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Night, on the outskirts of Bota City.

Dozens of carriages were galloping along at full speed.

Instead of sleeping soundly at home in the middle of the night, these people were out here galloping around? They were either up to something or had the brains of a goldfish and were looking for trouble.

And in fact, in some ways, Carnegie—the man seated in one of those carriages—really did have an underdeveloped cerebellum.

“Damn it! He actually dared to treat me like that. Lin Ge, I’ll remember this.”

Inside the carriage, Carnegie rubbed his swollen, reddened face and cursed furiously.

In all his years, he’d never met anyone as shameless as Lin Ge.

If he didn’t find a chance to grind that cocky brat into the dirt, then he, Carnegie, wasn’t fit to be called a man.

“Lord Carnegie, are we really going to leave just like this? Maybe there’s still a chance to turn things around.”

A minor noble at his side glanced back at the city they’d nearly had in their grasp, unwilling to give up and just as unhappy as Carnegie. He said:

“The only person in the city who can be called a real fighter is Rosetti. If we offer better terms and build a good relationship with that beastfolk commander, surely we can still—”

“Have you got no brains? If we could’ve persuaded that beastfolk princess in the first place, would we have needed to find other beastfolk?”

Carnegie clenched fists as big as sandbags and, furious that his men were so hopeless, started pounding on them.

The minor nobles could only endure the beating in silence.

What Carnegie’s man said was true. At first, Carnegie had sought an ally other than Roviet and the others: Mu'er Aotiliya.

But she wasn’t interested. In fact, she’d more or less made it clear that she leaned toward cooperating with Alice and pursuing peaceful development.

He absolutely couldn’t let that happen. Otherwise, all the effort he’d put in over the years would be ruined.

That was why Carnegie and his men had approached Roviet—a beastman who’d been eager to impress Mu for a long time.

Everything had been going well. By now, he should’ve already become the new lord of Bota City.

But who could’ve known it would turn out like this…

Tch. If things had gone this badly, it was all that man’s fault.

If it weren’t for him, things wouldn’t have ended up like this.

“So what do we do now?” The minor noble rubbed the back of his head where he’d been hit and asked uneasily, “What if they catch up to us… what do we do then?”

“That, at least, isn’t worth worrying about. Most of their forces are still at the front, and that little brat Alice won’t be back for a while. As for Rosetti… Hmph. She can barely look after herself right now. How would she have time to come after us?”

“All we need to do now is find a new backer and build our strength back up. Then we can fight Alice and the others again. Fortunately, we’ve still got plenty of savings.”

“Compared to us, Bota City is practically empty. Even if they’ve won this round, they won’t be able to crow for long.”

“As expected of Lord Carnegie! You’re my idol.”

The others applauded and cheered.

Carnegie secretly basked in their praise—

So what if you’ve taken complete control of the territory? You’ve got nothing left. That empty city is full of nothing but the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled. It’s all show and no substance. It’ll never amount to anything.

When the time comes, the city will fall and its people will be wiped out!

The carriages continued speeding along. Their first destination was the Demon Clan’s territory, whose hostility toward Bota City ran even deeper than the beastfolk’s.

If they could weaken Bota City’s strongest fighters and bring along the city’s confidential information, the Demon Clan would surely agree to help them.

But just then, the carriage drifted, braked sharply, and came to a halt.

Carnegie landed hard on his backside.

Carnegie was already in a foul mood. Now his anger flared, and he yanked open the curtain and shouted:

“Are you trying to get fired? You can’t even drive a carriage!”

“That’s not it, Lord Carnegie! Up ahead, up ahead…”

The driver trembled as he pointed ahead, his face frozen in terror.

“There’s a ghost…”

“What?! A ghost!”

At those words, Carnegie nearly lost control of his bowels. He’d been terrified of ghosts his whole life.

He shakily leaned out and looked where the driver was pointing. Sure enough, a shadow stood in the middle of the road, blocking their way.

For some reason, though, the shadow looked strangely familiar.

“Well, well. If it isn’t Little Kiki! What are you doing out so late?”

“You’re… Lin Ge! What are you doing here?”

The full moon shifted, and in its cold light, the ‘ghost’ finally came into view.

It was the man who’d brought Carnegie and his men to this sorry state.

At the sight of that insufferably smug smile, Carnegie clutched his burning cheek. The memory of being slapped just a few hours earlier flashed through his mind. He swallowed dryly and instinctively stepped back.

“Oh? What are you hiding for, Little Kiki? Am I really that scary?” Lin Ge asked with a smile as he slowly walked toward him.

“N-no, you’re not…”

Carnegie froze. Wearing a fawning smile, he stammered:

“What are you doing out here so late?”

“Just came out to admire the moon. It’s pretty tonight, don’t you think?”

“Y-yes, it is…”

Carnegie forced a twitching smile and nodded along, his eyes darting about as he signaled to his men to seize a chance and make a quick getaway.

If Lin Ge had the strength to slap him flying with one hand, then even if the rumors were true and he was only a second-stage battle-aura good-for-nothing, he must still have some real ability.

Until they knew what they were dealing with, it was better not to clash with him head-on.

But just then, one of the nobles shouted excitedly:

“Lord Carnegie, he’s injured! Look behind him!”

“He really is.”

Carnegie took a closer look. Lin Ge’s back had been burned to a crisp, and there was a faint smear of blood on his arm.

Carnegie’s confidence returned at once, and his attitude changed completely.

“What are you waiting for? Get him! Hurry up and kill that brat!”

Pointing at Lin Ge, Carnegie gave the order. His men immediately grabbed their weapons and surged forward.

Each of them was eager to take Lin Ge’s head.

Carnegie himself had no doubt that in the next moment, he’d be kicking Lin Ge’s head around like a ball.

But as the wind stirred the leaves, a tearing sound cut through the air. One after another, bloody red balls rolled to a stop at Carnegie’s feet.

“Y-you… how could you…”

Thud—crash!

Carnegie’s face went pale as he dropped to the ground. He stared again at the man before him, whose smile was warm and kind, though his eyes held not a trace of it.

For the first time, Carnegie felt the terror of being in hell.

In the very next instant, a flash of white streaked past. Blood sprayed everywhere, and the world turned upside down… His head rolled to a stop at the man’s feet.

In his final moments, he looked up at the man’s cold face, towering above him like the sky.

He managed one last mutter…

“So you’re a dual magic-and-battle cultivator… Y-you bastard…”

His pupils dilated, and he breathed his last.

Lin Ge kicked the ball at his feet away in disgust, withdrew the sword aura gathered at his fingertips, and wiped his hand with a handkerchief.

He surveyed the carnage around him, let go of his cold expression, and returned to his usual carefree self. Then he bounced along cheerfully, muttering to himself:

“On this day, in this month and year, Bota City noble Little Kiki was assassinated by an unknown assailant while traveling outside the city. He met an untimely end. Mm, that’s what we’ll report.”

After wiping his hands clean, Lin Ge took the money from the carriages. The events of that night seemed to vanish into some corner of history, as if no witness had ever seen them.