From the pitch-black shadowy corner, a woman in men’s attire stepped out at a measured pace.
Her cane gently tapped the ground as she looked around, eyes surveying her surroundings.
Piles of miscellaneous items cluttered the area, and most of the place was so dark it was nearly impossible to see anything.
Yet she could sense it.
There were many things wandering about nearby—not because she was observing souls, but from an intuition rooted deep in her bloodline.
And these hidden things… seemed to have no desire to attack her, or rather, they completely ignored her.
Even if Ileya brushed right past them, they probably wouldn’t try to attack her.
Still, as the Lady of the house, she was infiltrating—there was no way she’d strut about so brazenly.
If you’re sneaking around, you have to look the part!
Instinctively lowering the brim of her hat, Ileya quietly made her way along the shadows.
Tap tap tap…
But after just two steps, she heard the sound of footsteps approaching from ahead.
The crisp clack of hard-soled leather shoes on the floor.
Raising an eyebrow slightly, Ileya didn’t choose to confront the person. Instead, she slipped sideways behind a pile of junk.
Tap tap tap…
As the footsteps drew closer, the Lady was able to get a good look at the newcomer.
A man in formal dress, wearing a tall hat and a monocle.
He seemed to be hurrying off somewhere in a rush.
Ileya considered: her stealth skills may be at “Assassin Master” level—
But… it was more like [the kind of stealth where you kill everyone who sees you and call it a success].jpg
To tail this guy silently and unnoticed was clearly unrealistic…
So—Ileya rose slowly, crimson eyes fixed on the man’s back, and raised her left hand.
She snapped her fingers softly.
Snap!
“Hm!?”
The man clearly heard the sound behind him, but before he could turn around—
A sudden sense of threat prickled his back, sending chills down his spine!
“Eh?!”
He hurriedly twisted his body, barely managing to shield his head and face with his arms!
But—it was already too late!
Because the assailant emerged straight from his shadow… and in the split second he reacted, the blade was already halfway through its arc!
Slice!
Blood sprayed everywhere!
The man’s forearms were chopped clean off by a sharp machete! Before he could retreat, a hand grabbed his collar again…
Bang! He was slammed straight onto a pile of crates beside him!
“Uh…?”
He seemed strangely tolerant to pain, staring at his assailant in confusion.
“You…? You shouldn’t be…
At that moment, inside the tent area beside the Circus.
Amisa, cloaked in brown, sat quietly at a table. There was a glass of water in front of her, but she hadn’t touched it.
Whoosh… A gentle breeze lifted the edge of her hood.
Revealing a pale, bluish face.
Although it wore a maid uniform, that… was not Amisa!
It was actually Master Senior Mein, who had been turned into a zombie by Ileya at the Herbal Shop!
The real Amisa, at this moment, had one hand pressed against a man’s chest, the other holding a machete at his throat.
“Impossible… You can’t break the rules! You’re a Dangerous One… how could you possibly get in…”
The man, now missing both hands, looked pale and questioned in disbelief.
“That… you’ll have to ask our Lady~” Amisa smiled a little helplessly.
Truthfully, she herself didn’t quite know why she was able to appear here.
Earlier, the Lady had told her to drink her blood. She’d been quite excited, thinking something s— cough, cough, was about to happen.
Then… the Lady transported her into a dark, disturbing space… filled with countless wandering weak spirits.
That’s right…
The real reason Ileya let Amisa drink her blood was so that she’d carry the aura of [Death].
That way, she could send her to the Kingdom of the Dead, and Amisa, able to merge with shadows, would be perfectly safe there.
And as for herself, like exploiting a “Tip” bug, she could bring this “Dangerous One” right into the Circus.
“Impossible… Even if a Dangerous One can get in here… you… could never get into the Backstage!”
As the white-haired girl slowly emerged from behind the junk, the man’s voice quivered, disbelief outweighing even his fear.
Eh~
This just happened to be the second “Tip” bug the Lady had found today~
“That’s right~ Tip 7 clearly states, ‘Guests may not enter Backstage without an invitation, strictly forbidden to enter Backstage~’”
Ileya smiled as she spoke, reaching into her pocket.
She waved a Ticket between two fingers before the man’s eyes, then casually tossed it to the floor.
“So… if I sneak in without a ticket~ I’m not a guest, am I?”
Before entering, the Lady had already made this hypothesis based on [Tip 1: Guests may enter with this ticket].
And to attract their attention, she had deliberately pushed her “bargain bin little sister” to the ticket-selling Clown.
After all~ what these people wanted were those of Seredon Family blood.
She was probably their primary target.
But Reliel would definitely be on their list too.
So… she could only trouble her sister to play the part openly, so that these people would focus all their attention on Reliel.
Meanwhile, she’d move unseen in the shadows, making things much easier~
Now it seemed—
It had been the right call~
“Enough~ You’ve asked so many questions, and I’ve answered them all… Now it’s your turn to answer mine.”
Ileya took two steps forward, her little leather boots making wet slapping sounds on the blood-soaked ground.
“You… you shouldn’t be doing this…” The man stared into her red eyes, voice weak and trembling.
“You really… really don’t have to resist. Just accept it! If you accept… you’ll have everything!!”
Suddenly, his emotions surged. He strained his neck, struggling forward, even as the machete at his throat drew a bloody line!
“Settle down!”
Seeing this, Amisa frowned, lifted her knee, and drove it into the man’s stomach!
“Cough, cough…”
The man doubled over, spitting out two mouthfuls of blood in pain.
To be honest, even Ileya and Amisa found this situation hard to believe.
How should one put it? For the mastermind behind all this—this guy was a little too weak… Though all his schemes had been exposed, the Lady had used the Circus rules to turn the tables, and finally Amisa caught him off guard…
But this guy… was just too weak.
Didn’t he have a trump card?
Before… of course he did, but… it was like a booby-trapped building with assassins on every floor from 1 to 20.
Blades in the dark, venomous beasts! If you tried to break through by force, you’d die for sure!
But… the clever—well, let’s say crafty—young Lady had her friends take the stairs, while she and her strongest bodyguard rode the elevator straight to the 20th floor~
Leaving the boss staring, helpless.
“Tell me… Why did you lure us here… What was your real goal?”
Ileya tilted her head, a bit of disappointment in her tone.
“I… lured you? No… no, you… you found me.” The man actually smiled at Ileya as he spoke.
Blood stained his teeth red, making the smile look rather grotesque.
“What do you mean? Make yourself clear…” Ileya frowned at the man before her.
So he hadn’t found her…
It was… she who found him?
Before Ileya could think more about it, she suddenly felt her heart clench!
“This feeling… Amisa!”
The girl reached out, grabbed the maid by the collar, and yanked her backward!
“Kraaah——!!”
And in the next instant… from the darkness at their side, a giant Crow Symbol manifested!
With a wide maw full of sharp fangs, it completely ignored Amisa being pulled away by Ileya… and instead, in one bite, snapped the grinning man’s upper body—
Clean off!
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