Chapter 39: Difficult Situation!
Bruce blurred through the streets, his feet pounding faster than sound. Cars, mana-drawn carriages, pedestrians, all of them passed by like frozen silhouettes as he weaved through with predatory precision.
A breath later, he was in front of his house.
’Silent. Too silent.’ He frowned
Not the destruction he expected, but it seemed to be something worse.
He stretched his senses. Six life forces inside. Three familiar: Lucy, Lily, Ash. And four unfamiliar signatures.
No imminent threat to his family, but tension. Pressure. Anger simmering beneath calm voices.
So Vaelith was not talking about blades and poison this time.
This was another kind of attack.
Bruce took a slow breath and walked toward the door.
"...under baronial inheritance stipulations, you cannot hold this house alone, Lucy," a cold voice was saying before the door even finished swinging open. "Executor or not, property must be divided among blood heirs. House, stable, stock, everything, all of it goes for everybody."
Bruce stepped inside. The place fell into silence for a moment.
Lucy stood near the table, one arm protectively around Lily. The girl clung to Ash, who perched on her shoulder, wings half-flared, watching the intruders with a predator’s cold focus. Anyone who moved wrong would be reduced to bones and regret.
Light drifted through the dusty air. Across from Lucy sat four people dressed in black: Helena, Rowan, Cedric, and Maris. Neatly stacked papers and wax-sealed documents sat on the table before them.
Financial predators.
Hypocritical family.
"I see," Bruce clicked his tongue inwardly. "So this is what Vaelith meant by complicated."
This was not about fists or blades.
This was about taking everything Ethan Ackerman built and stealing it from his widow and children while pretending it was law.
Helena looked up first. Her painted smile was thin, not a single drop of warmth in it. "There he is. Bruce."
He did not respond. His gaze flicked to the two scrolls on the table, one sealed in royal crimson, the other bound in Guild blue. This was not a family visit. This was an execution.
"Stand then," Rowan said impatiently when Bruce did not move fast enough for his liking. "This will not take long."
"Trust me, it won’t," Bruce replied, voice flat and dangerous. Then he stopped holding back.
Pressure rolled out of him.
Dense. Heavy. Violent.
The mana in the room froze like prey sensing a hunter. The four so-called relatives stiffened, their breathing shallow as invisible weight pressed down on them.
"S–S–S Rank..." Maris stammered, her face draining of color.
Helena trembled but tried to speak steadily. "You... do not be reckless, Bruce. You cannot harm us. You will bring your family more trouble than you can handle."
Bruce did not move. He did not have to. His silence was already strangling them.
When no violence came, they exhaled shakily and forced themselves to continue pretending they had control.
Helena cleared her throat, smoothing the top scroll. "The estate has been valued. House, land, workshop, stables, carriage fleet, mana route licenses, and wheelhouse. Nine hundred and twenty thousand gold in assets. Under baronial code, those holdings cannot be hoarded by a single branch. We are family. We divide it."
Lucy’s voice was faint but steady. "Ethan built every carriage with his own hands. He starved to keep this house fed. He broke his back for this family, and now you come to steal from us?"
Cedric leaned forward, voice like ice. "Shame does not pay debt, Lucy."
Bruce raised a brow. "Debt?"
Helena tapped the second scroll, the one with the royal red seal. "Royal contract. Your father, Ethan Ackerman, petitioned for a reconstruction loan after the West Rift bridge collapsed. Two million four hundred thousand gold. Secured by Ackerman trade routes. Enforced under bloodline clause."
Lucy went pale. "He... would have told me."
"Perhaps he meant to," Helena replied dryly. "But the Crown does not care about intentions. Only payment. Two years past due. With interest and enforcement, three million sixty-five thousand gold."
"And that is not counting Guild penalties," Rowan added with a smirk, tapping the scroll bound in Guild blue.
Bruce slowly turned his gaze on him. "Go on."
The room felt colder.
Something dark flickered beneath Bruce Ackerman’s calm.
And the vultures across the table did not even realize they had already chosen how they were going to die.
Maris slid the Guild scroll forward with shaking fingers, the parchment whispering on the table like a dry wind. "Merchant Guild tax irregularities tied to the Ackerman license. Under-reported loads. The magistrate has stamped this on your father’s name, Bruce. Fine: one hundred and eighty thousand gold. License suspended on nonpayment."
Lucy tightened her grip on Lily a little, then settled against her with a small graceless hug. "Rowan, you borrowed our license when Ethan took fever. You logged those runs under his name."
Rowan gave a half-shrug, a practiced jolt of casual that did not reach his eyes. "Paper is paper."
A thick pressure filled with killing intent descended on him.
He coughed. A cough, too sharp and too sudden, escaped him. It sounded like a man swallowing a lie. The pressure in the room folded in a fraction, as if a cold palm had closed around every throat.
Bruce scanned each of them, then glanced at the documents again. His expression did not move, but inside, numbers aligned. Everything seemed to be legitimate. That only made him more angry.
’Even with strength, even with power, the law had teeth. It could still bind you.’ That thought irritated him deeply.
The best move for now was clear: pay everything and then crush them one by one.
Helena folded her hands as if she had not just been nearly suffocated a moment ago. "We are not without mercy," she said smoothly. "We came with a clean solution. Sign the trade deed over to us, the carriages, the horses, the route rights, and we will assume the royal debt and clean the guild ledger of your deeds. You keep the house. Keep your pride."
Lucy’s voice tightened until it was a blade. "You want our bread. You are targeting everything that keeps this family going."
Helena’s smile did not falter. "We want the writs off your doorstep before enforcement begins. We have been protecting this family longer than you know. Debtor cages are not kind. Especially to children."
Bruce, who had been silent, finally spoke. "Is it because of him?"
Helena blinked. "What?"
"You are not here for debt. You are here because of Dante."
He pushed more of his aura at her, and Helena dropped to her knees instantly, gasping for air, palms slamming against the floor.
"Tell me what you really want."
The room trembled. Sweat dripped down foreheads. Ash’s eyes burned gold from Lily’s arms, ready to kill if Bruce so willed it.
"Da... Dante..." Helena choked.
Bruce released the pressure. He crouched in front of her, lifting her chin just enough to force eye contact.
"As expected."
Rowan growled from the side. "He is your uncle. Our brother."
Lucy snapped. "A man who poisons his own blood is not family."
Her hands were shaking, but her voice was steel.
Helena exhaled slowly, regaining some color. "The Order of Knights is thorough. Once words like poison and attempted murder are entered into record, they hunt it to the bones. And since you, Bruce, have given sworn testimony, they will chase it down."
Bruce waited.