Vol. 1 - Ch. 55 - Such a Swift Betrayal

"Lord Lynn, are we leaving now?"

Griffin, having descended from the rafters of the resting room, followed behind a visibly unsettled Lynn with a puzzled look.

"That's right, this is no place to linger. Let's make a swift getaway."

Just thinking of that contamination-carrying ring worn on Lilith's ring finger gave him a headache he couldn't shake.

At this moment, Lynn felt utterly speechless inside——

Why did he have to be made privy to so much information that seemed connected to certain deeper truths?

The only reason he had come to this world was to make money!

Could they not pull in some new transmigrator who looked more like a hero, and have him work for Lynn instead?

Unfortunately, there was no new pop-up window to respond to him.

Sighing with worry, Lynn had only just stepped out of the estate's main gate.

And then, in an instant, he transformed into some bizarre creature scrambling on all fours.

Because he had suddenly caught sight of his carriage's waterproof tarp pulled wide open!

"My goods! My money! My life!"

Sprinting forward on all four limbs, Lynn growled and scrambled up onto the carriage, then carried out a thorough and meticulous inventory check.

"Phew, good, every single piece of cargo is exactly where I remember leaving it."

Letting out a long sigh of relief, he stood back up, wiping away cold sweat with lingering apprehension.

Strange, if not a single piece of cargo was missing, then why had the tarp been pulled open?

He rubbed his chin, sinking into thought.

It seemed something was still missing……

After all, the carriage's interior was noticeably more spacious now, and there was no way he would have left that space unused — he should have packed it entirely full of goods.

What exactly was missing?

"Lord Lynn……"

Griffin, who had also leapt up onto the carriage, pointed at the empty, ragged old blanket in the corner of the carriage bed, his voice trembling slightly:

"Where's that Liko person?"

Griffin's exclamation snapped him back to his senses.

That's right, she was supposed to be the evidence he was planning to bring before the Viscount!

Although the objective had already been accomplished this time, making it no longer necessary to bring her along.

But that woman had mooched off his body heat, and hadn't even paid the heating fee yet!

No good, he had to bring her back.

"Griffin, hurry and figure out where she might have gone!"

The anxious Lynn flailed his arms about as he barked out the order.

And without even needing the order, Griffin had already managed to track down her trail using his own Scout abilities.

The good news was, she hadn't gone far.

The bad news was…

"…it looks like she crawled into the Viscount's estate?"

After a brief moment of contemplation, Lynn immediately understood roughly what had happened——

First of all, he and Griffin had originally assumed the conversation would be brief, so they had simply told Liko to stay put without wandering off.

Then, they had been dragged off into the banquet, and had completely forgotten about this matter after becoming absorbed in sales pitches.

"Only if you hadn't gotten absorbed in sales pitches, my lord…"

After that, because the carriage had been stopped for far too long, Liko had simply fallen asleep right there on the spot.

In the end, she would, purely on instinct, crawl toward the warmest place within her sensing range.

"And the warmest place in the Viscount's estate…of course it would be there!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Lynn once again dragged Griffin along and dashed back into the Viscount's estate.

The attendant officer at the entrance watched the strangely-behaving Baron of Blackstone with a twitching expression on his face.

Although he very much wanted to ask whether the man was practicing some kind of shuttle run, in the end, out of professional discipline, he held his tongue.

The moment he dashed into the corridor, Lynn caught sight of the guard unit rushing about in a frenzy.

Without the slightest hesitation, he hurried to get ahead of them.

After all, that creature was something he himself had brought along. If these men ended up beating her, he might well end up having to pay for the medical expenses.

After racing down the corridor straight toward the open doorway in his line of sight, Lynn shouted loudly:

"Viscount! Spare the snake under your blade! The lazy one! Spare the man beneath her tail!"

Accompanied by this remarkably piercing roar, Lynn charged into the sweltering bedroom of the young master like a baseball player sliding into base.

The guard unit behind him likewise poured in after him, drawing their gleaming swords.

