In Another World, All Milfs Will Be Mine-Chapter 186: [ - - ]

"I thought you might say that," Aris chuckled softly, "That is why I took care of it already!"

"I have reported it to the King that the region is in a critical, highly unstable state. I requested that the King grant you a twelve month grace period before your Royal Audience."

"I have also suggested the kingdom to cut your taxes to half for this year. This should help you a bit."​

Leo paused, as he looked at Aris.

Twelve months. Aris had just bought him a year of complete autonomy. This was enough time for him to Level Up considerably, fortify this region and build his army.

​"You did that for me?" It was now Leo’s turn to be impressed, "Aren’t you a cutie."

​"I did that I felt was necessary," Aris tried to shrug it off, "You are useful here, Lord Leo."

"Just make sure that the borders are safe, keep the taxes flowing when the exemption ends, and the Crown won’t bother you too much."

​Aris leaned back in his chair, looking all proud of himself. But now it was enough of him doing stuff for Leo.

With the immediate business done, he wanted to uncover a few things now.

​"Now that I have helped you out so much," Aris said, his eyes narrowing sharply, "Shouldn’t we open up to each other, Lord Leo?"

"Don’t have any ideas about me, Aris," Leo grinned at Ari’s words, "I am not striping down my clothes, and jumping in your embrace. Dream on!"

"Haha! You jest Lord Leo," Aris laughed off Leo’s words words, but did not divulge from his question, "I have already heard a lot of stories about you in the past few days."

"And your friend has been very kind to you. That old fella."

"But this got me curious. Who are you really, Lord Leo? Where did you come from? And what’s the sudden interest in Auravale?"

​Remus leaned in as well, clearly desperate to know the answer. This young boy had made him dance on his tunes like no other.

​"And don’t say a nobody!" Aris continued before Leo could speak, "You are weak. And if I may be blunt, pathetically weak. Yet you have the brains to usurp a Lord from his position."

"No one can do it without someone having their back," Aris stated as a matter of fact, "A commoner doesn’t make friends with the Bandit Queen."

"A commoner can’t make a guild run on his whims."

"And a commoner would never dare to covet a noble’s wife."

"So I will ask again. Where did you come from?"

​Leo looked at the two older men. They were hungry for a story. They needed a box to put him in. If he didn’t give them a backstory, they would keep digging.

​So, Leo decided to give them a masterpiece of bullshit.

​Leo picked up a silver goblet of wine from Remus’s desk. He took a slow sip, letting the silence stretch out to build the tension. He stared into the red liquid, making his eyes look distant and haunted.

​"True... I am not a peasant," Leo said quietly. His voice was low, devoid of its usual arrogance. "But I am not a pampered noble, either."

​He looked up, meeting Aris’s gaze.

​"I come from across the Sea..." Leo lied smoothly, "My father... He is a powerful man."

"I won’t tell you his name, don’t want to scare you guys with the introduction."

​Aris nodded slowly, urging him to continue.

​"My mother was a commoner," Leo said bluntly, enjoying the way Remus flinched, "A tavern girl my father fancied."

"When my father’s brother, my uncle launched a coup, it turned a bloody slaughter house."

"To save me and my brothers, my father snuck me out of the castle."

​Leo took another sip of wine. He was making this up as he went along, pulling tropes from every fantasy game he had ever played, but he delivered it with absolute conviction.

​"I was only six years old," Leo continued, "A guard smuggled me out in a barrel of salted fish. We fought monstrous waves, sea monsters and even pirates. But somehow, we managed to cross the sea."

"Sssss... At just six?" Remus took in a cold breath, "That’s preposterous."

"What happened after that?" Aris, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes.

On one hand, he was having trouble believing the story. But on the other, it wasn’t an unusual scenario.

"Well, I was lucky. We found shore somehow. But my guard died of injuries and flesh rot-fever."

"When we landed, I was an orphan with nothing."

"But I had to repay the kindness of that man who laid down his life for me."

"So I joined a a mercenary group as their chore boy in exchange to pay for the guard’s burial."

​By this time, Aris was completely hooked, "Who were they?"

​"They called themselves the "Bloody Dogs"," Leo lied through his teeth, "They loved their dogs."

"They would throw the young ones into fighting pits with starved dogs. If you survived somehow, you got to eat the dog."

"I killed my first do when I was seven."

"And I killed my first man when I was ten. I think I shoved a rusty spoon into his kidney over a piece of stale bread."

"Uggghh!" ​Remus almost vomited his lunch there, while Aris was slowly starting to look fascinated.

​"I didn’t learn to be ruthless among the righteous soldiers," Leo sneered, leaning forward, "I learned it by watching men slit each other’s throats over a barrel of cheap ale, a dirty whore or both."

​Leo set the goblet down hard.

​"The Bloody Dogs were wiped out three years ago," Leo said, finishing his grand tale, "Let us say a dragon burned our camp to ash."

"I survived by hiding under a pile of dead bodies until that monster decided to fly away. I travelled here to start fresh. To take what I want, because no one is ever going to hand it to me."

​Leo leaned back, crossing his arms.

​"So, Lord Aris. That’s who I am. I am a man who survived the gutter. And I will burn this entire city to the ground if anyone tries to drag me back to it."

​Silence hung heavily in the High Priest’s chamber.

​Remus was pale, staring at Leo with a mixture of horror and pity. Aris simply stared at the boy.

​It explained everything. It explained Leo’s raw, brutal combat style. It explained his absolute ruthlessness. It explained his lack of noble manners, but his natural, dominant presence. He was a noble bastard forged in the bloodiest pits of the world.

"If you have anything to ask. feel free to, I am in a good mood today."

"Just one thing Lord. Leo," Aris raised his finger, "That wasn’t a dragon that destroyed Bloody Dogs was it?"

"Remember one thing Lord Aris!"

"Never fuck the woman of the man powerful than you."

Leo grinned as he winked at Aris.

"You get your friends killed."

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