Volume 1 Chapter 6 School Faction Riot Part One 3

After returning to the mansion, I began moving to protect the children from the slums in a true sense.

First, I summoned a maid and instructed her to have the kids washed. While in the meantime, I wrote a letter to the master for permission to hire them.

I put the reason for it being that they could become teaching materials to help educate Lady Sophia in the ways of understanding human nature. This might be terrible of me to say, but without permission I wouldn’t be able to keep them here.

By the time I finished writing the letter, the maid returned with the children to my office.

“Cyril, I washed the children just as you told me. They were really dirty at first so I couldn’t tell, but they’re quite the hidden gems.”

Behind the maid, the two siblings were curiously inspecting the surroundings. The clothes they were wearing having been probably borrowed from one of the servant’s children.

Although it wasn’t possible to completely hide the poor upbringing shown in their appearance, they both had the potential to shine if polished.

“Thanks for your hard work. I’ve told the chef to prepare some confectioneries, so you should go down and take a break.”

“Are you sure? As expected of you, Cyril. Please let me know if you ever have trouble sleeping, I’d be happy to keep you company at night.”

“…because they’re baked sweets, you should probably leave before they cool off.”

I ignored the maid’s teasing and expelled her from the room.

Since I graduated from my apprenticeship and had officially become my lady’s exclusive butler, I was now the highest rank among the servants here. However, since I was still only twelve years old physically, I had to constantly deal with the hubris of my older subordinates.

As a result, while my official orders may be accepted respectfully and dutifully, they still treated me like a child in other aspects.

The things they did were on a similar level to what that maid had said to me just now.

But putting that aside– I stood up and moved in front of the two kids.

“I’m Cyril, twelve years old, and you are?”

“I’m Roy. Eleven years old.”

“I’m Emma, ten years old.”

Although they were a little awkward, they both answered without looking away from me. Even though they seemed somewhat anxious about the situation, they didn’t seem to have shy personalities.

“Then Roy, Emma, here’s your first lesson, ‘My name is Cyril. I am twelve years old.’ Now try repeating your self-introductions.”

“W-what?”

Roy’s eyes were already spinning confusedly. However, Emma started muttering to herself, before whispering, “M-my name is Emma. Umm… I am ten years old.” in a reintroduction of herself.

“You were able to say it properly, that’s great.”

I gently petted Emma’s head.

Her eyes opened wide for a moment before narrowing in joy. Roy looked at that sight in envy, before twisting his face in an effort to remember the lines.

“Roy, the sentence is ‘My name is Roy. I am eleven years old.’”

“Oh, yeah. I-I’m… wait, isn’t ‘I’* the word that girls use?”

“When used with formal language, it becomes a word that isn’t exclusively used by women.”

“I-I see. Then… M-my name is Roy. I am eleven years old?”

“Why did it turn into a question at the end? Next time, try saying it with confidence, it’s the truth after all.”

I said that, and then ruffled Roy’s hair a little roughly. Just like Emma, his eyes opened wide before narrowing in delight.

They were both starving for affection.

Considering their circumstances, it wasn’t unreasonable with how they’ve been separated from their parents at this age.

And yet those parents they loved were willing to sell one of them off.

But somewhere deep in their hearts, they might still be trying to deny that reality, or even start wishing to see them again.

Now that I had sworn to protect them in the name of my lady, I will need to remove these feelings from them.

“Okay, I won’t mind what kind of language you use, so tell me about the dark guild.”

Anxious expressions appeared on their faces. They must still fear the idea that they may be brought back. With that in mind, I placed my hands on their heads to assure them it was all right.

“Don’t worry, I promised to protect you on my lady’s name, but in order to do that, I need to understand the situation.”

Currently, the Rosenberg house was in possession of a runaway child that was sold as merchandise.

Even if that description is crass, that’s the truth.

If we just left the situation as it is, we’ll end up spitting on the dark guild’s reputation.

