The Shadow Organization Members Raised Through Pay-To-Win Are Too Strong

The interior of the mine, ravaged by the dark hounds, was utterly devastating.

Corpses, torn beyond recognition, littered the floor.

The ruthless massacre had stopped after I belatedly ordered them to halt.

I was now exploring the underground with the hounds in tow.

“Grrr… Pant pant!”

Unlike the dark monsters they were, the hounds greeted me with their tongues out.

They behaved like excited puppies meeting their owner after a long time.

While this was fortunate for me, I wondered why they were acting so friendly towards me.

‘Do they really recognize me as their master?’

These were strictly Celestia’s hounds.

“Is it because I’m the leader?”

Strictly speaking, my current appearance would be far from that of the actual leader.

Still, given that the status window referred to me as it, it wasn’t entirely impossible.

‘Then do they sense the leader’s aura on me?’

But I shook my head.

If they sensed a unique aura from me, Black Raven would have found me first, not the hounds.

This meant they recognized me as their master for a different reason…

“Hmm.”

If there was another possibility…

“Could it be because I purchased them?”

Come to think of it, I was the one who bought them, even spending real money.

Although I assigned them to Celestia, I was still the original purchaser.

If they followed me for that reason, it wouldn’t be a bad situation for me.

Still, I reminded myself to be cautious once more.

‘I really must avoid meeting Celestia.’

I spoke to the hounds crowding around me unnecessarily.

“Don’t you dare tell anyone you met me, okay?”

“Grr, grr.”

They responded to my words immediately.

I wasn’t sure if they understood or not.

Thinking they probably understood well since they stopped the massacre when I told them to earlier, I continued to walk through the mine.

I didn’t want to waste any more time here.

This was the only moment I could escape.

Looking around, I said,

“Can you relay everything I say to all your friends?”

“Grr!”

Currently, the number of dark hounds has increased due to repeated multiplication.

It would be inefficient for me to control all individuals alone.

“Go around and rescue the children. You can kill all the surviving overseers or guards.”

I deliberately told them not to touch the children.

‘That should reduce the chances of being tracked.’

What would happen if I escaped alone?

The chances of being tracked somehow would likely be high.

Whether it was the duchy or Black Raven, it wasn’t a good scenario.

So I needed others to escape with me besides myself.

I walked around the mine with the hounds.

Fortunately, quite a few children had survived.

“Ugh…”

“Waaah! I’m scared!”

Pale faces stained with blood.

As the interior became quiet, terrified children began to show themselves little by little.

At first, the children flinched at the sight of the hounds. Soon after realizing they had no intention of harming them, they began to follow the hounds towards the exit.

Of course, it wasn’t just children.

“Ugh… How, how dare you…!”

Among them was an overseer who had luckily survived.

He glared at me with a face twitching with anger and shock.

I ordered without hesitation.

“Bite.”

“Grr!”

With just one word, the hounds pounced on the overseer like lightning.

Surrounded by hounds, the overseer screamed violently as blood gushed out.

His body was torn apart cruelly and horribly.

I watched the scene with an expressionless face.

To survive and escape, I had to be prepared for this much.

It might sound cruel, but it was better to kill emotions towards the enemy as much as possible.

That would increase the chances of survival.

I approached the overseer’s corpse, which had become a horrible sight.

And I found a small dagger in his possession.

‘This is good.’

Nothing came out of the dead dark mage’s possession earlier.

In contrast, finding this dagger now was quite a gain.

It would be a weapon to protect myself once I got out.

I attached the dagger to my waist, out of sight.

Then I headed straight for the dining hall.

I wasn’t going there to eat in this already ruined mine.

There was no reason to eat that tasteless porridge anymore anyway.

There was just one person I needed to find.

‘Emilia.’

I didn’t intend to show her favor, but a strange bond had formed after I had talked with her for the past few days.

“I guess this is why they say affection is scary.”

I wasn’t trying to become a champion of justice out of personal feelings.

Emilia was not only my friend but also practically an alibi to prove my identity.

When I arrived at the dining hall with the hounds, this place was also in chaos.

The dining hall, smeared with blood and flesh, was reminiscent of hell.

I slowly looked around the dining hall, stepping on fallen corpses bleeding out.

Although our acquaintance was brief, Emilia was intelligent and calm.

Believing she must be hiding somewhere, I called out her name.

“Emilia? It’s me, Ethan! If you’re here, please answer!”

The hounds were protecting me anyway.

I walked around calling Emilia’s name repeatedly without hesitation.

After a while, a familiar voice reached my ears.

“E…Ethan? I’m… I’m here…”

Emilia, crouched in a corner, cautiously raised her head.

Her eyes, filled with fear, turned towards me.

“Emilia?”

I slowly approached and held Emilia’s trembling hand. Her hand was as cold as ice.

“Hold my hand.”

Emilia got up while holding my hand.

The frail girl’s body looked as if it might break.

Grrrr-

The hounds made threatening sounds towards Emilia, but they immediately quieted down when I showed my intent to stop them with a sharp gaze.

I tried to calm the frightened Emilia, saying,

“It’s okay. These guys are on our side, so don’t worry.”

