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The Dukedom of Vermion ..
One of the 5 dukedoms that managed the empire's economy and royal treasury.
Also known as the Vermilion of Gold.
It got that name from the domain it ruled. The region of Gold Irac was a region filled with gold and platinum, where the empire's currency was minted.
It was also a family of mages and closely related to the royal family.
Kanessa, who was a royal guest at one time, was asked by the emperor of Cindra to tutor the royal princess and prince of Vermion in magic..
Though she tried to refuse, she eventually accepted since it was the emperor who saved her from the earth dragons during the great war.
That's how she got to know the current head of the Vermion family, Lucas Vermion, a gifted ruler and a king-ranked magician.
Now both master and student are reunited..
Lucal Vermion, who went on a mining subjugation, returned to notice Kanessa at the border..
{lucas}.." Teacher, is that you?"
Lucas replied, getting off his horse..
Kanessa almost didn't recognize the red-haired man in front of him..
{kanessa}.."lucas?"
{lucas}.." Yes!... Teacher, it's me, that same troublesome Lucas, now grown up and become head of the Vermion family."
Feeling nostalgic, she removed her hood, showing her beautiful azure-blue hair and crimson eyes.
With a faint smile.
{kanessa}.." y-you changed a lot, lucas"
{lucas}.." I sure did!"lucas said proudly.."Teacher, don't just stand there! Let's head to the estate and talk there. It seems you have a lot to ask me."
{kanessa}.." Yes, I sure have a lot to ask."
Both left, leaving the confused knights to let their fantasies about the relationship between those two.
[Vemion family estate]
When they arrived at the estate of the Vermion family, the brilliant architecture of the Vermion's craftsmen swallowed them whole.
The whole estate can be considered a mini-kingdom, and a beautiful mansion covered in white shine and golden light came into view..
The sounds of the horses galloping and carriage wheels moving smoothly can be heard.
The gentle air brushing Kansas's hair as she looked out with amusement..
Lucas could only smile proudly seeing Kanessa.
The carriage came to a halt once it reached the gate...
The knights made a deep bow in front of the carriage..
They both entered the mansion.
The red-haired guy, Lucas Vermion, guided Kanessa to the office and made her sit on the sofa, and he sat on the opposite one facing her.
While sipping her tea with grace, she asked
{kanessa}.." So you defeated your asshole of a brother".
Lucas felt amazed as her words betrayed her posture, making clear what kind of person this 'asshole of a brother' is.
{lucas}.." No, he was executed."
The room fell silent..
{lucas}.." I'm sorry to upset your mood, but I have orders of confidentiality from the higher-ups."
Kanessa, ignoring it casually, sipped the tea the maid had placed on the table..
{lucas}.." Umm..for the change of topic..can you please state the purpose of your visit?"
Kanessa with a grim expression..
{kanessa}.." I want information about veldors."
{lucas}..."veldors?.."
Veldor is a noble family with two lineages. Roni Veldor of water and Sett Veldor wind...both are dukedoms ruling the western cindra and northern cindra regions.
{kanessa}.." especially about Navir Veldor".
Lucas fell into a deep thought and then answered..
{lucas}.." As far as I know, Navir Veldor was from the sett leniege of Veldors. At the age of 15, he ran away and became an adventurer at the Starmar Ranch branch of Western Cindra. As far as my knowledge goes, I only knew up to the fact that he married and settled in one of the villages of the Starman Ranch region."
{kanessa}.." That was more than enough. Thank you, Lucas!"
Kanessa...stood up, ready to leave..
{lucas}..." Can I know about this in further detail? You won't ask about a noble's details if you don't have a purpose."
Kanessa stopped in her tracks and turned toward Lucas.
Seeing his serious expression, she let out a sigh.
{kanessa}.." I will be blunt, Lucas...are you ready to hear this?..the scale of this information's confidentiality is on a world level... I ".
{lucas}.."world class confidentiality?"..
Seeing the not-so-ready Lucas Kanessa decided to leave.
{kanessa}.." goodbye..lucas"
Kanessa opened the door, and before leaving..
{kanessa}..." you will know it eventually".
The door closed softly as she left deep silence in the room she left.
Lucas, who was still in deep thought, snapped suddenly as if remembering something and began searching his desk for something.
Kanessa was walking down the stairs with her steps as silent as a cat.
Then the sound of boots hitting the floor caught Kanessa's attention as she looked back.
{lucas}..."TEACHER!"
Lucas, who was now trying to catch his breath from all the running, stopped her..
{lucas}.." You forgot this." Lucas said with his breath ragged, looking up, smiling.
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Kanessa stayed in the Ira city to load out her supply and try out their attractions, and buy some clothes.
The next day, she arranged a carriage to Starmar Ranch, along with a few escort adventurers sent by Lucas.
Who insisted that she shouldn't go alone...even though she is strong..
The night began to fade as the carriage set off early morning.
The two moons with different forms are still in the sky.
Kanessa left early to escape from Lucas's clutches...and suggestions about coming along.
The road to Starmarch wound through silver-leaf forests, the air thick with the scent of dew and moss.
Kanessa rode in the carriage alone with the escorts sent by Lucas, guarding the carriage on horses.
—
Holding the card in her hands, she recalled a scene that happened at the Vermion estate.
{a few hours ago}
When Kanessa is about to leave the estate, a running Lucas stops Kanessa.
{lucas}.." Teacher!..you forgot this.."
Lucas handed over a token to Kanessa.
{kanessa." First of all!.. calm down..now tell me what is this."
{lucas}.." This is a token. Place it on your guild card... some incidents are happening in Starmranch regarding demons, so they are restricting demons.
With this, you can pass the Starmranch border without a hassle."
