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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Changing the Strategy
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I need to change my strategy.
The plan I'd come up with was actually pretty simple.
The Argent Family.
A group that gripped the underworld tight and boasted pride ranking among the continent's elite, mentioned ad nauseam even in the original story.
Those bastards get riled up the moment you poke them.
'How dare a damn illegitimate child...?'
That reaction was practically a national rule.
Conveniently, there was this Proxy Blood Fate system, and since scratching people's nerves had been one of my specialties since my past life—
If it didn't work, I was prepared to at least drag one of them down to the afterlife with me. I'd even borrowed a mana grenade from Evelyn for the occasion.
Evelyn's face when she first heard my idea was a sight to behold.
"A-Are you insane?! Lucas Argent?! That thing'll blow you up too!"
"I know. That's half the point of going in."
"Y-You crazy bastard...!"
Her expression was pure shock incarnate.
But men are creatures who would rather stand and die than kneel and live.
You need this kind of grit to throw down with the kind of scum who rule the continent's shadows.
And as expected, it played out perfectly.
The moment I set the stage according to plan, the heirs flew into a frenzy, Syl practically foaming at the mouth, and quite the spectacle unfolded.
Now, just one problem remained.
How would Family Head Agram Argent react?
Would that monstrous man rage? Try to tear me apart? Or brush it off with the same indifference as in the original story?
…None of the above.
"...Pfft."
"Pardon?"
"F-Family Head?!"
In that instant, the room wasn't filled with murderous silence or crushing pressure.
"Hoo... Hoo hoo hoo... Hahaha! HAHAHAHAHA!!"
A booming laugh that shook the entire mansion.
Not a vicious aura, but pure, explosive amusement.
The heirs' faces drained white, the attendants frozen as if forgetting to breathe.
And even I, who'd kept up with the latest updates on the original, was left speechless.
Because Agram Argent, the man called the 'Cold Reaper,' was laughing—genuinely laughing.
It was a face that had never appeared even once in the original story.
"Lucas Argent. When you win that bet, tell me what you want."
"Father! Y-You mean that bastard beat me?! That's absurd! I'll crush him for sure!"
"That's a given."
"...!"
Agram smirked, ever so faintly.
But it was a completely different kind from before.
A quiet, predatory chuckle, dry as ice.
Syl shattered the mood by butting in.
"Father! This conversation itself is—"
"Syl Argent."
In that moment, the air in the room froze solid again.
Agram's voice was as always—dry, cold, the epitome of absolute authority.
"You are an 'official heir' of the Argent Family. What meaning is there in a legitimate heir defeating a bastard?"
"I-I... That's not what I—"
"You beating Lucas should be as natural as breathing. That's why I'm not asking you right now."
Agram's gaze shifted back to me.
And it wasn't the mad cackle from earlier—this was genuine enjoyment.
"I'm asking him. What is it you want, enough to shatter the world's natural order?"
'Curiosity.'
That was the expression exactly.
Like he was sizing up a bastard he'd discarded and ignored his whole life, now suddenly speaking up, as if it were a sideshow.
"Speak, Lucas Argent. Why go to such lengths, shaking family traditions over a single slave girl in your arms? Was it 'your father's attention' you craved that badly?"
"...What bullshit."
"Hm?"
"You're not expecting some 'Yessir, Daddy, I just wanted your attention~' crap here... are you?"
"Hoo."
Having lived as a doctor and dissected every manner of human, I knew this type all too well.
The ones who'd grasped everything from childhood.
Desire, pleasure, power—all tasted too early, leaving every worldly thrill bland.
Chasing ever stronger highs until they became hollow monsters feeling nothing.
To such scum, children were mere mounts for succession, the family a playground for a bored emperor.
And now, that monster had spotted the bastard baring teeth defiantly before him for the first time, eyes alight with long-forgotten excitement as he looked at me.
"Lucas Argent!!"
"Insolent! That mouth in front of the Family Head—!"
Wolfram and Seratina exploded.
Furious at seeing a half-breed like me chattering away before their father, whom they tiptoed around their whole lives.
But they only bristled impotently before me.
The moment Agram turned his head, they tucked tail, faces frozen.
"I'm speaking right now."
"B-But Family Head!"
"We... that thug...!"
"Quiet."
One word.
That single word made the siblings swallow hard in unison.
