Chapter 93 – What is the best revenge?

Chapter 93 – What is the best revenge?

After giving the sister a small blessing to accelerate the awakening of her talent and bloodline, Gerhart turned to look at the boy, Anthemius, with curiosity.

"Now I am curious. Where did you find these two prodigies?" Gerhart asked.

"In Shantytown, master. The sister was terminally ill and was about to die if we didn't treat her in time. They have no other relatives." To-Meri replied.

"Hm. So, tell me about yourself, boy. What is your name?" Gerhart asked while lowering himself to the diminutive youth's statute.

"Anthemius, master." The boy replied.

"Anthemius, can you tell me what happened?" Gerhart kindly asked.

"Yes..." Anthemius's eyes darkened as he recalled the sibling's horrible experience.

They were a landholding family of freemen living in the countryside, but out of the blue, a D-rank monster suddenly and violently attacked them, killing most of their family. If it weren't for his sister's quick thinking in hiding them under the smelly straw, they would also die. As the sole surviving male, the land and house logically belonged to him, but who knew that a mere three days later, while he and his sister were grieving and trying to gather their shattered life together, his uncle suddenly drove them from their home?

His uncle used his connections and a bribe to change the ownership of the land under his cousin's name, forcing the siblings away to seek a new lease on life in the city. Even worse, they got robbed on the way by escaped slaves-turned-bandits led by a blue-haired catkin with a missing eye and tail, but his sister luckily escaped being raped because the bandits were only interested in their valuables. On the bright side, they at least left them a way out, leaving a few Silver Coins and just enough supplies to get into the city.

When they arrived in the city, he and his sister tried to find work. He worked as a delivery boy, and his sister did grueling and demeaning housework. But as if fate wanted to screw them over, merely two weeks later, his sister had this weird disease out of nowhere. Her employers immediately found out and drove them out of their homes, fearing it might be contagious. When they came to the temples, they demanded a thousand Silver Coins to heal her! Since it was even beyond her selling price as a slave, they were forced to Shantytown to spend two nights.

The thugs in the Shantytown almost raped his sister in front of his eyes, but when they saw her quickly necrosing flesh, they only stole their clothes and valuables before leaving. If it was in winter time, they might have frozen to death. As fate would have it, a kindly drifter pointed them to an abandoned shack, where they found two roughshod and dirty sacks as clothes and a bloody dagger, likely someone's discarded murder weapon, as a self-defense tool.

However, his sister's state was quickly deteriorating as pus started to leak from the infected areas. They had to beg for some scraps, but the few morsels they received were hardly enough for the pair as they began to starve. And then, last night, his sister collapsed. The rest is history.

To-Meri had an ashamed look after hearing the first part of the story. Meanwhile, Gerhart, Hope, and Qold had funny looks as they silently looked at her.

"Awkward..." To-Meri fiddled with her fingers.

"The bandit was her... How fate plays tricks." Gerhart's lips twitched.

But he quickly let go as he noticed Anthemius was tearing up, recalling a horrible time.

"Anthemius, it is no shame to be in the gutters and lose yourself to despair. But it is admirable to survive as long as you did. Be proud of yourself." Gerhart sympathetically smiled and patted the boy's shoulder.

"I- Thank you, master!" Anthemius deeply connected with those words, his eyes watering, but he held himself back from crying.

"There is no shame for a man to cry, Anthemius. Cry your heart out." Gerhart gently said.

"Uuu... Boohoohoo..." The boy burst like a dam, tears freely falling from his eyes.

It took the scrawny boy ten minutes until he calmed down, his eyes red and puffy while holding a cup of juice they got from the inn bar.

"Anthemius, do you want the strength to protect your sister?" Gerhart suddenly asked.

"Yes, of course! I do!" Anthemius readily nodded.

"I can give you this power. But my god is demanding. You would have to submit to him to receive his gift. Do you agree?" Gerhart asked.

"Yes! Of course! Your god helped me while the other gods turned their backs, so how could I not serve him?!" Anthemius readily agreed.

