Chapter 255: This voice… Lucian Foster?

Ignoring the sudden change in the woman’s Affection, Lucian left the women alone for the time being and walked away from them.

Bringing out his phone from his Inventory, he glanced at the screen—which still didn’t have a screen guard.

’I’m still poor... sigh.’

Not lamenting over his financial troubles for too long, he briefly thought about steal—ahem, taking one of these men’s smartphones, but for now, he made a call.

After a few—no, very long rings, the call was eventually picked up.

"Hello...?"

A groggy voice came from the other side, as if they had just gotten up from their sleep.

"Yo, fireboy," Lucian spoke casually.

"This voice... Lucian Foster?"

How could he forget this voice?

Especially after receiving so many surprises and a sword that was still beside their table...? Of course, they wouldn’t forget his voice for at least a few months.

"Yup, yours truly."

The person on the other side of the call—Leonardo, to be exact—frowned slightly before speaking.

"Where did you get my personal phone number?"

"It’s your job to find that out, but now we have something important to talk about."

"...What is it...?"

Lucian momentarily glanced towards the women sitting a short distance away from him.

Ignoring the occasional groans coming from the Boss, he slowly began making his way up the stairs.

"I’ll give you my location. Come here right now, along with a few emergency healthcare staff."

"What...?" Leonardo’s voice carried a hint of disbelief, unable to understand what Lucian was talking about.

"Can you at least specify something...? Or are you just fooling around with me?"

Lucian looked at his phone in disdain.

’Why the fuck would I waste my time joking around with you? I haven’t even done that with Lia yet.’

Clicking his tongue, he remained silent for a few seconds.

"Hello...? Hello...?!"

Hearing his irritating voice, Lucian finally brought the phone back to his ear, and after a few moments, he decided to tell him directly.

"So what happened was..."

He began explaining the situation.

By the time he finished, he was already standing before the upper basement door.

On the other side of the call, Leonardo had gone completely silent... his sleepiness vanishing completely.

Creak...

The door slowly opened.

The moment Lucian stepped through, the men who had been speaking loudly and cursing amongst themselves abruptly fell silent.

They let out a sigh of relief at the absence of that scary maid, but then remembered that the man wasn’t any better.

A few of them swallowed nervously, while others instinctively lowered their heads, remembering what had happened to the Boss.

Lucian paid them little attention as he waited for Leonardo’s response.

After a few more seconds of silence—

"Fine... I’m coming, and I’ll be bringing a few medical staff with me."

"Make sure they’re all women."

Lucian said casually, though his words still carried a certain seriousness.

The women downstairs were already frightened and traumatised by everything they had endured. And despite his indifferent attitude towards them, he had taken responsibility for keeping them safe, at least for the time being.

So he had no intention of making stupid blunders that might put them in danger.

Those women were already suicidal, and who knew how they might react in the presence of other men...?

"I know," Leonardo replied.

For a moment, he went quiet, as though he were thinking about something.

"You..."

His low voice came through the phone, making Lucian frown.

But before he could ask anything—

"Nothing."

The call ended.

Lucian stared at the screen for a brief moment before putting it back into his Inventory—as it was the only communication device he had with him right now.

After that, he turned towards the men.

"W-What happened to Boss...?"

"D-did he...?"

A few of them gulped nervously, exchanging uncertain glances, but before they could say anything more...

A sudden pressure descended upon them.

"Ghkk...!"

"Khh—!"

"Guhhh...!"

Everyone’s expressions changed instantly as they felt as though an enormous boulder had been placed on their shoulders, forcing their bodies down beneath its weight.

And along with that crushing pressure, fear suddenly crept into their hearts, consuming their thoughts as their bodies began trembling violently.

The sensation of dying loomed over them.

Their eyes shifted towards Lucian, and the moment they looked at him—

Their eyes twisted in horror as they saw... the horrifying darkness covering his face.

Those two eerily large pools of blood-red eyes stared down at them, filled with nothing but disgust.

Their bodies froze. Their hearts pounded rapidly.

But—

Then, they blinked—

The terrifying sight disappeared.

Lucian’s handsome yet emotionless face was once again visible, his crimson eyes looking at them with unmistakable disgust and disdain.

But the men remained frozen, their bodies still trembling because of what they had just seen.

Not thinking too much about these fools, Lucian’s lips parted as he finally asked.

"Where do you keep your water and food supplies?"

Since they were a group, and the Boss was already E-Rank, Lucian was sure that they must have kept some supplies stored somewhere in here.

The men hesitated for a moment, but as they felt the pressure bearing down on them intensify, one of them finally blurted out an answer.

"W-We keep them in the storage room... I-It’s in the other warehouse outside."

"Hmm, then lead me."

The pressure suddenly disappeared.

