âAhh.â Victor woke up to Lily stumbling away from him in embarrassment. She had just tried to stealthily kiss his forehead but ended up waking him up.
âGood morning Lily,â He said as he opened his eyes and realized that she was dressed and ready to go⊠he didnât feel her movements at allâŠ. This girl's sneaking skills are being put to good use.
âGood morning young masterâŠ..I am sorry, ⊠I didnât mean to wake you upâŠ.â She said with a blushing face.
âItâs still 5.00 Am⊠Where are you going this early?â He asked, looking at his phone.
âAh⊠I forgot to report⊠Yesterday, my sisters and I found a good location for a secret base. It is a smuggler's hideout by the coastâŠ. we'll be raiding that place in a few hoursâ She said, making Victor frown⊠Vein city was not a coastal city.
âWhere is the hideout? Do you need any help?â He asked.
âIn a fishing village next to Termia City to the south of hereâŠ. It is about five hours by car. So I have to head out straight away to make it in time. And those guys are amateurs⊠If we donât make use of them now, some other group will do that sooner or later.â She said with confidence.
âThen go. And be careful.â He said, hiding his concern. He considered accompanying her, but he should let her do her own missions. She needs to grow stronger by herself.
âUnderstood.â She said as she turned around to leave but was pulled back by Victor who grabbed her arm then Pinned her to the bed and kissed her lips.
âIf you want to kiss this young master you just need to ask for it. Donât steal it like a thief.â He said after letting her go.
âAh⊠Understood.â The blushing Lily said, catching her breath as she ran out of the room.
After that Victor returned to his beauty sleep⊠That was until some piece of sh*t called his phone waking him up
âDear Kai⊠This better is important.â Victor responded with difficulty⊠He didnât get enough sleep last night.
âYoung master⊠Itâs Bill. He left his post at Remal City and is heading west⊠Toward Vein city. He made sure no one knew⊠but thanks to your early warning we discovered him sneaking in the train station a few hours ago.â Kai said, making Victor wake up instantly.
âAre you using private men or family agents?â Victor asked.
âFamily agents. The range of the stakeout was too big for a private teamâ Kai responded.
âThen stop following him. I donât want the family to know about thisâŠWe already know his destination anyway.â Victor said with a frown⊠Too bad he hasnât built his own team yet.
Liliâs sisters were busy with the assassins guild creation, while the girls Alpha was training were still rookies.
âI Understand,â Kai replied.
âIs that all?â Victor suddenly asked, feeling as if Kai had something else to report.
âYoung master⊠There is something not right in the familyâŠ. the atmosphere is wrong... Yesterday, Elder Sam was killed by another elder while they were arguing about succession in the family.â Kai said.
âIs he important?â Victor asked⊠As far as he knows, that elder Sam was just some useless boot-licker. Wasnât he the one the dark chamber wanted Dick to kill?
âHe is not important at all⊠But the one who killed him was one of the patriarch's main assistants⊠So the situation is tricky now that the punishment hall is interfering while the patriarch is protecting his man...â
Victor frowned. The situation was deteriorating faster than he expected⊠Those guys are advancing their plans rapidly. But he was still too weak right now. He could only try his best to dodge bullets as they came.
Maybe he should shake things a littleâŠ.. But what he wanted to do canât be traced back to him.
âHow was it done?â Victor asked.
âI am sorry young master, I donât knowâŠâ Kai replied.
âThen spread a rumor that this is a setup, and the real killer was Samâs daughter-in-law. It was her definitely.â Victor said.
âHow does the young master know?â Kai asked with some doubt.
âJust do as I tell you.â Victor scolded then hung up the phone as Mina was knocking on his door. It was time for breakfast.
âŠ
Sitting at the table with the girls, as usual, Victor looked at Alex who was adjusting her skirt while avoiding looking at him.
âAlex⊠You must know that Itâs ok to be gay⊠And I really appreciate your feeling. But you must understand that it is impossible for anything to happen between us,â Victor told her with a sigh making Alex look at him strangely With a surprised lookâŠ.
âYoung master⊠I am notâŠâŠ.â Alex said then stopped after realizing that Victor misunderstood his confession yesterdayâŠ. Wouldnât it be better this way?
