Awakened.

"Damien, did you complete the recruitment of the candidate I told you to?"

A sudden voice broke through the quiet atmosphere of the office as the door opened.

A woman calmly walked inside, her graceful steps carrying an air of confidence, as if she belonged there, as if she owned the place.

Damien, however, didn’t even bother looking up.

His eyes remained fixed on the papers in front of him as he continued reading through the files scattered across his desk.

"I told you I’m not taking such a lacklustre-looking candidate."

The purple-haired woman’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Did you even look at his profile properly...?"

She stepped further into the room, the sound of her heels echoing softly as her expression became increasingly annoyed.

"D-Rank talent. No affinity... a useless candidate who doesn’t even have a background."

"Look at the combat test, then you’ll understand what I’m talking about."

"..."

Damien didn’t say anything, simply continuing to do his work without even glancing at his wife.

Evelyn clicked her tongue.

"I’ll do it myself then."

"Whatever... just close the door while going."

Evelyn stared at the man sitting behind the desk.

For a brief moment, she couldn’t help but wonder how she had even ended up marrying such a cold man.

A man who seemed to care more about appearances, reputation, and fame than anything else—always obsessed with maintaining his image.

She held 40 percent of the shares, and she was the reason he wasn’t a broken businessman right now... but a Guild Master sitting and owning their Guild.

Though she knew words didn’t matter... not after he had done that.

Letting out an exhausted sigh, she turned around and began walking towards the door.

But then—

Her eyes abruptly widened as she saw a figure standing right in front of the door.

Evelyn stopped, and her expression changed.

"Who are you...?"

Her voice grew cold as her eyes narrowed sharply.

Hearing her voice, Damien frowned, but the moment he raised his head... his expression too turned to surprise, then immediately became alert as his eyes landed on the unfamiliar person standing before the door.

A woman stood there.

She wore a graceful black maid dress that covered her body neatly, while her long black hair fell down her back like a dark curtain.

But her face... it was completely hidden, covered by a pitch-black mask that seemed to almost absorb every trace of light reaching it.

Neither of them had heard her walking in, as if she had suddenly appeared out of thin air.

Both Damien and Evelyn tensed as the woman took a step forward, and strangely, not even the faintest sound was created by her footstep.

Evelyn’s fingers twitched faintly, and she slowly twisted her fingers, but then—

The maid silently brought out something from the... shadow?

The shadow beneath her feet abruptly darkened, and the maid calmly reached into it and pulled out an envelope along with a dagger and a shortsword.

The eerie sight left both Damien and Evelyn momentarily speechless.

"Who gave you permission to enter here?" Damien asked with a grim face.

Evelyn glanced at him strangely.

Who asked a question like that in a situation like this?

But then she noticed his hand below his desk and immediately understood.

He was calling the guards.

The woman didn’t react to his words and, pausing briefly, looked at both of them, reading their faces.

’So he is the father?’

Kanna stared at Damien for a moment, who watched her with a grim, cold expression, yet she didn’t say anything.

She simply raised her hand with the envelope and two weapons resting in her hands.

Both of them instinctively tensed even further as they saw the weapons, but before they could finally take any action—

The maid handed the items towards her.

No—not to the man standing behind the desk.

She handed them to the woman... to Evelyn.

Evelyn didn’t know what to make of it... but seeing no harmful actions from the masked woman, she twisted her fingers again before reaching out and accepting them.

And the moment she took the envelope and the weapons into her own hands—

"...!"

"W-What...?"

Both Evelyn and Damien’s eyes widened.

The woman disappeared.

No trace of movement... not even a trace of a skill activating or anything.

She just vanished, and both of them, despite being Awakened, couldn’t even follow her movements.

They might’ve even wondered if it was simply a hallucination... but the weapons and letter in Evelyn’s hand were still present.

The proof that the mysterious, masked maid had truly been there.