Kill One First

Just as Iver was about to head towards the door, the man in black wearing an animal mask suddenly grabbed his shoulder.

His movements were very violent, and his hand pressed on Iver's thin shoulder, causing some pain.

She keenly realized that if she took another step forward, she might be pushed over. So she immediately stopped.

"Should I kill him... my lovely master?"

The Shadow Fiend's deep voice sounded in my ear.

—Don't rush, let's see what he's going to do first.

Contrary to his outward unease and panic, Iver responded to Shadow Fiend's voice in his mind with utter calmness.

The man in black took out a chain from his pocket and skillfully hung it on the collar around Iver's neck.

Then he led Iver out of the room. He gave Aiwass a push from behind, causing Iver to stumble forward. He followed behind, holding the chain.

In the narrow corridor, barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side, one cell door after another opened. One after another, men in black, wearing different animal masks, led out of the cells young men and women, dressed in light clothing but with exquisite and handsome features.

They looked at each other, but because they were too far apart to greet each other, they could only walk barefoot across the cold wooden floor.

The winter weather was cold, Iver couldn't help but hug her shoulders. This made her look even more frail—but it wasn't an act; she was genuinely cold.

Contrary to the impression of being frail and always confined to a wheelchair, Iver has always been quite physically strong. After all, he used to play basketball and is over 1.8 meters tall. Although he always wears baggy clothes, making it less noticeable, he is actually quite muscular.

The last time he suffered from the cold was probably during the most difficult winter he spent with Yulia in the Orphanage.

Their clothes were very thin, and the fireplace in the Orphanage wasn't very warm. They could only fall asleep at night by holding Yulia to keep warm.

And now... perhaps because of the severe anemia in this body, Iver feels that this winter is even more unbearable.

She was just walking down the street when she felt her body start to tremble and shake uncontrollably.

... But perhaps it was precisely because her body was trembling that no one noticed that her shadow was also shaking irregularly.

These Blood Slave all lived on the second floor. Led by the men in black, they descended two floors via a spiral staircase until they reached the basement, where she gradually began to feel warmer—

Completely different from the above—this basement, with its thick wool carpet, was even warm. It was almost like having underfloor heating.

They walked quietly through a relatively dimly lit "employee passage." Even from a distance, they could hear the reserved laughter and chatter of men and women at the banquet, as well as the crisp clinking of glasses.

Finally, they were led to a massive stone pillar, so large that it would take five or six people to encircle it. The pillar was covered with intricate bas-reliefs, forming a series of hooks. The man in black leading Iver hung her chain on it and then attached a tag with the number "14" to the end of the chain.

"Let's eat, eat quickly."

He patted Iver on the shoulder and then left.

Hanging on this pillar were all young girls.

In front of these pillars were displays of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as desserts and wine. The desserts had a strong Iris theme—simply put, they were beautifully colored and adorned with plenty of fruit on the mousses, puddings, and tarts.

Iver glanced around and found there were even twelve or thirteen different kinds of wine, none of which were cheap.

The other girls all went to the bottles of wine.

Someone patted No. 14 on the shoulder and said, "Shall we have a drink together today?"

She was a girl with short, curly blonde hair and wet, animal-like eyes. She looked a bit older than "No. 14," played by Iver. Perhaps that's why she wanted to take care of her.

Another silver-haired girl was also patted on the shoulder by her.

"Um."

Iver nodded slightly and followed.

The other girl hesitated and looked confused for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure, straightened her back, and walked over.

— Iver immediately recognized that this person must be an Ascended One.

The reason is simple.

They are all Blood Slave now, and her demeanor is too noble and her mental state too good, which is really inconsistent with her identity after being tortured for so long.

So, who is she?

—A ban? A stranger? A philosopher? Or a ghost?

As he pondered, Iver kept an eye on the blonde girl's gaze, trying to discern which bottle of liquor they usually drank. This was incredibly easy for Iver —he just needed to find the bottle the girl instinctively looked at. So, Iver quietly picked up a bottle of low-alcohol pineapple liqueur.

Instead of trying to open the bottle, she handed the wine directly to the girl with the blonde curly hair.

The silver-haired girl picked up another bottle of red wine that had disappeared from their time many years ago. She stared intently at the words on the bottle, looking somewhat tempted.

"Sister Number 7... are you looking for a change of pace?"

The girl with the blonde curly hair looked a little uneasy. "But that might anger the adults, right?"

Iver immediately understood what they were doing.

—Is this some kind of blood-tasting concoction made with food and alcohol?

No, I just picked it up to take a look.

Number 7 paused for a moment, then put the bottle of wine back.

She looked up and gave Iver and the other girl a sharp look.

It's clear that Iver's acting was good enough—the other party mistook her for an NPC.

After all, Iver hadn't asked them which bottle of wine they were drinking from the beginning; he just took the correct one. He also seemed timid and hesitant to speak...

