Heavy rain poured down on the city turning the streets into rushing rivers of water. Inside the room the only light came from the flashes of lightning that lit up the sky. It lit up the scene in flashing bursts.
I stood over the man in the white shirt.
He was still alive. That was his problem.
He had crawled backward until his shoulders hit the wall, both hands pressed over the wound in his stomach, trying to keep what was inside him from coming out. His black suit was ruined. There was something almost funny about that. A man about to die and still somehow making it look undignified.
He screamed at me.
"Why?! Why are you doing this?! What did we ever do to you?!"
Thunder shook the windows.
I tilted my head. Smiled. It was a gentle smile.
I chuckled low in my throat. "Because I hate people like you." I kept my voice easy, conversational. "Surely you already knew that."
"W-what? What do you mean?"
I replied casually lifting the blade to inspect it. "Oh, I don't hate everyone. I want to be clear about that. I'm just completely, thoroughly sick of trash like you existing in the same world I have to live in."
The man in the shirt tried to reason with me. His hands trembled as he reached out.
The man in the shirt said "But.... I swear! I haven't done anyth..."
My knife moved faster than the man in the white shirts words. In a motion I severed the man in the white shirts chest. Blood sprayed across the room. I laughed, a sound of joy though my eyes remained dead and devoid of emotion.
As the life faded from the man in the white shirts eyes, memories of that time flooded back.
There were years before this. My father was a politician, not a powerful one, but honest enough to make enemies who were. They framed him. My father, unable to bear the shame took his life. My mother sold her body to loan sharks to survive until she too broke and followed my father into the grave.
That was the day my hobby began.
Heavy boots stomped through the puddles outside. They were close.
I whispered to the corpse at my feet. "I suppose this is the end."
My expression remained flat. Outside the sirens wailed, joining the storm. A joint police unit, armed and armored smashed through the front door.
The police shouted. "Police! Hands in the air! Secure the room!"
The shouts echoed in my ears. Within seconds they were behind me. I could feel the heat of their presence the barrels of their rifles trained on my back.
One officer bellowed. "Drop the weapon! Turn around slowly!"
I spun around. I was not going to attack them. I did something that surprised everyone. I turned my knife around in my hand. I pushed the sharp part of the knife into my own heart.
The police were really surprised. I felt my body get very warm and heavy. I could feel my blood spreading all over my clothes. I did not want to fall down. I was standing there. I was dying my vision was getting blurry. The last thing I saw was the light, from a police flashlight it just faded away.
Then I died.
So I thought.
I gasped my eyes suddenly opened wide. The sound of wheels hitting dirt was all I could hear. My head hurt much it felt like it was going to burst. I was covered in sweat all over my body. The wheels just kept hitting the dirt over. My head was really hurting from this headache.
Memories that were not my own violently assaulted my mind.
My name is Ashzer Granvenheim.
I muttered internally clutching my forehead.
Ashzer was the son of a poor baron. war had finally reached his city and his parents hadn't survived it. Ashzer himself had been shuffled out before the worst of it and sent to a territory on the borderlands of a kingdom called Dragonev.
I leaned back against the carriage wall and let out a slow breath."I am to lead a territory now."
A soft voice answered. "Precisely My Lord."
I looked up. Sitting across from me in the cramped carriage was a woman with violet hair. She wore a maid's uniform that had seen days frayed at the hems and dusty.
I asked. "You are?"
The woman said. "I am your servant, Lord Ashzer. My name is Miya Rifenhardt. Have you forgotten me? Ah I understand. Perhaps the trauma of losing your parents recently has made it difficult to accept reality."
I narrowed my eyes. Something was off. In Ashzers memories Miya was terrified of Ashzer. Ashzer was a scumbag, cruel. the kind of person you crossed the street to avoid. She should have been trembling right now. Yet now Miya answered with a almost composure as if she completely understood the situation.
Miya said. " Well My Lord. We've arrived."
The carriage jolted to a halt. I stepped out my boots sinking into dry cracked earth. The scene before me was bleak. A rotting wooden fence barely encircled the settlement. The land was barren stretching out toward a foreboding forest in the distance.
Everything about this place whispered barely holding on.
A small group came to meet us.
The first was an old man with a long white beard and a head so bald it caught the sunlight like a mirror. He had the face of someone who had weathered decades of disappointment and learned to smile through it anyway.
