Authors note: If you have problems with child abuse, please do not read this chapter! I have the tag for traumatizing content but nonetheless want to mention it here again as a warning!

Character Information - Who is who?

Because I have created quite a variety of characters, I will now create little cheat sheets before a chapter for the characters who will appear in the chapter, but not for those who haven't. Please open the spoiler if you need some reminders. (Be careful, it can be a spoiler for the chapter!)

Sarah M. Leonandra (Wolf-kin)

* The fourth child of the current Leonandra household

* Specialized in shield arts

* Sister of the MC

* Pinkish eyes (heart-formed pupils)

* Pastel-greenish fur and hair color

Marisia S. Leonandra (Wolf-kin)

* Lady of the Leonandra household

* A user of the wild-demon energy

* Mother of the MC

* Golden eyes

* Crimson red fur and hair color

Sarusos Leonandra (Fox-kin)

* Retainer of the lord

* Specialized in intel, high-energy control, and dagger arts

* Red eyes

* Blond fur and hair color

Klepto (Spider-kin)

* Elder brother of Ocilia

* Antagonistic towards the Leonandra household

* Through corpse gems, he gained various abilities

* Purple eyes

* Purplish-black hair color

...

"You are a moron of the highest grade."

"I know, Mom."

Marisia swung the wooden sword and hit Sarah on the back. A massive wound all around her back was the result. Sarah gritted her teeth as the pain was almost unbearable, only so much that she wouldn't become unconscious.

Marisia looked at her with disdain, "Don't mom me. Call me by my proper title."

Sarah held her tears back and tried to suppress her screams, "Heuk... I am sorry, my lady."

Sarah was kneeling before her mother, her arms upwards and her upper body naked. All around her back and sides were wounds from the punishment she received.

When they returned, Sarah was yelled at for hours and beaten heavily with a wooden sword. Usually, she could endure such a punishment, but her mother let some energy slip into the wood, making every hit feel like she was pummeled by Cross for hours straight to the bones. Afterward, a sharp pain remained, which she couldn't even cancel with her skills.

Sarah returned, blood smeared all over, with an Ocilia barely standing, crying and shaking. Her dress had noticeable slits from life-threatening attacks with sharp weapons.

When Marisia saw this and got told what had occurred, all that went through her mind was that she was too lax with one of her daughters. While Alexander was too young to understand common sense and Lorient just dumb for not investing enough training into her mental fortitude skills, what she heard from Sarah was on another level.

Running away and getting into fights in the red light district while also killing off mercenaries and some thugs were several levels too far. Of course, she was old enough to go out, but until she was strong enough, there was no way she would let her go alone because of the situation that did occur, which was not even close to the worst-case scenario.

Worse things could happen, like kidnapping and ransom, not only for a massive amount of gold but also for political favors or other things that could put the whole estate in a bind. This meant Sarah risked not only her own safety and future prospects but that of every servant and her siblings.

It was unsure if she even would come out whole with her tail and ears attached. Those were excellent alchemical ingredients, and while everything involving this was banned in Mal-Gil, the underworld didn't care that much since they were highly sought-after ingredients for potions. Marisia wasn't too keen to have the parts of her daughter become a potion.

She walked around Sarah with a look that could kill and sternly asked her, "So, genius, tell me again what exactly happened, and now I don't want to listen to your idiotic retellings of how heroic you were, but I want to know every little detail. Got it?"

Sarah nodded meekly and started the long telling of what happened without any of her childish chimes, how she used her skill perfectly in the exact moments, or how she saved Ocilia from the group of thugs. However, she lied a little to protect Ocilia.

After the lengthy retelling, Marisia frowned when she heard who Ocilia was looking for. If what Sarah said was true, it was ok if Alexander's disciple looked for her brother and wanted to bring him back to receive punishment.

The whole situation between Ocilia and Klepto was also ignored because Alexander insisted on not touching her family in any way since they were his responsibility. Marisia, on the other hand, wanted to know precisely how Klepto could flee and if his parents were involved.

Ultimately, she spied heavily on them for a year and needed to congratulate Alexander. They became much more loyal since he protected them and, with that, even their son. So, she already forgot about it long ago.

Yet, she wouldn't punish Ocilia since she could leave the estate if Alexander allowed it. Marisia wouldn't even reprimand her if she didn't bring Sarah back since her daughter admitted that she forced herself unto her.

Nonetheless, something different muddled her mind and made her, besides her daughter, angry. The underworld dared to attack her property, and they knew who they were, "I see. They got too cocky for their own good."

Marisia couldn't care less if Ocilia was hurt by some thugs. She would most likely look for whoever hurt her and punish them accordingly, which she thought before this happened was highly unlikely since nobody in the world be stupid enough to do something like this. But it seemed that she was wrong and would need to change the mindset of the underworld to not go against the ruling class.

A meek voice interrupted her thoughts, "I am hungry, Mom... argh!"

Marisia hit her side with the wooden sword, "You will be lucky if I allow you to eat at all for the next few days. Do you understand why I am doing this?"

Sarah's eyes became slightly erratic, and her voice distressed, "I... I did something bad and need to be punished..."

