There's so much to prepare.
Sure enough, it's a medieval isekai world.
The main stage of Vengeful Goddesses.
The capital's market in the Abellan Empire, which boasts the world's strongest realm, was louder, more chaotic, and more alive than any traditional market I'd ever seen back in Korea.
The streets were filled with the mingled scents of spices and beastly musk, hitting me with every breath—a smell that screamed, Ah, this is a real isekai.
Street vendors shouted haggling prices until their throats went hoarse, otherworldly merchants drew crowds with their distinctive accents, and humans, beastkin, dwarves, and elves swirled together in a whirlwind before my eyes.
The bizarre items I'd only read about in the story.
Glowing crystals, toys powered by magic, accessories made from dragon scales, suspicious herbs reeking of blood.
All of them seized my attention fiercely.
"Um… Young Master."
Karen whispered in a voice laced with mockery.
"If there's anything you need, you could just send me to fetch it. Why bother disguising yourself and shopping in person?"
"Ah, just… I've been cooped up in the house too long, I guess."
I gave a vague smile in response.
"Felt like getting some fresh air for once."
Me, with my cloak hood pulled low, and Karen following warily behind.
We looked exactly like nobles slumming it in disguise—suspicious as hell.
Karen's tone pretended concern, but knowing how she dies in the original story, I could tell it was just her probing me.
From the moment we left the Argent estate, it felt like she was watching me constantly.
A bastard who'd acted like a total loser suddenly changes—gotta be freaking her out.
But that suspicion was a perfect weapon for me right now.
When we left the mansion, the maids and knights who'd always ignored me before quietly stepped aside under Karen's icy glare.
They were afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.
If some punks had messed with me on the way, I was planning to smack them around again and scare 'em straight.
Thanks to that, it was smooth sailing out the main gate, into the carriage, and all the way to the market.
Our young master would be so heartbroken if he couldn't go to the market today—what's a goods manager to do? Gotta take good care of him~.
Besides, to the family's core members, the Argent bastard didn't even exist.
As long as I didn't die, they'd walk right past me like, "Whoa, felt a breeze?"
Today was one of those days where I could do anything as long as I beat curfew.
I wandered the market with Karen in tow, picking up all sorts of goods.
"Boss, I'll take this… and this… and that too."
"Huh? These are all for ferocious beasts—traps and gear. Young Master, isn't this a bit dangerous?"
"Nah~ It'll look nice just sitting at home. Like interior decor."
What I bought boiled down to three types, perfect for bundling together.
Beast traps.
Poison herbs for hunting beasts.
Meat. More meat. Big chunks of meat.
Not the kind of stuff any disguised noble young master would pick out.
The merchants couldn't hide their What the hell does this kid want with this? faces every time I ordered.
Karen was no different.
"Young Master."
She scanned me up and down, speaking like she could barely breathe.
"Just so you know, you can't keep any animals."
Meaning not even beasts took my side in this family.
She threw it in my face like it was the most natural thing in the world.
But the funny part—
"I know."
I never planned to in the first place.
"Who said anything about raising some annoying pet?"
"…Pardon?"
Karen's face went completely blank.
With the gear I'd just bought, it looked like I was gearing up to trap a few mountain beasts and build an enclosure, but then I say no pets—her brain must've short-circuited.
Seeing that expression made me chuckle for no reason.
Yeah, keep standing there dumbfounded.
I'm in the middle of preparing to escape this trash family in ways you can't even imagine.
"Put it on the Argent family tab or whatever. You tell the merchants."
"Y-Yes?! No way… What makes you think the family has money to waste on the likes of you…!"
"Then watch me get called a thief and beaten for not paying up."
"Grr…!"
I could practically hear her grinding her teeth without looking.
What're you gonna do about it?
If it bugs you that much, try being the bastard young master yourself.
And no money for me in the family? What a joke.
Sure, compared to the official heirs, what I get is less than dust.
But at least half my blood is Argent—that's a fact.
So why did original Lucas Argent live like a beggar, scraping by on stale bread crumbs, turning into the textbook weakling with a scrawny build?
The reason was simple.
Even a bastard is a commodity to sell off someday. No need to starve him on purpose.
Unless…
Someone behind the scenes had been siphoning my share the whole time.
Like, say, my "dedicated" maid here, or the cook, or whoever the family head assigned with a casual "Take care of him okay~"—people who weren't afraid of their master and devoured my entire allowance.
Damn… no clue how much they've skimmed off me all this time.
But whatever, it's fine.
Soon enough, I'll make them puke it all back up—under the name of "debt."
We were strolling through the market like that when lunchtime rolled around.
Even so, to my full-time maid who'd been waiting on me hand and foot, I decided to play the "nice master" now.
