Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 216: Taboo

The gray parrot seemed to have sensed something. It hesitated for a while and made a very active request to watch the wind outside—even though everyone knew that this dilapidated place wasn’t worth watching at all.

“There is a feeling in it that makes me very uncomfortable!” Bagelmaurus sharpened its claws on the nearest branch. “It’s similar to instinct… Ahem, forget it for you two. I really don’t know how Telaranea got over it. That guy got a lot of guts.”

But since the superior demon had entered calmly, the two members of Tumbleweed had no reason to retreat.

Considering the cleanliness of the abandoned wooden house, even if he mastered the cleansing spell, Nemo still habitually groomed the robe on his body and tightened it a little bit. The light pole staff finally succeeded in doing its job for once, as the black bone ball began to emit hazy light under the influence of abyssal magic.

The first floor of the wooden house was messier than they thought.

The wooden floor had already mostly decayed, and there was a large hole that had collapsed, revealing part of a deeper hole in the cellar. Dark green moss and mushrooms made the ground slippery. Without the trouble of insects, the plants inside grew even better than the ones outside. The doors of the wooden cabinets were skewed, and there was not much left, and the contents were so decayed that their original appearance couldn’t be seen.

However, he didn’t feel any abnormal breath on this floor. Except for the absence of small creatures such as insects and ants, everything was normal, and the ground was littered with common furniture and supplies.

Raising the staff with one hand, Nemo clenched Oliver’s hand with the other. The two cautiously stepped onto the squeaking, crumbling stairs—They could now perceive things in the dark, but in the unknown, light always made people feel more at ease.

There was nothing special about the second floor. The first floor had an ordinary living room and kitchen, while the bedrooms and study were on the second floor. Compared to the first floor, which suffered severely, the second floor was in much better condition, except for vines and all kinds of furniture.

The bedding was almost rotten and was covered with verdant vines. Dusty books were scattered on the shelves. The dust was as thick as a thin layer of snow that had fallen in the early morning. There was an ink bottle, and the pen holder was colored gray from the dust and was tidily arranged.

A decayed and lonely scene.

However, the overly curious Telaranea didn’t stop here, most likely indicating there weren’t any important clues here. Without staying long, the two quickly climbed to the third floor.

The first thing that entered their nose was a strange smell. It was like a potion mixed with rotting internal organs and burned dry at the bottom of the pot. Unlike the first two floors with wide windows, Telaranea only opened the window to bring a little light into the thick darkness.

Nemo slammed the staff on the ground, causing many balls of light to emerge from the bone ball at the top, which then stuck to the walls on all sides of the attic. The room immediately seemed to become daytime under the bright light.

Then they saw the body in the center of the attic at first glance.

‘They really had made a lot of progress,’ Nemo thought numbly. If the two of them were replaced by them from a few months ago, they would both most likely be projectile vomiting at this instant.

The thing that looked like a human corpse was sitting in a back chair with its back to the window and its head lowered. Even if the environment was humid and warm, the corpse showed no signs of decay and was closer to a mummified corpse.

The deceased was almost naked, with only a piece of coarse cloth that covered his lower body. The long, withered beard on his face that still remained had white hair, indicating his relative age.

They could only judge by this; not because the corpse’s skin had become charred and wrinkled due to moisture loss, but because it was nearly unrecognizable. They could barely recognize the identity of the deceased human through the shape of the bones.

Regardless of the head, face, and torso, the exposed wrinkled skin was covered with eyes and shrank into a ball. They varied in size and style, and there must be hundreds or thousands, and it seemed like they were forcibly embedded. The larger ones were the size of apples, while the smaller ones were like a fly’s compound eyes. They were arranged on the skin of the corpse in a strange pattern and made it seem as if the corpse was suffering from some kind of skin disease from a glance.

Nemo even felt the faint aura of the Abyss from the corpse. It seemed that the former owners of those eyes weren’t limited to surface creatures.

“This is the Butcher Shop introducer you’re looking for. I have an impression of his smell. His name is… Well, doesn’t matter. That’s not important as it’s just a mediocre person.” Telaranea patted the back of the chair, pressed his face closer with interest, and looked at the decadent eyeballs.

Nemo looked away unbearably, staring at Oliver’s face for half a minute before calming down. Oliver’s face wasn’t much better than his. The leader of Tumbleweed was livid and looked at the ground intently.

Nemo followed Oliver’s gaze, and the surging feeling in his throat reappeared.

The floor was full of animal remains, so rotten that only bones and fur were left. At first glance, it looks like a weird thick carpet.

“Your definition of ‘mediocre’ is really broad,” Nemo murmured to Telaranea. “How… did he die?”

“Is it possible to find records here?” Oliver added another question.

No longer looking at the corpses on the floor, Oliver carefully crossed them and came to a shelf by the wall. The dusty shelf was neatly arranged with crystal records, and the lower layer was a very neatly tended box of information. Piles of parchment paper were stacked in the corners that were well preserved.

Telaranea didn’t say a word. He took out a pair of glasses that a watchmaker would use from his arm and intently observed the skin of the corpse while humming a little song that sounded incredibly pleasant.

Seeing that the Sage of the Abyss was completely immersed in his own world, Nemo shook his head, crossed the corpses, and came beside Oliver.

“Some cheap recording crystals.” Oliver was using the hem of his clothes to vigorously wipe a dirty crystal that he couldn’t even tell the color. “It seems this gentleman wasn’t really rich.”

“According to the remaining magic fluctuations, these things were recorded at least ten years ago.” Nemo squatted down and pulled out the gray information box. The dust made him choke, and he let out a few coughs. The uncomfortable smell always lingered at the end of his nose, making it a bit difficult for him to breathe.

He looked through the parchment in his hand. “Look, this one is older. This information is from more than 40 years ago. There is no signature. It seems that our introducer doesn’t like to leave his name everywhere.”

“What’s written in it?” Oliver stretched his head over.

“It’s all research materials about the Abyss.” Nemo frowned.

The information in his hand was a comprehensive analysis of the abilities of a certain superior demon, as well as the conclusions drawn from it. The owner of the house’s handwriting wasn’t very good, and the notes were so scribbled that it was extremely difficult to read.

The long formulas were crammed together, thin and dense, making them difficult to identify. Next to the formulas, which were almost muddled together, was a string of notes written in another color ink. Compared to the pile of self-made symbols that God knows what they represented, the notes written in the lingua franca were more legible.

[We have reason to believe that surface creatures and abyssal creatures have the same upper limit of power—this undoubtedly is a hair-raising experience, and we must find out the principle in advance. However, the Withered Castle is continuing to challenge the upper limit of the surface; how stupid. It’s a pity that, as a Gatekeeper with a different research direction, I have no right to interfere. Someone must control them.]

The two turned their heads and glanced at the terrifying corpse with complicated expressions. The night was silent, and the minor hums from Telaranea echoed in the air. The demon took out a lot of weird metal utensils again and was carefully cutting the skin of the corpse.

Thinking that this nasty guy was his own creation, Nemo uttered a desperate “ugh” and retracted his gaze.

The great Demon King, who felt complicated, moved a few more boxes of information, trying to find what they were looking for. His Hero was fiddling with the phonetic crystal in his hand, trying to find the magic array to stimulate it. The gray mist was too corrosive, so Oliver didn’t dare test it recklessly. It would be quite disastrous if the only record was destroyed.

Compared with Oliver, who was making slow progress, Nemo was much faster. He let out the dark shadow, quickly scanned the information on the paper, and quickly locked on to the thick stack of parchment paper.

“Hey, Ollie.” Nemo poked Oliver, who was still concentrating on dealing with the crystal. “Information from twenty-three years ago.”

“Have you finished reading it?” Oliver glanced at the shadow hand that hadn’t released the parchment yet.

“Not exactly. This person’s research habits are very… egotistical. I only confirmed the date, which is faster.”

Moreover, in this weird situation, Nemo didn’t want to be exposed to the truth alone in advance.

“But this looks a bit different from the pile just now.” Oliver picked up one of the small stacks. The handwriting on it became even more scribbled.

Nemo raised his eyebrows and scanned through a few of them.

Compared with the cookie-cutter boring formulas and annotations of previous years, this year’s formulas were much less, but there were a lot of creepier illustrations, and the handwriting had become extremely distorted.

[I asked her to help bring a specific intermediate demon, she brought it, and she didn’t want to leave. She must have noticed something. My girl, she has always been so keen. It’s a pity that she left the Gatekeepers, I…]

The following text was roughly crossed out. An anatomical diagram of an intermediate demon was drawn next to the handwriting, and many blood-red thin lines and formulas were drawn on the part of the eyes.

Oliver’s breathing stopped for a few seconds. Nemo raised his head abruptly, just in time to meet the other party’s gaze—Oliver grabbed Nemo’s robe, shook the piece of parchment in his hand, and motioned to his lover to approach.

[As a representative of the Void Castle, I officially applied to the Withered Castle today. The flesh and blood furnace must be destroyed. It’s too early for mankind. Theories are just theories and cannot reveal the truth. The people of the Withered Castle were blinded by arrogance and forgot the basic principles of a Gatekeeper.]

[They asked me to show evidence, but I didn’t keep it. That is not the knowledge that should be passed on. It’s taboo and it’s the key to destruction. We’re surrounded by the darkness of ignorance, and that darkness is not our enemy, but our cradle.]

“…This thing is turning into poetry,” Nemo muttered in a low voice. “What exactly does he want to express?”

“I don’t know, but looking at these notes… Well, our Butcher Shop introducer is not in a good mental state,” Oliver replied in a low voice.

Then they held their breath for the next entry on paper.

[Mr. Lopez also knows this well, and I don’t think I need to specifically destroy his memory. Regarding the transaction with Mr. Lopez, I erased part of the record. If someone reads this information in the future… Please don’t bother to restore it. It has been lost forever.]

Nemo swallowed laboriously. He hated this feeling—he had to close his eyes and was waiting for the truth to stab him, but the truth was hidden in the darkness again.

He continued reading in frustration.

[She peeked at the records, my lovely girl. She’s so smart, she might have picked up on a few clues. But it doesn’t matter as I have discarded the most critical part. Her research will never surpass my discovery, and I will take it to the grave. As a member of the Gatekeepers, I have a responsibility to guard against this danger.]

[But I want to see that sight.]

“Then he made himself like that?” Oliver’s voice was a bit hoarse, and he clenched the phonetic crystal in his hand. “…What kind of stuff did my father say in the first place?”

“Ollie…”

Nemo patted Oliver’s arm weakly.

Things began to become terrifying.

The information was indeed still full of records, but it was no longer covered with scribbled formulas and diary-like accompanying notes. The words written by Butcher Shop introducer—or Gatekeeper—became noticeable less, and the parchment was full of body transformation pictures and weird spells that no one could understand.

Then they appeared less and less and were gradually replaced by one sentence.

Nemo shuddered behind his back. He took out the information of the next few years from a nearby information box and found that the content was all the same sentences.

[I want to see it.]

The repeated words were written all over the parchment, and the dates kept changing. Bloodstains and oddly colored wet marks began to appear on the parchment.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Nemo didn’t even dare to use the dark shadow anymore, and the two quickly rummaged through the remaining paper.

Ten minutes later, they finally found the end of the record, but it made Nemo feel worse.

The last record left by the old man was only two sentences. No longer the curse-like repeated prayer, but just two simple sentences. It was like the writing was from the blood of one’s finger as there was madness in the strokes.

[I saw it.]

[It is a great honor to be born in this world.]

Nemo only felt a piece of ice sliding into his stomach. Oliver may not understand the meaning of this sentence, but he was very clear. Someone said this to him, not so long ago, in the Church of Silence.

Those were the last words of Hagen Ingram, the female bishop of the Abyss.

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The author has something to say:

Ollie’s father was actually amazing just to keep his sanity…

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 215: A Strange Corpse

Jesse Dylan sighed for the thousandth time, and loudly on purpose.

Taking into account the different preferences of different races for food, in order to prevent the appearance of food that smelled too strong or looked too frightening, the affiliated library attached to the Mercenary Guild headquarters clearly stipulated that visitors weren’t allowed to bring food.

In the same way, noise was also forbidden, and Mr. Dylan, who didn’t like reading, had lost his two favorite hobbies at once.

Jesse lay sadly on the smooth and clean wooden table, his blond hair dripping all over the table, and his whole body exuded a breath of being bored to death.

The afternoon sun was nice, shining its brilliance on the blond hair. As Jesse’s breathing fluctuated, the dizzying platinum halo kept sliding on his hair.

Adrian Cross changed his angle in silence to prevent the dazzling brilliance from shining into his eyes. He turned his body slightly to the side by the window and continued reading the thick ancient book in his hand. The knight commander borrowed a lot of books, as if he planned to stay here until the library closed.

Books of different sizes were neatly stacked together, like a fortress of doom in Jesse’s eyes.

“Darling, haven’t you found it yet?” Jesse desperately picked up a book on the top pile called “The Encyclopedia of the Northern Zone Wraiths” and flipped through it.

“No.” Adrian faced him sideways and replied calmly without raising his head. “This is where I ‘want to spend a lot of time and don’t have a chance to go when I’m working’, Mr. Dylan.”

“Okay, please continue. You read while I watch.” Jesse put his elbow on the table and supported his head with one hand.

Adrian shook his head gently and continued to flip the pages of the book gently. The warm sunlight wrapped around his body through the window, and the temperature was just right. The room was very quiet; only the sound of cloth rubbing and flipping paper. He could hear the wind outside the window and the breathing of another person beside him.

Time became sticky and slow, and instead of feeling bored, he enjoyed the atmosphere immensely.

The former Knight of Judgment knew in his heart that if none of the scholars he had come into contact with had answers, he wouldn’t find any valuable clues on his own, but if there was still lingering persistence in his heart, he could only think of this.

A small question that hadn’t dissipated from the bottom of his heart for many years.

It may be that he was influenced by his teammates who loved to toss and turn indiscriminately that he subconsciously made such a useless and absurd decision. Relying on a vague impression in his memory many years ago, he went to the largest library in the world to look for a needle in a haystack. No matter how one looked at it, this was a meaningless and inefficient idea.

But at this moment, he felt inexplicably relaxed about it.

“If you are really so bored, maybe I can ask you to divine something for me?” Hearing that the breathing around him had become heavy, Adrian asked in a low voice.

“What?” Jesse quickly wiped the saliva from his mouth, pretending that he wasn’t asleep. “What do you want me to divine?”

“Which book will have the answer that I want.” Adrian glanced at the monster that resembled a giant bear on the last page before he gently closed the old book in his hand.

“No.” Jesse curled his lips. “If you get the answer, most likely you’ll just go back to the inn and wait. Don’t get me wrong, Adri, I really like the way you look when you’re shirtless and drenched in sweat, but I like you better when you’re illuminated by the sun more clearly.”

Adrian raised his eyebrows.

“After all, it’s rare to see you take the initiative to do something… Of course, if you choose to give up now, we can go for a drink together, and then—” Jesse touched his lower lip ambiguously.

But Adrian didn’t take him seriously.

Teasing failed to divert his attention from a certain fact—Jesse Dylan uncharacteristically refused his request without leaving a margin for error, which was rare. This request wasn’t difficult, so did Dylan “really don’t want to do it” or simply “can’t do it”?

[The “diviner” cannot actively intervene in his own calculations; otherwise, the things he intervenes in will always become unknown to him. Then he could only guess intuitively.]

Dylan once said that, combined with the other party’s inexplicable interest in him…

How interesting.

Adrian retracted his gaze, picked up the “Encyclopedia of the Northern Zone Wraiths”, and began to be serious. Unsurprisingly, this book wouldn’t contain information about the beast he was looking for either.

The behemoth in my memory had soft snow-white fur, and its appearance was somewhere between a fox and a wolf. To this day, he no longer remembered the shape of the weird long horns on the top of the animal’s head, only that it was amazingly big.

It was like a beautiful creature that only appears in religious legends.

As time passed, Adrian began to lose memory of what it looked like, or whether the memory was real or a hallucination, but he remembered those eyes—beautiful icy blue eyes, like…

A weight leaned on his shoulder. Jesse, who didn’t respond to him, had fallen asleep again after some time had passed. Only this time, Mr. Dylan deliberately leaned his head over on Adrian’s left shoulder.

The soft blond hair slid over the beautiful face, scattered on the black monk’s uniform, like molten gold.

He was about to move to the right and coldly let this guy lean into empty air and wake himself up—but Adrian hesitated for a moment, and in the end, didn’t move.

Perhaps the sun was too good, he couldn’t help but reach out and gently tuck that annoying blond hair behind Jesse’s ear, letting the heavy head stop on his shoulder. The knight commander turned his gaze back to the book and continued to read the contents of the page quietly.

It was just that his movements had lightened a little bit.

At this moment, the other two members of Tumbleweed were in a much tighter situation.

In order to not attract Telaranea’s attention, Oliver had to leave his Lord Pope in the corner of the most unobtrusive stable in the inn and repeated the request “please don’t use magic” to the horse at least a hundred times.

He wasn’t sure if the ever-proud Pope would listen to him, but right now, they had more to worry about than the thing in front of them.

“Well… Maybe I should say ‘long time no see’ to the both of you.”

With flamboyant red hair and exquisite round-rimmed glasses, the gray-green eyes behind the lenses were completely different from Oliver’s emerald green. The badge, made of white tin, glistened on the leather armor, and a wolf’s head insignia was finely engraved on it.

