Taming the Protagonist

Volume 3

Chapter 17 : The Lost and the Advancing (6K)

Inside the luxurious reception room, Ansel was playing with a black feather, while Marina sat opposite him, her head lowered as she recorded something.

“Ganlei.”

Ansel rested his chin on one hand, looking at the serious-looking Marina: “What is your opinion on Mr. Mibaita?”

The girl paused her pen strokes. She raised her head, a thoughtful expression appearing on her face, and answered a moment later:

“According to the documents and materials in his office, Mr. Mibaita actually never truly took Strife Fortress’s ‘prosperity’ to heart. As long as he could enjoy the feeling of being admired by ten thousand people like an emperor, whether it was Strife Fortress or Peace City, it made no difference to him.”

“He treated the populace as tools. No, not tools, but a kind of asset, a kind of... possession, a possession used to please himself.”

Marina’s thoughts drifted to the day when Ansel first revealed the cruel truth of this world to her, allowing her mind and soul to undergo metamorphosis in despair.

She murmured subconsciously: “Just like... the Empire is to the Emperor.”

Hearing Marina’s whisper, Ansel laughed: “Then, do you feel a little closer to the answer?”

“...Answer?”

Marina, who was slightly dazed, hadn’t had time to react to what Ansel was saying when there was a knock on the door.

The black feather dissipated at the fingertips of the young Hydra. He leaned back lazily on the sofa: “Enter.”

The door of the reception room was gently pushed open, and a mature woman with a plump and enchanting figure walked in with a fawning smile, carrying wine and food.

“Excellency Faust, apologies for keeping you waiting.”

As the Queen Bee and master of the Hive, Yapo at this moment completely adopted the posture of a servant, lowering her eyebrows and averting her eyes as she placed the wine on the coffee table in front of Ansel.

“This is liquor brewed from the blood of the Frost Dragon and the Scorching Dragon. I hope it meets your eye.”

Marina, a mortal, was sitting on the sofa, while Yapo, a fourth-tier transcendent, stood obediently, like a docile and submissive plump lamb.

She bent down intending to pour the wine, but was stopped by Ansel raising his hand—just this one action made Yapo’s heartbeat skip half a beat.

Never mind whether this Faust was real or fake, regardless of who he exactly was, anyway, this guy was a madman who would kill Mibaita for no apparent reason!

Ansel poured the wine himself, and under Yapo’s nervous gaze that was stiff to the point of rigidity, took a slight sip.

“Still acceptable.”

This evaluation made Yapo breathe a huge sigh of relief.

This thing was originally something she had treasured for a long time, planning to bring it out only when she encountered some amazing big shot.

If not for the news suddenly coming from Marina that “Mr. Faust wants to borrow Mibaita’s head for a use”, she hadn’t planned to bring it out.

“Ganlei said you wanted to see me.” The black-haired youth swirling the wine glass said casually, “Speak, what is the matter?”

Yapo’s brain went somewhat blank for a moment.

She had originally wanted to probe Ansel’s background and incidentally try to see if she could make some connections, but when the other party’s height elevated in an instant to a place she could not touch, Yapo instead didn’t know what she should say.

In such panic-inducing silence, Excellency Faust’s brows slowly furrowed.

“I... I...”

Yapo stuttered, unable to even speak clearly for a moment.

She actually didn’t feel any “pressure of a powerhouse” from Ansel, not a bit.

But she found that even though the other party clearly didn’t deliberately emit any aura, the beast formed by the fear in her heart was growing rapidly, tearing at her reason and dignity with cruel violence.

“Ms. Yapo has just admired you for a long time, Mr. Faust.”

Miss Ma Ganlei’s voice sounded like the music of heaven in Yapo’s ears: “There is no other meaning.”

“Yes... yes, Excellency Faust!” Reminded by Marina, Yapo reacted immediately, “Very presumptuous, I just wanted to understand a legend like you, wanted to entertain... no, I wanted to have an opportunity to serve you, that is all.”

The beautiful mature woman who looked in every way like she had experienced countless storms seemed somewhat incoherent; she didn't even notice the ambiguity in her own words for a moment.

Ansel took another sip of wine and did not give a direct response in attitude to Yapo’s humble and even fawning appearance, only saying calmly: “Regarding Mibaita’s matter, you did me a small favor.”

