Chapter 104: And once there was a date.

Kai set down his fork.

“You may.”

“When you first summoned me, did you ever think we would end up here? Sitting at a restaurant in a human city, eating duck and drinking wine?”

Kai thought about it.

’When I first summoned her, I was worried she would try to kill me. Then I was worried she would kill everyone else. Then I was worried she would embarrass me in front of the Merchant Guild. Not like I can tell her that though.’

“No,” he answered. “I did not.”

Carlotta smiled, tilting her head slightly.

“Neither did I. When I was summoned, I expected to serve a master who would treat me as a tool. A weapon to be used and discarded. That was the fate of most summoned creatures, or so I believed.”

She looked down at her wine glass, swirling the liquid gently.

“Instead, I found someone who treats his soon to be wife with dignity. Who rewards loyalty with trust. Who allowed a witch like me to negotiate with a king on his behalf.”

She lifted her gaze back to Kai, and the sincerity in her red eyes was unmistakable.

“I would follow you to the end of this world and beyond, my Lord.”

The words settled between them like the warm glow of the lantern trees.

Kai stared at her for a long moment.

’Ah shit, i can tell she means that too.’

A part of him, the part that was still a gamer from the real world who never had a serious relationship, felt the faintest flutter in his chest.

He ignored it, of course. He was the Shadow of Victims. Fluttering chests were not part of the job description.

“Carlotta.”

“Yes, my Lord?”

“Thank you. For everything.”

Carlotta’s composure shattered for the second time that evening. Her eyes glistened, and she quickly looked away, pressing the back of her hand against her mouth.

“You are going to make me cry in public, my Lord.”

“Please do not.”

“I am trying.”

“Try harder.”

She let out a small laugh, blinking rapidly to hold back the tears.

The waiter came and refilled her glass. Carlotta drank the entire thing in one go.

“Better,” she whispered, though her cheeks were now a deep shade of crimson.

…

After the meal, they resumed their walk through the city.

The midnight hour was approaching, and true to what Carlotta had described, the markets were still alive and bustling.

If anything, they had grown louder. More stalls had opened, selling late-night pastries, enchanted trinkets, and handmade lanterns that floated when released into the air.

Kai bought one of the lanterns on impulse. A small, paper construct with a candle inside that hovered at chest height when let go.

He handed it to Carlotta without a word.

She held it with both hands, staring at it like it was a second sun.

“My Lord, this is the greatest night of my entire existence.”

“It is just a paper lantern; I don’t really think-”

“It is a paper lantern that you bought for me, My lord, that alone has value than the entire kingdom.”

Kai opened his mouth to respond when something caught his eye.

A figure darted through the crowd about thirty meters ahead, moving against the flow of foot traffic. It was subtle, the kind of movement most people would miss, but Kai’s perception stat was absurdly high.

He tracked the figure with his eyes and immediately recognized the person chasing it.

Leo.

The young merchant was sprinting through the crowd, weaving between stalls and shoppers with a look of pure determination on his face. He was dressed in his usual merchant attire, and his face was slick with sweat as though he had been running for quite some time.

’What is Leo doing in Gatevally? He is supposed to be managing the shop in Rambosa.’

Without a word, Kai changed direction and began walking toward the commotion. Carlotta noticed immediately, her demeanor shifting from lovestruck to combat-ready in the span of a heartbeat.

“My Lord?”

“Stay close. I see a familiar face.”

They moved through the crowd like shadows, and within seconds, Kai was close enough to intercept Leo at a corner where two streets met.

Leo nearly collided with him. The merchant stumbled back, eyes wide, hands raised defensively.

“Watch where you are go–”

He froze.

His eyes scanned the man standing before him.

“L-Lord Sha– I mean, sir?!”

“Keep your voice down,” Kai said calmly, his hands still in his pockets. “Why are you running through this city like a madman?”

Leo’s face cycled through about five different emotions in the span of two seconds. Relief. Panic. Gratitude. Fear. And then something close to urgency.

