"You know what, as long as you can guarantee a heap ton of tasty foods, I'll take that offer."
"I'll take that as a yes. Just show up at my gates. I'll inform the guards off of your descriptions and they will let you in at sunset. " Andrew liked how direct the people he was talking to were.
He could tell that even if these people were no nobles, their status should not be below with how they dress, look and talk freely with a high noble.
Andrew took his children's hands again and walked back towards his home. This would be the end of his daily, post-lunch walk in the park with his sons.
"That was unexpected," said Rusky.
"Who knew that the Marquess would show on the very day we actually decided to go to the park," exclaimed Daren.
Truth to be told, the thieves knew pretty much everything that happened with the city. The thieves knew exactly at what time the Marquess took his daily stroll in the park.
They also knew the route he took. Daren wanted to interact with the Marquess in some way to test if he was actually as nice as the people say he is.
Not only would Celina get to play around but Daren could start on another portion of his plan. What he did not expect was the Marquess interacting with him voluntarily.
Daren had a multitude of ways to create an interaction with Andrew but he did not need to carry a single off them out and he even got some bonus laughs.
" You guys want to cool down under the trees for a bit? " asked Daren. He needed to cool his mind off and get ready for a very eventful night.
The gang found themselves a large, purple tree with plenty of shade and sat down next to the 7 meters thick trunk. They all closed their eyes and just breathed the fresh air.
The air was devoid of pollution, toxic smells, and anything that would be present if humans lived nearby.
It was just clean, spring air. The group sat quietly for a while until someone brought up the topic of hobbies.
No one remembered who asked the question but they did remember their answers.
Rusky: Making beer
Arlene: Sword fighting
Celina: Watching Dramas
Daren: Killing people!
Rusky liked making beer from weird things like radishes or mustard. It was something he did when he was bored and no one could really judge him for it.
Arlene's was interesting as she would learn how to wield the sword from a retired soldier that lived in their village. It was a true hobby that Arlene liked to boast about as her teacher really said she had talent in.
Even if she had talent, she preferred to not utilize it and would rather keep it as a hobby. She is just a young girl who wants to have fun after all.
Rusky and Arlene were confused about Celina's hobby as they were not sure what "Dramas" were.
Daren explained to them that she enjoyed watching people fight over petty misunderstandings and get into hilarious situations. They were still slightly confused but just took it in as an eccentric quality of the already eccentric Celina.
For Daren's hobby of 'killing people, they laughed at him as they took it as a joke. From what they saw so far, Daren was quite the docile man that simply bows before his wife's wishes.
They thought that this young man only even took the life of beasts and magic beasts so that he could support himself and the family. They knew that he would not kill anyone unless it was a situation of life and death.
Over the last couple of days, the group had really bonded quickly. Each person was unique in their way and had built up quite the strong trust between themselves.
They were truly like family. Even with how cold-blooded Daren was, he could only feel guilty about the numerous lies he had to tell and will probably tell for a long time to come.
Sunset approached fast as the group had spent hours feeling the cool breeze turn into the shivering winds of nighttime.
Rusky and Arlene head off towards the inn to eat dinner while Daren and Celina went to the Marquess' Mansion.
The City Lord's Mansion was a towering behemoth made from a much smoother and brighter variant of the glowing white stone that was used to be the outer walls of this city.
"Do you have any contingency plans in case things go wrong?" asked Celina as she somewhat doubted the genuineness of nobles due to seeing all the wrongdoing that the upper class has done in Daren's world.
"As much as It is known, all nobles are not allowed more than one cultivator that is below the Core Condensation stage. All core condensation stage and above cultivators work either for the military, royal family, in cultivation sects/academies or are just traveling around the world."
"So you basically do not have a plan if things go wrong."
"Well not exactly. I know that the cultivator assigned to the Marquess is Body Strengthening Level 2, Peak Grade. His strength should be about the same as mine but there should definitely be a skill gap."
