Westminster Bank

Chapter 287: Chapter 174: I Really Want to Kill Him

The outskirts of the Dracul Mountain Range.

Meanwhile, Jose’s Dragon Guide said to him, "Young Master Jose, the Thunder Wolf Dragons are an extremely aggressive Dragon Descendant Tribe. Among the Dragon Descendants living on the outskirts of the mountain range, only their clan can trigger a Dragon Tide... Moreover, the leader we detected that day seemed to be a Fourth Generation Species."

Jose said coolly, "Are you afraid, Master?"

"I’m worried that if anything were to happen to Miss Isabella and that fake Dragon Guide..."

"Isabella will be fine. All we hope for is that the Dragon Tide will slow her down... Though she’s been hiding it, I know she and I are the only two in the family who have inherited the ’Dragon Slayer’s Bloodline’ (a Blood Curse).

As for that fake Master Jack, his only purpose is to confuse Isabella’s judgment. Then again, my clever older sister will probably see through him easily, but as long as it slows down her collection of Dragon Scales, it’s fine."

"What about the one hundred thousand pounds..." The Dragon Guide seemed pained by the thought of the two checks.

Jose’s voice was as calm as ever. "Anyone who deceives the Beowulf Family will die here."

Back on the mountain path, Isabella was unaware of what was happening on the other two paths.

Dragging Baron along, she sped toward the depths of the mountain, soon to reach the outer region inhabited by numerous Dragon Descendants.

But Isabella couldn’t shake the feeling—perhaps it was her imagination—that the path had been far too quiet. Forget Fourth or Fifth Generation Species, she hadn’t even seen a handful of the Low Tier Ninth Generation Species.

This completely contradicted the Dragon Guides’ speculation that there might be Third Generation Species here.

While it was true that all other beasts would hide within a thousand-meter radius of a top-tier Dragon Descendant, they had traveled at least five or six miles without seeing a single one.

Furthermore, the "Master Jack" she was hauling along didn’t stop every few steps to scout the area like other Dragon Guides would. He just told her to go forward, forward, and forward again.

They hadn’t encountered any Dragon Descendants—and that was precisely the problem.

She needed to hunt Dragon Descendants and take their Reverse Scales to complete the Dragon Spear Trial. But at this rate, she’d be lucky to see a single Dragon before the Trial ended.

’Whatever... Things have already come to this. There’s no point in hiding it anymore.’

She stopped in her tracks. Baron, who was being carried along, was caught completely off guard and stumbled, falling to the ground.

He scrambled up from the ground, only to find the tip of a long spear resting on his mask.

Isabella said, "Master Jack, you can drop the act. I know you’re not a real Dragon Guide."

Baron said, "Miss Isabella, what are you talking about? If I’m not a Dragon Guide, who is?"

But at the same time, his heart sank. He knew Isabella had probably seen through his disguise, but he didn’t understand why she would choose to call him out here and now.

Until he understood her intentions, Baron decided to stick with his old strategy: deny everything.

"On what part of its body is a Thunder Pattern Dragon’s Reverse Scale?"

Baron opened his mouth, but no words came out. He was speechless.

’Damn it, I hate pop quizzes like this.’

’In my past life, my heart rate always spiked whenever the teacher called on me in high school. Now Isabella’s doing it, and my heart is racing just the same.’

He stealthily reached for the Spear Sword at his waist.

According to the diary and his own vague memories, this Miss Isabella had been a childhood playmate. He didn’t want to make things ugly.

Isabella saw Baron’s movement but her tone remained cool. "You’re the mysterious person who broke into the manor’s collection room last night, aren’t you."

"What makes you say that?" Baron said. "Miss Isabella, your accusation leaves me speechless."

The spear tip moved closer. Isabella said, "I hate fools, but I hate it even more when people take me for one. You’re not the same person as the Master Jack from the other day...

In fact, based on his build, the one with the Bronze Mask who’s always by your side might be the real Master Jack."

’Her powers of observation are that sharp?’

Baron was about the same height as Jack—around 1.8-something meters—and with the mask and Dragon Guide robes as a disguise, he thought it would be foolproof for a short time. He never expected her to see through the flaws.

"No," she corrected herself. "The real Master Jack was switched out on the way here... You infiltrated the Beowulf estate just to steal Taboo Items. Your methods are a bit like certain interns from Westminster Bank..."

’Should I be complaining about how many interns Westminster has, or how badly Westminster Bank’s reputation has been trashed on the Inner Side?’

Baron recalled what Howard had said during his interview at Westminster. Although he was internally designated as S Level, his official title was still "intern."

’Suddenly, I’m thinking that latching onto Westminster might have been a mistake. Knowing those money-grubbing vampires, they’d probably sell me out before I even got a firm grip on their thigh.’

"But then, outside of your mission, you went and injured those Attendants to help Miss Wanda... That doesn’t fit the profile of a Westminster containment specialist. It’s more like a common Taboo Item Thief with a sense of justice they don’t quite know how to show."

Isabella’s analysis was interesting.

"How did you figure it out?"

Baron knew he was exposed; there was no point in keeping up the charade.

"The way you fell," Isabella said coolly. "You’re the Ronnie that Miss Wanda mentioned, the Schumacher that Mr. Decker mentioned, and you’re the one who seriously injured the Chief Steward and stole the Taboo Item."

"Of course, there’s more. Dragon Guiding is a highly specialized profession; anyone can tell something’s wrong just by asking a few questions. They all just assumed you were a professional con man, but I could tell from your build and posture that you were probably last night’s Taboo Item Thief."