"What do you need me to do?" Frost spoke with conviction.
Frost's reply filled Leo with gratitude, he couldn't help but feel relieved.
"With you, me, and Luna, we'll tell my parents the whole story. All about Alex and his wyvern poison. It should be enough to convince my father." Leo appeared depressed as he mentioned his father. He didn't want to take control and force his father's hand; he wasn't ready to lead the Furano household, but he had no choice.
Douglas Furano was a great noble, loved by his people and well respected by the royal family in the capital. Under his leadership along with Ryuu and Bastion as well as the merchant guild master Sebastian, Furano flourished even with the frequent monster stampedes. The poverty rate sharply decreased and the deaths from starvation more than halved. He was a great lord, 'was' being the key word.
A little over 2 years ago, Douglas Furano become gravely ill, so ill that he could no longer take part in management of the viscounty or report for summons in the royal capital and as his grip waned darkness grew. His younger brother Adam had always been greedy and ambitious, he didn't care about the means as long as he achieved his goals. With Douglas unable to properly manage the viscounty and Leo being too young and inexperienced Adam took control under the guise of aiding his ill brother, until Leo was ready to take the reins.
The viscounty started to show signs of decay since then and the bubble was about to burst. The underworld groups were running rampant, and the prices of general goods gradually increasing. The populace were currently unaware of the danger that was about to unfold but only for the moment, anymore and the territory's situation would be as clear as day. That's why Leo needed to make his move, in the few days he was back in Furano he uncovered so many of his uncles shady deals and learned of the current financial state of the viscounty, they were almost bankrupt. All the money had been silently embezzled by Adam and his underworld connections. At the current rate, the poverty level which Douglas tried so hard to fix would come back worse than ever.
Leo sighed and began to regale to Frost many of his uncles actions.
"He is a blight, a cancer upon Furano and needs to be excised before he causes any more damage." Leo spoke through clenched teeth.
"Worst of all it appears that my father's illness was possibly artificial."
'Fuck!' Frost sucked in sharp breath at this revelation.
Crack!
Wooden beams cracked outside of the carriage where Bastion was sitting. If Frost could see his face, he'd see veins bulging on his forehead, his teeth grinding against each other from utter hatred. Bastion did not know of this information and was close to losing himself in rage. He, Ryuu and Douglas were best friends since they were Leo's age, learning that someone poisoned his friend filled him with fury.
"Little Leo is what you said true?!" Bastion wrenched open the carriage window that faced the driver's side.
"It is uncle, I'm sorry." Leo felt guilty, how could he have allowed his father to be poisoned in his own home, he failed as his son.
"Motherfucker I'm going to tear that bastard Adam to pieces, just wait until I get my hands on that ugly mug of his!" Bastion shouted loudly without care, drawing many confused looks for the passing civilians.
"Calm down uncle he'll pay I promise you." Leo reached through the window and grabbed onto Bastion's leg to calm him down, he couldn't have the guild master of the adventurer's guild screaming about ripping someone apart in the middle of the street, especially a noble.
Luna knew beforehand as she assisted Leo in gaining the information, but she couldn't help but quietly sob when it was said out loud. Maya pulled the young girl into her chest and rubbed the back of her head to calm her down. They really did appear to be sisters.
Once Leo calmed down Bastion he turned back to Frost, looking him directly in the eyes.
"My uncle has grown more arrogant over the past few months, not even bothering to efficiently hide his actions. That's the sole reason we were able to uncover so much. He still sees me as a useless naïve brat unable to do anything, still in the dark about his misdeeds."
"And you want to use that to your advantage." Frost's hands started to tremble in excitement, he loved the look Leo had right now.
"I already have, with uncle Ryuu's assistance I've been able to secretly isolate him from some of the more on the fence underworld groups under his control and thanks to uncle Bastion we have sufficient manpower to strike him down." Bastion laughed at the mention of his actions. Leo had Bastion draw in a few high ranking adventurers off the books. When Leo gives the word, these adventurers would strike Adam's compound alongside them. He couldn't utilise the house guards since he couldn't know which ones were turned.
"But this won't last forever, Adam will soon catch on to my movements, he may be arrogant, but he isn't stupid. That's why… I plan to move tonight!"
"Hehehehe" Frost couldn't resist laughing, this situation was becoming more and more enjoyable. He could picture Adam's befuddled face as his so called naïve nephew cornered him like a rat. He couldn't possibly be left out of something so fun.
"Say it what do you want me to do, or rather what did Ryuu suggest?" Simply acting as a witness when retelling the events to his parents, there's no way that Ryuu wouldn't use his strength.
'Even if he doesn't want to involve me or has no need of my strength, there's no way I'm staying out of the way, I still need to get my revenge.' Frost clenched his left fist hard, releasing a crack while his other hand caressed a cloth pouch hidden within his robes.
Leo flinched; Frost was giving off a dangerous vibe sending a chill down his back.
'Looks like I can't fool him.'
"As you guessed uncle Ryuu suggested asking you to assist in our attack, we're sorely lacking in numbers and need all the help we can get but the choice is yours, I can't possibly ask you to do anymore." Leo spoke calmly and looked directly into Frost's eyes without wavering from the threatening aura he was giving out. He was making his stance and conviction known. This was his issue and he'd deal with it.
