Chapter 27

The Reputation of Duke Brooks

Just now, when they were talking in the room, Cheng Shi had noticed that the wounds on the killed dwarves were a bit special.

They didn't look like sharp weapons like the daggers commonly used by assassins, but rather like blunt-edged tools.

For example...

Cheng Shi looked around for a moment and kicked a blood-stained knife out from under a bed.

Looking at the length and size of the knife, it looked like the dwarves' own weapons.

A dwarf war blade.

But someone perhaps was certain that everyone wouldn't stay here for long, so the way the scene was handled was quite casual—it couldn't even be called handling.

He hadn't cared about these details at all.

"Interesting..."

Cheng Shi recalled his conversation with A-Ming and kept observing the corpses of the dead dwarves.

It didn't take long for him to see some clues.

Looking at the positions of these six dwarves and the traces of the fight at the scene, it really did look like they had attacked the same target.

Perhaps Fang Shiqing had pulled Cheng Shi away in time, making A-Ming, who followed closely behind, the scapegoat.

But what made Cheng Shi even more puzzled was that the force of the wounds on the six people was different.

This didn't look like one person had harvested them; it looked more like six different people had killed the dwarves.

Coincidentally, there were six killers and six dead.

"Mutual slaughter?"

Cheng Shi frowned tightly, beginning to think about whether assassins had this kind of talent to control people. At the very least, for 【Order】, such talents were rare.

"The scene is truly chaotic, but it's not without its gains."

Cheng Shi picked up a ring he had fished off one of the dwarf corpses, squinting to examine it against the sunlight filtering through the window.

While looking, he clicked his tongue in admiration:

"The workmanship is truly exquisite. I wonder what kind of craft could hammer out such a fine ring. Pity, it belongs to me now."

He smiled, tucked the ring into his pocket, and then walked slowly out of the servant's quarters.

Just as he stepped out, he ran into Bai Ling, who was smiling and seemed to be waiting for him.

Cheng Shi's face darkened, and he scolded with a smile:

"Stuck to me like glue?"

Bai Ling had managed to get another dress from somewhere. She imitated the manner of a noble lady, bowed gracefully, and giggled:

"Hugging a big thigh, you don't mind, right?"

"Hugging is fine, just don't touch randomly."

"Don't worry, Big Boss, I'm very obedient. I'll touch wherever you tell me to."

"..."

Cheng Shi was too lazy to waste words with her and walked past her.

"Perfect, I can be your attendant in this outfit. Any discoveries?"

"What kind of attendant runs ahead of their master?"

Bai Ling hurried to catch up and whispered in reply:

"The estate is huge, and there are many guests. I just knocked out a lady and got information from her husband. Duke Brooks seems to have never appeared, and there's only half an hour left until his announced appearance time."

Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow, secretly thinking that a woman who doesn't follow the rules is indeed fast at gathering intelligence.

He followed Bai Ling into the main hall in the center of the estate, weaving through the many nobles, and soon saw the figures of the others.

Everyone had changed into new clothes and was splitting up to search.

Cheng Shi took a rough look at the hall and decisively chose to take Bai Ling away from there.

"Big Boss?"

"The answer isn't here."

"Oh." Bai Ling responded lightly and followed Cheng Shi's lead to walk elsewhere.

Cheng Shi watched her walking silently in front and suddenly felt something was missing, so he said:

"Aren't you going to ask me why?"

"It's enough for me to be obedient; I don't need to know why. Of course, if Big Boss needs someone to play along, I can pretend very well."

"..."

What kind of person is this? Not interesting at all.

Not to mention Song Yawen from the last round, even Chen Chong was better; at least he could give him some sense of accomplishment.

But some things, if kept inside, are uncomfortable.

"The dwarf's ring is very exquisite."

"And then?"

"Noble lords wouldn't care about a dwarf's ring."

"Oh, so?"

"So the target isn't here."

"So that's it, Big Boss is so amazing."

"... You'd better just shut up."

"Oh." Bai Ling laughed like a lark, drawing side-glances from the surrounding guests. "Then Big Boss, where are we going now?"

That's a good question.

Actually, Cheng Shi's first target was the lower-class people who often dealt with these dwarf refugees, but he suddenly felt that since the dwarves coming here had to do with the Duke, perhaps meeting this Duke would be a good choice.

So he pointed toward the stairs, signaling Bai Ling to go up.

Bai Ling's expression changed, and she whispered in surprise:

"There are guards. If we walk up swaggeringly, we'll be blocked."

Cheng Shi rolled his eyes and said wickedly:

"Use your advantages."

Bai Ling was stunned for a moment, then understood.

She lifted her skirt and walked quickly toward the stairs. Sure enough, as soon as she reached the stairs, she was stopped by guards in iron armor.