[present]
Recalling the state Lucas is in when he handed over the token, she can't help but chuckle..
Her thoughts were broken by shouting ahead.
"Halt! Hand over your belongings!"
A trio of men emerged from the trees — bandits. Their blades glimmered with rust more than steel.
Kanessa didn't even slow down.
The escorts?..
Ah! they fled along with the carriage men..what a bunch of cowards.'' abandoning their client's.
She dropped out of the carriage and walked toward the bandits.
"Lady, we warned—"the bandit paused, looking at the beauty of Kannessa.
" You are a pretty one, aren't you!..if we sell you to the"
A flinch of her eye and a ripple wave of green light swept across the surroundings, illuminating the rocks she touched.
As she released her '[TRANCE OF ONI].
All bandits collapsed.
"What a waste of oxygen for people like you," she muttered flatly, her voice colder than her gaze.
But deep inside, she couldn't help but think about the words the bandit muttered.
"he mentioned slave trading isn't he?"
Everyone in the empire knows that slave trading is banned, and the penalty would be death by dismemberment.
"There is someone secretly selling slaves".
She used her tracing magic on one of the bandits.
And she applied protection to the carriage, which is now abandoned by the driver.
Then she followed the trace of the bandit left and reached a cave guarded by two men.
"It seems to be their settlement."
She immediately killed the two with pinpoint accuracy of her sword and placed the bodies in her item-space.
Then she headed inside. Most of the cave was filled with numbers and task boards, and weapons..
As she went deeper, she found it. The prison cells..
The scene almost made her angrier..
Slaves of all kinds of races, even kids, weren't an exception..
Most of them are women. The men were all children.
She moved deeper as she heard desperate cries of children and dead stares of some..
There was a gruesome scene of a child that almost made Kanessa throw up her insides..
She trembled seeing the scene, it...her trauma triggering.
Her anger was hitting its peak...
She instantly teleported the captured children and women..
And when she was staring at the scene before her at the entrance of the cave, a group of 30 men entered the cave.
"Boss, it seems the newbie team didn't make it... Back we found them collapsed on the road."
"Heh! Serves them right..they got what they deserved," another scoffed.
However, the boss remained calm, a bulky man carrying two other slaves had a smirk on his face.
"Today we are celebrating with these two."
The bandits cheered after the boss.
But as one was about to open the door, Kanessa, the door opened on its own.
He turned toward the bandit gang with a smile.
"Oh! It's open on its own. It seems I awakened as a mage-"
Before he could finish, he felt dizzy as he coughed up blood..
"wha-"
He looked down to see a hand holding a heart that was still beating...and a hand piercing his chest.
His eyes are getting covered in blood as he calls for help from his friends..
The arm that was piercing his heart suddenly dragged his heart from the other side, making him collapse on his back, revealing a figure covered in blood as it held the heart from the bandit..
Then she set the heart that was in her hand on fire..
The bandits, seeing her do that, collapsed. The boss was visibly shaken from the aura Kanessa was dispersing..
Dropping to his knees as the hostages in his arms hit the ground.
Kanessa, seeing that the hostage was teleported to the place where other slaves were, used teleportation magic.
Then she began walking forward, her aura making the bandits feel like they were in the presence of the demon king himself, shivering in despair. Few tried escaping..
Kanessa immediately lifted them and held each one together. Then she cast an earth spell.
Covering each bandit in a boulder of hard rock..
She said, her voice resounding.
The boulders began compressing the volume inside them. The compression to point-volume crushing each bandit...bones and blood getting absorbed by the rock, turning themselves into beautiful crystals..
Their cries of despair filled the air..
Then, suddenly, vanishing as each bandit was crushed to nothing.
Kanessa began moving toward the boss, who was literally pissing himself..
"Guys!!... Hey, who are you!! What was that? What did you do to them?"
Then she bent toward the boss with her face being both scary and her smile turning into an expression of disgust..
{kanessa}."It was an earth magic used by demons to convert monsters into magic crystals by encapsulating and crushing them. The magic absorbs their blood and bones to form a crystal."
She said, looking at the bandit boss. Telikinetically collecting the crystals made from bandits.
{kanessa}." This magic only works on two things. One is magic."
She got closer with her lips forming a straight line and her eyes focused.
{kanessa}.." other is humans who commit atrocities like this.."..
Kanessa said as she levitated the small, lifeless body of the tortured girl toward the boss — her eyes trembling with silent rage.
Showing the sin the bandits committed before properly cremating the body of the girl with magic fire.
She showed the beautifully shining crystals in her arms.
{kanessa}.." The shine of the crystal depends on the sin an individual committed...this means YOU ARE WORST AMONG BANDITS!!" she shouted..
"heek.. don't kill me.. don't kill me".
Seeing the begging bandits' boss, she got even closer with her crimson red eyes shining like an angry monster.
{kanessa}.." kill? No, no..you deserve even worse."
*beep*
Their conversation was interrupted by a sound..
Both of them looked at the source of the ringtones.
It was coming from the bandit boss's pocket.
The bandit boss tried to pick it up..
But Kanessa held the bandit boss's head down to the ground...and took the magic device..
Restraining the bandit boss, she picked up the call from the device.
"Hey, human! Is the stock ready or not? The dragon king's patience is running out."...
The other line went dead after those words ..
The phone was crushed by the brute strength of furious Kanessa..
The bandit boss, who was now set free, looked at Kanessa..
His face went pale, and he fainted...from the scary face Kanessa is making...
That was the scariest face Kanessa ever made and angriest she had ever been.
"Those damn dragons…" she hissed,
her voice trembling with absolute fury from the past that was caused by dragons.
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🔸END OF CHAPTER 14
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HAVE A NICE DAY ;)