a级黑粗大硬长爽猛出猛进

"Umm… No? Should I?"

"Were you not even told what I did to earn my infamy?!"

I tilted my head at him, "Weren\'t you some kind of serial killer who was using the bodies for some stupid ritual right?"

"How dare you?! To gain immortality and the powers of a God is not stupid!! Do you think anyone can do it?!"

Ah, so that\'s what he was after.

I mean… That\'s pretty common, right? The evil dude wanting to live forever or to get unlimited power? In this case he wants both I guess.

But I don\'t get it, what does that have to do with us already knowing his identity? Is that even that big of a deal if we did?

Katsuki was still staying vigilant in front of me though I could tell that even she didn\'t think that was a big deal either.

"That still doesn\'t explain why you freaked out like that though?" I pointed out. "And aren\'t you already immortal after turning yourself into a lich? I\'m not sure why you even need to try and assassinate me?"

He seemed to scowl at me, though it\'s hard to tell considering his face was literally a skull.

"Did you not know about the people I\'ve killed? I\'ve killed your brothers and sisters! Children of the Nilm family! All of them I took here to use as my materials to make me what I am today! You were merely my next target to strengthen myself!!"

…

Huh?

Wait a minute…

If I remember correctly… Mother said I was the only child she ever had didn\'t she? She even told me that it was impossible for her to have a child and I was a miracle granted by the gods for her.

It also couldn\'t have been previous generations of my family since this guy was doing his killings within this generation wasn\'t he?

Oh wait, they said he was supposed to be dead ten years ago but he might not have been specifically killed at that time. They might have only found his dead body ten years ago while he had already been a lich for far longer than that…. Probably?

Then again, he did say he was killing my siblings right? That means they should be recent too… So this makes no sense…

Does Mother have other children aside from me and she had been lying about me being her only child?

No, no, that\'s definitely not possible…

I feel bad for saying this but if that was really the case, there was no way Mother would be so obsessed with me.

I\'m sure if she had more children aside from myself, she would definitely have her attention spread out amongst her other children aside from just me.

Unless… Mother adopted them while she didn\'t have me and then abandoned them after I was born?

I would like to say that Mother isn\'t this cruel but I honestly can\'t say for certain because I can see her doing that.

I was about to ask Katsuki if that was the case but she spoke up before I could.

"Mistress, you are the only child of the Nilm Family. There are no others, of which I am a hundred percent certain."

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

Both myself and the lich let out voices of surprise at her words.

The lich pointed his finger at her, "You lie! How could there not be?! I\'ve found them all claiming themselves to be members of the Nilm Family! They even have maids like you accompanying them too!!"

Katsuki ignored him and merely continued to glare at him.

"Umm… I would like to know as well…" I spoke up from behind.

eαglesnᴏνel "I believe those people who claim to be people of the Nilm family were merely liars or scammers and the servants accompanying them might be the same. We had received a few reports about such people in the past few years but most of the time we\'d find them already dead or missing when we got there. We figured out that he was behind it though we couldn\'t find a motive behind such actions."

I tilted my head, "A motive? I mean… Isn\'t it obvious that he\'s targeting people in our family?"

"Not at all, Mistress. Even the most common of folk around here know that there is only one official member of the Nilm Family who is the Madam herself. No one knows what the Madam looks like and anyone claiming to be a member of the Nilm Family would most definitely be lying. It is akin to walking around and claiming themselves to be from the Royal Family. As for the servants, Mistress already knows we carry an emblem of the Family as proof of our relation, I believe this lich was not educated in the basics of noble society to know that."

As if to prove her point, the lich was staring at her with obvious confusion, "Emblem? What emblem?"

Katsuki remained motionless.

"Umm… You can show him I guess?" I prompted.

Katsuki reached into her apron pocket to show the symbol in question before putting it away.

I turned to the lich, "So… I guess those people you killed don\'t have that on them? Looks like you got scammed…"

"Impossible!! Impossible!! This… This can\'t be!! I was supposed to take the combined powers of those I sacrificed for this! I became strong! I became a lich!! I have magic beyond a normal Mahun\'s capabilities!! You lie!!"

I shrugged, "I\'m more surprised that you think I\'m from the Nilm Family, actually… I never even claim to be one?"

He looked at me with uncertainty, "Are… Are you not? No! You can\'t confuse me! That head maid was with you! There\'s no one else with Somatomancy skills like that around her! If she was protecting you, you must be a child of the Nilm Family!"

"I guess I can\'t refute that… But that doesn\'t explain how you know though?"

"Isn\'t it obvious?! It\'s your looks! Which other noble family would have looks like yours and not even brag about it?!"

…

Err… What?

You know if he said something about my silver white hair being what tipped him off, I could even half accept that as the reason…

But what the heck does he mean by looking like me and not bragging about it? Don\'t I look normal? Or is there something here that I don\'t know about?

Oh… Oh wait… Is it because I\'m a Mesletar? There aren\'t many Mesletar noble families in the capital so it\'s easy to assume right?

Even without looking back, Katsuki seemed to have guessed what I was thinking and spoke up, "Mistress, that is not it. There are a number of families that have Mesletar ancestors in their family tree and Mesletar features might only appear in later generations so no one can say for sure that Mistress is from the Nilm Family just based on that alone."

Ah, that\'s right… Otherwise everyone would have known about me by now.

"Then why?"

"If I had to guess, Mistress… He just saw your beauty and assumed that…"

…

So this guy is really just an idiot?

I actually don\'t know if I should pity or laugh at him… On one hand he actually managed to guess my relation to the Nilm Family… But on the other hand he basically somehow did it with blind luck?

Now I\'m thinking he might have become a lich through luck as well… I don\'t know what the conditions are for becoming a lich but I can assume that there must be specific requirements or something.

Putting that aside…

I looked back at the lich again, "I don\'t get it though… Why the Nilm Family in particular? I\'m pretty sure there are other noble families around for you to sacrifice right? Why us in particular?"

The lich scoffed, "Hmph! Do you take me for an idiot! I know the fact that the master of the Nilm Family could only remain hidden for so long is due to his strength! If he wasn\'t strong, then he wouldn\'t have been able to hide his identity! Which means the other members of the Nilm Family must also be strong as well! Once I absorb your power into mine, I will become even stronger until I can take the power of the Nilm Family head myself!!"

Err… Does he not know that Mother is the family head? Also, what\'s with that stupid logic? Just because you have parents who like to do something wouldn\'t mean you would share the same interest as them right?

And if I were to just slack off my normal training and do nothing all day, I\'d be weak as hell too. Just where did he even get the idea that the reason why Mother could stay hidden was because of her strength?

Hmm… I guess the last part is true to a small extent but that\'s beside the point.

The point is… This guy is beyond saving and also an absolute idiot.

"That\'s enough!! I have enough of this! I know you\'re a child of the Nilm Family now! So all I have to do is sacrifice you for my power!!"

He pointed his bony hand at me and I heard a groan coming from behind me.

Turning back, I found the dead bodies from the cave we were previously in rising up slowly to their feet.

I knew it… Damned zombies…