My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 83

"Yes, yes, yes. Sigh, Monica feels like you're becoming more and more like the housekeeper in our house..."

"Please don't talk nonsense."

The movements of the Deepsea Hunters seem relatively stable... They remain in the city, but their senses are incredibly sharp, and they've already realized that many things are about to happen there. So they've started carrying their own weapons when they walk the streets, and they're now moving in groups of several.

Seeing that they weren't in a hurry to leave anytime soon, Yang Hao optimistically believed that the deep-sea hunters should be able to wait until the day he could contact them.

As for the assassins...

Yang Hao looked at the person named with a strange expression.

Assassins are searching for you.

The assassination attempt failed.

The assassins attempted to infiltrate Kotka Palace but, realizing their target was incorrect, withdrew.

The assassin is trying to rest.

...event bar.

What he thinks...

This assassin shouldn't be from Ursus, right?

This style of doing things, this attitude that reveals the "paid toilet time" mentality, isn't this exactly how Colombians operate?

Could these actually be assassins from K's side, rather than assassins from the Duke of Nikolai? Yang Hao was greatly puzzled by this, but he quickly relaxed:

It doesn't matter where you are an assassin; what matters is that I announce in front of everyone that you are an assassin from the Duchy of Nikolai.

"Phew... Honey, I have to go to work now. If you have some free time, could you help me with the work at the audience chamber?"

Emerging from the bathroom and dressed in formal attire, Koschke approached, asking questions as he spoke. Yang Hao, however, smiled and gave his wife a hug reminiscent of their parting that morning, before replying, "If you don't mind if His Majesty the Emperor finds me, I'll come and work for you."

"You don't need to go out. Monica will bring over some organized documents for you. Is that alright?"

"Of course, of course. But then again, how long will the emperor stay?"

"It might last until mid-June. Sigh... I still have to deal with him. By the way, I declined the request to meet with the Yan guest for you—you don't have any friends in Yan, do you?"

"Uh, no."

Friends from Yan Country? How could that be—

...

Just as Yang Hao was thinking about this, he suddenly realized that there seemed to be a blind date on the marriage agency's app... named Princess of Yan?

Cold sweat dripped directly from his forehead. Kosiché noticed this keenly and frowned.

"Honey?"

"No, it's nothing... I was just wondering if I'd miss something if the nobles from Yan Kingdom didn't grant me an audience..."

"Probably not. And if you start receiving nobles, then the next day you'll only be able to go to the imperial palace."

"Forget it then."

It can't be that much of a coincidence, can it?

He chuckled dryly, hugged his wife, patted her back, and then gently nibbled on her ear before getting to work for the day.

Chapter 178

May 30th was another wonderful day for Her Majesty Catherine, spent within the Duchy of Kosiché.

Here, in her private quarters, she was finally free from the various unpleasant affairs brought about by the court jesters and court jesters. Apart from communicating with the regent minister every morning to ensure that policies proceeded as usual, she had free time to plan as she pleased. Whether it was taking a break, quietly inspecting the surrounding situation with her guards, or continuing to communicate with the nobles through diplomatic means and haggling with Duke Kosiché—it was all so pleasant.

The only thing that bothered her was that Mr. Yang Hao, who was bedridden and unable to leave his room, showed no signs of improvement.

"Is it just my imagination? I always feel like that gentleman is avoiding me."

She muttered to herself as she gestured for the guards to follow. His Majesty the Emperor's first order of business today was to continue inspecting the current state of the economic recovery policy in the Duchy of Kosiché, and then return to the palace to continue his conversation with the Duchess of Kosiché, urging her to release the person as soon as possible.

...

However, chatting like this is far too inefficient.

Her Majesty Catherine believed she needed to find a way to "get to the point," then poke through that gap, expanding it to a point large enough for her to reach in and get her hands on that beautiful and delicious fruit...

Ekaterina smiled. With the Kosichean Duchy's economy booming faster and better than even other cities within the Empire, she seemed genuinely unable to find any leverage to use for "trading." But then again, the more difficult the situation, the more its value would be revealed. At least, that's what Ekaterina thought.

 …

Catherine is inspecting the Duchy of Kosiché, the Duke of Kosiché is busy with social engagements at aristocratic gatherings, the assassins in Colombia are trying to rest, and the cannibalistic nobles of the Duchy of Nikolai have not yet made any moves.