“What’s all this? What are these… these monsters…”

Emilia’s eyes, looking at me, were full of confusion and fear.

She seemed to want an explanation of the current situation, but there wasn’t enough time to explain everything.

“Let’s get out of here first. We don’t have time.”

Judging from the dark mage’s reaction earlier, it was clear that other mines had also been destroyed.

‘The duchy will soon dispatch an investigation team.’

The priority was to escape from the mine as quickly as possible and flee far away.

Hearing we should leave, Emilia hesitated for a moment before briefly replying.

“…Okay, I understand.”

She was still trembling with fear, but she seemed to have decided to trust me and put on a determined expression.

We ran quickly towards the mine’s exit without anyone’s interference.

All the guards who could have stopped me were already dead, and moreover, no one blocked our way as we rode on the back of a hound.

Finally, we reached the mine’s exit.

As we stepped outside, dazzling sunlight greeted us.

“……”

A desolate landscape of endless sand dunes stretched out before our eyes.

Under the scorching sun, we could hear the sand grains sizzling.

In between, we could see children who had already escaped walking aimlessly.

Of course, only some of the children had headed outside.

Most were afraid to leave the mine.

‘It can’t be helped.’

These were people who had spent most of their time here.

They probably didn’t have the courage to go outside.

But my role ended here.

I stared blankly at the outside world for a moment.

It was a sight I hadn’t seen even once during the ten years.

I couldn’t believe that ten years of slave life had ended in just a few minutes.

In another sense, a feeling of emptiness welled up.

“Ethan… what do we do now?”

It must be the same for Emilia.

I collected myself.

We had succeeded in escaping, but the situation wasn’t over yet.

There was no time to feel emotions here.

I again asked for help from the hounds rubbing their heads against me.

“I’m sorry, but do you know which direction we should go to reach a village?”

In the game settings, there was always a village near the mine.

The area around the mine was similar to desert terrain, but if we went a little further, we would find land where grass and trees grew.

And there would be a village there.

“Grr, grr!”

They seemed to be in a good mood, pointing to the south with smiling faces.

I wanted to ask them to carry us on their backs, but that would be too conspicuous.

“Emilia, can you walk?”

Emilia nodded slightly.

Even if she said she couldn’t walk, I was planning to make her walk anyway.

We were short on time.

We didn’t know who might be heading here at this very moment.

“Alright, let’s hang in there a little longer.”

We should be able to catch our breath once we reach the village.

If worse comes to worst, I could always command Black Raven.

Now, it was time to say goodbye to the hounds.

After bidding farewell to them, I started walking south with Emilia.

The sand sank with each step, but the wind buried our footprints.

*  *  *

The office at the top of the Fire Magic Tower was filled with a luxurious and elegant atmosphere.

This office was a space for the tower master.

The walls, decorated with gold leaf, contained expensive furniture and rare magical artifacts, which showcased the tower master’s authority and wealth.

On the high ceiling, magical flames emitted a soft light.

Below it, behind the desk, a woman wore a serious expression.

Her name was Adeline von Arkanon.

She was the tower master managing this Fire Magic Tower.

“Bella, we’ve received a request from the Hartwell family this time.”

Adeline took out a document and spoke to her disciple.

Bella, a young magician with red hair, looked at Adeline with curious eyes.

“It seems the Count has an illegitimate child he sired.”

As soon as Adeline finished speaking, Bella frowned and snorted.

“Hmph, nobles are really filthy. They can’t even handle what they’ve done themselves.”

The problem of nobles’ illegitimate children was nothing new.

The existence of illegitimate children created an unpleasant atmosphere in the family.

Especially the legitimate children disliked illegitimate children who could become obstacles to their future.

It was natural.

They would not only discriminate but even go as far as assassination in severe cases.

The Hartwell family that sent this request was a count family of the Hailstone Duchy.

Although nobles might be lower in rank than the empire or kingdom, as a duke of a duchy, they were nobles.

With cold blue blood flowing through their veins.

“So, should I take care of that illegitimate child?”

Bella made a gesture of cutting her throat with a playful expression.

Sighing at her disciple’s joke, Adeline shook her head.

“No, the request is to confirm if that illegitimate child is really his son.”

Saying that, she handed over a magical artifact to Bella.

The artifact was shaped like a small box and could test for paternity by dropping blood into it.

“Currently, the illegitimate child is on the outskirts of the duchy. It’s a small village without even a name, so I’ll give you a separate map.”

“Yes, ma’am! I’ll make sure to complete the mission without tarnishing your honor, Master!”

In fact, this request was simple enough without mentioning honor.

Occasionally, nobles would request paternity tests for their children.

The reason they requested it from the magic tower was simply because of strict confidentiality.

“Haah…”

Normally, Adeline would have lightly returned Bella’s joke.

But today was different somehow.

Adeline stared out the window in silence for a while.

Her eyes, which had been staring outside, soon turned to Bella.

Her lips moved slowly.

“Bella.”

“Yes, Master!”

“We’ve received a message from the Raven.”

When the word ‘raven’ came out of Adeline’s mouth, Bella’s red eyes widened.