Chapter 124: Time to Hunt

Two days later.

I was standing in front of the mirror at home, trying out different faces.

Black hair fell to my shoulders. My chin narrowed, and the contours around my eyes changed. I turned my head from side to side, examined my reflection, then adjusted the bridge of my nose.

Doesn’t look quite right.

With a thought, my hair shortened and turned blonde. My cheekbones became more pronounced, and the shape of my lips changed. The woman in the mirror stared back at me for a few seconds.

Then she, too, gave way to someone else.

Yes.

I was trying out female forms.

To an outside observer, I probably looked like a man with strange tastes. In fact, I was certain that anyone who caught me like this would jump to several wrong conclusions before giving me a chance to explain.

But I had a perfectly good reason for doing this.

Marven Voss.

I grimaced at the mirror. Seeing the woman in front of me make the same expression only irritated me more.

There was no sense in approaching this son of a bitch the usual way or attempting a straightforward assassination. If even half of what was circulating about him online was true, I couldn’t be the only person who wanted him dead.

Yet he was still driving around in expensive cars, enjoying himself at bars, and going about his life without a problem.

He had his family backing him. He had money.

And he had a bodyguard like Dorian Hale.

It didn’t take much imagination to picture what would happen if I confronted that man and attacked him with Umbrella. I had no intention of repeating the mistake I’d made against Ron.

That was why I’d chosen a different approach.

I would seduce Marven, lure him somewhere out of sight, and finish him off.

I looked at my reflection with my head bowed.

Seduce him...

The thought alone made me sick.

I was a man. I still couldn’t believe I was planning to flirt with another man. I would have to smile, pretend to be interested, and listen to the disgusting things he said without punching him in the face.

Fine. Somehow, I could put up with that much.

But Marven?

Some of the articles I’d read on my phone came to mind. Then I noticed the expression on my face in the mirror, took a deep breath, and closed my eyes.

If I looked at him like that, he would call security instead of inviting me anywhere.

"Ahh... Damn system."

Whenever my life became even a little peaceful, I ended up doing something like this.

I opened my eyes.

Whatever happened, I wasn’t going to give Marven an easy death.

And I wasn’t saying that just because I wanted to get this quest over with. The more I read about him, the more I saw that carefree smile, the angrier I became.

"As the Great Noctis, I swear I’ll rid the world of this monster, no matter what."

"Chosen One."

I looked over my shoulder.

"What?"

Oswald was floating behind me, his feet hovering above the floor. As usual, his hands were clasped behind his back.

Getting used to that sight was going to take a while.

His gaze shifted from me to my reflection.

"Why are you taking on a woman’s form?"

He paused.

"Have you developed some strange tastes?"

I grabbed the comb in front of the mirror and threw it at him.

"Oi! Don’t be ridiculous!"

As expected, it passed straight through him instead of hitting him.

The old man’s eyebrows rose slightly.

"This is all just part of my plan."

"Plan?"

A proud smile spread across my lips.

"Yes. The perfect plan, devised using my superior intellect."

I raised a hand and pointed at him.

"The Great Noctis shall enlighten you. Listen closely, old man."

I dropped the female form. As Umbrella withdrew from my face and hair, my clothes changed into a comfortable T-shirt and a pair of pants.

I grabbed a bottle of lemon soda from the fridge and headed into the living room. After opening it, I dropped onto the inflatable cushion.

When Oswald came to stand in front of me, I took a sip and began explaining.

"Our target is a pervert. So I’m going to use his weakness for women to get close to him."

I raised my phone and turned on the screen, scrolling through the articles, posts, and photos I’d saved.

"Where he hangs out, who he spends time with, his hobbies, his tastes... I’ve gathered everything I could find."

Oswald tilted his head slightly to look at the screen.

"Especially what kind of women he likes."

My finger paused briefly on one of the photos. Marven had an arm around a young woman’s waist and was smiling casually at the camera. She didn’t look nearly as relaxed as he did.

I turned off the screen.

"Now it’s time to lure that scumbag into a trap."

Oswald remained silent for a few seconds.

Then a pleased expression spread across his face.

"As expected of the Chosen One... Patience, intelligence, and a sense of justice."

I straightened my back a little.

"I knew I’d made the right choice in serving you."