Oliver took a deep inhale. They recognized this insignia and this person.

One of the surveillance personnel during the Black Chapter’s test who was an old acquaintance of Ann’s; a member of the “Steel Wolf Mercenary Group” which Fenrir Troy belonged to.

“Thorne.” The handsome young red-haired mercenary pushed up his glasses, smiled, and introduced himself. “The name of this body.”

The two looked at him in disbelief.

“Now let’s put aside the emotions of reunion and talk about business.” Unfazed by the two men’s complicated expressions, Telaranea clapped his hands. “I’m glad you’re willing to satisfy my curiosity, but I have to say, Mr. Ramon—The information you give is really pitiful.”

“Oh,” Oliver remarked dryly.

“But I am indeed full of interest in Flint Lopez’s discovery. It is good information. Speaking of this, now that we have decided to be as honest as possible in this transaction—I believe both of you know the basic information about the Butcher Shop.”

Waiting for this sentence, Nemo rolled his eyes inwardly. The Sage of the Abyss will never stop his temptations.

“Yes.” The great Demon King quickly divulged the information he had obtained from the parrot. “The Butcher Shop is not a centralized organization. It’s a scattered referral system. If the rumors are true, the top manager is the legendary Aurorae. Geniuses and mages in need will find these referrers through various channels and obtain demon information from them.”

“After the two sides reach an agreement, the superior demon will rush to the designated place on the surface of the Abyss, attach its flesh to the bodies of intermediate or subordinate demons, and then the caster will summon these demons.” Oliver tried his best to hold back the unfathomable expression as he added casually.

The gray parrot on Nemo’s shoulder sneered in a low voice.

“That is so.” Telaranea glanced at the parrot and touched his chin. “Listening to your description, your father wasn’t a demon warlock, so what he wanted in the first place may have been other services—such as using knowledge and intelligence in exchange for recovered demon flesh or a specific abyssal spell.”

“For example, ‘domination’ of a superior demon,” Oliver closed his eyes and whispered.

The Sage of the Abyss nodded. “The guest information that summons the superior demon will be registered and shared among all introducers in the Butcher Shop. Unfortunately for you both, I’m afraid that only the introducers themselves know the contents of such a sub-level transaction… The knowledge that comes from the exchange is not compulsorily shared, which is one of the sweet things about being an introducer.”

“But you can get the information.” Nemo stared at the gray-green eyes behind the lenses.

“Of course.” Telaranea’s voice was full of merit. “According to Mr. Ramon’s information, our Flint may have made two transactions with the Butcher Shop introducer, and that introducer is probably a member of the Gatekeepers. The transaction time was 23 years ago, and the location was in the capital of Alban. These clues are enough to narrow the scope.”

Oliver frowned. “Two?”

He thought there was only one deal—from Medes’ statement, Flint Lopez only repaired his arm with demon flesh.

“Yes, two.” Telaranea took two steps forward, stretched out one hand to Oliver, and was pushed away by Nemo silently halfway. “…Well, I just want to say that a pure human alone cannot save the life of a newborn under the erosion of the Trent Plague. Ah, the premise is that you did not specifically lie to me with false information.”

“O dear great hero Flint.”

Telaranea let out a low chuckle deep in his throat.

“He devoted all his energy to channeling his power into the baby that he must have been unable to think about anything else, and human hatchlings don’t come to life that easily. I’m guessing his first trip to the Alban capital was to trade with the Butcher Shop for tips on curbing the curse and saving his energy.”

“Unfortunately, after being reported by Mr. Medes, he lost his right arm, so he didn’t stop. Our Flint simply made a second transaction—a demon’s right arm, a little abyssal spell, undoubtedly, to make it so you’ll grow up more smoothly, Mr. Ramon.”

“How smart,” Nemo interrupted coldly, pulling the topic back to him.

“Yes, yes.” The red-haired mercenary took off his glasses and wiped the lenses leisurely. “I really know a Butcher Shop introducer who was in charge of the capital of Alban twenty-three years ago and was also a Gatekeeper, but I haven’t heard from him for a long time. As far as I know, he has never submitted any valuable knowledge or intelligence.”

A shudder rolled over Nemo’s back, and he finally realized that the answer might come faster than he thought.

He retracted this idea after a long time.

Three people and one bird were standing in front of a dilapidated three-story wooden house deep in the vast Border Forest. According to the residents of this area, the “strange-tempered resident” had been missing for a long time, but no one would care about an old man who lived alone and didn’t appear very often. Besides, no one had any business coming deep into the depths of this dangerous forest, so no one knew whether the poor old man had moved away a long time ago or had become dinner for the monsters of the forest.

Night had already fallen, and there was no light in the overgrown wooden house in front of him. The night wind passed through the crevices of the planks, making a crying sound. The interior of the long-damaged window was pitch black, and even the outline of the furniture could not be seen.

There was no aura of life in it.

Oliver and Nemo glanced at each other with difficulty.

This was obviously not normal. Even if it was really uninhabited, at least there would be reactions from insects, ants, spiders, or mice in the abandoned house, but that darkness was wrapped in true dead silence, complete desolation.

The two members of Tumbleweed swallowed, took a step back, and said, almost at the same time, “After you, Mr. Telaranea.”

The superior demon glanced at the two of them with a rather unexpected look, then shook his head, neatly pushed down the decayed wooden door, and entered the room.

Oliver and Nemo stood in silence outside the house. They didn’t even have to make a special effort to sense it, as the creaking wooden floor indicated Telaranea’s location for them at all times.

The first floor, the second floor, and then the highest, the attic.

“I found him.” The Sage of the Abyss opened the narrow window, stretched out a hand, and made a gesture. “Come on up, the two of you.”

The voice of that demon was full of pure joy.

“…This is really the most interesting corpse I have ever seen.”

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The author has something to say:

Ollie: This is an oracle, an oracle! …I’m sorry, I beg you, don’t dress like a boss anymore.

Horse: (Continues to wear the mold)

——

Parrot: You just use my information and pretend you don’t understand! …And only gave me a bag of biscuits!!!

Nemo: (Take out another bag)

Parrot: It smells so good.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 214: Requirements of the Sage of the Abyss

Telaranea coughed and drank up the rest of his tea with excessive sugar. He sat in the lounge of the headquarters of the Mercenary Guild, looking up and down at the two uninvited guests. It was approaching noon and the clean and tidy lounge was filled with people and conversations. Surrounded by the rest of the fancy-dressed visitors, the three of them didn’t really stand out.

There was no flustered look on the old man’s face. The Sage of the Abyss put down the teacup and moved smoothly.

“We meet again, let me think about it… Nemo Murkos White and Oliver Borne. Oh, this reaction. Sure enough, you know my identity at Clementine Academy.”

Nemo’s expression twitched slightly, and before he could say a few words, the two of them were thoroughly tested by their cunning opponents. Long aware of Telaranea’s identity at the academy and well aware that they had met, neither of them showed much surprise at the demon’s statement this time.

“Since you have a way to recognize ‘that me’, it’s not a strange thing to find ‘this me‘. I’m just a little curious. Apart from the hard-to-reach places like Clementine Academy, I still have a few bodies wandering outside—As far as I know, this is not the one closest to you.” Telaranea stared at Nemo with great interest as he pointed at himself with his thin fingers. “Why choose this?”

“You don’t seem to be surprised that we can find you.” Nemo hesitated for a moment and took a step forward. His tone was unfriendly. Even if Telaranea had lost all of the memories related to the Withered Castle and the Gatekeepers, once he considered Oliver’s miserable state back then, he couldn’t let it go.

He has improved, Nemo thought somberly. When they first met, he was still frightened by Telaranea. Now, this superior demon was within three steps of him, and he only had the urge to beat the other man up.

Considering that the two of them had to beg the demon in front of them, Oliver patted Nemo on the shoulder in silence, then quietly dragged his lover back to his side.

“I think we’re all aware that Mr. Light has the power of ‘that one’. I have never seen anything like it… If one is affected by the power of ‘that one’, it’s not uncommon for an incidental ability to appear. With a little skill and a little networking, it’s not difficult to find me.” Telaranea rubbed his chin. “You haven’t answered my question. Why is it ‘this me’?”

Another test.

But it wasn’t bad to let the other party think so. Nemo maintained an expressionless state and didn’t deny the demon’s guess. It seemed that Telaranea was very confident in its disguise of this identity, and they were sure they couldn’t produce any actual evidence that he was a superior demon.

“We have other things to do at the headquarters of the Mercenary Guild. This is just a side stop. As the Legendary Sage of the Abyss, I believe you should know about the ‘Butcher Shop’.” Oliver took over the conversation.

“That parrot is a superior demon, no? If you just want to find the Butcher Shop, why bother asking me?”

Oliver and Nemo looked at each other.

“Because we’re not looking for the Bucher Shop to trade, but for a past transaction record,” Oliver whispered.

“Oh—” Telaranea’s raised his tone, obviously indicating his interest was piqued. “Yes, I can help you. The price… I want to know what you are looking for. Do you mind if I join you?”

The “mind” on the faces of the two members of Tumbleweed was almost overflowing.

“What about other costs?”

“Other, well… If you or Mr. Light are willing to be dissected by me. I promise not to take any organs casually, and I’ll erase all those bad memories afterwards. How about that? What do you think?”

Nemo took a deep breath and finally suppressed the anger on his face. Seeing that his lover’s hair was about to explode, Oliver put his hand on Nemo’s shoulder in a planned manner.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry.” Telaranea skillfully ignored Nemo’s anger. “It’s time for lunch soon. You two can think carefully and give me an answer after lunch.”

“Take a step back. Suppose we promise to agree to participate. You look like this… Are you sure you can keep up with our actions?” Nemo exhaled hard and spoke in a serious tone.

The flesh in front of them was terribly old, as if it had one foot stepped into a coffin. Nemo could feel that the magical qualification of this body was extremely ordinary, and because of the aging, its endurance was greatly diminished. Even if it was incorporated with the flesh of a superior demon, the power it could exert may not even reach 5%.

“I will follow when the time comes. I didn’t say which one of me will follow. Now it’s time for an old man’s nap. See you both in the afternoon.” Telaranea’s old man shell replied calmly, stood up slowly, and picked up his cane.

In order for mercenaries from all walks of life to find the taste of their hometown smoothly, the Mercenary Guild was never short of all kinds of restaurants.

After Ann’s mission, Nemo himself had a little savings, so he dragged Oliver to find a restaurant that looked a bit high-end. However, the Mercenary Guild was near the living and was also considered a hub for intelligence dealing; thus, considering the things they wanted to talk about weren’t suitable for this kind of crowded area, Nemo heartily packed a large pile of food and carried it back to the inn room with Oliver.

When they got to the room, the meringue on the dessert collapsed.

“Do you want to trade with him?” Nemo poked the peas on the plate with a fork in a distraught manner, pretending that each pea had the face of Telaranea. “After all, it’s about the past, it’s about the Butcher Shop, and it’s a bit difficult to find other sources of information… Ollie?”

Oliver was holding half a loaf of bread in his mouth, squatting in the corner with a serious expression.

“I don’t mind if it knows the past. After all, the past has passed. It probably won’t hurt just to know everything that happened at the bottom of the Abyss and satisfy its curiosity.”

Ollie was still staring at the corner, but temporarily took the bread out of his mouth.

“Look, Nemo, the Tin Soldiers have a theoretical genius like Mr. Medes. As far as I know, my father isn’t the well-learned type. What he discovered was not a theory of destroying the world… but some kind of truth. Even if Telaranea jumped out and announced its discovery to the world, it needs to give evidence, right? All we have to do is destroy all the possible evidence.”

Their thinking habits seemed to be drifting more in the wrong direction. Nemo smiled dryly, “That’s true, but Ollie, what the hell are you doing?”

Giving up on poking the peas, Nemo aggressively nibbled at the meringue that had fallen off the pastry, leaned into the corner.

Then he saw a pile of breadcrumbs and a small team of ants.

Nemo: “……”

“You just stepped on my archbishop.” Oliver said deeply.

Nemo almost dropped the meringue pastry to the ground.

“…I’m kidding.” Oliver threw the breadcrumbs on the edge of the ant. “Look, you turned Cat Whiskers into your dependent—If that can be done with a spider without magic, an ant without magic should be possible too.”

“That’s right, but…”

“I can’t transform them.” Ollie collapsed his shoulders in frustration. “To be honest, I still don’t know how I successfully transformed that horse.”

The horse with exceptionally deep eyes had been following Oliver. In order to avoid Gallagher’s army from discovering something weird about the horse and causing panic, Nemo and Oliver simply bought it. The fuller goat was taken away by Jesse. They originally wanted to take some luggage with them, but as a result, no matter how much luggage they put on it, the horse calmly let it pass through its body and it leaked to the ground.

It didn’t refuse the saddle, but unfortunately, when Oliver sat firmly on it and tried to pull Nemo up, Nemo also passed through the horse and fell back to the ground.

It was a disaster.

Oliver refused to ride his own horse and let Nemo run after the bastard, so at present, the horse was almost useless except for them paying an extra care fee at the inn.

Recalling the horse for a moment, the faces of the two of them darkened a bit.

“Although your Lord Pope has an eccentric temper, creatures of the horse’s level are still okay.” Nemo sighed, carefully bypassing Oliver’s reserves of archbishops. They were happily crawling around in the breadcrumbs. “Ants… you should reconsider.”

“Speaking of ‘my Lord Pope’.” Oliver straightened his waist and moved his shoulders. “Actually, I was thinking that this seems to be no different from humans raising animals—giving them the food or strength they need to survive, and then taking away what they want. In this way, it can be recognized as a certain kind of ‘God’? Generally speaking, doesn’t ‘God’ need to gain the love, faith, or something from believers…”

“In the case of the two of us, there’s no need.”

Nemo looked calm. “Do you remember the spider dogs in the Border Forest? I don’t think they will have such a thing as faith. Dylan’s side is a better example—most of the creatures living on the surface use surface magic and believe in all kinds of ‘Gods’ created by themselves, but there’s no doubt that Dylan is drawing on their power indiscriminately.”

“…I see, it seems that I don’t really need a Pope.”

Oliver stared at the group of ants very seriously and breathed a sigh of relief.

That was good. For the time being, he didn’t need to be linked to the word “God”. He could still retain his sanity so as not to fall into some kind of panic full of shock—Oliver could finally get rid of the night scene of being “surrounded by a group of neighing horses”.

“Now it seems that you are harvesting power from powerful demons, and Jesse is drawing from relatively weaker creatures. If I want, I can pick up what you don’t want, right? But saying that… Nemo, why are you the Demon King, but Mr. Dylan is…?”

“I don’t know,” Nemo replied honestly. “Dylan’s character is indeed not pleasing, but he has helped us a lot. To be honest, I don’t think he meddled in these things. He doesn’t seem to like humans very much.”

“But he became a human.” Oliver imagined Jesse as a dragon for a few seconds, and then simply erased that impression from his mind.

It would definitely be a dragon covered in golden scales that would happily blind people’s eyes. The leader of Tumbleweed was extremely convinced of this.

“…He may have his reasons.” Nemo took off the berries on the top of the pastry and stuffed them into Oliver’s mouth. “Regarding the transformation of my dependent, it may be more appropriate for you to ask him than to ask me. My approach is more instinctive. It’s difficult to explain.”

Jesse really took part of the species from him, and his only memory was of the successfully transformed ordinary spider.

“Nn.” Oliver reluctantly glanced at the ants on the ground, chewed the berries in his mouth, and licked Nemo’s fingertips. “We will meet Telaranea in a while and give him an answer.”

Nemo blinked. He raised his eyebrows at the cream at the corner of Oliver’s mouth, and was about to kiss it…

When something slammed into the window.

“…” Nemo opened the window speechlessly and let the gray parrot, whose feathers were a mess, in.

“You guys take advantage of my absence to have a big meal!” The gray parrot glanced at the remnants of food on the table. Its eyes were full of blood and tears. “When I was working hard, you two were full of eating and sleeping—”

Nemo seemed to have expected this development. He quickly took out a bag of almond biscuits, and the gray parrot closed its mouth.

“For me?” it raised its voice.

“It’s for you.” Nemo’s voice is gentle and firm.

“Oh, that’s more like it.” The gray parrot picked up a piece and spoke in a muffled, “Well, I inquired about it as you requested, but asking superior demons would be too exposing, so I can only ask intermediate ones who have some brain. Oh, this biscuit is good. I’ll tell you later. After all, it’s about the Butcher Shop so there’s still quite a lot of talk among demons.”

“Good.”

At this time, in the territory of Alban.

“How boring,” Jesse complained bitterly. He was lying in an inn room, spreading his slender limbs and occupying the entire bed.

The Chief Justice, on the other hand, was bare chested and doing strength exercises without saying a word. He didn’t even care about the sweat running down his back, let alone pay attention to Jesse’s intention.

“It’s boring!” Jesse hugged the pillow and rolled around on the bed. “It’s been three days. The leader of the team said he’d give us a vacation. Are you really just going to wait until he asks us for help again? Adri—”

Really unable to stand the other party’s long-pitched call, Adrian put down the heavy object in his hand, wiped his sweat, and habitually frowned. “If you want to go out, you can always do it yourself…”

“I want to act with you,” Jesse insisted. “Look, now you are free! That necromancer didn’t seek death, so you have nothing to do, right? Don’t you have any place you want to go?”

