Ch.4 Wait, Are You Serious?
A figure clad in a dark robe erged from the lounge.
“Your Highness, Young Master dillion, testing confirms that the bottle of ‘Tears of nas’ indeed contains the hallucinogenic component ‘Fool’s Grass,’ specially refined to stimulate physiological desires.” The Arcane Association inspector spoke respectfully to the two, simultaneously handing the wine bottle to Serela.
“Mm, thank you for your efforts.” Serela did not take the bottle herself; instead, her female bodyguard standing behind her accepted it.
“By the way, Luo Nan has another request—he wishes you to help locate anyone besides himself who ca into contact with this bottle of wine.”
“Gladly.”
The figure in dark robes retrieved from his portable case a slender crystal pipette and a pure black tal canister.
He took out a white flying insect from the canister, used the crystal pipette to draw a drop of wine, and dripped it onto the insect’s furry abdon.
“Young Master dillion, please take this ‘Purification Tablet’ to prevent interference with the tracing insect.”
Luo Nan accepted the pink pill handed to him without suspicion and tilted his head to swallow it.
Strawberry flavor—quite sweet.
As the pill entered his stomach, the white flying insect, which had been circling Luo Nan, instantly veered away from him and floated toward the main banquet hall.
“Let
see… who exactly is trying to fra .”
“…”
Crash—
The corridor ceiling of the banquet hall had unknowingly snapped its final thread—the crystal chandelier, over two ters in diater, suddenly plumted downward.
Squelch—
Amid the jarring sound of shattering crystal, a faint tearing sound of flesh and blood was also audible.
“Ah!”
“Ugh—”
“What’s going on!?”
Luo Nan sensed sothing was wrong and quickly strode toward the interior of the hall.
Aside from the chandelier’s tal fra and shards of crystal scattered across the floor, a pool of soaking crimson had already ford a small lake, mingling white, pink, and yellow into a thick stew.
With brains spilled out, there was certainly no hope of survival.
Luo Nan carefully examined the unfortunate server, his mood sinking slightly. “Is this… silencing soone after the plot was exposed?”
No, if it were truly silencing, there would be no need to use such an unstable thod—various poisons, curses, or even supernatural contracts would be far more efficient.
[Move aside.]
What?
An inexplicable ssage suddenly surfaced in Luo Nan’s mind. Without ti to verify its authenticity, he instinctively sidestepped.
Rip—
The sound of a dagger slicing through fabric startled Luo Nan into breaking out in a cold sweat.
He only managed to glimpse a server-clad assassin abruptly dropping their cleaning tools, drawing a dagger, and lunging toward him.
“Damn it, an assassin!?”
What’s going on? Is there really an assassin? The plot isn’t supposed to go like this!
Although I’m a villain, I shouldn’t be checking out this early!
I haven’t even begun my mission of being a stepping stone for the heroines yet!
Luo Nan, being an ordinary person without any supernatural cultivation, had no way to evade such an agile assassin.
‘Shit, I wanted to work hard to avoid the fate of being a villain, but now I might exit the stage prematurely!’
In the blink of an eye, the assassin, failing the first strike, reversed her grip on the dagger. The blade, glinting with eerie blue poison, was thrust toward him again in less than half a second.
It’s even poisoned!
Clang—
Luo Nan instinctively closed his eyes. Three seconds passed, yet the expected pain never ca.
A sharp feminine shout reopened Luo Nan’s eyes.
The poisoned blue dagger arced through the air, colliding with the tal fra of the fallen crystal chandelier on the ground.
The female assassin, disguised as a server, was now firmly pinned to the ground by a lithe, agile figure.
Even though that figure wore high heels, revealing half her ankle and the semi-transparent black stockings above it, and her pert buttocks traced a beautiful curve as her thighs crouched halfway, her capable deanor remained unmistakable.
He hadn’t paid attention before—turns out she was wearing male server attire.
Luo Nan glanced again at the girl’s half-exposed ankle.
Are those stockings worn under pants?
No, why am I focusing on this?
Realizing this, Luo Nan pulled his thoughts back and shouted to her: “Miss Anya, don’t kill her—take her alive!”
“I know!”
Anya responded, her hands flowing like clouds and water as she swiftly dislocated all four limbs of the female assassin.
She hadn’t expected to actually encounter such an event. Would she receive extra bonus pay for this?
After stripping the assassin of her mobility, Anya couldn’t help but daydream about the extra inco she’d earn afterward.
No, don’t smile—must hold it in!
This is a serious assassination incident!
“Whew… Miss Anya, thank you for your gallant intervention.”
Luo Nan retreated behind his bodyguards and expressed his gratitude to the golden-eyed girl.
“Hey, it’s nothing—don’t look at her being second-tier; aside from that initial strike, she clearly hasn’t trained in anything else.” Anya spoke while standing up and handing the female assassin beneath her over to the surrounding guards.
“Oh? So… she’s a professional assassin?” Luo Nan turned his head toward the Fourth Imperial Princess, who was gracefully approaching from behind. “Your Highness, as you can see, this was a preditated assassination.”
Originally, Luo Nan’s shout of “There’s an assassin!” was rely intended to escalate the situation, shifting public attention from ‘Luo Nan attempting to assault Miss Rose’ to ‘Soone trying to assassinate Luo Nan’.