"Ahem... Of course."

I took another sip of soda. The way this old man took everything I said so seriously was both flattering and a little unsettling.

"And there’s a Plan B, of course."

Oswald’s interest perked up again.

"You have another plan?"

I lowered the bottle from my mouth.

"...Well, not actually."

The old man stared at me.

"But there’s a saying: ’There’s always a Plan B.’ I just wanted to show that I was prepared."

Oswald’s gaze briefly moved to the bottle in my hand, then returned to my face.

"I see."

He didn’t.

Or perhaps he did and had chosen to spare me the embarrassment.

The second possibility was worse.

I downed the rest of my soda, tossed the empty bottle into the trash, and sprang off the cushion.

After flipping through the air, I landed on my feet. I raised one hand in front of my face and extended my other arm to the side.

"Time to hunt."

Oswald stared at me in silence.

I held the pose for a few more seconds.

Then I lowered my arms.

My ears were burning.

That was seriously embarrassing...

"...Let’s go."

---

I could hear the music as soon as I reached the street.

Bass from different venues blended together, and at times I could even feel the vibrations beneath the sidewalk. Red and purple signs lit up the buildings, while smaller neon letters wedged between them blinked on and off.

A crowd smoking outside a bar narrowed the path. Perfume, alcohol, and smoke mingled in the night air.

I kept walking.

Umbrella had given me a new form.

My red hair fell just past my shoulders, spilling down my back in gentle waves. Green eyes, soft features, and an innocent face that looked to be in its early twenties...

I caught my reflection in a shop window.

My long-sleeved black dress ended just above my knees. It had a high neckline and not a single eye-catching decoration. Paired with my plain boots, it made me look a little too ordinary among the people around me.

Exactly what I wanted.

I looked like a university student who had given in to her curiosity and wandered onto a street like this for the first time.

Why?

Because Marven liked more than just beautiful women. Judging by everything I’d read and seen, he also enjoyed believing that the person in front of him couldn’t stand up to him.

That was why I wasn’t going to look like someone who knew her way around a place like this.

To be fair, I wouldn’t have to do much acting.

A dark sports car pulled up to the curb, and its door swung upward. The moment the man stepping out set foot on the sidewalk, an attendant waiting by the entrance hurried over.

The man handed him the key. Two women in short, glittering dresses also stepped out of the car and linked their arms through his. All three went inside without waiting in line.

Golden chandeliers gleamed through the windows of a casino a little farther down. I couldn’t make out the faces of the people around the tables, but I could see stacks of chips and glasses.

The money spent at a single table here could probably cover several years of my living expenses.

I looked away from the road.

And met the eyes of a man watching me.

He didn’t look away. Instead, he raised his glass slightly and smiled.

I immediately faced forward.

A few steps later, the same thing happened again. This time, one of two men standing outside a venue stopped talking to look me over. When his friend turned to look as well, I realized my shoulders had tensed.

Damn it.

Even the stares at NovaCon had been less uncomfortable than this.

There, people stopped to look at my costume. Here, the way their eyes traveled over me was different. I wanted to hurry past, but picking up my pace would only make my unease more obvious.

As I passed another shop window, I caught sight of Oswald’s silhouette beside my shoulder.

He drifted through the crowd at ease. Nobody passing him looked his way or even noticed his presence.

At least I wasn’t alone.

It annoyed me a little that the thought was comforting.

Yesterday, I had cut off my own hand to escape this man. Today, having him just a few steps away made it easier to keep walking.

It was truly impressive what my life had become.

At last, I spotted the sign I’d been looking for.

Purple Lily.

The letters above the dark facade cast a purple glow across the sidewalk. Burly bouncers stood on either side of the door, giving the approaching guests brief looks.

The place had looked smaller in the photos on my phone.

I stopped a few steps away, smoothed a small fold in the hem of my dress, then lowered my hands.

Suddenly, I missed the mirror at home, my lemon soda, and even that stupid pose I’d struck earlier.

If I said the wrong thing here, I wasn’t sure I could laugh it off and change the subject.

I swallowed.

Marven’s face came to mind.

Then the system’s penalty.

I took a deep breath, relaxed my shoulders, and tried to erase the tension from my face.

And I took my first step.