“No.” Adrian flattened his sweat-soaked handkerchief.

“You can go anywhere. I’ll pay for it. As long as it’s not here, I’m willing to accompany you to any corner of the world, my love. I’ve counted all the floor seams here. Think about it carefully. Especially far away, or a place where you spend a lot of your time, you can’t go when you work—I don’t believe you don’t have a place.”

“…” Adrian sighed, suddenly approached, and gently pressed a hand on the top of Jesse’s head.

“If you insist, there is indeed a place. It’s very close to the headquarters of the Mercenary Guild, and it’ll be convenient to meet with Mr. Ramon at that time.” The former knight’s long brows stretched slightly. “If you’re willing to go, you can pay for half the travel expenses.”

Jesse grabbed the hand and kissed the slightly moist fingers ambiguously. “Where? Even if it’s into hot magma, I will—”

“In the library attached to the headquarters of the Mercenary Guild. I have something I want to find.”

The largest library in the world is also one of the most boring places in the world.

“…” Jesse bit the knuckles of the knight on the side of his mouth and fell into contemplation. “Adri, do you want to think about it again? I think the magma is really good.”

“Forgive me for rejecting.” Adrian withdrew his hand, with a faint smile in his voice.

---

The author has something to say:

Nemo’s rice bowl: The upper, middle, and lower demons that fill the entire abyss, plus the demons active on the surface.

Jesse’s rice bowl: Full of surface races, very rich, even dragons.

Ollie’s rice bowl: There is currently only one horse. It has deep and melancholy eyes.

Ollie: …

Ollie: …Can I really beat Nemo……?

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 213: The Original Pope

The golden autumn leaves were no better than the thick curtains, and the early morning sunlight spilled down.

Nemo opened his eyes with difficulty. He was lying on the thick fallen leaves, and the gray-black robe had already turned into large rags scattered everywhere.

The woods were quiet and silent, and Nemo didn’t know how long they tossed around for until the early hours of the morning, before they fell groggily asleep. At that time, he was so tired that he didn’t bother to raise his fingers. He threw a cleaning spell and didn’t even have time to mend his clothes.

But there was also a benefit to not mending it.

Oliver’s head was resting on his chest, fast asleep. The weight pressed up by the other party was reassuring, and the dry and warm skin against each other felt good. Nemo gently stroked his lover’s back with his right hand—The remaining scratches on Oliver’s back had long ceased to bleed, and at this moment, it was only slightly red and swollen, with a line of dried tan scabs protruding from the center of the marks.

Nemo didn’t intend to treat them.

At present, Oliver had no way of leaving traces on him, but Nemo was keen on it. Hickeys, bite marks, and minor cuts from his fingernails when he lost control. He hoped that they could cover the ugly scars left by the Withered Castle, so as to dispel the remaining darkness.

Unlike in the past, even in the craziest moments before, Nemo could feel Oliver’s inexplicable restraint and caution. And last night, in the long darkness—because the environment was too absurd, or the despair brought about by the prophecy really pierced his emotions, both of them went a little harder and threw away the last of their reservations.

At first, it was more like they were venting and warming up. It was like tearing a crack in their emotions that was about to explode, letting the toxic pus and blood overflow.

Then anger and despair gradually turned into love and sadness, and finally into mutual demand that abandoned reason.

Bitter and heavy emotions mixed with loving strokes, like unsweetened absinthe; until now, that unique sense of paralysis had not dissipated. Nemo should have had complete control over his body, but he couldn’t even control his breathing last night.

Oliver’s ability to learn was quite amazing. None of the tiny movements that once made him uncomfortable appeared this time.

It seemed that his mimicry was spot on—no physical injury or blood loss; just continuous tingling and pleasure that made his brain scorch blank to the brink of dizziness.

This might be a good way to decompress. Nemo seriously considered it as he slowly rubbed the skin on the back of Oliver’s neck with his palm.

In the brightening dawn, Oliver let out a comfortable grunt and finally woke up. He wiped his eyes, then propped up his upper body, slowly moving up Nemo’s chest with kisses, and then bit his lover’s throat lightly.

“Good morning, Nemo,” he whispered a little vaguely.

“Good morning.” Nemo grabbed the soft hair on the back of Oliver’s head and pecked his lips before deeply kissing him. “Ollie, I was… Sorry last night, but I don’t regret getting angry with you.”

“Me too,” Oliver said, then smiled. “I wish I could keep arguing with you like this.”

Nemo laughed. He let go of the hand holding Ollie’s hair and patted the back of his lover’s head briskly. “Okay, get up.”

“Actually, I thought about it carefully.”

Nemo mended his clothes with the dark shadow and put them on tidily. Oliver dressed neatly and spoke again in a serious tone. “If the prophecy is really describing the Hero, and that happens to be me… The last person to kill you is destined to be me. Maybe that’s not bad.”

Nemo’s movements paused.

“That means I’ll finally catch up to you, lose you, and personally fulfill my promise to you,” Oliver said softly, buttoning the last buckle on the black light armor.

The forest in the morning was filled with a little mist, and the soft sunlight fell on the ominous black armor. The helmet that was transformed by the skull of an earth dragon was dyed golden red by the brilliance of the rising sun. The smile on Oliver’s face came from the bottom of his heart this time—bitter and soft, not stiff at all.

“If one of us is destined to be left alone, it’s not bad if it’s me.”

The air mixed with woody fragrance and moisture from the forest filled his lungs, and Nemo only felt that he was going to drown in this humid morning. It took a long time for him to get his breath back and give the other party a similar smile. “…I won’t leave until then, Ollie.”

After that, he took a step, and then his expression was slightly distorted. Oliver raised his eyebrows.

“Oh, let me add two points,” Nemo said dryly, rubbing his waist. “First of all, your skills have passed—I prefer this way as a stress reliever than quarrelling. Secondly, my back is a little sore, but I don’t mind it.”

Oliver laughed this time, but his face was still a little red.

It’s just that when the two packed up their things and rushed to the horse, neither of them could laugh.

“I’ve actually cared for a long time, Ollie.” Nemo’s gaze was a little dull. “Don’t you think it’s looking at you with a particularly deep look in its eyes?”

“I feel the same way. But this situation should have nothing to do with its eyes… right?” Oliver responded as if he was sleepwalking.

There was naturally no problem with Nemo’s protection arrays and the rein reinforcement. The horse wasn’t killed by any beasts or demons that infested the night. At the moment, the black army horse was leisurely gnawing on the grass leaves by the tree, seemingly in a good mood.

…If they ignored that its body was passing through the trunk of the tree.

It wasn’t stuck in the trunk of the tree. The dark horse even moved a few steps from time to time. The trunk seemed to pass directly through its abdomen, but there were no skin and flesh flaws, no sawdust valgus. The horse’s body and the stout trunk were more like two colored phantoms superimposed on each other, without interfering with each other.

The reins were still firmly tied to the trunk of the tree, creating an odd scene.

Noticing the two approaching, the dark horse raised its head and continued to stare at Oliver very seriously and deeply.

“Can you communicate with it, Nemo?”

Oliver took a step closer and patted the long face of the dark horse. The roughness and warmth of his hands made him sure that this wasn’t an illusion. He gulped a few times at the tree trunk being passed through, then turned to Nemo. “I remember you can communicate with the Bluebirds and Cat Whiskers.”

“The Bluebirds themselves possessed intelligence, and Cat Whiskers could be considered my dependent, but its thinking isn’t very clear anymore.” Nemo hesitantly stepped forward. “This horse… I don’t know if it has its own ideas.”

As he spoke, Nemo also stretched out his hand and tried to touch the horse, but he only touched air. His white slender fingers passed directly through the long thin face, and his fingertips were exposed from the other side of the horse’s face.

“…” Oliver was silent for a few seconds. “I think it has a mind of its own. It doesn’t seem to want to be touched by you.”

Nemo stretched his other hand to the horse’s neck in shock, and it passed through without hindrance. His hands seemed to be immersed in hot air, and it felt strange. Unfortunately, before Nemo could try a few more times, the horse turned around and showed its butt towards Nemo with a vague hint that it was going to kick.

“…I’ll try to communicate with it, but there is no guarantee of success.” Nemo coughed dryly. “After all, it is not my dependent, and I may only get the simplest information.”

Half a minute passed.

“It doesn’t want to talk to me,” Nemo admitted bitterly.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?” Oliver patted the horse’s hot neck with his hand. “Nemo won’t hurt you, I promise.”

The dark horse snorted.

“…” Oliver put down his hand extremely slowly. His expression was a little stiff.

“What’s the matter?”

“I… Uh, it just seemed to take the initiative to say that it likes me and doesn’t like you.”

“…It’s acting pretty obvious. Wait, Ollie. How did you know? Is it… Wait a minute.”

Nemo picked up the staff, and countless dark red light filaments drilled out of the black bone ball at the top of the staff. The symbols and formulas that Oliver couldn’t understand intertwined. Nemo seemed to be calculating something.

After a few minutes, he opened his mouth thoughtfully, “Creatures born using abyssal magic will give me pure energy almost all the time… Now you know the identity of Jesse, for the same reason, species that uses surface magic will also give power to Jesse. Ollie, I don’t know the previous situation, but the current situation should be like this.”

The mysterious formula written in the air disappeared, replaced by two circles. The larger one showed “Nemo” and the smaller one was “Jesse”. They were surrounded by countless light spots. The light spots were divided into two groups and leaping filaments of light connected the two circles.

“I understand.” Oliver tried to ignore the horror of this topic.

“You know, some creatures don’t have magical talents.” Nemo took a deep breath and explained patiently. “The next thing is my personal guess.”

“One type of life span is really not long. The personality is docile, and the intelligence isn’t outstanding… This is also the case in the abyss. In general, you can understand it as ‘the benefits of giving magic aren’t as good as consumption’. These creatures reproduce and change the community, all of which has nothing to do with us, unless there’s a new species of good talent.”

“Ah, I can still understand up to here.” Oliver pushed away the arched horse’s nose with one hand.

“The other category is nothing special. It’s usually selected and domesticated by other species. With sufficient energy, Jesse and I shouldn’t have to bother with these marginals piecemeals.”

“For example, let’s see. Mr. Fuller successfully domesticated the dangerous magical beast Thunderbolt Goats like the fuller goat?”

“Nn.” Nemo nodded. “In a nutshell, the magic circuit is like some kind of special organ. We have not responded, and those species have never had the opportunity to use it. Then, as they reproduce, the loop will gradually disappear. These two types of species are considered ‘masterless’.”

“But what does that have to do with this horse?”

“Ordinary horses are also masterless,” Nemo said carefully. “It shouldn’t have magical talents, but it’s now using some kind of magic. Ollie… Can you feel anything in it? I mean, except for its eyes?”

“Fluffy.” Oliver pressed his hand on the horse’s head and replied stiffly.

“…Is there anything else? You close your eyes and feel it carefully… Oh god, I understand what Jesse means. This kind of thing is really hard to describe.”

“There’s a flickering spot of light. It’s difficult to describe the feelings clearly. Maybe it’s because I haven’t eaten breakfast yet, but my vision is a little blurry—”

“That’s it! Maintain this state!”

Nemo concentrated and looked at the horse. The extremely weak force was drifting away from the horse, pointing directly at Oliver.

“Ollie, I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”

“The good one.” Oliver still had his eyes closed.

“At your current level of strength, you have one more way to catch up with me. Before the Withered Castle stripped you from my magic system, your power got rid of my instinctive suppression and exceeded a certain standard. Now you have, uh, the ability to collect a ‘magic tax’ like us—you must have inadvertently transformed that horse on the battlefield and turned it into a dependent.”

After a pause for a few seconds, Nemo continued embarrassedly, “As for the bad news. Ollie, if this story unfortunately spreads, everyone will know that your original Pope… is a horse.”

“…………”

Three days later.

Praedo was located on the south side of Garland and was a beautiful small country with spring-like seasons. There was a giant city at the junction of it and Garland, where Hatfield, the holy land of the Laddism Church, was located.

Despite the chaos of the world, Praedo had always been safe and stable. It was small enough, had no military advantages in terrain, and had no special mineral deposits or special products that made people jealous. It had always relied on simple commerce and agriculture to be self-sufficient.

It was such an ordinary country that was neither too poor enough to be turbulent nor rich enough to attract much attention, and at the same time, it lacked ambition. At the first sign of war, it quickly jumped out to declare neutrality, and then locked its borders tightly.

It could be said it was like the epitome of chicken ribs*.

*Metaphor basically describes something of little value or interest.

Considering the position of the Mercenary Guild, there was no better place to set up headquarters than here.

On the ground floor of the headquarters of the Mercenary Guild, Telaranea made itself a cup of coffee and threw sugar cubes into it one after another. As a demon who liked to collect intelligence by nature, this was simply an excellent playground, a grand, luxurious, and never-ending dinner party.

Its body had been working here for decades, and it had had no relatives for a long time. Even if it behaved abnormally, it wouldn’t arouse anyone’s suspicion. This was almost the least troublesome of all the ones in its body.

If one insisted on something it was dissatisfied with, it was probably that this body was too old and had too low of magic power, which was very inconvenient to use. Anyways, it itself took fancy to the knowledge and intelligence of the old man’s mind, so his weakness was also its weakness, which wasn’t a big deal. The body worked and it lived pretty well off here and had countless amounts of intelligence and information at its fingertips.

This was enough to make the Sage of the Abyss happy.

Although the female professor of Clementine Academy had a younger body and a lot of intelligence around her, she still had to deal with a group of annoying students and control a delirious husband. In the end, there was still a lot of unnecessary trouble.

It was a pity that he had just drank two sips of tea today, and was enjoying the feeling of the sweet, creamy liquid flowing through his throat when he almost choked on it…

“It’s been a long time since I saw you, Telaranea.”

Nemo Light greeted him in a menacing tone. Oliver Ramon was standing next to him, with a very standard, but not so warm, polite smile on his face.

“We’re here to make a trade. I’d like to ask for directions—how do I get to the ‘Butcher Shop’?”

---

The author has something to say:

Ollie got a long-faced believer with deep eyes (……

————

The skill of this horse, in fact, my first reaction is to break the mold (X

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Kinky Thoughts:

Now we know the origins of the fuller goat (and why it’s called that)!

For those lost, basically, Oliver has now become a new god, which has its own magic system. Nemo presides over all abyssal magic, Jesse over surface magic, and Oliver over… whatever this new magic is.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 212: First Quarrel

“Is she really okay?”

Medes stood in the stone chamber under the tomb. The red in the skeleton’s eyes brightened a bit. After getting Adrian’s affirmative answer, the necromancer rubbed the Tin Soldiers badge on his chest with his skeletal hand and let out a hoarse and unpleasant low laugh.

“I’ll write down the prescription.” The living skeleton sat back down in the mountainous pile of parchment. He dipped the quill pen in blood from the ink bottle and started scribbling.

“Personally, there’s no problem with Her Royal Highness Delia’s health. Mr. Medes, if there is anything else on your side that needs to be confirmed—”

“No, the danger period has passed, and there will be no more problems with her body.” Medes’ voice was soft and firm. After carefully completing the prescription, he picked up the blood-stained parchment paper and placed it on the thickest pile of parchment beside the table.

With a gentle wave of his skeletal hand, strong waterproof oil paper was wrapped around the paper stack, and then a cloth rope snake swam up the stone table to bind the wrapped parchment neatly and firmly. The mass of parchment that was thrown on the ground was swallowed by a fluorescent blue flame, leaving only a thin gray powder.

“Mr. Cross, I have a request.” Medes held up the stack of wrapped paper in both hands. “I hope you can bring this knowledge to the outside world and sign it ‘Tin Soldiers’. If possible, please send them to Clementine Academy or similar research institutions… When they have confirmed these theories, it should be able to save many people.”

“These are?” Adrian frowned slightly; he had a bad feeling.

“The results of my research over the years.” Medes’ tone was very calm. “I still have a few dragon breath stones here, and I will pay them to Tumbleweed as a reward. Considering my identity, I won’t go to the Mercenary Guild for the commission.”

The knight commander did not take the heavy pile of parchment.

“Why don’t you go in person?” Adrian asked politely, looking at the big tank not far away.

“I can indeed restore my body.” Perceiving what the other party meant, Medes sighed softly. “But that’s not necessary. Curing a patient with Trent Plague, completely understanding this damn disease, and seeing…”

Medes paused for a moment. The expression on the skeleton’s face couldn’t be seen clearly, but Adrian inexplicably felt that he was laughing.

“It’s enough.” The necromancer shook his head.

The former Knight of Judgment pursed his lips tightly, but still didn’t intend to take the stack of papers.

“Mr. Dylan should be outside? Let me see you off.” Medes didn’t rush, seeing as how the other party wasn’t moving. His voice was as light as ash blown by the wind.

Adrian didn’t refuse.

The necromancer glanced at the furnishings in the stone room. After a moment of silence, he made a gesture—the illuminated skulls hovering over the stone chamber fell one after another and stopped neatly on the inside of the stone table, like some kind of weird bird without wings.

They walked through the long tomb road, burrowing out of the entrance where the corpses were still piled up, avoiding the treacherous traps without saying a word. The paper bag was still firmly held in Medes’ arms.

Until they saw light.

Mr. Dylan obviously didn’t have a good habit of closing the door.

