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Translator: mii

editors: sleepchaser, ASplashofMusic

“Hey! Legi! Are you okay?!”

“Huh..?”

At the sensation of someone shaking his shoulder, Legion finally snapped back to reality and rushed to get up. After observing no abnormalities in the vicinity, he felt dumbfounded.

“I’m.. alive?” muttered Legion.

“Yeah. And with not a single scratch. What happened? Where’s Lord Violant?”

“A masked man tried to kidnap Lord Violant.. When I tried to stop him, the ground rippled and formed a hand. Then it crushed me.. or so I thought.”

Since Legion had already braced himself for his death, he felt somewhat anticlimactic toward this outcome.

“If what you say is true, then it’s strange how the magic didn’t damage the surroundings. Stone pavement like this should be easy to destroy,” said Cheval, the picture of puzzlement as he looked around. He then asked Legion, “Did you notice anything else that’s strange?”

“The masked man had no weapon, but he did have something like a censer in hand. It gave off a sweet scent..”

“Sweet scent?” Cheval sniffed the air. “You’re right. There’s a faint sweet and flowery fragrance.. I remember smelling this before. This is probably an incense that causes hallucinations.”

“Incense that causes hallucinations? Hasn’t that been banned five years ago? But if he really did cast earth magic, this scene right here doesn’t make sense.”

This type of incense had once been used as an anesthetic when treating injuries. However, its production was eventually banned due to the scale of its misuse.

Normally, a few whiffs would dull the mind. However, experts could use such incense to influence perception. They could even impersonate other people with it. As such, there existed burglary cases where the culprits were able to boldly come and go through the front door by impersonating an acquaintance of their targets.

Since the incense was costly, crimes with this modus operandi rarely occurred. It had only been popular in the slums and on 10th Avenue. Thus, this misuse of this type of incense was left unregulated for a long time. However, those who did use it began targeting the nobles and the rich. These criminals impersonated high-class prostitutes in order to approach them, resulting in complaints from the brothels. Since then, its use had been strictly regulated before getting banned.

“That person probably also used the incense to convince Lord Violant he was Hauser..” Shock had collided into Legion when Vio had shielded the enemy. But if Vio had thought that masked man to be his friend, then he could understand why.

He once again inspected his surroundings. He was bothered by the unease on Jill’s face. Jill, who had picked up Vio’s newsboy cap. However, Legion was more interested in his sword’s whereabouts.

It turned out that the sword had fallen close to a wall. As Legion bent to pick it up, he discovered a trail of blood on the ground. “I aimed at his feet at the last moment out of sheer desperation, but it seemed like I managed to hit him. With this, he shouldn’t have gone far. Cheval, how long did it take for you to find me?”

“Not that long. A lot of people witnessed the carriage go berserk after all. You also woke up immediately after we found you.”

“Then we should still be able to track him,” said Legion, pointing at the trail of the blood.

“Yeah,” responded Cheval. “Mister Butler, please keep watch here. We’ll be relying on you to lead Sir Lantz and the guards once they arrive.”

“Understood. Please save Young Master,” said Jill, before bowing deeply.

Legion and Cheval nodded, then pursued the trail of blood out of the back streets.

????*?? ? ????*??

As Vio slowly regained consciousness, head heavy, he could hear some people arguing.

“Boss! You didn’t tell me he’s a member of the duke’s family! What should we do?! Why did you do this?!”

“Shut up, Morgan. I don’t really care. Just confess your crimes later.”

“You fucker..”

Enduring his drowsiness, Vio forced his eyes open.

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Where am I..?

The semi-basement was spacious but dim, narrowing Vio’s field of view. The only source of light came from the small windows near the ceiling. Moreover, the assortment of scents in the air—those of smoke, rotting grass, and flowers—made for a horrible combination. It made Vio feel sick.

With his limited vision, Vio caught sight of a painted canvas against the wall, as well as a variety of paints mixed together on the table.

So I’m smelling paint and dye?

This strange smell probably originated from those. And since the ventilation wasn’t good, the smell remained trapped in the room.

