Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: The Widow of Eight Feet (2)
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1.
A high-class restaurant in D-1 District.
A reunion with Ceres—the woman with whom I'd sold Arbel's corpse in the first playthrough and spent the night together.
The path to reach this place had been anything but free.
I'd invested four full days of grinding, all the resources I'd earned from it, and every scrap of intel I'd gathered into this dinner date with her.
Like some hot-blooded club president trekking through noob zones for his girl.
Of course, what that hot-blooded president wanted was a bit different from what I was after.
Totally different, anyway.
This was a cold, calculated investment on my part.
The reason I'd avoided Ceres like the plague in the second playthrough? I'd mistaken her for a snitch.
After that, without Arbel's corpse as tribute, I figured I had no leverage with her whatsoever.
What even is a mage?
Unlike a normal guy like me, they're all a bunch of lunatics in one way or another.
Even if she'd shown me a bit of favor, it felt too dicey to risk my neck pushing for a meeting.
But after everything I'd been through lately, I'd changed my mind.
Right now, I was so weak that "dying well" had to be part of my strategy.
What if things went south anyway?
Activate the effect of 「Trivial Pardon」! 'Get forgiven once for a mistake or wrongdoing committed against someone clearly stronger than you!'
End turn!
That oughta work, right?
"You cute little kid. Do you know? This time to me is incredibly precious. Far too valuable for you to interrupt."
Ceres leisurely dabbed at her mouth with her napkin.
Truth be told... no, anyone's 2.4-meter frame would make even the simplest actions look a tad comical.
"But considering your imaginary courage..."
Yet when Ceres set down the napkin stained with red lipstick, I felt something entirely different.
"I'll give you one minute."
Terrifying. Goosebumps.
It felt like sharing a table with a savage beast who'd been trained in table manners.
And it was no wonder.
What I'd learned about her while haunting the black markets wasn't just that she rented out her favorite restaurant every morning at 10 for brunch.
The Widow of Eight Feet, Ceres Cassian.
One of the eleven directors steering Twilight Resource Development.
A mage who wielded 'death' magic, estimated age over 250.
Exact rank unknown.
But presumed to be at least 4th rank or higher.
Ceres was a labyrinthine monster reigning over the Necropolis, where life and death intertwined.
I feigned calm as best I could and quietly swallowed.
"If I can't convince you in one minute, Director, what happens then?"
"Who knows? Right now, I'm tempted to gouge out those pretty eyes of yours, castrate you, and ship you off to the pink streets."
Heh heh heh, nice tastes!
What a killer sense of humor!
"Haha, are you planning to send my bodyguards waiting outside to the pink streets too?"
"......"
Ceres flashed a grin at my icebreaker joke.
I'd hoped it'd shift the mood to something like "Puhaha!" or "Hohoho!" or "Uhahaha!"
But her smile was just her lips stretching like rotten cheese.
Don't do that...
Seriously fucking scary.
Is the pardon even gonna work on this woman?!
I couldn't picture her saying, "Eh, shit happens. Drive safe~"
Still, I had some confidence to lean on.
In both the first and now, the moment Ceres saw me, she'd said:
"You have good eyes. Mad eyes."
And looking back to the first playthrough...
"It wasn't your sister I spoke to you about in the ossuary. That time, I saw 'you' first."
Ceres definitely had some kind of expectations for me.
If I really had potential, maybe I could join her ranks and awaken it?
"I want to serve as your attendant, Lady Ceres."
"Oh? Why?"
"Because you're beautiful."
"Thanks. Twenty-eight seconds left."
Whyyyyy?!
We got along great in the first playthrough!
You said you liked me!
That I'd turn out like you if I drowned in madness!
Use the 「Trivial Pardon」 right now before it's too late and end the turn!
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「Grave-Probing Monocle」
- Effect: Peek into up to 3 past events from the last month that the target most wants to hide.
- Note: Can only reveal actions the target is consciously aware of. Remaining uses: '2'.
======
That's what would've happened without the 「Grave-Probing Monocle」.
"Hmm, unexpected."
"Twenty-two seconds..."
"For a Twilight Resource Development director to have such poor judgment of character."
"Julien. Escort this kid out politely."
