Chapter 493: Intimidation

Elvire snorted. “That’s different.”

If the Wine of Imagination was hers, or if she was the one who gave it to Elise, that would be fine.

But the person who gave it was Sean, and that was a big problem.

Although she couldn’t say exactly what the big problem was, she just wasn’t happy about it!

Sean blinked. “Could it be that Miss Flame Crow is jealous?”

“Bullshit!” Elvire shot Sean a glare. “From now on, you need my permission for things like this. You hear me?”

“Alright, alright,” Sean said quickly. “I’ll listen to you. Whatever you say.”

“That’s more like it,” Elvire huffed.

‘Since he seems genuinely sorry, I’ll let it slide this time.’

Elise grumbled from the side, “So stingy…”

Elvire heard her and shot back, “So what if I’m stingy? Is there a problem with that?”

Elise said mournfully, “You’ve changed, Miss Flame Crow. You weren’t like this before.”

Elvire replied, “Yes, I’ve changed. You haven’t. You’re still as shameless as ever.”

Elise: “?”

“Hey, that’s an insult!”

Elvire sniffed. “And whose fault is that? You’re the one trying to seduce Sean all day.”

“It’s only because I’m generous that I don’t hold it against you. Any other leader would have fired you long ago.”

“Then fire me!” Elise wasn’t intimidated. “If you do, I’ll just go be Sean’s personal assistant—the close and personal kind. The salary he’d offer me is way higher than what you pay.”

Elvire’s eyes widened. “You dare!”

“Why wouldn’t I dare?” Elise said. “You’d be the one firing me.”

Elvire cursed, “Bah, you vixen!”

Elise: “Bah, you cheapskate!”

Sean couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

‘Watching girls argue is so much more interesting than watching guys argue.’

He really wanted to chime in, ‘This is great. I could watch this all day. Keep it up.’

But on second thought, he decided against it.

It wouldn’t be good if he ended up drawing their fire.

The three of them finished their light meal, chatting and laughing, and returned to the car.

Just as Elise, still bickering with Elvire, was about to start the car to continue their journey, Sean suddenly spoke up.

“Wait!”

“Hmm?”

The two women immediately stopped arguing. Elise asked, “What’s wrong?”

Sean said, “Look in the rearview mirror.”

By now, the sky had grown dark.

The car was parked facing the service area. Behind it was the brightly lit highway, and between the highway and the car was a dimly lit patch of greenery.

Hearing Sean’s words, Elvire and Elise instinctively looked up.

In the rearview mirror, a woman in a white dress stood silently under the dark shade of a tree.

Her hair was very, very long, obscuring her deathly pale face.

She was holding a sign, or perhaps a piece of paper, with two lines written in glaring, blood-red strokes—

“Stop your investigation, or else…”

“Die”

The air inside the car instantly fell silent, leaving only the sound of their three rapidly beating hearts.

Elvire’s eyes went wide, and she subconsciously grabbed Sean’s arm.

“Wh-what the hell is that?!”

‘Pulling a stunt like this in the middle of the night… it’s creepy as hell.’

Elise was startled too, but by the time she collected herself and tried to get a clearer look, the woman was gone.

The space under the tree was empty, as if nothing had ever happened.

It gave Elise goosebumps.

‘Is this service area haunted or something?’

“Get out of the car!”

Sean said calmly.

He didn’t believe in any haunting nonsense.

The words on the paper also indicated this wasn’t a haunting, but someone trying to scare them off.

As soon as Sean got out of the car, he rushed toward the patch of greenery.

“Hey, be careful!” Elvire and Elise hurried after him.

Seeing this, a staff member nearby hurried over to warn them, “Sir, sir, you can’t step in there.”

The green area was enclosed by a flower bed, which served both to protect the trees and as a barrier separating the access road from the service area. A small sign was stuck in the dirt with the words “Please Keep Off.”

Sean asked the staff member, “Someone just went in there a moment ago. Why didn’t you stop her?”