Seeing this, Bai Ling hurried to lower her head, leaned in close, and whispered:

"The Duke needs me."

The guards' heads and faces were wrapped in helmets, so their expressions couldn't be seen, but the way they gripped their long spears exposed their inner shock.

Perhaps they were savoring the meaning of the word "need."

Seeing that the two didn't react, Bai Ling reached out and made a gesture in front of her chest, hooking her left and right index fingers together.

This was a filthy gesture popular in the pleasure quarters of the Continent of Hope, meaning to fawn and serve. No lady with any status would ever make this gesture.

Or rather, only certain special professionals would make this gesture to indicate their price.

The two guards were clearly even more shocked.

They looked at Bai Ling's beautiful face, slim figure, and elegant temperament, and could never connect her with this gesture.

"You..."

"I said, the Duke needs me."

"But the Duke didn't notify..."

"Do you mean that when the Duke has a need, he must notify you?"

"?" The guard was stunned by the question in that instant.

That's right, why would the Duke notify me?

Besides, what's wrong with letting a woman in? Doesn't the Duchess often bring men back too?

The two guards looked at each other, convinced themselves, and stepped back one after the other.

Bai Ling was happy in her heart and gave Cheng Shi a wink.

Cheng Shi laughed inwardly, but on the surface, he followed cautiously.

The two guards wanted to stop him again, but Bai Ling's expression turned cold:

"Stupid, don't you know how to avoid suspicion? If you let me go up alone, what will happen to the Duke's reputation?"

If you let you go up, does Duke-sama still have a reputation?

The guards' brains overloaded for a moment, then they resignedly let the little follower pass.

Of course, it wasn't out of consideration for the Duke's reputation.

It was because they discovered that this servant behind her was too handsome, not looking like a follower at all.

It looked more like a... pet raised by noble ladies.

Looking at it this way, does the Duke need her, or does the Duchess need him?

Forget it, maybe they both need them.

I'm just a guard, why think so much?

Seeing the two guards let them pass, Bai Ling happily led Cheng Shi up the stairs.

Just as they disappeared onto the second floor, Fang Shiqing and Xu Lu walked over quietly.

"Hello, we would like to request an audience with the Duke."

Fang Shiqing spoke gently and politely, so polite that she didn't seem like a noble from Brooks Town at all.

Request an audience with the Duke?

The Duke is probably busy.

The guard refused them without hesitation, his cold attitude hard to accept.

Fang Shiqing's expression changed, and she secretly frowned, wondering how Cheng Shi and the others had gotten up.

Xu Lu was even more embarrassed and angry, shouting:

"Why won't you let us up? How did those two just go up?"

Hearing this, the guard raised his spear:

"No shouting. No one can go upstairs to disturb the Duke. No one went up just now, please leave."

At this moment, they finally remembered to maintain Duke-sama's reputation.

If the Duke still had a reputation.

"You..."

"Let's go, having them upstairs is enough."

"But that Cheng guy is a scoundrel."

Fang Shiqing felt quite relieved hearing this, but still silently complained in her heart:

"How do you have the face to say such things with such righteousness? Can he be more of a scoundrel than you?"

She took care of Xu Lu's face and didn't say it out loud, just walked away silently.

Seeing the "thigh" leave, Xu Lu naturally followed quickly.

While Xu Lu was suffering a setback, Cheng Shi had already arrived in Duke-sama's room on the second floor.

But when he pushed open the door and saw the scene inside, his expression sank immediately.

In the large room, a middle-aged man in gorgeous attire lay on the bed, his chest covered in blood, having long since stopped breathing.

Bai Ling widened her eyes and covered her mouth in shock: "He is!"

"Shh! Someone's coming!"

Cheng Shi quickly pulled Bai Ling into the room, closed the door gently, and dragged her to hide in the wardrobe opposite the bed.

The wardrobe wasn't large, and it was stuffed with all kinds of clothes.

Cheng Shi had no choice and squeezed in immediately.

But the space for standing was limited. After Cheng Shi occupied most of the room, Bai Ling had to squat at his feet, barely covering herself with the hem of the clothes.

To close the wardrobe door, she had to hold tightly onto some supports with both hands.

"Big Sister, take it easy."

"Don't worry, I won't touch randomly."

"..."

Now, it's a real "hugging the big thigh."

"Click."

The door lock turned, and footsteps followed immediately.

Before Cheng Shi could carefully identify how many people had entered, an angry female voice rang out.

"I only told you to knock him out, not to kill him! Do you know what the consequences of doing this are!?"

Responding to her was a low male voice.

"Dilar, you have to believe me, I didn't kill him!"

Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow, remembering who this name belonged to.

Dilar, Duke Brooks's wife, the town's number one noble lady who had her butt touched by a guard.

Then, who is this man?