“Sir, I am so glad I ran into you. I have been chasing a man for the last twenty minutes. He was lurking near our storage facility in the merchant district. Sophia caught him eavesdropping on our security codes, the combination for the warehouse locks. He bolted the moment she confronted him.”

Kai’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Did you catch him?”

Leo shook his head, still catching his breath.

“No. He was fast, and the crowd made it nearly impossible to keep up. But I did manage to get a good look at his face. He had a tattoo on the back of his hand. A red coin with a serpent wrapped around it.”

Carlotta’s expression turned cold.

“That is the emblem of the Crimson Ledger. A merchant syndicate that operates in the shadows. They are known for eliminating competition through theft, sabotage, and outright assassination.”

Kai looked at her.

“You know of them?”

“I encountered their name during my travels to meet King Desmond. They were mentioned in passing by one of the merchants in the markets I visited. They are ruthless and well-funded.”

Leo wiped the sweat from his brow, his hands trembling.

“Sir, that is not the worst part. Before the man ran, Sophia overheard him speaking to someone through a communication crystal. He said, and I quote, ’The codes are confirmed. Tell the others to move on the warehouse tonight. The Undead Market Company will not see sunrise.’”

Kai’s expression did not change.

But the temperature around him dropped by several degrees.

Carlotta felt it immediately. Her master’s aura had shifted, just barely, but enough for her to recognize the familiar edge of controlled anger.

’They are planning a raid on our business? On the company I built from nothing? It cant be the duke, neither his wife, so who else is looking to destory this again…?’

“Leo. Where is Sophia?”

“She is back at the warehouse, sir. I told her to lock everything down and not let anyone in until I returned.”

“Good. Take me to where you last saw this man.”

Leo blinked.

“Right now, sir? But you seem like you were in the middle of something…” His eyes drifted to Carlotta, who was still holding a bouquet of flowers in one arm and a floating paper lantern in the other.

There was a brief, awkward silence.

Carlotta cleared her throat.

“I can hold these and end lives at the same time. Do not underestimate a woman’s ability to multitask.”

Kai said nothing but began walking. Leo scrambled to keep up.

…

The trail Leo had been following led them to the lower merchant district of Gatevally, a section of the city where the lantern trees grew sparse and the streets were narrower.

The warm, golden atmosphere of the main market faded, replaced by flickering torches and the smell of damp stone. The buildings here were older, packed tight together, with narrow alleyways branching off in every direction.

It was the kind of place where shady deals were made and no questions were asked.

Leo led them to a dead-end alley where the man had vanished.

“He ran in here and just disappeared. There is no exit that I could see.”

Kai walked to the end of the alley and placed his hand against the stone wall. His perception skill activated, and within seconds, he found what he was looking for.

[Target has been identified.]

A false wall. A thin layer of stone that could be pushed inward with enough force, revealing a hidden passage.

“Carlotta.”

“Already on it, my Lord.”

With a casual flick of her wrist, the false wall crumbled inward, revealing a staircase that descended underground.

The smell that rose from below was stale air, ink, and oil. The kind of scent associated with underground warehouses and illegal operations.

Kai descended first, his footsteps silent on the stone.

Leo followed behind Carlotta, doing his best not to think about the fact that he was walking into a criminal hideout with a dungeon lord in casual clothes.

The staircase led to a wide underground chamber, lit by rows of hanging oil lamps.

Crates were stacked along the walls, each one stamped with different merchant guild emblems, some of which Kai recognized as legitimate businesses.

At the center of the chamber stood a large table covered in maps, ledgers, and communication crystals.

Around it sat eight men, all armed and bearing the same red coin tattoo on their hands.

And at the head of the table, in a high-backed chair that was far too ornate for a criminal hideout, sat a heavyset man with slicked-back hair and gold rings on every finger.

The leader of the Crimson Ledger’s Gatevally Chapter.

He was mid-sentence when Kai walked in.

“–and once we clear out their.”

He stopped talking.

All eight men turned their heads toward the entrance.

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