Not long ago, when the two members of Tumbleweed arrived at the tomb, Jesse received a call from Nemo. It was determined that it was a private conversation, and the knight commander took the initiative to enter the tomb alone. Even if he lost his magic powers, an ancient tomb that had been trespassed once couldn’t stop the former Knight of Judgement.

And now Adrian and Medes were very close to the outermost entrance of the tomb. The stone gate was wide open to the sun. Perhaps the exchange between Jesse and Nemo wasn’t over yet, but in any case…

Adrian stopped.

The moss at the entrance had become yellow and curly when it encountered sunlight and would make a soft ruffled sound when it was stepped on. The terrified corpse was still lying in the first trap. The warm light didn’t succeed in dispelling any of the gloominess.

“If you want to end it, I won’t stop you,” the knight commander said softly. “It was me who passed through the Lock of Pain. Because of my self-righteousness, I let my best friend struggle desperately in pain for several years, which eventually led to both him and his mother… I wonder if things would’ve ended differently if I had respected his will and let him leave with dignity.”

Adrian Cross raised his right hand and blocked the dazzling sunlight outside the tomb with his palm.

“So I won’t stop you, Mr. Medes.” He still didn’t seem to have any plans to take the stack of parchment. “I have no right to judge your pain, and I have hesitated on that road—to atone for my sins in the world until the end of my life. If I’m lucky enough to get spiritual peace in advance, then I’ll use this life to repay my final sin.”

“Somewhere at that time, that was what I thought.”

The necromancer was silent, neither admitting nor denying.

“But now I won’t think about it that way anymore.” Adrian turned around and turned his back to the light. “Mr. Ramon doesn’t mean to pursue you. King Sampson is dead, and Mr. Lopez tried to stop you from hurting yourself. I hope you… think for a few more minutes.”

“Since you know this pain well, why did you change your mind?” Medes clung to the paper bag with one hand and the Tin Soldiers badge on his chest with the other.

“I thought I could no longer be happy, but I was wrong.” Adrian lowered his gaze. “Even if it’s only a brief moment of joy, it’s still… good.”

He politely stretched out his hands to Medes.

“If you are sure that this will give you ultimate peace, then you can hand it over to me, Mr. Medes. If you still have a trace of attachment, I believe you can leave this quagmire one day. I hope that one day you can hand over a more comprehensive record to the outside world—with your own hands.”

Medes stood quietly in place while the knight commander watched him patiently.

“One day.” The red light in the skeleton’s eyes was extinguished, as if he was experiencing a struggle. “At dusk a day later, please come here… If the tomb door is closed, then you can come to the door and take this information. I won’t appear again.”

“If the tomb door is open…” Medes let out a low smile, “Maybe it will be refined a little more.”

Medes watched Adrian Cross leave.

Adrian’s blond companion was waiting for him outside the tomb. As soon as they met, his blond companion waved his hand up and started yelling. After the two said their goodbyes, they left very relaxed—Jesse Dylan was still noisy, but Medes could see a faint smile at the corner of the knight commander’s mouth.

The necromancer stood in the long-lost outside world for a while.

However, after everything fell silent, the only remaining warmth gradually disappeared. The silence struck again, and the hell he was in did not change a bit. Medes shook his head with a bitter smile, the impulsive fervor of his heart once again eroded and cooled by pain.

Dusk was about to end, and night was coming.

But this time, as soon as he stepped into the tomb, he found an uninvited guest—a dirty, thin, little boy who was nestling inside the stone gate. He was so scared by the sudden appearance of the necromancer that he didn’t dare to move, but there was a strong hostility and unwillingness in his fearful eyes.

This wasn’t an uncommon situation.

The tomb was located in a remote area, and most of the surrounding villages weren’t wealthy. Many poor families would abandon young children who were sick or they could not afford to raise them, and the nobles would also throw away the sick and weak children born of slaves. Usually, the beasts wandering around will help them get rid of these troublesome burdens.

Medes usually only saw the chewed bone residue, and it was the first time he had seen one still breathing. Half of the child’s face was covered with poisonous sores, and he looked like he was about to starve to death; the corners of his mouth were still stained with worm shells.

Perhaps he was influenced by the knight commander, or his current mind wasn’t clear. Carrying the parchment full of his life’s work, Medes leaned forward—

“Do you want to live?”

“…” The little boy nodded inexplicably and rolled his eyes, with an air that clearly thought he was asking nonsense.

“Do you want to become stronger?” Medes got closer.

“Want,” the little boy said hoarsely, swallowing his spit. “You, are you a demon? I want to make a wish. I want revenge! What price do you want? My soul? I can do anything…”

Medes covered his face with a bony hand and suddenly let out a burst of laughter.

“Yes, I want a price.”

Medes snapped the stack of parchment paper in front of the little boy. “I will heal you, give you food, and teach you everything—but you need to promise me to use these things to save people. Well, let me think about it. At least a hundred lives.”

“Is there no contract?”

“No.”

“Then how do you know I won’t betray you?” The little boy stared hard at the pile of parchment paper and boldly asked.

“I won’t.”

Medes turned his head and looked at the blazing sunset again.

“…But before you betray me, I’m willing to believe you. How about it?”

The sunset sank completely.

Nemo tightened the reins of the horse and walked with Oliver on the way back to the camp.

The woods near the capital were dense. The sky where dusk and night met reflected the golden and green leaves of early autumn. The scenery was completely incompatible with the war, but Nemo wasn’t in the mood to see it.

Holding the last trace of luck, he avoided Oliver, asked Jesse to confirm the prophecy of the Hero, and then got a positive answer. Nemo could understand Jesse’s reason for not telling them—not to mention how they were previously, even with how they were now, he couldn’t digest this fact well.

Oliver was most likely, no, it should be said, he was definitely the swordsman who would end everything.

And he himself was about equal to “everything” that was about to be ended. If he didn’t know the identity of Jesse Dylan, or if Jesse Dylan did make a mistake in the prophecy… How great would that be.

But escape couldn’t change the facts. Considering their possible emotional outburst, the present circumstances were just right.

They were passing through the densest trees, and Oliver was a few steps ahead of him, looking at the novelty of the mushrooms growing on the roots of the trees. The Rest in Peace was inserted into the ukulele behind him, not giving off any semblance of hostility expected of a weapon.

His Oliver.

Nemo stopped.

Realizing that the sound of the other party stepping on the fallen leaves had disappeared, Oliver quickly retracted his gaze from the mushroom. “What’s the matter, Nemo?”

“Ollie.” Nemo closed his eyes and tried his best to make himself sound calmer. “Remember that prophecy?”

Oliver opened his mouth. He seemed to be keenly aware of something. The leader of Tumbleweed just nodded slightly and didn’t answer.

“Remember its content?”

“Nemo…” After a moment of silence, Oliver obviously considered the worst possibility.

“I checked with Jesse. It’s what you think,” Nemo added softly.

After the sunset disappeared, the autumn sky darkened quickly. Oliver was silent for a long time, standing quietly opposite of Nemo. When he spoke again, the whole forest was already soaked in night.

“I see,” he said with difficulty. Nemo could hear that his lover was trying to make himself look cheerful, but obviously, Oliver didn’t succeed.

“It’s almost dark, so let’s camp here tonight.” Nemo’s voice was dry, trying to dilute the gradually icy atmosphere with other topics. “I’ll tie the horse and set up an array. You start the fire, Ollie, we can… have a good chat about this.”

“Okay,” Oliver replied quickly, his tone as steady as ever. “Don’t worry, we’ll solve this.”

Nemo pursed his lips. He should have felt relieved, but his chest was a little inexplicably blocked.

Confident that his magic array would not be destroyed by any monsters, in order to ease the horse’s temper, Nemo led the strange-eyed horse away and tied it firmly to a taller tree nearby. After laying down a protective array, he specially strengthened the reins with magic.

All this didn’t take as much time as he thought. The darkness not far away was illuminated by fire, and Oliver should have successfully ignited the bonfire.

Nemo walked silently through the woods and approached the fire.

Then his heart twitched suddenly.

Oliver was sitting by the fire, hugging his knees and burying his face between them. The sturdy young man shrank himself into a ball; his breath was a bit chaotic, and he looked sad and helpless. The brilliance of the flame swept across him, but there was no warmth. Nemo knew that purely in terms of strength, Oliver could now be called one of the strongest on the surface…

But in these few seconds, he looked so vulnerable and in pain.

“Ollie.” Nemo cleared his throat.

Perceiving his lover’s return, Oliver quickly raised his head. The expression on his face was almost calm. “You’re back, Nemo. That prophecy… Don’t worry, I won’t—”

But Nemo didn’t sit by his side like usual.

“…Nemo?”

“Tell the truth, Ollie.”

“What truth?” Oliver licked his lips and took in a breath, speaking very quickly. “I just want you to not worry. I promise you that I will never hurt you… Even if it is a prophecy approved by Dylan, there should be room for reversal—”

“…Say you’re in pain,” Nemo took a few steps closer and continued almost cruelly. “I’m telling you this because I need you to know—If you are the destined person, you may be part of the ‘before me’ plan. If something happens, I might even attack you. From now on, you have to be vigilant to me.”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” Oliver smiled reluctantly. His face was a little pale. He stood up and tried to grab Nemo’s arm. “I just didn’t react for a while. Nemo, I know you are very… upset right now.”

Nemo waved the hand away uncharacteristically.

He breathed out tremblingly, reached out his right hand, and pressed Oliver against the tree. There was no intention of harm, but it also had an aura of inadmissibility.

“I’m very angry now,” Nemo hissed.

“We’ll work this out,” Oliver stared at those beautiful silver eyes and said firmly. “Nemo, I don’t understand—”

“Every time,” Nemo’s voice trembled a little, “Every time you’re the one pulling me along, telling me you’re okay, telling me everything will be fine. Yes, we can solve these problems. We can always fix them… but what about you?”

As soon as Oliver was about to open his mouth, Nemo cut him off. “Don’t say you’re okay.”

“We grew up in the same damn town. Even if we don’t know each other well, I know what level of person you and I are. The affairs of the Alastair family, the truth about your parents, the Withered Castle… and the ‘Demon King’ and ‘prophecy’. Look into my eyes, Oliver Ramon, tell me you’re not in pain at all.”

Oliver’s breathing became short.

The sadness that Nemo felt just now finally returned in the firelight.

“I don’t want to lose you, okay?” Oliver’s eye reddened a little, and he clenched his teeth. “I just fell in love with someone and want to go on with them. It’s not an excessive wish, is it? But I’m not strong enough. I’ll never be strong enough. Although you and Mr. Cross have been teaching me, I’m… No match for you. I know that.”

“So you tried your best to appease me—even if you are in extreme pain, you have to act as if nothing happened?” The trembling in Nemo’s voice became more obvious.

“Because like you said, we grew up in the same damn town! I also know what kind of person you are, and I feel the power of losing control!” Oliver raised his volume. “I should have shared it with you, but now I can’t do anything. Nemo, listen, when you are about to suffocate, do I have to add some more weight to you? I—”

“Do I look so fragile?” The two yelled at each other at the same time.

Time stood still for a few seconds.

For the first time, they looked at each other out of anger and sadness.

“…I don’t want to lose you either.” Nemo closed his eyes. “Ollie, I hope you… can tell me. Let me know clearly that you have been tormented by nightmares, and that you are so sad that you are about to collapse, even if we can’t do anything about it.”

“You may destroy the surface, but compared with this, my pressure…”

“And you are probably destined to kill me.” Nemo trembled his lips. “If our feelings are similar, then it is difficult for me to distinguish between ‘destroying the surface’ and ‘killing you’ which makes it more painful.”

Oliver covered his eyes with one hand and let out an unpleasant chuckle.

“Maybe if you express your pain, I will blame myself for bringing you this pain. But Ollie, you make me sadder. Don’t keep it from me, okay? We will solve these problems, but your pain… Promise me, don’t hide the wound too deep.”

“I promise you, but to be honest, we’re not much worse off than each other.” Oliver reluctantly showed a difficult smile. “Destroying the Tin Soldiers, killing Abbas, the Great Demon King walking on the surface; the wounds you’re hiding is estimated to be dozens. We really…”

“Are fools,” Nemo added hoarsely.

“It’s pretty good.” The smile on Oliver’s face disappeared. He looked extremely sad, but there was a trace of relief mixed with that sadness. “We’ve had our share of fights. They say that couples who have more fights are more likely to last.”

“It’s good to share despair occasionally, isn’t it?” Nemo no longer forced himself to smile. “My… Great Hero.”

Oliver suddenly hugged him with unprecedented force.

“I’m very sad, Nemo,” he said, “You are right, I…”

He choked as he hugged his lover with all his strength, like a person about to drown catching the last straw.

The night completely enveloped the woods, and the bonfire buzzed behind the two of them. Nemo stretched out a hand, touched the corner of his lover’s slightly moist eyes, and then bit Oliver’s shoulder without hesitation. His strength was a bit strong, and a little blood oozed from the wound.

Maybe they all need a little pain… A little pain and a little warmth.

Then the night would end, and it will be followed by the early morning.

“Nemo.” Oliver didn’t cheer up this time, but he sounded strangely calm. “What are you doing?”

“Attacking you,” Nemo replied, stretching out his hands and slithering them down into Oliver’s clothes, feeling the taut muscles on his lover’s back.

Being hugged tightly, he couldn’t see Oliver’s face clearly, but it was fine, Nemo thought to himself. At least this time, he knew it wouldn’t be an overly reluctant smile, and he felt at ease and at peace like never before.

“Now fight back, my Great Hero.”

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

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The author has something to say:

There will be no cold war. All quarrels that are not premised on deepening feelings are hooliganism (×

Ah, the turning off the lights in the wilderness that I wanted √

Jesse, looks next door. This has happened three times already!

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Kinky Thoughts:

More like couples who communicate last longer, not quarrel.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 211: A Lucky Man

Delia was crying sadly, while her mother’s sister, Andrea, who came back from the dead, patted her on the back and whispered to her, seemingly comforting the young princess, but as soon as she whispered a few words, her freshly baked knight pressed her shoulder and then shook his head.

“What did you mean just now, Salter?”

After the army controlled the scene and the three of them left the dense crowd, Ann asked a little wearily.

She habitually wanted to explain to Oliver and the others where to meet, but was quickly stopped by Marshal Gallagher.

As a veteran warrior, Ann undoubtedly gave her new comrade-in-arms a considerable degree of trust. She said a brief greeting knowingly, leaving Oliver motionless, and then terminated the communication.

“You’d better not meet with Tumbleweed for the time being.” Marshal Gallagher stiffened his face.

“Reason.”

“This thing is a demon, but its aura and magic fluctuations aren’t strong,” Gallagher pointed at Cat Whiskers that crawled back to the little princess’ hair accessories and was happily circling them, “but Mr. Light himself is too powerful. His spells are likely to leave remnents of abyssal magic that can be traced.”

“I know your concerns.” Ann frowned and thought for a while. “But I think Nemo should have a way—”

“Mr. Salter is right about his concerns.” Delia sniffled; her voice was so low it could barely be heard.

Ann immediately stopped speaking and looked down at the little princess with red and slightly swollen eyes.

In the past ten minutes, Delia undoubtedly vented all the grievances and pain of these years. Now she was calm again—the little princess’ physiological sobbing had not stopped, and her tears seemed to dilute the cold darkness a little.

“You can’t tell who the people here are loyal to. If you don’t hide it, the information will be leaked, and if you hide it completely, it’ll be even more suspicious. When you really sit on the throne, it won’t be a problem to interact with people related to the Abyss—provided you keep a low profile and can justify yourself.”

Delia wasn’t tall. Even wearing the unnecessary high heel, she barely stood above 1.6 meters. Ann thought for a moment before motioning Delia to sit at the table while she sat on the opposite side. She lowered her upper body slightly, propped her arms on the table, and looked up at the little princess.

“Tell me what you think, Delia.”

“The marshal just took a stand in front of everyone and announced that he has no intention to ‘cooperate’ with other families with royal blood, thereby breaking their idea of ‘cooperating with the Salter family to remove the queen and establish their own children’, but even so, when some people react, they will definitely not give up the idea of letting you and me lose the right to inherit. It’s not impossible that assassination would be on the table. After all, Alban have never welcomed a queen.”

Ann pulled the corner of her mouth. “I know.”

“So… Ahem… Before the trial is over and you officially ascend to the throne, there will always be some who will find means to plot against you. Especially Uncle… No, the people on Eldric’s side. This means that all your actions will be monitored, and everything related to you will be investigated. Tumbleweed is not deeply involved now, and there is still time to hide their actions. Otherwise—”

“If you are caught with clear evidence of being close to the Abyss, you will be disqualified from the throne,” Gallagher answered.

“If they delve deeper, Nemo may be in danger of exposure.” At the same time, Ann picked up the conversation.

The two stared at each other endlessly for a while.

“All right.” Ann rubbed her temples desperately. “Mr. Mad Dog, how long will it take you to get rid of those old coots?”

“It will take about two months until you officially ascend to the throne,” Gallagher responded with a stink face while wiping his lips with a handkerchief again. “In the meantime, you must be cautious. After all, there are several families who are notoriously stubborn. You’d better put your foot down and be gracious—”

Ann thought for a moment, then stood up quickly and patted Delia.

Then she took her back to the royal hall not far away.

“Who has an opinion on my succession to the throne?”

