At dawn the next morning, the first light of day rose over the horizon, dyeing the sky leaden gray.
As the church bell rang, smoke carrying the aroma of toasted bread drifted from the kitchen.
The servants were already busy—not just with the day's work around the estate, but also with preparing a satisfying breakfast for their master, who weighed several tons.
Of them all, only the guards at the gate were still half-asleep. At this hour, there was no need to worry about burglars, but it was still a long time before their master might venture out.
Just then, with a sharp crack as a whip sliced through the air, a carriage slowly followed the path through the woods and came to a stop before the estate gates.
The guards immediately grew alert. They hadn't received any notice from the butler that someone was coming to visit today.
In this age, most people who showed up without sending a calling card first were unwelcome guests.
Just then, a corner of the carriage curtain was suddenly lifted. A low, resonant voice spoke from the shadows behind it. "Excuse me, is this the Collector's residence?"
"That's right," a guard replied, frowning. "May I ask who you are? Did you arrange your visit in advance?"
The voice from the carriage replied slowly, "No, but I'm sure Madam Collector won't refuse to see me. So, sorry for the trouble, but please inform Madam Collector that Radvasch from Vienna has come to visit."
"I'm afraid we can't do that."
The guard frowned. "Madam is very busy today and likely won't have time to meet with you. If you wish to see her, you should arrange your visit at least three days in advance. That way, Madam can schedule a time to meet with you..."
His voice trailed off. The guard's scowl gradually turned to confusion, then the confusion gave way to utter terror, because the person in the carriage had pushed open the door and was slowly stepping out.
"Well, this is interesting." Lude stood with his hands behind his back, head raised as he surveyed the five-story building. "Back in Vienna, I could visit anyone I wanted. I never expected I'd need an 'appointment' here."
That's right—today, Lude was once again wearing the Obsidian Hall uniform he'd taken from Aleppo!
He had to admit, this intimidating act of borrowed authority worked like a charm in the Rhine Kingdom!
The guards, who had just been treating him like an unwelcome guest, immediately became submissive and respectfully ushered Lude into the estate.
As if they could do anything! This was someone from the Obsidian Hall. What could they possibly do if he showed up uninvited?
People like him kicked down the doors of noblemen's and bureaucrats' homes. Anyone who dared resist got the whole family sent straight to the afterlife, so the sensible thing for small fry like them was to stay out of the way!
And so, the servants respectfully escorted Lude all the way to the parlor and showed him to a seat.
Only after their esteemed guest had sat down did the servants finally breathe a sigh of relief.
It happened to be time for morning tea, so the servants quickly brought out white sausages, pretzels, and black coffee.
"Sir," a servant ventured cautiously, "Madam is washing up. She'll be here shortly, so thank you for waiting."
Lude took a sip of coffee. The Collector's coffee tasted excellent, unlike the chicory-root brew at the Golden Eagle Tavern.
Then he peeled the skin off a white sausage and popped it into his mouth.
The white sausage must have been freshly made. It lacked the stale taste typical of meat that hadn't been properly preserved in this era.
As he ate, Lude surveyed his surroundings.
According to Sally, the Collector was just a fat old hag, but she certainly had good taste.
The Collector's residence stood at the far western edge of the town. It was a five-story building, a hundred meters wide, made of reinforced concrete.
It had only five floors, but it was taller than an ordinary seven-story building. This, like the reinforced concrete structure that was exceptionally rare in this era, was an adaptation made to accommodate its owner's extraordinary figure.
Although the building was made of reinforced concrete, its exterior was lavishly decorated, so at first glance, it looked as if it had been built of marble.
Given the construction techniques available in this era, the residence looked a bit like an old-fashioned row of townhouses. But once inside, the lavishness of the decor stretching as far as the eye could see was beyond anything an ordinary household could afford.
As Lude pondered, the floor trembled as if in a magnitude-four earthquake. A massive hand, so fat that its knuckles had sunk inward, suddenly gripped the doorframe.
As the enormous figure slowly squeezed through the doorway, the image of Big Mom in Lude's mind vanished in an instant, replaced by the fearsome visage of Mountain Demon Bogang.
When the Collector saw Lude, a smile spread across her face, which wasn't even as wide as her neck.
"Good morning."
She grabbed a pretzel and chewed it in great bites. In a remarkably deep voice, she chuckled, "I heard the Don Juan Society's plan ran into trouble. Did the president send you, one of the Elite Guard, here to ask me for resources?"
If Lude had been an ordinary person, his mind would have gone blank. Aieeee! The Black Tide Society—why was the Black Tide Society here?!
Fortunately, Lude had nerves of steel. The moment he heard those words, his mind raced. In the next instant, he noticed a medal pinned to the Collector's collar, one that looked remarkably like a medal on Lude's chest.
Come to think of it, Aleppo was a bit like Su the Medalist: he was also a medal enthusiast.
A dozen or so different medals were pinned to the chest of the coat Lude had inherited from Aleppo. Lude knew next to nothing about medals, and to avoid someone spotting a flaw—like him not having some prerequisite medal—he could only follow Aleppo's example.
So the medals weren't all ones the Rhine Kingdom had awarded Aleppo. One of them had actually been a symbol of his position in the Black Tide Society!
It was a small, round metal badge. Inside a silver ring, a matte iron-black background framed a cresting sea and a cold, crescent moon outlined in silver.
But the Collector's badge also bore an iris, while Aleppo's had a dagger.
Well, after all that, was the Collector actually a regional leader of the Black Tide Society?
But Lude didn't have time to dwell on that, because the Collector's words had just revealed something critically important.
She knew that Don Juan's plan to create a perfect Vessel had gone awry. That meant she had contacted Don Juan after Lude escaped.
And if she had contacted Don Juan, that meant Don Juan was still alive even now. So—
What had happened to Siana?
It had been a long time since Lude had felt anxiety, especially since he'd already died once.
The worst that could happen was that he'd die again. He'd accepted the death he'd suffered in his previous life, so he could accept the god of death coming for him again.
But at that moment, for some reason, an indescribable unease stirred in his heart.
To Lude, Siana was more than just the person who had saved his life. He even wanted to knock the Collector down right then and interrogate her.
But Lude knew he couldn't do that, because he didn't know whether Don Juan could eavesdrop on what was happening here.
Even if Don Juan found out Lude was here, the distance between them would give Lude plenty of time to retreat to the Loselin Empire.
But Siana couldn't.
If she hadn't been exposed, then with the Vessel Project having succeeded and the Vessel now lost, she would almost certainly still be at the Black Tide Society's command center. If Lude made a mistake and exposed Siana, she would have no chance of escaping.
With that in mind, Lude smiled and said, "I'd like to make a deal with you."
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