In that case, you're useless to me

Alice Pov

I took a few seconds to compose myself before whispering, "How dare they greet me with such nonsense that could have been uttered by a trash maid."

After that, Sucht, who had been standing next to me, tapped kindly on the door in front of me.

I considered breaking into it right away, but in the end, I decided against it.

Not long after, the door opened, and this time what greeted me was a middle-aged man who already had a lot of gray hair even though he still looked to be in his 40s. His body also appeared to be thinner than the majority of nobles I've ever met.

When the middle-aged man saw that the male servant he had sent wasn't there, he already knew what had happened to him, and as soon as he looked towards the gate, his expression changed to one of heightened anxiety.

"Forgive my impudence, Princess Alice. I didn't know that her royal highness would come to my humble home today..."

The middle-aged man spoke with a slightly trembling voice, and the smile he gave off felt awkward because of how unnatural it was.

However, all I did in response was ask him a sarcastic question while maintaining my focused gaze on the middle-aged man.

"Aren't you letting me in first?"

"Again, please excuse this old man princess Alice, please come in."

The middle-aged man hurriedly said as he quickly bent his body to greet me while simultaneously opening the door wide.

It's possible that this guy, regardless of whether he's stupid or not, is still harboring the hope that I won't be able to accomplish anything with him.

Me, Sucht, and Sascha walked in nonchalantly while the middle-aged man followed behind us and then closed the door.

I inquired with a teasing grin on my face as though I were trying to remember something.

"ohhh... I'm sorry, I forgot to ask this earlier, who are you, old man?"

Because I've never heard of the Raupe family or interacted with any of its members before, I believe it's only natural for me to ask that question.

Because I have only recently become familiar with the Raupe family, you could say that this noble family is at the lowest level in this capital.

Even though the noble family of Raupe was in a slightly better position than the other noble families, many of whom did not even have a place to live in the capital city.

On the other hand, the Raupe family can only be considered a janitor by other noble families in the area who are searching for one.

"I see... I am the patriarch of the Raupe family, and my name is..."

However, before the middle-aged man could finish his sentence, I cut him off and said something to him.

"Stop, I didn't need to know your name, but now I know your position in the Raupe family."

I believe this has gone on for long enough, and it is now time to rouse this middle-aged man from his dream.

"Are you aware of the reason I'm here?"

I said it in a low voice and with a serious expression, but the middle-aged man who heard my unexpected question tried to answer it with a calm expression.

"Like I said earlier, I don't know why Princess Alice would suddenly come here, and so I don't know what needs Princess Alice has with my family."

I just sighed as I looked at this unfortunate middle-aged man and Sascha, who had been silent for a while after looking at me, then slowly walked towards the middle-aged man.

Her mouth moved in a way that looked like she was chanting a spell, and all of a sudden, in her palm of what had been empty, a speck of light and a magic circle formed themselves into a long and slender sword.

And with one swift cut, the middle-aged man lost the use of one of his legs, causing him to collapse to the ground, helpless and still in a state of shock.

Then, after maintaining her silence for a while, Sacha, who exuded an intimidating air, began to open her mouth and speak.

"Listen, you had better not waste Princess Alice's time with all of the excuses and lies you learned from the noble class."

I could tell that Sascha was in a bad mood, and he expressed a desire to finish these tasks as soon as possible.

"I was only tasked to hire an assassin, and I ordered him to go through that route..."

"I had no idea that princess Alice was the one who was being targeted."

The head of the Raupe family uttered these words while holding his severed leg with a terrified expression and occasionally letting out a painful wail while doing so.

The middle-aged man tried to heal his leg using the spell he was currently chanting. However, no matter how hard he tried, his leg would not heal, and the wound would not close because blood continued to pour out of it.

Magic is one of the fascinating aspects of this world. If you have a high level and have learned an appropriate spell, you can even bring the dead back to life. As a result, it is not difficult to be able to reattach severed body parts.

"What the f*** is wrong... Why won't it heal?"

The poor man continued to curse incoherently multiple times while colorful lights occasionally appeared to illuminate this room.

As I made my way into the living room, decked out in many extravagant decorations, I commented, "It's completely pointless."

Since I walked into this house and Sascha cut the middle-aged man's leg, there has been no movement at all coming from inside the house. So it appears as if the middle-aged man is staying here by himself.

After coming to that realization, all I could do was let out a sigh as if I were exhausted.

"You worthless piece of garbage, it seems like you've got enough stuff together for this month."

"In that case, you're useless to me."

I said in a sarcastic tone as I made my way towards the exit.

The rest of the Raupes have already left, but this poor man is staying behind just to double-check on something...

Sucht, who had been standing off to the side, remained silent throughout the conversation. However, his gaze remained firmly fixed on the middle-aged man the entire time.

When you look into Sucht's eyes, you'll notice that they have a peculiar glow that makes them appear darker and more profound than usual, and no one else seems to notice this glow.

However, after that, Sucht waited a short while with her eyes closed, after which she opened them and turned around to follow in my footsteps.

Sascha was the only person left in the living room, along with the middle-aged man who was shaking uncontrollably and still terrified.

After that, Sascha took her time approaching the middle-aged man while still holding the magical sword in one hand and tilting her head slightly downwards.

_________________

Raupe's Patriarch Pov

I have no idea how long I spent attempting to cast a healing spell on my feet, and when I heard Princess Alice's words, I fell further and further into a pit of hopelessness.

I tried... I tried to cast the spell until my mouth felt like it was going to fall off...

"please... I beg you... don't kill me."

After that, I was finally successful in my efforts, and while holding my severed leg, I tried to reconnect it. Even though the pain was extremely excruciating and almost drove me insane, I held on to it.

I can see the bones, nerves, flesh, and skin of my leg regenerating and reconnecting with each other, even though it is not happening instantly and I have had to go through a lot of pain, but I am pretty relieved that my leg will eventually heal.

But just as I was starting to feel better, I turned around to see the woman who had cut my leg standing directly in front of me.

"wasted effort, don't worry, I'll help you separate the other parts of the body that are still connected," she said.

When I looked up in the direction that the sound was coming from, all I saw was a brief flash of light, and then the two hands that had been holding my amputated leg suddenly let go of it.

Yes, my arms have fallen to the ground at this point... I can see them, but before my brain can even begin to process what is going on, I see a flash of light again.

This time, my remaining leg was severed as well, and I immediately began yelling out in pain, screaming, and desperately attempting to get away from that woman. Again, I writhed and writhed in agony...

"help..."

"argh... I don't know... please... please stop..."

"it hurts... please stop..."

"You can't kill me here... or the rules will be broken."

I was helpless to stop the tears from falling, and I desperately tried to explain the rules to the woman who was casually walking toward me, as well as my last chance for survival, but all I heard was a mocking laugh...

"Yes, I know the rules because they were made by young master."