Gallagher’s army was still in the hall, and the representatives of the nobles had just calmed down, and they were stunned by such a question on the spot.

People who were accustomed to having something to say had never seen such a rude member of the royal family, and they didn’t know how to respond for a while.

“If you have an opinion, it’s best to say it now.” Ann played with the hunting spear in her hand. “If no one says anything, I’ll acquiesce that there are no objectors. Of course, I’m sure you’ll always come around…”

She slammed the end of the spear to the ground.

“You’re free to send your assassins whenever you want,” the female warrior said openly, “but if you dare make any bad moves and plan to start with this girl—”

She hugged Delia tightly with her spare hand.

“I don’t mind cleaning up the ‘distant relatives’ in your family. Do you hear me clearly?”

The nobles were silent.

There was a tingling in Gallagher’s temples, and he was convinced that his blood vessels were about to burst. After leaving the hall again, he took a few deep breaths before successfully calming himself down. “What are you doing–”

“Playing the tyrant.” Ann let go of Delia and kept her words concise. “No one wants to go in circles with a crazy woman. Now you only need a month to get them in order, Salter.”

Delia’s eyes turned red again as she obviously understood what Ann meant.

“I personally don’t need to maintain too many interpersonal relationships. You are better at this kind of thing than me. I don’t need to be in power for too long. It’s not good to leave too deep a mark. To be honest, I am not suitable to be king.”

The wanton smile on Ann’s face slowly disappeared.

“I’m very good at scaring people… Anyway, in just a few years, it’s better for me to do everything I can do to pave the way for this girl.”

“Why do you think so?” After a long silence, Marshal Gallagher spoke.

“What do you mean?”

“That you’re not suitable to be king.”

“Because I have experienced that kind of despair. When I took… a certain test.” Ann lowered her gaze, “Maybe you are used to that feeling, but I can’t bear it. For me, there is only one thing that is most terrifying—making the wrong decision, and this decision can lead to a large number of deaths.”

“…You don’t seem to be such a sentimental type.” Gallagher recalled the blood and corpses in the lower hall, as well as the heads of soldiers who had been thrown back into the ranks not long ago.

“Those people still believed in me when they were dying. They died because of me, but they didn’t hate me. For me, that is hell—even now, I haven’t been able to walk completely away from it.”

Ann ignored the marshal’s response and continued. She turned her gaze to Delia. Her voice was serious.

“And that is undoubtedly part of the king’s ‘job’. It turns out that I really don’t have that qualification. I can’t control my heart, just like despite knowing that Eldric is a complete asshole, I still… will get a little sad.”

The female warrior embraced the blood-stained hunting spear, sat on a chair, and looked up at the gorgeous ceiling.

She suddenly felt that the room was a bit empty.

“Delia… I know that you will be an excellent ruler. You are calmer than me and better at strategy than me. As a foolish elder, I only have one suggestion—in the next few years, I hope you can get out of here as much as possible and reach out to the world as someone who has been burdened with pain. I’m sure you’ll understand because you know how to look down.”

“Didn’t you always want to go to Clementine Academy to study? Now that I am your only guardian, I will help you think of a way.”

She covered her eyes with one hand, as if waking up from a long nightmare, exhaustion and sorrow mixed with a little relief when the dust settled.

“As for the future… Mr. Mad Dog, Andrea Alastair will ascend to the throne, but Ann Savage will not leave Tumbleweed.”

At the same time, outside the capital of Alban.

Bagelmaurus, who had just flown out of the palace, stood dissatisfied on the ground, scraping a torn envelope with his claws.

“What does she take me for? I say, what does she take me for?”

The gray parrot, who was busy tearing up the thick paper, kept squawking in dissatisfaction. “Does she think I’m a goddamn pigeon, even if I can mimic it? Hell, this is shameful… She just let me come back! At least make me a duke! I’m a great hero—”

“Because you’ll be expanding her ten-sentence speech into an hour-long one,” Nemo pointed out cruelly. “Calm down. Ann must have her own ideas.”

“She wants us to wait for her for a month before meeting and keep a low profile, especially you, Nemo. If they are caught by the tail, that group of opponents may come to dig up our information,” Oliver muttered as he closed the letter and his eyes glossed over. “Ann is really going to become our king.”

“…I know,” Nemo replied dryly.

The two Albanians stared at each other, terrified, and then found that they were really frightened, especially Oliver.

“It seems that there are indeed accurate prophecies in this world,” Oliver said weakly, waving the wrapped piece of paper and destroying it completely. “God, I took risks with the king—Forget it, it’s now…”

He glanced at Nemo again, as if trying to stabilize his spirit.

Nemo smiled reluctantly.

“…Are you considering confessing the truth to Ann?” Oliver keenly caught the lover’s mood swings.

“Yes,” Nemo replied honestly. “After all, that’s not… something suitable for communicating on paper or with a communication crystal.”

They were too far apart to see each other’s expressions. Kindness was often difficult to convey, but negative conjectures could be magnified countless times.

“One month.” Oliver breathed a sigh of relief. “We should have time to go to the headquarters of the Mercenary Guild, find Telaranea, and find out what happened in the past. Ann will pardon us later, according to the agreement. At that time, we will have both freedom and answers—Things are getting better, Nemo.”

He didn’t hesitate to open his arms and encircle the person in front of him.

Yes, they would no longer be Black Chapters. As long as there wouldn’t be any expeditions in the next few decades, the answer they would get wouldn’t necessarily be terrible. Then they could have… a normal life.

Leave the chaotic battlefield, no longer wander around, and even have a home.

Oliver’s body was warm, and his heartbeat was strong. He hugged Nemo tightly, as if he was grabbing onto hope itself. Nemo suppressed the anxiety in his heart, tried to let go, and enjoyed the peace in this moment.

“To put it another way, our luck is actually pretty good.”

Oliver’s palm pressed tightly against Nemo’s back and slowly slid down soothingly.

“You see, we met Ann as soon as we ran out of the Border Forest… If we encountered other Black Chapters, we might have become three thousand gold coins in someone else’s pocket long ago. Now that Ann has become king, we can even be pardoned directly—from the perspective of two fugitives, this is lucky enough.”

“Although a lot of things happened, we rescued Mr. Cross and cured my Trent Plague inadvertently. The most important thing is that I can stand with you like this.”

Nemo raised the corner of his mouth and was about to respond, but a certain sense of violation enveloped his nerves, and a subtle tingling sensation suddenly hit.

Ann became the king of Alban, and Ann was their original guide.

No, Ann was Oliver’s original guide.

Nemo suddenly realized the source of this unknown panic—

[Born of death and betrayal.]

Oliver’s mother, Sonia, passed away after giving birth to him. After that, Medes snitched to the emperor, causing Oliver’s father, Flint, to go incognito.

[Stepping on the bones of a close relative.]

He witnessed Oliver killing Flint with his own eyes.

[Break the curse and embrace the abyss.]

Because of his knight oath, Oliver escaped from the curse of Trent Pleague. Embracing the Abyss… Perhaps there is no more suitable concept to symbolize the abyss than the “Demon King”.

[A knight who follows the king’s guidance and is blessed by God. He follows the stars and comes like winter.]

He followed the guidance of the Queen of Alban, and he was… literally helped by Jesse. His swordsmanship instructor was the “Shining Morning Star”, who was personally given that title by the Pope, and he uses ice magic…

Nemo began to have difficulty breathing, and he increased his strength to hug Oliver. His fingers accidentally scratched the clothes on the opponent’s back.

[His sword will bring the real end.]

If the outcome waiting for them in front was really a peaceful and uncontested outcome, why was it “his sword” that brought the end?

Nemo shook uncontrollably, but he immediately suppressed his abnormality. The sun was shining on the two of them, and he could smell Oliver’s joy and happiness. Facing the coming answer, his lover was doing his best to stay optimistic, trying to make him happy.

They’ll wait until sunset. After sunset, he would confirm with that noisy guy who was good at prophecies… If necessary, he would tell Oliver this cruel thing.

But at least now…

“Nn.” Nemo buried the tip of his nose in Oliver’s shoulder and took a deep breath. “You’re right, Ollie. Things are getting better… We are really, very lucky.”

---

The author has something to say:

Finally, someone realized who Oliver is (×

Of course, Jesse knew it a long time ago, except for the bottom of the Abyss, Jesse knows everything.jpg

——

Let’s take a look at the current situation—

King & Knight Group A:

[The little flag bearer is in love]

Ollie: When these things are over, we’ll go back home…

Nemo: …

King & Knight Group B：

[The essence of God is an echo machine]

Jesse: Do you like me? Do you like me? Do you like me?

Adri: …

King & Knight Group C:

[Mutual dissing is part of the oath]

Ann: Seriously, I’m running away after a few years of work. I’m not doing such a thing as dying while on the throne—

Gallagher: ? Wait, what about me?

Ann: ?

Gallagher: ?

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Kinky Thoughts:

No one thought “embrace the abyss” was in the literal sense lol.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 210: The Queen of Blood

The world has gone crazy.

Perhaps this was what most people in the hall were thinking at that moment.

Prince Eldric’s guess was correct. Not every family was as loyal as House Salter. Compared to the group of fools whose brains were dominated by useless morals like the Salter’s, it was better to get more for your family…

The vast machine of Alban was still running, not because of how much they loved it, but because they were a member of this big ship. The roots of each ancient family were too deep, and if Alban fell, everyone in the hall would undoubtedly be hit hard to varying degrees.

The first emperor, Sampson, was extremely strong, and for the sake of the gold rolling in, the vassals were willing to restrain some of their thoughts and bend their backs respectfully. After Sampson’s death, the successor, Prince Ettram, tried to emulate his father, but unfortunately lacked the talent and courage.

The young king’s heath was fragile, and he had no heir. Many had already made their own private calculations. While responding to Willard’s frequent provocations, the various families were cautiously gathering their tentacles.

The rich and powerful prince and the stubborn and weak king would have a fight.

This wasn’t a battle that would end in just death. Even if the king was dead, he could still order and establish a regency and temporarily hand over control to the Salters until a new heir could sit on the throne.

House Salter was a large family. The Alastair family would always marry a girl from the Salter’s for generations, and their interests have long been intertwined.

In order to prevent his heirs from emulating Willard and killing their own siblings, the royal family of Alban, who valued bloodlines, could temporarily hand over the regency power, which acted as the last barrier. Regardless of whether there was a direct or branch line, the royal family’s blood was thin enough that large families would possess some of it.

In the eyes of everyone, this war was undoubtedly just a gladiatorial fight between the prince and the king’s ghost. Everyone already guessed what the outcome would be, and history was always open to being rewritten before being recorded.

If the evidence wasn’t exposed, there would be no so-called “fact”.

If Gallagher Salter was defeated, the next king would undoubtedly be the prince himself. And if Marshal Gallagher was smart enough, he wouldn’t kill the prince in front of everyone in the palace and instead publish the evidence. The prince would be detained, and Gallagher would be regent until a new prince emerged.

Unsurprisingly, he would ensure this by marrying the princess when she comes of age.

There were no other possibilities.

…Originally, that was what they thought.

No one had ever looked at Princess Delia. She was just a thin little girl, the prince’s puppet. She never said more than three sentences at once; quiet and dull, so many people even privately doubted her intelligence.

A silent chess piece that was easy to use.

But the dull princess was standing in front of the throne and had cut the throat of her loved one’s corpse like a chicken. A cold aura surged around her. They didn’t know if she was crazy or possessed by a demon. The chess game was finally about to end, and this little girl, who didn’t know the height of the sky, directly overturned the chessboard.

The hand of the prince who was holding the sword was trembling. His previously suffocated red face slowly turned pale.

“You’re not qualified to talk to me like this, Delia.” After the initial shock, the prince’s tone was frighteningly calm. “Child, rules are rules, and you have to pay for these words. I understand your pain, you just—”

But the little princess didn’t stop there. She seemed to be planning to throw all the grudges she had accumulated over the years at him, as if throwing out a highly poisonous blade.

“Praise Zenni, you really know everything. You said you understand? I have been watching you, uncle. I have been listening to what you have said, and I haven’t missed a day for eight years.”

The little princess turned the knife skillfully between her fingers, and the smile in her voice became stronger.

“After eating a few sips of lunch that didn’t taste good, you thought you understood the sorrow of those starving to death. When the flowers raised in the backyard withered suddenly, you thought you understood the despair of losing a loved one. Practicing your swordsmanship until your wrists were sore, you thought you understood the fatigue of working all day long. Getting a papercut and you thought you understood the severe pain of a rotting wound.”

“Perhaps you have read countless books and know the cause and effect of these pains, but you will never understand. You can only imagine. No one can understand the pain of others. I think at this point, self-aware cold rationality is stronger than self-righteous compassion.”

“You’re just a sixteen-year-old girl who has some intelligence and madness. What do you know?” The prince sneered, slightly raising the sword in his hand.

“Catch her.” He irritably ordered the guards around him.

“Unlike you, at least I know very well that ‘I can never understand’.” The little princess also sneered back, and then raised her voice. “It’s time!”

The great nobles had already crowded to the other side of the vast hall to make room for the guards to fight. Facts proved that this decision was extremely wise—as soon as the little princess’s voice fell, two figures slowly appeared from the air, and then they caught up with the guards who rushed forward.

The position of the man in exquisite armor and the plainly dressed female warrior was strikingly obvious. The two separated the little princess from the prince and fought with the guards in a ball, with blood and flesh flying everywhere.

Most offensive magic had been banned in the royal hall, and at that moment, only the most primitive killing took place.

The great nobles made a quick decision. They smashed open the magic jewelry they carried with them at almost the same time and decided to exchange freedom of movement for personal safety. The brilliance of various magic shields instantly illuminated the hall.

Prince Eldric didn’t do so.

He still held the hilt of the sword firmly in his hand.

“Salter, get him away!” Ann cried. “I can’t shield Delia like this.”

She didn’t disguise her voice this time.

The little princess slowly moved her gaze to Ann’s face and narrowed her eyes.

“I’m afraid it will take some time, Your Highness.” Gallagher waved away a guard.

Salter. Your Highness.

For a while, everyone focused on the two of them.

Ann didn’t hesitate; she once again threw out the Royal Edict and, without hesitation, Salter fished out a golden crystal and applied blood to it.

Another emblem of the Alastair family stood up. The two emblems rotated in the air, and then overlapped at the same time.

A special spell that could be cast within the royal hall, a unique crystal that could be used within the royal hall.

“If you hear this. Then I must have been killed by Eldric Alastair.” The voice of the dead emperor echoed in the hall.

Ann stood in front of the expressionless Delia as a spear pierced the abdomen of the guard in front of her.

“I have placed a lot of props for recording by my side, and there should be enough as proof. The Salter family knows their location. I hereby give permission to Gallagher Salter to disregard the honor of the royal family, temporarily imprison Prince Eldric, and hold a public trial.”

Gallagher’s longsword slashed down fiercely, directly giving his enemy a narrow, bloody gash in the chest, staining most of his armor.

The prince sighed.

Confidence, relaxation, and pride at this moment all turned into exhaustion and despondency. Even the youngest could see that the man in front of him had only anger, not a semblance of remorse.

“You don’t understand,” he murmured. “A group of poor bastards trapped by boring trifles will never see the real overall situation.”

“Yeah, I’m small-minded.” Ann kicked away the two guards in front of her, wiped the bloodshot corners of her mouth, and spit out her words one by one. “Long time, no see, dear brother.”

“You are Andrea.” The prince’s tone was flat. “…According to the current signs, you are indeed Andrea.”

Ann could hear Delia’s breathing suddenly becoming shallow behind her.

“I crawled out of the grave, but unfortunately, I couldn’t take Belle with me,” Ann replied.

The hunting spear and the gorgeous saber collided instantly, causing sparks to erupt.

Prince Eldric was very intelligent, and his swordsmanship was naturally skilled. Ann tasted the killing intent from the fierce offensive. Things had reached the point where the prince had given up on advancing his plan step by step and clearly intended to give one final last shot in this desperate situation.

“Although I am very dissatisfied with this—but if you stop now, there may be a way for you to live,” Ann hissed.

“Unfortunately, for stupid people, complete domination is the right way. Father was right to teach that women will only do bad things.” The prince had no intention of stopping at all.

“Your Highness!” Salter, who was not far away, was leaning towards his side one against ten and warning loudly as they were separated by the guards.

Ann knew what he was warning her about—now wasn’t the time to kill Eldric.

She used a hunting spear to resist the blade of the sword, and a trace of sadness suddenly came out of her heart.

The hideous face of the man in front of her and the tender, smiling face of a child slowly overlapped. A smiling face floated from the bottom of her rotten memories. Perhaps it was some kind of instruction from heaven—this would be the last side she would see of her brother, the face that was specifically brought to her eyes.

[They are so cute! Can I hug them, father?]

[No, that doesn’t make sense, Eldric.]

It was the first time they met, and there were a handful of subsequent meetings.

The child back then and the man now had a subtle similar loneliness on their faces. It was a pity that time had long passed, and with countless hatred, anger, and indifference, she didn’t think they would have a chance to recover.

The hunting spear passed through the prince’s shoulder.

“Stop it. This is your last chance, Eldric.” Ann’s tone was serious. “Stand down now and pay the price for what you did—you should be more familiar with the laws of Alban than I am, and you know you can still live.”

This time, the prince didn’t respond positively.