I don’t think they would go as far as to lay their hand on my lady, but even they have their rules. If a noble decided to break those rules of their own volition, they would undoubtedly retaliate in turn.

In order to prevent such a scenario from occurring, there were a few things I needed to do.

–later that day, I visited the slums.

Under the dusk sky, a child dressed like a butler was walking through the ghetto alone. It’s no wonder that I was quickly entangled with a thug.

“Hey kid, you don’t look like you belong around here. Are you lost? If you hand over your valuables, I’ll bring you somewhere safe.”

“My apologies, but all of my belongings are actually the property of the Rosenberg house. I don’t have anything I can arbitrarily give away myself.”

“What? Don’t screw with me brat, you should just go and play with your stuffed toys!”

The thug then reached his arm out to grab me.

Deflecting it with the back of my hand, I tripped his legs as I passed him by and threw him to the ground. Taking care not to injure him, I made sure to kill the momentum right before the instant before the impact.

His eyes were closed in fear of the collision, but at the next moment, he seemed to realise what had happened and stood up with an angry glare.

“Brat, it looks like you want to see a world of pain.”

“When you were thrown, I hoped that you’d understand this wasn’t a normal situation and back off, but… I guess it can’t be helped.”

Although I’ve studied self-defense techniques in order to protect my lady and had magecraft that’s been refined by my previous life’s knowledge, my physique was still that of a twelve year old child.

Being careless could be fatal. Therefore, I wasn’t going to go easy on him and put myself at risk. I made the resolve to deal with this now.

I slightly lowered my center of gravity, and used magic to improve my physical abilities.

“–Stop!”

A sharp voice suddenly resounded out. At the same time, a giant of a man had appeared from the darkness of an alley. His presence brought a visible reaction out of the thug, he was definitely a man involved with this world’s darkness.

“S-sir, this isn’t my fault. This kid was being really cheeky, you see!”

“Shut up. Did you forget the rules of the slums? Now screw off before I get angry.”

“Y-yes!”

The thug ran away with his tail between his legs.

Seeing his back slowly disappear, I turned to the giant man.

“…would it be appropriate of me to thank you?”

“Don’t misunderstand. People like you hanging around here always brings trouble. I just wanted to prevent that. You’re an eyesore, so go home.”

“I understand your circumstances, but unfortunately, I have business with the dark guild.”

“…the dark guild? What does a kid like you need with them? Do you even know who they are?”

He released an intense amount of bloodlust to intimidate me.

An ordinary child here would– no, even fully grown adult would tremble under this pressure, that thought came to mind as I answered.

From his reaction and killing intent, he was probably a member of theirs, one of a considerable position at that.

With that in mind, the easiest thing for me to do would be to bring up the matter with the sold child. However, I’d like to confirm the strength of their organization beforehand if possible.

So should I bring up Roy and Emma’s names here?

Or–

“I’m a butler of the Rosenberg house. Does that clear things up a bit?”

The man narrowed his eyes at my question. The light of understanding flashed in his gaze. He knew why I was here.

–in other words, the dark guild not only knew that the fled children had been put under the protection of an aristocrat, they knew that it was the Rosenberg house that had taken them in, and spread that information in only a day.

Incidentally, it didn’t look like he had any doubts when I named myself as a butler. It seems like he’s already been told that child servant may be making contact soon.

Its difficult even for trained servants to investigate, make contact, and report immediately. This was because of the psychological fear that came with take account for the failure of one’s actions.

However, it looks like the person in charge of this case accurately communicated that the children they were chasing were taken away by kid dressed as a butler.

…this was the power of the dark guild, the infamous organization I knew from the game.

They wanted to keep tags on Roy and Emma to keep them within reach. When considering the safety of my lady and I, it might be better to just cut them off, but I had contingency plans ready.

That’s what I thought as I began immediately revising my current course of actions.

“I’m here to talk things out. Can you introduce me to someone I can discuss this with?”

