Ranking System

[Charles POV]

"Master. What did you do?"

The defense forces of this city surrounded Rose and me. I also had no idea what had happened. I don\'t remember doing anything wrong. Being surrounded had Rose scared, which made me cover for her.

"Is there a problem? Officers?"

One of the officers walked up to me. I would assume that he would be the leader of these people.

"We have reported that you have stolen an item from the auction."

"Stole? That\'s quite the accusation. Can you prove that I did? And if I did, could you tell me what I stole?"

Did that black-dress bitch frame me? She was the only person I knew who could do this. If I find someone who tried to screw me over, I will ruin them.

"That\'s what we\'re here for. Cooperating would be in your best interest. As for the item, all we were told was that you had stolen something."

That was vague. It was suspicious, no matter how you thought about it. Even so, I had to comply with their request.

"Very well. Rose, tell everyone that I will be away for a bit. You wouldn\'t mind if my maid left, right?"

"Sorry, but she will come along with you. She might be an accomplice."

"..."

It\'s a shame that I couldn\'t kill anyone here. I have bought two houses, and if I fought any of them, they would be confiscated. Seeing that I was cooperating, the leader led the way, and Rose and I followed.

"Can you tell me who tips you guys? The person who tipped you off must be credible."

Otherwise, I don\'t see why they would send this many people after me. Of course, there is still a chance that these people could be fake and are doing this to scam me.

Everyone ignored me when I asked. Should I hypnotize everyone and get my answers there? This may be my only chance, but something tells me I will find the person who framed me sooner or later.

Walking in silence, we finally arrived at the officer\'s office. During our walk, I held myself back from the people looking at me contemptuously. It reminded me of my old days.

In the office, Rose and I sat down on a chair, being interrogated by the officers. The officer was a human, just like us, but I doubt he would care.

"Let me repeat my question earlier. Did you steal an item from the auction or not?"

"What are you? An NPC? If you want to know the truth, use a truth-seeking artifact. You\'re only wasting our time."

The officer looked at his assistant and nodded, giving him a signal. It was apparent I would keep denying all the accusations the officer made. Taking my advice into consideration, the assistant arrived with an orb.

"Now. Did you steal from the auction?"

"No. Can I leave now?"

What made this painfully annoying was the officer. I felt like he was a robot, only caring about how he did his job. He was dull and stern.

"There is more for me to ask. Did you have anyone else steal for you?"

"Once again, no. I don\'t think I have committed a crime in this city. I think it\'s about time I left. You got what you got."

There was no reason to detain us any longer. These people were genuine officers. If they kept prolonging this, I would have to find their boss.

"You can\'t do that."

"..."

"What do you mean we can\'t leave? We were here because we were mistaken for robbers, but since we weren\'t, this is no reason for us to be here."

"Even so, we were instructed to keep you here."

"Where\'s your boss? I demand an explanation."

This problem was worse than I thought. If these people were going to be unreasonable, I had to do the same.

"I am the boss. So what\'s the problem."

Walking up on us, an ugly bastard had arrived. He looks like a corrupted man who could be efficiently dealt with through bribes.

"If I paid you to fire him permanently, how much would it cost?"

Everyone\'s eyes widened upon hearing what I said. The man I asked to fire looked upset, while the boss was amused.

"I will humor you. I will tell you what. If you pay me a million dollars now, I will fire him."

"Sure. Now fire him."

"Sorry, Sergeant Creg, you heard the man. You\'re officially released from your duties."

It was his fault for being a trash cop. If someone had paid them to annoy me, all I needed to do was pay more.

"You can\'t use your authority like this!"

The man shouted in shock. I stared at him and gave him a deadpan look. He had done this a while ago.

"What do you mean? You have been getting complaints about your work habits. I\'m only helping you relieve that duty. Working as an officer doesn\'t suit you. I have a guest to attend. Do you mind leaving now?"

I dig this guy\'s style. Even for an ugly bastard, he was someone who knew social cues. The man curled his hand into a ball and tried to calm down.

The man regrettably left, showing fewer emotions than I thought. He was stranger than I thought he would be. Nevertheless, he had left and would probably never be seen again.

"Did you have anything else you want to talk to me about?"

Since he had done his job to fire the man, he asked if there were any more ways to earn money.

"I will give you ten million if you tell me who tipped you guys off."

"Sorry, but I have no idea who did."

The orb, still in the room, buzzed, hearing his lie. Rose, who was here, glared at the officer for lying to us.

"Do you want a hundred million? If not, I will find the person myself."

I was being nice. Observing the higher-ranked officer, I could say that he was pretty weak. His position was probably earned due to connections. I could force the answer instead of offering him the dough.

"Fine. I will just sacrifice one of my officers. The person who did this was owner number four of Melody Drive."

Our neighbor? Who knew we would be so close? I handed the man his cash and left with Rose.

"Master. What do you plan to do?"

"Isn\'t it obvious? I will blow up their house."

"Isn\'t that dangerous?"

"So? They can burn for all I care."

Rose gave me a wry smile as I explained what I would do. We returned to our house with Nene in front.

"Master~!"

"Nene."

Nene ran up and embraced me. I was so used to this that I thought it natural. Rose coughed, signalling that she was here also.

"Don\'t worry~! I didn\'t forget about you~! Big Titty Monster~!"

Rose joined in and smacked Nene on the back of the head. Her nickname for Rose was too much, so that slap to the back was thoroughly deserved.

"Ehehe~!"

"Master~! What do you plan to do next?"

"Master wants to blow up our neighbor\'s house."

Rose had answered in my stead. Nene\'s interest had risen after hearing what Rose had said. She clung to me, wanting me to do it now.

"We\'re going to do it now. Find a place where you can see it, but don\'t be suspicious."

While the results of this destruction may affect us, I still think it was worth destroying house number two.

Finding a spot to relax, we stared at the house from a long distance away. I searched around the house and saw no one there. It was a shame, but I couldn\'t hold it any longer.

"I\'m about to start."

"Make the house go boom~!"

"How large of an explosion do you plan on making?"

Before I started, Rose asked me a question. I smiled, knowing what I had in mind but I didn\'t say much about it.

"You will know when you see."

Now, with no more distractions, it was time for house number two to say goodbye. Invoking my ability, dense energy filled up the house. Since no one was there, no one could stop it.

This unstable energy overload and suppressed size made it only large enough to affect the house.

*BOOM*

A black-colored explosion had appeared large enough to destroy the house. The house I exploded was destroyed, leaving only a large pile of ash.

My explosion wasn\'t exactly quiet, so everyone wondered what had happened. With that, everyone left their house and checked out the reason for all this commotion.

"Master~! That was so cool~!"

Stars appeared in her eyes as the vision of the explosion mesmerized her. Rose was worried that something terrible might happen with the other girls appearing on the scene. They weren\'t part of this mess, so let\'s say it to them once the incident comes under wraps.