Volume 3

Chapter 16 : Change Silently

The magnificent fortress at the highest point of Strife Fortress was precisely the residence of the City Lord Bayebop Leos, and also the central stronghold of the Whistling Legion.

With Strife Fortress as the core, the influence of the Whistling Legion radiated toward the entire West Kingdom and even other territories of the Empire.

As a fifth-tier powerhouse under the command of Grand Duke Lapis Lazuli, Bayebop’s guild was naturally also one of the top adventurer guilds; he himself was also a member with extremely deep seniority within the Zero Point Explorers.

It was just that during this period, Bayebop himself did not stay in Strife Fortress.

Under the instruction of Grand Duke Lapis Lazuli, he led most of the elites of the Whistling Legion and threw them into the flesh-and-blood mill of the battle between the two Grand Dukes, Sky Soil and Blood Dust.

However, even so, it was impossible for any accidents to occur in Strife Fortress due to Bayebop’s temporary departure. First, this was the hinterland of the territory governed by Grand Duke Lapis Lazuli; second, Bayebop had also left behind a few people capable of controlling the situation.

So theoretically speaking, even if this old-established guild was currently somewhat empty, nothing would happen.

Mm… theoretically speaking.

“Mibaita!”

In the magnificent room where an unknown number of white fleshy bodies lay in disorder, an extremely angry shout rang out.

A brown-skinned woman whose appearance could not be considered elegant, but whose temperament was valiant and chilling, kicked open the room door and roared in rage: “Get up for me!”

“…Oh, Big Sister.”

The young man pushed aside the soft and delicate body on top of him, lazily straightened his upper body, and yawned: “Good morning, how did you have time to come look for me today?”

“It is already fucking one o’clock in the afternoon!”

Indote Vaka, Bayebop’s current wife and also his deputy, did not go to the battlefield with Bayebop, but remained stationed at Strife Fortress to guard the base camp of the Whistling Legion.

And this youth who buried himself in a pile of women was Bayebop’s younger brother, Mibaita Leos.

He was not a member of the Whistling Legion, but was the founder of Strife Fortress’s administrative system, and also the actual manager of Strife Fortress.

“Noon? Then it is time to eat lunch.”

Mibaita slowly found his pants from within the pile of women and put them on, replying lazily: “I will go eat something first, if there is anything, we can talk about it later.”

“You bastard thing…” Indote’s eye twitched slightly.

“The selection tournament is starting in a few days, have matters been handled well!”

“Big Sister, you still do not trust me?”

Mibaita grinned: “It is all just some small matters, which could possibly not be handled well with this. Alright, I am going to eat lunch first.”

The youth was naked from the waist up, walking through the messy room, completely not looking at what was under his feet, and would even directly step over the bodies of the comatose women; even if he heard the screams emitted, he did not care in the slightest.

When Mibaita Leos was a child, he often could not figure out what the purpose of the Emperor establishing the Empire was, and why the omnipotent God needed to maintain such a fragile item.

But ever since he started helping his elder brother, who only possessed martial strength, to handle the government affairs of this territory city, until today when he completely took over the entire political system of Strife Fortress, Mibaita already had an incomparably profound understanding of the Emperor’s thoughts.

The pleasure of domination… is a magic addiction that overrides all other pleasures and cannot be quit.

Once one has tasted that flavor once, one can never part with it again.

Sitting in the dining room, Mibaita slowly tasted the top-grade meat, ignoring the report handed over by the secretary, and said indistinctly:

“That Faust, how is the investigation going?”

“…Still nothing can be found out, very sorry, Lord Mibaita.”

“Mm…” The youth hummed thoughtfully. “Could it be that I have encountered the real goods?”

It was unknown when it started, probably not too long ago from now, a bizarre piece of news suddenly began to circulate in the West Kingdom.

The legendary adventurer Faust, who had left behind countless anecdotes three years ago but had mysteriously disappeared for some reason, would return once again.

As a gathering place for adventurers, the West Kingdom was originally known for chaos; there were always a dozen if not dozens of news items more bizarre than this every day, so at first, no one took this matter to heart.

