Chapter 216 Confronting Edwin
"Edwin…? Scarlet Family's butler? I'm sorry, but I really cannot disclose his location, as I could be killed for it." Aaron shook his head. "Please understand—"
Before he could finish his sentence, Lia suddenly raised her magic rifle and aimed it straight at Aaron's face.
"What are you— hmm?!" Aaron was forced to stop speaking when Lia suddenly shoved the muzzle of the magic rifle straight into his mouth.
"And if you don't tell me what I want to know, I will blow your brain all over the walls," she spoke in a cold voice.
'Lia…' Leo swallowed nervously, as he could tell that she was quite angry at the moment, and he didn't dare to interrupt her.
"Y-You dare to kill me?! I am still the vice-leader of this Adventurers' Guild!" Aaron spoke in a muffled voice due to the muzzle in his mouth.
"I don't care if you're the Guildmaster. Answer me. I will give you ten seconds." Lia placed her finger on the trigger, causing Aaron to sweat profusely.
"L-Leon!" Aaron turned to him for help.
"Leon may have forgiven you for your actions, but that isn't the case for me. If you want to live, tell me where I can find Edwin." Lia said, her gaze getting colder.
Seeing Aaron's pleading gaze, Leo sighed, "Just let her know what she wants to hear and she'll let you go. Stop being so stubborn. The Scarlet Family won't touch you for this, I promise."
After a moment of silence.
"Three… two…"
"Okay! I will tell you!" Aaron said. "Please put down your rifle first!"
Lia pulled her rifle out of Aaron's mouth and lowered it.
"Where is Edwin?"
Aaron took several deep breaths before speaking, "Edwin is currently staying at the Red Calm Hotel. I don't know which room, though."pᴀɴᴅᴀ-ɴ(0)ᴠᴇʟ.ᴄᴏᴍ
Lia turned around and began making her way towards the door.
Leo then said to Aaron, "I will be back later. If I am not promoted to B-Rank by then, I won't go easy on you."
"I will do my best to not disappoint you." Aaron nodded.
After Leo and Lia left the room, Aaron fell back on his chair and sighed out loud, "What have I gotten myself into? Just who are those two? They don't seem afraid of the Scarlet Family, and they're even willingly approaching them."
Aaron felt trapped in-between two enormous powers. On one side was the Scarlet Family, and on the other side were two unknown individuals with mysterious backgrounds.
"Fuck it. Whatever happens, happens."
Meanwhile, after leaving the Adventurers' Guild, Lia said, "Leo, do you mind if I take care of this alone? Edwin is my responsibility and mine alone, after all. But if you want to poke a few holes in his body as revenge, I won't refuse."
Leo smiled and said, "Although that sounds like fun, I don't want to be responsible for whatever happens. I'll leave everything to you."
Lia nodded, "I promise you, he won't bother you again after today."
"I'll trust you."
Lia took a taxi to the Red Calm Hotel shortly after.
Meanwhile, Leo went back into the Adventurers' Guild to type up his report regarding his experience in the Labyrinth.
"Is everything okay?" Sarah approached him when she was done with her report.
"Yes. Why do you ask?" Leo raised an eyebrow.
"I thought you were in trouble with the vice-leader. The atmosphere between you two was pretty bad."pᴀɴᴅᴀ ɴ(O)ᴠᴇʟ
Leo chuckled, "Don't worry, I'm not in trouble. If anybody is in trouble, it's the vice-leader."
"Huh? What do you mean by that?"
"It's a secret."
"Is that so? Then I will stop bothering you now…"
Meanwhile, at the Red Calm Hotel, Lia approached the receptionist.
"I'm looking for someone named Edwin. I was told that he's staying at this hotel." Lia said to the round middle-aged woman behind the desk.
"I'm sorry, but we do not give out information about our guests to strangers."
"I'm not a stranger. Edwin is my slave." Lia corrected her.
"Uhh…" The middle-aged woman was dumbfounded by Lia's words.
She quickly looked up the name Edwin, and sure enough, he was in their database. However, he was an honorable guest at their hotel.
'How can someone staying in our hotel as an honor guest possibly be a slave?'
"I'm sorry, but I'll have to ask you to leave." The middle-aged woman said, trying to remain as polite as possible.
Lia didn't say anything else and retrieved her ID and placed it on the desk in front of the lady.
"If you dare tell anyone that I was here, I will kill you." Lia said as she glared at the lady, who swallowed nervously as she picked up the ID on the desk.
