A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 260 Disgusting
"Miss, I just heard you make a sound?"

The woman who entered had gray hair and bore a striking resemblance to Frey, the butler who drove for Lord Cavendish, and looked rather aloof. She wore a Western-style maid's uniform embroidered with an iris crest and a silver bell pendant hanging from her chest, a religious object of the White Church.

"Uh, you must have misheard me, Freya. I need to work, don't bother me."

Seeing the woman walk in, Amamiya Nene subconsciously pulled the blanket under her knees. Quinn, whose thighs were pressed against the woman's, could feel her heart pounding with guilt, like a race car tire overheating.

Quinn really wanted to tell his comrades at the Old Summer Palace that the pig's head had been found.

Here it is, pressed against Amamiya Nene's neck.

If I try to hide, will these maids be able to find the Sequence 7 assassin?
His neck was clamped between thighs, and his long calves were hooked around his body, trying to press him inward. What should have been a sensual scene turned into a very stifling one because his head was covered.

On the other side, the maid Freya was not driven away by Amamiya Nene's words, but continued, "The enforcer knocked on the door five minutes ago, saying that there was a sound of weapons at the side gate of the manor. I sent people to check and found that a tree at the back gate had been cut down, and there was blood and signs of a battle at the scene."

Quinn wondered who it could be, but he couldn't find it.

He was being squeezed so tightly by Amamiya Nene that he could hardly breathe. Their position was somewhat like riding a horse. Quinn was lying on his side on the ground, feeling stifled, while Amamiya Nene sat on his arm, her long legs twisting around Quinn like a strangler.

"The flesh is so tender, isn't it?" This was a fact he already knew, and Quinn dared not use force, lest he accidentally break those legs. But the consequence of not using force was that Amamiya Nene clamped down without any sense of proportion; she was even using force. No matter how much you clamp, I can't be compressed, can I?

"Huh? A battle? Hahaha." Amamiya Nene waved her hand: "I'm very good, don't worry about me."

"For safety reasons, I have already ordered law enforcement officers to search the manor. Please forgive me for not consulting you beforehand."

Freya glanced at the cloth bag on the ground and frowned. "Miss, what's this?"

The bag was dirty, and the material didn't seem like something the royal family or the Cavendish family would use.

“It’s from the academy, it’s from the academy,” Amamiya Nene said, picking up the notebook from her bag to prove it.

But because she was sitting a bit far from the bag and didn't want to move, she could only stretch her hand forward with difficulty, like a cat stretching. As she bent over like this, Quinn, who was being pressed down, suffered terribly. No matter what, the throat is the most vulnerable part of the body, and she immediately had trouble breathing.

He gently patted Amamiya Nene's thigh, telling her to be gentle.

Little did this foolish woman know that he was trying to struggle, and under the guise of getting her notebook, she naturally placed her hand in front of the blanket and pressed it down hard—

Now his mouth was covered.

Quinn closed his eyes in despair. Even when Ziwei was pricked with needles by Rong Momo in the palace, it was nothing compared to this. How could there be such a vicious woman?

Freya spoke up: "Help Miss tidy up the study."

"Yes." The maids who followed entered the room one after another and arranged the theological books piled on the floor in an orderly manner.

They were also woken up suddenly in the middle of the night, but they were able to get dressed, tidy themselves up, and get into their daily work mode in just a short while, which is enough to show the professionalism of the royal maids.

"Miss, it's so late. What work can't be done tomorrow? You need to go to bed on time tonight."

There weren't many servants in this large house, and Freya was the only one from the Cavendish family; she was Amamiya Nene's personal maid. As the little witch's nanny, her relationship with Amamiya Nene was naturally more than just that of ordinary servants, and when she started nagging, Amamiya Nene could only endure it.

You look very tired, and your face is so pale.

"Oh, it's no big deal, it's no big deal. I'm a magician, I'll just meditate for a bit," Amamiya Nene replied absentmindedly.

Her thighs were wrestling with Quinn, making a rustling sound, like a battle was taking place under the blanket.

Quinn tickled her feet, pinched her Achilles tendons, and bent her toes, trying to make her relax a little, but Amamiya Nene completely misunderstood Quinn's intentions, thinking that if he wanted to, she wouldn't give in at all—

Don't move!

Give me a break, you idiot!

Driven to desperation, Quinn didn't care about anything else and pried her thighs apart with both hands. But before she could even catch her breath, the enraged Amamiya Nene actually sat down forward, her full and bouncy buttocks sliding down her shoulders.
"I still remember what the old man said back then: 'A person must sleep for eight hours a day.' If he saw you now..."