Even though Ann had tried her best to lead the battle away from Delia, the situation suddenly changed at the moment of her sadness. Ignoring the wound, Eldric stabbed the tip of the sword straight at the little princess’ chest.

Not only did Delia have no fear, but she showed a slightly distorted smile.

She raised her dagger as Cat Whiskers stood on her shoulders and raised her feet high, obviously intending to use the power of the Abyss to assist…

But Eldric failed to move forward again.

His sword stopped a few centimeters in front of Delia, and the sharp blade that the little princess rushed at him also stayed in the air.

A hunting spear pierced in from behind the prince and protruded out of his chest. The angle was frightening, and it was right in the heart.

The gorgeous saber landed first, and the prince’s expression was still a little puzzled. It seemed to be surprised by the enemy’s completely unreasonable attack.

He opened his mouth, leaving only pain, anger, and despair on his face in the end.

As if someone had pressed the pause button, the prince’s fall to the ground caused the sound of weapons colliding to stop instantly.

The corpse in front of her fell on the edge of the throne, soaking the beautiful carpet in black and red blood. Delia raised her eyes to see Ann in front of her.

She raised the dagger and took a step back. Ann was obviously aware of her vigilance. She moved her shoulder that was sprained due to the tricky attack and bit her lower lip.

“Your Highness…” Gallagher was silent for a long time, sighing softly. Then he cleared his throat.

“Eldric Alastair is dead, but in order to expose his sins, a public trial will be held as scheduled.”

The timing struck just right as Gallagher’s army successfully broke through the defense and rushed into the hall. The great nobles, who were still shielded by their barriers, awoke as if they were in a dream. Like cold water poured into a hot oil pan, the voices in the royal hall exploded all at once.

But at this moment, Ann wasn’t in the mood to care about this.

“Delia,” she called softly.

She knew what the reason for the other party’s vigilance was and felt sad from the bottom of her heart for it. Delia’s eyes were slightly red, but there was indeed a trace of undisguised hostility in her strong vigilance.

For Delia, there was essentially no difference between herself and Eldric. They were both blood relatives of hers, but this didn’t mean anything.

“…” Delia didn’t let go of the blade in her hand. “Why?”

Her voice was a little hoarse. “Why didn’t you let me kill him? I don’t understand, you… You’re Andrea. I’ve heard of you. If I kill him, it will be more beneficial to your succession. The relationship between you and my mother has been broken for more than 20 years. It stands to reason that you—”

“Because you’re only fucking sixteen years old!”

Ann roared loudly, the intense emotions making the tip of her nose red.

“What the fuck is reasonable? You’re just sixteen, and the thought in your mind shouldn’t be how to kill people! For me to stand here and watch you do this; What am I? A brute?”

Delia’s calm mask began to crack, and her lower lip trembled slightly. “As a qualified member of the royal family. Sooner or later…”

“Bullshit!”

Ann threw the hunting spear away and directly reached out to grab Delia’s hand. The latter reflexively waved her short knife, but when the blade cut through the flesh and the warm blood flowed out, the little princess couldn’t continue.

And Ann didn’t seem to feel the pain.

“This is the feeling of hurting people with your own hands. Remember it.” The female warrior sniffled. She firmly but not forcefully pulled Delia to the middle of the hall, beside Salter.

At this moment, the great nobles were looking forward to approaching Salter in the limited time they had, trying to look good in front of the “regent” in their minds.

“You should hold a wedding with Her Royal Highness Andrea as soon as possible, and then…”

“Regarding Willard’s war, you plan to…”

“You…”

Ignoring the chaotic sound, Ann impatiently patted Marshal Gallagher’s armor. “Hey Salter, I have to take Delia to a—”

She also failed to finish.

Instead of taking up his scepter as they rightfully thought he would and following the king’s orders to start straightening out this mess…

He neatly pierced his long sword into the floor in front of him, and he half knelt respectfully, lowering his head to the simple female warrior.

“Time is limited. Let me make this short,” he said, taking off his helmet, revealing the long, sweaty hair tied behind his head.

“I am here to dedicate my loyalty to my king, and I will guard you until the end of your life. I will be your sword, your shield, advise bluntly, and never lie. From this moment on, all my glory and life belong to you.”

Then he lowered the volume. “Your Highness, sword.”

Time was indeed limited, and countless pairs of thoughtful eyes were staring at them. Now every second of procrastination and every minute of leaked emotions could produce variables. Ann didn’t ask any questions. She simply drew out her sword and lightly touched the marshal’s shoulder three times.

“Are you really going to kiss my boots?” She also lowered her volume. “You saw what they stepped on.”

The marshal stood up resolutely and pulled on Ann’s relatively clean hand.

“I didn’t have time to wipe my hands after coming out of the sewers, Mr. Mad Dog.” Ann continued in a low voice.

After gently kissing the back of her hand, Marshal Gallagher turned pale.

Ann reluctantly smiled and hit his armor with her elbow.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Next is my order.” The female warrior raised her head slightly.

“I’m letting you all down. I have no plans to marry this guy. We dislike each other.”

Gallagher turned his head slightly.

“I won’t have offspring either.”

The nobles, who had just fallen into shock and confusion, exploded again.

“Alban’s next heir has been decided.” She took Delia’s hand again. “I will temporarily take over the throne until Delia Alastair is mature enough to take over the country.”

“As an elder? “The little princess asked softly in a voice that Ann could only hear.

“No, as an ally.” Ann clenched her hand “It’s okay, Delia.”

The little princess didn’t say a word.

“It’s okay.” Ann repeated it again.

Finally, she heard the cry. The next emperor of Alban was already set. The still young princess opened her arms, buried her face in Ann’s chest, and began to sob in a low voice.

After ten seconds, she began to cry loudly, like a real child.

Ann hugged the other party’s weak shoulders, put her chin on the top of the little princess’s head, and patted Delia’s trembling back soothingly. Cat Whiskers climbed up along her hand and shook its two front forefeet vigorously under Ann’s nose, desperately pointing to itself.

“Contact from Nemo and the others?” Ann twitched her nose again and ignored her sour eyes. “Yes, no problem now… Hey, listen, captain.”

She whispered softly to the little spider.

“I seem to have become a king by accident.”

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The author has something to say:

Ollie: ???? Isn’t the concentration of kings in this team too high?

Nemo: ??????!

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Kinky Thoughts:

That’s it for this arc. Such a great arc, and Ann is such a great character.

Arc summary

After leaving the Isamal’s Labyrinth, Tumbleweed gets a request from Ann to help her meet with Delia Alastair, the young princess of Alban. Political turmoil had started as the emperor of Alban, Ettram Alastair, was murdered by his younger brother, Eldric Alastair. With Ettram not having any heirs, Eldric planned to steal the throne. In the process, he also murdered Annabelle Alastair, Delia’s mother, to secure his path. Ann wants to meet with Delia and see if she wants to escape all this madness.

It was then that Ann’s past was revealed. She was part of the Alban royal family, and her real name is Andrea Alastair, and she was the twin sister of Annabelle. At age 14, she ran away from the royal family after she overheard her father’s plan of murdering Flint Lopez’s wife in order to give one of his daughters to wed Flint when they came of age, while the other was to wed a duke. Long story short, she encountered many hardships and eventually became a Black Chapter after realizing that her father had never loved her and only saw her as a tool to be used to further his ambitions. Seeing that she had escaped, he declared to the world that she had died and sent a kill order for her.

To meet with Delia, Tumbleweed infiltrated a grand ball hosted by the royal family to dispel rumors that the current emperor was already dead. It was then that Ann discovered Delia was suffering from the Trent Plague and couldn’t easily escape. To find a cure, Nemo suggested they find Balthazar Medes, a necromancer and was one of the two remaining members of the Tin Soldiers that were still alive. He apparently helped Flint save Oliver and thus likely knew of a cure.

Tumbleweed then infiltrated the tomb where the necromancer had locked himself in. They finally met Medes who then revealed the past and the history behind Flint and Sonia, Oliver’s parents. Flint fell in love with Sonia, but people doubted it because of the gap in their positions. After the expedition into the Abyss, only Flint survived, but he brought back enough bone jade for Alban in order to help them in their war against Willard. The emperor granted him his request to retire and live peacefully with his lover. However, this was all a ruse as the emperor fully expected Flint to get out of his rut and take on the mantle to rebuild his mercenary group and help with the war efforts, and eventually marry one of his daughters. When Flint declined, the emperor devised a plan to kill Sonia by infecting her with the Trent Plague. Once he found out, he called Medes to help find a way to save Sonia, who was five months pregnant. Long story short, Sonia died, but Flint was able to save Oliver through various means that sapped away all his magical powers. Medes betrayed Flint and told the emperor that Flint knew it was his doing that caused Sonia’s death, so he issued a kill order on Flint and his child. To stop the emperor’s aggression, Flint cut off his right hand and gave it to the emperor, while replacing it with a demon’s hand he got from the Butcher Shop.

After Mede’s past reflection, he devised a cure for Delia, and they set off to war after Nemo found that Eldric had a ton of bone jade bombs ready to use against the rebels. The leader of the rebels was Gallagher Salter, who, under the late emperor’s last will, devised a plan to set up a fake heir to compete for the throne.

Tumbleweed joined Gallagher’s side after Delia refused to run away. Ann revealed her identity and took on the mantle of the princess of Alban, and Gallagher’s army marched towards the capital. At the capital’s doorsteps, Ann and Gallagher infiltrate the castle to reduce the casualties and try to rescue Delia. This led to a confrontation between Eldric and Ann, with Ann emerging victorious and Eldric dead. Ann was then ushered in to become the new emperor of Alban.

Side Characters:

Delia was the daughter of Annabelle and the Duke that her father married her off to. From a young age, she never felt any love from Annabelle, until Annabelle started educating her, similar to how Abbas did with Ann in the past. Starved for her mother’s love, Delia reluctantly studied and grew up much wiser beyond her years. Following her mother’s advice, she got close to Eldric, so much so that he never suspected she was actually plotting against him.

Other important things to note: The origins of Trent Plague was revealed, Nemo named the spider demon Cat Whiskers, Oliver received his pardon, and the fuller goat that was abandoned returned to Tumbleweed.

That’s it. Let me know if I missed anything.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 209: Qualifications to Become a King

Adrian’s guess was pretty accurate. When the two armies of Alban and Willard clashed on the border, Ann had already arrived at the palace.

Well versed in the characteristics of Marshall Gallagher’s actions, the focus of the prince’s entire defense was to meet the enemy head-on. No one expected that the famous First Marshal would come out of the sewer with only one companion.

At the moment, Gallagher’s army was still pretending to be active outside the city, diverting their attention. Ann’s behavior had a wonderful effect—people who had seen the Royal Edict with their own eyes were shaken, while the upper echelons who weren’t on the scene firmly believed that the woman who claimed to be Andrea Alastair was a fake.

Contradictory messages and quarrels were transmitted through communication crystals. Ordinary soldiers didn’t carry crystals that could record images, so the real-time picture transmission couldn’t catch the fleeting evidence.

While the generals of the prince’s faction were arguing fiercely on this point, the two ghostly temporary assassins had already arrived at the palace.

Ann raised her head, and her entire field of vision was filled with the familiar and unfamiliar magnificent building. The ancient castle stood in the middle of the royal capital, and the sense of oppression in the near distance was particularly amazing.

This was where she grew up, yet now she still didn’t like its aura.

“Let’s go, Mr. Mad Dog.” The wound caused by the broken sword healed under the spell, but the pain and cold foreign sensation still lingered.

“You walk behind me, Your Highness,” Gallagher said in a muffled voice in the armor.

“My injury is fine.”

“I know.” The marshal took a step forward on his own, without turning his head back. “I am taller and stronger than you. With me in front, it can attract the attention of the enemy—then you can attack by surprise.”

“…” Ann raised her eyebrows quite unexpectedly and tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Good.”

This time, there was only earnestness and solemnity in Gallagher Salter’s tone, not arrogance.

Ann took out the black crystal that could sense Cat Whiskers. Nemo was indeed not very good at making jewelry. A good piece of communication crystal was processed to look like gravel on a riverbed, but the ugly shape didn’t hinder its function. The delicate silver light condensed at one end of the crystal, indicating the direction of the two of them.

“According to what I said before, I must first ensure Delia’s safety.” Ann used her fingers with half-finger gloves to touch the advanced protective paper roll around her waist.

Taking into account security reasons, the use of teleportation magic had always been prohibited near the palace. She couldn’t teleport the little princess out—although Nemo and Ollie could do this through cooperation, it was undoubtedly rash to concentrate all their troops in one place, not to mention the position of Tumbleweed.

“Then we will restrain the prince. As long as we can prove the time of death of the emperor, desecrating the corpse and overstepping his authority to control the army, according to Alban’s law, His Royal Highness Eldric will lose the right to inherit.” Marshal Gallagher whispered, making sure she remembered clearly.

Gallagher brought the emperor’s evidence with him. As long as the two of them could control the prince, everything would be much easier.

“Don’t kill him yet, Your Highness.” The marshal thought for a while, but decided to speak again. “It’s better to leave room for action.”

“…I know.”

They bypassed the stone-brick walls covered with thin vines and climbed over the garden. The two continued to advance to the lounge in the castle. Marshal Gallagher was wrapped in exquisite armor. Ann thought it was inconvenient for him to move, but even though the young marshal was wearing metal armor, he acted quietly like a cat.

It could be regarded as a flattering advantage.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as smoothly as they thought.

“So many guards?” Delia’s place was surrounded by guards. Ann poked her head out of the corner and frowned.

“Royal guards.” Gallagher was one head taller than Ann. When he poked his head out of the corner of the wall, his vision wasn’t blocked by Ann’s head. “His Majesty…. The body should be there.”

“Tsk,” Ann huffed angrily. “That bastard.”

“Although staying away from here is the least suspicious course of action, I think His Highness Eldric would prefer to protect himself indirectly with the Emperor’s escort.”

“Whatever he wanted to do, he didn’t need to get Delia involved now.” Ann’s voice was gradually becoming colder.

From any point of view, now wasn’t the time to involve the little princess.

Since the prince believed that Princess Andrea, found by Marshal Gallagher, was a fake, he wouldn’t be specially prepared here—Gallagher would only take the “heir” directly to him, not to some disposable princess.

He didn’t even have to kill her specifically. As long as he released the news of the Trent Plague, he could use it to announce that the princess was suffering from it and all her future children would pass away from this terminal illness. In the heart of Prince Eldric, he might have already decided that he was the only bloodline in the Alastair family.

But the prince was indeed there.

“A rash attack will hurt Her Royal Highness Delia,” perceiving Ann’s nervousness, Marshal Gallagher whispered.

He fumbled for a moment from the side of the armor and took out a dim metal bead the size of a mung bean. Then Gallagher sighed, pierced his earlobes with sharp armor, and smeared the blood on the metal bead.

Tiny runes lit up one by one, and the entire steel ball became more transparent, as if it was about to dissipate in the air. Seeing the opportunity, Gallagher aimed at the footman advancing towards the door and threw the translucent metal bead into one of their collars.

Then he used his blood-stained hand armor to draw a few runes on the palm of his hand and then made an inviting gesture—Ann extended her hand and spread out her palm.

Her palm was traced with a string of blood runes and a faint voice sounded in her ears. The sound didn’t seem to be surging with the air, it was more like it was transmitted internally, but that wasn’t the point. The point was the contents.

Inside.

“Come with us to the hall, Delia.” The prince didn’t sound nervous.

“Why?” The little princess sounded a little stiff.

“Two unknown mice got mixed in, and the hall is relatively safer.”

“…You don’t have to take me, uncle.”

“Don’t be capricious, Delia. What if those bandits hurt you?”

“Okay.” After hesitating for a moment, Delia agreed obediently.

“Now?” Ann asked briefly.

“No,” Gallagher said solemnly. “Although the terrain here can disperse the enemy, it’s really not suitable for retreat, so let them go to the hall of the palace.”

Delia had already obtained the potion from the necromancer, but treatment was a long-term process. The little princess, who was helped by the two maids, looked a little pale. Delia’s eyes were closed, and the metal brace was still fixed on her legs.

Based on observation alone, Ann couldn’t judge whether she had regained the ability to walk.

The only thing that could make the female warrior feel a little relieved was that she was wearing the black crystal that Nemo had personally processed, and Cat Whiskers had definitely found them—that meant Delia knew they were here.

At least the little princess wouldn’t be afraid of facing the unknown alone.

“When they sit down, we will attack from behind,” Ann said in a very low voice. Her lips hardly moved. “I’m going to add protection to Delia, and you make sure that my brother is out of escort range and restrain him.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Many great nobles remained in the hall, exchanging information from the outside world as quietly as possible.

The ancient hall was wide and magnificent, and the white reliefs on the walls were embedded with pure gold patterns. Under the delicate crystal ceiling, a special candle with a light fragrance was burning on a tall and thin gold candlestick. The position close to the throne was covered with thick carpets with complex and exquisite patterns, and the high dome even had a little religious solemnity.

Manipulated by the technique, the emperor’s body sat on the throne, while the prince sat on the chair closest to the throne, looking relaxed and comfortable. Delia was sent by the maids to the prince, who familiarly pulled out the seat beside him and gestured for his niece to sit down next to him.

But the girl, who was like a beautiful doll, didn’t mean to move.

“Delia?” The prince raised his eyebrows.

The maids exerted their strength slightly, but the little princess remained motionless—anyone could see her resistance this time.