So, what about Yang Hao?

...

It was 9:20 a.m. While Yang Hao was handling some tasks in the audience hall with the help of the head maid, he also noticed something strange.

"Monica...have there been any cannibalism incidents in our duchy recently? Our territory shouldn't be so badly affected that people are starving, right?" He looked grimly at a police report in his hand. Perhaps because the case was so unusual, the police chief chose to escalate it, ultimately ending up in Yang Hao's hands. "...The remains of an adult male were found in a slum not far from customs...at first glance, it doesn't seem strange, but the key point is, his body has bite marks? And not the kind of bites in resistance, but..."

"Or rather, biting and gnawing at each other?" Monica frowned, leaned closer, and sat down on the edge of the bed with Yang Hao, looking at the contents together. "Should I confirm the details with the head of the police department?"

“Yes, go ahead, I need more details—hiss…this is a dangerous sign. The cannibalistic nobles of the Nikolai Duchy may not just be doing it because they like it, but because many of them have actually been corrupted…Go now, Monica, the sooner the better.”

"Yes."

Monica left quickly. She needed to obtain information for Yang Hao as fast as possible.

On the other hand, Yang Hao sat on the edge of the bed, seriously examining the thing in his hand.

For no particular reason, it was just too bizarre—in the Duchy of Kosiché, where people don't starve at all, and can even save a lot of money through work, and where even refugees who are completely unable to work can receive aid... cannibalism has occurred.

At first, Yang Hao thought that one of the refugees who had fled here must have remembered the smell of meat and done it. But then he thought that didn't make sense either. The refugees closest to the city couldn't pass through customs at the moment [because there wasn't enough housing]. Those who could commit cannibalism in the city were either the original residents of the city or people from the Duke of Nikolai who had infiltrated.

Which one is it? If it's the latter, Yang Hao can breathe a sigh of relief: after all, he's used to their reputation for cannibalism, they do this all the time, so just arrest them and that's it.

But if it's the former, then it's really troublesome... This seems to be a sign that cannibalism can be a kind of plague that spreads secretly through some kind of Originium Arts or the abilities of the Celestials...

"If it's a plague on the soul level... what can we do? Besides executing everyone who might be a source of infection... but that shouldn't be the case, right? If it really is something like a [plague], what about Theresa and the others who entered the city of the Duke of Nikolai...?"

That would be a real problem. If it really is some kind of plague on the soul, how many people in the city are infected right now?

Yang Hao frowned, knowing that without evidence, he couldn't draw any further conclusions. So, after much deliberation, he decided to leave it at that for now and wait for Monica to bring more details.

...

This wait lasted for more than half an hour.

9:57 am.

When Monica returned with classified information, Yang Hao had already finished washing up and preparing for his trip: if things really got that bad, he had to go and see for himself how to solve the problem.

"My lord, please take a look."

Thanks. You should rest for a bit.

"Yes."

Yang Hao took the classified information from Monica's hand. After quickly flipping through a few pages, his tightly furrowed brows relaxed:

This cannibalism was not caused by the people within his territory—although the victims were his people, the perpetrators were someone else.

"A nobleman's necklace was found at the scene... seemingly torn off during a struggle? Hmm... It's not one of the three remaining nobles in our territory, nor could it be one of the newly arrived nobles who haven't even left the palace yet, and it certainly can't be the emperor... So, this gold necklace... Monica? Monica—do you recognize this gold necklace?"

"Huh? Yes, I'll do it now... eh?"

Monica walked over and paused, noticing the photo of the gold necklace among the opened classified documents in Yang Hao's hand. Was it too extravagant? Yang Hao frowned and examined the item again.

That is indeed a rather unusual gold necklace... but there seems to be a tooth hanging on it? Hmm... a gold tooth, what a strange interest.

"Monica?"

"...No, no, it's nothing..." Monica stammered, looking quite strange... "Maybe it's just my imagination...?"

"Ok?"

"It's nothing, please don't mind me. Let me take a look."

...

Monica definitely... has something wrong.

Yang Hao frowned, and just as Monica was examining the necklace to determine its style, he recalled that [the cannibalistic nobles did not only own the Duke of Nikolai's territory], a new interface popped up in front of him:

[Event: The head maid's strange behavior.]