The worst Sarah was punished until now were the training sessions, which she liked, so she expected nothing too bad. At most, some bruises. However, what she experienced now, was pure torture, and she understood that she had gone too far.

Marisia sighed, "Sarah, you endangered everyone in the estate with your childishness. What do you think would've happened if someone kidnapped you? We could lose so much if some noble, who hates us, sniffed you out."

She started crying slightly, "I... I am sorry... I will never do... something like this again... I promise... heuk..."

Marisia stayed stern and shook her head, "I want to hear exactly what could've happened. Tell me."

Sarah was silent for a whole minute till she answered, unsure, "I could've been hurt..."

Her mother readied her wooden sword, "That is all?"

"I am sorr...Keugh!"

Marisia hit her on the shoulder, and Sarah fell down. She grabbed her shoulder as the pain became unbearable.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Kneel again. We will do it as long as you understand it so something like this doesn't happen again. I don't care if you treat others like trash or slack off while spending a large amount of coin on clothes and accessories. However, I will never allow anyone to endanger our household because they are bored."

While Sarah tried to kneel again, Marisia had already planned her next move. Someone presumably put an official hit on Ocilia, their family's property, which needed action, 'Time for another purge.'

She would need to act fast and strong to deter any more such actions from the underworld or other nobles who dabbled in those places. If she didn't act, it could give the impression that anyone could attack and kill their people. Such ramifications could be detrimental to acquiring future talents and would also sough fear at the estate.

Sarah kneeled again, and Marisia asked, "So, let's start again. How could you damage, let's say, your siblings if little miss moron got caught and sold to some noble. Tell me."

This ordeal played out for the following hours, far into the night. Screams and tearful pleas were heard all over the main mansion.

...

Next day, Wolfsteeth - red light district

It was evening and pure chaos as one establishment after another was occupied by the soldiers of the Leonandra estate.

They were doing this because thieves, assassins, and other folk of the shadow of the city were fleeing their underground bases. They were there to catch them while they used their escape routes.

In one of those bases was the lady in half-plate armor holding the neck of a rat-kin, the leader of one of the most prominent assassin guilds in Wolfsteeth.

"So tell me, you vermin, who ordered the hit?"

"Khow about kyou whlet me....argh!"

Marisia pressed her grip even stronger around the neck of the leader, "Listen, I need names, and if you want to end a head shorter, keep talking nonsense."

The rat-kin was visibly shaken. Some stupid broker put a hit on a servant of the estate, and he promised himself that he would get whoever did it himself.

He wasn't stupid since there was a non-spoken agreement between the underworld and the ruler. As long as they don't get in the way of each other and don't disturb meaningfully, they would be left alone, 'If I get the moron who did it, I will skin them myself!'

He raised his hands and tried to speak more comfortably, "Hri don't hknow! Hsome moron dit it!"

Marisia looked deep into his eyes, and after a moment of discerning what he was saying was the truth, she let him fall to the ground. He started coughing and rubbing his neck. He wasn't stupid enough to threaten her, as he was a leader of a middle-sized mercenary guild and only did the assassin business as a side gig. It made much more coin for him, but he wanted to break into a more legitimate business endeavor instead of living a life of an assassin. So he would need to be very cautious.

She let him go as the last thing she wanted to do was to create a vacuum for power in the underworld by killing every guild master she saw. This show of force and cutting the heads off some of the more horrid elements should target those who commissioned the job. The assassin leader here was well-known and loyal to the unspoken rules, so she let him live.

Marisia went outside and was inside the sewers. This was the underworld, a city basically under the city. She saw her people run around and merchants scream as stolen goods were confiscated. The traders were beaten to an inch of their life left as a warning.

She wanted nothing more than to kill everyone here, but it was impossible. It was only one place out of half a dozen around the city. She had already raided three of them, and this was the fourth one, while the other two were invaded by Cross and some of his trusted soldiers.

She could imagine that the whole city was partly in chaos since, besides merchants, thieves, and assassins, also simple folk dabbled here for a side income. Yet, she let them go but wasn't sure about Cross, even though she warned him to do it. The last thing she wanted to do was fill up her prisons with poor carpenters who had stolen some expensive pieces of wood.

Suddenly, a familiar smell invaded her nose, and surprisingly Cross came over with a masked and cloaked individual. She could smell his bloodlust, and she became immediately frustrated, 'Damn it, Kairo.'

...

Somewhere more private

"It wasn't long since I beat you till you were half-death. Did you miss it that much?"

The individual was kneeling and smiling at her, "It was a long time ago, my lady, but I am here in the name of the lord. You should have got the correspondence, right?"

She rubbed the place between her eyes, "I didn't get any from Kairo, so tell me what happened, Saru."

Sarusos started to tell her what happened and how they sniffed out that someone had attacked their supply lines. Afterward, they sent the letter, but it never reached her.

"...and now I am here, my lady."

A vein popped on Marisia's head. Every time she had to deal with this guy, all he did was smile, and his bloodlust was overflowing, straining her nerves.

"Fine, so how did it go in the underworld?"

