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“Enough. I do not care about your name.” I abruptly cut off the Matriarch of the Ghostface Clan before sneering at her. “That would be a waste of my already limited brain capacity.”

“Brain capacity?” Paliseth curiously recited this unknown term, clearly intrigued but confused by my last sentence.

In contrast, the Ghostface Matriarch was in no mood for such minor details at all. The blood drained out from her face faster than I could say the word ‘enough’. The moment she heard that I wasn’t even interested in her name, she knew she was done for.

However, that didn’t stop her from trying one last time. “Your holiness, your servant knows that she has sinned greatly. That is why your servant humbly offers up this artifact as penitence in hopes of gaining your forgiveness.” Having said that, she got down to her knees, pulled out a silvery white ring and reverently offered it up to me with both hands, as if it wasn’t just a ring that was resting in her pale hands right now, but the most precious treasure in the world.

A ring? As if that’s enough to satisfy my anger… but then… a ring of a Matriarch couldn’t just be any old ring right?

“Your holiness, this ring is a Dimensional Storage Ring. It can store up to ten cubic meters of items and freeze their time at the same time. It can’t, however, store live goods.” Having said that, she looked up to find that I was shocked by her offering, and the blood immediately returned to her face. She promptly seized on this opportunity to push her ring further. “Your servant has already filled it with treasures, may your holiness find them to your liking.”

I reached out and put it daintily on my right hand -it was a snug fit. “Mhm, your offering has been well-received.” I nodded at her as I said it. “Seeing as you’re sincere about repenting, I’ll forgive your daughter’s transgressions against me.”

“Your holiness is most kind.” She replied happily before quickly getting up to her feet. However, that bit of happiness wasn’t going to last long.

“Did I say you could get up?”

Her heart immediately sank into an abyss of terror and confusion. “Your holiness? How else may your servant serve you?”

“I can ignore the slight against me. But there’s still the matter of how your daughter bullied my servant. I want justice for the suffering my servant has suffered at the hands of your daughter.”

“…” She became even more confused at that point. “My apologies, your holiness, but how has my daughter bullied your servant?”

“In that previous battle with the Minotaurs, she made my precious little bunny cry.”

“Cry?” The Ghostface Matriarch naturally had no way of knowing how badly affected Jezsere was at the time, but just by looking at the crying expression she had just now, the Ghostface Matriarch knew that this was a serious matter. “Your servant will prepare another offering right away…”

“There’s no need for that. Didn’t I say not too long ago that Jezsere belongs to me, and that whoever bullies her will face my wrath?” At that point, I flashed her a sinister, toothy smile. “Do you think I will take back my words?”

“I… mercy… your holiness… your servant is willing to offer up the entire wealth of the Ghostface Clan as penitence. All your humble servant asks is your forgiveness… my daughter… your holiness may have her as well… all your servant asks for is your forgiveness…”

“The entire wealth of the Ghostface Clan?” I waved my finger in front of her. “That’s where you are wrong. You mean the entirety of my wealth kept at the Ghostface Clan. Get the picture?”

“Yes… your servant understands… it all belongs to your holiness…everything…”

“So. Are you sure it’s a good idea to offer up my possessions as penitence?”

“I… I…. “

Hmph, I told you I’m a master orator!

At this point, the Ghostface Matriarch was at a complete loss for words. If she had her way, she would have admonished me for that blatant show of shamelessness, but she clearly couldn’t.

I looked her right in her eyes and sneered coldly one last time. “The Dark Elves have thirteen great clans. If you count in the lesser clans, there should be over a hundred clans in total. That sounds a little excessive to me… you know what… I don’t think we need the Ghostface Clan anymore…”

“You!”

Now that I had made it known that I was going to make an example of her, the Ghostface Matriarch finally started to fight back. However, the moment she leapt to her feet, the other twelve Matriarchs had already begun channeling their mana. A moment later, spider silk formed of mana simultaneously fired out of their palms and bound her…

“You can’t treat me like this… your holiness… mercy…”

The Ghostface Matriarch half-yelled, half-pleaded for mercy as three of the Matriarchs led her away. In the meantime, the remaining Matriarchs exchanged a quick glance with each other before Paliseth led the group by asking, “Your holiness, should we clean up the rest of her clan?”

