Chapter 26 Fundraising and Assassins
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Late at night, sitting on the edge of the bed in my chambers, I let out a long, heavy sigh. The chill of the room seeped into my palms.
On the side table, about a hundred gold coins caught the moonlight, casting a lonely glow. That was all the money I could use freely.
A few hours ago, I had had more than enough war funds. Now, thanks to one night of wild spending, it was almost gone.
The huge capital I had set aside for the [Rebellion] plan—I had poured it all, recklessly, into buying two young girls. A dancer and a singer, sisters.
What the hell am I doing?
I like to think I am easygoing, the type who does not sweat the small stuff. But this blunder? I could not just brush it off. The leader of an organization pilfering from his own coffers and halting his own grand plan? That was not just a mistake; it was a disaster. The heavy rug in the bedroom seemed to soak up my self-blame.
Well, what is gone is gone. Brooding will not make money grow out of the floorboards.
”Anyway, I need to get more money.”
Right. First step: fix the finances.
I thought about the fastest ways to earn cash, then took a gold coin and gently tucked it into the deep, soft cleavage offered up before me.
Squish.
The cold metal sinking into warm skin traveled clearly through my fingertips. Lilia’s body heat seemed to pass into the coin.
”Um, Master… what is this?”
Before me stood Lilia, wearing her [bunny girl] outfit, holding up her full chest with both arms, looking thoroughly confused.
It was the dead of night. Any good child would have been long lost in dreams—Mina, my other [Dedicated Slave Maid], should have been fast asleep in her own room.
I pulled out another coin and dropped it into the valley again, then stated my brilliant idea.
”I am thinking of a new attraction for the theater basement. An event where customers pay tips by tucking gold coins into the chest of a bunny-girl Lilia. I will call it the ‘Boob Piggy Bank.’”
Silence filled the bedroom.
I watched Lilia’s large eyes shift from confusion to pity.
”Are you sane, Xenos-sama?”
She did not hesitate. Her voice was full of pity and confusion.
Only my [Dedicated Slaves] were allowed in this bedroom. I guess she had come to realize she was special to me. Only in this room did Lilia dare to speak her mind freely.
”You must have been under so much pressure… Oh, you poor, poor Master.”
Lilia even had tears welling up in her eyes. Her face was like that of a sad little animal. Seeing her serious concern, a flicker of guilt stirred in my chest.
Hearing her spot-on [tsukkomi] and heartfelt comfort, I felt my own head clear.
She is right.
With this method, there is no way I will ever get back the eight hundred thousand gold coins I blew at the auction. Maybe given years, but how long would that take?
…Wait.
I do not have to put it all on Lilia’s shoulders.
Right. I have plenty of trusted friends.
Mina, Lizel, Princess Elenor, and my fiancée, Cecilia. We can all work together.
But, sorry, Mina and Lizel’s chests are as flat as a plain. There is not even room to tuck a tip.
So I cannot count on them as assets…
Cecilia is “average,” which is a bit shaky. She does not have the explosive potential to earn vast sums.
That leaves… Princess Elenor and Lilia.
Two people will not be enough. The wall of eight hundred thousand gold coins is too high.
…No, wait.
I have two other new friends.
Those sisters I got at the auction. Fama and Leela.
I remember the younger sister, Leela, was flat-chested, but the elder sister, Fama, was quite well-endowed. She would be an asset.
With three of them—maybe.
All right, I will talk to them about it first thing tomorrow…
That was when it happened. In the deepest, quietest part of my mind, a faint warning sounded.
A prickling, ominous feeling raced down my spine. It was like the sound of glass shattering far away.
The [Grimlock Mansion] was full of top-tier security devices I had built myself, layered atop the old ones.
If a stranger broke the barrier around the vast estate, only I—the owner—and the guards in the barracks would know at once.
And if a stranger reached inside the mansion, a piercing alarm would sound, waking Mina and the others.
Lilia noticed my expression go blank.
”Master…? You are that worried about finances? I understand. I will do it. With this body, with this chest, I will earn you plenty of gold!”
Lilia puffed out her chest as if she had made up her mind. Her voice held genuine determination, and her eyes burned with loyalty.
I held a finger to her lips to silence her.
”It seems we have an intruder. Be quiet and wait here.”
At my commanding tone, Lilia nodded once. A flicker of anxiety—and, at the same time, a flash of certainty—crossed her eyes.
In the next instant, I vanished without a sound and [teleported] into the darkness of the garden.
The night garden was a study in deep contrasts between moonlight and shadow. In the silence, where even the sound of my boots on the lawn was swallowed up, the faint smell of earth tickled my nose.
Five figures stood on the grass, bathed in moonlight. Dressed in black, they melted into the darkness, but their presence was clear.
Good. They are together.
If it is like this, I can handle it alone.
All five intruders possessed a great deal of Mana. Their skill was on par with Prince Liam, Princess Elenor, or my fiancée, Cecilia.
In other words, these five intruders wielded Mana that was top-tier for humans in this world.
There was no way five such exceptional powerhouses would be here for petty theft.
They were not here to steal.
The moment I appeared, their killing intent surged. The air turned sharp and bit at my skin.
