Witch’s Night: Chapter 15 A Coin
This wasn’t Chris being narcissistic; it was her lived experience.
Chris’s appearance was indeed stunning, attracting countless admirers, and many noble children pursued her.
However, Chris didn’t like these people, regardless of gender.
This wasn’t a matter of sexual orientation. Among those who pursued Chris, there were quite a few women, but these women were no different from other pursuers.
They had the same fervent, invasive gazes, which couldn’t be concealed beneath their polite exteriors.
Some valued Chris’s beauty, some her family background, and others, more vulgarly, her money.
In short… very few people saw Chris simply as Chris. In their eyes, Chris had many identities, but being “Chris” herself was the least important one.
—Except for Hua Qingling.
Hua Qingling could almost be said to be the first friend who treated her purely as Chris, not as the second daughter of the Lequista family, or a national idol, or anything else.
Of course, Chris wasn’t so attached to Hua Qingling solely because of this. Something had happened between them that even Hua Qingling herself had forgotten… which wouldn’t be mentioned here for now.
But this wasn’t important. In short, Hua Qingling was Chris’s only true friend.
And this young man…
Chris knew that if Sister Qingling liked him and chose him as her partner, she had no right and no need to stop her.
Sister Qingling would have her own happiness; she knew that very well.
However…
She still couldn’t help but feel hostile.
Now it seemed, as expected of someone Sister Qingling favored, he remained calm even when seeing her true appearance. It seemed she could approve of him a little…
But definitely not completely!
In Chris’s eyes, Sister Qingling was the most perfect woman in the world, elegant, gentle, and very powerful, even the Saints in their youth were nothing more than this.
No one was worthy of her, not even herself.
If Luo Yan knew about Chris’s messy thoughts, she would probably give her a look of “Are we talking about the same Hua Qingling?”
It had to be said that Hua Qingling’s public image management was too good; even her younger sister was fooled. Only Luo Yan had seen through her.
“Since it’s Magistrate Norian’s commission, then… it seems there’s nothing that can be done.”
Chris said dejectedly. The reason she had so readily agreed to attend the banquet, besides giving Norian face, was mainly because of Hua Qingling.
Unfortunately, Sister Qingling had left early, and she could only continue to deal with these decadent and unbearable nobles.
“Did Magistrate Norian say what the commission was?”
Chris was still holding onto a sliver of hope. She secretly planned to find an opportunity to sneak out.
Even if she would be questioned by her mother and butler afterwards, and punished or something, she didn’t care. She couldn’t stay in the banquet hall without Sister Qingling for even a moment longer.
Luo Yan thought for a moment and replied, “It’s a commission that can’t be spoken about directly.”
Judging from Norian’s attitude, he didn’t seem to intend to tell these nobles, who were still enjoying themselves, about the Church of the End Gods, at least not before the matter was resolved.
Therefore, Luo Yan wouldn’t presume to reveal the information, even to Chris.
Chris: “?”
What… was a commission that couldn’t be spoken about directly?
Chris quickly thought of some unpleasant things, and her pretty face instantly flushed red, even her ears turning pink.
“You, you dare to play me!” Chris exclaimed in a rare loss of composure, glaring at Luo Yan. “How could Sister Qingling do that kind of thing! She, she…”
Chris stammered for a long time, but still didn’t say what she thought the “commission that couldn’t be spoken about directly” was.
Luo Yan: “?”
Now it was her turn to be puzzled. Was such a strong reaction necessary?
As an adventurer, wasn’t it normal for Sister Qingling to take commissions?
Moreover, Magistrate Norian’s offer was indeed generous, and Sister Qingling, who was short of money, naturally wouldn’t miss it.
Furthermore, the experience of dealing with such large-scale Calamities was also very valuable. Who knew, Yan City might encounter similar situations in the future, and these were all valuable experiences.
After a moment of thought, Luo Yan suddenly realized why Chris was so nervous.
