NOVEL NEXT chapter 8
Chapter 8: Sir, That’s Not How You Use a Bad Woman
Baron Pigo’s voice came from the second-floor window, furiously glaring at Chu Yan.
Because there were monsters rampaging in the manor, he dared not come downstairs and could only stare from afar.
Chu Yan waved cheerfully, his smile quite charming:
“I’m assisting the local nobility in fulfilling their duties. You nobles are responsible for cleaning up these riff-raff monsters, right?
I’ve brought them to Baron Pigo, so get to work!
By the way, to clean up the trash in Elysium City, I might occasionally release slime creatures into your estates, possibly in the middle of the night, or even directly into your bedrooms.
But if there’s no trash in the city, then forget it, I find it too tiring.”
Baron Pigo’s neck fat trembled with rage, he was actually being threatened!
He hesitated, wondering whether to order his men to take down the lord, even though he was from the Dragonflame family, Chu Yan wasn’t allied with his superiors.
This guy might have some strength, but he couldn’t withstand a war of attrition. Baron Pigo thought it would be easy to make such a minor lord disappear without a trace.
After all, everyone here was his person, no one would know how Chu Yan died!
Just then, Baron Pigo saw Janet sitting on a stone bench by the road not far away.
Locking eyes, Janet smiled and waved at him.
?
…What’s going on, how long has this Dragonflame family kid been here, and he’s already charmed Janet?!
Pigo suppressed his anger, forcing a smile uglier than crying:
“No worries, these monsters are indeed my responsibility, no need for the lord to trouble himself, good night!”
Baron Pigo’s servants were fervently dealing with the monsters, the manor was in chaos.
He could only angrily wake up the butler:
“Go urge John again, tell him to hurry up and take Shanoa away, or the price will go up!”
After giving his orders, the baron retrieved a box from a hidden compartment in the floor, from which he extracted a precious crystal.
A crystal with an embedded image transmission function!
“Let me find out what’s really going on. Don’t make me learn from Elder Enzo that you, boy, are the castoff of our clan!”
Chapter Seven: Use the Flame Fist on him!
“If the conditions are perfect, we can eliminate him, leaving no loose ends… What does this mean?”
The conversation ended, and Baron Pico pondered, unclear about the higher-ups’ attitude towards Chu Yan.
Was it exile for the castoff, or a normal trial?
If it was the former, then Pico could act against Chu Yan without further concern. But if it was the latter, Pico could only swallow his pride and wait for Chu Yan’s trial to end and for him to leave.
“The elder’s intention seems to be that I should only act with full assurance, allowing him to die from an ‘accident’ that can’t be resisted. It seems I can’t act rashly.”
Having deduced this meaning, Baron Pico trembled with rage.
For so many years, he had been the emperor of his own domain by the Dead Sea, not needing to consider anyone’s face except for those taboo ones who kept to themselves.
“When dawn breaks, I’ll urge John once more. After Shanoa is taken away, the young lord will be alone again. That fox Janet is unlikely to act on his word, probably just a momentary kindness.
She must also be testing the young lord’s status within the Dragonflame family.”
But soon, Janet would discover that Chu Yan’s protector from the Dragonkin family had left, and he had no support in the Dead Sea borderlands.
Then, Janet’s kindness would end, for merchants are such realists.
…
…
Inside the lord’s castle, in the bedroom.
During her “nap,” Shanoa groggily got up, drank a glass of water to soothe her fiery, dry throat, and then returned to the comfort of her bed to rest.
This uncomfortable state, somewhat like a fever, left her consciousness unclear under the abnormal body temperature, her perception of the outside world blurred and confused.
The boundary between reality and dreams was no longer clear, and she gradually couldn’t tell if she was dreaming or if the reverse flow of time’s long river had thrown her back to that moment of universal condemnation…
*
At the age of four, Shanoa passed the magic test, revealing her exceptional magical talent, to the great joy of her desperate mother, who then sought refuge with the Lowellan family.
At that time, she was still puzzled by the drastic changes in her life, moving from a thatched cottage to a luxurious mansion overnight.
However, the Lowellan family’s attitude towards her was not kind, for she was the illegitimate daughter born from the count’s momentary compassion.
Had it not been for her notable magical talent, she would never have been allowed into this home, nor received the noble surname “Lowellan.”
The countess’s hostility towards her was the greatest; the b*stard child of a wild woman living together with her legitimate family, what a disgrace!
Shanoa and her mother’s presence was a provocation to the countess, and a source of her bad moods.
Especially since her own son, John, had only received a barely acceptable rating for his magical talent, the countess’s hostility towards Shanoa grew even stronger.
