The Demon’s Menu

The fragrance did not emanate from Duke.

But it lingered nonetheless.

It could only be explained by Duke having spent a long time with a ‘Harken’.

“Beast Tamer?”

Jason guessed the man’s professional system at the bottom of his heart, yet another thing had become certain.

The man harbored ill intentions!

‘Demons’ were not common monsters.

At last night’s ‘Secret Gathering’, Jason hadn’t smelled the scent of ‘demon’ level food on anyone.

So…

Infinitesimal.

And when two ‘Harkens’ appeared, both under the control of a ‘Beast Tamer’ profession,

what were the chances that those two ‘Beast Tamers’ were unrelated?

Equally infinitesimal.

As for coincidence?

A minuscule likelihood might be explained away as coincidence once.

But twice?

Sorry.

To Jason, a doubly compounded minuscule likelihood could only prove that the relationship between the two was out of the ordinary.

Moreover, with the clues he currently had, Jason had formed an outline of the situation in his mind—

The man was connected to Kultz!

No!

To be precise, he was connected to that mastermind behind the scenes!

Therefore, knowing that Kultz had a juvenile ‘Harken’, the man still arranged that flawed setup!

It was all to lure him out!

Then?

It was this ‘reasonable and appropriate’ encounter.

And what followed…

Assassination!

Or a so-called ‘coincidental’ abduction!

The latter seemed more likely.

After all, the [Hulk Silver Potion] he had consumed was quite valuable.

Similarly, the man had already prepared how to deal with his ‘immortality’.

A trait like ‘immortality’, though troublesome,

was not without countermeasures.

Imprisonment without killing was the best solution.

A binding trap?

Or some sort of potion?

While Jason’s mind raced with possibilities, he maintained a composed exterior.

“Why are you doing this?”

Jason asked coldly.

The well-prepared Duke continued to speak.

“We mean no harm.”

“In fact…”

“We are only trying to keep you, Lord Jason, away from danger.”

It seemed that to ensure Jason’s belief, the man paused in his speech and then promptly added,

“Sir Beta wishes the same.”

“He is in charge of Lorde’s civilian ‘Mystical Side’, sometimes cooperating with official actions.”

“This is also one of the necessary conditions for the existence of ‘Mystic Gatherings’.”

“And I?”

“Am a member of the official ‘Mystical Side’.”

“This can be verified with documents, which you could request through your friend Bondi.”

Duke introduced his identity once more without needing Jason to press further.

Jason had speculated about the old baron’s identity.

Now, the man’s words merely confirmed his suspicion.

But the revelation of the man’s official status?

Made Jason’s heart sink.

He never imagined that the mastermind behind the scenes would have planted people within Lorde’s ‘official’ ranks.

Undoubtedly, the mastermind’s plans were much bigger than he had anticipated.

What did they want to do?

With this thought in mind, Jason continued to inquire:

“What about Taniel?”

“He who freely enters and exits the police station, is he also a member of Lorde’s official ‘Mystical Side’?”

Duke, who had maintained a gentleman’s smile, struggled to keep it up at the mention of Taniel.

After a forced breath, the man replied.

“Taniel?”

“He counts, I suppose.”

“But only as half!”

The man emphasized.

Taniel, oh Taniel!

How much of a failure are you!

Even a ‘spy’ is ashamed to be associated with you!

At this point, Jason was almost certain that the information Taniel had received was ‘accidentally’ given by Duke in front of him.

And the man’s strange reaction when mentioning Taniel?

Jason thought of ‘Starry Sky’, thought of ‘Eel Freeze’, and suddenly felt a trace of understanding for Duke before him.

If it weren’t for the need to hide their identity, the man would have eliminated Taniel without a doubt.

Moreover, they still haven’t given up by now.

The purpose was simply to make it look like an ‘accidental abduction.’ They absolutely wouldn’t expose themselves.

But to make their story hold water, they would certainly look for a ‘scapegoat’!

Who could be a more suitable scapegoat than Taniel?

