The villain's way to tame the protagonist

He laughed first, then put aside his extraordinary status and approached Marina: "Mr. Faust, how have you been lately——"

"Just sit there, Mr. Swordfish."

Miss Maganlei, who was carrying a bag, smiled softly and said, "I just came here to discuss something with you."

Swordfish supported his knees with his hands and slowly sat back down, his eyes fixed on the bag in Marina's hand.

He let out a breath, vaguely guessing something: "Please speak."

"I am a person who is quite sensitive about Mr. Faust's safety and privacy."

The thin and frail adventurer servant said softly:

"So, I will be on guard against those who want to spy on Mr. Faust, and I will also be on guard against..."

She shook the bag in her hand gently, her eyes narrowed slightly: "Beware of those who might betray Mr. Faust."

“Ooooh—” Swordfish raised his hands, showing a frightened expression, “We can’t afford such a reputation, Miss Maganlei.”

"is it?"

Marina tilted her head slightly and poured everything in the thick bag onto the table. Inside were... parchment scrolls?

"The Executioner's Guild, Strife Castle branch, a total of forty-five members."

The girl put her hands behind her back, leaned forward slightly, and said faintly: "There are a total of thirty-nine people who have reached an agreement with the information dealer who bought Mr. Faust's information."

Damn it, you bastards!

Swordfish, with twitching eyes, cursed his "companions" in his heart. He was thinking that everyone would kill the pigs together, but he didn't expect that he was the pig. Now it seems... all of them are pigs!

"One or two people can be considered as the individual actions of the guild."

The girl placed her hand on the stacked parchment scrolls. "But thirty-nine people... How do you plan to explain this, Mr. Swordfish?"

"..."

Swordfish first glanced expressionlessly at his companions who had been joking with him all day. The latter all looked away guiltily, leaving him with a helpless sigh. He then reached out his hand to Marina: "Can you let me see the contract scroll?"

"Please."

Swordfish drew four contract scrolls from different locations and found that the content formats on them were exactly the same, which was simply wholesale!

The words "Swearing in the name of Grand Duke Lapis Lazuli, Namo Lapis Lazuli" at the beginning of the contract are the most common form of contract in the Western Country, or in the territory ruled by Grand Duke Lapis Lazuli. As long as this sentence is written, it is assumed that Grand Duke Lapis Lazuli will be the notary public, and any violation of the contract can be appealed, which determines the nature of the transaction from the beginning.

Swordfish quickly found out the reason why so many Executioners sold information - it was very simple, he gave too much.

Really, as long as the price is high enough, nothing is a problem for adventurers.

At the same time, the contract also clearly stipulated that no content of the transaction should be disclosed to anyone. In addition, no one dared to tell others that they had sold out Faust...so almost all the executioners "sold out" Faust.

But does this really count as selling? Bullshit! Most people have never seen Faust. The most they know is that Faust always takes on commissions to help civilians, that's all.

Can this be called intelligence? Can this be called betraying Faust?

Swordfish's temple was throbbing. It was true, but it was not true.

——It is clearly written on this contract scroll, "Exchange information about Faust for reward"... Damn, even the name is signed! There are thirty-nine of them piled here!

After reading the scroll, Swordfish rubbed his temples and let out a long breath.

He looked up at Marina with a complicated expression and said, "Sir Faust, you are not so bored, are you?"

"Mr. Faust really doesn't pay attention to you."

Marina said calmly, "This is all my personal behavior. I just hope you don't take any chances, Mr. Swordfish."

"You may have your own ideas about whether Mr. Faust would care about this kind of betrayal. But do you think you know Mr. Faust better, or..."

The girl tilted her head slightly and smiled harmlessly: "I know Mr. Faust better?"

Marina is very clear about her advantages, the advantages given to her by Ansor.

It's not just the name of Faust, but more importantly... the definition of Faust's existence.

Is he tyrannical or kind? Is he indifferent or enthusiastic? Is he narrow-minded or tolerant? No one knows what Faust is like. The only ones who have the right to interpret it are Faust himself and...

And, myself as Faust’s servant and his spokesperson.

However, Marina did not intend to squander this gift. Not only that, she also had to ensure that when using this gift, she would maintain Faust's image. If she did not need to control the Executioner Chapter in the shortest possible time, she would not even take such measures.

Swordfish looked at the quiet and gentle girl in front of him, and his fingers twitched involuntarily.

He just thought it was ridiculous.