“Let them fend for themselves. Do they think by moving in they’ll be embraced and favored, and after winning favor, become the lady of the Lowellan house?!”
“Delusional and foolish, you and your daughter are nothing but maggots!”
“Talent is only temporary, who knows if you’ll be able to grow in the future!”
The servants in the manor all feared the Countess, daring not to interact with her and her daughter, leaving them to fend for themselves in all aspects of daily life.
Eating, washing clothes, all were done by the mother and daughter squeezed into a secluded storeroom.
And Shanoa’s half-brother from the same father, the eldest son of the main house, John, under the influence of the Countess, habitually scorned and insulted Shanoa.
Even taking pride in it, as if he had accomplished something remarkable—because every time he finished berating Shanoa and her mother, his mother would joyfully reward him.
“You low-born wretch of a girl, born out of wedlock, get lost! Look at you, outsiders would think the Lowellan family has taken in a pair of beggars!”
“Don’t appear before me and my mother, do you want to ruin our entire day’s good mood?”
For the young Shanoa, all of this didn’t seem to matter, although it was hard on her heart, she seemed to understand the Countess.
A legitimate wife, wary of her husband’s mistress and illegitimate daughter suddenly appeared, was all too normal.
Moreover, Shanoa still remembered the hardships of living in a thatched hut, the biting cold winds of deep winter like torture devices, tormenting her spirit all night, making sleep elusive.
Daily meals were uncertain, dependent on whether her mother could find work washing clothes for others, otherwise, they would go hungry.
She knew the taste of wild grasses and vegetables under different weathers, seasons, and times of the day.
On rainy nights in early spring, the wild grass was most delicious, tender and moistened by the rain, with a gentle and pleasant evening breeze.
On clear evenings in deep winter, the dried grass was toughest to chew, devoid of moisture, with the cold wind blowing the scent of neighbors’ cooking smoke over.
She could smell the charred fragrance of grilled meat, the subtle wheat aroma of bread, but what entered her mouth was still the dry, parched grass and fruit.
Compared to that, life in the Lowellan household was already good, enduring scolding and beatings…
She took it as the price for food and shelter.
…
As the years passed, by the age of fourteen, Shanoa had blossomed into a beautiful, graceful young lady.
And her talent was even more prominent than her beauty.
Shanoa found it hard to judge whether growing up was a good thing or a bad thing.
Because of the strength gained from her talent, her learning ability in the art of magic swords was extraordinary, mastering most magic sword techniques in just three months.
The criticism she faced lessened, and the Lowellan family, high and low, began to draw close to her, wanting her to remember the family’s kindness.
But her mother, who had been by her side, passed away, not having lived to see her daughter turn her fortunes around, invited to live in the spacious rooms of the mansion, she closed her eyes too soon.
Yet, the Lowellan family’s power was waning by the year.
The sudden emergence of powerful monsters in their territory greatly reduced the Lowellan family’s wealth harvest, and they had to spend a lot of money each year to hire adventurers to clear the monsters.
One day, John somehow acquired an obscure magic and handed it to Shanoa.
“This is a powerful ancestral magic, I hope you, as a member of the family, can learn it soon, clear the monsters, and save the family a considerable expense.”
At that time, Shanoa felt this was indeed an opportunity to change the family’s view of her.
And it was only later that she learned the obscure magic was tabooed black magic, and its practitioners were sinners.
John had given her this thing purely out of fear.
He had realized the gap between himself and Shanoa, who, despite being a mere illegitimate daughter, possessed a frighteningly high talent.
John felt threatened, fearing that Shanoa might forcibly take his rightful heir’s position with force!
This girl’s schemes were too deep; all these years, no matter the insults, she never flared up, surely harboring hatred in her heart, plotting revenge!
…
Indeed, black magic was abstruse. It took Shanoa two and a half years just to barely reach the beginner’s level.
But mastering it was only a matter of time, and she also realized that this magic was forbidden and had to be extremely cautious!
The Lowellan family’s ancestral magic turned out to be black magic; how could their direct descendants be so weak?
Soon, the Lowellan family set out with their servants and guards to subdue the demon beasts.
In this battle, the demon beasts demonstrated their worth — without paying a hefty price for strong adventurers, did you really think you could defeat me?
The money the Lowellan family had spent over the years was indeed necessary, and had to be spent!
As the warriors were on the verge of a crushing defeat, Shanoa, in front of everyone, used black magic and eliminated the demon beasts.
At that moment, she took a deep breath, basking in the sense of accomplishment, oblivious to the horrified looks of her fellow travelers.