“Be obedient.” The prince’s voice sank slightly. “It will be fine.”

“No.” The little princess cleared her throat.

“Damn it.” Ann gritted her teeth. “She knows we are here. She’s…”

In the limited communication, Ann couldn’t immediately see through the character of her niece. Delia Alastair undoubtedly had strategy and wisdom far beyond her age, and her control over emotions was also quite terrifying—not anyone could “live in peace” with the enemy who killed her mother.

The little princess was generally calm in the recent exchanges, like wearing a mask made of ice, but occasionally there were moments of excitement. Considering that the little girl was alone in the enemy’s camp, Ann didn’t dare reveal her identity too early, for fear that the other party would cause the prince to be alert because of her excessive mood swings.

Although her brother was headstrong, he wasn’t stupid.

But apart from all this, an instinctive worry had been entangled in her heart. Her niece, the child of her twin sister, had a certain kind of heavy darkness on her body.

And the darkness was about to overflow now.

“No,” Delia announced again.

“Uncle is going to be angry.” There was no longer a smile in the prince’s voice, and his tone became tougher. “Sit down, Delia.”

The exquisite brace on the little princess’s legs clicked to the ground.

Before the maid and the guard could react, she dexterously jumped in front of the emperor, who was close at hand, moving briskly and full of strength.

Then, with her right hand that had been holding the skirt swung out quickly, and with a flash of cold light, she cut the neck of the corpse without hesitation.

No blood spurted out.

“The emperor has been dead for a long time,” she announced coldly. Her amber eyes opened and she glared in the direction of the prince.

“Delia?!”

“The emperor has been dead for a long time!” The little princess ignored the roaring prince and raised her voice. She directly proved the emperor’s death in the craziest and roughest way, and the hall was in an instant mess.

Marshal Gallagher was about to rush forward, but was held down by Ann.

“Wait.” She stared at Delia’s face tightly. “Wait a little bit more…”

The Trent Plague that should have taken away the other party’s ability to move seemed to have lost its effect. Prince Eldric himself knew very well that the potion he gave Delia couldn’t achieve such a healing effect.

The prince stood still. The expression on his face is a little distorted. His face was mixed with anger and sadness, and even a few moments of confusion.

There was no need to manipulate anymore. The emperor’s body collapsed to one side with a black and red wound at the neck. It was like a grinning mouth, silently laughing at the chaos in the hall. The young prince clenched his sword and stayed in place.

There was no order, and no one dared to step forward for a while. Her beautiful eyes opened wide, and her icy gaze swept across everyone in the hall. The gaze was too sharp, and within an instant, the nobles who had just exploded into a ball held their breath.

In the end, the gaze stopped on the prince.

There was silence in the hall.

“Uncle.” The little princess who always had a dull expression came to life and revealed a sweet smile that sent chills down everyone’s spine. “What are you thinking, dear uncle?”

The guards next to the prince were about to move, but they were stopped by a hand stretched out by Prince Eldric. The handsome middle-aged man stood up; the relief on his face was gone.

“Your illness has been cured,” he calmly asserted, but his body trembled with anger. “And at the same time, controlled.”

“Because your Delia is not such a person.”

The little princess neatly untied the bow on the side of the long skirt and tied the skirt that was in the way into an easy-to-move style. Her movements were extremely proficient. No matter how one looked at it, they were the result of countless exercises.

“Because your Delia has countless opportunities for revenge, but she didn’t do it.” Delia raised her chin; her voice continued.

“You’ve been tricked by bad people, Delia.” The prince’s tone began to sound irritable. “Throw away that dangerous thing and look at me—I am the one who has taken care of you for eight years!”

Eldric had never been so frustrated.

At present, the attackers hadn’t appeared, and most of the heavyweights in Alban were present. He had made countless preparations. Whenever the intruders tried to prove that the emperor was dead, he had words to deduct the crime of “using unknown magic to assassinate the emperor and frame the prince”.

But the person who did this was Delia.

He couldn’t kill all the people present to silence them unless he wanted to plunge the upper class of Alban into chaos.

He just wanted to revitalize the country. The prince clenched his teeth. As if the heavens were deliberately making things difficult for him, someone had entrapped his simple niece and was possibly even manipulating her. The opponent was absolutely strong. His unknown enemy had the power to suppress the Trent Plague.

Or, his Delia was dead, and the one in front of him was also a manipulated corpse.

But as soon as this thought passed, the little princess in front of him slowly sliced her palm with a dagger, and blood suddenly dripped.

“You’re thinking, I was entrapped and manipulated, and maybe even dead. You’re trying to test me.” Delia still had that sweet smile on her face. “Am I right, uncle?”

“You’re thinking, the blood is still there, so maybe she just died not long ago. Or this girl isn’t Delia and her body was switched while I was out of sight. Or maybe—some magician of great power has broken the illusion array in this hall and is performing some kind of advanced illusion.”

It was like she could see through people’s hearts.

Eldric felt his blood become cold and his brain burn. He thought this emotion was anger at first, but it was too far from anger—the cold sweat was exploding on his back, and the air around him was rapidly getting colder.

Perhaps this was “fear”.

He had never been so scared; he could only guess that it was like this. Then he became angrier at himself for being so afraid—the prince gulped and drew his sword.

“Delia, come back!” he shouted hoarsely. “I can still forgive you.”

“You’re thinking that you can still find a reason to prevaricate in the past… Dear Uncle, guess why I chose to do it now?”

The young princess’s skirt was tied high. The blood stained her plain skirt and soiled the carpet under her feet. There was something moving in the beautiful and complicated hair ornament—a dark spider slowly crawled down her cheek and stayed on her naked shoulders, looking weird and terrifying.

An audible intake of breath rang out in the resplendent hall.

“…” The prince stared at the spider tightly and opened his mouth, but shock blocked his throat.

The stupid girl who had been following his ass for eight years had completely become a dangerous stranger. Everything that was originally firmly in the palm of his hand collapsed and turned into quicksand, and was frantically running out of control.

He began to feel… indescribably uncomfortable.

“I have had many opportunities to kill you. When I was leaning against you, when you smiled at me… at my mother’s funeral, when you let me cry in your arms.” The taste of ridicule in the girl’s voice was getting stronger.

“But that was too fast. You will only be in momentary pain. If I prolong that time, I bear the risk of you being rescued. And you—until the moment of your death, you will think, God, this woman is really stupid. She doesn’t know what she did. How can she let me die a complacent winner?”

The resentment in the little princess’s voice made people’s limbs cold. She stood quietly in front of the throne, slender and thin, but no one dared to step forward. A thick and cold sense of oppression slowly spread down, like a cold reptile swimming through their skin.

The guards were silent, like stone carvings. This scene was beyond common sense that it made the respected nobles tremble. It wasn’t that it was unprecedented. Even if Gallagher’s army were under their nose, they could still maintain their composure, but this scene was closer to unconscionable horror than danger—like a twisted nightmare completely divorced from reality.

“Let me tell you that the feeling you feel now is called ‘pain’. Is it completely different from the words you have read? Let me tell you why you are not qualified to be a king—”

“The so-called “king” is a job of ranking and sorting everyone’s ‘pain’ and ‘despair’.”

“This is not something that can be done by being just ‘smart’, dear uncle. “

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Kinky Thoughts:

I bow to Empress Delia.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 208: Unpredictable

At some point, major events that seemed to be earth-shattering in history often happened quietly. From the perspective of the parties concerned, that legendary time was closer to a normal day like any other.

Whether it was a beggar or a king, there was only a muffled noise when they fell to the ground. The war on the border never stopped, and the soldiers slowly rotted on the edge of the battlefield as new corpses were added to the soil from time to time. Only after a long time of scouring, would those mediocre days be gilded with blood and gradually become heavy.

Perhaps today was one of those days.

Adrian Cross tightened his reins and watched the army fighting at the foot of the mountain.

According to the plan, Ann had already approached the palace at this time and had even killed the prince herself. Alban’s future was at a fork in the road, and no one knew where it would lead.

The blood and screams in the distance reminded him of the past, but the former Knight of Judgment wouldn’t feel frightened because of this trivial matter. After watching the warring parties in silence for a while, and after confirming that the Alban defenders who had prepared in advance had the advantage, Adrian rode away.

Knowing that Ann intended to let Adrian and Jesse go to the border, Marshal Gallagher prepared a token for them in advance to prove that they were related to the army. It kept the two of them from being suspected and from being watched because they were “too close to the rebels”.

The two of them successfully delivered the information without incident, and the Alban defenders arranged a luxury tent for them that wasn’t inferior to that of a high-end guest room.

In this way, the two members of Tumbleweed got a fairly large lounge.

After sleeping in the open for a few days, Jesse had no intention of getting on his horse again since he had been given a pillow stuffed with feathers—Adrian had just lifted the curtains to see Jesse contentedly clutching his pillow and chewing on a cherry pie in a slow, deliberate manner.

Seeing the Chief Justice enter the tent, Jesse beckoned happily and licked the dark red cherry sauce at the corner of his mouth.

“You’re back,” he greeted happily.

“Nn.” Adrian thought to himself that it seemed that the other party had no plans to ask about the battle. But then again, with his mysterious divination powers, he probably wouldn’t worry about such trivial matters.

“The chef here is extremely good.” Jesse happily chewed on his pie as he spoke in mumbles. “I can forgive Miss Savage for her abusive request two days ago.”

“Maybe we can go help.” Adrian casually picked up the conversation.

“No, no. That wouldn’t be appropriate.” In a rare move, Jesse didn’t seem to offer any pie to Adrian. “I don’t want to lose my ability to foresee this war. Since dear Miss Savage didn’t ask us to do so, I will not intervene.”

This in it of itself was outside their directive, and Adrian was only asking the question politely out of respect for Ann. After the age of boiling blood, he knew that people have their own lives, and he himself didn’t think it was necessary.

The Knight Commander hadn’t expected an affirmative response, but Jesse’s reaction was a bit unexpected.

“Are there limits to your divinations?” In a rare moment, Adrian became a little curious.

“Where in the world have you seen a diviner that’s free?” Jesse clicked and nibbled on the meringue of the cherry pie.

“But I haven’t seen you pay a ‘price’.”

There was a large tea table in the center of the tent with only a pot of tea, two teacups, and a small plate of cherry pie on it. The small jars of sugar cubes and milk were exquisite and compact, tightly attached together, making the wide table look a little empty.

Adrian squared the hem of his monk’s uniform and sat at the table with his back facing the entrance of the tent.

Jesse’s soft blond hair was scattered over his shoulder, and he sat with his legs crossed casually. He held the pillow snugly in his arms, with both upper arms jammed against his chest and stomach, and hugged it tightly, as if the soft feather pillow would sprout legs and run away on its own in the next second.

“Oh, I’m not referring to ‘restrictions’ or ‘costs’.” Jesse took a sip of tea. “Everyone likes the feeling that everything is under control, and I’m no exception. If I make a move, no one really knows where the war will go.”

“But you have always behaved quite freely.” Adrian continued to sit upright. He raised his hand and poured himself a cup of clear tea.

Jesse smacked his mouth. “For example?”

“For example, the Bluebirds. For example, the Church of Silence. For example, the war not long ago… For example, the intelligence of the enemy attack just now. The use of your prophecies has always been very natural.” Adrian lowered his eyes to the tea in the cup.

“Is this an interrogation?” Jesse stopped moving with interest.

“No.” The knight’s voice remained even. “Just curious.”

“Since my sweetheart is curious, of course I’m happy to explain. It’s not a big deal. It’s just convenient for me to go along with it because a realistic reason exists—”

Jesse lazily stretched his voice, having long ago unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt for ease of movement. A strand of blonde hair slid down with his movements, hanging in front of a beautifully shaped collarbone.

Adrian didn’t look away.

“At that time of the Bluebirds, my last team wanted me to poach the Bluebirds bones. When we were at the Church of Silence, Mr. Light ordered us to save those stupid sacrifices.” Jesse lifted the strand of unruly hair and tucked it behind his ear as he kept talking. “As for the war not long ago… Miss Savage entrusted us, and asked us for our help. And just a while ago, Her Royal Highness Delia gave me clear instructions—these are very certain ‘reasons’, so it’s not a big deal to take a peek at the answer in the process.”

“If I understand correctly, are you saying that you must have an order from ‘others’ in order to predict without fear?”

“I hate the term ‘order’,” Jesse muttered.

After that, he stretched out his finger and drew a golden circle in the air. “Once someone becomes the ’cause’, then a certain range of ‘results’ will be produced. I am in this circle looking at what else is in the circle. Of course I can move freely and comfortably.”

Then Jesse stuffed the last piece of cherry pie into his mouth with his empty hand, and with the other hand, he split the shaky circle. “If I intervene casually, it will become like this.”

“Destruction?”

“Unpredictable.” Jesse shrugged. “A ‘diviner’ cannot actively intervene in his own calculations. Otherwise the things he intervenes in will always become unknown. Then you can only guess by intuition and experience. To be honest, it’s not a price to pay. I just don’t like too many ‘unpredictable’ things under my watch very much.”

“I really don’t like it,” he emphasized specifically.

“But I just made a suggestion.” Adrian didn’t plan to let go of the loopholes in the other party’s words. “That should be enough for you to ‘draw a circle’.”

Jesse laughed dryly. “This is very troublesome to explain, love. It’s not that I don’t want to tell you. If I want to talk about this issue, I’m afraid an afternoon won’t be enough… Why don’t we talk about something else?”

He licked his lips ambiguously.

Since the other party’s rejection was obvious, Adrian wouldn’t press. The Knight Commander continued to sip the tea and returned to silence.

Jesse let out a long and regretful sigh, but before he could finish his breath, a sound of breaking through the air came from the mouth of the tent. The momentum wasn’t big, and the magic power fluctuation wasn’t strong, but considering the environment they were in…

Adrian moved.

He stood up for the first time and kicked away the tea table that was in the way. The former Knight Commander turned around in a very short period of time and made a defensive posture in front of Jesse.

Suddenly, an apple came straight at him.

Then everything went wrong.

The apple rolled to the ground, exploded in the corner by itself, and dense golden spots of light rose into the air. The entire tent was hit by an uneven source and shook violently.

A string of cracking sounds went around the complicated decorations inside. The exquisite decorations fell to the ground one after another, and the picture frames that were originally painted with flowers revealed fresh bouquets of flowers. Accompanied by a pleasant crackling sound, a large dark shadow fell from the top of the tent and shook the tent’s roof.

Then it hit the two people, who were still in a daze.

That thing was soft and slightly cool, exuding a pleasant fragrance. Adrian slowly wiped his hair, stared at the cream in his hand without saying a word, and then looked at Jesse, who was also covered from head to toe with it.

“…” The Knight Commander wiped the cream on his face in confusion.

“…” Jesse was rarely lost. He stood in place a little blankly, as if he had just fallen into deep self-doubt. “Why did you help me block that? That thing wasn’t strong. You must have felt it.”

“Occupational hazard,” Adrian replied succinctly after a brief pause.”Would you mind explaining this, Mr. Dylan?”

Jesse twisted a strand of creamy hair, as if he was in some kind of struggle. He rarely shut up and thought for a moment before grabbing the remains of a piece of cake from his head.

“Happy birthday, Adri,” the blond young man said dryly. It sounded more like an aggrieved cry. “If you hadn’t done so much, it should have landed on the table properly. Promise me you’ll control your occupational hazard, hm?”

For a while, Adrian didn’t know how to answer.

He had long forgotten that he still had such a thing as a “birthday”. To be honest, he didn’t remember how many years it had been since he celebrated it.

In a sense, the Chief Justice was very close to a killing puppet but had a more complex judgment mechanism. The smell of blood on his armor had never completely dissipated, and no one would have had the stupid idea of “celebrating the birthday of the cold officer”. As a person who lost his loved ones early on, Adrian himself never mentioned it. He didn’t feel happy or grateful for the fact of “surviving in the world”. Rather, he had almost no feelings about it.

He had investigated Jesse Dylan himself, so it wasn’t surprising that Jesse Dylan had investigated him, but he never expected this.

The cunning guy who was full of confidence on the battlefield was now covered with cream, and the feather pillow that was regarded as a treasure in his arms was completely destroyed. That surprise and grievance didn’t seem to be false. The powerful diviner seemed to have really not expected this.

‘Perhaps he was too confident in himself and didn’t calculate other possibilities,’ Adrian thought amusingly.

Then he realized that he was really smiling.

It wasn’t a wry smile nor an angry smile. It was a real smile that hadn’t been seen for many years—he just smiled happily with cream on his head.

It was the first time he had seen Jesse Dylan like this… close to being angry.

A criminal, a powerful man with mysterious magic, a bastard that just did as he pleased. From any point of view, Adrian Cross didn’t think he would have the slightest emotional entanglement with this guy.

The other party didn’t even have the pure purpose of showing kindness; he knew this very well in his heart.

However…

Some kind of strange emotion gradually spread through the blood. It felt like stepping out of a stuffy, narrow room and being instantly wrapped in the breeze. As if learning to breathe for the first time, his drowsy mind instantly became clear.

He didn’t know what to call it.

It may not be the “love” that Jesse Dylan was seeking. The Knight Commander had only read that kind of emotion in the dogma of the Laddism Church—it was like an eternal flame, a fierce emotion that would ignite the moment he saw the person. Lovers had a passionate beginning, were loyal to each other, and maintained a firm and pure love through their lives. The protagonists were often wonderful people who would always understand each other and would never falter.