Beside him stood a brown-haired man built like someone who'd spent his whole life in fights and won most of them. His arms and neck were mapped with old scars looking at me with undisguised skepticism. Flanking them was a woman with short blonde hair who looked anxious wringing her hands.
The old man bowed low. "Greetings, My Lord. I am Osgar, the village chief. This man here is Sean, our one and only guard.. This young woman is Tia."
Behind me the two royal guards who had escorted my carriage burst into mocking laughter.
One of them sneered. "He really thinks he is going to lead a territory? Don't make me laugh! Look at this dump! Hey, Ashzer! Good luck ruling over this pile of dirt!"
I turned my head slowly locking eyes with them. A faint crimson glow ignited within my irises. The laughter died in their throats.
One guard elbowed the hard in the ribs.
The guard hissed, his face paling. "Shut up. He is listening..."
Ignoring them I turned back to the villagers. A woman in rags clutching a baby stepped forward tentatively.
The woman wept, falling to her knees. "Please, My Lord. Please save us. We are starving. We need a leader who cares."
I looked down at her. I felt a wave of disgust wash over me at their state but I masked it instantly. I offered her a benevolent smile.
I said softly. "Raise your head. I will do everything in my power to ensure your prosperity."
Lies.. Necessary ones.
The reaction was mixed. Whispers rippled through the crowd. They knew Ashzer's reputation. A drunkard, a waste of space trash. Sean, the guard tightened his grip on his spear his eyes narrowing further. I could practically hear his thoughts. If Ashzer tries anything I will kill him myself.
Suddenly the ground trembled.
A cloud of dust rose on the horizon. A group of riders emerged, galloping toward the village with shouts. Bandits. The scourge of these borderlands coming to squeeze the drop of blood from the poor.
Panic erupted. The villagers screamed, scattering in all directions. The royal escorts seeing the numbers turned their horses around without a thought abandoning us to our fate.
Only Sean stepped forward positioning himself between the village and the riders though his hands shook.
I asked calmly not moving an inch. "Chief Osgar do these bandits use magic?"
Osgar looked at me trembling. "N-no, My Lord. Mages are incredibly rare on this continent. Most of them relocated to the other landmasses generations ago."
I smirked, my hand drifting to the hilt of the iron sword at my hip. "Excellent. That makes things simple."
Sean turned to the villagers. "Everyone get inside your homes. Now!"
I drew the blade. The metal scraped against the scabbard with a sound.
Miya cried out feigning concern though her eyes remained watchful. "My lord, please"
Sean scoffed. "Get back you fool! This is not a game for a spoiled noble!"
I ignored them both. The old familiar thrill was bubbling up inside me. The psychopath I had suppressed for minutes was clawing to get out.
I whispered, glancing back at Miya and Sean with a darkened expression. "I am going to be a little cruel. So try not to look."
Sean stammered, taken aback by the shift in my aura. "W-what?"
I walked toward the charging horses. The bandits saw a scrawny noble standing, in their path and roared with laughter.
Look at this idiot he really wants to die
They did not slow down they had no idea who they were dealing with the people I was going to fight.
The fight was going to happen. It was going to be over quickly.
I did not fight them I danced around them.
As the first rider swung his axe at me I ducked down slashing the leg of his horse and cutting the riders throat before he even hit the ground.
Blood sprayed out in an arc getting all over my face.
This feeling is amazing.
My face twisted into a smile. I moved fast avoiding their slow strikes.
My sword was like a part of me.
I cut off heads, severed limbs and the people who were so arrogant a minute ago were now dying, making gurgling sounds.
The people in the village watched from their windows they were too scared to move.
Sean just stood there frozen, his spear in his hand.
Even the royal guards who had run away stopped on a hill away to watch.
They could not believe what they were seeing.
This was not just some low-class noble this was a monster, a killer.
In a few minutes everything was quiet again on the plains.
I stood there surrounded by all the people I had killed I had spared seven horses for us to use.
I flipped the blood off my sword. Turned back, to the village.
Miya had fallen to her knees she looked really hysterical now.
I wiped some blood from my cheek. Smiled at the village chief, who was really scared.
" then " I said in a happy voice.
"Let us talk about the future of my territory the territory I am going to take care of."
They stared at me they were pale and shaking trying to understand the demon they had just let into their home my territory.