“…I don’t think it’s worth negotiating with a kid like you. Wasn’t it that young lady who took our girl into custody? If she really wants to resolve this through conversation, she should be here herself.”

“My lady is a busy person, so could you come to the mansion instead? Ah, but too many people might surprise her, so please only send a representative if possible.”

I could never bring my lady to a dangerous place like this– no matter how much they insisted, this was something wouldn’t concede on, ever.

As a result, I made sure to establish this position by making the same request to the other party.

“…tch, you’re a clever brat, ain’t cha? However, your negotiating skills are legit. Okay, I’ll guide you to the guild master. I won’t be able to guarantee your life though, understood?”

“Oh? Do you usually assure others of their lives? If that’s true, then you’re actually a lot kinder than what your outward appearance suggests.”

“Geez, no point in acting cute now, kid. It’s fine already, so just shut up and follow me.”

He’s the one who brought that topic up first– but I wasn’t childish enough to bring that up, so I complied and followed him. Eventually, we arrived at a small bar.

From there, we passed through a hidden door in the back. It was a solid room seemed out of place for the slums, but had the suspicious atmosphere appropriate for the dark guild’s hideout.

On a luxurious sofa, a muscular man wearing excessive accessories was having a bewitching woman wait on him. Standing behind them was a gentle-looking man with only one-eye.

Taking just one step in, a scent that was both soft yet sweet tickled my nose.

This was… incense. The smell told me it was of a variety made to have a mild-stimulating effect.

There shouldn’t be any side effects or any strong consequences from being exposed to this. They probably combined this with the skills of the bewitching woman to shake the other party’s spirits so they could carry out negotiations in an advantageous manner.

Incidentally, I had come here in the evening for the same reason.

Twilight, also known as ‘dusk’ was when people’s mentalities tend to be the most vulnerable. It wouldn’t have any effect to those aware of it, but this would give a slight mental advantage against those who weren’t.

…unfortunately, it looks like they did know at least this much.

“Oh? It really is a kid. I’m the guildmaster, Unnamed.”

The muscular man gave me a fanged grin.

“How unexpectedly polite. My name is Cyril, and I serve the Rosenberg house’s young lady.”

“So I’ve heard. Well for now, sit.”

I lightly complied and placed myself down on the opposing sofa. Then, instead of looking at the muscular man, I turned my gaze towards the gentle-looking man behind him.

The unnamed man who rules over the dark guild is the one-eyed man in the back. The muscular man was just his body double and guard. He was Unnamed’s right-hand man.

In the game’s setting, Unnamed was a former noble who was stripped of his position after being framed.

He’d receive instructions from the insane villainous daughter to do harm to Alicia, but he betrays her and reports the truth to the prince.

It was the decisive blow that would send us to the execution end.

However, he only betrayed the villainous daughter Sophia because she was abusing her power to trap the heroine– a girl of a lower class of nobility.

As he was framed by a great noble for a crime he didn’t commit as well, he was a gentleman thief that was hostile to those that brandished their power unreasonably.

In other words, he won’t become an enemy as long as we didn’t impose things through our position. To circumvent the execution end, it was necessary to resolve the matter of us forcibly taking Roy and Emma from them.

“There’s nothing to say about this story. We’re protecting the girl who ran away from you.”

“Oh? Is there no chance of you returning her if I ask politely?”

“No. My apologies, but my lady has already promised to take care of them, so that’s not possible.”

“So you’re telling us to give up her up?”

“That’s wrong. Please don’t misunderstand, we have no intentions of interfering with your business of human trafficking. Now then, its my current understanding that Emma is currently your property, correct?”

Although it wasn’t recognised by national law, the slave-trade was common in the underworld. My lady wouldn’t approve of it, but it was a reality you just couldn’t get rid of that easily.

This situation was one of such examples.

Emma’s family wouldn’t have been able to survive without selling her. Assuming that was that truth, then its because human trafficking existed, that the rest of her kn could avoid destruction.

