Chapter 30 Playing Dead??

Chapter 30 Playing Dead??

Sera Betella.

A master-class talent and attendant to the Fourth Princess Sizelry Ephania, she was frowning over the incident that occurred yesterday.

The informants they had embedded in the imperial palace had either been bought off or were only gathering incorrect information.

What is this.

Even under Seras stern pressure, the bought informants kept their mouths shut.

They just repeated that they had no other choice but to act that way.

To think they would do this even when the imperial palace is mentioned directly.

Sera swallowed her frustration.

If thats the case, someone even higher up than the Fourth Princess must have given the order.

There werent many in the empire whose status exceeded that of Sizelry.

Sera frowned as she considered those individuals.

Why would they target the Fourth Princess?

Sizelry had deliberately distanced herself from the throne struggle by acting playfully.

Her siblings didnt keep her in check because of this, and now Sera could not fathom why this was happening.

Can I protect her all by myself?

Sizelry was intelligent.

She had only prepared the bare minimum to defend herself, without bothering with other measures.

For her, the best defense was not to hold anything of value at all.

Thus, Sera felt a great sense of duty to protect Sizelry.

It was no coincidence that her mother had pleaded with the Emperor to appoint her, a master-class talent, as Sizelrys attendant.

And now she was being targeted.

By the wolves lurking in the tigers den.

To those wolves, Sizelry was nothing more than a defenseless lamb.

A lamb that could be torn to shreds at any moment.

Sera was that lambs horn.

The only means of defense, yet all too small compared to the grandeur of the imperial palace.

Ha

A long sigh escaped from her.

Starting from the Second Prince absorbing the power of the Night Crow, to the recent friction between the First and Second Princes.

And on top of that, Sigrids strange movements.

Every single factor was suspicious.

She was better suited to swinging a sword than strategizing.

Therefore, she had spoken directly to Sizelry.

But Sizelry had been deep in thought, simply telling her not to do anything for now.

Only making an absurd remark that she should take care of herself.

What are you pondering all by yourself again?

It would be helpful if Sizelry would at least confide in Sera, her only retainer.

But Sizelry, being intelligent, preferred to subtly direct someones actions rather than make them understand her own thinking.

The problem was that those who became the target of her intentions were often left frustrated.

Tap-tap

Suddenly, a sound came from the window.

As Sera turned her head, there was a crow.

This child is

Sera remembered seeing that crow.

It was the crow of the boy whom Sizelry had recently taken an interest in.

Night Crow.

That was Seras immediate thought upon seeing the crow, but she shook her head.

The boy couldnt be the Night Crow; Sizelry had made that clear.

How would a crow like this know her location?

The boy was as enigmatic in his thinking as Sizelry.

Creak

So, out of a desire to check, she opened the window.

Then, the crow smartly walked into the room and spoke.

Sera Betella.

Startled!

Seras face froze for a moment, as she hadnt expected the crow to talk.

Then, a smirk appeared on the crows beak.

She was seeing a crow smile for the first time.

Ill share a bit of my immortality in exchange for your vitality. So play dead.

The moment Sera heard those words, she suddenly realized darkness was seeping into her vision.

Black!?

Her sight vanished abruptly, and she inadvertently swallowed her annoyance and slumped onto the floor.

Her sense of equilibrium had been shattered by the darkness in an instant.

Something had happened to her without any opportunity to react.

What on earth

As her tensed body was on high alert, she drew her sword, focusing intently on any perceptible movements through the darkness.

When her cold sweat began to trickle down her cheeks, her vision slowly returned.

Unbeknownst to her, a black star had formed and disappeared in her eyes.

!

Sera quickly lifted her head.

But the crow that should have been at the window had long vanished.

What had she just experienced?

A cloud of unanswered questions filled her mind.

Crash!

Simultaneously, she recalled the words of the crow from before.

Play dead, it said?

When she was actually dying.

Seras consciousness faded to nothing after that.

After impaling Seras heart and realizing she had ceased breathing, Mary retracted her spear.

Then, catching the collapsing body with one hand, Mary sighed.

She felt a slight throb in her body from using Excel, but it was bearable.

