Chapter 139 : No rivers of blood, please!

The one who called out to Hall was Moyel.

He never expected Moyel to appear in Sunset City.

You’re Leticia’s personal guard—why aren’t you in Saint Louis?

What are you doing here?

And more importantly, with the Child family’s wealth, did they really need a military officer like her handling administrative tasks?

It made no sense.

In the game, Moyel never left Leticia’s side.

Wherever the young mistress went, she followed.

They were inseparable—life and death together.

“I came to find you,” Moyel said without hiding it. “If you didn’t show up soon, I was going to contact the Shadow Demon Clan to track you down.”

Hall frowned.

The Shadow Demons, like the vampires, were elite guards from the Demon God’s era.

While vampires handled brute force suppression, the Shadow Demons served as the Demon God’s intelligence corps—specializing in tracking.

Their unique 【Shadow State】 made them undetectable by conventional detection magic.

Seven hundred years ago, after the reigning Demon King died and the vampires took over the Western Demon Realm, the remnants of the Shadow Demon Clan submitted to their rule.

Nowadays, they worked for the vampires gathering intel—and occasionally took outside jobs.

For a high price.

But the Child family had no shortage of money.

Besides, Moyel had already guessed that “William” was Hall.

Yet she also suspected Hall wouldn’t return to the Papal State with Christine—that would expose him too directly, contradicting his motive for vanishing without a trace.

So she decided to play it safe.

With this backup plan, she was certain to intercept Hall mid-journey.

“…Then there’s no need for all this effort,” Hall replied calmly. “I’ll finish my business and return to Saint Louis in a few days. Don’t tell Leticia I’m here. Sunset City is dangerous.”

“You still have some conscience,” Moyel said. “Do you have any idea how much the young mistress has missed you?”

“I don’t have a choice. I’m on a classified mission for the Black Knights. You know about the recent attack on the Bal Empire’s saintess candidate by vampires, right?”

He dodged the real issue.

“Of course I know. By the way, Himan also went to Bal to investigate the vampires. Didn’t you run into her?”

“We didn’t meet. But she knows I’m here.”

“Oh? So what are you investigating in Sunset City? The Child family can help.”

Moyel saw this as the perfect chance to advance her mistress’s cause.

She wanted Hall to understand—marrying Leticia meant gaining immense support.

Did he even grasp the scale of the dowry when a Child daughter married?

It was unmatched by any woman in the world.

“No need for help.”

“Then why withdraw money? You must be spending it. Didn’t the young mistress give you a check before?”

She was referring to the time Hall carried Leticia through the Demon God’s Labyrinth.

“I don’t need that much.”

Hall thought, Damn, I’m screwed.

But he couldn’t avoid using the bank—there was only one legitimate bank in Sunset City, and it belonged to the vampire clan.

Any other choice…

“Oh, let me see. You’re using a fake name: William Ross.”

……

He stayed silent. Since he’d been caught anyway, Moyel would just check the account records.

“If you have nothing else, I’ll be leaving.”

“I came specifically for you. Where are you staying? I’ll stay nearby.”

The scent on Hall’s clothes told Moyel there was another woman with him.

She had to prevent her mistress from being cuckolded.

“There’s no other place nearby.”

“It doesn’t matter. The Child family has no lack of money. We can buy property under the young mistress’s name—even an entire building. Actually, the family plans to increase investment in Sunset City to hedge against risks from the East-West continental war.”

“Money really solves everything.”

“Marry our young mistress, and you can have it all too.”

Moyel crossed her arms. Though not the soft type, whenever she spoke of “our young mistress,” pride shone in her eyes.

Now she understood her strategy.

No Leticia? Then play ball.

First, implant the core belief: Marrying Leticia makes you the ultimate winner in life.

Once isn’t enough? Twice. Twice isn’t enough? Three times. Brainwash him.

She refused to believe Hall would never face a moment of financial crisis or desperate need.

Even if he was a duke.

In ancient times, the Western Continent might have valued martial power or imperial authority.

Emperors and bishops could seize any merchant’s wealth at will.

But now? Especially the Child family? Different.

Their wealth wasn’t confined to one nation.

If the Papal State tried to forcibly confiscate all Child assets, other countries would object.

Unless three of the five major Western powers simultaneously targeted and blockaded the Child family, they wouldn’t fall.

Moreover, the Child family’s businesses weren’t just luxury goods and high-end items.

In the Erlang Duchy and the Geir Kingdom, they owned vast farmlands and ranches, operating fully systematized vertical management.

