That night, Arcloix strode into the mansion’s dining hall, each step heavy with disgust.
How could he not be?
He was a knight whose na was known throughout the entire kingdom—a respected and revered veteran officer. Countless nobles would gladly line up to secure his services.
And yet, the newly appointed head of House Hudford—an inexperienced brat—had the audacity to summon him through a street urchin?
Is this so new form of humiliation?
Arcloix fought the urge to tear apart the girl leading him there the entire way.
But the real insult ca when he finally locked eyes with Ethan Hudford.
That arrogant brat didn’t even bother standing to greet him, let alone offering a al as a basic courtesy.
"Did I mishear sothing?"
"Is your hearing failing you?" Ethan Hudford retorted coldly.
What the hell is this...?
Arcloix inhaled deeply, then exhaled. Breathe in, hold, breathe out. All to stop himself from instinctively smashing his fist into the damn young lord’s face.
"Did I... make a mistake?"
"Ck. Why does everyone always ask about their mistakes whenever I fire them?"
Everyone?
Arcloix recalled what Raesha had said. "I simply expected a clear evaluation."
"A clear evaluation? Fine. I’ll give you one. First, you squandered the military equipnt renewal funds that should have been fairly distributed, yet they ended up benefiting only certain high-ranking officers.
"Second, you eliminated 80% of the new recruits. That was a reckless waste of resources."
Arcloix imdiately defended himself. "I was rely following Lord Archibald’s principle: ’Quality over quantity’—"
"Did I give you permission to speak?"
"Hah?"
"And now you say another word, thatl start annoying . Elise, break one of his fingers every ti he speaks without my consent."
"Understood." The young girl who had led Arcloix turned and approached him.
Arcloix glared at her with contempt. "What now?"
Does this foolish young lord think he can silence with a re girl—
Crack!
"AAAKHH!"
"That’s one."
Arcloix collapsed forward, his eyes instinctively welling up with tears.
He stared at his hand, watching as one of his fingers—now twisted in the wrong direction and turning blue—remained trapped in the girl’s grasp.
What the hell...?
"You didn’t think I was just bluffing, did you?" Ethan Hudford spoke again, his tone as frigid as ice.
Arcloix gritted his teeth, shifting his gaze between the two in front of him.
Was it really possible that soone as strong as him could be subdued by the strength of a re girl?
In this kingdom, only five warriors could match him in a one-on-one duel.
So where did this brat get such a monster?
"The two reasons I just ntioned are, at their core, mistakes that could be overlooked—especially for a knight of your caliber."
Arcloix lifted his head, feeling a flicker of hope. See? Even he knows I’m irreplaceable—
But that hope was imdiately shattered.
Ethan Hudford’s expression remained unchanged. It wasn’t stern, nor was it softer than before. It was just as blank as ever.
"What I cannot forgive ... is your failure to protect my father."
What... does he an?
"Three years ago, during a hunting trip led by my father, a re weasel charged at him and wounded him. It wasn’t a severe injury, nothing life-threatening. But the wound never healed. It festered, caused a fever, and dragged him into a prolonged illness."
Ethan sighed, his face darkening with sorrow. "And in the end, because of that wound... my father lost his life."
"B-but, Lord Ethan, back then—"
Crack!
"AAAKHH!"
Another of Arcloix’s fingers snapped.
Ethan continued, utterly ignoring Arcloix’s desperate plea. "Making excuses only makes you more pathetic. A knight’s duty is to protect his lord. If you fail at that, then you are nothing but dead weight."
"Arcloix, you’re nothing but such a waste."
*#*
The experience was unsettling, to say the least.
In my past life, I had dismissed subordinates before.
Lemar took it gracefully, whereas Arcloix reacted in a more predictable way—outright denial, aggressive resistance.
Back then, I couldn’t exactly go around breaking the fingers of those who argued with . But that didn’t make it any easier now.
Elise was strong, but that didn’t an Arcloix was weak.
He was one of the ten strongest fighters in the kingdom. In an exclusive hidden boss fight within an annual high-level event, Arcloix was even featured as the final boss at the hardest difficulty.
So, if he was so capable, why did I get rid of him?
Because he was prone to betrayal.
Arcloix was a materialist who would sell out his master the mont soone made a better offer.
In one scenario, a way to defeat Ethan without killing him was to expose his cris to the public.
That would lead to royal punishnt and social condemnation—a fate far worse than death.
And the one who would leak the evidence to the protagonist was none other than Arcloix.
At this point, I hadn’t committed any cris yet. But I was already facing an ’invisible’ enemy.
