Hearing Ye Chui’s question, both Sheral and Greenton froze. “What man?”
“The long-haired, narrow-eyed pretty-boy… neither of you noticed him?” Ye Chui asked gravely.
That man was dangerous. At first, Ye Chui himself had completely failed to detect him. It was not concealment magic; the man simply stood there, yet people instinctively overlooked him, as if he possessed the ultimate “presence erasure” ability often seen in manga.
Only when Greenton’s brick interrupted Irak’s charge did Ye Chui sense a trace of hostility. His magic codex could detect malice. That faint killing intent alerted him to the man’s existence.
On the codex, the man appeared as a red dot. Thanks to that, Ye Chui could see him. But the moment the red dot faded, the man vanished from sight once more. When the Shadow Snake man spoke, his figure briefly materialised because others became aware of him. Speech or hostility forced awareness. When silent and without malice, he erased his presence entirely. Once he suppressed his hostility toward Ye Chui, the codex could no longer detect him, and he disappeared from Ye Chui’s vision.
He used no magic; Ye Chui sensed no flow of magical elements.
“Irak was clearly alone. There was no accomplice…” Greenton said uncertainly.
Sheral’s expression turned solemn as he thought. He was certain he had brought only Irak. With his half-step Holy Magus power, no one could follow unnoticed. If someone could hide from even his perception, it could only mean…
“Shadow Snake phantom beast?” Sheral muttered. When Ye Chui and Greenton looked at him, he continued, “One of the Tidal Empire’s Twelve Phantom Beasts. Once summoned, it perfectly conceals the user. Even Holy Magi or Sword Saints cannot detect them!”
Greenton exclaimed in shock, “That powerful? Wouldn’t that make him invincible?”
“It is a complete existence-erasure ability. In a sense, yes, invincible. Even a low-rank swordsman who can summon the Shadow Snake could assassinate a Holy Magus. The Tidal Empire’s history records such astonishing feats… So the man President Ye Chui saw must be this generation’s Shadow Snake clan chieftain, Jeremy. I’ve heard he is extremely cunning and has unprecedented affinity with the Shadow Snake,” Sheral explained, his face grave and tinged with faint anger.
For someone of his status, another person hiding nearby without revealing themselves was a serious threat. A chill of belated fear ran through him. “Jeremy’s name was not on the Tidal Empire delegation list. He sneaked in… What is he planning?”
Ye Chui fell into thought. Irak had claimed he wanted to test Ye Chui’s strength, but it felt more like a probe, not just of Ye Chui’s power but whether Ye Chui could detect Jeremy’s presence.
Fortunately, upon noticing Jeremy, Ye Chui had not reacted openly. Unsure of their goal, he had only glanced sideways, so Jeremy likely believed Ye Chui remained unaware.
Ye Chui said seriously to Sheral, “Keep this quiet for now. Jacob’s coronation is near. They may be targeting him. I’ll have Jacob prepare defences. That man’s concealment is indeed troublesome.”
While speaking, Ye Chui quietly infiltrated Sheral’s memory world for safety, checking if Sheral was in league with Irak and Jeremy, all being from the Tidal Empire.
Sheral, highly perceptive, sensed the probe but did not resist, allowing Ye Chui to confirm his innocence.
Ye Chui gave him a slight smile. Sheral returned it.
The silent test passed without a word.
Sheral soon took his leave.
Ye Chui pondered countermeasures against Jeremy. Knowing, knowing of his existence made prevention simple. Jeremy’s concealment was not magical; he physically remained present. Sound or hostility instantly restored awareness. Defending against him, especially preventing approach, was straightforward.
As Ye Chui formulated plans, Debbie, Guinevere, and the three Dragon Turtle babies, who had left the guild early that morning, returned excitedly.
…
Debbie and Guinevere had left because of a strange incident.
Lately, tavern and restaurant owners had been visiting the Random Magic Guild, respectfully showing Ye Chui their ledgers. A “Glutton Girl” had been frequenting their establishments, eating massive amounts and leaving on credit.
Her appetite was staggering. She always signed “Random Magic Guild – Guinevere.”
Given her enormous consumption and petite, dark-skinned appearance matching the legendary Glutton Girl, plus the guild’s reputation, no one dared press her, assuming she was Guinevere.
With Ye Chui’s current fame, no one would demand payment even for credit. But her meals cost several gold coins each. No business could sustain such losses. Reluctantly, they came to the guild to collect.
The first and second times, Ye Chui paid promptly and sternly scolded Guinevere: they gave her pocket money; why run up tabs?
