Ch 50: The Unexpected Guest

The Soul-Devouring Demon appeared before the three. Phia produced a spear from the extradimensional space, and Bal drew his short sword from his waist. The two people assumed fighting stances, protecting Nia behind them.

“What do you want?”

Bal, holding his sword reversed, fiercely questioned the Soul-Devouring Demon’s purpose.

“Don’t be alarmed! I mean no harm!”

Seeing the two draw their weapons, the Soul-Devouring Demon quickly waved their hands, attempting to explain.

“I truly mean no harm, save me! I don’t want to die!”

Hearing this, Phia was somewhat doubtful. Maintaining a vigilant posture, she began to question.

“Weren’t you captured and imprisoned? How did you escape?”

Hearing Phia’s words, the Soul-Devouring Demon became so anxious that tears welled up in their eyes.

“My sister, Fiona, was the one captured. I am her sister, Luna. While visiting my sister, I overheard someone plotting to eliminate her. I panicked, and when I fled, I was discovered. They wanted to kill me to silence me. I barely escaped to here. Please, save me and Fiona! She was being used!”

Seeing Luna’s distress, Phia wanted to help her, but Bal stopped Phia.

“Why should we trust you?”

“Waaaaah, soon someone will come to arrest me. If you don’t believe me, you can tie me up, but please don’t hand me over to them. I’ll die!”

Hearing Luna’s humble plea, Bal was at a loss. He had Phia use magic to restrain Luna, then the three of them hid her in the secret chamber in the study.

Shortly after, three individuals who looked like members of the Self-Defense Force arrived at the Main Gate, shouting loudly.

“Hey! Is anyone there? Open the door for me!”

Seeing that the newcomers were hostile, Bal asked Phia to protect Nia while he dealt with them alone.

“I’m sorry, I just got back from outside this morning, and I was cleaning the room. Please excuse the delay.”

Seeing Bal’s humble and meek demeanor, the three men became even more arrogant. The apparent leader sized Bal up and unceremoniously said,

“I remember this is the Zeril House. Who are you? What’s your relationship with Zeril? If you can’t answer, you’re coming with us.”

“My name is Buck. I’m an adventurer who recently arrived. I accepted Mrs. Zeril’s commission a while ago. Mrs. Zeril has already left town. Before leaving, she transferred this house to me. Here’s the contract.”

Bal produced the contract for them to see. They took turns examining it, found no problems, and continued their questioning.

“Where were you last night?”

“Last night was my wedding. I spent the night at the Hot Spring Inn outside town. Many people can vouch for me.”

“When did you return?”

“About ten minutes ago. I came back from the Hot Spring Inn with my wife and my sister. They are resting in their room now.”

“Did you see anyone suspicious?”

“No.”

“…Alright, let’s wrap it up, next house.”

The apparent leader left with the other two, but their expressions were rather strange. Noticing this, Bal gave a forced smile as he watched them leave, then immediately returned to the study.

Seeing Bal return, Phia immediately approached him to ask what had happened.

“What was wrong with those men?”

“Those men were suspicious; at least, they weren’t members of the Self-Defense Force.”

Hearing Bal’s words, Phia was surprised.

“How did you figure that out?”

“First, I’ve greeted every member of the Self-Defense Force; they couldn’t possibly not recognize me. Second, the Zeril House case is a big one; even if they hadn’t met me, they should have heard of me. They didn’t react at all when I stated my name. Finally, they had strange expressions when they left, as if they were hiding a secret.”

“What should we do?”

“Let’s wait and see. But I have questions for Luna; I hope she can give me some answers.”

Bal activated the mechanism and entered the secret chamber, Phia following behind. They arrived before Luna.

“Do you recognize those men?”

Bal described the men’s appearance and characteristics. Luna shook her head, indicating that she didn’t recognize them.

“Then do you know who you overheard?”

Luna pondered for a moment, then spoke hesitantly.

“It was…Councilman Levenwich. He’s one of the town’s administrators.”

Hearing this unexpected name, Bal frowned, considering his options.

At that moment, a scream echoed from the study—Nia’s voice. Bal and Phia quickly ran out of the secret chamber. One of the men who had left was holding a knife to Nia’s neck, while the other two watched.

“Oh my, Mr. Buck, what a coincidence. Where did you come from?”

Seeing Nia threatened, Bal became angry.

“Let my sister go!”

“So this is your sister, quite the beauty. And this must be your wife.”

Seeing the three men’s lecherous expressions, Bal placed his hand on his waist.

“Why aren’t you two lovebirds in the bedroom? What are you doing in the study? And I saw you coming from a secret door, didn’t I? I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if I took a look inside that secret door.”