If there were an introverted and timid person among the promoted candidates, that would be one thing—but the only one who seems relevant is the "Hatmaker." However, the Hatter is an old woman, and she can only transform into a man. So Iver isn't one of them.

So she calmed Peace of Mind and began to ask them directly for information, "Who have you been taking care of lately?"

Iver flinched and ignored her. Instead, he took the glass of golden sparkling wine that the blonde girl handed him, which was filled to the brim, and then picked up some grapes next to it and drank some of the wine with them.

"... It's still the same few people."

The blonde girl casually replied, "I'm still one of the three, basically unchanged. I might get a break today. But Miss Bayard has been really fond of No. 14 lately; she's requested her for three days in a row... I reckon she'll still come."

Holding peaches, they ate them while drinking—or rather, they drank their food while eating. For these girls, who all looked to be under eighteen, drinking so much alcohol on an empty stomach was somewhat of a struggle. And the alcohol content they chose wasn't very high; Iver even saw some girls sharing wine with an alcohol content of around 30%...

"Are we just going to go there and let them suck our blood?"

Number 7 made no attempt to hide anything and asked in a low voice.

"Of course not..."

The other person looked at her with some confusion. "Why would you ask such a thing?"

"Just answer me directly."

Number 7 was getting impatient. "How did those officials treat you?"

She asked the questions while quickly eating fruit and pastries.

She first ate a fruit pudding, then a piece of strawberry mousse cake. Next, she took a sip of wine and began quickly munching on an apple in an attempt to regain her strength.

Because she chewed so quickly, she made noticeable noises. Iver clearly sensed that others were watching her—or rather, that her purpose was to be watched.

Just then, a man in black wearing an owl mask suddenly entered their lounge.

He picked up a notebook and began reading numbers. "Number 7, Earl Alonso. Number 12, Madam Marta. No. 14, Miss Bayard. No. 15, Sir Linde. Go change your clothes."

The girl with short blonde hair next to him panicked a little. "Why so early... sir, she hasn't eaten much on the No. 14..."

She was about to go up when the man in black shoved her aside. He then used Little Key he had in his pocket to unlock Iver's collar.

The moment the heavy metal collar was removed, Iver took a long breath. There was a sense of relief, as if he could finally catch his breath.

... Did they have the key? Did everyone have it, or was it only the person in the owl mask who had it?

Iver thought to himself.

She glanced at Number 7 out of the corner of her eye, lowered her head slightly, and smiled slightly.

Although this mission was described as "useless killing"... and this body was too weak, it was indeed not good at fighting.

But Iver could clearly sense that No. 14 had a mana pool within her body—she was probably First Level Demon Scholar with three points of Dark Attribute Mana within her.

This mission spans sixteen hours, and the limit for the Illusionary Phantom Demon Card resets after midnight. This means she can theoretically use the same Phantom Demon Card twice.

But she probably didn't have a chance to sleep, so she didn't have the means to restore her magic power.

In other words, Iver can use the Shadow Cloak twice, or summon Earthbound Spirit once.

So she only has one chance.

However, Shadow Fiend does not require mana.

Whether it's "finding companions" or other tasks, as long as you can take down one person first, you will gain the initiative.

Because only you know whether you killed someone.

In other words, if you eliminate a teammate, you know more precisely "how many people are left" than anyone else. This makes it easier to achieve a special victory.

They could even pin the identity of the "informant" on the "missing" person to hide themselves.

If there were other informants, they would have thought of this as well.

Only those who flee would worry about not having enough manpower. But for informers, it doesn't matter.

Besides, look at the forest outside—

In the dead of winter, deep in this Dense Forest... how could these poor souls, all anemic and without shoes, possibly escape? Thinking of this, Iver suddenly paused.

He then thought of another possibility.

—Could it be that everyone is a snitch?

That's certainly a possibility...

However, killing her now would be too easy to be discovered. After all, she's already been named and is being watched.

... Let's wait for her to get off work.

A Blood Slave would likely only serve one customer at a time, otherwise they probably wouldn't have enough blood in their body. Judging from the girl's words, not everyone would be chosen every day—and it's highly likely it's once a day.

After she got off work, No. 7 had a reason to "disappear".

In a flash, Iver decided on Number 7's death in a split second.

She was bumped by Number 7, who was clearly nervous. Number 7 didn't turn around to apologize, but just glanced at her briefly before walking away without looking back.

Iver, however, showed a timid expression, shrank back, and said nothing.

She merely squinted, downed the drink in her glass, then picked up a piece of mousse cake and strode towards the dressing room.

—But for some reason, number 7, who was following number 12 to the locker room, suddenly felt a chill in his heart.

It felt as if some demon was watching me from the shadows.

Update! I accidentally fell asleep after eating... but my fever completely broke when I woke up, yay! Hopefully it stays that way and doesn't return tonight. I've become a little feverish cat...