"So this is viscount Ganglay."
The lump of flesh sat pathetically on his knees. He stunk of sweat and fear as he gawked up at Leko.
"I have a lot of money I-"
Leko snorted. "I don't need your filthy money," He said. Leko already took it anyway.
Ganglay was your usual fat and greedy noble. The man bawled his eyes out. He sniffed, and his nose dribbled with snot. Leko sneered and looked away from the disgusting sight.
"Stuff him," Leko said. Buni grimaced and flicked his eyes between the noble who started thrashing against his rope binds and Leko. A raised brow was the only answer Buni got. The assassin sighed. He stepped forward and crammed a cloth into the viscount's mouth. Leko exhaled in relief as the shrill wails stopped and became muted. Buni tied a rope across the man's face to keep the material in place.
Buni held his hand away from himself and stared at it in revulsion. The disgruntled butler glowered at Leko.
In the end, it was the viscount who sold the creatures. He used the knights meant to protect the city, to capture and drag creatures into the city through passageways concealed behind the castle. The knights didn't play with just the creatures. The viscount used his own people as toys. Through his knights, he terrorized the citizens, forcing them to pay unreasonable fees. If they couldn't pay, Leko glared down at the pig, he found alternative ways for them to atone for their 'sin' of not pleasing their lord.
A grunt fell from the viscount as Leko's leg harshly met the man's gut. The pig slid across the floor and crashed into a table.
Lance glanced at Leko and shifted. He nagged his lip and looked away from the sight.
Leko strode towards the weeping man and stepped on his head. Forcing it into the ground.
"Pathetic," Leko mocked. His tone shook with anger.
As a leader, it was your duty to take care of your subordinates. Leko removed his foot and sighed. He studied the creatures that sat on the other side of the inn. Faier and Kurio drifted around them, taking care of any injuries and offering them food. Even though people constantly walked by them, their eyes stayed locked on Leko.
The father of the inn owner stood behind them, smiling gleefully at the sight of Leko and the viscount. When Leko asked him to make sure no information left the inn until morning, he forced the place into lockdown with a merry smile.
The knights inside the city had to be caught. Only Leko didn't have the forces for it. If he kept information from spreading, he stood a better chance of grabbing them when backup arrived.
"Those disgraceful people who call themselves knights will be gone by morning," Ran said. Her hands shook, and her lips twisted in a snarl as she kicked one of the tables. She glared at the viscount, who whimpered at her actions.
"The viscount can lock the city down. It's a temporary barrier that keeps everyone in," the inn owner's father said. Leko smiled at the man. Their eyes locked and amusement sparked in the man's eyes.
"Your name?" Leko asked.
"Heh, I'm Jin Ro Realizar, young Master." The man bowed, low enough to be polite but not enough to submit. Leko held back a snort. His amused eyes flicked to Lance for a second. The captain blinked at him curiously.
Trying to force the current viscount to lock down the city would take too much effort. Leko stepped towards the nobleman and slipped the viscount ring from trembling hands. The man's eyes shook, and he flailed. He screamed against the cloth in his mouth. Leko watched him struggle with amusement. He saw the terror in the man's eyes as the ring moved further away from him.
Nobles weren't just born from other nobles. In this fantasy world, it didn't work that way. Leko himself wasn't nobility. People treated him well because he was the son of a high-ranking nobleman, but Leko held no title himself.
There were kingdoms, empires, principalities, theocracies and grand duchies. They were named by either the type of ruler, theocracy, and principality, or the size, kingdom; empire; and grand duchy.
Each had a single ruler, the highest titled 'noble'. Take Droitt for example. There was no king and queen, only a king. The man is married, but his wife does not gain the title of queen as it's a noble title belonging to a leader of a kingdom. The wife of the current leader, the king, is not a leader as there can only be one at a time, thus we do not refer to her as queen.
One title lower was the crown prince or crown princess, the officially nominated next heir to the king or queen. Citizens politely refer to the king or queen's children as prince or princess and treat them with respect, but they do not have a noble title. Only the crown prince or crown princess was a noble title.
Below the crown prince and princess were the duke or duchess. This noble title was given to those who ruled a territory or, by old-world standards, the ruler of a country.
One title down you had marquess or marchioness. They ruled a 'faction' which was the novels term for a province. There were two factions per territory.
Each faction was split into four and called 'sections' which were ruled by a Count or Countess, the title right below marquess and marchioness.
From there you had cities, ruled by a viscount or viscountess.
