Glorious
While I was letting the Knight Commander's talk drift by, a terrifyingly well-built man in butler attire and a lackluster middle-aged guy showed up.
"Lord Alan, I am Ward. I have come as the"
proxy
"of Duke Giess Raging."
He must stand about two meters tall.
He's a large man, but his butler uniform doesn't strain at all—he wears it impeccably.
And his movements leave no opening.
Just going by feel,
Kageri—
he seems about as strong as Mist.
"There, adventurer. You possess something unfitting for your station, so I shall claim it as one who inherits my ancestors' glory."
He doesn't even introduce himself and what he says is peak stupidity, but this is probably Baron Minarl.
His doughy body, which has grown sideways instead of upward, looks all the more
pathetic
when standing next to Ward.
"Ward-san, what brings you here?"
"An apology. That a man from our own camp committed a discourteous act against a benefactor of the Duke's household. You are free to deal with this man's punishment however you see fit."
"Ward-sama!? Even if you are Duke Giess's right hand, you don't have that kind of authority!"
For a brief moment, the butler's face shows a mocking expression, but it quickly returns to its usual calm look.
Well, he did say he came as a representative, after all.
It's practically the same as him being here in person.
In that case, I suppose I'll take him up on his offer and deal with this guy.
"Ward-san, please take the pendant and move away from him."
Curse Rain
"
The butler swiftly snatched the pendant from Earl Minar's hand and stepped away.
Black rain began falling from somewhere, soaking Earl Minar and his knights.
"Lord Ward, just what do you think you're— What the devil is this! How dare you soak me! Ah, my legs won't move—I'm turning to stone!"
"My lord, please help— Ah, ah, my body won't move..."
"Eek! You—you're petrifying! Is it because of this black rain?!"
"You are too! Somebody, help me—"
Curse Rain
—soaking them, Earl Minar and his men began turning to stone from their feet upward.
The knight who'd taken the pendant from me was naturally caught in the range too.
This magic could trigger all sorts of status ailments, but this time, I decided to be lenient and go with petrification.
Bodies that could no longer move.
Earl Minar and his knights, realizing this, had their faces twisted with terror and despair.
And just like that, frozen in those expressions, the stone statues were completed.
"Then please leave all of these here. You should be able to use them to tighten discipline within your faction, right?"
They could have had these people executed on the duke's side, but they deliberately made me do it instead — so that was their intention all along.
"If left to your side, you'd probably let them off with house arrest or something. You can't very well take harsh measures against your own people, after all. In truth, you'd want to punish them but can't — but if you have me do it, you can carry out the purge without damaging your own reputation."
The butler's gaze upon me grew increasingly stern.
"You knew all of that, and still you committed this act?"
"Just a guess. Whether I'm right or wrong, it doesn't change what I do. I could have simply killed them, but having stone statues with faces twisted in despair like these — everyone will be able to remember this whenever they want, won't they?"
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Skills: [Reverse] [Divine Eye] [Sword God] [Phantom Thief Gentleman] [Dark Magic] [Rock-Iron Magic] [Holy Magic] [Space-Time Magic] [Scorching Magic] [Freezing Ice Magic] [Magic Hand] [Temptation]
Rank: Silver
Thank you always for reading😊