"Anyone who opens their mouth without my permission in this room... will face the ultimate punishment, no matter who they are."
A threat that chilled the blood.
Ruthlessness without hesitation, even toward his own children.
That was the monster called Agram Argent.
I thought to myself.
'A side never seen in the original. But... this guy's way more useful than I thought.'
Eyes like a child discovering a new toy.
But beneath them, not human—pure predator instinct.
Then I'll just pull that instinct my way.
"The reason I demanded Proxy Blood Fate is simple."
"Speak."
"It pissed me off."
"...What?"
"That little shit was throwing tantrums relying on family backing. No real skill, just strutting on authority—it was disgusting. I figured turning him into a retard was fair play, so I picked a fight."
In that instant, the four heirs stopped breathing.
I spat out the rest regardless.
"When you want to fuck someone up, do you really need some grand justification?"
At that moment—
Agram's eyes lit up slowly, surely, like a child finding the 'perfect toy.'
"Ha... Hahaha! Yes, exactly. Not content with touching their slave first, you even try to dispose of him in his absence—naturally you'd want to kill him."
"F-Father?"
"Hoo..."
Agram tapped his temple with a finger.
"So you chose 'Proxy Blood Fate' as the legal path to strike at blood ties... is that it?"
"Yes. Precisely. Date: exactly one month from now. Location: the knight training grounds under Wolfram's management. No objections there?"
I nailed down the date and place like I'd been waiting.
No dragging this out. Strike while the iron's hot.
"Lucas Argent."
Agram looked at me again.
"If you lose... it's the original plan. Locked in a sunless cell, kept alive but barely until adulthood. Any objections?"
"None at all."
I grinned.
"But if I win, forgiveness is baseline, plus fitting 'compensation.' No issue?"
"Of course."
The words had barely fallen when—
The four heirs' faces twisted in unison.
As if someone had throttled their throats all at once.
Especially Syl.
The little twerp who'd face me had her face swell beet red like a persimmon, biting her lip until it pierced flesh and a red droplet trickled down her chin.
Shaking with rage... well, spirit's good.
But per Proxy Blood Fate rules, to ensure a fair duel, all contact between the two combatants is forbidden during prep time.
Meaning for the next month, she couldn't lay a finger on me no matter how much she raved.
'Keep chewing that lip, kid.'
That's the only 'counterattack' you can manage right now.
I sneered inwardly and pulled out my next demand.
"Oh, and one more thing. That crumbling annex I live in—mind supporting it ahead of time?"
This time, Seratina's head snapped up.
"...What?"
"Proxy Blood Fate is fundamentally under 'equal conditions,' right? But reality?"
I jabbed a finger toward Syl as I spoke.
"One side gets nourishing meals from top chefs, slave trainers on 24/7 standby, heir-exclusive bedrooms with feather beds softer than clouds. Meanwhile me?"
No need to say it.
"Servants siphoning 'family funds' every chance they get, cooks stealing ingredients while flapping their mouths... starting from that rundown annex~."
Silence.
Then, slicing through it, Agram's low, sunken voice rang out.
"...Embezzling family assets? From within our house?"
Thud—
Killing intent shot from the Family Head's fingertips.
The subtle amusement from moments ago vanished without a trace.
As if half the oxygen in the room had evaporated, the air collapsed in an instant.
Windowpanes cracked with a faint hiss. Invisible pressure crushed the entire room.
The four heirs took the brunt.
Especially Seratina, who'd planted her people in my annex—her knees buckled, collapsing to the floor trembling.
Even watching that, I felt... a sick thrill rising amid the terror.
Because that killing intent wasn't aimed at me.
Agram's voice came slow, but sharp as a blade, each word clipped.
"Someone coveted the Argent Family's finances... from inside our own home?"
His gaze pierced Seratina.
"The servants in Lucas's annex. All planted by you, weren't they?"
"I-I'll confirm immediately!"
"And?"
"...! I'll handle it swiftly, Family Head..."
Even then, Agram's expression didn't waver.
Just calm, as if issuing the natural judgment for a natural crime.
But that calm was all the more terrifying.
Agram was a monster numb to emotion, but the instant anything of his shrank, he revealed 'rage' clearer than anyone.
And today, I got to witness firsthand how the trash leeching off my surroundings like parasites would be 'handled' before that monster.
So-called Argent-style blood purge.
I'd earned myself a front-row ticket to that bloody festival.
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