The second to last noble title was a baron, or baroness, who ruled a town. There were only a few of these, as towns were pretty scarce. For every three cities, there may be one town. Counting the fact that the death rate in this world was high, only a handful of cities existed in each territory.
Lastly, a village was ruled by a lord or lady.
Though Leko does not have a title, as he was not a ruler of anything, he was officially the heir to the title of duke. This gave him more power and rights than a viscount. He could strip the man of his title temporarily until the duke decided what to do with him.
The ring glistened in Leko's palm. He peered down at it and rolled it in his hand. This simple thing was the symbol of a noble.
"You didn't think I'd let you stay viscount after this, did you?" Leko raised a brow. He was right. The viscount was just plain stupid.
Leko's eye caught Jin's. He threw the ring at the man. Jin caught it. He stared down at the piece of jewelery before looking up and squinting at Leko. Jin frowned in confusion.
"What are you waiting for, viscount Ro?" Leko's lips coiled into a mocking smile as Ganglay's eyes swell in horror. The man frantically shook his head. "Lock down the city," Leko ordered. Jin howled in laughter. His eyes glimmered, and he smirked tauntingly at Ganglay, who glared and thrashed against his bindings. Leko's lips twitched in amusment at the display.
Jin slipped the ring onto his finger with shaking palms and a wide smile. Like in any fantasy world, having a noble title was prestigious and gave people a lot of influence. The title of nobility being taken from you led to a disgraceful stain on your reputation.
Leko caught Ganglay's glare and winked at the man. He watched Ganglay's face turn red as he stewed in fury. Leko snickered softly to himself.
"Lecorreno immediate lock down," Jin said. Breathless after his mad laughing fit.
The ring glowed.
Beyond the windows a barrier shimmered into place.
No one was leaving the city.
Leko flicked his gaze towards the creatures. Their hungry gazes burning into Ganglay. His lips twitched.
"Viscount Ro, is there any room in the inn that your daughter wouldn't mind getting a bit dirty?"
Jin tilted his head as he observed Leko. "I'm sure we can find one," he said.
"The creatures seem to want to play with Ganglay."
The creatures turned their attention to Leko. Their actions confirmed Leko's suspicions that they could hear everything he said. Their lips curved into savage smiles, their eyes stared at him with eager anticipation.
With them being made of mana, Leko supposed their senses would naturally be sharper than a human's.
The sight reminded him that he needed to figure out a way to stop anything with good ears from listening in when he talked. Leko mentally tacked it onto his expanding list of things to do with a sigh. Jin regarded him curiously. Leko cleared his expression.
"Find a room," Leko said to the man. He turned away and went towards the creatures. Kurio's eyes shined while looking at Leko. The butler received him with a sweet smile and a respectful nod.
Giving Ganglay to the creatures wasn't him being kind. Leko needed to speak to them. Offering up Ganglay would hopefully make them more willing to hear him out.
"Young Master," Faier greeted. She and Kurio bowed to him.
Leko's surprise flared. It wasn't because Kurio and Faier didn't respect him enough to bow. Leko knew they did. So it was rare for them to do it. Usually he only had them bow in formal situations. Leko didn't think this counted as formal in any way.
His gaze traced the surprised expressions of the creatures. Their eyes flicker between him and his servants.
His maid and butler duo raised themselves and stood straight. Both smiled at him warmly.
Leko bent his head in greeting to the creatures. He wouldn't do a proper bow. There was no reason for him to respect these creatures, but Leko owed them. This happened in Hosyn territory.
"I'm sorry," Leko started. The creatures all remained silent and waited for him to continue. Leko was stunned they didn't just spit at him. "Anything that happens in this territory falls on the Hosyn household. As a member of the household, I am sorry. This happened because we weren't diligent enough and allowed the viscount in our territory to harm you. We will take full responsibility. The Hosyns will compensate you for this event. I can't reverse the event, but I can do my part to help you going forward. We will happily offer you a place to stay and cover all costs until you are healthy enough to travel. We will help you return home and cover all the fees that are required. Any requests you have will be considered as long as they are reasonable, we will do our best to fulfill each one."
"The fat bastard and the knights that were in on it. We want all of them," the pink-haired creature demanded. Leko nodded. It wasn't an enormous demand.
"When we've gathered up all those involved, as long as they were not forced into helping, you can have them to do with as you please."
Some might have been threatened into doing what the viscount wanted. Leko could not let them be killed without justification. The creatures could take everyone who helped willingly. Leko didn't care. Less dirt in his territory.
