Rebirth Of The Bastard Spirit Summoner

Darell arranged his suit coat with a detached expression, staring at himself for a few seconds before turning away from the mirror.

Today was the day he was to begin his journey to the southern way stone as per agreement with the echo.

"I hate traveling."

Leaving the comfort of his home and his personal guard was the one thing Darell loathed the most, and yet here he was about to do exactly that.

Because of the nature of his business at the way stones, he had decided to go with only a few guards, people that would not hesitate to stand between him and an arrow.

The door to the room creaked open and one of his maids stepped in, a young woman he recognized as Eva... the knight commander's daughter.

"Good evening, my lord," she said before walking deeper into the room.

"Good evening, Eva, how can I help you?"

"The carriage is ready, sir."

"Is that so?" Darell smiled and took a step away from the window, then he walked towards his desk and picked up a cigar.

"I'll be there soon…"

The girl bowed and was about to leave when Darell stopped her.

"Eva?" He called out, his eyes locked on the drawer in front of him. "Be a dear and call Kaeri for me."

The girl nodded and left the room.

A few minutes later, there was a light knock on the door.

"Come in!"

Kaeri walked into the room, but immediately she did, her eyes widened and she was about to step back when Darell's command froze her in place.

"Stop! Shut the door behind you."

Like a puppet, she snapped the door shut and walked a little deeper into the room.

Unlike a few minutes ago, the room was blanketed in a thick layer of smoke, the arduous smell of tobacco infiltrating the entire space.

Kiera coughed, her discomfort clear on her face.

"Respiratory illness is a terrible thing, isn't it?" Darell chuckled before picking up a glass of liquor.

Then his jovial laugh completely ceased and he fixed his cold eyes on her. These days he was looking more and more tired, it was hard to sleep knowing that at any second there could be a knife in your back…

That was why he needed those slaves…

Darell shook off those thoughts and focused on the girl in front of him, the traitor.

"So tell me, how far have you gone with your plans to kill me?"

Kaeri's eyes widened, and her fingers tightened at her side until her knuckles were white. She most likely experiencing intense pain resisting his question.

Darell simply sipped his drink and watched her fall apart.

To his surprise, she actually lasted long enough. It was strange…

The slave mark was so powerful that some commands would automate her actions, and yet there were commands that simply compelled the slave through pain.

'Defective shit.'

Even when she started bleeding through her nose, she still resisted.

"Want to play tough, huh?"

There were a few commands that could not be disobeyed, things the slave traders had focused on amplifying for their safety…

He pulled out a dagger and tossed it at her. Kaeri snatched it from the air before it could do any damage and glared at him, her gaze murderous.

Not like it mattered, a slave could not harm their master.

"Kaeri dear, shall we play a game?"

The elf's green eyes glistened with forming tears and her face mirrored her concern. The way she watched him… like he was the devil himself.

Darell did not like it.

He scratched his head, the tone of his voice low as he muttered to himself.

"Everyone acts like I'm some sort of fucking beast. Am I the first one to go after my ambitions? Those bastard nobles look at me like a traitor, but they would have done the same!"

Shouting in anger, Darell pushed everything on his table to the floor, the bottle of wine shattering and staining the ground red.

Then he glanced at Kaeri and smiled.

"For each question you leave unanswered, you will stab yourself twice. Don't worry, we have a healer on standby."

Her body vibrated as she tried to run, but no matter how much she did, her body simply wouldn't move.

Darell smiled. "How do you plan to kill me, dear?"

A short pause… a second passes… five seconds…

Kaeri lifted the dagger and plunged it right into her stomach, her scream filling the room a second later.

•••

Caylus, dressed in his full knight armour, left the main estate, and strode into the servant's quarters, his eyes searching for someone.

Anyone that passed him bowed low in greeting, no one willing to ignore the stalwart knight. He replied to their greeting with a smile.

When he arrived at the estate, he was met by the chief maid Adeline.

The woman smiled at the sight of him, her cheeks reddening slightly as she glanced at what she was wearing.

She was not in her usual maid uniform, but a light, loose fitting garment, likely because she was on her break.

"S-sir, I didn't know you were coming," she blurted, not meeting his gaze.

"I would have dressed up…" she said, her voice low.

Caylus laughed heartily and tapped her shoulder, making the redness of her cheeks deepen even more.

"I'm just here to see Eva before I leave, don't worry about me."

He walked past the woman and entered the house, climbing the stairs until he got to his daughter's room.

Knock knock

"Who is it?" came a voice from inside.

"It's me."

Bam!

Caylus heard something fall on the other side of the door. "Are you okay?"

There was a sound of rustling and hurried steps. "Yea, yea, I'm perfectly fine. Just give me a second!"

Then the door snapped open shortly after, with Eva, who looked as though she had just run a marathon, smiling at him.

Caylus stepped inside the room and placed a finger on his chin as he observed it.

"I'm surprised, you actually managed to clean your room—"

His eyes stopped at her closet. The damn thing looked like it was a second away from exploding, and just like he had anticipated…

Boom!

The closet erupted, spitting out everything that had been stashed in it, just like the way she would spit out food as a child.

Caylus ran his hands through his face while his daughter began to whistle, a bead of sweat dripping from the side of her face.

He sighed. "We'll talk about this later. I'm about to leave, make sure you take care of Adeline, you know she's a bit of a klutz."

"Only when she's around you, though…" Eva said, her voice too low for Caylus to pick up.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing…"

Caylus gave his daughter a look before ruffling her hair. "I'll be back soon, don't miss me too much!"