They even had research institutions studying crop yields and held numerous patents registered in Saint Louis.

If anyone moved against the Childs, their most secret and vital organization—the 【Child Crest】—would take these technologies and flee.

Even to the Eastern Continent.

The old patriarch once said the greatest investment of his life wasn’t buying half of District Twelve in Saint Louis to build the continent’s busiest commercial street and largest theme park.

Nor was it investing in the Second Sacred Railway Expansion Plan.

It was spending money to recruit talented individuals from small towns—those without noble backgrounds or spoiled scions from fallen families.

Their families received Child funding, allowing them to study in the Child libraries and use their talents freely across various departments.

All of them swore direct loyalty to the Child heir.

In other words, nearly all were Leticia’s personal loyalists.

So if Leticia wanted to help Hall, it wasn’t just about money.

She had other resources too.

Though mobilizing them on a large scale might alert the Church or the Emperor.

Everyone understood the unspoken rule—but don’t push it too far.

Still, to help her mistress win Hall’s heart, Moyel wondered if she should hint that “the young mistress isn’t just about money—she has power too.”

Not to mention, the young mistress even held a seat in the College of Cardinals.

She was practically a Cardinal herself.

And when the Pope was absent, the Papal Army answered directly to the College.

Which meant she oversaw even Admiral Faxtius.

“We’ll see. I still have a marriage contract.”

Hall kicked the can down the road.

“You don’t even want to marry. If you did, you wouldn’t have let Ye Wangxue return to Xia so easily.”

“That’s true. I just want to enjoy myself for now.”

He nodded.

Inside, he felt frustrated.

Moyel used to scream about cutting him down every day.

Later, her attitude improved, but not to the point of aggressively pushing him toward Leticia during private moments.

In Leticia’s route, Moyel was the heroine most likely to kill him.

Now she was promoting the relationship, yet he still couldn’t accept or commit.

Because even if she didn’t oppose it, others would—Sarine, Himan, Christine.

And then there was Ye Wangxue, completely incompatible with Leticia.

If he agreed, returning to Saint Louis would mean rivers of blood.

Please, no bloodshed.

“Miss! Miss! I’ve found Hall!”

“You’re in such a hurry to report? I’ll be back in Saint Louis in two days.”

“Of course. As a servant, I must inform the young mistress of anything immediately.”

“Fine, fine.”

Hall stood beside her, utterly speechless.

Moyel was sticking to him, following him everywhere.

Now she was even using a long-distance magical document to communicate with Leticia.

The distance from Saint Louis to Sunset City was terrifying.

This kind of magical communication required extremely high-grade artifacts.

Without a level-90 mage specializing in transmission magic, it was impossible.

Back in Saint Louis, it wasn’t just expensive—it was military-grade equipment.

Ordinary Judgment Bureau agents didn’t get one.

Only elite agents on deep-cover missions into the Demon Realm or hunting S-rank cultists might be issued one.

Yet Moyel casually handed Hall one of these ultra-long-range communication documents.

“When you have free time over the next few days, chat with the young mistress. Oh, talk to her now, using mine.”

She passed the document currently linked to Leticia directly into Hall’s hands.

Leticia’s excited voice came through.

“Hall? Hall? Are you there?”

“Ah, yes. What is it?”

“Where have you been this whole time?”

Her voice softened.

“I’m on a secret Black Knights mission. I’m in Sunset City now.”

“When are you coming back?”

“In about three days.”

“So counting the train ride, five days total?”

On the other end, Leticia’s voice grew lower.

“Roughly. I’ll have to transfer in the Bal capital.”

“Oh, Hall… can you hear this sound?”

“What sound?”

He wondered what she meant.

But Leticia didn’t speak. Into the silence came a strange noise.

A soft shhh-shhh, like fingers sliding over silk.

Then a faint tearing sound.

“Hall?”

“Yes?”

Hearing her lowered tone, he could guess what Leticia was doing on the other end of the document.

“Um… Hall, you should come back soon. Just hearing your voice makes me happy, but… when you return, I want to do something with you.”

“We’ll talk about it when I get back, Leticia.”

This “something” sounded extremely dangerous.

Hall sensed great peril.

“Um… I want you to tear that… I read a magazine recently. It said men really like it… Do you like it?”

He could hear her soft, rhythmic panting.

“You should read less of those books. They’re useless. I heard from Moyel you’ve been studying theology and magic lately. That’s good. You could also learn about business decisions.”

That couldn’t be torn recklessly.

