"Lord Faust, would you like a carriage—"
The woman's voice snapped Marlina back to reality. Unbeknownst to her, they had already left Yvaine's mansion.
Ansel ignored Yvaine and continued walking. Marlina, now aware, glanced back at the renowned Queen Bee of Dispute Fortress and nodded slightly under her grateful gaze before quickly catching up to the dark-haired youth in front of her.
After they had walked so distance, Ansel turned his head towards Marlina, his face adorned with a gentle smile that she knew all too well.
"What's the matter?" Ansel asked, "You seem preoccupied, Margarate."
An outsider wouldn't notice Marlina's distraction—not even Seraphina would, unless she used her intuitive insights.
Yet Ansel could easily discern Marlina's unease. Explore stories on empire
"I…" Marlina hesitated, her expression conflicted. "I'm struggling to understand so things."
The issue wasn't insurmountable; it was just that she was overwheld by the sheer number of things she had to face and consider.
She needed more ti to process everything: the matters of personal interest, the purpose and direction of Ansel's actions, and various minor details... Being a secretary wasn't an easy job.
"You've always been forthright. Why so burdened this ti?"
Ansel slowed his pace to walk alongside her. Noticing this, Marlina instinctively slowed her own steps, falling back into her usual role of following him.
"…"
The young Hydral faltered slightly but did not slow his pace further, nor did he say anything else.
Marlina, realizing the need to respond, pondered for a mont before voicing the question that had erged when she saw Yapo's obsequious deanor.
"Why... do adventurers show such humility towards you, Mr. Faust?"
Upon hearing this question, Ansel couldn't help but display a wry smile. He cast his gaze towards the adventurers bustling about on the street and softly responded, "Margarete, what do you believe adventurers truly are?"
"What... do you an, truly are?"
"Trailblazers of new worlds? Unfettered champions of freedom? Explorers unearthing secrets?" Ansel offered a series of seemingly positive descriptions, but ultimately shook his head and said, "None of these."
"Margarete, the essence of an adventurer is that of a hyena."
This disdainful remark left Marlina sowhat perplexed, but what puzzled her even more was the fact that Ansel did not carry any disdain in his tone, rely stating it as a matter of fact:
"Hyenas that feast on the carcasses of fallen dynasties, subsisting on the remnants within the vast enigmas."
He turned his head to look at Marlina. "Do you know why I describe them this way?"
"...I don't understand, Mr. Faust," the girl replied softly.
"I do not scorn their efforts, Marlina."
Discussing this topic, Ansel seed to beco very earnest. It had been a long ti since Marlina had seen him so serious in a discussion.
"To find that one percent chance of transformation amidst ninety-nine percent despair and darkness requires imnse courage, perhaps even madness — The rewards they reap are generally proportional to the risks they take and the price they pay."
"But the crux lies in what they do with those rewards, or rather..."
The young Hydral turned to Marlina, speaking with profound significance:
"What truly drives them to pursue extraordinary treasures?"
"What do you think it is, Margarete?"
The girl regarded Ansel's question as a test, not fully grasping his deeper aning. She pondered seriously for a long ti before softly replying, "It's... power, isn't it? Ultimately, extraordinary beings seek higher levels of extraordinary."
"Is that so?"
Ansel smiled. "It appears you haven't spent enough ti in the Western lands... Once you realize what most adventurers are actually after, you will understand why they are so humble towards 'Faust.'"
"In that case..." Ansel's mood seed to improve considerably, "You are one step closer to the answer to that question. Congratulations, Margarete."
That question...
Marlina recalled Ansel's words to her in the lounge—after she realized the similarities between the actions of the Empress and the behavior of that Milo.
And this ti, it was about the nature of adventurers...
Dominance... adventurers... the rule of adventurers...
Fragnted information suddenly coalesced into a clear answer. Only now did Marlina realize that the "question" Ansel had referred to was a casual remark she had made while waiting in her bedroom—why so many commoners settled in the chaotic and perilous Western lingdom.
"Mr.Faust..."
