The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 231: Fake (3)

Elder Alfred was sipping his iced tea as he read the last reports on the situation outside.

His entire hall was on high alert due to certain news.

The Players console had sent an edict that all the powers must investigate the sources of the leaks… They will deal with this on two levels.

Everything about the Player’s existence would be ignored by the families, and made fun of in the tabloids and the internet… They would treat it as a normal crazy conspiracy theory.

The part about the crimes and illegal activities would be left to the families to hide their own sh*t.

“Master, we investigated the names in the report, and they all checked out.” A sexy assistant in a short office skirt knelt in front of him and reported,

“Oh… Someone from inside the family has leaked some secrets it seems…” He said,

“Not only ours but Some dirty secrets of the other families were also leaked too. There is a report about how a Von Zwei heir killed an entire village to take their women. Another report was on the Von Gledstadt human trafficking network.” The assistant said, “It is either a group of rebels from all the families or some spy organization.” She said,

“What about our family?” He asked, “What is there against us?”

“There are four reports. The first concerns the late young master Nick’s crimes and his relationship with the various cartels… But I think we don’t have to worry about that, we can just say that Nick was a bad apple…” She proposed,

“Yeah, that douchebag was not an heir anyway… Make Theodore release a letter condemning him…” Alfred nodded,

“The second is about a brothel run by a butler named Baron… In Vein city.“ She said,

“Oh… A lot of the reports seem to be from Vein city…” Alfred squinted his eyes.

“There is a reason for that. That city is the reporter, Jane’s hometown.” She replied,

“Oh… What about Baron? I didn’t hear about him in a while…” Alfred said,

“We… We don’t know. A couple of weeks ago some strange accident happened in his brothel where all the attendants were castrated in their sleep… Baron, the guards, and the girls were nowhere to be found. ” She said,

“Oh… Why no one told me about this?” He asked,

“Master… We told you… but you ordered us to not do any investigations regarding young master Titus’s dealings… You said to leave it to Master Mason!“ She said in a low voice.

“Oh right… Baron was Titus’s butler, I keep forgetting who is who. Why does this family have so many people… So many similar names...” He sighed,

“What to do?” She asked,

“Nothing… This is not our sh*t.” He said, “Titus was working with that b*tch Charlotte, let them deal with this… Just inform Mason and let him clean any loose threads.”

“I understand, The next report is troublesome, it is a list of some of the family elders and the numbers of their wives and ‘concubines’… “

“What’s wrong with that? As far as I know, it is legal to marry up to two wives and three concubines in this country…” He asked,

“Master, the list includes people like Master Theodore and Master Patrick… Each has more than 30 Official Concubines, not counting the unofficial ones… And the public is not reacting well to the prospect of old men marrying many young girls… especially the girl Master Joe betrothed last month… Some people are demanding the police to do something.” She said,

“Ignore them, they are just jealous. That girl is old enough!” Alfred pointed out,

“If you say so….” She whispered, “Some feminist groups are protesting…” She said,

“They just want to get our attention, wishing to marry one of our heirs…. Just a group of crazy women in heat…” He said,

“Master, that’s rude…” She whispered.

“What?” He didn’t hear her.

“Nothing… Just wondering what to do…” She said,

“Leak a report in the tabloids about that slut Alice, show them that we have powerful women too… And officially state that we do not interfere in the private lives of our descendants or their lovers.” He said,

“I Understand... Then we have a media report concerning the planned obsolescence of our lower-grade WhiteTree branded Phones… They found out that we are making our phones slower on purpose when we release new ones.”

“Let them sue us, we will pay the fine… And release a statement about how we are making the phones better or something…. Let the external affairs hall deal with their mess! Next.” He said,

“It’s about our union busting in our Tech companies…”

“Deny it, Next.”

“It’s about young master Morris raping the thirteenth princess of the Orion People’s Democratic Republic.”

“Make that c*ckhead Morris marry her… Present it as a couple’s quarrel… Next.”

“About us starting a war in….”

“Deny it. Next.”

“The last one, this is about how young master Victor killed young master Nick due to a family struggle over power…” She began to point out.

“As far as I know it was not him who killed Nick…” Alfred said,

“Yes, but I think that this was the last report Jane made and it was not thoroughly investigated.” She said,

“Oh… Make it as if that sh*t head Nick died while he was escaping after the family found out about him… Young master Victor has nothing to do with this.“ He said,

“I understand,” she said as she took some final notes. Why did her boss address Victor as a young master? He usually called the heirs by their given name and a curse…

“Anything else?” He asked, startling her,

“No Master,” She said, then quickly stepped out of the room, not noticing the faintly glowing stone in her master’s office.

“Young master. Sorry for keeping you waiting” Alfred said as he squinted his eyes at the black stone.

“It’s Ok, you handled this well.” Victor said from the other side, “Just make sure to erase all the data concerning mine and my maids' movements and monetary transactions.” He said,

“Young master… The family transactions are on a blockchain, we can’t modify those…” Alfred said,

“Just change the purchasers in the logs… Make it so that I am buying condoms in volume.” Victor said,

“They will think that the young master is dealing with drugs…” Alfred replied,

“Oh… Then find something inconspicuous… I will call you later if I need anything. You can contact me through Kai. That guy is trustworthy” Victor said, “Remember to keep the council balanced and not to reveal anything… We will eliminate the traitors one by one.”

“Yes, Master!” Alfred said as the black stone dimmed. Whoever controlled this stone was his master. He sold his soul to the devil ages ago when he almost lost his life and standings in the family due to a conspiracy by the other heirs.