He was no ungrateful fool and knew who he owed a debt to. Even if Gerhart suddenly revealed he was a devil worshipper, Anthemius might not turn him away.

"Good. Then accept the gift." Gerhart smiled and placed a hand on Anthemius's head.

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"..." Anthemius remained silent for some more time, contemplating those words.

"I am not against you taking revenge, Anthemius. I am no innocent man, but I never acted purely for revenge. When I take revenge, it would only be when I could benefit from it. Would it make you feel better to slaughter your kin, no matter how shitty they are, in cold blood? To deprive them of their petty lives, their suffering, just to bear that burden of killing them in your heart for the rest of your life? For a momentary pleasure you might never enjoy?" Gerhart continued asking.

Anthemius clenched his fists tightly, a look of deep unwillingness in his eyes before he sighed.

"Hah... No." Anthemius shook his head.

After hearing Gerhart's words, he started understanding. Perhaps, if his family were filthy-rich merchants living a life of luxury, debaucherously enjoying the gains from having backstabbed him, and he needed the money, killing them would be lucrative enough. But what was the point in ending the misery of some peasants? Is there even a point?

"That's a good boy." Gerhart patted Anthemius's shoulder. "With that said, there is a way to vent a bit."

"Vent? Does that mean beat them up? Show off?" Anthemius guessed.

"No, of course not. That is what hotheaded third rates do." Gerhart shook his head.

"Then what?" Anthemius frowned.

"Of course, it is to make their life even more of a living hell at the minimum cost!" Gerhart explained.

"How am I going to do that?" Anthemius asked, intrigued.

"Think, Anthemius. What is the most simple solution to trivial matters for a powerhouse?" Gerhart asked, not immediately answering.

Anthemius frowned and looked at the village before his gaze locked on the village chief's house and then the baron's manor. A hint of understanding flashed in his eyes.

"The baron?" Anthemius asked.

Gerhart smiled.

They then made a short visit to the baron's manor. Upon showing his guild card, the baron was very welcoming(Mostly out of fear). As Gerhart expected, the baron left the matter to his steward to handle, not involving himself due to being busy hunting the nearby monsters to prevent future monster attacks. The steward, likely realizing this, used the opportunity to make a quick buck, forging some documentation and transferring the boy's property, including livestock, 30 acres of land, and buildings and equipment, amounting to just about 20 thousand Silver Coins, to the uncle for a hefty bribe.

Usually, the baron would not care about such trivialities. He didn't care who paid the taxes, just that the taxes would come. But now? He was furious! An A-rank expert (The card is still not updated) came knocking on his door, demanding an explanation. Even if the expert didn't do anything to him, that was a slap to his face! It is okay if you do illicit things behind my back, but don't get me involved, dammit!

"Would you like me to cane them to death?" The baron asked with seething anger, wanting to appease the expert.

"Ask the boy. He was the one who went through injustice." Gerhart turned to Anthemius, who was still in disbelief.

"Lad, I apologize for what you went through. According to the rules, you may take back double the worth of your stolen property from the felon. If they can't pay, you may even sell them to slavery. What would you like to do?" The baron carefully asked.

Anthemius knew his uncle was about as wealthy as his father. In other words, Anthemius could make his uncle and his family penniless overnight. From a slightly well-off freeman, he would be a wealthy freeman, one of the richest in the village. Meanwhile, he could make his uncle's family broke-ass homeless peasants.

If he didn't gain power and his master's new servant, that would be an attractive option. But now, he didn't need that land. He had a better idea.

"You can have the land. In exchange, I want you to do something for me." Anthemius narrowed his eyes.

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Anthemius rode back to Gerhart's manor, feeling satisfied in his heart.

The corrupt steward and village chief received public caning to death while denounced as fraudsters. Meanwhile, his uncle and cousin lost their lands and devolved into serfs. Being a freeman farmer was hard enough, but being a serf bound to the land was a living hell. At least freemen had freedom and some quality of life.

"Now I understand what the best revenge is. It is the one I am most satisfied with." Anthemius thought, feeling peaceful in his heart.