So that’s how it is…
Miss Chris, like herself before, thought Sister Qingling was just an ordinary tailor… oh no, a fashion designer!
When she first heard about her sister from Hua Qiling, Luo Yan’s impression of Hua Qingling was only that of a “gentle and kind tailor.”
Although the later Hua Qingling was completely different from this impression, clearly, Chris only seemed to know Sister Qingling as a tailor.
“Don’t worry, Miss Chris,” Luo Yan said in as gentle a tone as possible to soothe Chris. “Everyone has another side, and Sister Qingling is no exception. She also has a side you haven’t seen… She does do that kind of thing.”
“That kind of thing” referred to taking commissions.
“Nonsense, Sister Qingling… how much does she charge per time?” Chris asked inexplicably, then immediately stamped her foot and said angrily, “Impossible, absolutely impossible! Sister Qingling… impossible!”
“I remember she said, from one hundred to ten thousand Nos, she’s taken them all.”
Luo Yan recalled, mainly depending on the difficulty of the task.
However, generally speaking, Hua Qingling only took on Calamity-related tasks. She never took on escort missions, which other adventurers often accepted.
But Chris was already enraged and rushed over to attack Luo Yan,
“Shut up! Sister Qingling wouldn’t be that cheap… no, she wouldn’t do that kind of thing!”
Seeing this, the butler, who had been secretly watching, immediately rushed over and held Chris back, preventing her from further losing her composure.
The surrounding nobles watched the scene with interest. After all, it wasn’t often that they saw nobles from Noah quarreling, especially Miss Chris. This was the first time she had lost her composure so badly in public.
Fortunately, this banquet was relatively private, and no one would go around gossiping, but some rumors were unavoidable.
“Shocking! National idol Miss Chris publicly loses her temper at a man, and the reason is this!”
This kind of news would definitely appear.
“I’ll kill you! Kill you!”
Chris was furious, and Luo Yan was bewildered.
Although the butler held Chris back, preventing her from rushing over and beating up Luo Yan, the look in her eyes towards Luo Yan clearly showed displeasure.
She had heard Luo Yan’s words. Because of Chris’s relationship with Hua Qingling, this butler, also a young woman, had a very good impression of that well-mannered and elegant older sister.
Hearing these “slanderous” words, the butler also felt angry. How could Sister Qingling do that kind of thing!
The small interlude at the banquet seemed to be escalating. At this time, the host of the banquet finally stepped forward.
“Alright, alright, this gentleman, and Miss Chris, you two seem to have some unpleasant dispute… But the banquet is still going on, you can’t disturb everyone’s mood, can you?”
Count Spencer, wearing a monocle, stepped forward, nodded to Luo Yan, and then looked at Chris,
“Miss Chris, would you give me some face?”
“Hmph!”
No matter how temperamental Chris was, she knew her limits at this time and could only suppress her anger.
“Thank you for your understanding, Miss Chris,” Count Spencer smiled slightly, then looked at Luo Yan. “As for this gentleman… by the way, how should I address you?”
He sized up Luo Yan through his monocle, hiding his surprise.
Because even he hadn’t noticed Luo Yan’s presence until Norian appeared just now.
This was definitely some kind of special ability.
“Luo Yan,” Luo Yan was quite straightforward and didn’t want to make up a fake name. “Just call me Luo Yan.”
It seemed like an ordinary name. The nobles watching thought that perhaps there was a prominent family with the surname Luo, but after careful recollection, they couldn’t find one.
However, two people’s expressions changed when they heard this name.
“Luo, Luo Yan?”
Chris was stunned. She stared blankly at Luo Yan and rubbed her eyes.
“You’re Luo Yan?”
Chris murmured in a daze.
“You know me?” Luo Yan looked at Chris and asked curiously. “Or did Sister Qingling mention me to you? No, that’s not right, when she met you, she shouldn’t have known me yet.”
She didn’t know her, but she knew of her.
Chris knew who Luo Yan was.
She knew.
