Chapter 24: Assistance and the Maid
Faced with Anselm's unreasonable demand, Viscount Xiaofeng couldn't refuse on the grounds of it being "unreasonable."
He could only claim there were no necromancers in the city.
But as the overseer of the plunder route, how could Viscount Xiaofeng, who handled such dirty work, not have necromancers among his men?
There were plenty of reasons to put him in a bind, but Anselm graciously gave Viscount Xiaofeng face, granting him three days to contact a necromancer.
As for the consequences of failing to do so, Anselm left that to the viscount's imagination.
Of course, Anselm knew full well that the viscount wouldn't bother contacting a necromancer.
He would only try every means to ensure Anselm witnessed his death.
"So, what's that supposed to mean?"
In the finest room of Viscount Xiaofeng's castle, Anselm sat by the fireplace, flipping through a book, while Hitana looked utterly confused: "What do you mean he'll definitely try to die in front of you?"
"Do you know these two viscounts, Hitana?" Anselm sipped the fine wine offered by Viscount Xiaofeng.
"Why would I know them?"
"You see, you don't bother to understand them, yet you want to explain their actions."
The young noble, earnestly educating his "puppy," tilted his head back slightly: "Isn't that just wishful thinking?"
Hitana despised Anselm's overly caring gaze and snapped irritably: "Weren't you the one who brought it up? I'm not even interested in this stuff."
"Fair enough."
Anselm set down his wine glass with a carefree air: "Since you don't need my help, I won't say more."
A tiny piece of "dog food" slipped from the cunning Hydra's tail.
Hitana instantly perked up, leaning forward: "What do you mean by help?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. I think this test might be a bit too challenging for you."
Anselm turned a page, his slender finger tracing the gilded text.
"...You're that kind?" Miss Hitana was deeply skeptical.
"So I'm not saying more," Anselm said with a slight smirk, glancing at her. "Because you don't need it."
"..."
Hitana, perched on the sofa, grew restless.
She didn't fully trust Anselm, but the problem was, she was starting to realize the difficulty of this test.
If those assassins were as "professional" as Anselm claimed, then as a hunter, she was essentially blind and deaf.
Holding a sword or carrying a bow would be useless.
At twelve, she had roamed Tianlu Tower freely, relying on her infallible instincts.
The young academics could never hide their impulses or intentions in combat, which was why they were often beaten senseless by a twelve-year-old girl.
But now, though Hitana was no longer that young girl, her current opponents were worlds apart from those academic youths she once trounced.
Without her instincts as a weapon, Hitana could only rely on her physical reflexes to handle sudden situations.
She wasn't confident that, under these conditions, she could keep Anselm from intervening fewer than three—er, two—times.
Miss Hitana desperately wanted to return home, eager to bask in the admiring gazes of her old village friends, boasting about how formidable she had become.
She didn't want to miss this chance.
As for the punishment... well, she'd never admit out loud that she was afraid of it!
After much deliberation, she finally said in a hesitant, almost guilty tone: "I'm not... completely... you can tell me about it. I don't mind."
"You don't mind, so what does that have to do with me?"
Anselm nonchalantly turned to the next page: "Hitana, do you think just because you want to hear it, I'll tell you?"
He leaned back comfortably in his chair, chuckling softly: "That baseless confidence of yours is sometimes quite charming, Hitana."
In the past, Hitana would have bristled at such blatant sarcasm.
But after days of Anselm's intense training, while she still carried her usual rudeness, one significant change had emerged.
—When it came to her own interests, she would do her best to sheath her claws, tame her wildness, and show restraint.
Though it carried an unpleasant sense of opportunism, this was the nature of her relationship with Anselm—purely transactional and for Anselm, such opportunism was ideal.
It proved she would keep lapping up the honey he dangled, following the path laid out by the wicked Hydra, destined to fall into an inescapable trap.
Thinking of the adoring gazes awaiting her triumphant return, Hitana gritted her teeth: "So, what's the condition?"
She had grown accustomed to dealing with Anselm.
She knew this man didn't care about verbal respect or offense.
This perverse Hydra... only ever cared about tangible gains.
So rather than begging pathetically, it was better to be direct—besides, Hitana had no intention of speaking to Anselm in that pitiful tone again.
But in truth, Hitana's understanding of Anselm was only ever what Anselm allowed her to believe.
Thus, every unexpected, disarming demand from him left her delightedly off-balance.
Since Hitana now believed respect toward him wasn't necessary...
Tonight's training would target her "obedience."
"Hitana, do you know what defines the extravagance of nobility?" Anselm closed his book, set it aside, and stretched lazily.
"No idea." Hitana grew wary.
Whenever this guy started scheming, he always began with a long, meaningless speech.
The young wolf had grown used to it.
"It's in... the squandering of human resources."
Anselm gazed at the flames in the fireplace, sighing: "People are precious, infinitely valuable resources. Yet nobles waste them on meaningless, unnecessary things, extravagantly depleting this precious resource while trampling on the value of others' existence, numbing them to it, and placing themselves above all."
"In every word and deed, in the mundane routines..." He propped his cheek, his expression growing somewhat cold.
"Eroding the self, shackling others, turning the world and society into stagnant, putrid waters that cease to flow—that is nobility, heh, that is the truest, most terrifying malice and extravagance of all 'superiors.'"
"Though I am one of them, I don't care for such luxury. I can tolerate many forms of waste, but I will never accept the reckless squandering of human potential."
He glanced at Hitana, whose face practically screamed "empty-headed," and couldn't help but laugh: "Just some musings, speaking to myself. Don't mind it, Hitana."
Thinking was the most important part of Anselm's life.
With his vast repository of knowledge, he always believed that neglecting to think was the greatest desecration of his existence.
"You only need to know that if I wished, I wouldn't even need to lift a finger, and someone would ensure my day was perfect."
"Grooming, tidying, dining, entertainment... even excretion—if I so much as opened my mouth, or even without that, someone would handle it for me. That is the extravagance of nobility."
Hitana frowned, her deepest rebellious instincts triggered, and she shot back almost reflexively: "So, does Lord Hydra need me to assist you in the bathroom?"
If Anselm wanted to disgust her, he could easily describe how nobles had "excretion handled" for them, but he found that too distasteful himself, so he only laughed:
"Much simpler than that, Hitana. I don't need servants to do so much for me... but I must admit, my dear maids always do everything perfectly. After just half a day away, I find myself missing them."
"So, in exchange for offering you a little help—"
Anselm raised his hands, waving them lightly like a conductor, his tone cheerful:
"Tonight, you will be an obedient and well-mannered maid."