The Price of Secrets and a Gambler’s Debt

“Has anything happened here recently?”

“What does Young Master Reyn mean?”

“Heretics.”

Reyn’s bluntness made Jack’s expression falter. He couldn’t answer immediately. After a brief silence, he nervously scanned his surroundings, and only after confirming no one was watching them, did he lower his voice.

“Not long ago, people from the Holy Church were here.”

Reyn’s gaze shifted slightly as he spoke in a low, grave tone, “Someone died?”

He had not received any reports regarding an A-rank heretic blood demon, but it wasn’t impossible for the Holy Church to have concealed the information from him.

Jack’s expression grew hesitant, and he spoke in a broken murmur. “Yes, people died, but they were all from the Holy Church. They were drained of blood by a heretic they brought with them. There was also a person wearing a rabbit mask present at the time.”

Reyn frowned deeply. He had never heard of this incident, which strongly suggested the Holy Church had suppressed the news.

‘A rabbit mask… Could it be the Gluttony Witch?’

“Anything else?”

“Only rumors and hearsay. The lower district sees a massive flow of people every day, and many stories lose their credibility after being passed around.”

“Do you know where I can find a doctor?”

“Followers of the Hermit of the Mountain? They are always very good at concealing their identities. No one here knows their whereabouts.”

An old wooden house came into Reyn’s view. He paused, silently observing the dilapidated structure before him.

Reyn suddenly turned to Anna, speaking in a gentle tone. “Do you need to wait outside?”

Anna shook her head, her voice soft. “After Young Master bought me, I no longer have any ties to them.”

With a calm expression, Reyn walked over and knocked on the door.

Moments later, a white-haired old woman opened it. Upon seeing Reyn’s clean and tidy clothes, her face instinctively showed fear. Her voice trembled.

“Didn’t I already give you all the money?”

Reyn furrowed his brow, but Jack, who was accompanying him, quickly interjected. “Aunt Ryan, this is Young Master Reyn.”

Ryan froze for a moment, then noticed Anna behind Reyn. Seeing her fiery red hair, an expression of disbelief spread across her face. “You’re Anna?”

Anna’s gaze was icy as she looked at Ryan. Her voice was cold. “It’s me.”

“Who are you people!”

A young man emerged from inside the house, glaring fiercely at the people outside the door. Ryan, visibly nervous, quickly spoke up. “Charlie, this is Young Master Reyn, and your sister, Anna.”

Charlie stared at Anna in disbelief. In his memories, she had been nothing more than a grimy little girl, but now she had blossomed into a stunning beauty.

An uncontrollable greed flared in his eyes. “Anna, you’re doing quite well for yourself now, aren’t you?”

Anna looked at Charlie with an impassive face, her voice chilling. “What does that have to do with you?”

Charlie’s face instantly contorted in anger, and he shrieked loudly. “How dare you speak to me like that!”

Ryan tried to hold her son back, but Charlie violently shook off her arm and advanced menacingly. Just as he raised his arm, preparing to slap Anna, Reyn suddenly seized his wrist.

Charlie’s face twisted in pain, and he couldn’t help but cry out. “Let go! Let me go!”

Reyn’s eyes swept over him with indifference, then turned to the nervous Ryan. “Eight years ago, didn’t I give you a substantial sum of money? Why are you still living here?”

Jack quickly leaned in, speaking in a low voice. “Young Master Reyn, Mark was a gambler. He lost all that money not long after.”

Reyn glanced down at Jack, then his gaze returned to Ryan. “Is that so?”

Ryan nodded quickly. “Yes, it is.”

Reyn suddenly quirked a corner of his mouth. “Where is Mark?”

Ryan’s expression instantly became incredibly tense. “My husband… he’s ill.”

Reyn began to walk inside. “Is that right? Then I should see him.”

Ryan frantically tried to stop him. “Young Master Reyn, he’s very ill!”

Reyn suddenly stopped, looking deeply at Ryan. “I am a Count now.”

Ryan’s face changed drastically once more, and her back became even more hunched. “You… you inherited the title?”

Reyn pushed open the bedroom door. Ryan instinctively tried to block him, but she stopped herself abruptly.

As Reyn opened the door, he saw an old man lying on the bed.

His gaze fell upon the old man’s face: his pupils were dilated, his eyes vacant, as if he had lost consciousness.

Then, his eyes landed on the empty medicine bottles on the floor.

Reyn walked over, bent down to pick up a bottle, then turned to the tense Ryan. “What is this?”

Ryan forced a smile onto her face. “It’s just a regular painkiller.”

Reyn’s lips twitched, and he spoke coldly. “Ordinary painkillers don’t cause unconsciousness. This is [Sweet Dream], isn’t it?”

Ryan’s face turned pale with fright. Just then, Charlie rushed forward, gripping a bone-scraping knife, and lunged towards Reyn’s abdomen.

Reyn’s eyes flashed with coldness. He twisted his hand, grabbing Charlie’s right arm that held the knife, and spoke in a calm tone. “The Empire doesn’t prohibit the civilian use of [Sweet Dream], so you have followers of Utopia here? Jack?”

His icy gaze fell upon Jack. After a prolonged silence, the man in his twenties slowly sighed. “Should I not have spoken up for them just now?”

No sooner had he spoken than he pulled a medicine bottle from his pocket and gulped its contents. Reyn, unable to stop him in time, showed a flicker of wariness in his eyes. He recalled that followers of Utopia would use a lethal dose of [Sweet Dream] for ordinary people to enhance their spiritual vision, thereby gaining more power from Utopia.

Jack’s veins bulged on his face, his eyeballs were bloodshot, and blood streamed from his nostrils. A sinister smile gradually spread across his face, and he spoke in a chilling voice. “Count Reyn, someone wants you dead. I initially refused, fearing trouble, but now it seems I can’t decline. So, let’s start with your lover.”

As he said this, he turned to look at Anna.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Anna’s cheeks flushed crimson, and she cried out in panic. “I-I’m not Young Master’s lover yet!”

Jack seemed not to hear Anna’s reply. The confident smile on his face vanished in an instant, replaced by utter terror as he stared at the constantly shifting, pulsating dark orange flame before him.

The autumn wind was cold, yet his entire body felt as if his skin were scorching red from intense heat. He screamed in agony, forcefully tearing his gaze away from Anna and looking back at Reyn.

In that very moment, his body began to crack apart. The shock in Jack’s heart far surpassed seeing Anna’s true appearance; it was his worshipped god actively granting him more power, attempting to glimpse something through his eyes.

He stared blankly at Reyn, a foolish grin suddenly appearing on his cracked face. “Just a person.“

As his words faded, his body completely disintegrated, leaving only a pool of blood on the floor.