"Hmm. Hopefully, nothing goes wrong.. I just want to eat as much as I can before anything can happen." Celina was still thinking about what to eat. She was not scared of what the future held as she did not have any power herself to control her fate.
Everything depended on Daren's strength, smarts, and smooth-talking.
Daren and Celina approached the behemoth like iron gates that were 7 meters high with sharp, spiky ends. In front were two burly men with thick beards and compact muscles that were bursting from their bodies.
These men were both over 2.5 meters tall. They were even more giant-like than Rusky. The guards were covered mostly in leather armor except for the iron boots and chest plates.
To be honest, these people would be quite intimidating to Daren if he wasn't a cultivator.
The guards were already aware of the two guests that would be coming over today and their appearance.
The two guards moved towards the middle of the gates and pushed them open slowly. they struggled slightly but they were used to doing this every day.
Celina and Daren walked past the guards and were welcomed by a well-built butler that was clad in a black butler outfit. The man had gray hair but stood tall like a lion.
Daren for the second time since coming to this city has met a cultivator.
Yes, thus butler was a cultivator who was on the same level of strength as Daren. (Body Strengthening Level 2, Peak Grade)
"Hmm. It seems the city guards information on you a little off." the man says while putting forward his right hand to initiate a handshake. "It's nice seeing a fellow cultivator, especially one that is so much more talented than me."
Daren shook the butler's hand and said "Nice to meet you sir and thank you for the compliment. I am named Daren Frince. May I ask what your name is?"
"Nice to meet you too. I am Kuro Saburo. The butler and personal guard of the Hendrix Family. Everyone calls me Grandpa Kuro. We will have time to talk later, how about we go inside now?"
Daren nodded and they followed Grandpa Kuro to a spacious lounge. The room was decorated with red and gold couches that were as soft as clouds. There was a table in the center that had a bowl of fruits.
There were grapes, apples, and oranges. Celina sat down on the couches without hesitation and started too much on a string of grapes. She reveled in the sweetness of the purple grapes and scrunched her face when consuming the sour green grapes.
"Master Hendrix will greet you soon so you may wait in here till then." Grandpa Kuro left the room while leaving the door slightly ajar.
Daren sat next to Celina and picked up an apple to munch on.
"What do you think about fruits?" asked Daren as it was Celina's first time eating them.
"Hmmm. They feel like a snack I should eat when I am bored or just relaxing. I wish they had fruit juice though. The characters in the dramas seemed to enjoy fruits in juice form."
Celina found fruits to be somewhat tasty but only if she was in the mood for them. She needed a snack that would make her go "Uaahhh" every time.
"Well, you can make whatever you want once I get the [ Internal Factory ] ability. All the stuff that you can't try because they can't make it here will be yours to try whenever you want," says Daren.
Their conversation had gone from being spoken to being held in their heads using the system's connection.
"That being said, your planning on getting tonight right?"
"Yeah. The faster I get it, the more time I have to set my shop up the way I want. I'm going to need a lot of things if I want to use the tactics I learned in my last life."
"Hmm. You can make the things for your store while I'll try out the snacks I've seen. You better suck them dry of both their souls and blood."
"I think I'm gonna try out cutting off different parts of their body this time. I feel like the ears and fingers would go along well." Daren wanted to make his kills look as brutal as possible.
Only then would he be able to make citizens and government truly believe that the Demonic Cult had become active in the city.
Creaaaaak!!!!
"Okay, I got to have this door fixed. It never allows me to enter quietly," said Marquess Andrew as he entered through the luxurious doors wearing a tailored blue robe.
"I don't want you guys to wait too long for food so come with me."
The couple got up and followed Andrew down a long, red-carpeted hallway with oil portraits of past Hendrix family nobles.
During the way, Daren just kept on munching on the red, juicy apple he found. It had been a while since he tasted fruits as he was a picky eater and did not even touch fruits once he was out of his parent's shadows.
