Chapter 55: After a Murder, I Enjoy a Romantic Date...
The night was cool and particularly silent. The city seed asleep under a starless sky, and the dark mass of the church stood out among the surrounding rooftops.
A light wind swept between the stones of the buildings before descending into the street where a few oil lanterns cast circles of yellowish light on the damp cobblestones. Kaiser was sitting on the edge of the slate roof, his mask pushed up on his forehead, leaving his face exposed to the night air as he contemplated the surrounding calm.
Eleanor stood beside him, arms crossed. She maintained her usual haughty posture, her angular and tanned face seeming to capture the faint moonlight. Her gaze swept over the city spread out at their feet. Finally, she turned her head toward Kaiser, and her eyes, sharp with coldness, settled on him.
"I imagined you uglier," she declared in a voice tinged with a hint of disappointnt. "Is that why you always wear that mask?"
A slight smile brushed Kaiser’s lips. "So I’m still ugly? What exactly were you hoping to see?"
"A seasoned warrior covered in scars with decades of experience," she retorted, shrugging slightly. "Given the way you play the all-powerful leader at Black Neon, I expected a more serious and dull man."
He let out a soft and low laugh, almost warm. "I don’t play any role, Eleanor. I act according to necessities."
She stared at him without responding, but her silence was eloquent, charged with a mixture of interest and provocation that had beco familiar to them. A tacit complicity had developed between them over the past few weeks, though Eleanor strove to display a facade of indifference.
Kaiser finally turned his attention to the deserted street. "I didn’t co up here to chat."
"I suspected as much," she replied, her voice perfectly steady. "You want soone to disappear."
"Exactly. It’s the most effective solution. No trace, no future complications."
Kaiser had read many novels to know that when you wronged soone, they ca back after three arcs to bite you in the ass. But for him, he imdiately took the necessary asures.
Eleanor leaned slightly to follow his gaze. Below, Jessica was walking hesitantly down the street. Her clothes were soiled, her hair disheveled, and her face bore the marks of exhaustion and despair. She wandered aimlessly, visibly still in shock from her banishnt, vainly seeking refuge.
"Her?" Eleanor simply asked.
"Exactly."
No further questions were needed. Eleanor straightened, gracefully stretching her fingers.
*Spell: Mana Thread*
And hair-thin mana threads slid from chanisms hidden in her rings. They shimred faintly in the moonlight. With a fluid movent, she jumped silently onto the adjacent roof. Kaiser, for his part, did not move, content to observe the scene with detached attention.
Eleanor moved from roof to roof with agility, her steps light and precise. The mana threads stretched then suddenly tightened in the darkness. A thin and precise line appeared around Jessica’s neck. The young woman did not even have ti to make a sound. Her head detached from her body before the latter collapsed heavily onto the cobblestones. Death had been instantaneous, clean, and silent.
Eleanor returned imdiately, retracting her threads with chanical habit. She stood beside Kaiser again, her breathing perfectly calm, her expression unchanged. "It’s done."
Kaiser stood up. "Perfect. I’ll be absent from Neon for so ti."
She remained still, but he caught a glint of interest in her gaze. "How long?"
"As long as necessary," he replied before adding, in a more direct tone. "During my absence, your mission will be to identify the true identities of the forr noble clients of our deceased hosts. You will gather compromising evidence, blackmail them to test their vulnerability and make so money, then eliminate them. One by one."
Eleanor nodded sharply. "Agreed." Only a discreet, appreciative glint crossed her gaze. She respected his efficiency as much as she appreciated his ruthlessness.
Even though he was a noble, he did not hesitate to kill his own brother or other nobles to achieve his ends. Black Neon needed a leader who was not afraid.
She moved slightly closer. "And now? Where are you planning to go?"
"I haven’t eaten since this morning," he declared with a calm that radically contrasted with the events that had just unfolded.
A slight smile, almost surprised, brushed Eleanor’s lips. "You could have gone to a tavern. There’s an acceptable one two streets from here."
"I prefer sothing else," he simply replied.
She lowered her eyes for a mont, visibly annoyed despite herself. "You are truly impossible."
They descended from the roof together using the iron service staircase that ran along the facade. Once their feet were on the alley cobblestones, Kaiser turned to her and placed a firm hand on her waist. Eleanor paused slightly, surprised by this sudden closeness.
He then gently pulled her against him and kissed her.
Eleanor responded almost despite herself. Her hand slid behind his nape, drawing him deeper into the kiss. When they separated, she remained still for a mont, pupils slightly dilated. "That... wasn’t unpleasant."
An almost imperceptible smile played on Kaiser’s lips. "Was that your first ti?"
"Uh... But never do that again."
Kaiser was surprised by Eleanor’s embarrassed expression.
"Fine, fine, it’s up to you."
She held his sleeve as he prepared to walk away. "You’ll let
know before you leave."
"Of course."
They then walked away side by side, their silhouettes quickly rging with the thick shadows of the night, leaving behind the silence and Jessica’s lifeless body ters away.
"Nothing better than a date after a murder." Kaiser murmured to himself.
...
Kaiser, now recognized as an F
rank warrior, all his attention was now focused on one thing: the imminent arrival of his elixir of life, a precious substance that would aid him in his ascension.
This waiting period coincided with the golden age of the Paragons. The fruitful exploitation of the Mithril mine had infused unprecedented prosperity into their economy, draining riches that allowed projects previously unimaginable. Taking advantage of this windfall, the Paragons had begun lucrative trade in ore and artifacts with the Dark Elves. For Kaiser, this boom was only the prelude; once the elixir was in his possession, he would head toward the rift.
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