novelonline Chapter 3456 False Men and Blind Obedience
Chapter 3456 False Men and Blind Obedience
Chapter 3456 False Men and Blind Obedience
Because he was focused on chatting with Lacey, Shad didn't actually pay attention to how many people left the room during this break.
After the break began, he discussed with Lacia and the other two black-haired girls whether the images of "prince" and "hunter" that Shad had just raised were overly functionalized, and whether the male characters in the story were both opposing and unified as "victims of violence" and "saviors".
Just then, a knock sounded at the door. Lacey looked towards the door in confusion and saw a maid trying to stop three strangers from entering.
Others might not recognize him, but Lacey knew he was a ring sorcerer from the Church of Dawn stationed at the Yordle Palace:
“Vise, let them in. Miss Detti, is there anything I can help you with?”
The sorceress at the head of the group, known as "Miss Detty," was a high-ring sorceress. She first looked around the room to make sure it was safe before speaking to Lacey:
"Your Highness, someone has broken into the Yodl Palace. We are here to inform you that from now on, the doors and windows must be closed, and no one should be allowed to enter for the next hour."
"But our companions went to the restroom."
Some people said this, but the high-ranking sorceress shook her head:
“We will arrange for the ladies who haven’t returned yet to move to other rooms, Your Highness. Safety is the most important thing right now.”
No, absolutely do not allow anyone into the room after we leave, not even your friends or companions. Intruders are skilled at disguise and voice imitation. Although their location has been confirmed to be outside this side of the Yodel Palace, Your Highness, please be cautious.”
As she spoke, she made a complex gesture to Lacey, a gesture only members of the royal family could understand that indicated "this matter involves extraordinary factors." Lacey then nodded nervously and, together with the three ring sorcerers of the Church of Dawn, closed the windows and drew the curtains.
As the three ring sorcerers left, Lacey personally locked the door from the inside.
Including the maid, there were thirteen people left in the room. Of course, only Shad and Lacey were ring sorcerers, and only they knew that a fake person had appeared in the Yordle Palace.
The salon, which had been in a pleasant atmosphere just moments before, became unsettling due to this sudden turn of events. When everyone sat down again at Lacia's arrangement, about a third of the seats in front of the fireplace were empty.
Lacey didn't say anything like "Let's continue the salon," she just joked:
"This kind of thing might only happen once a year. I'm sorry, but I still want to say that we were really lucky tonight."
Everyone laughed in agreement, and then Lacey said:
"Since no guards have been assigned to us, it means the danger here isn't very high. Everyone, just wait patiently. Fortunately, we still have tea and snacks, which is much better than simply being trapped in a room."
dong dong dong~
Lacey's words had barely faded when a clear knock came from the locked door. The room fell completely silent, the flickering fireplace causing Lacey's shadow to tremble as she stood before it.
She looked at Shad, who was stroking Mia, and shook his head slightly, signaling her not to do anything. Then Shad stood up, put Mia on his shoulder, reached for the fire poker by the fireplace, and walked towards the door under everyone's watchful eyes.
Doors in this era didn't have peepholes, and the doors of the Yodl Palace were tightly sealed, leaving no opportunity for Shad to see outside. However, this doesn't mean that doors in this era lacked the structural features necessary to peek outside—
The servant's peephole was a small, operable glass window specifically for servants to keep an eye on what was happening outside. Shad, holding a fire poker, pushed the cover in front of the window to the side.
Outside the door stood a girl with a somewhat anxious expression. Although Xia De hadn't paid special attention to the identities of everyone attending the salon, he recognized the girl in front of him; she was indeed a guest of Lacey's Salon.
From the small window, Shad could only see her face and most of her body, and there were indeed human markings on the top of her head. Seeing the window open, the brown-haired girl hurriedly said:
"Sir Hamilton, what has happened? When I came out of the restroom, everyone in the hallway was gone. May I come in? What happened?"
Although truly skilled imposters can almost indistinguish from normal people, especially fourth-stage imposters whose identities even high-ring sorcerers cannot discern, Shad was certain the other person was genuine. Even without the "Handbook of Fate," he hadn't sensed any whispering elements through the door, making it almost certain she was just an unlucky girl.
However, he didn't tell the other party to come in. Instead, after asking for the other party's name, he told them about the three "guards" who had come to report not long ago, while beckoning to Lacey.
So Lacia led the others who were acquainted with the girl over. After a brief exchange with the increasingly flustered girl outside, everyone assumed that the person outside was their friend. However, this was, after all, the Yordle Palace, and because of the warnings given by the "guards" earlier, no one dared to suggest letting the other person in.