Jason was even certain that at this moment, Taniel must have been knocked out and captured by them, hidden somewhere nearby.

Refraining from looking around to investigate, Jason followed their train of conversation and asked,

“What danger are you referring to?”

Duke’s face turned grave as he replied word by word.

“A conspiracy covers the whole of Lorde.”

“Your master is aware of it.”

“Sir Beta is also in the know.”

“We are aware as well.”

“And you?”

“Uninformed!”

At this point, the other party sighed deeply.

“Inadvertently, you have stumbled into this and not only disrupted our arrangement!”

“But you have also dragged yourself into the most dangerous situation.”

“Therefore, we needed to divert your attention.”

“What a pity…”

“Due to my negligence, it failed.”

“I had no choice but to initiate a fallback plan, meet with you, inform you of some matters, and hope to gain your cooperation.”

The other party looked up earnestly, their eyes fixed on Jason.

Jason displayed just the right amount of hesitation.

Seeing this hesitation, the other party immediately pressed on.

“Perhaps you were fortunate to ingest the ‘Hulk Silver Potion’ and acquired the ‘immortal’ trait.”

“But there are things that are far more terrifying than death.”

“Besides, your ‘immortality’ comes at a cost, doesn’t it?”

Facing the other person’s confident demeanor, Jason fell silent for a moment.

Then, he let out a slight sigh.

He seemed to be persuaded.

“What kind of cooperation?”

He asked this.

“We will create an accident.”

“To make you disappear for a while.”

“Don’t worry!”

“It won’t have any adverse effects on you. You will just enter a completely safe place according to our plans, and once this conspiracy ends, you will be able to see the light of day again. Moreover, we will offer you some compensation.”

“For instance…”

“Advancement in the Night Watcher!”

As Duke spoke, he pulled out a piece of parchment from the pocket of his coat, gestured with it in front of Jason, and then put it back into his pocket.

“We will hand this over to you afterward.”

“Although your master will teach you these things, you wouldn’t mind getting a head start, right?”

Watching Jason involuntarily lean forward, Duke said with a smile.

By this time, Duke was certain that the ‘Night Watcher’ in front of him would fall for it.

The most direct benefit is the most heart-stirring.

Perhaps the ‘Night Watcher’ doesn’t care about Gold Crooks.

But when it comes to the advancement of his own profession, even a ‘Night Watcher’ cannot remain indifferent.

Moreover, given his current identity, what he was saying was indeed true; he really did receive a ‘help’ order.

It’s just a shame…

Accidents are everywhere!

Who would’ve known that Taniel was in cahoots with ‘Shepherd’?

The ‘Night Watcher’ Jason didn’t guard against the other, and was directly anesthetized and taken away by them.

And him?

Though he killed Taniel, he failed to catch up with the other’s accomplices, resulting in the abduction of ‘Night Watcher’ Jason.

Perfect!

After evaluating his own plan, Duke inevitably thought of Taniel.

Damn it, bastard!

Making me recommend the ‘Starry Sky’ restaurant’s ‘Gazing at the Stars’!

Even though he was about to finish off Taniel, Duke couldn’t help but curse him in his mind.

Who knows what he went through?

A date that should have been lovely was ruined under the gazes of a bunch of dead fish.

Ruined completely!

Under the curse of the dead fish eyes, there was no salvaging the situation with that lady!

Damned Taniel!

Cursing Taniel again, Duke strived to maintain his smile.

“Do you have any other questions?”

Duke asked.

“No more.”

Having got the answers he wanted and an unexpected gain, Jason shook his head quite definitively.

“If not, please get out of the car and come with me.”

As Duke spoke, he opened the car door and was about to step out.

Jason watched the other’s departing figure and silently picked up a broad-bladed, short-handled machete.

Then,

A flash of the blade.

Pu!

PS Fat Dragon recommends a friend, Hidden Author’s new book ‘Time Restart Game’~ Members of Fat Dragon’s Foodie Group can check it out when you’re free~