Well… it was still a dark topic, so it wasn’t something that could be accepted that easily.

But it was okay not to accept it. What was important wasn’t what was right or wrong about this situation, but the fact that we couldn’t forcibly take away something they had already purchased according to their laws.

“So what? Are you saying your going to buy that girl?”

“No. Aristocrats don’t partake in the slave trade. I’m only here to ask you to give us Emma’s ownership as a gift, in exchange for a monetary sum as thanks.”

“…haha, that’s just sophistry. How is that any different from buying her?”

“Does the dark guild really care about little details like that?”

When I practically admitted it was the same thing, the body double snorted.

“This world is one that will take advantage of any weakness shown. I understand that well, and I also understand your intentions to not cause any friction with us. Let’s begin the negotiations then, the price for us to let the girl go is thirty gold coins.”

Slum kids weren’t worth much.

Emma’s parents had probably received less than a gold coin.

“What, are you going to start complaining about the price? She’s the girl I bought, so I get to decide how much I get to sell her for.”

“Don’t worry, I have no objections whatsoever.”

I pulled out an old leather bag and placed it on the table.

Unnamed’s body double then grabbed it and dumped the contents out, confirming the thirty coins before cursing, “creepy kid.”

“You said that you were a servant of the Rosenberg house? What are you going to do with those siblings?”

“Will that really matter once you’ve given up ownership?”

“It does. We have rules to. We buy and sell people because its necessary for the slums. If you want those siblings for an outrageous purpose, then we won’t let them go.”

“…are those, Unnamed’s thoughts?”

I turned my eyes back to Unnamed himself, not the body double. He was expressionless, but the body double nodded.

Lifting up the edge of my mouth, I muttered, “I see, not bad.”

“What?”

“We plan to raise them in service of the Rosenberg house. As faithful followers who will never betray my lady.”

“…I see, there’s no problem with that. The deal has been finalized. We’re giving up our claim of ownership to that girl. Do with her as you like.”

“Yes, I will do so.”

Now that negotiations were finished, I stood up.

No contract was required, or should I say we couldn’t make one? This was all just to set aside any resentment that might’ve built up from our actions. No children were officially bought here.

If they try to manipulate us through force, we’ll just retaliate in turn. I thought that as I was about to leave, but the body double stopped me as I turned my back.

“Wait. The girl’s parents still owe us.”

“Really? Didn’t the thirty coins I paid you earlier cover that?”

“Huh? What are you saying? That money was just the base price to let go of her ownership.”

“Do you really think I’m ignorant of your plans?”

“…and what would those be?”

Unnamed was unresponsive. The body double’s expression didn’t change either. However, the woman serving the double twitched in reaction. She knew what I was talking about.

The cheap trick they employed to shake my psyche has backfired.

“I didn’t ask the siblings about their situation because I was worried about them, but to make sure they met my expectations to make my plans feasible.”

Emma and Roy currently only had ill-will towards their parents.

However, if they grew older and learned that there were unavoidable circumstances behind their actions, and they wouldn’t have been able to survive otherwise, then they might regain their affections for them.

Those parents would then become justification to interfere with the Rosenberg Marquis house.

–so before that happened, I was going to instill the idea that they were servants of the Rosenberg house before all else.

It was an ambiguous plan that heavily relied on assumptions. It was a scheme unlikely to work, but if it did, it would become a powerful card for them to use. That’s why I was going to crush it right here.

“I told you that I would turn them into faithful followers who would never betray my lady. I thought you could discern what I meant by that– or have I overestimated you?”

Did you really not understand, or were you just looking down on me since I was a child? Not interested in the incompetence that he had shown, I turned a cold gaze his way.

“Y-you bastard…”

The body double let out killing intent, but Unnamed himself grabbed his shoulder before he stood up. That was probably of Unnamed’s own will.

Seeing that, the body double exhaled before sitting back down on the couch.

