MPBAGS Chapter 107

Around the time Kinder Totten was returning to the marquis estate, Diess, the younger brother of the deceased marquis, who was confined to his room, paced around his surroundings in circles. He gnawed at his nails with his teeth, agonizing, regretting, and raging dozens of times over.

"Damn, damn, damn. Something's wrong. Why is he alive? He should definitely be dead."

Even after organizing the situation, nothing changed. When it seemed like his nephew had finally died, he suggested they go see Ryder. The maid was suspiciously refusing to open the door at all costs, so he brought an axe and broke down the door. When Diess peered inside the room, he saw the maid holding his nephew close, terrified.

Actually, up until that point, Diess wasn't certain of Ryder's death. What made Diess realize that Ryder was dead was the butler's reaction.

Following behind Diess, the butler peered through the gap in the door. Diess had never seen a person so filled with joy. The light seeping out from inside the room illuminated only the butler's face. His eyes gleamed and the corners of his mouth curved up strangely. 'Ah, finally.' The butler let out an exclamation mixed with jubilation. Seeing the butler's reaction, Diess realized that his nephew was dead.

"Hey! Is there no one outside! Are you in your right mind, confining a noble? The moment I get out of here, I won't let any of you off!"

Diess pounded on the door fiercely and shouted.

"I'm the rightful heir! Do you think you'll get some scraps by sucking up to my sister-in-law? If you let me out of here, I'll give you 3 gold right away! Just open the door!"

Of course, all Diess currently had were 4 silver coins. There was no way he could give gold coins, but the uneducated fools were quickly taken in by Diess' lies. Whispered voices could be heard from beyond the door crack.

"Quietly, quietly please. Please."

The sound of the lock being undone was heard. The servant opened the door while sweating profusely in cold sweat. And he extended his hand with expectant eyes. Instead of handing money to the servant, Diess grabbed him by the scruff of the neck.

"Where is Ryder."

"Gah, kuh, if you give me the gold coins, I'll tell you."

"No. You tell me first."

Diess didn't care if the servant choked to death. The servant clawed at Diess' arm with his nails, then, thinking he would die at this rate, revealed where Ryder was.

"In, in the madam's room."

"Really? Thank you."

Diess smiled contentedly and threw one silver coin to the servant. Even this was generous by Diess' standards.

Diess immediately went to find Kinder's room as the servant had told him. The room with the best sunlight in the Totten estate was Ryder's, and Kinder's room was directly across from it, so it wasn't difficult to find.

The servants of the Marquis Totten household were bewildered and held their breath in confusion when they saw the young master they had locked up strutting through the corridors. All they could do was cower in fear and count the time until the madam would return. A few servants who remembered the special treatment Weder had received tried to stop Diess but were instead overpowered and knocked down. After that, no one tried to stop Diess.

Dieus easily reached Kinder's room. Perhaps thinking he would be confined, the household servants left the area unsecured, including Ryder's room, which wasn't even locked. He opened the door and entered the room. The insolent maid, Weder, closed her book and jumped up.

"How are you here..."

Diess grabbed the arm of his nephew who was slumped over in the rocking chair. Weder rushed at him, but the difference in size was too great for her to even restrain him.

"Look at this. Look at this! I wasn't wrong!"

Ryder's body was particularly light, as if some weight had left it. See, he really is dead! Once he confirmed the truth, his reason returned. When an eerie chill ran through his hands, Dies suddenly felt disgusted by holding a corpse and threw Ryder down. The child who collapsed onto the bed looked just like a discarded doll after play.

"Young master!"

Weder screamed shrilly and called for Ryder.

Instead of covering her noisy mouth, Diess actually encouraged the screaming. Yes, call louder! Everyone in the marquis household should realize that his nephew was dead and prepare to serve Diess as the next marquis.

"Huh?"

However, contrary to Diess' wishes, the first to hear the call was Melech, who had temporarily left Ryder's body to play in the stables.

He couldn't take Ryder's body to tour the stables, so he had briefly stepped out, but it seemed something had happened in the meantime. Melech hurriedly entered Ryder's body again.

"What do you mean young master! Stop playing with dolls using a dead corpse!"

"Uncle, what's wrong with you?"

As soon as Melech sat up in bed, he made eye contact with Dies, who had been yelling at Weder. It seemed like Lady Kinder had locked him up, but how did he escape and come all the way here? And besides... he must have seen, right? Melech greeted him naturally, but it couldn't possibly work.

"Wh, what is this... He, he was definitely dead...!"

Diess was so confused seeing the corpse suddenly regain color, blink its eyes, exhale breath, show expressions, and even speak words that he wondered if he was now dreaming.

He slapped his own cheek once and his cheek stung painfully. It wasn't a dream. Then did the corpse really come back to life?

"Ah... I shouldn't be caught already."

Melech stamped his feet as if troubled. Perhaps because it was Ryder's body, his actions were particularly adorable and cute.

