Chapter 6 : Chapter 6
Chapter 6: Rose of Truth
It was a longsword with a red gemstone embedded in its hilt, and the blade was covered in intricate rose patterns.
"Panel," Lin Qi muttered in his heart as he placed his hand on the blade.
Name: [Rose of Truth]
Type: [Longsword]
Grade: [C-grade Forbidden Object] ↑
Abilities: [1. Oath of Love: If the wielder makes a sincere vow of love to the sword before an engagement, the power and sharpness of the strikes will increase in proportion to the emotional intensity of the vow.]
[2. Thorns of Protection: When the wielder encounters an unavoidable lethal attack, the blade will automatically transform into a swirling storm of roses, parrying or deflecting the attack with exquisite trajectories. The success rate of the parry is related to the strength of the vow’s determination.]
Cost: After each use, the wielder will fall into a state of absolute honesty lasting for several hours.
Description: When you are willing to die peacefully for the one you love, the rose is willing to be born for you.
Good heavens...
Can someone tell me what this is?
A growth-type Forbidden Object?
According to the panel, this thing grows stronger along with the master's emotions?
It has been unused for a long time, so it dropped to C-grade. If it is constantly nourished with emotions and vows... could it not reach the level of an A-grade object?
Did the Roland family actually possess such a treasure?
Something is wrong. This is incredibly suspicious.
The Roland family is a powerful lineage with a heritage of secret arts...
And now they possess such an overpowered Forbidden Object?
Before he could think further, he heard a piercing bell ring from the first floor.
It was time for dinner. Because the main building of the Roland Manor was too large, notifying everyone individually for meals took too much time. Therefore, there was a bell in the first-floor dining room.
After the butler and the maids set out the food, they would ring the bell. Afterward, they would remain at the side to serve the nobles during their meal.
"There was no need for all this, Uncle. It is just the two of us," Lin Qi said, though tears of hunger uncontrollably watered in his mouth as he looked at the delicacies filling the entire table.
"Haha, it is rare for you to accompany me for a meal. Of course it should be a bit more grand," Alden said with a smile from the head of the table.
"By the way, Uncle, does the Roland family have a recorded family history?" Lin Qi asked casually during the meal.
The Roland family definitely had secrets.
"Why do you ask? I am not very clear about the events of the past. For as long as I can remember, the Roland family has always been like this," Alden replied, taking a sip of water from the table.
"It is nothing. I was just a bit interested," Lin Qi said. He did not get the answer he wanted.
After finishing the meal, Lin Qi took his leave and returned home. He found that Elaine had already returned.
"What did the Moer family say?" Lin Qi asked as he looked at Elaine, who was staring blankly on the sofa.
"Nothing..." Elaine lowered her head.
Well, she must have been rejected.
It seemed she was still cautious enough not to stay at the Moer family estate for too long.
"Right, does the Morning Star family have a family heritage?" Lin Qi asked.
The background story for Elaine had not mentioned a family heritage, but according to the aristocratic rankings, the Morning Star family should also be a family with a heritage of secret arts.
"Of course. The Secret Sword of the Dawn Star-Rail," Elaine said as if it were common knowledge.
"I see... Then do you have a family history?"
"Yes. In the education that direct descendants of the nobility receive as children, family history is an included subject."
As expected, Alden was lying. That man definitely knew something.
But why would he lie to me? Was it because I am just an illegitimate son?
Looking at Lin Qi, who had once again fallen into a strange contemplative silence, Elaine puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. This guy always started a conversation only to space out inexplicably.
"Why are you asking all this?" Elaine asked.
"No... it is nothing. Then, does your family have any Forbidden Objects?"
"What are you trying to do?... No, I do not. The Forbidden Objects were all stolen by those people." Upon hearing Lin Qi's question, Elaine secretly hid her hand behind her back.
...Does she think I am plotting to take her family's Forbidden Object?
This girl is far too easy to read. Is that bracelet on her wrist a Forbidden Object?
"What do you plan to do next?" Lin Qi asked, ignoring Elaine's wild imagination.
"I plan to leave. I estimate that no one is willing to help me. But it does not matter. I will slowly grow stronger. When I am powerful enough, I will seek my revenge myself!"
Hearing Lin Qi's question, Elaine raised her arms, which were so white they seemed to glow.
She was adorable; it was almost tempting...
"I already told you that I would help you. Did you not find it strange? For example, as soon as you arrived in Kissmark Town, you were hunted by the local gang."
"That is true. Why was someone hunting me as soon as I arrived?"
