"What!?"

Count William's loud voice resounded through the hall as he heard the shocking news brought to him by his valet, Richard.

"Jin Ascoff is dead!?" Count William asked, his tone laced with shock and disbelief.

After traveling several miles, they finally arrived at the Kingdom of Shahara. The sun was already sinking on the horizon, so without further ado, Count William ordered Sebastian to take them immediately to the house that Richard had already prepared. Due to his many businesses all over the continent, he naturally owned lands and houses in different places.

Upon arriving at the house, calling it a house was an understatement—it was more like a mansion, only slightly smaller than the one in the Capital. Count William immediately went to his room to rest, as the hours of traveling had made him tired.

However, when he woke up early the next morning, the news of his slave's death greeted him. How could it be!? He had expected to have a great time with Lylie before the day of the arena's opening. But now, not only would it not happen, he would have to deal with and thoroughly investigate this matter.

'The head of the Greed Clan is dead!? How is that possible!? I'm sure that no one really knows my plan, and even Richard assured me of it. Then did he fail? Some of our competitors already smelled it, but did Richard overlook it? It's impossible. Richard never fails me, but if it really is the case, then this is the first time…' Count William thought as he waited for Richard to answer.

Richard sensed a frightening aura around the Count, making him shiver in fear. With his tall figure bowing at ninety degrees, Richard said in a regretful tone, "Yes, My Lord, I have seen his cold corpse covered with blood with my own eyes."

"He was killed? By whom? Have you already investigated this matter?" Count William asked, his eyes filled with seriousness as he looked down at his valet.

"Yes, the investigation is currently ongoing, but don't worry, I will also investigate this matter myself and immediately report any results and findings to you," Richard assured.

"Are you sure that there isn't any leak and you overlooked it?" Count William released more of his aura as he questioned Richard with doubt.

Richard trembled when he heard this. 'My Lord is doubting my words? No, it's just right for him not to believe me, given that my failure is laid bare for him to see.' "Yes, I am sure of that-"

"Swear it." Count William interrupted, his hands behind his back, and his robe fluttered as he took a step in front of the bowing figure of his valet.

Richard felt like he was being poured with cold water. His figure began to tremble as sweat started to trickle down from his forehead.

Even though he was so sure that he hadn't overlooked anything, Richard was still scared, knowing there were many better and stronger people than him. What if their competitors had hired a hunter to watch every Count's movement and plans? What if he or she followed him while he was doing his task from behind, and he didn't notice it? What if when he was attending another matter, the hunter started assassinating Jin?

That was possible! The demons were now weak, and the Kingdom had no obligation to protect the demon slaves from anything that happened to them, given that they could be easily replaced! The owner couldn't protest, as doing so was akin to caring and protecting the lives of demons, which was traitorous! If that were the case, then he was doomed! He could say goodbye to magic or his life!

The more Richard thought about it, the more his body quivered, but he had already made up his mind. 'If that's truly the case... then be it. There's no place for a failure in this world.'

With that thought, Richard straightened his back and came eye to eye with Count William's cold and deep brown eyes. He raised his right hand, aligned with his shoulder at a ninety-degree angle, and then said in a solemn and determined voice,

"I, Richard Dawson under the Dawson Family, swear to heaven that I didn't overlook anything regarding the matter of the death of his slave, My Lord Count William Roswell of The Roswell Family. If I indeed overlooked something, may the heavens punish me by severing my mana veins and crippling my magic!"

Silence filled the place after Richard said those words. The bright sun shone through the tidy windows, illuminating the mansion inside.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Richard's heartbeat quickened with every passing minute. His mind was tense, waiting for something to happen, but after a few moments of waiting, nothing had happened to him. Meaning Richard hadn't really overlooked anything.

Count William withdrew his aura after confirming that his valet was indeed telling the truth. Jin's death had nothing to do with Richard's failure.

"Very good. Make sure to thoroughly investigate what really happened. Don't be overconfident; there must be something that you are missing. Double-check his corpse; there may be some traces or marks that you will find." He turned his back to Richard, walking toward the staircase where his office led to. As soon as he reached the last step, he stopped and said in a deep and serious voice, "Remember, I only want one thing...

"And that is his sword technique."

***

After Count William entered his office, Richard finally exhaled a deep breath. He took a white cloth from his pocket and wiped the sweat pouring down from his forehead. He clenched his fist tightly as he bowed politely toward the location of Count William's office.

