Willow City is one of the major cities in the Varyndor Kingdom.
It was also the city governed by the Miller Family. It used to be called Miller City, but after the 5th head of the Miller family died, the name was changed to Willow City.
A city of beauty and wealth.
But the ones ruling it are scum.
Two months ago, an entire nuclear family was killed, mainly because the oldest daughter of Artisan Kuni was kidnapped in their home by the goons of Turyn, the heir of the Miller family.
They threatened to take it to the authorities, but it was that very act that got them killed. The young lady who was taken away was never heard from again.
A month before that, a similar thing happened. This time, an entire mercenary group was killed, and the vice group leader, who happened to be a beauty, was taken.
But that wasn’t all. There were other incidents, but they were all covered up, and those who could prove otherwise were eliminated.
All this was done by Turyn.
But while his family knew this, they did nothing to stop him. Instead, they always covered his tracks and made sure nobody could do anything to them.
They are supreme.
But their karma has finally caught up to them.
The mission Kent gave Nyxira was a success. She delivered the recording crystal, which contained a note, to the head of the Miller noble family.
In fact, if Nyxira had wanted, she could have assassinated the old bastard, who was asleep with three naked ladies in his arms when she delivered the items.
…Well, she left her mark before leaving.
Who knows when else she would be asked to assassinate him? It was best to leave a mark for the future.
In the morning, when Kiel Miller woke up and saw the jade box, he immediately took it and opened it, only to find a recording crystal that contained a recording of his son getting electrocuted.
The video showed the miserable state his son was in and the kind of pain he was enduring. In fact, Kiel wasn’t even halfway through the video when he started coughing up blood.
His anger was so intense that he began coughing up blood.
The video showed his one and only son, the heir meant to replace him one day. The talented son of the Miller family was now being tortured.
He couldn’t hold himself up any longer, so he fell to the ground along with the note inside the jade box. After a couple of minutes on the ground, he picked up the note and began to read.
⟪Greetings. If you are reading this, then your son Turyn is dead. No need to cry about it. But yes, he is dead, for you saw this coming many years ago and did nothing about it.
Now, while I would love to gloat about it, I don’t have time, so listen carefully, for the survival of the entire Miller family depends on it.
I know everything about you. I know what you like and dislike, I know the kind of women you are into, and I know the kind of person you are. You are the scum of a father, by the way.
But that is just by the way. Now, listen. I will give you a month—just a month—to tell the entire kingdom what you and your family have done.
Tell them about the killing of innocents, the families you have divided, and the torture you have brought upon people.
Tell them about who your son was and what you’ve done to ensure he died a scum.
Tell them everything, for after four weeks, if nothing of the sort happens, your entire family will be wiped out—and that includes everyone.
So, do well to do as I say. Also, your son hated you, by the way. I hope that makes you feel better.⟫
Kiel collapsed the moment he finished reading the note.
When he woke up, he was in bed, surrounded by a few doctors and elders of the family. They had obviously watched the video and read the note, so they knew what had caused this.
“Find him… *cough*… Find that bastard who killed my son and bring me his head!” Kiel shouted, coughing a few times.
“My lord, calm down first. We don’t know anything about this mysterious person. We need to take a step back here and fir—”
“I don’t care. Use whatever method you have to find him. I don’t care how much it will cost or how long it takes—just find him.”
The elder who tried to speak kept quiet and simply bowed before leaving. Kiel, who had driven the elders away through his anger, passed out again.
It was clear he wasn’t going to heed Kent’s advice.
The room fell into a heavy silence after Kiel lost consciousness. The doctors exchanged uneasy glances while the remaining elders stood in solemn contemplation.
They were the trustworthy doctors of the Miller noble family, so they had seen and heard enough not to judge.
On the outside, however, the elders were not happy.
“We cannot afford to act recklessly. This enemy knows too much about us—our secrets, our weaknesses. If we charge blindly into this, we risk playing right into their hands,” one of them said.
They knew nothing about Kent.
They didn’t know if this was a trap or not. But they knew something had to be done before it was too late.
“It’s obvious this is linked to the life Turyn was living. Now, it has come back to haunt us. The question, however, is which of his victims came back to hunt him—and us.”
They were all aware of the kind of life Turyn had been living, yet they had said nothing to oppose him. Instead, they had stood by and watched as he destroyed families, friendships, and relationships, one after the other.
Now, they were at the short end of the stick, and it wasn’t looking good for them. If whoever this person was decided to come after them, they knew none of them would be spared.
This meant they had to do something about it, but none were willing to bend the knee or apologize to anyone.
They were the nobles, after all, not the other way around. Pride and arrogance had always been their shield, but now it felt more like a noose tightening around their necks.
The universe, ever observant, took notice of their predicament.
Thirty days were just around the corner, and the clock was ticking.
_________________
Meanwhile, the Malric Noble Family had just discovered that their son was murdered, along with his cohort. This sparked a chain of events that would soon lead them to learn of the same incident striking the Miller family.
Alliances had to be formed, but the question lingered: Would their family be the only ones facing this threat? Were they the only ones who had lived as scum and filth?
First, it was the Ashland Noble Family, wiped out without mercy. Then came the Alderford Merchant Family, slaughtered in a similar massacre. Now, the Malrics and the Millers were facing the same ominous fate.
The pattern was clear, and the message even clearer. Someone was targeting the corrupt, the powerful, and the unrepentant. The question was no longer *if* others would fall but *who* would be next.