Vol. 1 - Ch. 31 - A Grandmaster in the Field of Linguistic Arts!
Don't Burn Them! Even Witches Have Value!This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
"Hey! Why can you run so fast in the dark! Wait for me!"
Elysia followed Lynn, who had nearly transformed into an Abnormal Titan, and shouted breathlessly.
He was seen swiftly darting through the corridors and spiral staircases, relying on his excellent muscle memory to quickly arrive at the scene of the crime.
Elysia, who followed behind, rubbed her temples and complained with some fatigue:
"I can't take it anymore. I've worked all day, haven't eaten, and now I have to accompany you to find a candle."
"How did you know I wanted you to accompany me to find the candle?"
"Oh right, why did I know?"
Elysia blinked her eyes, then held her head in disbelief and muttered in a low voice:
"Could it be that I've also become as abnormal as you, you pervert?"
"Hey, I heard all of that."
Lynn said with a straight face:
"I am neither a pervert, nor am I abnormal."
Just as Elysia was about to continue saying something, she saw Lynn pick up the dripping lamp oil from the candlestick and sniff it under his nose.
The next moment, he sprawled on the ground like a large spider, carefully sniffing everywhere.
"Mhm! This way!"
"..."
A thousand words crowded in Elysia's throat, and in the end, they turned into a silent, soft sigh:
...This guy was hopeless.
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Elysia, holding a candle, woodenly followed behind Lynn.
Looking at the fellow in front of her who was crawling on the ground, sniffing everywhere, and from time to time even spinning in circles on the spot, she felt a deep sense of doubt—
‘Father, did I really get off the pyre alive?’
After an unknown amount of time, Lynn stood up in front of the last door.
Ahead was the castle's attic, and the residual smell of lamp oil ended here.
The remaining wick residue on the side had already shown its fate.
"No!"
A mournful cry escaped from his mouth, and his strengthless body fell to the ground with a "thump".
"I failed to protect my candle... just like I failed to protect my ham..."
Looking at the weeping Lynn, Elysia, who had caught up, was already used to it.
"Wait, why am I used to it! You are completely unreasonable!"
Wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes, Lynn's nose twitched again.
For some reason, he felt a familiar, faint, bad smell here.
Where had he smelled it before?
Just as Lynn was rubbing his chin trying to recall, the next moment, he heard a slight sound coming from above.
"Who's there!"
He abruptly raised his head and let out a sonorous roar:
"This castle is my inherited private property! According to the castle doctrine, you have already committed illegal trespassing!
And you have also harmed the life of my candle! Compensate me quickly!"
"...You always manage to surprise me, Lord Baron of Blackstone."
As a hoarse male voice came from above, the next moment, a nimble figure quietly landed in front of Lynn.
The other party was dressed entirely in black night-crawling clothes, and a thick stench of alcohol assailed his senses, making it difficult to judge their identity.
Looking at the other party's attire, Lynn took a step back, and then said seriously:
"With this outfit and this kind of entrance, if I'm not mistaken... you must be a janitor, right?"
"Janitor my foot! Never mind that they were all fired long ago, and why would he be on the roof beam!"
Listening to Elysia's complaint, Lynn continued to retreat while rubbing his chin and retorting:
"He might be cleaning the dust off the roof beams."
"Then why is he dressed so strangely!"
"Perhaps to prevent getting dust on his clothes?"
"Are you saying that he is just a janitor who, in order to prevent getting dust on his clothes, wore a full night-crawling suit and stood on the roof beams to clean the dust???"
As the final step landed, Lynn had already shielded Elysia in front of him, so he immediately shouted in a low voice:
"Employee Number One! There's a time and place for jokes! No matter how you look at it, the person across from us is a suspicious character!"
Even without looking at the system pop-up window that had jumped out, Lynn had already guessed from that familiar smell that it was that mysterious apprentice.
【Name: Griffin Sethi】
【Race: Human】
【Talent: S-Rank Scout】
【Battle Aura Level: D-Rank】
【Stamina: C-Rank】
【Physiological Indicators: Poisoned, Severe Frostbite】
【Favorability: 0 (An interesting, non-threatening individual)】
According to the known information, he was precisely the Blood Snake Society assassin that Ai'na had mentioned who had silenced Dawson.
However, his panel seemed a bit weaker. Was it the result of a fight with that sadistic princess?
Speaking of which, strange, why did he feel that the danger right now was not coming from that assassin,
but from the trembling Elysia?
【Favorability: -10 (Bastard!)】
"...Our enemy is that fellow across from us, right?"
"Hehe, there's a time and place for jokes."
Although she said so, Elysia still gathered the magic on her body and stared at the man who was exuding a dangerous aura.
"This beautiful lady witch, please calm down. My target is only the Lord Baron behind you.
How troublesome. I had originally planned to hide here and then secretly take him to see that bastard."
The assassin named Griffin drew several small knives from his waist and held them in his hands.
Just as he and Elysia were in a standoff, Lynn noticed the information in the other party's words.
The other party had clearly received an order to take him to see someone.
And, clearly, Griffin did not like that person, and even detested them.
Furthermore, why would the other party be interested in him?
Did they learn about his meeting with the Frost Princess? Or was it that he had alleviated the symptoms of the Viscount's son?
Or were both possible?
Guessing would not yield any results, and even that assassin might not know the reason.
So what he should do now was—
"Hey, Griffin Sethi, why do the people from the Blood Snake Society want to see me? Do you know?"
In an instant, the surroundings became quiet, and even the sound of his own heartbeat seemed so clear.
Very quickly, that assassin gave his response.
【Favorability: -30 (High-threat individual!)】
Just as he flipped his wrist, Lynn let out a loud shout:
"Because I can detoxify poisons!"
Just as he had predicted, the other party's movements stopped.
But it wouldn't have mattered if he hadn't stopped, since he was behind Elysia anyway.
"What... did you say?"
Hearing the other party's hoarse and emotionless voice, Lynn grinned.
The act of questioning itself represented an emotional disclosure.
Without a doubt, the other party felt an urgent desire.
"I know how to detoxify poisons. The Viscount's son was poisoned with the same Frost Ice Poison as you, and I successfully woke him up."
As a killer for the Blood Snake Society, he must have the ability to judge the truthfulness of words.
And these three sentences from Lynn were all true, it was just that when put together, they could be interpreted with a different meaning.
This was the art of language.
Undoubtedly, the Viscount's son was currently only relying on drinking alcohol to alleviate the symptoms, the same measure Griffin had taken.
But he wanted the other party to misunderstand that he had successfully cured the snake venom.
"How about it, do you want to be detoxified? Trust me, I can remove the snake venom on your body."