The staff member: “?”

“What person?”

“I’ve only seen you three.”

As he spoke, he turned the “Please Keep Off” sign around. The back read, “Damage to Environment: 100 Fine.”

Sean: “…”

He had already lifted one foot to step over, but when he saw the “100 Fine,” he stopped short and pulled his foot back.

100 wasn’t much to him—a tank of gas cost more—but he had no desire to be a sucker.

Elvire asked, “Are you sure you didn’t see someone here just now?”

The staff member was certain. “No.”

“It’s not that I wasn’t paying attention. If someone had been here, there would be footprints. See for yourselves, are there any footprints?”

Elvire carefully inspected the soil under the tree.

Indeed, there were no footprints.

That made it even stranger.

“Enough talk,” the staff member said, pulling out a QR code. “Pay the fine.”

Sean: “?”

“I didn’t step on it. What am I paying for?”

‘Is this a shakedown?’

The staff member: “…”

That was a good point.

He glanced at Sean’s retracted foot and said tentatively, “How about… you step on it now, sir?”

The three of them: “?”

Elise snapped, “How about I step on your face instead?”

The staff member: “…”

His gaze fell, saw that Elise was wearing high heels, and he gave an awkward laugh. “On second thought, I’ll pass.”

“If you’re not going to step on it now, don’t step on it later either. Protecting the environment is everyone’s responsibility.”

He tossed out that line and went back to work.

Elise rolled her eyes and complained, “How bizarre.”

Sean’s attention, however, was on the tree.

Not only were there no footprints under it, but there was also no residual fluctuation of Magic Power.

‘Or maybe my Tier is too low to sense it?’

“So, what now?” Elvire asked.

They definitely weren’t going to find the person. Since their opponent chose to appear this way, they must have been confident they could erase all their traces and play the part of a “ghost” to the end.

This reminded Elvire of the note Koni found in the elevator the night before they went to Ivan Pharmaceutical in Sonaros State, back in the Farm World.

That one also told them not to go.

That time, the other party had told them to flee, which seemed like a warning from an ally. As it turned out, it was indeed written by an ally.

But this time was different. This was a threat.

The word “Die” was written especially large. Elvire had seen it clearly. Someone was warning them not to meddle.

But Sean was determined to meddle.

He was an innocent eighteen-year-old college student, currently in his rebellious adolescent phase.

The more someone didn’t want him to know something, the more he wanted to know it.

“Elise, go find someone to check the car,” Sean said.

He was afraid these spooks might have secretly planted a bomb or something in their car.

In the eyes of a Wizard, such methods were actually quite crude.

But sometimes, the cruder the method, the more effective it is.

“Okay.”

This service area happened to have a car repair shop, so Elise immediately went to find someone to look at the car.

「Half an hour later.」

The vehicle inspection was complete.

“No problems here. Your car is perfectly safe,” the mechanic from the shop said.

Sean asked, “Any bugs or listening devices?”

“Nope,” the mechanic said. “You just bought this car, right? I’m familiar with this make. Nothing’s missing that should be there, and there’s nothing extra that shouldn’t be. You can drive it with peace of mind; there won’t be any issues.”

Sean smiled. “Great, thanks for your hard work.”

“All in a day’s work.” The mechanic waved his hand and pointed to the payment counter. “You pay over there.”

With that, he went back to his work.

After Sean paid the bill, he called for the two women to get back in the car.

“Let’s go. Into the city.”

There was no way he was going to be scared off.

‘A Wizard, afraid of so-called ghosts?’

‘The thought alone is embarrassing.’

Besides, Sean had never been one to bow to threats.

Especially here in the New World, where he wasn’t afraid of dying.

Intimidation wouldn’t make him back down; it would only excite him and make him push forward faster.

He had a feeling there was a big secret hidden here.

The car left the service area, heading west along the highway.

「In the wee hours of the morning.」

Sean and the others passed through a toll booth and arrived at Cadola Royal City.