Coming to her senses, Marlina was incredulous. So shocked was she that she uttered words she would never usually say, words that bordered on presumptuousness:
"Did you do all that just to answer my question?"
"I do dislike that fool Milo, but I'm not the kind of person to kill soone out of re distaste. He did have so use, albeit minor."
Ansel was slightly taken aback by the girl's bewildered expression. "It was just a small matter, is it not permissible?"
"But you... killing him might have adverse effects on you. Although you can handle it, still..."
Marlina stamred, increasingly flustered by Ansel's retort. "It was just a question, how could I, how could I be worthy of you—"
No matter how much she sought progress and growth, there was a line she must never cross: she must not harm Ansel's interests in the slightest.
So, realizing that Ansel had casually killed Milo rely to provide a hint for her question, not even a direct answer, Marlina felt a surge of terror and guilt.
"If it was just a question, I—"
She wanted to say more, but upon eting Ansel's gaze, she swallowed her words.
"... Margarete," Ansel sighed, looking at her.
"Do you think that following , you are worth less than a trifling city administrator?"
"Do you think your question is worth less than a clown who manipulates the populace for his amusent?"
His sigh made Marlina's heart tighten painfully. Her voice trembled, "Mr. Faust, I didn't an to—"
"Enough." Ansel interrupted her, his tone gentle rather than displeased. "Let's go back to the inn, Margarete. I can tell you're tired... sparring with the Shadewell is no easy task. Rest well these next few days."
Marlina had so much she wanted to say, but at that mont, she couldn't utter a single word and could only follow Ansel in a daze.
Because in that instant, in that brief mont when their eyes t... Marlina saw in Ansel's eyes the one emotion she feared most, the one she never wanted to see.
She hoped, desperately, that it was rely a fignt of her imagination born from her extre panic.
—She hoped that the fleeting disappointnt in Ansel's eyes was just an illusion.
*
"Milo is dead."
"...What?!"
"The job is done. Here's his head."
In a simple wooden cabin, a head was thrown onto the table with a dull thud.
The two people inside the cabin fell into a prolonged silence.
"At first," said the one who had tossed the head, "the Executioner's people told to wait for soone to complete the job. I thought it was a trap set by Milo, so I didn't go."
"Then... they contacted again, saying the adventurer who completed the task saw I didn't show up and handed over the goods to them. Skeptical, I arranged a different drop-off point and... well..."
They had indeed received Milo's head, as if it had happened seamlessly, without a trace of disturbance.
"Are you sure this is real?" the other person asked.
"It's genuine."
"Damn... how can the Dispute Fortress remain so calm?"
"Who knows? Our concern should be the upcoming selection tournant."
"Yeah... with that scoundrel Milo dead, will the tournant still go on? Damn it, we shouldn't have killed him so soon."
"Who could have predicted soone would actually take up that job and act so swiftly?"
They lapsed back into silence.
The commission had been posted on the Executioner's board out of a mber's fury towards Milo, but no one truly expected it to be fulfilled, not even the commissioner.
Yet, at this critical juncture, soone had indeed killed Milo... so what would happen to the selection tournant they were ant to participate in?
"Let's take it one step at a ti. How are things on Odelia's side?"
"They've managed to rescue quite a few people from that two lunatics Bloodust and Azuregold... they're still fighting. Even if we can't significantly impact the bigger picture, we must do everything we can to help them."
"For the New World."
"For the New World."
*
As certain groups scheming to exploit the chaos wrought by the Grand Duke's conflict were strategizing, a tall and athletic figure gradually materialized at the teleportation point of the Dispute Fortress.
"So, this is the… uh, balabala Fortress, huh?"
She scratched her head in an unrefined manner, completely undermining the allure of her perfect physique.
The girl glanced at the map in her left hand, then her right, before stuffing it back into her bag.
"Whatever, I'll just ask soone for directions... Everyone says it's a place for a real good fight here. Heh, don't let down."
The weary wolf bared her fangs in a grin, her sharp white teeth and dark red eyes glimring with a wild light from the wilderness.
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