Victor put the grimoire back into the storage bag and left the room, completely forgetting about the girl sitting in the corner. He walked through the corridors, passing many empty rooms. He stopped when he reached a door which had intricate carved designs. He opened the door and saw Kevin writing something on a parchment. Mr. Whisker was standing beside Kevin as he turned his gaze towards Victor silently.
"Hey, Uncle Whisker can I get some empty parchments or any writing materials?"
"Sure, Master Victor." Whisker was about to get the parchments for Victor but Kevin stopped him.
"Mr.Whisker . You don't have to get the parchments for him. He has his personal maid now and she should be the one doing these things for him."
"...…..Yes , Lord Kevin."
Kevin continued to do his work as Victor left the room in frustration.
[In victor's room]
"Hey girl. What's your name again?" Victor said as he entered the room.
"My name is Cindy, master."
"Okay. Cindy, go get some parchments for me. And a quill too."
"Yes, master."
'Tch, one more name to remember. Anyways let's check how many mana crystals I have ... Hmm 120 low grade and 90 semi low grade. Nice. I need to find a way to sell these soon.'
"Sigh…. So much to do." As he says these words he takes out the dagger that was kept in the storage bag and looks at it, only to find a cute round face staring back at him. 'I'm so weak….and I need a better dagger. This one is too big for me.'
"Master. Here are the parchments that you asked for and the quills with some ink too." Cindy said as she struggled with the weight she was carrying.
'.....What am I going to do with so many parchments and quills? Is this girl out of her mind?'
"Hey Cindy, why did you bring so many parchments and quills?"
"Master, You didn't tell me how many u wanted, so I brought how many I could get."
*sigh*Victor took one parchment and a quill. "Keep all these back where they were. I don't need so many."
"Yes, Master."
Victor then went straight to his table, Kept the parchment on it and made a list.
1) Buy masks
2) Get someone to sell the mana crystals
3) Sell the mana crystals
4) Join the hunter squad of the family
5) Get ammo for my slingshot
6) Get a better dagger
'Good. Now I won't forget them.' Victor just sat on the chair looking at the parchment in front of him.
'Guess I'll have to talk to father first…. He seems mad at me for humiliating Koby tho…. The best time will be while eating dinner I guess.'
Cindy was standing silently at the corner as she watched Victor stare at the parchment. 'Maybe there are nobles who aren't perverts like this kid.'
"Hey Cindy. I have a really important job for you. Come here." He said as he smiled widely.
'So the nobles really are perverts, regardless of their age…..' Cindy thought as she walked towards Victor.
"Go take a bath. You stink."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Training grounds]
*Punch* *Punch**Punch* The wooden dummy shook as Koby punched it violently. "Curse you. Curse you Victor. *Punch* How dare you call me a slave's child! *Punch*AAARRGHHHH ! I'LL KILL YOU BROTHER! I'LL KILL YOU!!!"
His hands were drenched with blood when he finished venting on the dummy. He went back to his room only to see Bull. *Slap* "I get this ugly bastard, while my brother gets a beautiful maid. Sniff.. This world is so unfair. Sniff."
Bull just stood beside the bed as he watched Koby cry to sleep. "Yes… Life is unfair. You cry for being humiliated by your brother while we can't even shed a tear or express our emotions when we get sold as items. A slave huh …. I've fallen." He whispered.
'Sister Cindy, I hope this kid's brother isn't treating you in a bad way.' Bull thought as he looked at the setting sun outside.
[At the dining table]
Several maids came in, placed many different dishes on the table and stood with their backs against the wall, ready to be of service whenever the Lee's needed something. Everyone was silently looking at Kevin except Victor and Koby. Whilst Victor looked at the dishes as he drooled , Koby stared at Victor as he imagined scenarios where he humiliated Victor in different ways.
"Let's eat." Kevin said and drank a small glass filled with fruit wine. After Kevin swallowed the wine, Victor started dumping the food into his mouth. A few minutes passed by and Victor had finished eating till his stomach was full. 'Haah now I have to wait for everyone to finish eating and then it'll be the right time to talk to dad.'
A few minutes passed by in silence as the others ate slowly.
"Koby. Why are your hands bandaged?" Kevin asked
"It's nothing, father. I trained a bit excessively today."
"Mhmm, alright. Don't go overboard with your training. After all, you are still young. Mr. Whisker , give him some heal potions when we are done with dinner."
"Hey dad. You promised to grant me one wish if it's in your power when Aurora left early right?" Victor asked as he looked at his father, ignoring Koby and his bandaged hands.
"Yes. I did. What do you want?" Kevin said with a straight, expressionless face.
'Hah, you don't even call me your son now huh. Alright, I'll just live off of your money for one more year.'
"I want to join the hunter squad and I need the required materials and weapons for survival as I go with them."
"But Victor why wou-" Jane was interjected in middle of a sentence by Kevin.
"Alright. You can choose which squad you want to go with tomorrow. As for the weapons and items that u need, you can buy them yourself with this money." Kevin took out a silver coin from his ring and threw it towards Victor.
Victor caught it and put it in his pocket. 'Free money is always appreciated.'
"I'll get going then."
He walked out happily from the room and went towards his own room as he hummed to himself.
'It went better than I thought. Gotta start working out. Even though my body is undeveloped, being fit is a necessity from now.'
He opened the door of his room and went inside. "let's start with push ups." He got into position , with his hands perpendicular to the ground and his abdomen parallel to it and dipped down. But couldn't get back up. "Fu*k. Too weak." 'Hopefully, joining the hunter's squad is a right choice.'
He walked towards his bed and pulled out the storage bag from under the mattress. 'I have 420 more used crystals left. I'll increase the speed of making mana crystals at the cost of success rate.'
He then sat down as he crossed his legs and went into a meditative trance. After about 30 minutes he took out a pile of mana crystals and started working on them. After about 5 minutes there was a knock on the door.
"Master, this is Cindy. May I come in?"
The door opens and she comes in with her head hung low.
"How long do you take to clean yourself? It has been more than two hours since you went to take a bath. And didn't you say that you can clean people with water magic?"
"Master told me to take a bath . You didn't tell me to use magic."
"Okay, my bad. But a bath shouldn't take this long right?"
"Cindy was stopped by master Kevin."
"Hmm? What did he want?"
"He asked me what you did with the parchments and ….. and…"
"And what?" Victor frowned. 'Hmm so the slave contract is different from what I thought.'
"told me to teach your brother about water magic."
"Alright. Tell me about the slave contract that you are subjected to."
"Cindy is a property of Master Kevin and must listen to everything he says."
"Sigh….." Victor moved towards her suddenly and *Sniff* smelled her. "You smell nice. Go sleep."
"Yes master." She flinched as she lied down at the corner of the room.
"The heck are you doing over there? Go sleep on the bed dumbass."
Hearing this Cindy blanked out. After a few moments she said "Master, Cindy should not sleep on master's bed."
"Did my dad give you that order?"
"No, he did not."
"Then shut your mouth and go sleep on the bed." 'That's the place I do my work, damn it.'
"Thank you, master."
'Now I can't make use of Cindy in my plans. It's dangerous for father to know… sigh… this just keeps getting harder and harder.'
He took out a sleep potion and placed the lid at the front of her nose. After a minute, he spilled some of it into her mouth and sat back down to finish the task of mana crystals.