The Young Master in the Shadows

Abe sat at the lavish meeting table nervously then observed as a redhead secretary entered in an OL suit and sat in front of him.

“Hello… My name is Suzan, I am the CEO’s secretary and I will be the one signing the contract with you Mr. Sanders… Or do you prefer that I call you CrimsonPearl?” she asked.

“Just call me Abe!” he said, carefully checking the woman’s chest out of habit.

“Ok..Mr.Abe…” Suzan smiled. She was forcing it, but she was a good actor. “Here is the contract we negotiated about on the phone. We will pay you $100,000,00 in five installments throughout the year… And in cash…” she added.

“Yes…” he nodded, squeezing his fist. With that money, not only would he be able to pay off all his debts, but also fix his manhood! He already checked with a doctor who promised him a new one!

“In exchange, you have to not only help fix the script on site if needed but also be a part of the film’s publicity team with Mira and the other actresses…”

“Mira…”

“Yes, weren't you informed?” Suzan frowned. “I thought we told you that earlier?”

“Ah…No… I was… I knew that…” he said, swallowing his saliva. He saw her at Victor’s wedding.

“Then please read the contract carefully so that we can make any minor adjustments you might want!. “ she said.

“Ah… Ok…” Abe smiled and nodded. He just had to make sure that he was the only beneficiary and that even if he were to be discovered, they would not be able to get the money back!

“I don’t understand why you didn’t hire a lawyer or an agent, it would have made things easier…” Suzan said as she watched him begin to frown looking at the densely filled document at hand.

“I…No…That’s the way I like it…” Abe said as he began to read the 37 pages long the contract. He understood nothing of the legal jargon, but he thought he did.

…

Yulian opened his eyes and looked around. He was lying in a cave and could see a big bonfire nearby. Next to it, Lily was sitting on a foldable chair without her mask, carefully tending the fire. She looked dashing!

He slowly sat up.

“Ouch…” his jaw hurt.

“Oh… You are awake!” Lily quickly looked at him. "Sorry about that, I had to knock out one of your teeth so those in the family will not be able to hear or track us!” she said.

“What?” Yulian asked as he tried to comprehend what Lili just said.

“Don’t worry, it is already healed,” Lily said, “It will just hurt a little for a few more hours!”

“That’s not the problem… There was a tracking device in my tooth?” he asked.

“Ah, Yes! They issued it to all the heirs after I went missing. It is not only to be able to find them but to also monitor them… This function is a secret though, only the patriarch should know about it!” she said.

“Shit…” Yulian cursed. “So… What about you? Do you know who I really am?” he asked, he remembered her calling him ‘Brother’, but he had to ask.

“Yes, my brother, Yulian von Krone,” she said, sighing. “Our father is Aaron and our Mother Is Catalya Oldblue…” she said, throwing a broken twig into the bonfire.

“Ah… You remember? No, that’s impossible… Did someone from the family contact you?” Yulian asked as he approached the bonfire and sat next to Lily who handed him a bowl of instant ramen.

“None of that… “ She said. “You will probably not believe me… “ she added.

“What?” Yulian asked.

“I am a time traveler… I came back from the future to save you and our family!” She lied shamelessly. “Let me tell you all about it, we have all night!”

…

Victor carefully observed as Zoe carefully followed his instructions and attacked the Golem’s weak point while he watched from the back like any gentleman would do.

Alto was giving him some eye signals to go and help the lady, but Victor shamelessly ignored him. He didn’t want to show his power yet.

This was the fifth Golem since they left the village, and seemingly the more they went down, the more frequently they were going to meet them.

Zoe seemed to have become more proficient, killing them, and finding the core without his help.
The heroic weapon she got in her hand, cut through the black obsidian like butter.

Victor carefully looked at the giant Golem that fought ferociously trying to take a bite out of Zoe with its two sharp stones that it used as a head.
According to the family files Alto got him, and his observation of what happened to that spy maid that he already forgot her name, those Golems squeezed their Victims of all their blood that they fused with their bodies to make them stronger.