But as time passed, one after another… several guys claiming to be Faust appeared.

Among this group of “Fausts”, some were just swindling and bluffing, with average strength. Some indeed had something to them and had caused quite a stir, but after their fame grew a little bigger, they were proven to be fakes.

Up until now, no fewer than fifty Fausts had appeared throughout the entire Empire; two Fausts had appeared here in Strife Fortress alone.

One cheated a precious alchemical weapon from someone else, and one bragged too much and was beaten to death on the street on the spot.

Mibaita originally did not care about this third Faust either, but as a member of the Whistling Legion died at his hands, and news came that very day of his performance in that lava labyrinth, Mibaita had no choice but to take it seriously.

It did not matter that a member died; that guy just happened to be a famous scum in the Whistling Legion, so if he died, he died.

But the thing called power… had to be treated with caution.

“Has he not accepted our invitation yet?”

Mibaita put down the knife and fork, and the woman with revealing clothes beside him immediately leaned over to lick off the grease on his mouth.

His secretary watched his nose and heart: “No, Lord Mibaita.”

“The temper is quite that of a big shot… meaning I am not worthy of acting as the host, and only worthy of kneeling and claiming subjectship, that is probably what it means.”

Saying this, Mibaita did not get angry, but instead laughed twice: “Fine, it also saves trouble. If this Excellency Faust, whose authenticity is unknown, finds me an eyesore, then that would be difficult to handle.”

“Then do we need to…”

“No need to bother with him.” Mibaita waved his hand.

“He can do whatever he loves to do; if he plunders, let him plunder; if he kills, let him kill; it does not matter.”

The secretary was slightly startled and subconsciously opened his mouth to say: “But will this affect you…”

“Affect me in what? Enjoying life?”

Mibaita stood up and stretched his waist: “Even if Big Brother were here, I would also advise him not to bother with this Faust of unknown origin. Mr. Legend’s footsteps will not stop, but I have plenty of time to roam freely in my territory. Clashing with him slightly might invite big trouble, why bother.”

Of course, the premise of all this was the scene described incoherently by those adventurers with yearning, fear, or reverence.

The monster stood upon the sea of magma, swinging his sword to cut down, splitting the boiling crimson sea, raising giant waves that obscured the mountain ranges.

Heh, really a fascinating sight… yeah right.

Compared to that kind of scene, he preferred to see the commoners of the lower city erupt with gratitude like a mountain call and tsunami because of the slight favors he scattered.

Mibaita would occasionally fantasize about the scene of the Emperor sitting upright upon the throne, looking down with contempt at all the strong people in the world; merely imagining it would make his heart beat faster and his lust flourish.

“Let us go, time to do some things, otherwise Big Sister is going to go crazy again.”

After eating lunch, Mibaita was about to start his work.

Undoubtedly, he handled political affairs, but never thought about bringing any better life to the residents of Strife Fortress; he only wanted to satisfy his twisted desire for power through this.

But it was undeniable that Mibaita was an excellent politician.

Although Strife Fortress was named after strife, it was actually quite orderly, and Mibaita was never sloppy in handling government affairs—this point could be seen from the fact that his secretary was not a woman but a man.

His secretary followed all the way, while quickly reporting the reports Mibaita didn’t read while eating lunch just now: “For the matters related to the selection tournament, only the verification of the applicants and the schedule arrangement remain. Contact with His Excellency the Grand Duke has been completed.”

“Rusty Axe, who has the highest popularity in the arena, accidentally killed a commoner yesterday… The handling has been done, but the specific situation still requires you to look over it.”

Mibaita listened while walking, occasionally giving the secretary some responses and very quickly arrived at the door of his office.

He twisted the handle, and before pushing the door to enter, he suddenly asked:

“Right… that group of rebels claiming to be the New World, have we caught their tails?”

“Almost, we have already found out that they seem to want to do something in this selection tournament—speaking of which, they also did a very stupid thing.”

“What?”

“Offering a bounty for your head at the Executioner’s; the Executioner branch within the city is hanging that bounty.”

Mibaita was first dazed, then couldn’t help but laugh loudly, laughing until his stomach hurt.

