The Shadow Organization Members Raised Through Pay-To-Win Are Too Strong

A day had passed since returning to the family estate.

Albert was also back but prepared to leave as soon as dawn broke.

‘In the end, we didn’t even have one conversation.’

Though I approached and tried to speak first, I was thoroughly ignored.

After that, there was no chance for further dialogue.

‘Is it the Count’s blood that’s the problem, or the Countess’ genes?’

No matter how I looked at it, something seemed wrong with the siblings here.

Whoever’s genes were responsible, there seemed to be no familial love.

Still, Albert was better than Bastel, who had immediately started hurling insults.

However, that was the only positive thing.

‘Sigh, this isn’t going to work…’

Honestly, unlike with Bastel, I had some expectations for Albert.

Wasn’t he supported by the vassals as the future head of the Hartwell family?

I naturally thought he would have good character and be a decent person, but seeing him in person was disappointing.

‘Maybe it was bad timing?’

Perhaps he was in a bad mood because his mother had passed away.

‘No. Even so, ignoring someone is just bad manners.’

In the end, Albert and Bastel were cut from the same cloth.

Thinking this, I walked toward Albert as he was boarding his carriage.

Even if he ignored me, as his younger brother, shouldn’t I maintain proper etiquette until the end?

“Brother, the world is dangerous these days. Please be careful on your journey.”

I bowed while maintaining my best smile.

It was slightly different from the usual formal farewell.

After all, the Hartwell territory was truly dangerous now with the appearance of a dark mage.

‘The Count must have considered this when providing an escort.’

Indeed, the family’s knights were positioned around the carriage.

Under the knights’ escort, he only needed to reach the Magic Tower in the nearby territory.

From there, he could use teleportation to safely reach the Empire.

“…”

Regardless, Albert maintained his silence until the end.

Since I hadn’t expected a response anyway, I turned away.

Shortly after, Albert’s carriage left the mansion with its knight escort.

I called Emilia in a soft voice.

“Emilia.”

“Yes, Lord Ethan.”

Emilia, who was beside me, answered immediately.

I gave her one order.

“Follow Albert and observe everything. What he says, what he does—everything.”

Albert, who had maintained silence and consistently ignored others.

By now, I was curious about what kind of personality he had.

Since the carriage would take breaks during its journey rather than traveling continuously, it wouldn’t be difficult for Emilia to observe if she wanted to.

Based on the information Emilia would bring back, I planned to deduce what kind of person Albert was.

“I will follow your orders, Lord Ethan.”

Emilia bowed at my command.

Her tone remained cold, but I wasn’t particularly bothered by it.

‘Well, as long as she does her job well.’

Emilia vanished in an instant.

Now for the next matter.

‘I should make my own preparations.’

Seeing Albert, he didn’t seem like someone who would be helpful to me.

Given how he ignored me until the end, it would be difficult to progress our relationship from here.

‘I need to take out some insurance.’

Originally, if Albert had been a normal person, I would have helped him and planned to live comfortably.

But seeing the situation, things didn’t seem likely to go smoothly.

In this situation, I needed my own insurance.

‘First, I need to secure the money.’

Family head? Heir?

None of that matters. Having control of the money is always supreme.

If I could just control the family’s finances, I wouldn’t need to worry about the Count’s opinion.

‘Should I start by bringing the financial officer to my side?’

The first target within the family would be the financial officer.

The financial officer managed the family’s finances, and one person held this role in the Hartwell family.

However, I did not intend to bribe the financial officer or ask for support.

After this experience with Albert, it seemed that dealing with people required a stronger approach.

“Send Lena and Ray to my room.”

I gave instructions to a nearby servant and headed to the mansion.

Lena and Ray were from the orphanage.

And I planned to use the orphanage children to dig up dirt on the financial officer.

‘Children are best for surveillance, after all.’

*  *  *

Albert’s carriage was racing along.

More precisely, it was heading to a nearby territory with a Magic Tower, not the Imperial Academy.

The distance between the principality and the Empire wasn’t short, and it would take considerable time to travel by carriage from the Hartwell territory to the Empire’s center.

That’s why he planned to use teleportation from the Magic Tower.

Without even glancing at the passing scenery outside the window, Albert was completely focused on studying.

His mind was filled with the studies he had briefly suspended for his mother’s funeral.

‘Tch, what a waste of time.’

If it hadn’t been his birth mother, he wouldn’t have returned to the family at all.

Even his mother was just an obstacle to his studies.

Then Albert raised his head and looked at the scenery outside.

One person came to mind.

“Ethan…”

His half-brother Ethan.

He had commoner blood mixed in, making him only half noble.

That wasn’t all.

The rumors about Ethan bothered him.

‘A lowborn having talent in magic?’

News from the mansion was familiar.

With the vassals already supporting him, all information about Ethan had reached his ears.

Among them were rumors that Ethan had talent in magic, but Albert just scoffed.

‘Must be false rumors spread by lowborns.’

Perhaps the home tutor teaching Ethan was just spouting flattery.

That way, they would keep their employment as a tutor.

“How trivial.”

Moreover, he wasn’t worried even if his half-brother aimed for the heir position.

After all, Ethan was just a card to be discarded for his benefit.

That’s why he ignored Ethan’s attempts to approach and speak with him.

Not only did he not consider Ethan a brother, but getting along with him would just be a waste of time.

The same went for Bastel.

He heard Bastel was still suffering from trauma and wouldn’t leave his room after being attacked on the road.

“Nothing but useless ones.”

He spat out through gritted teeth.

He couldn’t forgive incompetence, even in a brother.

He was even thinking of discarding Bastel if he seemed like he would interfere with his path.

Something like familial affection never existed in the first place.

