Assassin at the Door

However, the anticipated enemy did not appear; the waiter smiled and respectfully presented the meal.

Unlike the sandwiches sold at the entrance of the café outside, what was served in the restaurant was a proper Mettenheim-style breakfast.

Crispy, golden-fried smoked pork, white sausages boiled in celery water, two sunny-side-up eggs with runny yolks, roasted cherry tomatoes cut in half, sautéed mushrooms with salt and pepper, a large spoonful of baked beans in tomato sauce, two slices of slightly charred bread, and a pot of black tea.

This portion cost 80 Pfennig, which was a bit too expensive and greasy for breakfast, but it was just right for Lude, who needed to replenish his calories.

"Sir, is there anything else you require?" the waiter asked with a smile.

"No." Lude used his fork to break the runny egg yolk: "Come back in half an hour to clear the plates; do not disturb me until then."

"Very well, sir."

The waiter bowed respectfully and backed out of the room.

"Tsk, money-grubbing..." Sally muttered, picking up a sausage and preparing to shove it into her mouth.

However, the next instant, a fork pressed against her lips, precisely intercepting the sausage.

"Mm, Mr. Hastings?"

Sally felt the cold fork against her lips, her expression somewhat dazed.

Then she saw Lude shake his head slightly at her, holding an index finger to the tip of his nose.

"...!" Sally was slightly startled, then immediately nodded.

Lude used a small knife to slice open a sausage, brought it to his nose to sniff, and then set it back down.

He then picked up his teacup and began to slurp, but as Sally watched from the side, he slurped for a long time, yet the black tea in the cup did not diminish at all.

Is there poison in the food? Sally asked, moving her lips without making a sound.

Lude nodded slightly and began to cut the bacon and eggs on his plate with his knife and fork.

The serrated blade scraped against the enamel plate, emitting a grating, screeching sound.

Lude had been thinking since he came upstairs about who exactly had followed him.

Was it Malinkov, that aggrieved man who couldn't get what he wanted? That possibility was low; after all, Lude wasn't even wearing the Lord's Ring right now.

Was it the Collector's people? That was the least likely, as both sides had engaged in a fair trade.

Was it an assassin from the Black Tide Society? This was the most likely; although the people from the Vienna headquarters couldn't arrive in such a short time, the elite guard already dispatched in advance certainly could.

The Black Tide Society leader's elite guard consisted of ten people in total. Aleppo was already dead, his partner was still lurking in the Obsidian Hall, and the remaining eight were divided into four small teams, pursuing Lude.

Since there was only one train heading west from Vienna that night, Lude guessed that all four teams had likely come west. Besides the waiter's team, there should be three other teams waiting in different areas.

"Tsk, troublesome."

Lude thought to himself, while in front of the drooling Sally, he kept cutting various things on his plate with his knife and fork, moving his tongue in his mouth to create sounds like chewing, and occasionally lifting his teacup to pretend to take a sip.

After about three minutes, Lude suddenly raised his hand toward Sally and gave a light gesture.

Sally nodded immediately, covering her mouth firmly with both hands, not even daring to breathe.

At the same time, the waiter stood straight as a pine tree outside the private room door.

He watched the brass pocket watch in his hand, listening for movement inside the room.

After sensing that there was no more movement in the room, the waiter waited for about another half minute.

Then, he drew an Iron Sparrow revolver from his waist and slowly pushed the door open.

He didn't feel it was necessary to do this; after all, the amount of poison he had used was enough to send five rhinoceroses into a baby-like slumber.

This was merely a habit he had as a professional.

However, when the waiter pushed the door open, his pupils suddenly constricted—

"Where are they?!"

The window in the room was wide open, and along with the fluttering curtains, it was clear that Lude's seat was already empty.

On the other side, that little girl dressed in simple clothes waved at him with a forced smile, as if saying hello.

And at that very moment, a cold gun barrel pressed against the back of his head.

"Don't move."

Lude said in a low voice; climbing out of the train window and circling behind him had truly taken a bit of effort.

"Whoa!" The waiter raised his hands: "Don't shoot, Professor Beshe! Although we haven't met before, I feel like we are old friends who have known each other in spirit for a long time! What do you want to know? The number of pursuers? The Rhine Kingdom's border defenses? Or my partner's Secret Art?"

Once these words were out, Lude was almost unable to keep a straight face—you are far too sensible!

And what the hell is this Professor Beshe... ah, I see. Professor Beshe stole the Vessel, then the Vessel went missing, and Professor Beshe's physical body was incinerated; now that the Vessel has come back to life, may I ask whose soul is inside the Vessel?

So hard to guess! (deadpan)

However, this misjudgment was of no use to Lude; after all, his tactical style and system were vastly different from Professor Beshe's. If they really started fighting, only a fool wouldn't realize that he wasn't Professor Beshe at all.

But Lude didn't intend to give up this opportunity to gather intelligence.

So he spoke: "Tell me, how many of you are there in this town, and what are your respective Secret Arts?"

The waiter smiled stiffly and said, "Fine, I'll tell you, just give me a moment to organize my thoughts—all eight members of our elite guard are here, and this restaurant has been surrounded, so I advise you to surrender as soon as possible..."

Well, Lude could tell just from the tone that not a single word out of this old guy's mouth was true!

If nothing else, where did you even pull those eight people from?

Did you perform an Edo Tensei on Aleppo, and then drag his partner from the Obsidian Hall along with him?

This lie was so absurd that it actually provided Lude with a piece of intelligence: the news that Brandon and Polina had been taken out by him had likely not yet reached the Black Tide Society headquarters in Vienna.

After all, if Vienna had received such news, they would certainly have notified these elite guards responsible for the pursuit immediately, and the threat level they posed to Lude would have been adjusted upward accordingly.

And this meant that the news of Lude currently hiding in Blackwater Town had not yet been discovered by the Black Tide Society.

Thinking of this, Lude's face darkened—so, the reason he encountered Black Tide Society assassins in such a border town was purely because he was unlucky, and he had walked straight into their trap!

Thinking this, Lude prepared to twist off the waiter's two arms to vent his anger.

However, just as Lude was about to seize the waiter before him, a bullet suddenly fired from the building across the street.

The moment Lude heard the gunshot, he tilted his body slightly, dodging the shot.

Yet, it was precisely this simple movement that caused Lude, who was not accustomed to using firearms, to shift his aim for a split second.

Just a split second.

But for spellcasters, the battles between them often only required seizing that very split second!

Taking advantage of the moment Lude's muzzle drifted away from his neck, the waiter spun around, his revolver pointing straight at the center of Lude's brow.

He pulled the trigger without hesitation, yet Lude was a step faster, having already gripped the hand holding the gun.

"Click, click!" He pulled the trigger twice, only to find that Lude had already pressed down on the hammer.

"You made a wrong decision." As he spoke, Lude prepared to crush the waiter's wrist.

However, at that very moment, a gunshot rang out abruptly from behind the waiter.

"Bang!"