Andrew found Daren's loud munching noises to be slightly obnoxious but he didn't mind as he liked it when people were themselves. He did not want anyone to bury their personality in front of him as he found it quite hateful.
The Marquess hated most nobles because of how much they hid behind their soft words and cunning smiles.
It felt quite good to have people except for his family and servants that could be free and open with their feelings.
After about 3 minutes of walking through the endless halls, Daren learned that the Hendrix family ran deep within the Gigantus Empire. They have been major nobles for the last 1,500 years.
This meant that Andrew was definitely no normal Marquess. There should be significant backing for him from the empire's Capitol nobles who were from the same family as him.
The royal family, which made decisions from their imperial place in the capitol, all had their trusted aides live in that city. The Gigantus Empire's capital is named Asmodeus City after the royal family's last name.
All the most powerful nobles who had a say on how this country would run had to live in Asmodeus City to relay their ideas to the Emperor as fast as they could.
If a noble did not live in Asmodeus City, it was either because they did not have enough power or due to not having the will to be part of the politics that go on in there.
Once they had arrived at the rand dining hall, Daren could only glare at its sight.
The room spanned over 60 meters with towering chandeliers lighting up the room with brilliance.
The main table at which the family sat was adorned with glistening, china plates. The chairs were lined with brilliant gold and made from the smoothest mahogany wood.
The table meant for guests was much larger than the 10-meter long family table. It was a whooping, 40 meters long, and had a 5-meter gap between the two tables.
The chairs for the guests were also made from mahogany wood but had notably less gold linings. This was to maintain the superiority of the host family.
Daren and Celina walked up to the family table only to see s gorgeous woman sipping wine quietly.
Brightly colored blond hair that was tied neatly up inside a bun behind her head. Blue eyes shone like crystals under the light of the chandeliers. An angular jaw and pristine skin made her seem like a queen.
Margret Hendrix, Currently known as Marchioness Hendrix, is the wife of Marquess Andrew Hendrix and the former 2nd Imperial Princess.
'This Marquess definitely has to have quite the power back in the capital to be able to marry a goddamn princess.' Daren thought.
The Marchioness put down her wine glass and said "Welcome to our lovely home Mr. and Mrs.Frince. It is our pleasure to welcome a talented and young cultivator to our home. I also do apologize for my son's disturbance in the park earlier."
The Marchioness had a crystal clear voice that was as tranquil as a slow-flowing river. There was a hint of ambition somewhere deep within her voice.
"We have already forgotten about the earlier issues," said Celina as she took her seat without being told. "Your boys are so cute that there's no way I would mind their sweet comments."
"I have been waiting years for someone to say that. There just isn't anyone here that says how cute my boys are. They just call them handsome young men. They are not men I say. They are my cute little boys." The marchioness was no a vicious tigress that was filled with passion as she talked about her cubs.
Too bad that the Marquess was trying to hide his face like a turtle as he heard his wife's complaints. His spouse was raised without any constraint in the imperial palace.
She didn't want to learn manners so they agreed. Princess Margret was known for being the most honest and unrestrained member of the royal family in the last 300 years.
That free nature is what made the Marquess fall for her when he saw her for the first time.
"Hehe. They are cute like chubby little bunnies, hopping around while munching on some fresh carrots. Who dares call them handsome?!" Celina was just as passionate about the boys as their mother.
Daren noticed that Celina has a severe soft spot when it came to innocent children. 'Probably due to having a little sister.' is what he thought.
"I like you girl. Call me Margret from now on. I'll call you Celina. We are friends from this moment on. Now tell me the secret behind that perfectly smooth, soft, and spotless face of yours. What in the world do you put on it?!" asked the Marchioness with vigor.
"Hehe. That's a little secret that will be unveiled later this week but I will tell my friend early." Margret looked at Celina with curiosity in her eyes. "It's something that I made personally. It's called 'Celina's Ungodly Skin Cleanser'."
Daren: "0_0"