"After snooping around and looking for my old contacts, it seems there is a new player."

Marisia raised an eyebrow, "A new player? Even someone new wouldn't be dumb enough to attack the ruler and their inner circle."

Sarusos shrugged, "There was some hit for a giant sum for an easy kill which was continuously denied..." he sighed, "...I tried to find out more about this since I thought that nobody would be stupid enough to take it, but I was too slow, I am sorry my lady."

Marisia waved her hand in dismissal, "It's fine, so, who is the new vermin?"

Sarusos's smile broke, and he started to frown heavily, "I don't know... for some reason, they put different hits out, and one of them targeted all the pups and all their personal retainers like Mr. Alexander's disciple."

Marisia looked confused at him, "Do you mean they also target my puppies?"

It was unusual to make a hit on a noble or their children, but if it was done quickly and destroyed the whole family, it would be possible to make a go afterward. However, other noble families close to the one killed would hunt them down for all eternity.

Only another noble would do something like this and would try to find some idiots who were hungry for coin. However, they would likely fail, but some decent ones would be elated to try something like this if enough coin was on the table or some really bad ones with overinflated egos, which was the case if she went by what Sarah told her.

However, going for the retainers was an even more insane proposition since if the noble was alive, he would surely hunt down the assassin and the contractee.

"Do you know who exactly?"

The fox-kin shrugged, "No, my lady, only that all of us are on the line."

Marisia started to frown and tap her foot, 'Someone is trying to mess with us...'

"So, did you find anything suspicious?"

Sarusos tried to think as he tapped his chin, "Yes and no. I found a familiar smell while the caravan was attacked, but I don't know where I know this from."

"Nevermind that... go back and tell Kairo to come back soon. My mother will be here in a couple of weeks for a visit, and I need his support. Otherwise, I fear that I will start a fight with her."

Sarusos suddenly shivered, but his smile didn't waver, and he nodded at her, "Done!"

"Done what? I don't want you to kill her, even if that was possible. Just get Kairo here."

Sarusos chuckled with a hand before his mouth, "Don't worry, my lady, I understood it clearly, hehe."

...

Somewhere in the shadows

A spider-kin looked from a ledger down to the sewers while the soldiers swarmed the area, apprehending everyone who tried to run away, 'Well, that was a bust, tsk.'

When one of his spies informed him that the two girls had left the estate, he instantly tripled the commission and got someone to do the job. Who knew that they could fail against a snobby brat and a bookworm? Klepto miscalculated strongly.

He was sitting and thinking about what to do next. In his hand, multiple copies of letters that were intercepted, 'At least we could have another ally on our side... huh?'

But before he could think more about how to get a stupid lizard to his side, he was interrupted by a tapping on his back. He turned around and saw a masked individual. Only his darker blueish skin and pointy ears told him it was a colleague.

"It failed?"

Klepto frowned but nonetheless nodded. He hated to admit it, but he used up a precious chance, and now the whole underworld was in panic and looking for the moron who commissioned the hit. Klepto was too hot at that moment.

He also tried other ways, like omitting who the hit was for, but his sister was very famous, and it was impossible to gloss over her identity. On the other hand, Sarah was more of a surprise and unexpected treasure. He only knew that his sister left the estate regularly while the Leonandra youths were stuck inside the estate.

There was also a thought to bring in the night elves, but it was quickly dismissed since they would immediately know who killed or kidnapped them. The lord was a druid and probably had access to an oracle. The moment he would ask it, the camp would be wiped out.

The same went for other territories. If something happened and they missed someone, the Leonandra household was the first to get asked for a favor, and most of the time, the lord agreed.

The night-elf shrugged, "Well, we expected that much. Don't forget what we want to do - slowly sough chaos and bring the territory into a civil war situation. So, it was partly a success."

Right, Klepto was reminded of what the plan was. Bringing chaos and then using it to usurp a part of the territory. Right now, they focused on finding much more allies who could assist them later on after they took some area for themself.

The night-elf continued, "Don't worry though, we have a nice surprise which will hopefully throw the fief into utter chaos, hehe."

Klepto wasn't informed about everything, so he asked, "What is it?"

The night elf shook his finger, "Don't worry about it and let it come, hehe!"

Klepto nodded and asked, with an almost possessive glint in his eyes, "Where is William?"

The night-elf stopped and thought for a second before answering, "He is going to the one noble you informed us about. The lizard guy, did you forget?"

He did forget. Since he took the corpse crystal, his body and memory worsened by the day. Those were extracted by the experience of different beings so skills and other things could be preserved. The problem was that it was never perfectly preserved, so everyone who took it was plagued by massive issues.

It was incredibly illegal to do it, but he did it anyway, and the only thing he could think about was William. Still, all other memories became increasingly unrecognizable, to the point he barely remembered the faces of his parents.

He nodded toward the night-elf and started to leave the place since it would become dangerous for him to stay there.

As he left and wandered around the streets, everything became more like a lucid dream for him. His only anchor was William, and he wanted to follow him to the end, 'A couple of years and his mother will be saved. Till then, I need to endure...'