"Yes, Director."
Julien strode toward me to "escort" me away.
His crisp suit and blank expression were the epitome of a model guard dog.
At least... on the surface.
Even's Sedric had puked his guts out when he learned the guy's secret.
"I wouldn't think you'd need an attendant who diligently collects his boss's discarded stockings."
"What?"
Ceres's eyes narrowed.
Julien's footsteps—fit for a headmaster at butler school—skidded spectacularly.
"What else was it? Ah... should I even say this?"
"Out with it."
Julien's eyes rolled back as he charged at me like a madman.
"Shut your trap, you bastard!!!!!!!! Don't you dare slander my loyalty with that sneaky three-inch tongue of yours!!!!!"
Whoa, gramps. Don't react like that if you don't want to confirm it.
"Enough."
Julien froze at Ceres's gesture.
Instead, he desperately pleaded toward her.
"Lady Ceres!!! My loyalty stems from respect and reverence purer than fresh snow...!"
"Bullshit. It's the product of pitch-black lust and desire."
"You bastard!!!!!!!!!"
Ceres lowered her perfectly expressionless raised hand and asked me.
"More?"
"That goat-fucker named his goat Ceres."
I wasn't kidding.
Goat enthusiasts exist, apparently.
I'd gotten the monocle and immediately plotted to slander her sidekick and fill the vacancy...
...but I hadn't expected depths like this.
Ceres took a steady breath and murmured softly.
"...More?"
I drove the wedge in.
"He fucked it yesterday too."
"......"
Ceres's eyes turned ice-cold.
They'd always been eerily dim, almost lifeless, but now the light had vanished entirely.
"Stop! Stop! Lady Ceres! This is all slander! All lies!"
He was so flustered it bordered on a seizure—frantic denial.
He looked kinda pitiful screaming like that.
But hey, I wasn't making shit up.
Honestly, she might've forgiven the stockings thing.
Who names their fuck-goat after their boss?
"It's slander! How can you doubt my loyalty based on some outsider you just met today? I've served you as your executive assistant for three years! My loyalty is heavier than my life!"
I'd figured Ceres would interrogate him with magic or at least investigate.
But her response to his desperate self-defense was curt.
"Is that so? Then kill yourself."
"Pardon?"
"Your loyalty to me outweighs your life, right? Do it here."
"Th-that... L-Lady Ceres! I didn't mean it like—"
"If you can't uphold it, you shouldn't have said it."
Without any further grilling, Ceres lightly raised her hand like she was calling a waiter.
"Eat."
Julien's face drained of color.
"Lady Ceres!!! I truly am
The goat-fucking executive assistant Julien vanished.
His near-scream explanation cut off like a cassette tape snapped in half.
As if he'd never been there to begin with.
The sudden silence was chilling.
If Julien had been ground to dust or the restaurant splattered in blood, it might've been less scary.
So this is 4th rank magic at minimum? How do you even counter that?
Cold sweat dripped down my forehead.
Well... looks like my predecessor's gone.
Who's gonna hand over the reins now?
"Whew."
I smoothly lit the cigarette Ceres pulled from her case and continued.
"I don't fuck goats."
Ceres let out a hollow chuckle as she exhaled smoke.
"You've got the guts to act bold, at least. You want to be my attendant?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"What rank?"
"Guts, 9th-grade fixer from GetMoney Agency. Freshly licensed."
"9th grade?"
A flicker of interest lit Ceres's eyes.
"Well, violence isn't the only measure of competence."
To her, a 9th-grader who'd uncovered her attendant's secret deviance—unknown even to her—must've seemed intriguing.
Proof of ability.
"You drive?"
"Yup!"
"Good. Julien used to handle that. A chauffeur might be useful enough."
Score!!!
Using the monocle to approach Ceres was to test a new route, a new playstyle.
No matter how I sliced it, starting from rock bottom with no base was hopeless.
There's that saying: even if you're a slave, do it in a noble house.
Build trust and favor by taking her "backdoor commissions" directly, worm my way into her bed, and secure my spot as her pillar man!
Awaken my potential under the warm hem of Ceres's skirt!
That was the plan for this playthrough.