"We won't answer any questions." The pink-haired creature spoke again.
"You are victims, not prisoners. Your private lives are none of our business. If anyone of my people steps over the line, they will be dealt with. I expect the same courtesy. You will not harm my people without valid reasons."
Leko laid down the lines for both parties. He had the eyes of all the creatures on him, but only one spoke to him. Having expressed all he needed to, Leko turned to his maid.
"Faier, make sure they're settled. If they're given trouble, come straight to me. I'll take care of it."
"I understand, and will I be taking the money from your personal funds?" Faier asked.
"Yes, use as much as you need."
Faier bid him goodnight with a beaming face. Leko just blinked at her.
The sounds of movement and talking dulled as Leko walked out of the room.
The pink-haired creature never gave his name, but Leko didn't let it worry him. For creatures, names were important. You could summon a creature if you called them by name. You could bind them to you with the right ritual. Leko understood why a name wasn't given.
The bed creaked as Leko slumped onto it. He let his head settle into his hands. The room was silent for a moment before Leko turned to the system.
"Show me my notifications."
He'd had them turned off during the whole day. Not wanting to be bothered.
-Foresight has leveled up-
-You have gained a level-
-You have gained a level-
-You have gained a level-
-You have gained a level-
-You have gained a level-
-You have gained a level-
-You have gained 5 points of charisma-
-For freeing the slaves you have gained the title Freedom Fighter-
Leko gawked at the notifications, baffled. Why had foresight leveled up? What did he do that gained him six levels? The mess with the slave trade couldn't have had that much of an impact.
"Freedom fighter?"
-Freedom Fighter-
-Those who need someone to fight for them will look at you more favourably, they are more willing to trust and follow you.-
"Ugh." Leko groaned and collapsed backward onto the bed. He stared at the ceiling.
Leko asked, "Show me a summary of my status."
-Leko Hosyn-
-Race: Human-
-Sponsor: Jaika-
-Primary Class: Hunter-
-Secondary Class: Noble-
-Title: Freedom Fighter-
-Rank: F-
-Level: 36-
-EXP 1540-
Leko tilted his head. He wasn't doing too badly. He'd need to get a secondary class soon.
He lay on the stiff bed for a few minutes before sitting up. Contacting the Duke was his next priority. Leko decided to do it now, and have them arrive in the early morning. The quicker he could shove the work on someone else, the happier Leko would be.
Leko dug through a blue leather bag. His fingers coiled around a flat metal card. Leko stared at it and exhaled. He pressed his thumb into the center.
"Duke Kiligar," Leko said.
The card glowed for a minute before it flickered and A holographic image of the duke working on his desk was projected from the thin metallic card.
"Father," Leko greeted.
The card was a mana device that allowed long distance communication. Almost like a phone, you know, without the gaming, and the apps, and YouTube, and Wi-Fi or Google. A very useless phone.
"Leko? Is there something wrong?" The duke's worried eyes searched over Leko.
Leko stopped himself from shifting under the scrutinizing gaze.
"We made it to Lecorreno yesterday. The city is not in the state it should be. The buildings are too worn…" Leko gave a full report of everything he noticed and everything that had happened. "… I liberated some of the more valuable artifacts from the Treasury before the building was blown up. I suggest we sell it and transfer the funds to the new viscount with the stipulation that it's used to help the city that the previous viscount has been neglecting...." That was not his original plan for the money. Leko had no problem stealing from a corrupted viscount, but the stuff belonged to the people of the city. If it had just been from the slave trade, he'd not have cared. He was a Hosyn, these people were his too. He wouldn't steal from them.
The duke listened to him talk and explain his plans and the choices he made. By the end, Leko was graced with a softly smiling duke. A look he never expected the man to send anyone, let alone his mad dog of a son.
"You did very well. I'm proud of you, Leko." The duke said.
Leko kept his face impassive and resisted the urge to look away from his father. He felt like anyone could hear the beat of his heart if they focused. Leko ignored the heat at the tips of his ears. Being praised was embarrassing. Yet still, it made him feel pleased. What a strange combination.
"I only did what a Hosyn should do." Leko said. A moment after speaking, he shut the card down and flopped uselessly onto the bed. Leko shoved his heated face into one of the rough pillows. He hid there while contemplating what he'd be doing tomorrow. This was the second of the three nights he promised his servants in this city.
He'd let them continue to play tomorrow while he sorted out the last few things with his father and Jin.
They'd be leaving bright and early the day after. Leko would make no exceptions.