◈ REAPER SCANS ◈
Translator: Regressed Translator
Editor: leef
Discord: https://dsc.gg/reapercomics
◈ Return of the Disaster-Class Young Lord ◈
Chapter 29 | The Uninvited Guest (3)
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“So, they’re basically bandits, right?”
“That’s right.”
“And these two… they’re awakened?”
“Yup. The lizardman is a Brawler, and the goblin is a Petty Thief. Apparently, they’re from the Dragon Bandits.”
“I see. I’ve heard of them,” Kettlik said, nodding.
He rubbed his hands together in glee as he gazed at the twenty-odd bandits bound in thick rope, whom Dion and Arsha had brought in with the help of a few slaves.
“Kekeke! In any case, I’m glad you came to see me. When it comes to criminal slaves, I’m quite the specialist.”
“I know. So let’s see you pay a specialist’s price.”
“Of course, I’ll give you a fair deal. But… how much were you expecting?”
“I haven’t looked into it at all.”
“You haven’t?!”
“Nope. But I believe a swindler like you won’t stoop to the kind of slave traders who scam their customers and rip them off, right? That would be worthy of a hanging.”
“…O-of course not. Absolutely not. Kettlik here is an honest merchant to the core.”
And so, Kettlik ended up purchasing the bandits at more than twice the usual price. He couldn’t help feeling crestfallen.
Still, that feeling didn’t last long.
Once Dion and Arsha left with a hefty pouch of mana stones, Kettlik began to chuckle.
Well, in the long run, getting two awakened slaves at this price is still a win.
Awakened slaves were rare enough, but it was even better when they were criminals—slaves that could be ruthlessly worked to the bone. Add to that the rest of the bandits, all healthy and strong, and they should be easy enough to sell as well.
Yes, criminal slaves could be stubbornly uncooperative, but that depended on how they were educated. Even if this first deal was a net loss, with the right training, they could be resold at a premium.
By the way… those slaves that bratty young master brought in... They looked like the ones I sold him, but then again, I only ever sold him no-good trash. Yet these new slaves all seem a bit too lively for that…
Kettlik wavered for a moment.
Well, it’s none of my business once they’re sold off, is it?
Still grateful he’d managed to profit a bit from dealing with Dion, Kettlik beamed with satisfaction.
…At least, he did until that day.
The next day…
“Hello there, swindler geezer.”
“W-Welcome! So, what brings you here today? Did you forget something?”
“What else? I brought more slaves to sell.”
“…More slaves?”
“Yep, this batch calls themselves the Scar Bandits. Three of them are awakened, so I’m expecting at least as good a price as last time.”
“A-Ah, sure. That shouldn’t be a problem.”
Another 33 criminal slaves were sold.
On the third day…
“Don’t tell me… today as well…?”
“I knew you’d guess it right, swindler geezer!”
“W-Well, in general, if someone buys a lot of goods in bulk, there’s usually a discount or something, you know. A bit of a wholesale price, if you get my drift…”
“But you’ll still pay the full price for my products, right? Since we go way back.”
“…Actually, that’s—”
“What was that?”
“…O-Of course, yes, absolutely.”
Another 40 criminal slaves.
That same afternoon…
“But you were just here a little while ago! Why are you back so soon?!”
“We stepped out for a moment, but more bandits showed up in the meantime, so we captured them. Thought I’d sell them while they’re still fresh.”
“You talk as if slaves are produce! Criminal slaves can just be tossed in a cellar and starved for a few days!”
“Eh, that’ll only lower their value.”
“V-Value…”
“So, let’s settle up at full price again, please.”
Kettlik stood there in shock.
Another nine criminal slaves.
And by the end of the week…
“H-How many is it this time…?”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but there aren’t any awakened ones in this batch. It wasn’t a proper bandit crew this time.”
“O-Oh, is that so?!”
“Yeah, just a hundred or so random thugs gathered from here and there.”