Playing too wild—he’d be torn apart by Ye Wangxue and the others.

“Boys don’t like that sort of thing.”

“I do.”

Hall said seriously, “I’m not like ordinary men. I like special things. As for knowledge about relationships, it’s more fulfilling for me to teach you personally than for you to learn on your own.”

He was laying down a promise—one he didn’t intend to keep.

But if Leticia kept reading those dubious books, it wouldn’t improve her abilities.

A cluttered mind wouldn’t help this empathetic, high-sanctity heroine grow.

And constantly exposing herself to such filth could make her sick.

Especially if she absorbed extreme ideas from those books.

One day she might go from presenting him blue roses beautifully… to sending him to the grave with a knife.

“Oh, is that so, Hall?”

“Mhm.”

“Then will you teach me yourself in the future?”

Her voice brimmed with a girl’s hopeful anticipation.

Though he couldn’t see her, he could imagine her eyes—prettier than roses—shining brightly.

Now Hall felt a pang of guilt for deceiving her.

“We’ll see. After I break off the engagement.”

“Oh, Hall, why haven’t you broken it yet? Last time you said you would!”

Leticia’s worried voice came through: “I heard Princess Ye’s maid visited your house the other day.”

“What? Little Lu went to my house?”

“Apparently to deliver a gift?”

Her voice dropped slightly.

She lay in bed, wearing a pure white silk nightgown. Her translucent white stockings were rolled down below her knees, revealing delicate pink feet that looked moist enough to drip.

“A gift? How valuable?”

He calculated—late January was the Xia New Year.

Judging by the gift, Ye Wangxue probably wanted to break the engagement.

“Not very valuable. But apparently, it was a sachet.”

Hall quickly looked up “sachet” in his family’s archives.

“Oh, I see. Then she definitely wants to break it off.”

Hall, feeling lazy, confidently stated it as fact to reassure Leticia.

In-game, a heroine giving a sachet meant she was nearly maxed out in affection.

But considering the underground street incident—where Hall saved Ye Wangxue—she might have full affection for the protagonist.

Could it be… she also had full affection for him?

“Break it off?”

“Yes. You must know Xia customs. Only a woman who likes a man gives a sachet. But she’s not an ordinary Xia woman—she’s a princess. For her, sachets are common palace items, not handmade. Given her status, she likely gave it just to save the Faxtius family face. She personally has no feelings for me.”

Hall coughed twice, seizing the opportunity: “Also, Leticia.”

“Yes?”

“If Ye Wangxue returns to Saint Louis, don’t confront her directly for now. She’s a Xia princess here mainly on a political mission. Plus, she’s proud. If you keep showing how much you like me, she’ll feel humiliated as the fiancée and provoke you. But if you act indifferent, she won’t care about me. Understand?”

He planned to distance both heroines with one move.

Anyway, Ye Wangxue wouldn’t return to Saint Louis anytime soon.

“But Hall, I think…”

She really likes you.

Leticia was a bit love-struck, but not stupid.

But the man she loved said this—so she swallowed the rest of her sentence.

After a pause, she quietly murmured, “Mhm.”

“I’ll hang up now. Talk again later.”

“Okay.”

The other end fell silent.

Meanwhile, the rose-colored maiden lying on her bed pressed her cheek against the magical communication document.

It felt warm—as if it still held his presence.

“You’re really with Lov.”

“Yeah. Maybe don’t tell your young mistress about this. She might get upset.”

“At least you know that. Have you two… done anything?”

Moyel leaned forward slightly, her expression half-inquisitive.

“No. And that’s none of your business. How would you even judge if a man is a virgin?”

Without Leticia present, he didn’t treat Moyel with much courtesy.

“So you’re quite experienced?”

“These past three years, Saint Louis newspapers claim Hall Faxtius takes a girl to a hotel every three days—sometimes in a classroom at dusk, hallways, stairwells, lawns. At that rate, if not a thousand times, then at least five hundred.”

Hall listed his “legendary” exploits.

Moyel frowned slightly. “That’s all fake, right?”

“Who knows? Maybe it’s true.”

“You’d better be lying.”

“Whatever. I have freedom of speech.”

Hall adopted a defiant, apathetic attitude.

“What are you planning to do next?”

“Go to the beach. Didn’t you see Lov changing clothes?”

Moyel thought, So you brought your maid here for a honeymoon, not a secret mission.

But alas, if she said it, Hall would just nod, and she couldn’t report this heartbreaking truth to Leticia.

This bastard… she really wanted to stab him.