Vio tried to move, only to discover that he was completely unable to. His hands were tied behind the back of his chair, and his ankles were in a similar predicament, strapped to the chair’s legs. When he raised his head, the two men turned toward him.

“Oh, you woke up! My model!” Although they initially stood near the door, a fair distance from Vio, one of them approached him in one stride. The man’s bald head gave him a refreshing appearance, but his voice and attitude were familiar. Incredibly similar to those of the painter Vio had met at the Grand Temple.

Vio tried to speak, after which he finally noticed the gag in his mouth. “Mmph?!”

Furthermore, he was naked from the waist up. He had pants and shoes on, but not even a shadow of the shirt he previously wore could be seen on him. So that was why he felt awfully chilly.

The painter, Goldra, shot him a toothy grin. “Uh, sorry ‘bout this. I don’t really want to gag you, but you’re a magic practitioner, right? After all, I found these in your pocket,” he said, flashing pieces of magic circle paper and some knives before Vio. “And to think you also got some other hidden weapons on you. Nobles sure are dangerous.”

Vio noticed they were the blades he had hidden in the metal fittings of his belt and his shoe soles. In other words, Vio had lost all means to counterattack.

“This is your fault. You refused to become my model, so I was forced to do this. Though, he’s really the one who kidnapped you, not me.”

“Under your orders, Boss! I didn’t want to kidnap a noble!” yelled back his companion, a young man with tawny hair. Judging from how he addressed Goldra, he might be one of his assistants at the Great Temple. Vio couldn’t really be certain since he had given them nothing more than a passing glance earlier.

“Did you forget how you stole Rubilla’s flowers from my art supplies to make hallucinogenic incense? And how you pretended to be a woman using that, convinced a man to drink himself stupid, then stole his stuff? You should’ve handed yourself over to the guards at that time.” Goldra let out a scornful laugh. In response, the young man shot him a glare of annoyance. Then Goldra added, “If you have the time to argue with me, maybe you should go return that woman.”

“Not now. I’ll do it once it’s a little darker. Bringing her out right now will just make me stand out. Even the incense can’t help with that.”

“Really? Then stay quiet.”

The young man made a noise of irritation and plopped down on a nearby chair.

A woman..?

Vio looked around the room. The room was spacious and cluttered, but he spotted the woman they were talking about in an instant.

She was lying on a chaise longue, probably asleep since her eyes were closed. Just like Vio, her limbs were all bound. From the state of her clothes, it seemed like they hadn’t done anything immoral to her.

After noticing Vio’s line of sight, Goldra said, “Don’t worry. I just want you to act as a model for my painting. It’s the same for that woman. She previously rejected my invitation, so I was also forced to capture her.”

Goldra was a middle-aged man with an aquiline nose and a good physique. Not to mention, he gave off an eccentric impression. Though this was Vio’s third encounter with him today, the knights had instantly knocked him down the previous times. So it was only now that Vio had a proper look at him.

Goldra narrowed his green eyes, gaze licking Vio from head to toe. “Wonderful! You look like a sculpture. And this dreamy aura perfectly fits the persona of a sick noble boy praying to the Great Spirit for recovery. The scar on your belly is a bit unfortunate, though.”

Vio’s face twisted in a frown. The scar on his belly was from the incident two years ago. To have someone ignorant of his situation complain about it grated on his nerves.

What a selfish guy. He kidnaps people just because they refuse to be his model.. This isn’t normal.

Now that Vio knew Goldra wasn’t a decent person, Vio was suddenly suspicious of him.

“Okay, let’s start with a sketch. Hey, don’t glare at me like that. Your face should contain a shadow of pain.”

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I have no idea what you’re talking about!

Then, Goldra grabbed his chin and dug his fingers into his cheeks. Naturally, Vio’s face contorted in pain. This sight gladdened Goldra. “That’s right! That face is perfect!”

A sketchbook in hand, he moved his pencil over the paper at an unbelievable speed. He drew sketch after sketch of Vio, giving him strange instructions for each one.

“And then your profile..” Goldra moved to Vio’s side to get a good view.

The moment after, someone thrust the door open with a kick, one side slamming against the wall with a bang.