Guinevere sulked for days, insisting it was not her.
But fifty jin of roast meat, eighty loaves, and ten roast chickens per meal? Only Guinevere could manage that.
Ye Chui, Debbie, and Resha all thought so.
Yet more bills kept coming, while Guinevere had stayed in her room.
Finally, Ye Chui realised it was someone impersonating her.
He laughed helplessly: was someone trying to bankrupt the guild through food bills? He did not mind much, but hundreds of gold coins in days demanded attention. He asked the owners to notify him next time the girl appeared.
This morning, Debbie and Guinevere had gone out after such a notice.
Now they were back.
…
“It really was her!” Guinevere declared excitedly to Ye Chui, thrilled to clear her name. Her dark little face beamed as she planted hands on hips. “That mace girl from the Joys beast clan! The one pretending to be us and running up tabs!”
“The mace girl?” Ye Chui rubbed his temples. He had suspected her the moment he learned of the impersonator. The appearance, the terrifying appetite; who else could it be?
Like Guinevere, she converted massive food intake into sword qi due to her special constitution. She had once resented Ye Chui for killing Yulen the snake-haired, but that faded. During Ye Chui’s duel with Bosley, she had even shown admiration.
Of course, after the beast garden’s destruction, the Joys family’s prestige plummeted from one of the empire’s four great clans to ordinary nobility. Their patriarch had recently died. Her current feelings toward Ye Chui were unclear…
Was she trying to eat him into poverty to cripple the guild? Clever! Ye Chui could not help but wonder. Like Guinevere, she was straightforward; she might actually think that way.
“Where is she now?” Ye Chui asked.
“After leaving the restaurant, she headed west. I had a tavern errand boy follow her. Hmph, she even took ten gold coins’ worth of takeaway. Let’s go find her and see what she’s up to!” Debbie explained. They had not acted rashly and returned to consult Ye Chui.
Ye Chui frowned slightly. “West side? The Joys family estate isn’t there. They don’t own property in that district, do they?”
“Who knows? Maybe she has some scheme,” Guinevere said hotly. Though battle-loving, she rarely held deep grudges. The mace girl was the first, framing her with food was unforgivable!
Soon after Debbie and Guinevere returned, before they even finished their water, the errand boy arrived with the girl’s location.
Ye Chui quietly led Debbie, Guinevere, and the three Dragon Turtle babies there.
When they arrived, they were all stunned.
“No way. The mace girl lives here?” Debbie said in disbelief.
Before them stood a dilapidated house. The western suburbs housed the poor. Though not as bad as Wind Rock City’s slums, most buildings were abandoned and crumbling. Thugs and beggars called it paradise. A direct descendant of the Joys family, even after the clan’s fall, remained nobility. She had no reason to be here.
Puzzled, Ye Chui’s group circled to the back.
With shadow magic, they planned to sneak in, but it was unnecessary. The house was open on all sides; half the back wall had collapsed. They easily hid behind the rubble and observed the yard.
They saw the mace girl.
Petite like Guinevere, dark-skinned, her once-long hair now messily cropped short. She swung a spiked mace with whooshing sounds.
The shabby yard had been roughly tidied. Clothes hung to dry along one wall. Signs of daily life were evident. This was not a hideout; she lived here!
How had a noble girl fallen so low?
After dealing with the beast clans and confirming they posed no threat, Ye Chui had left them alone. She should not be this miserable!
The girl swung her mace until drenched in sweat, sword qi expenditure draining her magic. She leaned the mace against a fallen tree, sat, and began eating the takeaway food. After a few bites, she hesitated, then carefully wrapped some and stored it in a battered cabinet in the corner.
She then took out dried, shrivelled root-like objects and ate them with the remaining food, grimacing at the taste.
“Those are potato-root grass stems. Dried, they stave off hunger. They grow wild in the western wastes, but only beggars and the poorest eat them…” Debbie’s voice already carried pity and heartache.
Guinevere no longer seemed angry, just confused. “Ye Chui, how did she end up like this… Even now, the Joys family wouldn’t let her starve, right?”
As she spoke, the girl moved again, finding the roots hard to swallow with the food. She went inside briefly and returned hugging a jar. Opening it, she pulled out black, pickled insect-like things and ate them with the roots.
“Those are armoured beetles… common insects with a trace of magical beast blood. Some poor warriors eat them to strengthen their bodies,” Debbie explained, shocked beyond words by the girl’s plight.
Eating grass roots and bugs to survive…
Girl, please stop. Watching from the sidelines is breaking our hearts, okay?