A black dragon scale appeared out of thin air between his fingers, and then he tossed it onto the table very casually.

“Your reward, take it.”

Yapo was first stunned, then subconsciously said hurriedly: “How can this—”

She wanted to refuse immediately, but felt the gaze cast by the mortal girl opposite Ansel.

Resisting the urge to turn her head to look at that Miss Ma Ganlei, Yapo obediently picked up that scale and put it into her own pocket, striving to show the not-so-enchanting pure smile she had forgotten for a long time: “Thank you for your grace, Excellency Faust.”

Marina looked at her appearance, and before the doubts in her heart could be answered, new questions popped up.

Why... When adventurers faced Mr. Ansel, were they humble to this extent?

Whether it was the current Yapo, or Mibaita before he died, or even the vice president of the Executioner branch station, their attitude towards Ansel was less respectful and humble, and more a kind of humbleness from the bottom of their hearts.

In the Imperial Capital, Marina interacted with many nobles.

Among them, some were spokespersons for Grand Dukes, some were renowned Marquises, and there were also trivial little Barons.

But regardless of status, strength, or influence, they also just maintained humility and respect towards Ansel.

Although the degree might be very high, that was still humility and respect, not this kind of... humbleness that they themselves might even find inexplicable.

The girl really wanted to ask Ansel right now, wanted to record all her current thoughts and musings, but because an outsider was present, she still held back.

Ansel leisurely drank about half a bottle of wine, then stood up and looked at Marina.

“Time to go, Ganlei.”

“Okay, Mr. Faust.”

Marina immediately pinched the shoulder straps with both hands, trotted to Ansel’s side, and passed by Yapo.

Yapo also reacted immediately, hurriedly walking to Ansel’s side: “I will send you off, Excellency Faust.”

Ansel was noncommittal, allowing her to lead him out of the reception room.

As the “guest”, he seemed more like the master leading two servants at this moment.

Following behind Ansel, Marina, gazing at his back, was still pondering in her heart.

The answer... What did the answer Mr. Ansel mentioned mean?

He agreed to meet with Yapo but had no purpose himself; it should be to deepen my control and influence over Yapo through this, counting as compensation for my isolation and helplessness?

Also about Mibaita’s matter, Mr. Ansel should originally have had a candidate to replace him.

Shadow Swamp definitely wouldn't let me “act on my own initiative” either, how should I respond next—

Marina’s footsteps suddenly paused.

Although there was no big commotion, Ansel still turned his head, slightly puzzled: “What is it, Ganlei.”

“...Sorry, I was a bit distracted, Mr. Faust.”

Marina answered so apologetically, and while catching up with Ansel’s footsteps, reached out to cover her own heart.

What exactly are you doing... Marina.

What you clearly need to do is to exhaust everything for Mr. Ansel, to handle matters for him that shouldn't need to trouble him.

Since when did it become beneficial to yourself?

Startled to realize that all her thoughts and musings were “for herself”, Marina’s lips were somewhat pale.

Striving for status, winning bargaining chips, getting what she wanted in the struggle between Shadow Swamp and Garden, this was certainly important.

But how could she forget her most fundamental, most primary duty.

Ansel wanted to find Ivora in the vast West Kingdom, and her duty, her task, was to help Ansel accomplish this matter.

The satisfaction of some selfish desires could not override this duty.

You got the priorities wrong, Marina... don’t make mistakes again.

Marina, who had calmed down considerably, breathed out gently.

She only realized now that she seemed to have never thought about what exactly Ansel’s actions were for.

If she hadn't even considered this level, then how could she cooperate with Ansel next, how could she follow closely in Ansel’s footsteps?

Faust... Faust...

Mr. Ansel did not restrict the spread of his reputation.

Whether it was me borrowing Faust’s name to subdue the Queen Bee, or accepting the commission to take off Mibaita’s head, Mr. Ansel didn't have the slightest intention of hiding it.

He is letting Faust’s name spread... under the circumstances where many Fausts currently exist in the West Kingdom.

Then Mr. Ansel’s reason for doing so is...

“Excellency Faust, do you need a carriage to send—”

The woman’s voice pulled Marina back to reality.

It turned out that unknowingly, they had already left Yapo’s residence.

Ansel didn't pay attention to Yapo and walked straight out, while Marina, who came back to her senses, looked back at this Queen Bee who was famous in Strife Fortress, nodded slightly under the other party’s grateful gaze, and then quickly followed closely behind the black-haired youth in front of her.