"T-This is—!" The middle-aged woman's eyes widened with shock after she saw the name on the ID.ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕ(ꪫ)ꪣꫀꪶ
'Lia Scarlet! She's the Blood Princess of the Scarlet Family?!'
There were multiple nicknames out there for Lia. Blood Princess, Scarlet Princess, Goddess of Blood, and Scarlet Eyes were among the most popular.
"Please forgive me! I was being rude just now!" The middle-aged woman quickly lowered her head and begged for forgiveness after realizing Lia's identity, as Lia could kill her on the spot and nobody would be able to stop her.
"I don't care about that. Just give me Edwin's room number."
"Right away!" The woman said, and after taking a moment to look at Edwin's information, she spoke, "Room 621!"
Lia immediately left the woman and went to take the elevator.
Once she was on the sixth floor, Lia walked out of the elevator and looked for room 621.
Lia stood before room 621 a minute later.
*Knock* *Knock*
Lia calmly knocked on the door.
"Matthew, is that you? It's about damn time you returned!" Edwin's voice resounded from within the room, his voice filled with excitement and anticipation.
The door opened a moment later, and Edwin appeared before Lia.
"Huh? Who the hell are you?" Edwin frowned when the person he was expecting was nowhere to be seen, and all of his anticipation died down instantly.
Lia didn't say anything and silently stared at Edwin.
The frown on Edwin's face grew deeper, and he spoke, "If you're here to sell your body to me, I don't want it. Get out of my face before I call the security."
Unbeknownst to Edwin, he'd just signed a death warrant with that sentence.
BOOM!
Lia suddenly kicked Edwin in the stomach, sending him flying into the room.
She followed him inside and closed the door before locking it.
"Y-You fucking bitch… How dare you dirty my uniform…" Edwin gritted his teeth in anger when he saw that his clean uniform now had a food imprint on it.
"Have you lost your fucking mind, Edwin?" Lia suddenly spoke in a cold voice, and on her face was a calm yet sinister look.
"What…?" Edwin's eyes widened with shock, and he had an uneasy feeling about what was going to happen next.
pAɴᴅᴀɴ[0)ᴠᴇʟ "You still don't recognize me?" Lia continued to speak, "What happened to you, Edwin? You used to be my most loyal and reliable servant."
Edwin's eyes widened with shock upon hearing Lia's words, as even a senile old man would realize his situation.
He fell to his knees with a look of disbelief on his face, "Impossible… Young Lady…?"
It was at this moment that Lia removed her disguise, revealing to Edwin her real appearance.
Long silky black hair, a beautiful and delicate face that resembled a doll, and her most distinctive feature, a pair of crimson eyes that strike fear into everyone that faces it.
"Y-Young Lady… I-I can explain…" Edwin was so shocked that he didn't even know where to begin.
"Save your breath, Edwin. You'll need it later." Lia said.
"From this point forth, I only want answers coming out of your mouth, do you understand?"
He nodded in a dazed manner.
"Did you send four assassins and an S-Rank Adventurer to capture Leon?" Lia asked.
"Yes, I did."
"I recall telling you to not touch him. Why did you disobey my order?"
"I have no excuse." Edwin said.
A vicious glint appeared in Lia's eyes, and after a moment of silence, she spoke in a cold voice, "This is an order. Raise your right arm."
Edwin could feel the Slave Mark inside his body reacting to Lia's commands, and his body subconsciously responded to it.
Once Edwin raised his right arm, Lia retrieved her dagger, and without even the slightest hesitation, slashed at it, severing Edwin's entire right arm off his body.
Edwin gritted his teeth and tried his best to endure the pain, and in the end, he did not utter even a single noise.
He was used to being injured by Lia, and he has almost died several times before because of her. However, this is the first time that she's done something this savage, and he could feel her anger from her dagger.
"I am deeply sorry for causing you this trouble, Young Lady. I have severely disappointed you and the Scarlet Family. My actions are inexcusable, and I deserve the death penalty for it. But before you kill me, can you please enlighten me? Why are you protecting Leon? What's so special about him? What can you see from him that I cannot see?"
"I don't need to explain anything to you, Edwin. If you cannot see something, you can only blame yourself for lacking the ability. And I won't kill you— at least not right now. Killing you right now will be too lenient of a punishment, after all." Lia said, sending chills down Edwin's back.
'Alas… I have truly screwed up this time…' He sighed inwardly, as he's never experienced such a hopeless situation before.
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