And now she'd hooked me up with a whale of a gig as her driver!
"I'll work hard!"
I bowed ninety degrees in greeting.
"First, something to check."
"Your orders."
"When picking attendants, I value obedience above all. My position draws all sorts of scum."
"If you say bark, I'll bark. Show my belly, I'll show it."
"Oh?"
Ceres rose and approached.
In her hand was a long, narrow-tipped fork.
The same one that had been prodding snails in their shells moments ago.
She caressed my cheek and whispered sweetly.
"You'll obey anything I do? Truly?"
"Of course. I'm not some smooth-talking thug like Julien."
I'd answered on reflex...
Fuck... why do I feel uneasy?
"Let's see how well you obey, then."
The fork in Ceres's hand slowly advanced toward my eye.
Its sharp tip glinted in the sunlight.
Hey, cut the crap. This isn't funny~ It's a joke, right? WWE stuff? Not real, right?
It's gonna stop right in front, yeah?
"Who sent you?"
"Pardon?"
-Stab.
A squelch.
"......Urk?!"
You bitch!!! Fucking psycho!!!! Are you insane?!!!!
How do you stab someone's eye with a fork!!!!
Agony like an iron rod scraping inside my skull, and my vision vanished.
Squelching sounds followed. Sticky fluid—tears? Blood? Vitreous humor?—trickled down my cheek.
"W-Wait wait wait! Gaaah! Why the hell are you doing this! Gaaah!"
"Tell the truth, and it'll end with one eye. You think I'm an idiot?"
In my remaining vision, Ceres twirled the fork like extracting a snail from its shell.
Does this bitch think I'm a plant?
"I already know everything. Just say it and feel better."
"......Grrraaah!!!!"
"Why approach me? With such juicy intel in hand."
No one was behind me anyway.
Show any sign of backing down here, and she'd "Julien" me regardless.
Die now or die later—same difference.
I gritted my teeth, glared with my good eye, and yelled.
"Money! Money! Money! Here for cash! I weeded out your goat-fucker, so why gouge my eye, you lunatic bitch!!!"
Ah, shouldn't have sworn.
"Hmm~"
Ceres made a satisfied hum and withdrew the fork from my socket.
Gory, viscous fluid splattered to the floor.
"As expected, you're..."
Ceres's lips curved into a smile.
Whatever. I was in fucking agony.
Ow, head hurts. Eye hurts.
Fuck. Fuck. Gonna puke. You goddamn maniac.
"Sorry, my mistake. Come here."
"This ends with 'my mistake'? Huh?"
Her touch brushed my eye socket again, and my vision returned.
The dull ache aside, the pain washed away like water.
Healing? Regeneration? How?
-Thunk.
She tossed something; I caught it reflexively.
A hefty car key with ornate silver trim, and gold coins.
Three 100,000-bio coins.
Mood improved a tiny bit.
"Go wait by the car. That's compensation."
"Sir!"
"Hehe, hurt a lot?"
"Nope! Happens when you're hiring—sometimes you mistake applicants for spies!"
Bitch.
You say that after forking someone's eye?
Think this chump change will soothe my rage? Wrong.
I'll never forget this humiliation, Ceres. I'll have my revenge.
House Montraven repays favors with bunny girls and grudges tenfold.
I'll make you submit using your filthy secrets as bait.
I adjusted the monocle.
Not that it's all personal.
Now an official driver, it was prime time to dig into Ceres's background.
When you get hired, you collect weaknesses to exploit, not your boss's stockings.
Heading to the restaurant garage with the key.
I aimed the monocle at Ceres, resuming her meal as if nothing happened.
[「Grave-Probing Monocle」 Remaining uses (1/3)]
[The following are 'Ceres Cassian''s most closely guarded past events from the last month.]
1) Two days ago, Ceres Cassian researched ways to break the 'Precept.'
2) Fourteen days ago, Ceres Cassian threw away all her high-heeled shoes from the dressing room.
3) Twenty-eight days ago, Ceres Cassian leaked Twilight Resource Development's 'Project Z' (biochemical weapon dispersal within Necropolis, estimated 250,000 deaths) plans to Overnus Pharmaceuticals.
"......"
Huh?