That’s when the Von Gledstdt family approached him and offered to give him enough resources and opportunity to grow… He was just an ignorant kid back then and he was desperate at that time, so he took the chance and had been regretting it ever since.

The Von Geldstadt family had not only his soul contract but his wives' and children’s contracts too. They forced him to make them sign!

Although he didn’t really like the family, he felt guilty for his actions. Who doesn’t want his family to be the best after all?

Too bad there was nothing he could do. First, he knew more than anyone that the family was sinking due to the infighting.

Working for the Von Gluckstadt family, he might be able to secure a future for his offspring.

He resigned himself to a life as a traitor as he was already too deep in this.

An hour ago everything changed though. It was a familiar call but a different caller. It was none other than Victor the pervert.

To his surprise, Victor bought his contract from Von Geldstadt, and not only did he not reveal it to the family. Victor told him that he will be working for him from now on.

Alfred had no idea that Victor was this resourceful, and it took him some time to really believe. At first, he was annoyed about getting sold like an old goat and having to work for a teenager but after some thinking, he realized that this was way much better… Victor proved to have inherited his grandmother’s fox genes.

Alfred realized that from now on he would no longer be a tractor. As he would be working for the family again. And if his intuition was correct. He will be working for the next patriarch in a few years.

...

Malcolm looked in surprise at the well-furnished pub. This place was the base of his previous gang! How did it turn out like this in just a couple of weeks?

“Make yourselves at home!” Nora said to the children who were still wary, “And don’t think about trying anything funny, I can easily blow your heads off.” She added, making those who were planning an escape change their minds.

“Hahahahaha….” She began to giggle with the other assassin girls, “Would you really think that we would plant explosives in children?” She said,

“There are no explosives?” One kid said as he touched the stitches on his shoulder.

“Of course not! What if you were hit on your shoulder? The explosives would go Kaboom!” She lied. Those were real explosives bundled with tracking devices, but she removed them after making the kids go to sleep in the caves last night.

The bombs were the method the family trained them to use in case they wanted to recruit some temporary agent, but it was not feasible for long-term ‘employment’.

It was Victo who scolded them for using such a stupid method that can be exploited by others. He gave them a better method, which they will be using now.

“We didn’t tell you before as you might not have believed us, but our way to keep you in check was way simpler, It is a poison!” She said as she became serious. Making the children shiver.

“Don’t worry, the poison would only harm you if we didn’t give you the antidote once every month! So as long as you are obedient you will live a long prosperous life.” She explained, the Poison according to Victor will not kill them, but will make them wish they were dead.

“Is there a way for you to totally cure the poison?” Yin, the arsonist girl asked,

“Yes. you must have already guessed, we got you all to work as agents for us. In fact, we are building a branch of our secret organization in this region and you are our first batch of agents.” Nora said, making the girls frown and then nod. She didn't tell them that they will work as assassins as they are still not ready. They will train them slowly so that killing others would be second nature to them.

“You are now iron-ranked agents. Barely able to accomplish minor missions!” Sky who was watching them said, giving everyone an iron ring with a purple wing symbol. “This is your token. The sign would disappear in a while and would only appear once you dropped some blood into it.” She said,

“What is the organization called?” Yin asked again as she inspected the ring.

“Purple Crow! ” she said,

“What does it do?” Yin asked again, ignoring Nora’s threatening looks.

“You will know in time." She didn't answer, "Now… where were we? Ah yes, the antidote. If you can prove yourself and your loyalty or reach the gold rank we will give you the complete antidote.” Nora said, “This might take years though!”

“How can I become gold ranked?” Malcolm asked this time, glancing sideways at the veiled girl who ignored them and was sipping something at the bar. She seemed as if she was missing someone… One day he will sit beside her comforting her!

“You will have to finish 5 Gold ranked missions for that! Our missions would range from Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and diamond. Depending on the difficulty… It is still too early for that…” Nora said, “Now… Everyone, take this.” She said giving each one of the children a wallet. They can easily see that it was full of cash!

“What is this for?” a bald kid asked,

“This is your first test! You have to take this money and leave! In one month I want each of you to finish any unfinished business you had in the world outside and then return here! After that, you will be completely ours.” She said, surprising them.

“And if we didn’t return?” another boy asked,

“Someone would find your rotting corpse and wonder what kind of evil poison killed you,” She answered, making him shiver.

“What if we called the police?” Yin asked,

“You can do that. But would they believe you? And all of you have files with the police… By the time they finish sending you to some juvenile prison, you would have been rotted away.” She said,

“So we will return here for the antidote,” Yin stated,

“Exactly!” Nora said, “By that time this place would be your new home!” She added.

...

When Lara and El returned from school, they were welcomed by a lazy ‘Victor’ who was sitting on a sofa getting pampered by Beta and her sisters who were surrounding him as they watched TV together. Theta and Ruby were giving him a massage while Eta was feeding him some grapes. He looked like a debaucherous prince from some old fantasy.

“Esteemed brother, we are back,” Lara bowed deeply with El following her as soon as they entered the mansion.

“Ah… Oh…M… Lara… Welcome home…” Alex, who was disguised as Victor, said, “Go do your homework… We will talk tomorrow..” She said as she relaxed, this is life!

“Brother…” Lara wanted to say something but El, who was frowning, suddenly grabbed her.

“Let’s go do our homework first… He is busy.” She said softly,

Lara nodded obediently leaving the room, not realizing that El was putting herself between her and ‘Victor’ as they walked out.