"If it were other people, I wouldn't know what they'd do, but I hate laying hands on humans."

"My goodness. Such a gentle kid. Shall I do it for you?"

Then suddenly, a voice that shouldn't be heard was heard.

"Jelly!"

"Yes, Meringue."

Melech's eyes sparkled as he welcomed Jelly, then began to look around cautiously. He was happy to see Jelly, but the timing was delicate. Jelly, seemingly knowing what Melech was thinking, patted his head, and firstly handed him a bottle full of cherry blossoms.

"It's an errand from the master. With that, you should be able to eat your fill for about 3 days."

"What about Lady Evangeline?"

"Didn't you hear? Ah, Kinder Totten hasn't arrived yet, I see. Things got complicated... The master is currently in prison for a while."

"What?"

"It would be convenient to kill them all, but I wonder why the master stays put."

Melech thought he could understand that feeling.

"Because she doesn't want to hurt them."

"What?"

He couldn't dare guess Lady Evangeline's thoughts, but at least that's how Melech felt. He was afraid he might unknowingly devour the children of Merai Orphanage, so he deliberately stayed bound in restraint circles. In reality, he could throw off such fancy chains and blindfold anytime, yet he didn't. Even after coming to the Rohanson estate, he continued to wear a blindfold to avoid eating the people of the estate.

Of course, it was also because Pudding's eyes were creepy. The house had eyes attached to it and the walls looked like muscular flesh with skin peeled off, so he could never get used to it. Moreover, the texture was squishy, so he was scared to stay inside the house and ended up living in the stables, unintentionally becoming attached to the horses. Now Melech couldn't bring himself to eat not only human meat but also animal meat.

It was only because he had alternative food sources now that he could endure without the blindfold.

"Don't you think Lady Evangeline might be the same? Since she's such a kind person."

"That's right. She's so kind it's a problem. Because of that, she can't even eat her fill! Pudding probably got caught so easily because of that too."

Meow.

A cat that appeared suddenly scratched Jelly's face.

"Ah, Pudding."

"Melech, the new body suits you well."

"...Thank you."

Does that mean childlike? For someone in the position of stealing another's body, it wasn't a welcome compliment, but since it was still praise, Melech awkwardly gave thanks.

Melech found Pudding very difficult to deal with. Jelly was at least the same inside and out, and because he viewed Melech favorably, he was easy to deal with, but Pudding was completely different.

Pudding was a pretender. He only acted cute and charming in front of Lady Evangeline! Behind her back, he didn't hesitate to mistreat Jelly and Melech. For Pudding, there were exactly three ranks of people, no, living beings.

Lady Evangeline, things Lady Evangeline liked, and the rest of the trash. Melech was precariously positioned in the second category.

Meanwhile, Jelly had restrained Diess' body. With just a flick of his hand, he could easily kill him by twisting his neck bones. Diess, perhaps sensing instinctive fear, even wet himself.

"Pl... please spare me. No. Please, please... spare me."

With his throat constricted and feeling like he would die soon, Diess begged for mercy from whoever his opponent was. Diess cried and pleaded so disgracefully that it was shameful to watch, but it didn't greatly move Jelly and Pudding. The well-fed cat even yawned as if bored.

Only Melech was worried that Diess might really die. Stamping his feet and wondering what to do, Melech, with difficulty, opened his mouth toward Pudding and Jelly.

"Um... couldn't you spare him?"

"Are you serious? This guy? You want to live with him forever and stay at the Totten marquis house? So when are you planning to return home?"

Melech was a little moved by Jelly's mention of "home." Now he had a place he could call home instead of the orphanage! Even though he sleeps in the stables...!

"Pudding. What about him? Does he seem like someone worth eating by your standards?"

"Of course."

But since he had come after filling his belly with heaps of maggots before coming to the Totten marquis house, he didn't want to put anything more in his mouth. It was quite fortunate for Diess.

Jelly released Diess as Melech wished. However, instead of releasing him normally, he vigorously struck the back of his head. And he regretted that Daisy was good at this sort of thing but his touch was somewhat lacking.

Pudding clawed at Dies, who had fallen disgracefully to the floor, as if displeased. Perhaps because the target was different, his claws were more vicious than when he usually scratched Jelly.

"Is Pudding in a bad mood today?"

"That's right. He got thoroughly beaten."

Jelly began chattering and explaining to Melech what had happened at the imperial palace. Pudding clawed intermittently, correcting Jelly's words.

In the harmonious time of the three demons, Weder was left out. Even with her exceptional courage, Weder felt dizzy when the cat started speaking human words. Are corpses that died and came back to life usually acquainted with talking cats? Weder had no such cases around her, so she didn't know well. It would be nice if someone could explain.

The only fortunate thing was that thanks to the experience Weder had accumulated in her hometown, she was the owner of a strong heart who could easily overcome a bit of fear. Weder earnestly wished for her mistress's return more than anyone else right now.