Just as everyone had braced themselves to witness the worst possible scene.

What lay before their eyes instead left every one of them with an odd expression.

There, in the middle of the room, the black snake girl, having already crawled up onto the bed, lazily extended her tail and dragged the heaters closer to herself.

And in the corner of the room, the Viscount, shielding his son, whose face remained deathly pale, huddled there trembling.

This valiant noble, famed for his love of hunting, now cowered like a child afraid of the dark, not daring to so much as breathe heavily.

"A snake…there really is a snake…"

Just as Lynn was about to question why on earth this man had a fear-of-snakes character trait, a low, jarring laugh suddenly rang out:

"Heh heh……heh hahahaha……"

That ghostly, low laughter sent an involuntary shudder through everyone who had rushed into the room, and they turned to look at the figure standing beside the bed.

Lilith, dressed in her black formal gown, covered her face with her right hand while clutching her stomach with her left, unable to suppress her terrifying laughter:

"What is this…haha…so, so there really was a snake after all.

Lord Lynn, truly…thank you so very much."

She spoke this last sentence slowly, word by word, and then suddenly turned to look back.

Her bloodshot eyes nearly startled a sharp, shrill cry out of Lynn.

But fortunately, it seemed he would not have to keep facing Lilith in this state for long.

Because the latter gracefully turned around, and with an eerie smile on her face, left the room without saying another word.

For some reason, Lynn felt he should stop her, but didn't quite dare to.

So instead, he gave Griffin a look, and the latter immediately understood the instruction, slipping away and vanishing into the chaos in a flash.

"Lord Lynn, this is, what exactly is going on here?"

The Viscount, having calmed down somewhat, was still thoroughly frightened, but managed to find his voice to ask.

"How should I put this, it all started on the day she ambushed me at night……"

————————

After having the guards take his son and the heaters away, the Viscount still looked somewhat fearfully at Liko, who remained coiled around Lynn.

"So, what you mean is, she's temporarily severed ties with the Blood Snake Society. Is that correct mx?"

"I suppose you could understand it that way, though I honestly have no idea what goes on in her head either."

After peeling Liko's tail off of his face, Lynn gave a nod.

"Well then, young lady, do you know who poisoned my son?"

"What a hassle……I never said I betrayed anyone……I'm just waiting for the mission to resolve itself……"

Liko refused, drawing on what little professional discipline she had left.

"In truth, what the Viscount means is, as long as you answer the next three questions with a yes or a no, you'll receive a luxurious large bed as a gift, along with reimbursement for the heaters.

And, as long as you answer with three words, you'll get to go sleep in the room next door — nod if that sounds acceptable to you."

After hearing what Lynn said, without the slightest hesitation, the dejected, drowsy face drooping atop Lynn's head gave the faintest of nods.

The corner of the Viscount of White Pine's mouth twitched——

What a swift betrayal indeed.

Lynn, who had already grown completely accustomed to this snake's peculiar habits, showed hardly any reaction at all:

"So then, my lord Viscount, will you be the one asking, or shall I?"

Looking at Lynn's smiling face, Viscount Milangell hesitated for a moment, then spoke:

"I would like to ask the first two questions myself, if that's alright?"

After seeing Lynn make a gesture inviting him to proceed, he took a deep breath:

"Was my son poisoned by someone from the Blood Snake Society?"

"……Yes."

"Is that person close to me?"

"……Don't ask such a troublesome question again……well, I suppose so."

Looking at the Viscount, whose face now showed signs of inner turmoil, Lynn smiled faintly:

"Well then, it's my turn."

He understood quite clearly that neither of these two questions the Viscount had asked were the question he truly wanted to ask.

It was obvious that, over the course of recent events, something had stirred within him the very suspicion Lynn had hoped to plant.

However, the Viscount of White Pine was still far too indecisive for his own good.

No matter — Lynn would simply help him ask the question he truly longed to ask.

"Lilith is the one who poisoned him, isn't she?"

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