'I swear that this failure is going to be my last! I'm lucky that My Lord didn't directly kill me, but instead, he gave me mercy by asking me to swear it. I will make sure to repay My Lord for giving me this chance, and I know the only way to do that is to obtain the prominent sword technique of the fallen Greed Clan!' Richard pledged silently in his heart.

Then he walked toward the door and left, leaving only the beautifully silent hall that bathed in the bright rays of sunlight.

***

In the Great Palace of the Kingdom of Shahara, inside the throne hall filled with paintings and exquisite carvings.

A velvet red carpet was lying on the floor, reaching a high dais where a throne stood. King Ab-Adal could be seen sitting on it. His clothes were adorned with jewelry, while his face was still hidden behind a veil. He held his chin, deep in thought about the matter his Paladin had informed him of.

'The slave of a Count whose name is William from the Roswell Family was found dead? William... William... Where have I heard this name before?' he massaged his chin, trying to remember where he had heard the name William.

Although it's not a common name, and not rare either, there are only a few names that he knew and remembered, and each of them belonged to someone powerful or left a strong impression on him. For this name to appear somewhat familiar to him, there must be something about this William.

'Oh! I remember now!' After a moment, King Ab-Adal suddenly said, leaning on his throne. 'He's the genius who earned the title of Earl at such a young age, with a booming business all over the continent! I heard that he left the main family in the east and started leading his own sub-branch family from the Capital.

'Hmm... For him to participate in a slave that easily dies. Did he lose his touch just like a swordsman would? That's possible! Or there must be something going on, or something that he's planning....' King Ab-Adal deeply thought. Then he ordered the servant behind him to bring the Paladin as soon as possible.

"Regardless of what it is, I'm the ruler of this Kingdom, and any potential threat needs to be investigated or, at best, eliminated before it even arises," he said in a serious tone, echoing through the throne hall.

***

"Hey, why can't we just pick any of these demons? It's disgusting here!"

"It's the order! We need to follow the order! So shut up and bear it!"

In the underground chamber, two knights could be seen walking along the lines of prison. They were clad in metallic armor, each holding a bright torch in their hands. Its flame flickered, casting dancing shadows on the wall.

The two knights examined every demon in each prison they passed by. They were tasked to do this because a demon had recently died in the upper prison, leaving it empty. Since the entries of demon slaves closed a day ago, they had no choice but to pick from the lower chamber.

As the upper chamber was better than this dark and suffocating chamber, they had to choose the most promising one, as the demons imprisoned there were stronger and had a better chance to entertain the audience.

As the two knights looked around, they noticed that the demons were either huddled in a dark corner, muttering like crazy, or training their core by meditating and clawing at the wall. But regardless of what they were doing, each of them had a gloomy and hopeless atmosphere surrounding them.

"Somehow looking at them kinda reminds me of the suffering we experienced before," the knight commented, sorrow evident in his voice.

"No, it's not even comparable! This isn't even enough for what they did to us in the past!" the other knight retorted, touching the side of his armor.

The two of them didn't talk more as they continued to venture until reaching the end of the long chamber.

"This should be the last one," the knight said in relief as they walked to the last prison.

Using their torch, they illuminated the prison and saw a young demon with jet black hair sitting in a lotus position. His breathing was calm and relaxed, seemingly asleep.

The knight looked at his companion and said, "It's not him either; looks like we will settle for that one."

"Yeah, that demon is in the red core stage, the strongest out of all here. Although he may be the weakest once put in the upper chamber, I think in the arena he can last a fight about a minute or two," the other knight replied.

"Then let's go back and fetch that one," the knight decided, turning his back and starting to walk along with his companion.

But as soon as they took a step, they sensed something familiar behind them. They immediately turned around and saw a blinding red light appear, engulfing the last prison where the young demon was situated.

Their eyes widened, and they rushed towards the prison. There they saw the young demon floating above the ground, still in a lotus position. But unlike before, his breathing was now ragged, and his body was drenched in sweat.

"He managed to break through?" the knight asked, seeming shocked, "But he was only dark red a second ago! Why is he at the light red stage now!?"

"And his age... He's the same age as my son! How is it possible!?" the other knight added, looking at the young demon who was now back on his feet.

The young demon looked at his hands and examined his small body. He jumped around like a kid and threw a punch, oblivious to the two knights watching him.

After a few seconds, he turned around and noticed the two knights staring at him, stupefied. A grin spread across his face, reaching to his ears.

The two knights subconsciously shivered when they saw this. The image of the young demon grinning was like how the newspaper described horror stories.

They immediately composed themselves and looked at each other. The two knights nodded their heads, coming to an understanding.

"It seems that he's the most promising one here"