novelThe Last Smile
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Chapter 301: The Last Smile
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
In Viscount Klein's study.
Viscount Klein was tied to the chair, and his black hair looked messy. His green eyes stared at the man wearing a ridiculous-looking clown mask standing in front of him.
"You must be the crazy Clown! Just as the princess said, you're out of your mind!" Klein, the archon of Aalto's city hall, scolded Clown out of fear.
Clown laughed, "Mr. Viscount, please don't tell me that the spell you cast just now was from a magic item. I see nothing wrong with a night watcher catching a vicious sorcerer, or do you want me to call you... Mr. Philosopher?"
Klein was shocked, "How do you..."
He did not finish his sentence. Instead, he stopped himself very quickly. He thought that this might be a trick.
"We've been watching you all this time, Mr. Viscount, but we never really did anything to you because we were waiting for you to confess and to realize what you've done is completely wrong. After all, you're a noble. But unfortunately, you didn't. However, you've still got one more chance. As long as you tell me where Professor is, you can keep your status as a noble and archon... and you only need to secretly join the Night Watch, " said Clown. As he was talking, he looked out of the window, feeling a bit worried that the rest of the night watchers might arrive here anytime.
Klein realized that he was not the real target, then he sneered, "I see. You're here for Professor. Sure enough, hanging out with one on the Cleansing List means great risks. But I don't trust you, Clown. You're not part of the Night Watch anymore, and the night watchers are even after you as well. I'd rather wait until the real night watchers come."
As what Clown expected, although Klein had no plan on keeping the secret at the cost of his life, he was as sneaky as many other nobles. If the reward was tempting enough, they could even work with demons! People like Klein knew how to make decisions in this kind of situation.
Klein was trying to get a better offer!
Clown's face got close to Klein's and he said, "Good try, Mr. Viscount, but you're negotiating with me, and I'm in a hurry, so I don't feel like negotiating."
Klein's facial expression suddenly changed, and Clown's ten fingers started moving. Clown's fingers controlled the muscles in Klein's face and whole body, and his eyes and mouth started to open and close following Clown's movement.
Gradually, Klein's will and soul were also controlled. Unlike other night watchers, Clown could get the information he wanted even without using divine power.
"What's your pseudonym? Are you a sorcerer? In what school?" Clown first used a few simple questions to see if his power worked.
Klein's eyes finally found focus, and he looked just as usual, except for the smile on his face, "Lord Clown, I'm a sorcerer. My pseudonym is Philosopher, mainly major in the school of Astrology. At that time, I failed to awaken my blessing, and I had no potions to rely on, so found the magic books left by the sorcerers who were killed by my ancestors to see if there was anything I could do to awaken my Blessing, but then I got interested in the school of Astrology, and could not stop myself anymore."
Clown was not interested in Klein, so he asked directly, "How did you meet Professor? How can I find him?"
"Lord Clown, it was Professor who found me after I came back from the concert. To be more specific, he used the fourth-circle spell, Figure in Mirror, to talk to me. He wanted to attend our next gathering to tell us the information about the Congress of Magic." Klein told Clown everything, "After I agreed to help, we met each other once. It was beside an idle garden villa in Gesu, No. 116. And we had this secret code... But I don't know where he is right now. He decided on the place where we met."
Of course, Professor was very cautious and cunning, and Clown knew it well. Suddenly, it came to him that the address belonged to Lucien Evans! The villa was in a remote corner, and it had not been rented out yet. Only an old servant was keeping the house. So it was a perfect place for Professor to hide.
Clown's blood was boiling, and his body was shaking out of thrill. He was glad that he paid attention to the details.
However, knowing how cunning Professor was, Clown forced himself to calm down and thought, "Lucien Evans is taking his rest in the house in Noble district right now, and it is said that Natasha is being occupied with all kinds of stuff in Ratacia Palace today and never left the palace. If both of them all of a sudden showed up in the idle house, people could easily tell that this was a conspiracy."
He also considered whether Professor would lead him to another powerful sorcerer and make them fight, but it was not very likely to happen, after all, they were in Aalto. If a big fight happened, those cardinals would arrive immediately.
