The servant by the door initially didn’t move, but the sight of the nobles helped him realize who the child was, and he darted to the gate to bow.

But suddenly, Himo’s gaze turned cold. He had used [Intimidation].

The servant froze. “Th—” His body trembled as the child in front of him morphed into a gigantic monster—a monster about to swallow him whole. Before he could realize it, he had fallen back on the floor with both feet and hands pushing him away.

Himo frowned. “To have such a big reaction at the sight of me… are you hiding something?”

The servant paled. “N-n—”

“I’ve heard that lately there’s been some movement,” Himo said, “could it be that you’re plotting something?”

“A-a-absolutely not!” Despite the excuses he wanted to say, all he could see was a monster whose mouth kept approaching. He stammered on each word as his face kept getting paler and paler. While the servant kept trying to explain his behavior, the nobles understood what was happening. Many retreated, but they all remained withing eyesight—no one wanted to be involved. 

“Your reaction isn’t convincing at all.” Himo shook his head. “Let me in, I’ll just do a quick check to be sure.”

“Th-this… Without the permission of the baron, I-I can’t…”

Himo smiled. “Don’t worry. If I’m mistaken, I promise that I’ll compensate you and the baron.”

With that, the servant held no way to stop him. He could only nod in silence as he looked at the child who jumped over the gate. While Himo and Phylia entered the mansion, a discussion spurted among the nobles.

“Do you think that this is the mansion?”

“I have no idea. While I know that some mercenaries passed the gate, I have no idea where they hid.” 

Many nobles shook their head at that question. At the same time, countless bells rang in their minds. They all stared deeply at the mansion. Silence flew in the area for a few seconds, interrupted only by the quivering voice of a noble.

“If the mercenaries really hid in this mansion… how did the royals find that out?”

-----

While the nobles discussed theories about the royals' information network, Himo and Phylia walked through the entrance room. Just like on the outside, everything was white. Floor, walls, and ceiling were made up of white stone, adorned by paintings and memorabilia laid over white wooden shelves.

He smirked. What do you think about it, System? With this excuse, no noble is going to find fault with me entering here! Good job, me!

[It was a so-so plan.]

It was perfect! Himo rolled his eyes and opened a door. Behind it was a hall. A white carpet covered the floor and a chandelier with burning candles lighted from above. Seeing it, he was brought back to the one he had gained from the remains. I still haven’t found what those crystals are for… He shook his head and walked inside. But there wasn’t a hint of life. The place was pristine and clean as if it were but a decoration lived by no one. His gaze drifted to the five doors standing on each a different side.

Which one should I check first? He poked his chin for a second, and his eyes soon lit up. Let’s try this. Map!

[Initiating the map… Please close your eyes.]

After closing his eyes, he zoomed in on the mansion, but all of it was covered in fog. While the cultivators were still inside, he couldn’t locate them. Opening his eyes again, he frowned. And a bad feeling tightened his guts. A boom exploded from behind a door, and a black, small, pointed metal tore through the air as it darted toward him.

Himo widened his eyes and leaped to his left. “A bullet?!”

Phylia grabbed the bullet before it could reach the wall. While she wanted to try eating it, she decided against it when she noticed Himo’s reaction.

The doors were flung open and tens of cultivators dashed toward the child, each holding a weapon. Under the warm light of the chandelier, their plate armor held a glimpse of reflecting light.

“Up to the fourth string…” Himo took out the scythe and stomped on the floor. “It seems that I’m being heavily underestimated. Phylia, stay back.”

“Attack!” One of the cultivators screamed as five men lunged their swords toward the child.

Himo smirked. He spun the scythe as he stepped back twice. Then, he slid his palms on the handle of the scythe down to its tip, gaining a reach of over two meters. With but a swing, he claimed the lives of three foes. 

The other two ducked to avoid the blade and continued their assault. Having entered in sword’s reach, they thrust their weapons to the child, forcing him to leap backward.

Abusing that moment, several warriors surrounded Himo. With two spearsmen behind, an axeman on his right, and a swordsman on his left, the child held no room to maneuver. As if that wasn’t enough, over ten cultivators blocked his way forward—the way toward the door from where the bullet had been shot. And a second explosion boomed. The bullet darted to the child, who however avoided it by stepping rightward. Two spears darted to his back as the axeman on the right swung his weapon.

A platform coalesced under Himo’s right foot as he took a glance at the approaching foes. He leaped and plunged his hands on the ceiling—deep cracks tore the white as the ceiling seemed to bend upward. The smirk on his face widened.

The gaze of the axeman snapped upward but was covered by the shadow of a falling foot. A thud resounded, and a stomp crushed his head against the floor. His fate sent shivers to the onlookers. Their grip on their weapons tightened as they took a step away from the child.

A third explosion boomed. From a door on the left side, a bullet spun as it darted to the child. Himo swapped the scythe for the violin and blocked the bullet. The impact forced him to take two steps back.

“Impossible!” A yell sounded from behind the door.

It’s the guy that came to complain a few days ago. Himo raised an eyebrow. But his surprise soon warped into a smile. “Impossible, you say?” Three platforms coalesced under his feet as he spoke—he dashed between the cultivators, and, before they could react, stomped on the door. “Firearms can’t defeat cultivators!”