But then Leticia would be devastated.

No choice…

“Master, I’m ready! How do I look?”

Lov wore something resembling a Saint Louis noble school uniform—a youthful blouse on top, black-and-red classic plaid skirt below.

Since she hadn’t buttoned the blouse, several large bow ties were visible inside, along with a cutely puffed-up white swimsuit.

“Pretty good.”

“Hehe, I’m actually wearing stockings too~ Just very sheer, so you can’t tell, right?”

She tugged at her knee, showing how the stockings stretched.

Extremely tempting.

All of this was staged for Moyel’s benefit.

The little maid was secretly a bit angry.

Why does Saint Louis follow us everywhere?

“Mhm.”

“Master, later you can touch me. This time, you can go above the thighs.”

At that, Moyel shot Hall a questioning look: Have you touched her before?

To turn Moyel back into a barrier between him and Leticia, Hall nodded.

Then Lov stepped forward, took Hall’s hand, and placed it on her thigh beneath the plaid skirt.

Smooth—smoother than Dove chocolate.

Girls are made of water.

Moyel couldn’t bear to watch, but realized she couldn’t say anything.

Threaten Hall? She had no grounds.

Tell the young mistress? Absolutely not.

Who knew what inappropriate images Leticia might conjure.

So she muttered, “I’ll go check the bank records,” and left.

After Moyel departed, Hall noticed Lov’s face instantly turned as red as an apple, her legs trembling.

He gently pinched her thigh once, then stopped.

He knew the little maid was still deeply innocent.

Her bold words outweighed her actual readiness.

“Let’s go to the beach. It’s getting late. Hopefully we can catch the sunset.”

Hall and Lov chose a secluded spot, far from the city’s main seaside areas.

Plus, the weather had worsened in the afternoon.

Almost no one was around.

This coastal city was like that—clear skies in the morning, dark clouds by afternoon, storms arriving at night.

Now the sea wind was strong. Seagulls perched on shallow滩 and rocks.

The massive setting sun slowly sank at the horizon. At this hour, the coastline of Sunset City glowed orange.

Hall and Lov first strolled along the wave-kissed shore. Lov picked up a few shells and trinkets.

Suddenly, she unbuttoned her blouse again in front of Hall, revealing the hidden swimsuit. The shirt hem and skirt fluttered in the strong wind, while waves washed over her calves.

She seemed to be walking barefoot on the sand, finding it a bit cold.

“There’s a raised rock over there. Stand on it, Lov. I’ll take your picture.”

The black-haired youth pointed to a reef protruding from the shallow water.

When the tide rose and small waves came, shooting from a special angle could make it look like she was standing level with the sea surface.

He brought Lov here not just to avoid people.

In the game, players of fashion and leisure routes often chose such spots to take photos and show off scenery—standing out with originality.

“Okay, Master.”

Lov felt slightly uncomfortable, so she lifted her skirt and slowly rolled down her pantyhose from the top.

As she tiptoed to pull off the last bit, they were soaked.

She tossed the bundle to Hall, then hopped barefoot like an elf toward the spot he indicated.

Turning, she waved and smiled at him.

So cute.

Hall put the wet bundle in his pocket, then pulled out a camera.

He focused the magically enhanced lens on the girl.

Then suddenly, a sharp pain stabbed his head.

It seemed… he had been here before.

Done the same thing for another girl.

Now he mostly understood.

Whenever he had a vision like this, it was likely real.

Had his past self come to Sunset City and taken a photo of some girl in this exact spot?

For a moment, he sensed danger.

Silver hair?

A few days ago in Estert Town, near the dark sands, he’d seen a vision of a mysterious silver-haired girl.

But in the game, the only silver-haired heroine was the Demon God’s Daughter—

The most important heroine in the demon storyline.

Here, in Sunset City…

Hall couldn’t help but connect the dots.

Yet in the camera’s viewfinder, it seemed to confirm his suspicion.

Behind Lov, farther out on the sea, a silvery-haired petite girl stood—only a silhouette.

“Master, what’s wrong?”

The little maid saw Hall holding the camera but making no move to shoot.

But quickly, another girl’s voice pulled Hall completely out of his thoughts.

“Excuse me, have you finished taking pictures? I’d like to go there too. The storm is coming, and there’s not much time.”

And Lov froze.

Because the girl speaking to the master…

Looked like Leticia.

No…

Leticia’s hair wasn’t that radiant golden shade—like Christine’s.

(Update a bit late today. Will try to post earlier tomorrow.)