A blond woman came to meet Noel. She politely nodded her head and said, "Welcome, Customer. Thank you for choosing me. My name is Melia. I'll bring you to your room."
Noel nodded with a calm expression and walked together with Melia. Of course, he remembered what happened earlier when the woman that escorted him inside actually whispered something to the receptionist.
Normally, the girls outside wouldn't be that sharp unless they were wary about something. Hence, this brothel was as suspicious as it could be.
Noel didn't show it on his face, but he would be suspicious of everything that this Melia would give him next.
Melia led Noel to the room on the second floor. The room was small as it only had one purpose. There was only a bed and a drawer for everything they needed to use.
Still, Noel's eyes were glued to the window as he looked around suspiciously.
Melia misunderstood his action as him fearing that his woman would catch him here. After all, she had been told that Noel had a woman out there.
"Sir. This place is protected, so you don't have to worry. No one will find you here." Melia smiled, assuring Noel.
Noel got an idea when hearing that assurance as he immediately played along. His awkwardness soared through the roof as he became even more suspicious. His head turned everywhere to make sure that nothing could happen.
Noel even walked to the window to check the outside.
Melia could only make a wry smile. She had attended many customers, but no one was as afraid as Noel. She even wondered why Noel came here when he was this afraid.
"Why did you lie to me?" Noel panicked and asked Melia with a desperate face.
"I lied to you? I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're talking about, Sir." Melia tried to apologize since she didn't want trouble.
Suddenly, Anna reached the window perfectly and her feet were already on the edge of the window, ready to jump.
"See?" Noel pointed at Anna, shocking Melia completely. He took that opportunity to rush to Melia and covered her mouth with his hand while Anna jumped to Melia's back and hit her neck, knocking her out.
"Can you be more gentle? She can die that way, you know?" Noel said while confirming that Melia had passed out.
Anna, on the other hand, walked to the window to close it. After hearing Noel's words, Anna shrugged. "How can I do that? I don't have the ability to do it. That's the best I can do and don't worry, I have learned the proper way to do it."
"…" Noel shook his head helplessly. "Anyway, lower your voice a bit more."
Anna nodded.
"First of all, I've got to say, they're extremely suspicious. They're sharper than my imagination, so I'm afraid they're hiding something. Still, it's hard to go to the basement because we don't know the exact location. It might even be inside the waiting room."
"So, we have to interrogate her?" Anna asked while looking at Melia who passed out.
"Probably. Or we can catch another girl…"
"I see." Anna thought for a moment and said, "Maybe we should investigate the room first. They've been catching many people, right? If that's the case, we have to consider about the potential of them using something in this room to catch us."
"A drug?" Noel thought for a moment and said, "Now that I think about it, the missing cases should be extremely suspicious. Why haven't the authority investigated this case properly?"
"!!!" Anna was stunned as if she thought about something. "Who was the one commissioning this mission?"
"The city lord. Even if he leaves everything to us, it's weird to see him not participating in this case. Even the mission's description told us to not bother him."
"Are you suspecting that the lord of this city has some relationship with the Supreme Devil Organization?"
"Or he might even be one of them." Noel nodded, answering her doubt.
Anna narrowed her eyes and muttered, "This place is under jurisdiction of Marquis Laplace. But I don't think Marquis Laplace knows about this, considering this place is at the edge of his border."
"If that's the case, there might be something in the city lord's mansion too." Noel thought for a moment and said, "Let's investigate the room."
Anna nodded in agreement as they immediately searched every nook and corner.
The drawers contained numerous items like lotions. Meanwhile, there was nothing under the bed. In other words, all the clues were in the drawer.
"There are only lotions here," said Anna while inspecting their smell.
Noel took out something from the bottom part of the drawer, finding a bottle of drink. "A drink?"
"Don't you know that it's better when you're drunk? Well, my teacher said that."
"…" Noel fell silent while taking this bottle out. He thought for a moment and asked inwardly, 'Ardagan. Is there any poison in this bottle?'
[You have to take it.]
'Do you think your flame can burn everything that enters my body?'
[Yes.]
Noel hesitated for a moment before he opened the bottle and took a sip.
"Noel, you? What are you doing?" Anna was shocked that Noel chose to drink the alcohol.
Before he could respond, Noel started to get dizzy. As a noble, he had drunk many alcohol and wine before. Yet, he couldn't take on this one, so it was completely weird. Even without Ardagan, he knew there was something wrong with this bottle.
"…" Noel gritted his teeth and ordered, 'Ardagan.'
The Undying Flame started circulating in his body, burning the liquid that just entered his body along with the toxin.
[There are three types of herbs, which two of them can be recognized. The first herb is Aproximadelei, a type of herb used for sleeping. The second herb is Fagant Leaf and its purpose is for sealing one's Spiritual Energy and the connection to the spirit. Lastly, an unknown herb for numbing one's body.]
"Seriously?" Noel muttered while falling to the ground, waiting for Ardagan to neutralize the job.
"Noel?!"