But behind the door there was no sign of the noble—he instead found two foes hiding at each side. Gripping their swords, they slashed at him from opposite angles.

Himo frowned. He blocked one sword with the violin and the other with his sword, but the strength of the two forced him to take a step back—the floor beneath his feet cracked. Those two were both cultivators of the fourth string. And while he was occupied, several men dashed to him from behind.

Himo clicked his tongue. He let go of both violin and sword, then he jumped backward. He took out the scythe and slashed at the ones behind, but he didn’t hit anyone.

As the force behind violin and sword vanished, the two cultivators found themselves falling forward, and Himo leaped toward them. He placed his hands on their chests as a wide smile grew on his lips. “It’s test time.” Before they could understand what he meant, an invisible platform appeared in front of each hand.

And the platforms sent a thrust against the armored men. The force lunged them against the wall, but it was far from enough to incapacitate them. Before that display, everyone halted and stared deeply at the child. At that moment, all of them regretted accepting the job.

“It’s a bit weaker than I thought.” Himo glanced at his hands and shook his head. He put the violin and the sword back in the storage and looked at Phylia. She was waiting by the corner of the hall.

“Phylia, feel free to kill them,” he said as he dashed away, “but don’t eat them!”

“Eat?” The group stiffened. They snapped their gazes to the slime, but their sight turned black before they could react.

While Phylia slaughtered the survivors, Himo dashed through the mansion, room by room, in search of the noble. And he soon found him. Wearing but a cuirass and white clothes, the noble was about to jump out of a window.

“You! How are you here?!” The noble paled. He grabbed his musket and aimed at the child. With no hesitation, he shot and jumped out of the window. But the child blocked the bullet and followed him outside. Before the noble could say another word, Himo kicked his nape.

The noble passed out.

“The capture has been cleared.” Himo grabbed the noble and threw him inside the window. He dragged him through a few white rooms before he found one that was painted in red—in blood. “Phylia, are you done?”

She popped out of a corner and nodded. Then, she passed him several storage rings.

"Good job!" Himo stroked her head.

As they walked out, he glanced at the devastation she brought.

Several corpses had turned into mincemeat as others were cleanly split in half. The few that had their bodies semi-intact held a few holes through their torso. Bloodstains had covered most white of the hall, not even sparing the ceiling.

Just how strong is she, exactly? His lips twitched as he opened the exit door. A street full of nobles greeted him on the street. The servant had vanished. Did he run?

A few nobles walked up to him and stared at the knocked-out noble dragged by the child. One asked, “Might I ask what happened inside?”

“A rebellion.” Himo stopped. “This guy hired tens of cultivators and attacked me as soon as I entered here. Therefore, I’m going to bring him to the royal palace to decide a punishment.”

“I-I see…”

-----

While Himo dragged the noble to the royal palace, a young man appeared inside of the deserted mansion. “What are you doing?” He stared coldly at three corpses—they each held a gawking wound on their chest. Two of them were the ones that hid in ambush behind the door.

“Damn.” One of the corpses spoke and stood up. He smiled and stretched his arms upward. “Putting aside the monster that follows him, your lil bro is quite strong for his age. I bet he’ll be fine in that academy.”

“Obviously.” The young man nodded. “He’s the type of person that can do it if he tries.”

“Heh.” A second one smirked. He sat beside the wall. “The path is long. As he is right now, he won't even get to the B."

The young man raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment on that. He looked at the third corpse. “Anyway, have you found what I asked for?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Staying sprawled on the floor, he took out three crystals from a storage ring he had hidden under the armor. “Here.”

“Thank you.”

“What thank you, it’s five hundred golds each. I'm gonna buy a present for my love tomorrow, it's gonna be a pricey one! Not yet sure on what kinda weapon it'll be though.”

The young man rolled his eyes and threw a storage ring to the corpse. “By the way, have you found out who is behind the scenes?”

“It’s just a few viscounts and an earl.” The third corpse snorted. “Why do you even care? Are you going to kill them? I’ll bet fifty golds that your brother’s actions has scared them already.”

“Kill them? That’d be too risky.” The young man glanced at him and shrugged.

While they talked, the second corpse walked up to a window in an adjacent room and looked at the street. “Don’t you think he might return?”

“Don’t be silly. What would he come here for?” The third one shook his head. He didn’t even bother to stand up.

“Oh, crap!” The second corpse widened his eyes. From the window, he could see Himo and Phylia walking through the streets. Behind them were several knights. And they entered the mansion.

“Quickly, quickly!” The corpses played dead, and the young man hid.

Followed by five knights, Himo walked in the hall. “Put the corpses in coffins and bring them to the royal courtyard. I’ll let my father decide what to do with them. After you’ve done that, come back here and clean the place.”

“Yes, Your Highness!” Following the order, the knights threw the corpses inside a wooden coffin each and stacked the coffins in a pile. Phylia looked at them as they did so. After a minute, they ran through the streets with the coffins on hands, aiming for the royal palace.

Left alone in the mansion, Himo strolled around the place, checking every drawer with a big smile on his face. “Where will the gold coins be?” He laughed. And Phylia helped in the search. Seeing their actions, the young man was speechless.

In the meantime, inside of the coffins.

Oh, crap! The three who acted as corpses felt like crying. What are we supposed to do now?!