“New World?” The youth pushed open the door, shaking his head with a smile. “I see, might as well change the name to Circus.”

“Looking for the Executioner to offer a bounty for my head… they dare to hang it, but who dares to accept it? Hm?”

Mibaita, who had caught his breath, closed the door with a chuckle, looking at his secretary with a pleasant expression: “Darne, would you say…”

From his secretary’s face, Mibaita saw a terrified expression, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared.

He looked in the direction of the secretary’s line of sight, and saw a black-haired youth sitting on his seat, resting his legs on the office desk, casually flipping through the books on the table.

At the same time, there was a thin adventurer wearing a beret, wandering around the edge of his bookshelf, reading two stacks of documents held in hands.

“……”

Mibaita knew who they were; he had seen the portraits of these two people long ago.

In the brief silence, an extremely vivid smile suddenly bloomed on the youth’s slightly stiff face:

“Isn’t this Excellency Faust!”

He made an incomparably pleasant surprised expression, the enthusiastic manner looked as if he had known that black-haired youth with crossed legs for more than ten years.

Mibaita walked forward with quick steps, his expression respectful and humble: “I did not expect you to visit this place in person. Failing to prepare to entertain you in advance, it was my oversight.”

But that “Faust” still did not respond, but put the book aside and looked up at the slender adventurer.

“Ganlei, how is it, is there an answer?”

“Yes.” Miss Ma Ganlei nodded gently. “I have already understood why Ms. Nailan does not wish for you to dispose of this Mr. Mibaita.”

“…Wait!” Mibaita couldn’t help but shout loudly, “Is there something between us—”

Faust frowned slightly and knocked the knuckle of his index finger on the tabletop; invisible power whistled past, tearing Mibaita’s vocal cords to shreds in an instant.

“Continue.” He looked at Ma Ganlei and spoke thus.

“This Mr. Mibaita, through his elder brother Bayebop, has connections with many adventurer guilds and powerful adventurers in the entire West Kingdom. If used as a springboard, a very substantial intelligence network can be built… No, Shadow Swamp should have done this long ago, so strictly speaking, he counts as a relatively important piece in the network Shadow Swamp deployed in the West Kingdom.”

“So… that is why Ms. Nailan hoped you could spare Mibaita’s life.”

Nailan’s message arrived almost right on the heels of Marina asking Yapo for intelligence on Mibaita.

She herself did not arrive at the scene, seemingly having a mission on hand, and transmitted the information through a black feather. And Ansel told this information to Marina, simultaneously giving her a small test, letting her find the reason why Nailan defied Ansel’s will like this within a specified time.

Ansel did not even look at Mibaita who fell to the ground in pain, and continued to ask Marina: “Then do you think her idea is correct?”

“…You would not do meaningless things, Mr. Faust.”

Marina said softly: “I do not know what your deep purpose is, but since there is one, then I think there is no reason to deny you. Ms. Nailan, who thinks she is more correct than you, is too overstepping, and also too arrogant.”

Ansel couldn’t help but laugh: “Does this count as you talking bad about her behind her back?”

“No.” Marina shook her head. “Next time we meet, I will point it out directly.”

The young Hydra stared at her for a long time, and then suddenly said:

“Then, suppose I have no deep purpose?”

Marina was stunned.

“…What?”

“My meaning should be very clear.” Ansel raised his eyebrows slightly. “No deep purpose. My going to the Executioner guild was a temporary idea from the very beginning, and accepting this commission was just because I felt it was interesting—suppose I thought like this, would you still support me?”

In this office, the life and death of a certain person became the most insignificant thing instead; the ordinary girl subconsciously increased the force of pinching the documents.

She actually had a lot she wanted to say.

She wanted to say, actually she also did not wish for Ansel to kill Mibaita just like this, not only because this person was involved in the intelligence deployment of the West Kingdom, but more importantly, his status in Strife Fortress was decisive… To find another person skilled in administration from a bunch of adventurers who only knew how to fight and kill was not that easy.

If Mibaita died, Strife Fortress would fall into huge turmoil. Adventurers were amazing enough to pull out and leave, but what about the commoners in the city?