Keeping Arcloix around would only be an added risk.
"Ethan Hudford!"
Just as I was putting away my dining utensils, a voice roared from outside.
It was deafening and familiar.
I walked closer and lazily peered out the window. The weather was worsening. The sky had darkened, and a light drizzle had begun.
If I opened the window, the chilling wind would flood the room.
Outside, Arcloix, guiding his pregnant wife along with their belongings, continued to shout my na.
What was he trying to do?
Naturally, I ignored him.
Perhaps because of the cold or because he was running out of strength, Arcloix eventually stopped yelling and instead spoke his next words.
"The House of Chievo will hear of this. I will make sure they know how you disgraced their honor."
If he frad it like that, I doubted House Chievo would take his side.
Still, it wasn’t a warning I could afford to take lightly.
House Chievo, huh...
That was the noble family currently in an alliance with House Hudford.
Their daughter, Seraphina Chievo, supposed to be my fiancée. As a show of goodwill, House Chievo had also assigned one of their knights—Arcloix—to protect us.
Even if Arcloix and House Chievo weren’t on good terms, I couldn’t ignore the possibility of my own ally turning against .
"Elise. Tomorrow, go to the Maiden’s Inn. Sever Arcloix’s dominant hand. Then, give him 100 Kuon."
"Hm?" Elise giggled. "If you really want to silence him, wouldn’t it be easier if I just cut off his head?"
"No. That would be too risky." If his unborn child grew up fueled by vengeance, it would only cause problems later.
Besides, as his last employer, his death would inevitably be traced back to .
The last thing I needed was to lose public sympathy.
"Just do as I said. Arlan will handle the preparations."
Elise shrugged. "Not now?"
"No. Now I have sothing else I need you to take care of."
*#*
We entered my office.
The atmosphere was suffocating.
In the dim light, I thought I saw my younger sister standing behind the door—her face pale, her skin torn. With a hoarse whisper, she said, "You’re... too naïve, dear brother."
But the vision disappeared in an instant, replaced by Elise, who strolled in with a cheerful bounce in her step.
"So, you’re telling this huge office is just for you?" Elise asked, her eyes shining with curiosity as she took in her surroundings. In that mont, she truly looked like an innocent little girl.
Was it really that special? "That’s why it’s called a private office."
"I don’t know, man. Last I checked, prison wardens have offices this big—except they have to share with ten others. Nobles really are different, huh? Guess I finally know where all our taxes go."
As if she’s ever paid taxes. "I didn’t bring you here for a comntary."
"Jeez, you’re always so serious. Relax a little—it won’t kill you."
Relax?
With that warning interface constantly in my field of vision, it felt like a knife was being held to my throat.
And every second, that knife pressed closer.
"Can you see it?"
I had brought Elise here for one reason—to track down traces.
If there’s one thing that always holds true, it’s this: you can dispose of a corpse, but you can’t erase its scent.
In this world, souls are made up of magical fragnts called mana. When the physical body is hard, the mana becos tainted.
Just as a body heals itself after an injury, mana also regenerates. But the contaminated fragnts get expelled and scattered.
These fragnts are too minuscule to be physically collected or erased, making them nearly impossible to remove. However, their fragility ans they don’t last long—at most, three days.
That’s why ti was against us.
If the murder weapon had already been destroyed, I might never find proof.
"Of course." Elise grinned.
Ordinarily, mana fragnts are invisible to the naked eye.
Only soone with a deep understanding of magic could detect them—a task perfect for the most dangerous mage on the continent.
"And I’ve co to a conclusion..."
A conclusion?
Had she identified the murderer? "So, who—"
"My conclusion is that you’re a delusional creep."
...What?
"Is this so new twisted nobleman’s hobby? A ga where you pretend to lose a little sister?"
"Wait, what? What are you even talking about?"
"Ethan, my dear master, just stop. This ga is over." She yawned. "Seriously, couldn’t you co up with sothing more convincing? I figured it out the mont you started talking."
"What exactly do you think you’ve figured out?"
"You said..." Elise cut off as she leaned back in my chair. "That your late mother was supposed to die twenty-two years ago. Doesn’t that seem odd? Then... where did this so-called sister co from?"
"..."
"A child from another marriage? Impossible. Your mother’s family held far more power, and if your father had remarried, her brothers wouldn’t have shown such respect for him. Then what about adoption? That’s unlikely too—why take in another child when he already had you as his heir?"
"And one more thing... you don’t even know her na."
"..."
"So, Ethan Hudford, did you really think I wouldn’t notice you sent to search for soone who never even existed?"
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