This didn’t make any scene for Victor who knew how much energy it took to activate a golem. In his past life, they had mechanical golems and it took 3 Gems to make it work. And that’s casual work, not fighting…
Golems using blood as energy was like cars working on water!
It was too unreasonable and would only fool idiots...

WAIT....

FOOL? YES, maybe they were trying to fool someone!

If he considered that those bloodthirsty golems were definitely after something else, it must be something immeasurable...
SOULS!
And what creatures liked to eat souls and fool others?

DEMONS!
Taran the Great might as well be a great demon!

Thinking for a moment, Victor realized something and decided to use his fate eyes just to make sure.
Making sure no one was looking at him he activated them on the golem.
Out of it, Victor could see a fate thread connecting it to something...

And it was going up not down!
The golem's origin was not that GATE!

Shit he was right! He was now pretty sure this was one big scam! Maybe more than one party was involved!

Could it be that someone had made a contract with a demon?
Probably, or maybe A demon was scamming his family's traitors, who on the other hand were using the golems without realizing what they really were, helping that thing collect souls!

Yes... This was a good explanation!

Victor knew that he needed to make a move to secure himself and his brothers, but he didn't know the other side's identity, plan, or motive and this left him in the dark! He was feeling a little uncomfortable, he didn’t like being this passive.

He needed information, but these tunnels stopped all phones and even messenger talismans didn’t work. Those guys must have been using some sort of artifact to communicate or even worse, they might have access to the tunnel's telegram communication system.

The message he sent Mike was a reference to the script of the Princess Warrior movie that Mike had a copy of in his ring.
It pointed to a certain line.
“The princess quickly called the pimp back, telling him about the scheme to kidnap his favorite hooker.”

It meant that there was a scheme and that Mike should write back to Victor.

Everything would become clear when they reached the next village. If Mike didn’t write him back, it would mean that he was either too fat or that the Tunnel messaging system was really compromised!

“If you think this was a trap, why not tell some elders?” Zoe, who finished killing the golem, whispered after she returned to Victor’s side where Alto couldn't hear a thing.

“I already told you… I don’t know who we can trust. Ann and my father are probably no longer here!” he said. In the last hour, Victor had already told her many things about the family dynamics and about how the family was technically like an ant farm of spies and agents.

Many facts that he told her about were really shocking! Especially how that nice girl Rita was sent to die in the Von Zwei family! Those monsters!

With every passing minute, she was liking her newly acquired family less and less.

“Then can’t we just head back up?” she asked. Her suggestion was very reasonable. “Something feels wrong here..” she added, making Victor carefully look at her.

“Leaving is not a bad choice, but I want to make sure what is going on here first…” Victor said. “I am worried about Mike and Alice,” he confessed the truth.

“Oh…” she nodded.

“At the very least I really want to know who is behind this before we leave… Those guys might come to attack us later from the dark when we are least suspecting them!” he said. Carefully making sure that the spy was still behind them. He was there.

“You mean it is not Bill?” Zoe asked as she dusted her robes.

“Probably not… It is definitely someone else, as that’s not how Bill operates!” Victor pondered. “Maybe they want to kill me then make Mike fight Bill for revenge, maybe something else, I am not sure…” he added as he took a handkerchief to wipe some dust off Zoe’s pretty face.

“Oh…” she blushed a little but didn’t resist. He was her cousin… Just her pervert cousin… She kept reminding herself.

“How long until the next Village?” Victor turned and asked Alto.

“Ah… We will be there in 30 Minutes or so… And the village that young master Luke is in is 2 hours after that!” Alto said, silently cursing at Victor for being a coward and making Zoe do all the fighting then helping her clean up… THEIR ROLES SHOULD BE REVERSED! DAMN.. ISN’T HE THE MAN?

Victor ignored him as they began walking again.