Your head maid seems to have discovered something she saw long ago that left a deep impression on her. She's unsure if it's what she's thinking, and she's avoiding the question. She's started working for you, trying to distract herself with her work.

You noticed that. That gold necklace with the dangling teeth was clearly not from the Duchy of Kosiché—and probably not from the Duchy of Nikolai either. You recalled that cannibalistic nobles weren't just found in the Duchy of Nikolai, but also in other territories.

You recall that the head maid has an unresolved psychological trauma, and this presents a golden opportunity—perhaps also the riskiest—to help her return to normalcy. Because you must go out and see for yourself.

'...Isn't the choice between my family's maid and His Majesty the Emperor obvious? My maid is more important than the Emperor.'

...

"Monica. Get ready in a bit, I have to go out and take a look."

"Eh?! But, but, sir—"

"No buts. I need to handle this important matter personally to feel at ease. Tell Kosiché for me via the communicator that something has happened in the territory and I need to be there to see for myself."

"...yes."

Monica nodded, somewhat bewildered, and accepted her task.

Just as Monica took out her communicator to contact Koschche, Yang Hao quickly used the [Puppet Stage] to finish the work Koschche had left behind, and then he took a deep breath.

Head Maid Monica was the family member he trusted and relied on the most. If he couldn't even help solve the problem of the woman who took such good care of him, would he still be human? Would he still be the pillar of the family?

Although I may still look like a gigolo right now, I can't keep living off a gigolo forever!

So what if the emperor comes knocking on my door? Let him come knocking, anyway, you're not as important as my head maid.

With this in mind, Yang Hao straightened his back, checked his clothes again and again to make sure there was nothing wrong with them, and asked Monica, who had ended the communication, to help him tidy up his hair, which had grown quite long and was about to be trimmed. He then picked up his cane and left his palace with the head maid.

...

And at the same time.

Huddled in the Duke's mansion's toilet, disguised as a tile on the floor, Mr. A suddenly revealed his true form—because he had finally waited for the moment when the person who had been staying in that room all along would step out.

Although he wasn't sure if the people in that room were his target, he now had something to do.

...... ......

When Yang Hao brought Monica to the crime scene, it was already noon, lunchtime.

Although it was lunchtime, the two, who had eaten biscuits and bread on the way, weren't hungry. And once they arrived at the scene, they had even less of an appetite.

This is a sealed-off room in the slum. The deceased was a single worker who lived alone. According to the police at the scene, he may have just been able to support himself and earn some money under the "work relief" program, and then this happened.

"..."

"..."

Police at the scene are processing the remaining parts of the body—to be precise, they are trying to retrieve some parts of the body from the tableware and see if they can be pieced back together, at least to see if they can identify the deceased's face and determine the total number of wounds.

“…Eating meat with a knife and fork is a sign of civilization.” Yang Hao, holding a cane, remarked as he surveyed the cleaned-up tableware on the table. “That puts my mind at ease. People outside our territory—even if the workers in the slums are contaminated, they’re used to eating with their hands and won’t use utensils except when drinking soup. I mean, that’s how most of the slum dwellers who haven’t recovered yet are.”

"Yes, sir..."

"So we must strive to ensure that all the poor can receive an education, have money to buy tableware, and become civilized people... But for now, let's focus on this important matter. Chief, tell me what your assessment of the suspected ferocious beast looks like."

The police chief, who was standing to the side, nodded and gestured for the experts who were waiting to come over. Then they began to explain their respective speculations.

...

There's not much to guess. Their assessment is remarkably consistent: the ferocious beast is definitely a highly educated nobleman, or at least a minor nobleman.

“Sir, the knife on the table is a luxurious silver cutlery. And if we’re not mistaken, that necklace is also extremely valuable—it’s a luxury item that only nobles can afford.”

"It seems a nobleman with cannibalistic tendencies has entered our territory... Any news from customs?"

"No. All the nobles who entered the Duchy of Kosiché normally were registered, and they do have alibis... Most importantly, they all knew nothing about it. The noble whose residence was closest to the scene of the incident was at the Kotka Palace, more than 10 kilometers away..."

"I understand. The nobleman who infiltrated through irregular means... has a cannibalistic appetite... and also some kind of... showmanship?"