The men stumbled forward, nearly losing their balance as they felt the weight lift from their bodies. A few let out quiet breaths of relief, while others remained frozen for a moment, still struggling to recover from the suffocating sensation.

The man who had spoken immediately stood up, and despite his trembling legs, he did his best to walk ahead and lead Lucian towards the storage room—not even considering doing anything foolish, not even for a moment.

As they stepped outside beneath the dark night sky, the thought of running away did briefly cross his mind.

But then, remembering the ghostly figure that had appeared over Lucian’s face, all those thoughts vanished instantly.

***

Meanwhile, silence had fallen over the basement as all the women sat on the floor, blankly staring at the only man remaining before them.

The same man who, just a day ago, had looked at them as though they were nothing more than his slaves, and now...

That very same man was writhing on the floor, clutching his injured shoulder—or rather, the place where his arm had been.

Tears streaked down his face as he struggled to tie the cloth around his wound. His teeth ground against each other, and he could barely remain conscious as he pulled one end of the fabric tight with his teeth.

At Lucian’s earlier instruction, Kanna had given him something to wrap around his injury. After all, Lucian still didn’t want the man to die just yet.

But despite the Boss’s obvious struggle with even such a simple task, neither Lucian nor Kanna had shown any concern.

And neither of them had tried to help him.

Fiona—one of the kidnapped women—slowly shifted her attention towards the emotionless-looking woman standing nearby. She wore an elegant black maid dress, her posture perfectly straight as she stood there like a statue.

She hadn’t moved much since Lucian had left.

Fiona still didn’t know whether she should trust the man who had gone outside minutes ago.

Despite his looking different from the others and the way he had treated the Boss, there was no guarantee that he wasn’t just another person like the criminals who had held them captive—someone who would look at them as nothing more than pieces of meat.

And... she didn’t want to experience that fate a second time.

But hopefully... he wasn’t like them.

At least, that was what Fiona wanted to believe after seeing his actions.

The other women, too, seemed to share similar thoughts.

They were frightened, uncertain about what might happen next, and unable to decide whether they should trust the two of them, yet none of them had the courage to do anything.

And even if they were brave enough... most of their bodies were far too weak to even lift a knife properly, much less escape from the warehouse.

A couple of minutes passed.

Then—

Lucian’s figure appeared at the basement entrance once again.

The women trembled faintly as they saw someone entering, but for some strange reason... seeing that it was him made them feel slightly calmer.

"I couldn’t find much medical supplies... but I did find some food and water for you all."

Lucian spoke as he looked across all of them.

But just then—

A sudden voice echoed inside the basement.

"P-Please... help me..."

The Boss begged as he remained kneeling in his own pool of blood.

His vision blurred, and his face contorted in pain, but despite the rage bubbling inside him, the fear was overwhelming enough to make him completely forget about his pride.

"Y-You got everything, didn’t you? You even got all these women, so please ju—"

"Hey..."

Lucian’s emotionless voice cut him off.

The Boss instinctively blinked, his vision clearing slightly, allowing him to see Lucian’s face.

"Stop interrupting me. And stay silent unless I tell you to."

The man’s eyes dulled as he stared into those blood-red eyes. His lips instinctively shut closed.

Seeing that the interruption was finally over, Lucian continued speaking as though nothing had happened.

"I’m not really sure what kind of foods will be good for you..."

Judging by their condition, some of them had barely eaten for days, while others might’ve been kept here for months.

Giving them hard food right away could do more harm than good—he knew at least that much from studying it a few months after his regression.

"Master Lucian..."

Kanna suddenly interjected.

Lucian turned his head towards her.

After asking about the supplies he had found, she suggested giving the women some bread and canned food, particularly those that would be soft enough to chew.

Lucian raised a brow.

"You really know a lot about food despite not being able to eat it."

"..."

Kanna simply nodded at his words.

Being a maid, she had tried to learn everything related to even the most basic things. And although she had no idea what human food tasted like, she had still learned human anatomy.

Of course, her reasons for learning more were to get a better grasp of their vulnerable spots—something that made torture and killing easier.

But she didn’t bother explaining that.

Taking his emotionless maid’s advice, Lucian began distributing food and water to the women.

The items suddenly appeared in his hands, one after another.

The women stared in shock.

"Magic..."

One of them mumbled in a daze, watching as the man suddenly created—or rather, brought items out of thin air.

But their attention was soon stolen by the food he was handing them.

Seeing something edible—something that didn’t look like the scraps and leftovers their kidnappers had thrown at them—several of them stared at what they had received.

Their eyes began trembling, tears spilling down their cheeks.

They hurriedly brought the food towards their mouths, wolfing it down, eating furiously, as though they hadn’t eaten in their entire lives.