But… wasn’t Luo Yan a woman?
Why did she appear at the banquet in this form again…
The scene slowly emerged in Chris’s mind. The silver-haired girl quietly opened the window, a look of surprise on her beautiful face, her pale red eyes like autumn water, gazing at her as if to drown her in the deep sea.
An unspeakable fear welled up in her heart. If she continued to look, a permanent mental scar might be left, and she would never be able to escape the fear brought by those eyes for the rest of her life.
But fortunately, another voice sounded, allowing her to break free from this fear and escape.
Indeed, the mysterious shadow who had been peeping at Luo Yan outside was Chris.
Besides the few identities known to the public, she had another identity that could never be revealed, that of a Shadow Guard.
A secret guard belonging only to the Eleventh Saint, “Shadow.”
In fact, the Lequista family had been hereditary guards of “Shadow” for generations, serving several generations of Saints “Shadow.” The current “Shadow” was the sixth generation.
Chris’s intention in acting secretly wasn’t to monitor Luo Yan; her target was Hua Qingling… but not because she was a pervert, but out of concern.
The fact that Hua Qingling was with “Luo Yan,” the source of the incident in the forest outside the city, wasn’t a secret to the Shadow Guards.
In Chris’s view, this was very dangerous for Hua Qingling, but no information could be transmitted from Restricted Zone Seven, which was completely isolated, so she could only act secretly.
The special Shadow Guard uniform could erase all her aura and hide any features that might reveal her identity. Coupled with years of secret training, Chris was able to approach the apartment without Luo Yan and Hua Qingling noticing.
Unfortunately, due to a series of coincidences, Chris was still discovered by Luo Yan.
At that time, Luo Yan couldn’t recognize Chris; she was just curious why Chris had such a strange reaction when she heard her name.
Luo Yan couldn’t understand Chris more and more…
On the other side, there was another person who reacted to Luo Yan’s name.
Count Spencer.
His pupils constricted violently, and after staring at Luo Yan for a while, he inconspicuously looked away.
“Alright, Mr. Luo Yan,” Count Spencer used the reflection of his monocle to conceal where his gaze fell. “Please continue to enjoy the banquet. The Spencer family will do its utmost to satisfy every guest… including you, of course.”
“Mm.”
Luo Yan had heard this kind of polite remark many times, so she just nodded and didn’t say anything more.
Count Spencer bowed slightly and retreated again, but his steps seemed somewhat hurried.
On the other side, the stunned Chris was easily dragged away by her butler, without even resisting.
After this little interlude ended, the gazes falling on Luo Yan suddenly increased, but… as long as no one with a strong presence continued to talk to Luo Yan, it was still easy for her to hide.
Soon, the black-haired young man once again disappeared from everyone’s sight like an illusion, no matter how hard they searched, they couldn’t find him again.
……
The smile on Count Spencer’s face quickly faded as he returned to his room with a serious expression.
He dismissed the servants in the room and told everyone not to approach, then solemnly took out a coin.
It was an ancient coin, engraved with characters not belonging to this era, and strange patterns.
A bizarre mechanical flying machine, and a dazzling starry sky.
This was the common currency of the Old Era. In the New Era, due to the Calamity Tide, the sky had become an absolute forbidden zone. The current humans had neither the ability nor the resources to research how to travel above the stars.
Count Spencer looked at the coin, took a deep breath, and flicked it with his finger,
“When the truth is revealed, the day the Gods return… Praise the Gods.”
The coin hovered in mid-air, and a hoarse voice came from it,
“What is it, Count Spencer.”
“…I’ve seen her.” Count Spencer said in a deep voice. “She wasn’t in Restricted Zone Seven. She’s at the noble banquet I’m holding in Spencer Manor right now!”
Norian hadn’t expected… no, no one would have expected that Count Spencer was also a member of the Church of the End Gods.
No one could, or would dare to believe, that Count Spencer, a descendant of a thousand-year-old noble family, would actually join… a cult.
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