Inside a noble's villa in Noble City.
Standing at the villa's entrance, Meredith lowered his head and looked at a corpse on the ground.
It was an old man dressed in winter formal tails. His face was deathly pale as he lay on the ground, his expression a mixture of pain and faint shock. Blood seeped through the clothing over his chest and at his waist.
Meredith glanced back at the door behind him, then at the corpse on the ground. After roughly estimating the distance between them, he raised an eyebrow.
"What an impressive assassin. What a fast blade."
Beside him stood a fair-skinned man in military uniform, with a neck ornament resembling an Elizabethan collar. He hurriedly bowed in agreement.
"Yes, yes, the killer was extraordinarily skilled. The butler was three meters behind the entrance, yet he was killed before he could even cry out.
"The killer used only two thrusts: one into the butler's waist, and the second through his heart.
"Then there were the other seven people in this house. Not one survived. They were all killed in surprise attacks, each with two thrusts... though there was one exception."
Meredith turned to look at the fair-skinned man. He was a colonel in the Imperial Guard and the commander of Noble City's Patrol Unit, responsible for maintaining order in this inner city.
That was why the commander had rushed over the moment Meredith arrived at the house.
Whether he could earn any credit was another matter, but if there was blame to be assigned, he had to dodge it. And to dodge the blame, he had to be at the scene. If he wasn't there, he wouldn't even know how others were pinning it on him.
"Who was the exception?"
"The owner of this house, Baron Kada. Before he died, he was tied to his bed and stabbed more than a hundred times. Every thrust avoided his vital organs. In the end, he died only because he had bled dry."
"It sounds as though his death was not particularly pleasant. What a regrettable affair."
Meredith's expression remained blank as he offered that insincere response.
He knew Viscount Kada. The man was a minor noble with rather unusual tastes. Meredith had once considered using his dirty secrets to blackmail him into becoming an unofficial Peace Dove operative-an informant.
But after careful consideration, Meredith had abandoned the idea. Not for moral reasons, but simply because Viscount Kada was incapable of getting anything done.
And now, it seemed he had joined the Peace Dove after all... without Meredith's knowledge.
There was a traitor within the Peace Dove.
Who was it?
Meredith stepped over the corpse and walked forward. Smiling, the commander hurried after him.
"Have you discovered why the assassin came here to kill them?"
"Yes. Viscount Kada's house has a secret chamber, and inside it is a tunnel. There are three bodies in the house at the other end of that tunnel."
The commander paused there, asking with his eyes... Do you want me to keep going?
There was no need. Meredith could roughly guess what had happened. Viscount Kada had been killed to silence him, and the three corpses at the tunnel's exit were clearly the missing Black Doves.
Before they died, they must have carried out some mission the traitor didn't want him or the emperor to know about.
Meredith left the house, handing responsibility for the scene of the silencing to the Patrol Unit's commander.
As an intelligence agency, the Peace Dove had no domestic law enforcement authority. It was even less permitted to act alone in matters such as investigating a crime scene... these were shackles the emperor had placed on the Peace Dove, but they were also a form of protection.
Meredith was not leaving out of a guilty conscience. He wanted to verify something else.
"Sir."
Meredith had just left the house and reached the carriage outside when a Peace Dove operative hurried over, his expression grim.
"Inyama's Number Four pigeon keeper has disappeared."
A flicker of anger flashed deep in Meredith's eyes.
A traitor!
"What about his family?"
"They're gone too. The house is empty."
"Send people to track him down immediately!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Isaac, I have to run."
"Huh? What did you say? Are you going out to buy groceries?"
In the infirmary, Isaac, who had just woken up, stared wide-eyed in bewilderment.
He couldn't understand why Chris had rushed over to tell him that.
"No, I mean I have to flee immediately. Leave Inyama, or even escape the Bohemian Empire."
Chris looked serious, and Isaac's expression quickly grew solemn as well.
"What happened?"
"It's hard to explain... but I have to leave Inyama as soon as possible. If I wait too long, I won't be able to leave at all."
Chris smiled bitterly. He truly had no idea how to explain his situation to Isaac.
Being hit in the head by the boomerang called "players" was both painful and embarrassing, leaving Chris at a loss as to how to tell anyone else what had happened to him.
He couldn't explain it. There was no way to explain it, so he might as well just let Isaac know he was leaving.
"You can have my apartment. I'll sign the transfer agreement later, and you can take it through the formalities. I probably won't be coming back to Inyama for the rest of my life."
As Chris spoke, he handed the contract to Isaac. Isaac had given him this apartment in the first place, so returning it now meant it was going back to its original owner.
"No, I'll arrange for someone to handle it. You don't need to give it to me. If you want to leave the Bohemian Empire, you'll need someone to help you... I have a merchant caravan. Its unsold goods are the perfect excuse to leave Inyama."
"Oh? When can your caravan be ready?"
Chris's eyes lit up. That was an unexpected stroke of luck.
The situation within the Bohemian Empire was complicated. Different provinces and noble territories had different laws. Traveling around without a suitable identity could easily get someone arrested by the locals as a bandit.
With a cover, Chris's escape would be smoother and safer, sparing him the hardships of wandering from place to place.
"Now."
Isaac spoke.
"Then let's go."
Chris turned, walked out of the infirmary, and issued a main story quest to the nine players outside.
"Guys, I need your help..."
+Main storyline-Prologue: Escape Quest description: Help Chris escape the Bohemian Empire. Quest completion reward: Increased closed beta slots.+
Lin Ruoyu sprang up from the sofa, staring wide-eyed at the virtual information window that had appeared before him.
This... this was a main story quest!
I knew the assassination was the right move! Even though we lost seven people, even though we didn't complete the quest, the appearance of this main storyline meant the players' actions had advanced the game's main story!
"Of course, Your Highness Chris! Your life is my life. I'll definitely..."
"Same here!"
"Let's go, let's go!"
Before you continue