After cracking the whip, time for the carrot.
"Karen. Thanks for putting up with my nonsense and following me. This skewer's on me, so eat up."
"Pardon? Ah… yes. Thank you…."
Karen took the skewer and stood there blankly for a while.
This morning, the young master slapped his own face in front of her and threatened her; at the market, he bought beast-hunting gear; now he was grinning amiably and handing her food.
Her face screamed she couldn't follow the script.
But soon enough, watching me stuff my face with skewers in the middle of the market, grease smearing my cheeks as I grinned like an idiot, she probably concluded inwardly:
Still just a brat.
A kid who perks right up the moment you stuff something in his mouth.
No matter what you're scheming, I'll drag you right back in the end.
…Thinking that, she pretended to play along and took a bite.
And—
That was the first shot of my plan.
Wobble.
"…Ugh… huh?"
"Whoa, Karen, you okay? You're swaying a bit."
"Ah, yes… Maybe it's the heat… I'm a little tired…."
"Then let's wrap up shopping here and rest at a teahouse nearby. I was thirsty anyway."
"Ah… Should we…? Yeah… let's do that…."
Karen trailed behind me, her steps off-beat like a drunk after one too many—anyone could see it.
I pretended to support her arm to keep her from falling and headed to a quiet, out-of-the-way teahouse on the market's edge.
As I opened the door, a faint herbal scent wafted out.
"Hello. Got a private room? My companion looks beat."
"Oh? Yes… we do. Right this way to an upstairs room."
"And orders too. To our room: one Cromian Mocha and one Purple Hytry, please."
"...Understood."
Leaning on me, Karen staggered up the stairs.
And the moment I opened the room door—
"Sleepy… I'm gonna crash… Don't go anywhere, Young Master…."
Thud.
She face-planted onto the bed and passed out.
Her breathing was already totally relaxed.
Once I confirmed she was out cold, I quietly gripped the doorknob and stepped out.
The second the door closed.
"Hello?"
"…Who the hell are you?"
The man from the counter earlier—who'd handed us the room key and clashed completely with the teahouse vibe—was waiting outside, arms crossed.
A long scar trailing down beside one eye.
But wearing a floral apron.
The mismatched combo only made him more menacing.
"How'd a brat like you know our 'code' and order it?"
"Code? I just ordered two drinks."
"Don't play dumb."
The manager stepped forward with a low growl.
"No teahouse has Cromian Mocha or Purple Hytry on the menu. That's the combo for a 'sleep poison recipe'—knocks out even the fiercest, most savage beast in seconds."
I smirked inwardly.
Bingo.
Exactly right.
The skewer I'd fed Karen earlier had been thinly laced with Cromian and Purple Hytry—the herbs beast hunters slather on arrow tips.
These two cause intense paralysis in similar ways.
They're famous as popular paralytics for knocking out prey so hunters can finish or butcher them right away.
But they kick in so fast, the target realizes I've been hit the instant it happens.
Meaning they're useless for assassinations.
Just obvious paralytics that get you caught if used on people.
But who knew?
Mix the two paralysis poisons in a specific ratio, and you get the exact opposite effect.
No sudden shutdown—instead, strength slowly drains away, and you drift into natural sleep like dozing off in the sun. A perfect sedative.
Indistinguishable from fatigue or heat, so no one suspects a thing.
That's why Karen was currently snoring face-down on the bed.
The catch: that recipe was a secret combo known only within a certain shadowy group.
"How does a kid like you know and use our organization's internal code recipe?"
The floral-aproned manager stared down at me, his gaze unflinching.
No mercy in that face.
Plain and simple: the look of a killing machine.
His presence gripped my throat before his words could.
One wrong word, and he'd make me vanish right here—no one would bat an eye.
Damn… Slack off even a little, and I feel like I'll puke from the tension.
Having scraped by in my past life with manual labor and back alleys, even I felt my knees buckle. His killing intent was on another level entirely.
But—
If I crumbled here, I'd be his "beta" forever.
My status as a dark family bastard already gave him plenty of reason to look down on me.
Fold now, and Lucas would never lift his head again.
So instead, I tilted my chin up slightly.
Like a madman.
Like a man holding on by sheer pride.
Smirk.
"...You think that's funny?"
The manager's expression cracked for the first time.
Meanwhile, I played it cool—empty inside but flashy on the outside, like a rickety cart rattling along—and shot back casually.
"Why should I tell some lowly grunt?"
"…What?"
The air twisted, turning icy in an instant.
But I decided to shake the cart even harder.
"I'll deliver that message to Her Highness the Princess myself."
"?! You little—!"
"So shut up and guide me to the secret base hidden under this teahouse."