Although she had not reached her peak level, facing a master-class opponent like this was always going to come with acceptance of such consequences.

Has it already been a year since I returned to the past with memory transference?

After her memory was transferred back, she had immediately joined Sigrid, her closest ally.

Thankfully, Sigrid had also successfully had her memories transferred.

The two of them went straight in search of Arthur.

Their beloved hero, whom they desperately wanted to find and protect the world alongside.

However, somehow, Arthur was nowhere to be found.

Even though he had promised to be there when they all awoke after he led the regression that night.

Lord Arthur, where have you gone?

Mary bit her lip in frustration.

Even after waiting days, Arthur did not return, and she scoured the entire Empire looking for him, but he was not to be found.

Moreover, for some reason, Abella hadnt appeared either.

Inquiries at the Red Magic Tower led to the discovery that she had suddenly vanished.

What on earth

What was happening?

At least Sigrid was being reassuring, saying that if it were Arthur, he would soon come back.

Mary had nearly spent her days in despair, thinking Arthur had disappeared.

The only thing I can do now.

Is to support Sigrid, the Third Princess, and become the mightiest spear.

And so, she killed Sera in accordance with Sigrids instructions.

Sigrid was currently away on other business.

Thus Mary had to ensure the job was done properly, entrusted by Sigrid who believed in her more than anyone else, for the future of their Empire.

Thunk, thunk-

At that moment, footsteps resounded.

When Mary lifted her head, there was a giant man with stitched marks all over his face.

He was none other than Ebelasques 13th corpse.

Holding Seras heart now was Mary.

As the heart was entrusted to her by Sigrid, Ebelasque had no choice but to obey her commands.

Following the orders hed received earlier, he carefully placed Seras body inside the sack he had brought.

Then, shouldering the sack, he turned to leave.

Wait a moment, please.

Mary called out to detain Corpse No. 13.

Caught by surprise, No. 13 paused in his tracks.

Corpses do not have emotions, but the one controlling No. 13 was none other than Ebelasque.

With cold sweat dripping down her brow, Ebelasque, watching from beyond the corpse, grew increasingly nervous, fearing she had been found out.

I still havent been informed who among the corpses attended the martial arts tournament.

One of the Night Crows corpses had participated in the martial arts tournament.

On the surface, it was under the order of the Second Prince.

The Second Prince intended to expand his influence, making it known that he controlled the Night Crow his choice of demonstration was the martial arts tournament.

Of course, that was a plot designed by Sigrid and Mary in advance.

To clearly show the entire Empire that the Second Prince had control of the Night Crow.

Thus, after having Sera kill Sizelry, they planned to frame the act as done by the Night Crow under the Second Princes command.

Needless to say, they had already constructed a motive for the Second Prince to kill Sizelry.

Now if Sizelry were to die, the Second Prince would be unable to escape imprisonment.

Still, after watching the martial arts tournament, I have a good guess who it might be.

So, Mary knew that the Night Crow had been competing in the tournament.

The issue was that she had been too busy with other matters to inquire about the identity of that Night Crow member.

Is he the boy who goes around with a crow?

She asked for confirmation.

Yes, thats correct.

The reply came promptly from Corpse No. 13.

You have taste. To openly flaunt the identity of the Night Crow by using that crow. Ah, was that Sigrids command? You wouldnt possess such ingenuity.

Though she maintained a facade of elegance, Mary was a sharp-tongued critiquer and smiled wryly at the remark.

However, No. 13 showed no expression, leaving Mary feeling discontented.

You may go now.

No. 13 bowed his head and began walking away.

Ebelasque, controlling No. 13, may have been tense, but Mary did not really suspect her.

Since Mary was holding her heart, Ebelasque could not afford to betray her.

On that note, Ebelasque had a pretty cute one in tow.

Mary remembered the boy named Kradd for a moment.

Ebelasque, who typically managed only grotesque corpses, also had such a corpse in her collection.

If only it wasnt just a corpse

Mary pondered for a while before shaking the thought from her head.

s

It must have been too long since shed been apart from Arthur for such buried proclivities to resurface.

Lord Arthur, please show yourself soon.

Wishing for his return, Mary began to walk on.