The world doesn’t care about the process. Only results matter.

Why was he so favored?

He must be the only student who could have a private audience with the Academy Director for a brief visit home.

That was the result of innate ability and its rightful reward.

Albert immersed himself in study again.

He began intensely reading the thick magic tomes spread before him.

The carriage continued toward the Academy through the dense forest path.

That’s when the unexpected happened.

“Stop!”

An unfamiliar voice shook the forest.

The carriage jerked to a sudden stop.

“What is this!”

Albert shouted at the sudden situation.

Looking outside, masked figures had completely surrounded the carriage.

There were dozens of them.

One of them stepped forward and spoke.

“Isn’t there someone called Albert here who attends the Imperial Academy? If you hand him over, no one else will be hurt.”

The masked man spoke forcefully.

However, there was no way the knights would accept such an absurd proposal.

How dare they demand the young master who might become the next family head.

“Insolent fool! If you don’t withdraw immediately, you’ll face the consequences!”

The senior knight bellowed as everyone drew their swords.

Though outnumbered, they were knights protecting the family.

“Deal with this quickly. We have far to go.”

“Yes, young master!”

Albert knew this well.

That’s why he wasn’t worried, regardless of why they were targeting him.

The family knights would surely deal with such bandits quickly.

Just as he believed this and was about to re-enter the carriage.

The masked man spoke in a cold voice.

“You won’t listen.”

Then, with a gesture, the masked figures all charged at the knights.

“Guh!”

In an instant, one knight’s head was severed in the attack.

No one could react.

“Quickly, protect the young master!”

The knights formed ranks around the carriage.

But their response was futile.

“Ugh!”

“Argh!”

Knights’ screams erupted one after another.

The unidentified assailants butchered the knights in the blink of an eye.

Horrific scenes unfolded in succession as heads were severed and bodies split in half.

The knights were dying without even getting a chance to fight back.

“…!”

Only then did Albert realize these weren’t ordinary bandits.

His actions were quick at the same time.

Steadying his trembling hands, he began chanting magic.

Though the situation was difficult, now was his chance to counterattack while the knights bought time.

But before he could attempt his counterattack, Albert’s spell was interrupted.

“Don’t move.”

A man who had somehow entered the carriage held a knife to Albert’s throat.

He hadn’t even sensed their presence.

“Who, who are you to dare…”

But those were his final words as Albert felt a strong impact to his head.

The man had struck him hard.

“Ugh…”

Albert’s vision blurred.

As consciousness slipped away, he could only hear the other’s voice.

“You should be happy. You’ve received an honorable selection.”

Nonsense!

What honor was there in this?

He couldn’t understand why he had to endure this in the first place.

Just as Albert was about to lose consciousness without resolving his questions.

“Who are you, woman!”

The man’s voice was directed at someone.

Surprise could be heard in his voice.

The atmosphere had suddenly changed.

Simultaneously came the terrible sound of blades clashing and flesh tearing.

“Qui-quickly, eliminate that woman!”

The voice of the man who had been so confident moments ago now trembled.

Like a mouse before a cat.

Then came the sound of blood spraying.

“Aaargh!”

“Guh… sp-spare me…”

Screams erupted in succession.

The sound of flesh tearing and agonized screams assaulted his ears.

‘Wh-who…’

Could someone from the family have come to save him?

Albert tried his hardest to maintain consciousness and turned his head.

He needed to let them know he was still alive.

“He-here…”

The words wouldn’t come out.

Moreover, his vision was too blurry to identify who it was.

Still, he could vaguely make out the overall scene.

One thing was clear: someone was fighting the masked men.

‘Impossible…’

These were the same people who had easily killed the family knights.

Yet now they were falling without even putting up a fight—it was unbelievable.

Shortly after, the massacre-like battle ended in an instant.

Albert fixed his gaze.

To identify who it was.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t make out the person’s face.

He could only vaguely see gray hair fluttering in the wind.

With that final sight, Albert lost consciousness.

*  *  *

“Aaaaargh!”

Albert woke up with an ear-splitting scream.

His whole body was drenched in cold sweat.

He struggled to gather his thoughts while catching his breath for a while.

“This is… my room.”

Before him were familiar furniture and his bed.

He had certainly been captured by the dark mages.

He thought he would be kidnapped, but now he was back in the family mansion.

“…”

It seemed a family knight must have saved him.

Fortunately, there were no injuries except for his throbbing head.

“Like it was all a nightmare.”

Albert gritted his teeth and stood up.

His legs still felt weak.

Just then, the door opened, and two people entered.

“Oh my, brother. Are you feeling alright? How shocked I was when I heard the news!”

The one speaking was his half-brother Ethan.

Though his expression seemed worried, something felt artificial about it.

And behind Ethan, he could see a maid following.

Normally, he would have chased them out immediately, but Albert couldn’t.

Wasn’t the maid’s hair color somehow familiar?

“Ah, ah…?”

Gray hair.

Though it had been blurry, the image of gray hair fluttering in the wind was vivid.

The person who had dealt with the mysterious group.

Moreover, he still remembered what the masked man had shouted.

– Quickly, eliminate that woman!

A woman with gray hair.

Could this really be a coincidence?

Albert’s mind raced.

What had Ethan said before he left the family estate?

– Brother, the world is dangerous these days. Please be careful on your journey.

Ethan had been smiling as he said this.

That was definitely his expression.

‘Th-there’s no doubt…!’

At first, he thought it was just a normal greeting.

However, after experiencing the attack, Ethan’s words took on a different meaning.

As if he had known about the attack.

And right on cue, hadn’t someone with gray hair saved him?

Everything matched up too perfectly.

‘C-could it be…’

What if all of this was actually Ethan’s plan?

Albert was horrified.