First, he pre-established his identity as a ‘victim’, then muddied the waters further by introducing the ‘drugged wine’ elent.
As for Miss Rose Anlute’s testimony?
Luo Nan held no hope. He wagered that, upon waking, there was an eighty percent chance she would bite back at him, even if nothing had actually happened between them.
But as long as the facts of ‘the wine being drugged’ and his identity as a ‘target of assassination’ were established, he would have sufficient room to maneuver afterward, twisting this false accusation into a fra-up.
At the very least, he could minimize the fallout.
But now… there really was an assassin!
This completely exceeded his expectations.
Luo Nan had calculated every possibility, yet never anticipated that rely altering the plot’s direction slightly would trigger such a massive shift in the worldline!
[Worldline Deviation Rate: 0% → 1.2%]
[Luo Nan von dillion, on August 10, 1795 of the Glorious Era, altered his original fate—worldline has shifted.]
[Repair chanism activated… subsequent worldline re-evolving…]
That mysterious voice, which had appeared in his mind during the assassination attempt, surfaced again.
“Who are you? What is worldline deviation? What is the repair chanism?”
Luo Nan urgently asked within his mind—he had a premonition that this mysterious voice was his cheat device!
[…]
[Repair complete. Good luck, Viewer of the World.]
Viewer… of the World?
Is that my nickna?
But Luo Nan rembered—in ‘The Shining Myriad Trails’, unlike the protagonists, he didn’t have titles like ‘Chosen Hero’ or ‘Benevolent Imperial Princess’.
After all, he was a villain occupying the joker’s ecological niche…
“Are you there, Cheat Device Mister?”
“Cheat Device Miss?”
“…”
Hmph, quite aloof—not responding to
at all.
Still… its earlier warning truly saved his life.
“I’ll study it after this is over.”
Luo Nan pulled his attention back to reality and quickly walked toward the detained female assassin.
“I won’t waste words—tell , who sent you to kill ?”
“…”
“If you don’t speak now, later I’ll hand you over to the Special Intelligence Agency. They’ll certainly have ways to make you talk.”
Luo Nan paused, fearing the female assassin might not understand the Agency’s thods, and added: “Don’t say you’re just a lowly second-tier—even fourth-tier experts can only beco obedient… puppets once inside.”
“Enough, Luo Nan. Let
handle this.”
Imperial Princess Serela, seemingly unable to tolerate Luo Nan’s villain-style threats any longer, gently interrupted his subsequent intimidation.
“…Fine.”
Seeing Serela speak up, Luo Nan yielded half his position.
He didn’t dare offend the Fourth Imperial Princess—not only had she just served as his notary, but rely thinking of her true nature concealed beneath the ‘Benevolent Imperial Princess’ facade sent chills down Luo Nan’s spine.
He decided—after resolving this matter, he would stay as far away from her as possible.
The Benevolent Imperial Princess was an even more dangerous existence than the Chosen Hero!
“Co… first, tell
your na.” The golden-haired princess spoke softly, her gentle tone like a March breeze, combined with her beautiful, watery violet eyes—no one could possibly harbor ill will toward her.
“…” The assassin, whose limbs Anya had dislocated, murmured sothing at the corner of her mouth but made no sound.
Serela smiled lightly and repeated her previous question: “First, tell
your na.”
“…Turquoise.”
“Turquoise? That’s a codena for assassins, right?” Luo Nan silently grumbled to himself but didn’t interrupt aloud.
The princess, without suspicion, continued in her calm, gentle tone: “Then… Miss Turquoise, can you tell … where your ‘ho’ is?”
“My ‘ho’… is, is at No. 23, 15th Street, West City.” The assassin instinctively answered.
But soon, her vacant eyes filled with terror. “No… no, my ho isn’t…”
And in those pupils was reflected a pair of beautiful violet eyes—and within them… a faint, eerie glimr.
Watching this slightly eerie scene, Luo Nan, who had been standing nearby with arms crossed, watching like a spectator, frowned slightly. For so reason, a chill shot up his spine.
“Is this the talent of the ‘Benevolent Imperial Princess’?”
Luo Nan once again resolved to ‘stay as far away from her as possible’.
“Mm…”
A muffled groan escaped the assassin’s lips. Imdiately afterward, the sll of scorched flesh mingled with the lingering stench of blood, perating the air.
Luo Nan jolted, about to warn her, when he heard Serela’s voice: “She’s dead. Likely implanted with a backlash curse.”
The princess withdrew her gaze from the assassin’s body and turned her head toward Luo Nan. “Luo Nan, the force behind this assassin is formidable—even the lowest-grade backlash curse requires a fourth-tier arcane mage to cast.”
“No. 23, 15th Street, West City—this is the only useful information obtained.”
Serela’s expression turned solemn as she continued to Luo Nan: “If you trust , I will personally take over the subsequent investigation. After all… this incident occurred at my hocoming banquet.”
Luo Nan looked at the peerlessly beautiful Fourth Imperial Princess, unsure how to respond.
Frankly, he didn’t want any further entanglent with Serela. Once he handed this matter over to her, the subsequent developnts…
Yet he couldn’t refuse her—this person was extrely ‘sensitive’. If she interpreted his refusal as so aningful signal, things would beco even worse.
Just as Luo Nan was at a loss for how to respond, his gaze swept over Anya Sivans standing idly nearby.
Ah, right—he could drive the tiger to devour the wolf!
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