Death's Door 60 Volume 4: Chapter 4: New Lord's Ways

They were struggling to pay the monthly taxes, which was two gold coins per person. Apparently, whenever they could not pay their taxes in time, Augustus Sevilles would make example of one of the villagers and publically execute him.

Now the villagers were begging for a few more days because they have not managed to sell their crops to have enough to pay back the taxes.

To their surprise, Runfar simply smiled and told them.

"Two gold coins per person per month? That is tad bit unreasonable is it not? No wonder we have so few people working the fields, they must be scared of the taxes. Well then, let me alleviate the problem. In exchange for your continued hard work, I will make a new price for taxes per person, two silver coins per person each month, would you find it acceptable?"

Village head stared at Runfar in shock. He was trembling all over.

"Young master Sevilles, you are not jesting are you? That tax is far lower than any noble's domain in Tracoa territory! Is that really ok?"

"My say is the law of this land, so yes, it is ok."

"To think, young master is so merciful…" village head ended up bowing down, striking the ground with his head in respect.

"Keep up the good work, Lemotus." Runfar addressed the village head by name.

After Runfar left, the village head informed the villagers of the pleasant news, their new lord, son of Augustus Sevilles, was not a tyrant like his father, but a kind and merciful man.

He told them of how merciful their new lord was and the fact that he even knew his name even if it was his first time meeting him.

Lemotus, the village head, was touched to the core, a master who acknowledged his life and existence, he was so unlike his father, Augustus Sevilles who saw the villagers as workhorses that needed to be whipped regularly to be kept in line.

* * *

A beautiful noble lady, long light green hair, and she was trying to flirt with Runfar, who was just standing there uncomfortably.

Her name was Lilain Onlegio, apparently here as a potential suitor for Runfar.

After her seductions failed to work on Runfar, she resorted to using her magic which essentially captured attention of male and made them slaves to her will. The magic is called 'Charm' and any human male would become unable to resist its effects.

But Runfar did not even budge. An ordinary man would have succumbed to his primal desires and would have bowed at her feet on the spot. Yet he stood there, as if he was bored out of his mind.

Unbeknownst to everyone in the room, Runfar had almost no lust, his body being half undead made him have no need for many things. While he could partake in human pleasures, after all, he still had his lungs, taste buds, digestive organs, and genitals. But as half-undead, they were no longer necessary.

In fact, he even found sleeping to be a chore. As long as his body had mana, he could go on days without sleep.

"How dare you ignore me!" she proceeded to slap him.

Her slap landed on the left side of his face, the side not covered by the mask. The mask almost got knocked off.

When she tried to slap him again, he grabbed her by the wrist with his right hand, and with a small crushing motion, broke her wrist.

She cried out in pain, but Runfar did not stop there. He broke the wrist of her other hand as well.

Then, he grabbed her by the back of her dress with his right hand and with strength that did not seem to be fitting of the man of his size; he tossed her out of the window.

She was thrown from the second floor of the mansion. The window was not open, so she essentially ended up crashing through it, getting many cuts and bruises from it.

She landed in the bushes outside, which broke her fall.

She sustained multiple small cuts and bruises, and she also lost her consciousness.

Runfar had her escorted back to her family with a warning to everyone else 'Try this again and I will not be so merciful.'

The noble families that were trying to have their daughters seduce Runfar were less prominent noble families with small estates, in a sense; they were looking for a political marriage in order to expand their domains. And their daughters were just as greedy, wanting to have the power for themselves, using their charms and seductions.

"Young master…" Landon ended up gulping in fear after what he just witnessed.

"Whose bright idea was this, Landon?" Runfar directed his sole crimson eye at Landon. The boy looked in his twenties, no facial hair, short brown hair, wearing tight butler uniform.

"It was my uncle's, but please do not punish him, I am certain he meant well. He most likely thought that if young master has a wife, young master could have a family."

It seems like Mordon Myers wanted Runfar to father an heir, for the sake of the future.

"Worry not, I do not intend to harm him, but please take this as a warning, and do tell him to 'Never do this again', or I will not be pleased."

"Yes, young master." Landon bowed and left.

At first, due to Runfar lowering taxes on peasants by 90 percent, the people around him assumed him to be a gentle person, a weak minded fool who could be easily manipulated. But after he demonstrated that while he was patient, his patience was not limitless, the people around him chose not to be too bold with their actions.

Throwing a lady, even a bad lady, out of the window, that level of cruelty could have been expected of Augustus…But Runfar is Augustus's son.

Apple does not fall far from the apple tree, indeed.

Members of the Sevilles estate at first found it rather peculiar how such a kind man could be the son of the monster that they had to reluctantly serve, but this incident proved once and for all that Runfar indeed is Augustus's son, true heir of the Sevilles estate.

Of course, that was a planned out move as well.

Making people think they can run all over me and then make them realize I am no pushover, now they are convinced that I am indeed Augustus's son. They might have believed it by appearance alone, but in order to completely have them convinced that I am the genuine article, I will need to emulate some of Augustus's traits. Luckily, wanton cruelty is something we happened to have in common…

* * *

A particular incident occurred after Runfar thanked a maid for cleaning up his rom so well. Her name was Leirin Wozen.

He put his right hand on her shoulder for about ten seconds. Unexpectedly, she fainted.

When he had her examined by a healer of the mansion, she informed Runfar that the maid had suffered mana exhaustion, her mana would return after a short rest.

Runfar permitted Leirin to take the entire day off.

Returning to his room, with only other person there being Camil, Runfar asked to test something out.

"Camilla, I want you to touch my hands, first my left hand then my right hand, tell me if you feel something."

Camilla did just that.

With left hand, there was no reaction. Camilla just shrugged as nothing happened.

However, with Runfar's right hand, Camilla felt his mana drain away from his body, a painful sensation that left him panting and he let go immediately.

"Milord, it seems your right hand absorbed all of my mana."

"Just as I thought. It seems like the alterations on my body were not just for decorative purposes."

Right side of his body could absorb mana of anyone he touched…but what was more disturbing was that he felt hungry for some reason.

Not hungry for food or drink, but for taste of mana…taste of life force.

Dark Lord had to admit he craved the taste of life, even though he did not know where such deep hunger had come from.

But he knew, sooner or later, he would need to feed.

* * *

"Well then, I might as well take a peek inside my dear father's office, after all, it will be in my capable hands after all."

When he entered the office, he smelled a pungent odor; it was unmistakably the odor of rotting flesh.

Something has died here…maybe a small animal.

He tried to search for it among the books, maybe animal got stuck there and suffocated to death.

Then, by a complete chance, he pulled on one of the books.

He felt a mechanism move, the shelves moved aside, revealing a secret door.

Without any hesitation, Runfar opened it.

What he saw made his eye grow wide.

It was a long room that led downwards, grabbing a torch, Runfar proceeded to walk forward.

The room was constructed such a way that it led down the stairs. It was obvious this was Augustus's secret lair.

Within it, he found what Augustus has been hiding.

Humanoids who looked like elves, but they were not breathing, there were ten bodies there, each chained to the wall, Runfar checked their pulses, but only one was barely breathing, the others have already started to rot away.

When he went deeper into the dungeon, he found something even more peculiar, these were not humanoids; those were bodies of demons.

There were twelve bodies, but there was only one survivor as well. One of her eyes was clearly removed.

With the bond he had to his servant through contract, Runfar called out to Camil.

-Camilla, call all the servants, there are corpses here and two of need of urgent first aid.

-Understood.

Mental commands were relayed.

Now Dark Lord scratched his head in confusion.

"Augustus Sevilles, just what the hell have you been up to in this dungeon?"

Chapter end