Amamiya Nene stood there, her expression blank and frozen.

Her face was no longer pale, but rather showed signs of extreme helplessness.

Freya thought she had said something wrong and quickly bowed her head to apologize, "Miss, I was too talkative. I shouldn't have mentioned the master. You..."

She wanted to say something more, but in the end she just took a step back and said, "You should rest early, we'll take our leave now."

Immediately, she glanced discreetly at the blanket on Amamiya Nene's lap, then led her people out of the room.

The footsteps faded away slowly until they disappeared completely.

Quinn suddenly sat up, threw off the blanket, and Amamiya Nene, who was riding on him, lost her balance and fell to the ground. He cursed angrily, his face flushed red:

"You're asking for trouble!! Why didn't you just hide myself? Why did you have to hide in the most conspicuous place?"

Lying on the ground, Amamiya Nene gritted her teeth and, disregarding the fact that she wasn't wearing underwear and would expose herself, raised her left leg and kicked Quinn in the face.

Quinn, seeing that you unlucky old woman still dared to breathe, didn't hesitate to slap away the little foot that was kicking at him.

That slap was no light one; with a crisp 'smack!', Amamiya Nene's delicate skin immediately turned red.

"You think I want you to sit on me?"

"I shouldn't have saved you—"

After the slap, the two of them almost simultaneously growled. Then Quinn paused slightly, not because of what Amamiya Nene had said, but because she had cried.

She got up feeling wronged, raised her hand to wipe away her tears, as if she wanted to vent her anger on herself, wiping them hard from her wrist to her palm. Her eyes were red, and it was hard to tell whether it was from crying or from wiping them until they were red.

This has really stumped Quinn.

"You...you've pressed down on my neck, I didn't mean to move." Quinn's voice softened considerably. "This really isn't my fault, is it? You messed things up yourself, I can't just stop breathing."

Amamiya Nene sat back down in her chair, hugging her knees with both hands, her back to Quinn, and didn't reply.

"Besides, why would I need your help? You could just tell her directly. What's with all this talk about avoiding suspicion between colleagues? Is your dad from the Middle East? Your family has a rule that daughters can't have male colleagues."

Amamiya Nene buried her face in her knees, her slightly red eyes gazing at the night sky.

Yes.

What am I trying to avoid?
"Never mind, it's my fault—"

Quinn raised his hands in surrender.

"I shouldn't have come tonight, Gomenase. I'm leaving now. We'll talk about your father another time."

After saying that, Quinn planned to climb out the window and leave.

"and many more."

Amamiya Nene called out to him.

"What about my dad?"

“I’ve got a new lead, I’m not sure if it’s related to your dad. I think it’s highly likely.” Quinn said briefly, “On March 2, 2016, or rather, at the depth of the Abyss in 2016, there’s a movie we can go see.”

Amamiya Nene finally looked at him properly.

"Where did the clue come from?"

"It must have been left to me by your father, since he was the one who made me choose the path of a thief. This clue appeared when I was promoted."

Quinn waited for a while, but Amamiya Nene didn't respond, so he gave up and prepared to leave. Unexpectedly, the woman, playing hard to get, saw Quinn about to leave and said with deep resentment, "...We almost died there, and you're still willing to come down to the abyss with me?"

“What do you mean by accompanying you? I was going anyway,” Quinn said absentmindedly.

“You could have waited until I got back to the academy to talk about this.”

She stared at Quinn silently for a while.

"You didn't come here because you were worried I hadn't taken the antidote, did you?"

This woman is so unpredictable; she was just looking gloomy, and now she's laughing.

With a snap, she lit a cigarette, took a light puff, and uttered two words: "Disgusting."

Quinn shook his head. "I came to see you out of kindness, and I almost got crushed to death."

"That's... Anyway, being misunderstood is really bad! If my mom finds out there's a man in my room late at night, you can forget about working at the academy," she argued.

"Is your mother such a feudal person?"

Quinn's impression of Lord Cavendish didn't seem so domineering.

"Forget it. We're not Abyss Transcendents, how are we going to...deep...what...the Abyss Layer of 2016?"

Quinn gazed at the reflection of Grindelwald's Eye on the lake. Even at this hour, airships were still entering and leaving the port, keeping the city running. Arcane blue light shone brightly alongside the moon.

"Doesn't Grindelwald have an Abyss Transcendent?" Quinn said casually, "That 'Mr. Q'."

"What clues are there to find him? Do you think this is an abyss?"