The leader had a smug expression. One of his men produced a rope and approached the couple.

“Please don’t be afraid. This is just a routine check. You’re both considered suspects, so we need to take precautions.”

Phia looked at Bal, who shook his head, signaling her not to act yet. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Phia’s abilities; he wanted to gather more information. If they wanted to, these three would vanish in an instant.

The two were bound with rope, and Bal’s short sword was taken. The man admired the sword before sheathing it.

“Alright, come along.”

At the leader’s signal, Bal led the two into the secret chamber. Hearing the commotion, Luna immediately became alert.

“Is that Mr. Buck?”

“It’s me.”

“And me! I finally found you, you criminal! Mr. Buck, you knowingly concealed a criminal. What else do you have to say?”

Faced with the leader’s interrogation, Bal feigned fear.

“My lord, please have mercy! I only tied her up and locked her in the secret chamber because I saw an unknown person breaking into my house! I have no idea who she is, nor that she is a criminal!”

Hearing Bal’s defense, the leader smugly stated,

“Do you know what kind of criminal you harbored? She’s an assassin who planned to assassinate Councilman Levenwich! But seeing as it’s your first offense, if you let us ‘borrow’ your wife and sister for two days, we’ll let this go.”

“Really?”

“I wouldn’t lie.”

“That’s good…”

“You’re a smart kid.”

“Phia, Nia, move.”

The instant Bal gave the command, Phia untied the ropes. She summoned the Crucifix Star from the extradimensional space and stabbed the guard beside her in the leg. Then, she drew her spear, kicked the man down, severed his arms and legs with her spear, and threw the spear to Bal. Bal, using body enhancement, broke free from the ropes. He caught the spear in mid-air and struck the leader on the forehead with the spear’s haft. Their movements were fluid and seamless.

Phia bound the two with magic chains. She stepped on the man she had knocked down, used the spear to cut his clothes, and returned Bal’s short sword to him. The couple dragged the two men to the study like dead dogs.

Nia, in the study, heard Bal’s command. With a squat and a sweeping leg, she knocked the man threatening her to the ground. Then, she chanted a spell; four Light Swords appeared in the air and pierced the man’s limbs. Seeing that Bal and Phia were unharmed, she hugged Bal.

Bal looked at the man’s sorry state in the study and sighed. Why did this guy have to threaten Nia? Her fighting skills were no worse than mine.

The three cleaned up the three arrogant intruders and tied them together. Phia returned to the secret chamber to clean up the traces of the fight and bring Luna out.

Seeing the three standing before her, Luna trembled. Phia and Bal had just dealt with two men in an instant before her; she was grateful she hadn’t suffered the same fate.

At this moment, the leader, who had been healed by Phia, started shouting.

“You! You dare treat me like this! Do you know who I am?! If I get back, you’ll all die!”

Seeing the bound man still acting arrogant, Bal walked over and slapped him.

“The moment you heard my wife’s real name, your fate was sealed. We’re not easily intimidated. Watch your words; I can’t guarantee they’ll stay calm.”

Seeing Bal’s villainous expression, the man cowered. He silently stared at the three.

Bal stood up and ordered Phia and Nia to interrogate the three separately. The three were taken to different rooms.

Bal took the leader, threw him into a room, slit the man’s wrist with his short sword, and sat down on a nearby chair to begin the interrogation.

“You’re not from the Self-Defense Force, are you? Tell me, who are you?”

Seeing the man remain silent, Bal continued.

“Silent, huh? Fine. If you want to bleed to death, I don’t mind. It’ll just make the cleanup a bit more troublesome. But if you give me satisfying information, I don’t mind healing you and letting you live.”

Hearing that he would die, the man immediately spoke.

“I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything! We are assassins sent by Lord Levenwich. We were ordered to eliminate the Soul-Devouring Demon.”

“Why kill her?”

“Lord Levenwich said the Soul-Devouring Demon had something on him that couldn’t be allowed to surface.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know. If I did, I’d be dead too.”

“Who is the Soul-Devouring Demon?”

“I don’t know. I only know she has a sister, who’s currently imprisoned in the Jail. That’s all I know. Heal me quickly, and I promise I won’t betray you!”

After listening, Bal healed the man’s wounds with magic, then left him in the room to ask Phia and Nia if they had any useful information.

“Did you get anything?”

“That man said they were sent by Levenwich to eliminate her, but he didn’t know anything else.”

“Me neither.”

Seeing that they had obtained the same information, Bal ordered them to eliminate the two. He then returned to the previous room and stabbed the leader to death.

The three used magic to decompose the bodies, leaving only one head—as required by Bal’s plan.

Bal decided to help Luna and expose the darkness hidden in this town.