"Hahahaha no chance in hell am I missing out on something so fun, sign me up hahahaha." Frost laughed manically, betraying his beautiful appearance. This sudden mania caught Leo, Luna and even Bastion unaware, they were frozen in place unable to react. Maya chimed in from the side.
"Yo…Frost is a bit of a battle maniac." This single sentence explained everything, all three of them released an 'oh!' as if they suddenly understood. Battle maniacs were very common among adventurers but with Frost's appearance it didn't exactly fit. The usual battle crazed people were incredibly bulky, aggressive, loud, and usually muscle brained idiots. Frost didn't have any of those traits actually neither did Maya and she was probably even more battle obsessed than he was. Her hands were trembling in excitement as she held onto Luna.
"Ugh…. hahaha ok then." Leo sighed then laughed as a large weight was lifted off his shoulders. His uncle Ryuu was right, Frost would jump at the chance to be involved.
"Of course, the Furano house will greatly reward those who contribute to this endeavour."
"I'd expect nothing less from a noble household."
"It'd be unbecoming of a noble to not reward the hard work of those who aided them in times of need." Leo and Frost smirked at one another.
The rest of the carriage ride was a lot less serious, Leo asked Frost about their first day in Furano whereas Luna sneakily chatted to Maya about their male partners, giggling every so often as they looked over at the boys.
After around 40 minutes the carriage arrived before a huge estate spanning several acres at least. The front gate was guarded by two gatekeepers fully outfitted in metal armour each with stoic expressions on their face, very professional. Behind them stood a large mansion much larger than even the adventurers guild. From the distance Frost could make out at least 3 upper floors and over a 50 rooms, each with their own windows. If the building wasn't so old and in disarray it would appear incredibly lavish, however many parts were sorely in need of repair.
Cracks spanned across the walls and thick ivy grew all over. The lord's mansion should be the most iconic and beautiful building in the town as it represented the viscounty's financial strength but at the moment it was close to becoming a ruin.
Once Leo and Frost assisted Luna and Maya off the carriage respectively, and they stood before the majesty of the lord's mansion. Leo couldn't help but sigh.
"Before I never really cared how the house appeared, as long as we were warm and had food in our bellies it was enough but now…. It's a disgrace, the lord's mansion should be a symbol of prosperity not one of poverty." Leo clenched his fists and teeth in anger.
'But that ends tonight,' Luna grabbed onto Leo's arm providing him with comfort. Leo placed his hand on top on Luna's and looked lovingly into her eyes before facing Frost and Maya.
"I know it's not much but welcome to our home."
Leo informed the two gatekeepers about his guests and led them into the estate without issue well until they reached the door.
Creak
The large oak doors slowly opened as Leo and the rest walked up. An old insidious looking man appeared in the doorway, he carried a deep frown and was dressed in a butler suit without a single blemish or hair out of place. His gaze looked over each member of the group full of contempt and disgust even as he faced Leo the heir to the house. He smiled brightly with his mouth, but his true thoughts were easily seen in his eyes.
"Ah young master welcome back, your parents have been worried sick, you shouldn't leave without informing this butler, I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you." Frost almost threw up listening to such fake bullshit.
'You'd obviously be over the moon if something happened.'
Leo however was used to this and responded, respectively.
"My apologies head butler, once I heard that my friend had arrived in town, I set out immediately to introduce him to my parents." Leo then waved his hand to show off Frost and Maya.
"Your friends?" The head butler's lips twitched struggling to maintain his façade. He looked over these so called friends with intrigue. Adam had already informed him about this person with the wolf mask.
'This must be Frost, the one who got in the master's way.' His eyes betrayed his true thoughts, filled with scorn. His gaze then drifted over to Maya.
'Hoh such a beauty, shame she's a filthy beastmen but I'm sure master will find a use for her.' His face became perverted as he judged certain areas on Maya's body.
In response Frost was filled with anger, he moved in front of Maya blocking the butlers view and sent a powerful burst of killing intent his way.
"Ahhhh!" The head butler was not a fighter and was unable to withstand Frost's rage, his knees buckled, and he fell backwards in fear. His heart started pumping a mile a minute and he could feel a cold dagger hovering over his neck. His body started to tremble, and his bladder gave way, leaving a foul smelling puddle below his groin.
Luna and Bastion couldn't help but laugh at the sight, how many times have they had to endure this arrogant piece of shit's scorn without reacting, they felt truly satisfied.
"Ah head butler are you ok? Suddenly falling down and relieving yourself, are you perhaps ill? Someone come and help the head butler to his quarters; he needs to rest." Frost removed his killing intent allowing Leo to handle the aftermath.
The head butler panicked he couldn't have the staff find him in such a situation, he'd become a laughingstock, the butt of every joke and if the master found out he'd be disposed of. Who would like to be associated with such an embarrassing head butler.
Ignoring his wet trousers and the puddle of urine, the head butler jumped to his feet and ran off, trying to get as far away as possible from Frost.
"Hmmm young master did you call for aid?" A young butler came to answer Leo's summons.
"Yes, it seems the head butler wasn't feeling well and had a bit of an accident." He gestured towards the puddle of urine.
"If you could have someone clean it up that would be great." The young butler was shocked, blown away by the information.
'Accident eh the head butler pissed himself ahahhah.' The young butler couldn't help but snigger before replying.
"Of course, young master I'll have someone clean it up right away." The young butler turned to fetch some servants leaving Leo and his guests by themselves.