After having walked a bit further, Ansel then turned his head to look at Marina, a gentle smile incomparably familiar to the girl appearing on his face.

“What is it?” Ansel asked, “You seem to have something on your mind, Ganlei.”

Outsiders couldn't tell that the secretary was out of sorts—actually, even Hitana might not necessarily be able to discover it, if she didn't use that cheating intuition.

But Ansel could easily see Marina’s unnaturalness.

“I...” Marina paused, her expression somewhat hesitant, “I cannot quite understand some things.”

Actually, the problem wasn't very big either, it was just that facing and thinking about too many things at once, she still needed a little time to digest.

Questions about her own interests, about the purpose of what Ansel did and his next movements, and some fragmented trivial matters... This secretary's job was not that easy to do.

“You have always spoken your mind directly, why are you somewhat preoccupied this time?”

Ansel slowed his pace, walking side by side with Marina.

The girl who perceived this also subconsciously slowed her pace, following behind Ansel again.

“......”

The young Hydra paused his steps slightly, but did not slow down anymore, nor did he say much more.

Since she was asked like this, Marina also knew she should say something, but questions regarding duties were definitely impossible to ask, so after pondering for a moment, the girl presented the question she thought of when she saw Yapo’s fawning posture just now.

“Why... is the adventurers’ attitude towards you, Mr. Faust, all so humble?”

Hearing this question, Ansel revealed an expression of being unable to suppress a smile.

He cast his gaze towards the adventurers coming and going on the street, and said softly:

“Ganlei, what kind of existence do you think adventurers are?”

“...What kind of existence?”

“Enterprising people opening up the world? Unfettered freedom fighters? Explorers discovering secrets?”

Ansel gave a string of descriptions that were clearly considered relatively positive, but in the end shook his head: “None of them.”

“Ganlei, the essence of adventurers is hyenas.”

This evaluation, which was sufficient to be called disdainful, made Marina somewhat bewildered.

What made her even more bewildered was that clearly this evaluation was so disdainful, yet Ansel did not carry much disdainful meaning, only calmly stating a fact:

“Hyenas gnawing on the corpses of fallen dynasties, feeding on the dregs in the vast labyrinths.”

He turned to look at Marina: “Do you know why I say this about them?”

“...I do not understand, Mr. Faust.”

The girl answered in a low voice.

“I am not scorning their efforts, Marina.”

Talking about this topic, Ansel seemed to become very serious, at least Marina hadn't discussed a problem with Ansel so seriously for a long time.

“From ninety-nine percent despair and darkness, finding that one percent possibility of metamorphosis. One must use immense courage and even madness to find that glimmer leading to a way out—what they obtain is basically proportional to the price they pay and the risks they take.”

“But the problem lies in, after they obtain those things, what do they transform them into, or rather...”

The young Hydra turned to look at Marina, saying meaningfully:

“Out of what, exactly, are they chasing the transcendent treasures.”

“What do you think it is, Ganlei?”

The girl took Ansel’s question as a test, but did not feel Ansel’s deeper meaning.

She pondered seriously for a long time, and finally answered softly: “It is... power, right? What transcendents ultimately pursue should all be metamorphosis to a higher level of transcendence.”

“Is that so?”

Ansel smiled: “It seems the time you have stayed in the West Kingdom is not long enough... When you realize what exactly the majority of adventurers are pursuing, you will be able to understand why they are so humble towards ‘Faust’.”

“In this way...” Ansel’s mood seemed much better, “Regarding the answer to that question, you have taken another step forward. Congratulations, Ganlei.”

That question...

Marina recalled the words Ansel had said to her in the living room—after she realized that Mibaita’s behavior was very similar to the Emperor’s behavior.

And this time, it was about the essence of adventurers...

Rule... adventurers... the rule of adventurers...

Discontinuous information instantly connected into an incomparably clear answer.

Only at this moment did Marina realize that “that question” Ansel mentioned turned out to be just her unintentional remark while waiting in the bedroom—why were there so many commoners settling in the chaotic and dangerous West Kingdom.

“You...”

Marina, having reacted, was somewhat incredulous.

Because she was too shocked, she even said words that the former her would absolutely not say, which could be counted as somewhat self-conscious:

“Those things you did just now, were... to answer my question?”