This feeling was too remote yet clear.

Adrian once believed that his blood-stained hands couldn’t touch similar feelings. He had already lost that qualification, not to mention the person for whom it would ignite such unreasonable and intense emotions.

To this day, his own judgment was still right. The Knight Commander thought so.

He really couldn’t touch the noble love that existed in legends, nor was he overwhelmed by burning emotions, but in those short seconds—funny and embarrassing seconds—he had never felt so vividly alive.

If the “love” between people was really that clean and pure, the curiosity, interest, companionship, and entanglement, coupled with a little joy and relief, would accumulate into what in the end?

Jesse was startled by the knight’s pleasant smile, and then moved his fingers angrily, unaware of the emotions in Adrian’s eyes—he was holding the cake in his hand, staring at the cream in his hair, and his entire person seemed to be struggling with something.

“Forget it. Let’s make do with what we have, Adri. Supplies are limited, and if I ask for another big cake again, the cook will beat me up.” Jesse stifled his decision. “Although… Ugh, I’ll deal with it later with a cleansing spell.”

Adrian stared at the puffed-up diviner. He took two steps forward, grabbed his wrist, and took a small bite of the cake that Jesse’s hand was holding.

“Thank you,” he said softly, licking the cream on his lips carefully.

It was too sweet and creamy to his own liking, but it was good. After all, this was a sweetness that had never been seen before and might never be seen again.

Jesse raised his eyebrows covered in cream, and his grasped wrist twitched a few times.

“Wow,” the blond young man who didn’t look so beautiful at that moment exclaimed. “I didn’t expect the effect to be so good. Hey, Adri, do you like me a little bit today?”

Adrian stretched out his hand and touched the corners of his lips, which were still slightly cocked.

“I don’t know,” he replied honestly.

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The author has something to say:

Jesse… Intentionally planting flowers, they will not bloom. Inadvertently planting willows and they will make shade*.

*(有心栽花花不开，无心插柳柳成荫) From the ancient teaching “Zengguan Xianwen”. It’s a metaphor for what you want to get, you don’t get what you want, but unexpectedly got something else. || In this context, it’s saying Jesse’s surprise cake for Adrian didn’t go as planned, but unexpectedly he got something else.

Persist! Success belongs to those who persevere!

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 207: Avengers

There was a loud bang.

Immediately afterwards, there was an endless harsh noise, accompanied by a tooth-aching sound, as the city gate hit the ground firmly.

Everything happened so suddenly that the royal army in the city couldn’t even react. The scouts on the city wall didn’t find any signs of the army approaching, but the sturdy city gate was destroyed in an instant.

The archers aimed at the rising smoke and dust, the shield bearers erected huge shields, and the mages in the back row were ready to throw spells. The soldiers clenched their swords in their hands, just waiting for the inexplicable intruder to reveal his figure.

But the first thing that appeared in the smoke and dust wasn’t a figure, but a huge emblem. The soldiers were very familiar with the emblem—the emperor would use this spell as the opening at every large-scale event.

Royal Edict.

The esoteric spells of the Alban royal family were mainly used to dominate the lower-level clergy of the Laddism Church. In peacetime, the royal family that had been granted a certain amount of power was also happy to use it to show their identity. At present, looking at the entire Alban, there were only two people who were still qualified to use this spell—except for Princess Delia, who wasn’t qualified to study because she was a minor. It stood to reason that only the emperor and princes would use this spell.

And although the special pressure from it wasn’t quite the same as what they had felt before, the overall aura didn’t seem to be forged.

This was impossible.

Most people could guess the basic routines and struggles of the great people above. Except for a few unrealistic romantics, everyone knew that the princess on Marshal Gallagher’s side couldn’t be real. Andrea Alastair had passed away a long time ago. Her body was sealed in a coffin and was rotting in a tomb in the Imperial Mausoleum.

Where did this Royal Edict come from?

“I know you are confused. Let me make a long story short.” A slightly hoarse female voice sounded.

“I’m Andrea Alastair. That’s it.” A slender and sturdy female warrior clenched her spear—while the smoke and dust were scattered, at some unknown point, she had slipped to the nearby roof and at this moment was squatting on the edge of the sloping roof, smiling brightly at them as lightning wrapped around her spear.

The messy hair was frighteningly short, there was a long ugly scar on her right eyebrow, and her amber eyes were glowing like a beast. No matter how one looked at it, this woman was a low-level person who had been rolling in blood all year round. Her heroism was mixed with a bandit aura, and she had no “nobility and elegance” of royal blood at all.

And behind her stood an armored warrior. Although his face was covered by a helmet and not even a piece of skin was revealed, judging by the finesse of the high-end armor, the person inside wasn’t of a simple background.

“I’m not going to give a sad, tearful speech,” the woman dressed as a warrior continued. “Next, I will rush into the palace and show you that my eldest brother has been long dead. Then, I’ll beat up my other brother, who has the same father and mother as me and is addicted to acting.”

She stood up and slammed the end of the hunting spear to the ground. Purple thunder and lightning danced even more vividly.

“Your king is dead. Now you have two choices: first, think about your family, consider the recent abnormality of the emperor, and retreat wisely. I’m under the banner of the princess, so this is understandable. No one will pursue you with a military order.”

The woman known as the princess shouted loudly, her voice soaked in sneers.

“Second, if some friends are really eager to get ahead, or have already regarded my unsuccessful prince brother as their real master, then please, come and kill me. Let’s gamble on our lives and fight in a dignified manner.”

If there was no Royal Edict, the soldiers would be happy to rush up and crush this nonsense woman to death, but the huge white emblem still stayed in the air, and the majestic magic fluctuated continuously. There was a brief chaos among the soldiers. Some commanders were still cautiously observing the magic emblem, and some were impulsive—

“It’s all lies!” a commander shouted. “Attack! I’ll take responsibility if something happens!”

Ann grinned, blew a kiss at the chaotic army below, jumped to the nearby roof, and quickly marched towards the palace at the center of the royal capital.

A mage’s spell hit her feet, and she dexterously avoided it. The Princess of Alban carelessly exposed the royal emblem on her left arm as she kept throwing the Royal Edict array in the city, constantly creating chaos.

They probably didn’t expect their opponent to slip by so fast. The commanders who insisted on guarding the city were all stunned for at least ten seconds before they reacted.

“Hold the palace!” Most of their instructions convey this meaning.

“They must be assassins; we have to defend His Majesty—!”

Although the enemy was in chaos, the female warrior’s side wasn’t smooth either.

“What about the leather shop here?” Ann stopped at the edge of a building and turned her head to Marshal Gallagher, who was beside her.

“I am not in the habit of buying leather in the lower city, Your Highness.” Marshal Gallagher gritted his teeth.

“Oh, then I’ll ask another question.” Ann lowered her head and yelled at the chaser under the house. “Do you know where the nearest sewer entrance is?”

She didn’t know if it was an illusion, but even through the thick armor, Ann suddenly sensed the other party’s panic.

“Of course not!” In a rare instance, the marshal raised his voice and his tone became a bit sharp.

A huge fireball hit head-on, and the half-collapsed abandoned houses in the lower city were completely turned into ruins. Ann landed beautifully, and then clenched the spear in her hand.

“This means you don’t intend to capture me alive.” She lowered her voice. “Let me confirm it for the last time. You should know who I am, don’t you?”

“The glory of the Alastair family cannot be tarnished, and I will always be loyal to Lord Eldric,” the leading soldier roared. “Even if you are the real princess, you are not qualified to touch the throne—if we fall to a woman sitting on the throne, it will be completely over for Alban! I’m sorry, you have to die here—”

“Very good. I see your enlightenment,” Ann said.

“They outflanked the back,” Marshal Gallagher said in a low voice. “Although your strength is good, I still suggest you…”

“So wordy,” Ann spat. “Help me withstand from behind, Mr. Mad Dog.”

“You—”

Before Gallacher could say a word, the female warrior disappeared.

She moved in a flash, like a ghost, beside the soldier who had just spoken. Suddenly, warm blood mist pumped into the early morning air.

The soldier’s body fell heavily into a pool of blood while his head stayed in Ann’s hand.

“Is there anyone else?” She threw the still-open-eyed head to the pursuing team in front of her and said coldly.

“I said, if you really want to kill me, then let’s gamble our lives and fight in a dignified manner. Of course, you guys can come together.”

The white light of the Royal Edict lit up again. It couldn’t control the soldiers who weren’t related to the Laddism Church, but the pressure made it difficult for people to breathe. The female soldier seemed to not know what exhaustion was. Her murderous intentions were mixed with grief, heavy and sharp.

The Princess of Alban was dressed in ordinary leather armor and was covered in the blood of her enemies.

“Come!” she roared. The advanced spells of the Alban royal family unfolded in an instant, and lightning beams as thick as wrists danced behind her like poisonous snakes ready to go. “Soldier vs soldiers. Cowards!”

Gallagher solved most of the soldiers in front of him by using a confusing sword dance. After recognizing the opponent’s iconic fighting style, the remaining soldiers lost their will to fight and retreated from the battlefield—he wasn’t sure if they went to call for reinforcements or simply ran away.

Unfortunately, to guard the princess, Gallagher looked at the backs of the deserters sadly and gritted his teeth. Then he instinctively looked at the princess—even after a long time on the battlefield, Marshal Gallagher was shocked when he saw the scene behind him clearly.

The situation on Ann’s side was similar to his. The battle was basically over, but she had no plans to chase the deserters. The female warrior still had a broken sword inserted into her body, and several deep knife wounds were added to her bare left arm. She didn’t say a word as she supported herself with her hunting spear. There was still a piece of intestine hanging from her leather armor, unknown who it belonged to.

“It’s solved,” she said coldly. “I recognize this place. Come with me now.”

“You need treatment!”

“I won’t die from such a small injury!”

Ann neatly pulled out the broken sword from her body and put a hemostatic spell on the wound, as if she couldn’t feel pain. She made sure the blood wouldn’t continue to drip and left traceable clues for the enemy. She grabbed Gallagher’s arm with one hand and dragged him in a certain direction. “Come on, follow me.”

Half an hour later, in the sewers.

Ann leaned against the wall wearily. She took out a simple treatment paper roll from her waist bag and further treated the large and small wounds on her body. Then she took out a piece of astringent and greasy dry food, ignoring the smelly sewer, and just stuffed a few pieces into her mouth.

Marshal Gallagher stood restrained, obviously not wanting to let the parts other than his soles touch the slippery and dirty sewer stone wall.

“Sorry,” Ann said. “There will be a hard battle at the palace, and we have to minimize the number of battles. Sewers have always been the best choice.”

“I know,” Gallagher said sulkily.

The two were silent for a while.

When Ann frowned and threw the intestine aside, Gallagher picked up his sword. The marshal had pulled out a piece of cloth from somewhere and carefully wiped the blood from his blade. It seemed that it smelled fresh meat as an obese rat quickly slipped through the roots of the wall and rushed straight to the bloody intestines.

It rubbed against Gallagher’s feet, causing the latter to shiver.

While an ordinary person may not notice it, the unusually homely princess wasn’t an ordinary person. The moment the armor made a soft noise, she almost immediately noticed something was wrong with the marshal…

Gallagher sighed, closed his eyes and waited for the ridicule that the savage princess was about to throw at him.

“It’s alright.” Ann’s tone was flat. “I killed it and threw it in the water. This thing has poisonous teeth, and it’s terrible to be bitten. If you can’t do something easily, just tell me.”

It sounds completely normal.

“You are…” Gallagher didn’t know what to say.

Gallagher Salter had always had little affection for the aristocratic women of Alban. His father even thought he liked men for a time. At the age of thirty-seven, Gallagher hadn’t been without lovers, but none of them had lasted long. It was clear to both sides that it was just a matter of taking what they wanted.

They didn’t love him and he didn’t love them, so it was a very simple relationship.

Although many people didn’t mind whether there would be love in a marriage, Gallagher thought he still cared. He didn’t want a wife with whom he would have nothing in common. It was that simple. He was keener to gallop on the battlefield than to have a useless relationship with a weak and ignorant woman.

There were just a few kinds of women, but no matter what kind, they couldn’t get rid of their moodiness and sentimentality. They were weak and couldn’t accomplish anything big.

He had always believed so.

To be honest, Gallagher Salter didn’t like this rude princess at all. She existed outside of his cognition, which made him feel uncomfortable and frightened from the bottom of his heart. He was loyal to her only because she had the blood of the Alastair family in her veins, and she could help him realize the emperor’s legacy.

It was also a very simple relationship.

On the other hand, Gallagher could feel the princess’s disgust with him. In all respects, they were two completely opposite types of people. At the moment, it was just two mature people working together rationally and calmly to get what they needed in this war.

He was calmly waiting for a taunt.

Gallagher didn’t like to expose his fear of mice very much, and even the cleanliness was carefully controlled. Although his subordinates wouldn’t say much, the nobles loved to chew their tongues, and the insiders always liked to mix this with contempt as a talking point. Those who had some affection for him tended to comfort him…

“This little weakness will not affect your accomplishments,” they would say.

No one told him that it “didn’t matter”.

But the rude woman in front of him took this topic very indifferently.

“What’s wrong with me?” Ann stood up, still covered with blood on his leather armor. “I mean, you’re not waiting for me to laugh at you, right? Are you… I can’t see you holding that kind of interest, Lord Marshal.”

“…I just didn’t think this reaction was like you.” Marshal Gallagher kept a distance of about three steps from the female warrior walking in front of him.

“There is nothing wrong with fear.” Ann’s tone was very serious. She accelerated her steps and didn’t look back. “Besides, who would be afraid of nothing? Since you can’t control it, why should I laugh at you? What bothers me is that your head is raised too high.”

“On this point, I need to apologize to you. You are different from other women. My attitude is wrong.”

This time it was Ann’s turn to be silent for a long time.

“Anyway, I still hate you. Listen, everyone is different.”

Then there was a bit more anger in her voice. “…It’s just that most people never get the opportunity to ‘choose’.”

On the border near Willard.

Jesse Dylan’s blond hair was blown into a mess by the wind. He groaned aggrievedly, slowly chewing a small cake mixed with crushed tea leaves on horseback. Adrian followed him silently, looking at the border not far away.

“This is abuse,” Jesse finished the cake and said angrily. “How nice it is in the kingdom. You can’t even catch a fat rabbit in this place. Adri, do you want cake? I especially left you the last piece.”

“No.” The Knight Commander skillfully refused. “And you have said this sentence three times. We obviously have a very different definition of what the ‘last piece’ is.”

“Oh, don’t do that. How could I have the heart to lie to you!” Jesse curled his lips. “It’s like this, every time I break off half of the remaining piece, there will always be a piece left, love. Why don’t you hurry up and just say yes?”

“I don’t like cake crumbs,” Adrian said calmly.

“I… Oh, it’s that little girl.” Jesse raised his eyebrows and looked at the black communication crystal. “Our leader has learned new tricks. This thing really can be used.”

“Jesse Dylan?” Delia’s voice sounded from there.

“Yes, yes. Your Royal Highness. What are your orders?”

“Willard will attack our line of defense today. I hope you can pass this information to the generals in the garrison. If possible, I hope you will also help defeat Willard’s army.”

“Oh—” Jesse elongated his tone. “If I’m not mistaken, Marshal Gallagher has already entered the royal capital. Shouldn’t you care about something else?”

“I am caring about what I should care about most.” The communication through Cat Whiskers was a bit vague, but they could still hear the firmness of the little princess’ voice. “Mr. Cross is from Garland, but your registered place of birth is Alban. I think I have the right to order you, Mr. Dylan.”

Jesse burst out into a pleasant laugh. “Of course, Your Little Highness. I won’t let you down.”

The black communication crystal went out, and Adrian’s brows frowned. “Enemy attack?”

“That little girl is a bit capable, Adri. Guess what?”

Jesse wiped the cake crumbs from his mouth. His voice sounded very pleased.

“As a ‘diviner’, I fully agree with her guess.”

Delia, who wasn’t very skilled at cutting off contact, lowered her head in front of the maid who came to clean. She hid Cat Whiskers in the palm of her hand. Although she was very afraid of spiders, a certain crazy feeling suppressed her fear at this moment. The itching of the palms of her hands would no longer make her tremble, but instead make her feel a strange warmth.

She could feel the emotions of this little thing, innocent and ignorant, without any malice at all. She liked this feeling very much.

No wonder her mother wanted her to get close to the prince as soon as possible. Perhaps this was the reason why Prince Eldric kept her alive.

Pity…

After the maid left, Delia stood up straight. She took out the sharp knife that she had been hiding for a long time from the fruit basket—it was originally just a harmless dinner knife, but she stole it from the dinner table with Cat Whisker’s help.

She lifted up her complicated skirt and fixed the knife next to the strap socks. For this day, she wore a dress with a huge bow on one side that could be worn and taken off at the side opening.

If her calculations were correct, it was time.

“Goodbye, dear uncle,” she said softly, showing a sweet smile in the air.

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The author has something to say:

Until now, I feel that Abbas was the most normal child in the entire Alastair family, but it’s a pity that he died too early.

Nemo: Ollie, do you want to eat this or not? Do you want to eat that or not?

Ollie: Eat, eat, eat.

Jesse: Adri, would you like to have cake? x 3

Adri: No. x 3

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