Amamiya Nene felt there was no hope. In reality, if an Abyss Transcendent wanted to remain undetected, as long as they kept their identity hidden and didn't enter the church of the cult, it would be almost impossible for them to give themselves away.

Their method of entering the abyss is to enter dreams, and since every human being dreams, it's impossible to search the dreams of everyone in this city.

“A clue?” Quinn’s eyes narrowed slightly. Thinking of the jewelry store’s frame-up and the email that named names, a deep killing intent appeared in his eyes. “There is one.”

He set his sights on me not long after I came into this world.

Who exactly is Mr. Q? What are his motives? And what are his goals?
[Mr. Q, I have completed your task. Congressman Reeve Branson has absorbed starlight and is showing signs of addiction. Please tell me, as promised, the methods for growing into an Abyss Transcendent.]

That was an email between Jack the traveling merchant and Mr. Q.

It reveals at least two pieces of information:

1. The 'illness' of Branson's family head, who is also Chaldale's father, Reeve Branson, in recent years is related to starlight.

2. The starlight used by the robbers who hijacked the jewelry store is most likely related to Mr. Q, so the Dungeon government-in-exile behind them may be able to find clues about Mr. Q.

When Quinn first saw the email, he hadn't delved into the clues because of Lynn. He leaned out the window and looked towards the manor on the other side of the street. Branson's mansion was quiet; his girlfriend was probably fast asleep.

“Mr. Q has made some arrangements at Branson’s house. Perhaps we can find something by investigating.” Quinn did not mention the matter of the Yangen government-in-exile, as it concerned Golden Wind and Ike. It was best to keep matters concerning the hero a secret.

"The Branson family?"

Amamiya Nene was slightly taken aback.

"Rie Branson?"

"Correct."

“When I first arrived in Eswell, he was still very healthy. He gave me a lot of gifts as housewarming presents and seemed to want to introduce his son to me.” Amamiya Nene put down her cigarette, turned her head and glanced around the study, and instructed, “There should be a ‘Seswell Commemorative Stamp Album’ on the second column of the third bookshelf from the left. It was given to me by Reeve. Bring it here.”

"No legs? OK, you have menstrual cramps, huh? I'll take it, I'll take it." Quinn noticed the unfriendly gaze and very obediently chose to be a lackey.

The book that Amamiya Nene mentioned contained many commemorative stamps issued by Eswell. In Tamura, where mail was still the primary means of long-distance communication, stamps were highly sought-after collectibles, and this booklet was worth a lot of money just by looking at its gorgeous cover.

After the booklet was in her hands, she tore off the cover cleanly and neatly, then placed it on the table and casually blew a puff of smoke onto it. The orange-flavored smoke drifted across Amamiya Nene's face as she muttered some divination.

Rarely seeing the little witch get serious, Quinn quickly observed how the expert performed divination.

After watching for a long time, apart from closing her eyes and reciting something, she didn't use any of the methods she taught her students in class; it was like she was just messing around.

But Quinn remained intently watching.

This face is truly captivating and eye-catching. A pointed chin, a pert nose, and dark eyelashes trembling slightly; the moonlight makes her skin glow like white porcelain.

She looks good in everything.

After realizing what he was looking at, Quinn silently turned his head away. The little witch's charm was just too high. Even Rin's perfect appearance wouldn't elicit much of a reaction from Quinn after he got used to it. Only Amamiya Nene was different. She wasn't for sale, but she was purely tempting.

He thought to himself that he was just lustful, not that he liked her.

Amamiya Nene opened her eyes.

“Rif is not sick,” she said firmly.

"Then an investigation is needed."

"What excuse? His son is running for councilor, right? They're definitely keeping this a closely guarded secret these days, not letting anyone see his father. Otherwise, he'd be in big trouble."

"I have my own way."

"When did you become so incredibly powerful?"

Amamiya Nene chuckled lightly, "You've only been in this city for a few months, and you've already managed to get connections with the richest family?"

“Chadel Branson is my girlfriend. I actually go with her every Thursday.” Quinn smiled and shrugged. “Sorry for getting out of being single first, I’ll introduce you two next time.”

Amamiya Nene's hand holding the cigarette trembled slightly.

"So that scumbag was you," she muttered.

"Scumbag?" Quinn didn't understand what she was talking about.

".nothing."

The slender cigarette was stubbed out of the ashtray. Amamiya Nene smiled sweetly, as if the gloom of the entire night had vanished in that instant.

"Congratulations," she said sincerely.

(End of this chapter)