It was a cold, sharp feeling, like a honed blade pressed to the back of my neck.
”He just popped out of nowhere.” “—What is he?”
”Hey, this guy… he is the target.” “No Mana reaction. A ‘Zero’ loser, just like they said.”
”If we take him down, the Princess will…”
”Stick to the plan…”
Fragmented voices.
From their voices, all five were women.
And “the Princess,” hmm? It seemed they were a messy bunch with a dark background.
Well, fine. I could question them after I finished with them.
The Mana of all five erupted at once.
I felt the grass under my feet tremble in the flood of their power. The air shook, and the leaves on the trees far away rustled.
Blinding Mana gathered in the palms of all five.
It was a reckless way to draw upon it, as though they were burning their own life force as fuel.
Their faces twisted with pain and resolve.
A light bordering on madness flickered in their eyes.
(Hey, take it easy. If you push that hard, you are not walking away from this.)
The sharp command of “Attack!” from the woman who appeared to be the leader cut through the night’s silence. All five lunged at me at once, their hands fashioned into blades.
The sound of wind cutting through the air brushed my ears. In the corner of my vision, five shadows closed in. It was a perfect, inescapable, all-around assassination attempt. Dodging and blocking were impossible.
But I did not dodge.
I simply focused my mind and spread my [Magic Seal] in a circle.
Whoosh.
For an instant, all sound vanished from the world. A strange, quiet stillness, as if time had frozen.
The moment the huge Mana held in their hand-blades touched my field, it disappeared without a sound—like a drop of water hitting a red-hot iron plate.
I could see the blood drain from their faces.
Their desperate, all-out attack, fueled by their very life force, fizzled out just before it reached me. Stripped of their speed and their purpose, their attacks became nothing but pathetic, empty swings.
Carried by their momentum, they pitched forward. Exhausted and drained of every drop of Mana, all five collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
”…Won without even fighting.”
A night breeze swept through the silent, cold garden.
The moonlight turned their faces stark white. Their expressions seemed to hold a mix of despair and relief.
The end was so sudden I felt a slight sense of emptiness.
Notes:
• de – A particle used in the aristocratic name of the Margrave Albion de Blanchefort.
• Lilia – A voluptuous, mature maid and former slave, she serves Xenos with absolute loyalty, deep affection, and refined, sycophantic deference. Bearing a chest tattoo and nullified abdominal crest, she recently wore a glossy bunny suit or dancer’s outfit at his request. Exuding a sweet fragrance, she shares an intimate bond with him, tenderly caring for him and reacting sensitively to his mana testing.
• Mina – Kai’s younger sister is an innocent, childlike maid serving Xenos in the Grimlock household alongside Lilia. Separated from Kai after being sold to a slave trader, she is deeply loyal and affectionate to her master—even wearing a dancer’s outfit at his request due to her lack of adult subtext. Fearful of strangers, she has soft brown hair, anxious eyes, and an adorable white rabbit kigurumi.
• Xenos – Reincarnated as a hated, “Zero Mana” nobleman, the calm and calculating head of the Grimlock family masks his immense power behind a facade of incompetence. Using his deep knowledge of the game script, he manipulates the underworld and key figures like Mina to achieve his goals. He remains cold and strategic toward enemies while acting as a benefactor, currently forcing an annulment with his fiancée.
• Cecilia – The eldest daughter of the Vermillion Duchy is a noblewoman with burning crimson hair and cobalt-blue eyes. Cold and status-driven, she holds her fiancé, Xenos, in icy contempt due to his lack of magic and is desperately seeking an annulment. While secretly entangled with Prince Liam to become his concubine, her soul has already been subjugated and marked with Xenos’s crest.
• Elenor – Revered and publicly hailed as the ‘Saint of Light’, this Student Council President is a woman of noble determination. She possesses long, radiant blonde hair, sky-blue eyes, and a highly dignified, elegant posture. Even when held in captivity, her spirit remains unbroken, maintaining a resilient light of resistance.
• Lizel – A doll-like, graceful count’s daughter of the Blanchet family, this magic academy student has vivid pink hair, overwhelming wind magic, and a high-handed, volatile temper. Fiancée to Luca Dalton and Master to the purchased slave Kai, she acts as a bullying victim to be shielded from assault. Despite her tantrums and poor negotiation skills, she harbors hidden romantic feelings for Xenos.
• Fama – An elder sister from the desert kingdom of Zahara who possesses obsidian-black hair and is a skilled dancer.
• Leela – A younger sister from the desert kingdom of Zahara who possesses silver hair like moonlight and is a talented songstress.
• Grimlock – Xenos, heir to the influential Grimlock noble house, commands both the family’s prestigious military legacy and its vast financial assets in the Royal Capital. As the household’s head, he upholds his duty alongside his father, Gaius. Their deep bond is anchored in guarding the nation’s borders while leveraging their significant standing and credit to maintain the Grimlock name’s dominance.
• Liam – As the influential, idealistic First Prince and game protagonist, he leads with a calm, amused, yet detached demeanor. While engaged to Princess Elisabeth, he secretly loves Cecilia. Balancing complex political duties and personal desires, he actively opposes the Grimlock family’s war stance, rallying academy allies to his cause.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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