Marina did not wish for them to suffer such an undeserved calamity, so in her heart… she did not wish for Ansel to kill Mibaita so casually.

But she could find sufficient reasons for herself—that was that Ansel always had his own considerations, and he would not do a certain thing out of pure spontaneity.

I can never have a vision surpassing Mr. Ansel.

Mr. Ansel is always right, so just supporting him is enough. Marina thought like this.

But now, Ansel said, suppose he really just wanted to kill Mibaita as he pleased, then what should she do.

Should… stop it.

Marina murmured like this in her heart, but no matter what, she had no way to speak the words out.

“If this is what you want…”

She found that she spoke this sentence almost instinctively: “Then you just do it.”

Ansel tilted his head slightly: “Even if that is not correct?”

Correct…

Marina involuntarily recalled the things she pondered not long ago—was Faust a phantom that never existed, a disguise deceiving the world, or Ansel’s heartfelt aspiration?

Mr. Ansel has always been doing the correct things, but does he really always want to do the correct things?

Thinking of this, Marina thought of Ansel’s recent changes again, a kind of change she couldn’t quite describe, but which definitely existed… a change brought by Miss Mingfuluo.

A change leading Mr. Ansel from the path of chasing correctness to another, more… more human path.

She smiled softly and responded: “Your peace of mind is more important than correctness.”

Mr. Faust originally did not need to consider so much about rationality or not; Mr. Ansel, likewise, did not need to.

Yes, Mr. Ansel should be like Mr. Faust; how did he need to carry the shackle named correctness?

Marina, thinking like this, seemed to have found the reason to veto herself and obey Ansel again.

“…My peace of mind.”

Ansel seemed not to expect Marina to answer like this, stunned for a moment, but very quickly revealed a smile again.

“Makes sense… makes a lot of sense.”

The smile on the young Hydra’s face became increasingly brilliant, and he even directly let out hearty and happy laughter.

“Ganlei, regarding borrowing this Mr. Mibaita’s head, I actually am not acting out of any ‘interest’.”

Ansel, whose expression was obviously much more relaxed, said leisurely: “I just want to kill him, because he makes me feel disgusted.”

“…So it was like that?” Marina was slightly surprised, but still said respectfully, “Then you have one hundred and twenty thousand reasons.”

But at the same time, there was still unspoken confusion in her heart.

This… did not quite seem like words Mr. Ansel would say.

“Nailan would not have the same view as you; she would only say I was not like this before.”

Before… the Mr. Ansel from before…

This confusion coincided with the hesitation in Marina’s heart; she felt she had grasped something, yet could not see it clearly.

Ansel smiled: “Forget it, let us not mention her. We only have one hour; we have to take Mr. Mibaita’s head back to report the completion of the task.”

He raised his hand, crossed his index finger and thumb, and Mibaita’s head fell directly from his neck.

The cut was flat and smooth, with not even blood flowing out, very possessing of… an artistic aura.

“Let us go, Ganlei.”

After putting away Mibaita’s human head, Ansel said relaxedly: “Go back to complete the commission, we still have spare time to drink something.”

“…Mr. Faust, could I trouble you to wait for me for a moment?”

“Hm?”

Marina, holding the two stacks, said with a soft and quiet voice: “I want to do one thing, please permit me.”

Ansel looked at her with interest: “Let us hear it.”

“Before, I actually had one more concern than Ms. Nailan. That is that Mr. Mibaita is probably the only one who can manage Strife Fortress; if he dies, Strife Fortress will definitely fall into chaos.”

“Strife Fortress cannot be without Mibaita.”

Ansel shrugged: “You saying this now is a bit late.”

Judging from his expression, he obviously had thought of this matter long ago, but did not care much. According to Marina’s understanding of Ansel… he should have prepared a candidate to take over Strife Fortress in secret.

But… no need to wait.

The girl cast her gaze toward that man who was trembling with fear, whose crotch was full of water stains, and who most likely had the same position as herself, and suddenly revealed a clear and lovely beautiful smile:

“I think you also think so, right, this gentleman.”

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