“Oh, by the way, where is the nearest tunnel heading downstairs?” Victor suddenly asked, looking at the map in his hand, the light was a little dime, but he could make out the position they were in.

“There is a tunnel going down in the next village… “ Alto explained.

“I see…” Victor said, deciding to take some action. It was time to get Rita out of the cauldron and let her use her ghostly sneaking skills to some good use! “OH…By the way… I want to pee, is there some restroom around here?” he suddenly asked shamelessly.

“There are a few pit latrines around the tunnels… Although they are not cleaned regularly if the young master doesn’t mind…” Alto shrugged.

“Just tell me where…” Victor started to move nervously.

“I think I saw one about 5 Minutes ago, it is marked with a blue arrow…” he added.

“Then I will go there, you move on…” he said as he ran away then suddenly stopped and turned. “Do you want to go with me?” he asked Zoe.

“Ah…. Why would I want to go with you?” she asked. Blushing a little.

“Forget it… Just protect Alto…” he said as he ran away as if he was about to pee his pants.

The spy who was watching was scared shitless when Victor who ran back almost bumped into him.
Thankful he avoided it in time.

He hesitated for a moment then turned and followed Victor. He felt that he was up to something!

He quickly ran after Victor reaching the pits…

Where was Victor?

That was the last thing he thought of before he felt his body freeze and the world went black. He could only hear the gloomy voice of someone speaking to him.

"I need to ask you a few questions..." the voice said.

…

“AHHHHHHH! SH*T!” Antoni cursed! “First Orma and now Logan?” he asked his assistant. “Are you sure it is not that shithead Victor finishing them off?”

“Orma was clearly a golem’s doing… Logan, we retrieved his corpse… He seemed to have fallen into a pit latrines and broke his neck…” an incompetent assistant said. frowning as he remembered the disturbing sight.

“IDIOTS! ALL IDIOTS! FROM YOU TO MY STUPID SON! SHIT! CAN'T YOU GUYS DO ONE THING RIGHT?” Antoni cursed. “And what was that golem doing upstairs?”

“Ah… Those things have limited intelligence master…. They act on instinct after summoning them…”

“Shit! We planned for this for 10 fucking years, and are you telling me you are going to waste this chance now?”

“Master… We are going according to plan…“

“SHUT UP!” Antoni screamed, “Our plan was to guide at least half of the main family heirs to the trap by the end of the day, and you can’t even control a pervert? He was supposed to be the fucking lure to drag Mike and Alice! How am I supposed to get those two now?”

“Relax Master Antoni… We need to take our time, we must not make a fuss and alert the rabbits!” someone said. It was a middle-aged man who entered the room and bowed respectfully.

“Butler Olaf, did you prepare a distraction?” Antoni asked.

“Yes, don’t worry, all the elders will be busy for the next three days!” Olaf said with a confident smile.

“Good… Three days would be more than enough!” Antoni said with a bright smile. This was the best news he got all day. It was way better than he expected. “Now all we need to do is to get those guys moving down without alerting anyone…”

“Oh, I might be able to help with that…” Olaf said, “All the communication had been controlled…”

“WHAT? Really?”

“Yes, it was a little hard, but let us say that I happened to have a way to control the Elder in the communication office…” Olaf said with a kind smile. In his heart, he was cursing at Antoni's incompetence, but he didn't let it show.

“GOOD… GOOD…” Antoni laughed and nodded. “Butler Olaf you are always dependable!”

“I am just a humble servant…” Olaf said bowing deeply.

“Don’t worry… when I become the Patriarch, I will not forget your help!” Antoni said.

“I know!” Olaf didn’t look up. He didn't want Antoni to see his smirk.

“Then let us not waste any time… Send messages to all the main family heirs demanding they head down to the lowest tunnel by tomorrow… Tell them the next patriarch’s test will be held there!” Antonie said with an evil smile.

Akaichi Those last chapters are a little hard to write...

Schemes are troublesome... But I think I set everything for now... Probably...

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Enjoy!