Kettlik stood frozen, his mouth ajar.
“Well? Aren’t you going to pay?”
“Y-Young Master…? I hate to admit this, but my purse is running a bit light these days. I don’t think I can possibly afford to buy more slaves at full price.”
“Really? That’s unfortunate.”
“It is, indeed! So if it’s all the same to you, perhaps you could try another slavemonger—”
“No problem, then. I’ll let you pay in installments.”
Kettlik couldn’t help but laugh in shock.
“We’re good friends, so I’ll only charge a 1% compound interest rate. Go ahead and buy them with peace of mind.”
Another 100 criminal slaves.
And that was how, in just one week, Kettlik’s warehouse filled to the brim with hundreds of criminal slaves—while his coffers emptied out. His balance sheet dipped into the red, and the installments he owed ballooned.
Most of all, when he did the math on the time, effort, and costs he’d have to invest to properly “educate” these hundreds of criminals…
Kettlik muttered like a hapless victim who had unknowingly bought “bargain goods,” only to end up scammed with a mountain of unsellable stock—now mired in debt:
“…Maybe I should sell off some organs?”
◈ REAPER SCANS ◈
Translator: Regressed Translator
Editor: leef
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“Are you doing this on purpose… by any chance?”
“What do you mean?”
“Selling these bandits only to that slave merchant.”
“Yes, exactly.”
“…Is there any need to endure the losses just to do that?”
“There is.”
Arsha tilted her head. While Kettlik was indeed paying high prices, Dion also let him buy on installments and credit. At some point, it had to cross into a net loss. Yet Dion, unruffled, continued.
“I’m hoping that swindler geezer won’t be able to pay off his installments.”
“And that would be good…?”
“A slavemonger turned slave himself. Don’t you think that’s got a lot of potential to be sold at a premium?”
Arsha stared at him.
“All right, maybe ten percent of that was a joke,” Dion added with a smirk.
Which only meant ninety percent was serious. Arsha didn’t dare ask for clarification.
“Right now, we need reputation more than we need money,” Dion said cheerfully.
“…For that ‘business’ you mentioned before?”
“Yup. If I want those who own what I need to come knocking on my door, I must first make a name for myself.”
“Though no matter how shrewd they are, I wonder how many could guess your real aim.”
“If none do, that’s fine. Anyone who can’t figure that much out isn’t worth my time.”
“A plan you can just toss aside if it fails? Since when did you become such a dangerously irresponsible scoundrel?”
“Don’t worry too much. I have plenty of backups if it doesn’t pan out.”
Whether that was in a good or bad sense, Dion’s plan turned out to be right on target.
As the goblin slavemonger sank further into debt, desperately selling the bandits he had just bought, rumors began to circulate throughout the Unnatural City.
“What? The Dragon Bandits, the Tunnel Gang, and even the Black Silver Bandits all got taken out?”
“No way. Plenty of them are awakeners, so how did they get nabbed so easily?”
“Sure, maybe they were careless, but they wouldn’t have fallen so quickly raiding a mid-tier domain… especially without a fight…”
All sorts of murmurs flitted through the populace.
Certainly, everyone in Unnatural City already knew the white-masked young lord’s name and fame. But that was just one person’s renown.
Unless they had a specialized summoner-type class that tamed monstrous allies, even a high—level awakener would have a hard time defending an entire domain alone. Actually, even a skilled summoner couldn’t fend off large-scale bandits all by themselves.
So the fact that he caught hundreds of bandits, down to the last one, was proof of something.
The white masked young lord wasn’t just a lucky individual. He possessed a considerable private force at his disposal.
“Guess it’s true he hails from one of the Hundred Great Houses?”
“And if he isn’t, who’d call him on it? He’s clearly from some noble lineage, at the very least.”
“Tsk, tsk. I just feel bad for the fools who rushed in first, believing all those rumors.”