âItâs not that I donât Like you⊠I don't discriminate after allâŠAnd you are very prettyâŠ. But I have an image to keep.â Victor said with a sigh, making Alex blush as she lowered her head.
The girls looked at Alex with their eyes wide open. They finally figured out why Victor cared about Alex and why Alex didnât look at them as other men did.
It seemed that he didnât like girls at all, and probably only had the super handsome Victor in his eyes.
Margret on the side was having a hard time muffling her laughter. The young master is so bad⊠But why is he always bullying Alex? Her instinct was telling her this was not for fun, as Victor never did unreasonable things.
âNow⊠Today I am planning to go on a field trip to the villages around the secret base⊠I am sure most of you have already heard about it from Theta.â He said smirking as Theta lowered her head in embarrassment⊠When Victor was in a coma the girls forced her to tell them the entire story of the secret base and the chicks.
âI will be going there today⊠So, Margaret, Alpha, and Alex would accompany me.â He said.
âCan I not go? I have some things to do.â Alpha said⊠She didnât explain clearly to the girls what she was doing.
âAlright⊠Theta would go instead. âVictor said.
âBut⊠Young master⊠She had lessons.â Hilda said.
âItâs ok, I really need her this time,â Victor said⊠He needs a lot of luck as he intended to locate the dungeon the knowledge book informed him about. Hopefully, it is still closed. âDid you learn from Alpha about the array? â He asked Hilda.
âYoung masterâŠI have already been informedâŠâ Hilda said making him nod
âBe sure to be familiar with its usage â He said as he continued to eat⊠His instinct was telling him that the current piece was the silence before the storm⊠But he didnât know how and from where it would blow.
âYoung master⊠Can I change back to a manâs cloth?â Alex asked⊠Getting out of the mansion with this is a little bitâŠ. embarrassing.
âNo,â Victor said sternly, making Margaret chuckle again.
..
After finishing his meal, Victor got dressed by the twins who wanted to also go with him but had cleaning duties in the mansion. Hilda was never tolerant of tasks negligence
âI will take you two another time,â Victor said after seeing the yearning look in their eyes⊠He really had fun with them yesterday and wanted to go on a special date with them.
âŠ
The car left the mansion at 10.00 AM with Alex acting as the driver while Victor enjoyed his time with Margaret and Theta in the back, making Alex really jealous every time she heard their laughter.
âYoung master⊠Why do you always bully AlexâŠ. I think he is really nice.â After some time Theta naively asked the question that Margret and poor Alex were dying to ask.
âAhhh. Well, donât tell anyone.â Victor whispered, making Theta nod.
âThe truth isâŠ.I really like him⊠But I am afraid that if I treat him nicely he will really love me too⊠And we would end up doing dirty things⊠then my family would have to kill him to erase the shame⊠I am doing this to keep him by my side without problemsâŠ. It is for his own good.â Victor whispered in a soft whisper that Margret couldnât hear despite her being literally stuck to Victor.
âI see,â Theta said with a blush, not realizing that Alex who was driving was blushing too⊠She heard everything thanks to her super-high attributes.
âSo he was doing this for meâŠ..â She thought as her eyes became dreamyâŠ.
âFOCUS ON THE ROAD, YOU IDIOT.â Victorâs voice came from the back alerting her⊠She almost hit a truck.
âŠ
They reached the mountain base at 1.00 PM. where Chick 17 was waiting for him with the others.
âYoung master.â The chicks saluted in respect as a fanatic light shone in their eyesâŠ.
âHow is everything here?â Victor asked as he saw a few mounds of dirt around the base.
We have started digging through the mountain. We found a good engineer who agreed to work for us without knowing the specification⊠We had to pay him handsomely though, and we recruited many workers from some far-away villagers. We locked them inside the mountain⊠They would work in two weeks shifts. Some of them tried to make trouble, but after some threats they became obedient....â Chick 17 said.
âYou seem troubled,â Victor asked.
âYes, young master⊠The costs are increasing⊠We would need more money soon.â Chick 17 replied.
Victor frowned⊠He would need some private finances for this as he wanted his activities here to stay out of the family's books⊠Maybe he should raid some targets or sell some System treasureâŠ.
âI will find a way... â Victor asked.
âDoes the young master want to see the reporter?â Chick 17 asked.