Although Clown knew that the best option right now was to wait for Juliana and the other night watchers to handle this, the anger and the wish to take his revenge were burning his guts. Also, he was confident in his own power as well.
After making a quick analysis, Clown made up his mind to go there. He knew that he must be very careful, and if there was anything out of his control, he would hide and leave Professor to the rest of the night watchers.
After sealing Klein's spiritual power using his special Blessing, Clown wrote down the information that he got from Klein to save some time for the night watchers coming after.
Then Clown left the noble district and arrived at No. 116, Gesu District.
The garden villa was covered in the darkness like a terrifying monster.
After checking around, Clown saw no magic traps around. Feeling a bit relieved, he decided to take one more step further. As quick as a shadow, he sneaked into the garden villa.
There was only an old servant here in the villa. After making the old servant fall asleep, Clown carefully checked the rooms one by one, trying to find some clues.
Soon, Clown had finished searching the basement and the ground floor. With great caution, he walked upstairs.
...
In Viscount Klein's place.
Waldo, the Executer, led a night watch team secretly to the second floor. They were still looking for the viscount.
They avoided making a great stir, in case Professor would notice and run away.
As soon as they came to the second floor, Waldo smelled blood.
Juliana suddenly became worried. She was afraid that Clown had lost his control.
Waldo's face was half covered by his beard, but his nose was very sensitive to smells. He said seriously in front of the door of the study, "Only one dead person in there. It's the smell of Millstone family."
The viscount was from the family.
As he was talking, Waldo opened the door. The strong smell of blood blew to them.
When the night watchers got in the room, although they were very used to blood and death, in front of what they saw, they all frowned.
The room was like a slaughterhouse. Tiny pieces of flesh and blood were everywhere, from the ceiling to the floor, leaving not even a complete piece of bone or organ. This whole scene was beyond disgusting and cruel.
"This looks... familiar..." murmured a night watcher.
The rest of the night watchers knew what he was talking about—almost all of those who had been caught by Clown's strings ended up like this.
"Impossible... Clown wouldn't kill the viscount..." Juliana's face turned pale.
Stepping on the pieces of flesh and the pool of blood, Waldo directly walked to the desk and picked up the piece of paper under the ink bottle. After taking a quick look, he said to the rest of the night watchers, "This was left by Clown. He left the secret code that no one can mimic. He's confirmed that Viscount Klein is Philosopher, and, according to Clown, Professor might be at No. 116 in Gesu District."
Hearing that, Juliana gasped. She started to think that it might be Clown who had done all of this. When he got the information he wanted, he might have got too excited to control himself.
Because the viscount had been confirmed to be a vicious sorcerer, his death did not matter that much.
"Leave the viscount thing to the Inquisition. Now we should get to Gesu District as soon as possible!" Waldo said to the rest of the night watchers. In his heart, he was still on Clown's side.
"Got it!" replied the rest of the watchers together. They did not care about a vicious sorcerer's death.
...
Clown had searched most of the second floor but found nothing special.
One room after another... When Clown felt disappointed, he suddenly noticed that there was someone in the study! As a grand knight, Clown sensed that a man was standing beside the window, enjoying the cool night wind.
Clown was very surprised. He did not expect that it would be this easy for him to find Professor, and, more importantly, it seemed that Professor did not even notice him!
Although having lots of questions and thoughts in his mind, facing the evil and powerful middle-rank mage, Clown did not want to waste even a second. Instantly, he fiercely launched the puppet strings right toward the man beside the window.
Letting out all of his power, Clown destroyed the door within a second at the same time. However, to his great shock, he saw Lucien Evans standing beside the window.
Being tightly bound, the way Lucien Evans was standing was weird and distorted. And there was a creepy and fake smile on his good-looking face. Under that certain mysterious power, his body directly and stiffly fell backward, like a swan shot by an arrow.
The messy black suit Lucien Evans was wearing, the creepy smile on his face, and the moment when he fell backward like a worn doll... became an eternal, mysterious painting in Clown's memory.
To frame him, Professor chose to sacrifice Lucien Evans?
Clown totally did not expect this.
Before hitting the floor, Lucien Evans' body exploded like a blooming flower. His flesh and blood were everywhere.
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