Lacey glanced at Shad again. Although she was a very opinionated person, she preferred to let Shad make the decisions when he was present.
The three members of the church had already informed Lacey that this matter was related to the supernatural, and logically, Lacey shouldn't have "successfully intervened." However, she didn't want her invited friend to be murdered in her home. Shad understood Lacey's thoughts and proactively took the responsibility upon himself:
“Let her in, but she can’t sit with everyone. Let her sit in a corner, and I’ll take care of her myself. I’ll take responsibility for this.”
The locked door was opened, and the brown-haired girl outside slipped in through the crack, only to be cornered by Xia De with his fire poker.
The others remaining in the room, except for the maids, all felt that Shad was right to do the right thing. As for the maids, they didn't care about the lives of the others; they only cared about Lacey's safety, so they didn't quite agree with Shad's risky approach.
The girl who entered was the eldest daughter of Earl Herlos. Although Shad had never met the Earl, he had heard from Lacia that the Earl loved to host all sorts of extravagant banquets and balls.
Back in the room where everyone else was, Miss Helos finally relaxed a little. Although she was asked to sit alone in the corner and was being watched by Shad, it was still better than staying in the hallway, which was starting to look strange.
"Detective Hamilton, you'll protect everyone, right?"
She asked this question to Shad, who was still holding the fire poker. Shad actually had a gun—a toy gun—but it wasn't appropriate to take it out now:
"Yes, so please don't worry, things here will be over soon."
"So will you participate in the city's equestrian competition again this year? I saw you riding a horse and wielding a sword at the competition last year. Your golden armor was really cool."
The girl asked again, and Xia De shook his head:
"I already won the championship last year, so I probably won't participate this year. However, if the royal family invites me to the awards ceremony, I will still go."
Apart from the two of them, everyone else remained gathered around the fireplace. Lacey watched from afar as Shad and the Earl's daughter "chatted animatedly," and subconsciously pursed her lips.
However, the knocking sounded again soon. Shade first asked the count's daughter to sit still and not move, and then opened the small window on the door again to look outside.
This time, the girl outside was someone he recognized, with black hair that Shad found very appealing. Like Miss Helos before, she pleaded for help, begging Shad to let her in, but this time Shad refused.
This was not only because there was nothing on the other person's head, but also because a black horn protruded forward from the other person's forehead, and the ears were not human ears, but rather resembled the pointed ears of a pure-blooded elf.
In addition, her evening gown revealed her fair neck, and a mouth was split open vertically on her neck, with dense, flesh-colored tentacles constantly sweeping around inside.
Beyond the facial features, the body undergoes a mutation, which is a typical "stage two pseudo-human". This pseudo-human can be immune to firearms attacks to a maximum extent, and only ring sorcerers can fight against it.
This also shows that the "false person" that appeared in the Yodel Palace tonight is indeed quite troublesome, and Shad is unsure whether there is only one false person outside:
"But since we actually found this place, does that mean we're just unlucky?"
As Shad pondered this, the "girl" outside the door also gave her name and recounted her familiar friends and some details from the salon earlier. Shad, just like before, called over Lacey and others she knew. After a brief exchange, aside from Lacey, who could see the "truth" about the other girls, the other girls all agreed that the person outside the door was also legitimate this time.
So Shad casually twitched his shoulder, and Mia, who was perched on his shoulder, reluctantly meowed.
Shad's eyes suddenly sharpened:
"Mia, what's your name? Wait a minute, do you think the person outside the door is suspicious?"
Upon hearing what Xia De said, the girl outside the door immediately changed her expression, appearing terrified:
“Sir Hamilton, please don’t joke like that. Please let me in. I’m really not the bad guy you’re talking about.”
Thanks to the image of "Mia the Cat" that Dorothy constantly promoted in the book, the other girls gathered at the door dared not speak at this moment, and some of them even believed in Mia's "judgment".
At this moment, Laceya also said:
"There's definitely something off about the person outside. I remember she used to wear a hair accessory with two small stars, but now it has three?"
Of course, Her Highness was just talking nonsense, but even a fake person's "disguise" can indeed have such minor flaws.
The other girls hadn't paid special attention to the number of stars, and even if they had, now that Lacia had mentioned it, they all began to subconsciously doubt whether their memories were correct.
In addition, the maids spoke up at just the right moment in the crowd:
"Originally, it seemed there were indeed two."
As a result, more people felt that there was indeed a problem, and as soon as one person started to agree, others followed suit, and the few girls who felt there was a problem kept quiet and tacitly agreed.
Xia De then said regretfully to the "girl" outside the door:
"I'm sorry, I can't let you in, but you can seek refuge elsewhere."