Is this person really the protagonist? Is she just a complete idiot?
In truth, Lin Qi himself had not figured it out. In his past life, when he played the game, he met an Elaine who had already been a fugitive for a long time.
At that time, Elaine was calm, resolute, and full of wisdom.
The current Elaine was still just a young girl who had not experienced any hardships.
Only after struggling for over a year in this unbalanced society, seeing the nobility's oppression of commoners and the Transcendents' superiority over ordinary people, would Elaine transform from an innocent noble girl into a calm and resolute resistance fighter.
"We will know once we go and ask the Black Syndicate. You are a Sequence 9, so you should have some combat capability, right?" Lin Qi stood up and spoke to Elaine.
"Who do you think I am? I am the heir of the Morning Star family. Just watch me!" Elaine raised her face defiantly upon hearing this.
"Then let us first tell each other our abilities. I am a Sequence 9 Matchmaker of the Romance Pathway. I have two abilities: one is using an invisible Gravity Thread to restrain enemies, and the other is disturbing the emotions of enemies during battle to make them feel fear or guilt."
Lin Qi gave a thumb-up and spoke with a face full of pride.
"I am a Sequence 9 Stargazer of the Star Pathway. My ability allows me to scout enemies within a certain range and mark them. I can predict the movements of enemies who have been marked."
Elaine raised her hand like a primary school student called upon by a teacher to answer a question.
"Very good, Corporal Elaine. Our operational plan is for you to first observe the number and strength of the enemies, and then I will control the field. After that, we will defeat them all!"
"Understood, General Isaris."
"Then tell me, what should we do first?"
"Go to their base first!"
"Wrong! We go to buy two swords first!"
"Oh, right!"
This dummy.
Isaris took Elaine to a weapon shop to select two suitable longswords.
In this world, the regulation of weapons was not strict. After all, there were many bored nobles who loved pistols and swords encrusted with gemstones.
They did not use them for combat; they were simply for decoration.
A toad jumping off a cliff—trying too hard to be a Batman.
The two of them disguised themselves and arrived at the stronghold of the Black Syndicate, which was the slum district of Kissmark Town.
This place could be described as a lawless zone. Robbery, assault, and murder were commonplace here.
At this point, someone might ask: Teacher, teacher, then why does no one do anything about it?
Because no one protects the poor.
The slum district and the commoner district were completely different.
To the nobility, commoners were high-quality leeks that could be squeezed for profit, while the slum dwellers were parasites who wasted food.
Most of the people living in the slums were disabled or lazy. If they could work normally and had ambition, the noble lords were very willing to let them find a job in the commoner district to pay taxes for them.
The noble lords originally wanted to completely clear out the slums to vacate the land for industrial development, but their proposal was vetoed.
By the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun.
They needed these people to exist. Otherwise, how would they develop new medicines?
These disabled people with no land, no household registration, and no one to care for them were the best lab rats for the Church.
In front of the Black Skull Tavern.
"General Isaris, do we really have to dress like this?"
Elaine asked, wearing a black trench coat three sizes too large for her, sunglasses on her face, and a black hat on her head.
"Of course, Corporal Elaine. We must hide our identities," Lin Qi replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Then why are you not wearing this?!"
Lin Qi was wearing a well-fitted black formal suit with a long deep-red trench coat over it. A silver-white revolver was tucked into his waist, and he held a slender straight sword in his hand. His golden hair was styled into a handsome side part, which, combined with his Charisma of 9, was striking.
Anyone who saw him would exclaim: what a handsome young noble.
"Ahem, Elaine, you do not understand. The reason I am dressed like this is to make the enemy wary. In case we lose, as long as I am wearing this and announce the name of the Roland family, they will not dare to do anything to us. But you are different; you are a girl. The people in these slums would stare at a female lizard with gleaming eyes, let alone a beauty like you."
That was a lie!
The reason Lin Qi dressed himself so conspicuously was because he realized something.
This mission to wipe out the Black Syndicate with Elaine might very well be edited into the promotional trailer!
To attract players, the promotional trailer for Epoch of the End featured many combat scenes from different Pathways!
And a joint operation between a Romance Pathway and a Star Pathway... ahem, a team battle, would very likely be used as a prime example!
This was Lin Qi's plan to steal Elaine's spotlight: The Noble Young Master and his Black-Clad Elementary Student Operation!
"But these clothes are really big... it feels like a child wearing an adult's clothes." Elaine's voice sounded muffled through her mask.
"It does not matter. Only in this way can your beauty be completely hidden."
"......" This sounds so much like something a playboy would say.