“I indeed quite disliked Mibaita, but I am also not the kind of guy who kills people randomly just because of aversion, right? He indeed still had that little bit of use, but in the final analysis, he was also just a minor character.”

The girl’s suspicious appearance instead made Ansel somewhat surprised: “It is just a small matter, is it not okay?”

“But you... but you killed Mibaita, it will have a bad influence on you. Although it can be handled, after all...”

Ansel’s rhetorical question made Marina increasingly flustered.

She spoke incoherently: “Just a question, how could I, how am I worthy to let you like this—”

No matter how much she wanted to improve, wanted to grow, there was a line that absolutely could not be crossed, and that was not to damage Ansel’s interests in the slightest.

So when she realized that Ansel killing Mibaita casually was just to provide a hint for solving her question, and not even to answer her question directly, Marina appeared terrified and guilty.

“If it is just a question, I—”

She still wanted to continue saying something, but after meeting Ansel’s gaze, she forcibly swallowed the rest of the words.

“...Ganlei.”

Ansel, gazing at Marina, sighed: “Do you think that you, who follow me, cannot compare to a so-called territory city manager?”

“Do you think the weight of that question of yours cannot compare to a clown who pleases himself by manipulating the populace?”

His light sigh made Marina’s heart clench fiercely. The girl answered with a trembling voice: “Mr. Faust, I am not...”

“All right.”

Ansel interrupted her words, but did not reveal any displeased expression, instead saying with a soft voice, “Go back to the inn, Ganlei. I can see that you are somewhat tired... competing with Shadow Swamp and the others is not an easy thing. Rest well these two days.”

Marina had many, many words she wanted to say, but at this moment, she couldn't say a single sentence, only able to follow muddily behind Ansel.

Because in that instant, in that instant when she met Ansel’s gaze just now... Marina saw the emotion she least wished to see in Ansel’s eyes in her life, the emotion that made her feel most terrified.

She hoped, hoped that it was just an illusion produced by herself under extreme panic.

—She hoped that instant of disappointment in Ansel’s eyes was just an illusion.

“Mibaita is dead.”

“...What?!”

“That commission was completed, this is his head.”

Inside an ordinary wooden house, a head was thrown onto the table with a “thud”.

And the two people inside the wooden house fell into a long silence.

“At the very beginning.”

The person who threw the head out said, “The Executioner people told me to go wait for the person completing the commission. I thought it was Mibaita’s trap, so I did not go.”

“Then... they contacted me again, saying the adventurer who completed the commission saw I didn't come, so he handed the thing to them. I picked a location to deliver the goods with a skeptical attitude, and then...”

And then really got Mibaita’s head, silently, as if nothing had happened.

“Are you sure this is real?” The other person asked.

“Cannot be fake.”

“Damn it... then why is Strife Fortress still calm and tranquil?”

“Who knows? What we should worry about is, what to do about the selection tournament next.”

“...Yeah, Mibaita this scum died, will the selection tournament still continue to be held... Damn, shouldn't have killed him so early.”

“Who could have thought someone really went to accept that commission, and did him in right now?”

Thus the two fell into silence again.

That commission was actually published on the Executioner out of a member’s righteous indignation towards Mibaita.

But actually, no one expected this commission to be completed, including the commissioner.

But right at this critical juncture, someone really killed Mibaita... then how should they handle the selection tournament they were going to participate in next?

“Take it one step at a time. How is it on Audruankasa's side?”

“Have already rescued quite a few people from under the hands of those two madmen Blood Dust and Sky Soil... Still working hard. Even if we cannot have too big an influence on the overall situation here, we must also help them as much as possible.”

“For the New World.”

“For the New World.”

And just as certain special groups who wanted to take advantage of the Grand Duke's chaotic war to do something were plotting strategies, a tall and fit figure slowly emerged in the teleportation point of Strife Fortress.

“Eh, is this that whatever Fortress?”

She scratched her head very ungracefully, completely destroying the temperament brought by this absolutely beautiful physique.

The girl looked at the map on the left, looked at the map on the right, looked around, and finally stuffed the map into her bag casually.

“Forget it, never mind! Will just grab a passerby to ask... heard that one can fight to their heart's content here, hehe, don't let me down.”

The travel-worn wolf grinned, snow-white sharp teeth tips and dark red eyes flashing with the savage light from the wilderness.