I merely shook my head and smiled in response. “Clean them up? There’s no need for such pointless slaughter.”

“What does your holiness wish instead?” She asked while stifling the need to roll her eyes at the one who started this mess in the first place.

“My wishes, huh.” I paused for a couple of seconds before clapping my hands together. “The current family leading the Ghostface Clan must all die, as for the rest… well… They are my godmother’s faithful servants, so I’ll let them off the hook this time. Speaking of the Ghostface Clan, their treasury is now mine. I want all the pure-blooded Dark Elves moved out of that clan as well. The rest can stay.”

“Understood…” The moment that last bit of instructions came out, the remaining Matriarchs immediately broke into a grin. By saying that I wanted all the Pure-blooded Dark Elves out of that clan, I was implying that they could divvy up the defeated Dark Elves. Even though the treasury was now mine, gaining some population for their clan was an unexpected bit of surprise for them.

Just like that, the curtains drew to close on the Ghostface Clan.

“Alright, let’s move on to other matters.” I turned towards Paliseth. “I need you to fetch Aishael for me, and go visit Jezsere at the same time. I had her prepare some stuff beforehand so you can grab them off her.

“Understood.” Paliseth nodded then promptly left the great hall. Now that she was gone, the great hall immediately fell into silence. To be honest, the remaining Matriarchs were all perfectly capable hosts, but none of them even dared make a sound in my presence. At this point, their mental image of me was of a capricious lord who could wipe out their clan on a whim.

Just the fact alone that I had the Ghostface Clan punished, not because they offended me, but because they offended my servant was more than proof enough of that. Too bad, they couldn’t do anything about it either.

Not long after, Paliseth came in with an ornate looking giftbox and Aishael in tow.

Just from a glance, I could tell that Aishael had tidied up immediately after returning to her quarters. Her silvery hair had been bound up into a simple but tidy ponytail that complemented her straightlaced personality and elegant dress. Honestly, I liked this girl. She had a unique charm about her beauty. Now… if she could just fix that resting b1tch face of hers, she would be even more perfect.

Her aggressive demeanour and fearless attitude was nothing but a front for the stress and trauma she was trying to hide. That much I knew. Had she truly been as strong as she would like to portray herself as being, she would have been more confident in herself. Just like how a tiger was at times an adorable giant kitty, and at times a monstrous killing machine that could tear apart anyone who dared to ruffle its fur. The strong did not have to show off that they were strong.

“Come, come.” I gave no explanation as to why I summoned her, instead flashing her a gentle smile as I stood up and beckoned for here. “Over here.”

“…” She cautiously eyed me but came up to me in the end.

“Have a seat.” I gently pressed down on her shoulders to make her sit on the throne ordinarily reserved for Paliseth. Then, under her confused eyes, I undid her ponytail.

“Your holiness…” My strange actions left her at a loss for words as she stared into my eyes. She wanted to say something but chose not to in the end.

“That ponytail of yours doesn’t suit you. Here. Let me fix it for you.” I reached out for the gift box that had already been opened up by a keen-eyed Paliseth. I took out the pink hairbands within and bound up her hair into a more adorable twin ponytails hairstyle.

Lest one forgot, I was the one who used to tie up Nicole’s hair; twin ponytails were one of my forte.

However, while Aishael’s hair might have resembled Nicole, her personality was a far cry from the cheerful, smiling girl from my childhood. That perpetually radiant smile on her lips were the reason for my existence. I truly missed her… but I had no way of leaving right now. I had to first create a safe space for Aishael and her Half-elves -that was I had decided.

“I’ll now make an announcement. The capital city of the Ghostface Clan will officially be known as Halfmoon City. All Half-elves are to migrate to Halfmoon City. As for its leader…” I gently ruffled Aishael’s hair at that point, then under her slightly disapproving stare, declared, “Will be this child here.”

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If you liked my work translating Devil’s Evolution Catalog, feel free to check out Song of Adolescence. Also, every comment is appreciated even though I might not reply. I do read them.