The Executioner... the most famous and top commissioned guild in the entire Western Country. Its president [Death Bell] York is a top free man, a fifth-order transcendent. Swordfish, as the vice president, is also a veteran fourth-order transcendent.

Externally, it has a great reputation, and internally, it has many talented people... Even though it is just a branch in Strife Castle, how could it be controlled by a mortal?

In such an absurd and funny way?

Maganlei’s meaning is very simple. Now I have the evidence in my hands that almost your entire guild sold out Faust’s intelligence - never mind whether the information sold is meaningful or not, never mind whether this is a sting operation or not, I just want to ask you if you sold it?

What does it mean that the entire guild is "targeting" Faust? Is it because they haven't lived enough?

But where did she get so much money to trade? Oh, she is Faust's follower, so it is natural that she has a lot of money... But does Faust really give his mortal followers the right to squander so much money?

Swordfish had countless questions, but he could only wonder.

This matter could be big or small. If it was a big deal, Faust could kill everyone here without leaving any alive. If it was a small deal, he might not take it seriously at all... But no matter how big or small, Swordfish had no right to negotiate. If they wanted to talk to Faust, they could only ask their boss.

As for now...

"Ms. Brandt, you said...you did this as a personal act, right?"

Swordfish showed a friendly and approachable smile on his face: "If that's the case..."

He stood up, stacked all the scrolls, put them back into the bag, and handed them respectfully to Marina.

"Is there anything I can do to help you personally?"

The experienced adventurer grinned.

*

When Anser stepped into the Executioner's Gate again, Ming Fuluo was still nagging in his ear:

"If you want to kill time, why don't you help me see if there's anything that can be improved... How about optimizing the battery life? I feel like—"

"Mr. Faust!"

The extremely enthusiastic voice interrupted Ming Fuluo's words, causing the woman to frown slightly: "Why is he crazy? Why is he looking at you as if he is his biological father?"

Anser looked at the swordfish coming towards him, a thoughtful look appeared on his face for a moment, but soon returned to normal.

"Something?" The unapproachable Faust imitated his scholarly lady, frowned, and tapped lightly on the hilt of the sword at his waist.

This action made Swordfish's face lose at least 30% of its color. He immediately explained frantically: "No, it's nothing to bother you, it's just..."

The man explained carefully: "Do you have time to meet with our boss?"

"No."

The black-haired young man didn't even ask who their leader was. He just said these two words indifferently and went straight to the second floor where he received commissions.

The swordfish, who had no idea of ​​the situation, could only follow him from a distance, looking hesitant, as if he was making some difficult decision.

"No?"

Anser, who was standing in front of the notice board, raised his eyebrows slightly: "No commissions today?"

"How can there be so many commissions for you to complete every day?" Ming Fuluo patted Anser's arm. "I think the cat was caught by someone else and brought to the upper city last time, just to kill time for you."

At this time, Swordfish had already come to a place not far behind Anser. He looked at the empty column of "Civilian Commissions". Before he could speak, he saw the dangerous man turned around and looked at him expressionlessly.

"Are there no commissions in this regard today?"

"That's not it, it's because, because..."

Swordfish hesitated for a long time, and finally took a deep breath and responded in a deep voice: "Because we... don't plan to accept commissions from civilians."

"……Um?"

It was not Ansher who made the confused nasal sound, but Ming Fuluo.

Having no commissions was a good thing. To be optimistic, it was one less person in trouble. But not accepting commissions from civilians was a different story... Although Ming Fuluo said that Anser's way of passing time was inexplicable, she still hoped that Anser would continue to accept such commissions and continue to help more civilians in need.

"Anser, what's going on?"

Miss Ming Fuluo, who could only be seen and heard by Anser, grabbed Anser's finger and shook it: "Ask him what this means."

But Anser didn't say anything. He just turned his head and looked at the empty bulletin board for a while. After thinking for a few seconds, the corners of his mouth slowly rose.

"You just said..."

Faust turned his head slightly, with a smile and joy hidden deep in his eyes that no one could see:

"Your guild leader wants to see me?"

Chapter 8: His Shadow (K)

The distribution of the fifth-order extraordinary people in the entire continent is actually barely even. Among these hundreds of top powerhouses, most of them are formed into groups of more than ten, such as the seven masters of the Alchemy Association, the nine supreme seats of the Ether Academy, the eleven commanders of the Revolutionary Army, and the thirteen grand dukes of the Empire...

