Chapter 181
Happy New Year!!!
The ballroom for the Walpurgis Night was larger than expected.
Although the number of invitees and attendees was small, the thought of having to check each and every one of them was enough to make me feel overwhelmed, especially when I considered that hired help, fairies, and witches were all on the suspect list.
On top of all that, there were a lot of people wearing hats…….
The witches’ hats, in particular, were so high up that it was hard to tell if they had horns or not.
‘I can’t believe I have to come all the way to the party to look at other people’s heads…….’
Seriously, I wouldn’t have done this if it wasn’t for the fairy’s gift.
“Why don’t we do as Ms. Peak said and go through them one by one?”
Unable to beat the heat, she asks me while fanning herself with a fan she pulled out from somewhere.
“Because there’s not enough space and people.”
Due to the nature of the event, everyone is not gathered in one place to greet each other.
The crowd is spread out in tight groups, as if they’re lining up to be seen.
“Let’s check out the witches first,” I say, “the ones who are resting on the ground seem to take off their hats, so they should be easy to identify.”
“That would be good. But do you think the witches will cooperate with us easily?”
“Oh, you know what, you don’t have to worry about that.”
“Huh?”
“Because the witches are…….”
* * *
“Yes, yes, yes, Prince of Corleone, what’s going on, did you miss us when we were just separated, yes, please say yes, please!”
“……No, not that, I was just wondering something.”
“Curious about what? My number? You can have it! Here, take it! You want my home address? I don’t give it out to just anyone, but I can give it to you!”
“Are you crazy, I came first!”
“Get out of my way!”
The resting place for witches, instantly turned into chaos by my arrival.
Though the witches were judged by the world as people who did as they pleased, unpredictable and never to be trusted outside of a contractual relationship……most of these witches had a common trait: they were incredibly stupid.
This is the moment when the trait [Bad Boy] comes into play.
“No, I’ve been curious about what’s in a witch’s hat since I was a kid. I just want to fulfill my childhood curiosity…… I’ve never seen witches before.”
“What an innocent and cute idea, everyone take off your hats!”
“There’s a cat in my hat!”
-Meow.
“A pigeon in mine!”
-Goo-goo-goo!
“……and.”
It’s crazy.
The biggest reason witches are so hard to talk to it’s because the tension in their speech is so high that just talking to them feels like a mental drain.
Why on earth would they keep animals like that in their hats? The witches themselves were beyond comprehension.
“What do you think, Master Corleone, do you like our hair?”
I don’t know why they’re even talking about their hair, but now that they took off their hats, I quickly examined their hair.
Blondes, silver hair, black hair, pigeons, cats, champagne bottles that look like they were stolen from a table but I don’t see any horns.
“Nope. No horns.”
“Horns? But we’re not demons, are we?”
I look from them to Julie, who shakes her head as if she doesn’t know what I’m talking about.
“Not the witches here.”
“Huh? Uh-huh. I heard witches don’t show the inside of their hats easily, so how……did you do it?”
Oh, surely there was a setting for that?
Still, it doesn’t betray the notoriety and charm I’ve built up over time.
“Let’s see if I’m any good with witches.”
You don’t break CS with charm for nothing.
“Alas, Master Corleone, where are you off to!”
“You can play with us more, we’re free right now!”
I turn away from them as they look at me piteously.
“I’ll explore elsewhere, the night in Walpurgis is shorter than you think.”
“Oh.”
The sobs of the witches behind me are a little creepy, but I can’t hang out with them here.
After that, we started wandering around, focusing on the more crowded areas.
There were a few people who tried to strike up conversations as we approached, probably because of the brief confrontation between me and Faust, but luckily Julie would grab my sleeve or something, and they’d let us go with a smirk.
Well, there’s a lot of pressure when you’re in a group.
I kept walking around, checking on everyone, until I came to a corner of the ballroom.
“Aren’t you looking at all the people on the list?”
“Yes, and then I’d have to look at the hires……though that’s not likely.”
We were getting closer and closer, and I could see the horns on top of his head.
His back was to us, so we couldn’t see his face.
“Let’s go talk to him.”
“Talk to him? Don’t you think we should just tell Peak?”
Of course, our job here would end with reporting that we spotted the other person, but…….
“We don’t recognize him, and if we’re going to describe him, we should be able to tell who he is.”
“Is that so?”
“If you think it’s dangerous, just pull back. I’ve seen other people do it.”
“…… Okay.”
Now that I’ve convinced Julie, I walk up to them.
“Excuse me. I just wanted to say hello while you were having a nice conversation.”
As usual, I use the fact that I’m new to Walpurgis Night to introduce myself.
Most of the time, this is met with favorable glances.
“I’m Eugene Han Corleone.”
” Corleone?”
For some reason, the man turns his head quickly after hearing my name.
Beneath his massive horns, I could see a badge with a familiar emblem.
“Hong Kong Triad?”
This must be the same Triad that had tried to infiltrate Incheon Port in the past, only to be stopped by me and sent an executive to our organization as an apology.
……Those guys are the offshoots of the Villain Alliance. Is this it?
