Westminster Bank

Chapter 257: Chapter 161: Fuck Him Up (Part 2)

In the end, he threw down the blade in his hand. Kneeling on the ground, he bowed in the Chief Steward’s direction and said, "I’m very sorry, but I can’t do it! If it’s just a matter of finding Schumacher, I can help... but I can’t bring myself to harm Miss Wanda!"

"And why can’t you?"

The voice that answered was young and somewhat familiar, but Decker just assumed it was one of the Chief Steward’s Attendants. He replied submissively, "My father once warned me never to harm a woman..."

"So harming men is perfectly fine, then?" The speaker’s voice was tinged with amusement.

Decker sensed something was wrong. He looked up, and his pupils contracted in shock.

The scene before him could only be described as a bloodbath. All the Attendants, except for the Chief Steward, were lying on the ground. Each had wounds that were still trickling blood, their faces as pale as corpses from the blood loss.

In the middle of this pile of bodies, a man stood quietly, holding a long blade and dragging a person with his other hand.

Decker had never seen the man’s face before, but the moment Wanda, who was beside him, saw it, she blurted out:

"Ronnie!"

’He’s Ronnie... He isn’t Schumacher at all...’

Decker’s legs went soft, and he nearly collapsed to his knees.

He saw clearly who the man called Ronnie was holding—it was none other than the imposing Chief Steward from before!

Looking back, he saw that the two Attendants who had been restraining Wanda had fallen to the ground at some point.

Wanda had been rescued by a masked man, from whom one could vaguely make out a shock of messy blond hair.

And now, that same man was holding a long staff, eyeing him with predatory intent.

"L, should we knock him out too?"

Decker’s heart leaped into his throat. He hurriedly said, "I won’t say a word about this!"

"Ronnie" glanced at him and the blade by his side. Decker quickly kicked the blade away. "This was an accident."

"No, it wasn’t an accident," Ronnie said. "You remember everything. You remember that a man named L knocked everyone out and took the Chief Steward... He disguised himself as your roommate, Hemingway Schumacher, to secretly infiltrate this manor. And from him, you learned of an audacious plan."

"What plan?"

"He plans to detonate a bomb at the Dragon Hunting Ceremony tomorrow." He flashed the handle of the gun at his waist. "Everything I’m telling you is the truth."

Out of the corner of his eye, Decker saw two Demon Hunters arrive. This was the "transaction" the Chief Steward had spoken of.

Previously, Decker had assumed the Chief Steward’s "transaction" was something grand, perhaps some grey-market income from trafficking Taboo Items within the manor. He had even felt a bit smug for being appreciated and brought into the inner circle’s dealings so soon after his arrival.

But now, seeing the bubble gum wrappers in the two Demon Hunters’ hands, he could see what kind of "transaction" it really was.

The two Demon Hunters had obviously noticed the situation as well. The Silver Faction’s exclusive Alchemy Circuits materialized on their bodies as they drew their Alchemy Swords from beneath their coats.

"Watch out!" Decker instinctively cried out a warning.

But what happened next was beyond his imagination. The mysterious man calling himself L didn’t even turn around. As the two Demon Hunters charged from behind, he shattered their Alchemy Swords with a single, casual slash. In the same instant, a deep, bloody line was drawn across each of their legs.

The two Demon Hunters tried to scream in pain, but blood foamed up and choked them, rendering them speechless.

As if choked by an invisible hand, they struggled for a short while before passing out cold.

Silence descended, broken only by the cawing of crows in the gloom. Decker’s mouth moved, but he swallowed the two words he was about to say.

Having done all this with casual indifference, "Ronnie" turned to look at Wanda, who was staring at him, stunned and seemingly at a loss.

"Miss Wanda, I still have to thank you for your help.

But people who are too kind don’t last long in this world. I hope that by the next time we meet, you’ll have become a little more ruthless..."

Wanda asked, "Who are you, really? Ronnie or Schumacher? And will we really see each other again?"

’I’m a complete moron...’ Ronnie chuckled. "Who I am isn’t important, Miss Wanda. The next time we meet..."

’You have to be happy... Ah, screw that. Wrong script.’

"I hope you’ll at least no longer be such a kind person."

"Farewell, everyone."

"Ronnie" gave a wave, and then, hauling the unconscious Chief Steward and his masked, blond-haired accomplice, vanished from the scene.

By the time Isabella and Bass arrived, all they found was Wanda with her red, swollen eyes, a still-confused Decker, and the unconscious Attendants scattered across the ground like a pile of corpses.

Isabella heard the general course of events from Decker and immediately ordered her Household Servants to lock down Beowulf Manor. Those two could not be allowed to leave.

The Attendants and Guards who received the news sprang into action. Isabella’s younger brother, Tune, also arrived with his own grand procession of Household Servants, calling out from a distance, "What happened?"

Compared to his older brother, Jose, whom even Baron considered handsome, the younger brother Tune was rather ordinary in both looks and temperament.

He had noticed the movement of Isabella’s Household Servants and mistaken it for an Inner Side version of the "Xuanwu Gate Incident," rushing over with his men to investigate.

Isabella glanced at the distance between herself and her dear little brother, the corner of her mouth lifting in a subtle smile. She said, "Two mysterious individuals infiltrated the Beowulf Family’s grounds... As of now, there are no casualties..."

She looked at the unconscious Attendants on the ground. "They were all knocked out in a single blow. The intruders are highly skilled... at least on par with me."

On par with Isabella... As someone who had lived his entire life in the shadow of his older sister’s talent, Tune knew exactly how high that praise was.