âNo⊠I want you to tie her up and make sure that there is an escape route. I plan to play the hero who saves the beauty with her.â Victor said.
âBut⊠Young masterâŠ. She doesnât look like the easy-to-fool typeâŠâ Chick 17 said.
âDonât worry about her, I have my methods,â Victor said as he continued to check the base and give instructions on what to add. âAh⊠her partnerâŠ. Drug him heavily.â Victor added.
âUnderstood.â
âI will send you some detailed plans in a few days⊠For now, continue with what you are doing. I will return here at dawn. Make sure that the security appears tight⊠I want this to be a good show. â Victor said, leaving the base.
âŠ
âIs that it?â Margret asked Victor when they returned to the car.
âYes. Letâs go to the village.â He said
âUnderstood. I will guide the way.âMargret said as Alex started the car.
The Village was about 30 Minutes away driving on dirt roads. It was a very depleted farming village.
Getting out of the car Margret was greeted by glares from the villagers. Although they agreed to sell her the mountain in the end⊠They didn't like her at all⊠she is a witch.
Victor didnât care about them, he just left the car with the girls and Alex, who was really embraced and had difficulty walking with high heels.
While Theta who was dressed in boy's clothes that didn't hide her gender at all was more comfortable.
Under the villagers' scrutinizing eyes, Victor with his charming entourage, headed to the mayorâs house⊠it was burnt to the ground.
âWhat happened here?â Margret asked.
âAh⊠The mayor took all the money and ran away. So the villagers vented on his house...â An old man hatefully said as the villagers looked at Margret with hate⊠the mayor conspired with the village treasurer and stole everything. It was all because of this witch.
They really wanted to demand more money⊠But the last time they did that, Margret brought those burly men who taught them a good lesson⊠so they didnât dare make trouble.
âI want to ask about your village's wine. What is it made of?â Victor asked, not really expecting an answer.
âItâs a secret.â The old man replied sternlyâŠ
âHow much is the price of this secret?â Victor asked.
âItâs not for sale.â The man replied.
âEven if I paid you 1 Million Dollars?â Victor asked making the man open his eyes wide and then shake his head.
âDon't tempt me..... A secret is a secret. This man's honor is not for sale.â The old man said proudly as the Villagers around him nodded, not noticing the signal the old man was giving Victor.
He was flashing his ten fingersâŠ. He wanted 10 MillionâŠ
âI understandâŠOur trip was uselessâŠâ Victor said, âThen I guess I will just go out of the village to enjoy the rural atmosphere. Maybe take some pictures near the intersection... There is a big old oak there.â He said returning to the car and telling Margaret to head out of the village and then stop at the oak near the first intersection.
âŠ
âUncle Black You did the right thing. That young man told us not to tell anyone about the magical grass. He said that he would pay us handsomely once he found a buyer.â A young villager said.
âHe said that he would pay each villager 1 Million. This young master is a fool if he thought we would agree to take only 1 Million and split it between all of us.â He added
âI know.â The old man said, âI will go fishing to clear my mind⊠That bastard Mayor taking the money was a real shock⊠What a traitor.â
âYes... â The villagers who were watching nodded in agreement.
âYou fools, I will sell the secret then escape with the money as the mayor did⊠HE He He⊠I heard there is a pretty widow with a lot of debt in my son-in-law's native village⊠I will go there and enjoy lifeâŠâ Uncle black thought as he left the village.
âŠ
When Uncle Black reached the oak tree out of town 30 minutes later the place that was usually desolate was crowded with his fellow villagers. And that young master was nowhere to be seen.
âWhy are all of you here?â Uncle black asked around as his face turned black...
âWeâŠ. We just came here to chase that young master out⊠â
âYes⊠We canât trust that bastard.â
âYes⊠No matter how much he pays us.â
âFor the Village.â
âI am here to enjoy the views throughâŠâ
âCold beveragesâŠ. a bottle for 2 dollarsâŠâ
âThenâŠ. How long should we be waiting here?â
âWait, is there anyone missing here?â
âNo⊠Wait a minuteâŠ.. I will count the villagers.â
âEveryone is here, boss.â
"I feel someone is missing.... "
"No... Everyone is here, I checked twice... Where is El?"