“Well, I never thought I’d see an old acquaintance here again. Allow me to formally introduce myself. An Executive of Corleone. Eugene Han Corleone.”
I extend my gloved hand, offering him a handshake.
He looks hesitant, but eventually accepts the handshake.
“Look, I’ve been very rude to you before. I’m the chairman of the Hong Kong Triad, the Seven Lords, Zhu Ying-dal.”
He flashes me a businesslike smile and takes the hand I offer.
Round glasses, a mustache on his nose and the long horns on his head gave him the quintessential look of a brainwave villain.
“You must be quite far from where the others are. What brings you here?”
Roughly translated, it was, “Why did you come all the way out here to talk to me suspiciously?”
“Well, I just wanted to say hello to everyone else but apparently……you’re very busy.”
This is another way of saying, “I’ve said hello to everyone, but what are you doing here, suspicious.”
“Well, when we talk about business, we naturally find secluded places. I wish I could be more accommodating, but alas, work is work.”
-I’m talking about something I shouldn’t be talking about, so why don’t you get lost? It’s not what you want to hear.
“I’m sorry. Please, have a nice conversation.”
-Oh, yeah? Well, I’ll deal with you later.
We had a short back-and-forth with implied meaning.
Well, that’s it, I’ve got his face and his affiliation, so there’s no need to stay.
I just needed to get out of there quickly and tell Peak who he was.
Just in time, I felt Julie tug on my arm.
Okay, then, let’s slowly walk backwards like this…….
“Huh? Isn’t this Julie Rodman?”
At that moment, the Western man behind Zhu Ying-dal suddenly steps forward, pretending to know Julie.
He has a typical western appearance with blond hair and blue eyes but Julie naturally hides behind my back.
“Hmm…….?”
I call out, wondering what’s going on, and she whispers quietly from behind me.
“The man my father introduced me to……! Not my style……! Hide me……!”
“What?”
No, why would she tell me that?
“What about you?”
I look at his face because I think it’s important to know about him first.
“Huh?”
And then I noticed the horns on top of his head.
Those……are getting bigger, aren’t they?
“Corleone……you must be the one who was just talking to Dr. Faust. I’m Gary Frances. I have a small business in Europe.”
Gary Frances is an arms dealer and lobbyist operating in Western Europe and Africa.
He is a global lobbyist, with an in-game description stating that over 30% of the guns used by rebels in Africa came through him.
We’re never told in-game that he’s affiliated with the Villain Alliance, so why is he talking to Zhu Ying-dal and even has horns?
‘I smell it, I smell it very strongly. I smell conspiracy.’
For now, I decided to go with the flow and accommodate him.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, but I’m afraid my companion, Lady Rodman, is a bit tired.”
Julie put a hand to her head in response to my excuse.
“Haha! I see, but I find it a bit offensive to see you two…… stuck together, especially since you were obviously on good terms with me just a moment ago.”
“It was just a greeting, a face-to-face, and I had no choice! My father said he wouldn’t give me the elixir if I didn’t!”
……I’ll give her credit for that.
Elixirs are precious.
“Well, it’s not like we’re in a relationship, so it doesn’t really matter, I’m just traveling with you because Count Rodman asked me to.”
From my point of view, I’m not in a relationship with her and she’s not in a relationship with me, so let’s just move on.
But……why are his horns getting bigger and bigger?
“Ha. Hahahaha. Well, in that case, it’s not a big deal, is it, Zhu Ying-dal?”
He suddenly called out to Zhu Ying-dal, who was watching the situation from the side.
“That’s right, let’s do it now.”
“You mean now, but I’m pretty sure I said we should do it before the end of the day…….”
“The target is directly in front of me, so what better time than now?”
“That’s true, but…… well, let’s just do it while we’re at it.”
Suddenly, the two of them started having an unintelligible conversation.
We don’t know what they’re talking about, but what we do know is that they’re talking about something that sounds like a conspiracy to silence us.
“Do you know how I became the greatest arms dealer in Western Europe?”
Of course I do.
His mastery of spatial and concealment magic was world-class.
With a snap, he pressed the ground with the staff in his hand, and a translucent barrier began to form around us.
A similar kind of magic to the one Peak had used on us.
“What happens in here from now on, no one will ever know, whether it’s Faust or Peak. Even your father. And……don’t worry about your life. We wouldn’t want to have Count Rodman and Don Corleone as enemies, even if we could help it.”
As he said that, he looked at the Triad leader next to him, Zhu Ying-dal.
“Zhu Ying-dal will take care of your memories, so just pretend you had a bad dream and give up quickly.”
“Ha.”
I can’t help but laugh at their words.
In front of a gathering of world leaders like this, you’re going to cloak the room, do something to us, and then erase our memories?
And then brazenly reveal it all to us?
Even to me?
What a ridiculous thing to say about us, about me.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk.”
“Hmm?”
I draw the Tulsky Tokarev of the Old Republic Spy and point it at him.
“What a shamelessly loud rat you are.”
A place where I can fight to my heart’s content and no one will know? Nice~!
───Bang!
Isn’t this sound going to be buried?