In the Western Kingdom, in addition to the four grand dukes, there are eight fifth-level adventurers. Among these eight people, seven are registered in the Zero Point Explorers Association and jointly established this organization that controls all adventurer guilds.

And [Death Bell] Herbert York, as the president of the Executioner's Guild and a feared fifth-level adventurer, is naturally one of them.

From the appearance, York is a young man with ordinary appearance. He wears a brown scarf, a black vest on his upper body, two daggers on his waist, and ordinary trousers and boots. Judging from his appearance alone, he gives people a feeling of being a small fry, like an adventurer who is just making up the numbers in the selection competition.

But his battle record was quite terrifying. Among the trophies of this executioner leader, there was the skeleton of a fifth-level dragon and the head of a fifth-level transcendent.

As the pinnacle of the commissioned adventurer guild, Deathstroke York has not discovered any amazing secret treasures, and this record is his trademark.

As long as the reward is in place, a fifth-level extraordinary person can also go and chop. If the reward is even higher, even if the target is the Grand Duke, they might dare to go and give it a try.

At this moment, Mr. Deathstroke was leaning on the sofa, tossing a dark golden scimitar dagger.

Opposite him was the legendary adventurer Faust, whose fame had swept across the West in recent days.

"So, that's what it is."

Although Deathstroke looked like a young man, his voice was deep and hoarse. He held the hilt of the knife with his elbows on his legs, leaning forward slightly, and looking at the black-haired young man in front of him expressionlessly:

"Your people, out of personal behavior, played tricks on these useless idiots under my command. It's their fault that they are not smart enough and not vigilant enough..."

"Did you think I would say that?"

This explosive remark made Swordfish's eyelids twitch as he was standing behind the sofa. He glanced at Faust quietly, but the other seemed indifferent.

Deathstroke threw a ring onto the table between the two men. "Inside this is a ring equivalent to twice the amount of information fees received by those thirty-nine people. Considering that the information dealer might also be one of yours, I didn't bring his head."

"From your tone." Faust clenched his fist with one hand, pressed it against the side of his face, and said nonchalantly, "You don't sound like you're done with it."

Death Bell nodded slightly, his expression calm: "I don't know if it was you who instructed the little girl under your command to do this. If it was, this matter naturally cannot be let go; if not, it is even more impossible."

He threw the dagger casually, and the sharp scimitar dagger spun rapidly in the air and then accurately nailed into the hole in the ring.

"In our business, business is linked to reputation. Although the little girl under your command is just a mortal, she is smart enough to do such a thing."

The man leaned forward again and grasped the hilt of the knife. The so-called "compensation" was under his knife.

"She was able to threaten me with such a small matter once, but now she dares to threaten me with 'the executioner was fooled by a mortal girl' for the second time."

"I hate this kind of trouble, Faust." Deathstroke said, "I may not be able to control my men from having their brains filled with blood and killing a mortal who is no different from a bug. So--"

"Give me that stupid little thing."

Deathstroke put his thumb on the hilt of the knife and said indifferently: "This is the compensation that she can't exchange for a thousand. I give it to you."

At this moment, Ming Furo did not simply hide as usual. She collected all the Nidhoggr into the main body worn on Ansir's wrist. Although her figure was not visible, observation and thinking were not a problem.

So the answer from the Deathstroke gave Ming Fuluo a headache.

Anser has never been a murderer, but when he plays Faust... he seems to never hesitate to use violence. In the imperial capital, Ming Fuluo thought she could keep up with Anser's thinking in terms of tricks and schemes, but it was nothing more than fate's push. Now the scholar has a clear self-awareness - in this regard, she can never beat Anser no matter how she plays.

So even if Ansel told her that the image of Faust was completely in Ansel's mind, she could not guess what kind of Faust Ansel would play in the next second.

It should... not be a big deal, right?

Speaking of which, why did Marina do this? I stayed with Anser every day, and I never saw him give such instructions, but if Anser didn't give instructions...what was Marina's purpose in doing this?

Anser, who was holding his face, didn't know that his friend was daydreaming at the moment. He just stared at the death knell for a few seconds, and then continued in a lazy voice that seemed almost indifferent:

"Why would a master assassin of the Guangyin Society fall to the level of a hyena running around?"

As soon as these words came out, the expression of Swordfish behind Deathstroke changed drastically. Even Deathstroke, who was the first to talk to Faust on an equal footing and even made a threatening gesture, froze in an instant.