“Okay, we’ll accept the deal as it is.”

“Thank you. I hope to continue a long and mutually beneficial relationship with you.”

I respectfully bowed and left the place quietly.

◆ ◆ ◆

“…what a cheeky brat.”

“Really? I thought he was pretty cute.”

After seeing Cyril leave. Unnamed’s body double– Quincy, sighed while Irene laughed at him.

But Unnamed himself was making a troubled face.

“Gilmas, what’s wrong? I thought we did pretty good? If this goes well, we’ll have a connection to a Marquis!”

“…yeah, that’s true. However, now our plans have changed.”

When he heard that a noble’s daughter took some slum children into her protection, Unnamed made a plan. He was going to use the children’s parents as gateways to get information about the Marquis.

The parents might’ve sold them, but they were still their children. He thought that if he was able to successfully manipulate their emotions, they might begin seeking out their parental affection again.

Of course, he didn’t know if the noble would hire the children, and he didn’t know if the kids really would feel compassion for the parents that sold them. The success rate of this plan was never high.

Still, he still thought it was worth trying when considering the benefits of its success.

However–

“That kid, he saw right through us.”

“Really? Wasn’t he just bluffing?”

“No, you’re wrong. Remember, when you asked for thirty gold coins, he pulled out the leather bag as if he were expecting that offer from the beginning.”

“…oh yeah.”

The girl was actually originally sold for less than a single gold coin. Even if they didn’t know her original selling price, no one would ever think she was worth thirty of them.

Preparing multiple bags of smaller amounts would still be possible, but there was still some level of expectation needed for that as well.

“Come to think of it, he said that we were going to pay off the parent’s debt with the money. Its a sentence that wouldn’t have come out unless he knew that we were going to take those girl’s parents in under us.”

“–if that’s true… then the plan’s a failure?”

Quincy’s face twisted in regret.

“No… maybe not completely.”

After Cyril explained he knew everything, he went on to remind them that he’d turn Emma into a faithful follower that would never consider betrayal.

The first thing that comes to mind is that he’d get rid of her parents in secret, but instead of abandoning them, he implied that their debt should be covered with the money he provided.

The conclusion drawn from there is simple. Cyril was telling the dark guild to protect Emma’s parents so that they wouldn’t be used by anyone.

There was no real advantage to gaining a connection to the dark guild. However, as long as they sheltered the parents, they’d have a definite connection to the Rosenberg house.

“What, does that brat really think he’s clever with just this much? We just need to break our end of the deal and its the end for him.”

“If he was just a normal kid, it’d be that simple.”

Unnamed recalled the interaction with the boy and scoffed.

Cyril– who always spoke in polite tones throughout the transaction, had empty eyes. It was as if he could see through everything, to the point that even Unnamed felt pressured.

Unnamed had never seen a child with those kinds of eyes before– no, he was unique even among the sly adults that he met during his time as an aristocrat. The boy named Cyril was a monster wearing a child’s skin.

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s just as he said. He was going to create allies that would never betray him. Even if we tried to use the parents, he was confident that he could educate the girl to stay faithful.”

“Huh? Then, doesn’t that mean there’s no reason for us to take the parents in?”

“…that’s right.”

While agreeing, Unnamed started to grin.

If he was confident that they wouldn’t be used, then there was no need to worry about the parents at all. It would’ve been just fine to just cut them off and leave them in debt.

Nonetheless, there was still one reason as to why he directed Unnamed to protect them.

“Even if he understands the darkness of this country, he still values compassion. Since he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty, there isn’t any need for him to raise those kids with the liabilities they pose… I’ve taken a liking to him.”

Having been framed for a crime he hadn’t committed, Unnamed hated high nobes. Even though he would take any chance to destroy arrogant aristocrats, that butler and the master he served seemed to be an exception.

“This will surely become a long relationship indeed.”

Thinking about the fun times to come, Unnamed’s grin grew even wider.