From then on, no more bandit crews tried their luck at the Sleeping Dragon Manor. Word had spread—thanks to those “pioneers” who paid the price—that the manor was no easy prey.
And so, the wave of bandit raids ended as little more than a farce triggered by wild rumors, and the manor found peace once again…
Or so they thought.
“What?”
“Those guys from the Sleeping Dragon Manor are out hunting wanted criminals now?”
“Is the white masked young lord suddenly getting a kick out of capturing people and selling them off?”
Both nobles and commoners—even outlaws themselves—reacted in confusion.
After all, your average wanted criminal was usually just some petty murderer who killed a few commoners and fled. They weren’t worth the time and manpower it would take for a noble—especially a lord in another territory—to chase down.
So most assumed it was just a quirky hobby or maybe a show of force after that fiasco with the bandit attacks.
That is, until the list of wanted criminals they had captured was revealed.
“…They took out the Bloodied Killer? That serial murderer?”
“How’d they track down that Silent Shade Sorcerer who vanished like a ghost?”
“They bagged the Half-Troll Brothers, who ruled the underworld on the sixth floor? Even the city guards never touched them…”
Over a dozen dangerous criminals had been slain or captured by the Sleeping Dragon Manor. Among them was even a 3-star awakened. Naturally, Unnatural City was turned upside down once more.
Yes, by now, everyone knew that the white-masked young lord wasn’t a pushover. Still, it was shocking to see so many well-hidden, high-value bounties captured in just a few days—individuals whose identities and locations were strictly concealed.
Of course, the logical assumption was that some private intelligence network or special information-type ability had made it possible. If anything, that only deepened the shock for local nobles.
A rumored connection to the Hundred Great Houses, real achievements in an official Succession Contest, enough power to defend a domain, and now an incredible intelligence network besides.
If all that were true, then the white-masked young lord and his manor boasted capabilities beyond a typical mid-level domain.
Should he continue to expand—or worse, form an alliance by marrying the Disaster Bride and bonding with the lord of Fallen Wolf City—that would seriously rattle the region’s power structure.
Predictably, the most alarmed of all were the remaining wanted criminals.
Thus, every move of the Sleeping Dragon Manor was watched with keen vigilance.
But obviously… not everyone was alarmed.
The ones most sensitive to the flow of information, particularly those who had been keeping tabs on the manor since the first bandit raid, realized something.
This exact scenario was precisely what that mischievous young lord in the manor had intended.
And so…
“Welcome!”
“What brings you to the Sleeping Dragon Manor?”
The guards had been caught off guard when the Disaster Bride herself showed up unannounced, but this time, they were visited by a completely different, uninvited guest.
The difference was clear.
Where the Disaster Bride had been someone everyone recognized at a glance, they had no clue who this new visitor was.
“I’m Naru.”
The guards looked at the visitor with a confused expression.
“I’ve come answering the Lord’s summons on behalf of the Guild.”
A lute slung across his back.
Long bangs covering his eyes.
Tall, upright rabbit ears.
Apart from his oddly confident voice, he appeared completely ordinary—just another harengon boy.
Noticing the dark elf guards staring as if they’d never heard of him, Naru announced with unwavering self-assurance. “Kindly inform the white-masked young lord. I have a splendid proposal for him.”
“…Please wait here a moment.”
Though they had no idea who he was, it was still possible that their lord had indeed summoned him. They couldn’t simply turn him away.
So they checked with their master’s personal maid.
And a moment later…
“What do you mean, there’s no invitation?”
“No, it’s more like a figure of speech. I’m saying I’ve ‘read’ the message the lord sent out…”
“Peddler?! I’m no peddler, I’m the Guild’s official envoy!”
“H-Hang on! Just let me meet with your lord, and I’ll explain everything!”
“Please, I’m begging you here! Come on!”
That was the day the gatekeepers learned a crucial lesson.
Not all uninvited guests are the same.
Particularly when one of them clings to your legs and pleads for mercy the moment he arrives.
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