Chapter 116: Linked Misfortune?

Linked Misfortune?

Clang—!

“Damn it!”

Berren City, Clock Tower Alley, Grace Street, No. 21.

A gaunt man with short blond hair sat by the dilapidated dining table inside the house.

Before him was the half-collapsed table, and spilled stew and hard rye bread scattered all over the floor.

He reached up and grabbed his hair, his right hand, encased in a black armguard, almost tearing the hair out. Redness and blood could be faintly seen at the roots.

It seemed only through this method could he alleviate his stress somewhat.

He grabbed a bottle of cheap gin from the table, a popular alcoholic beverage among workers.

He took a large gulp forcefully. The taste of various impurities and additives in the alcohol filled his mouth; the faint turpentine smell was almost nauseating.

“Damn it... Damn it!!!”

The man violently threw the bottle in his hand. It shattered near the fireplace, glass scattering everywhere, the cheap alcohol seeping into the moldy wooden floor.

He sat there, clutching his head in agony, his heart filled with utter frustration and regret.

Why, just why, did he have to live a life worse than an animal...

He was the youngest son of Prince Thaddeus, born with a silver spoon in his mouth!

Although there was no hope of inheriting the Prince title, nor could he achieve merits deserving special authorization from the Queen, just based on his status and family wealth, he could live a life admired by thousands.

Everything changed because he chose to come to Berren City... Everything he possessed was stripped away, bit by bit.

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He had to endure this feeling of gradually falling to the bottom, yet unable to mount any effective resistance.

Initially, he insisted on taking this mission simply because its destination was Berren City.

And his, Oppold Thaddeus’s, initial purpose was merely to use this mission to get closer to his cousin, Avena Roswell. Who could have imagined that after arriving in Berren City, misfortune would follow him relentlessly?

The hardships endured this past month were several times greater than all the hardships he had suffered from birth until now combined.

The result was, he barely saw Avena a few times, their relationship didn’t improve at all, and he had to continue suffering in Berren City... The moment he stepped outside Clock Tower Alley, misfortune would follow him like a shadow.

Even the letters he sent out vanished without a trace. Even those meant to be forwarded to Avena received no reply.

Clearly within the city, he felt stranded on a deserted island, unable to move, even survival became a problem.

And most crucially, he couldn’t let those guards or servants find him, otherwise, it would trigger even more severe consequences.

To this day, Oppold’s guards still believed their master was just having too much fun in Berren City and lost track of time, completely unaware that Oppold had been hiding in Clock Tower Alley for nearly half a month now.

“Damn it...” Oppold’s third curse was clearly somewhat weaker. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

He reached for the cloth pouch at his waist, taking out an item and a piece of paper.

The item was a blue eyeball, pure like crystal. This was his amulet, the key sealed artifact that allowed him to survive disaster after disaster.

He spread the paper on the shaky table, placed the eyeball in the center, then took out a small knife, cut the skin on his left palm, clenched his fist, and let the blood drip onto the blue eye.

“Will my actions just now bring any danger? ‘Evil Eye’.” Oppold asked aloud.

Blood flowed down the blue eyeball continuously, not a single drop sticking to it. Seeing this, Oppold slowly let out a sigh of relief.

He stood up, walked to the living room, picked up his spiritual notebook, and began recording something.

Looking closely, the last page of his spiritual notebook was filled with various rules.

1. Daily expenses cannot exceed 9 pence.

2. Weekly rent for residence cannot exceed 2 shillings.

3. Must work every day, and weekly salary must not exceed 10 shillings.

4. ...

...

31. Damaging furniture, price within the weekly salary range, will not incur punishment.

After writing down the thirty-first rule, Oppold looked at the page already filled before him and couldn’t help but curse again a few times.

He hadn’t even obeyed the law many times, and now he had to obey these damned, god-forsaken rules set by who knows who?

Failure to comply resulted in inexplicable misfortune. Even with so many rules listed, some unreasonable misfortunes and disasters simply couldn’t be correlated, seeming to strike randomly.

If he could successfully survive this time, he would definitely find out who was behind this... Subjecting him to such humiliation, truly showing no regard for the entire Royal Family!

Actually, Oppold had long been unable to endure and was about to use every means possible to end this torment.

But one thing held him back from desperately fighting the “mastermind” behind all this.

Because he discovered that when he lived his entire day according to these ridiculous, script-like rules, the whispers in his mind would slightly lessen...

Yes, obeying these idiotic rules actually affected his potion.

The most direct manifestation was the erosion from the third-tier “Crown Guard.”

Oppold slowly raised his right hand. From his fingertips to his shoulder, his right hand was completely encased in black armor. This was the side effect of drinking the third-tier “Crown Guard” potion.

But before coming to Berren City, the armor on his right hand had spread all the way to his right chest and towards his heart...

Now, touching his heart with his left hand, he could hear a strong, forceful heartbeat. Although the whispers and buzzing in his mind still persisted, they were much better than before.

He originally thought he might be stuck at the “Crown Guard” level for life, but now it seemed... he could advance further.

As long as he could figure out this pattern, and the mastermind behind it, he could use all this to reverse the potion’s erosion on himself.

This was absolutely unheard of... No transcendent could achieve this. He was also certain that everything he felt and saw was real, not illusory.

Capable of achieving all this...

Either it was someone further up, someone he had only heard of but never seen, who had completely transformed their life form, referred to as an Ascended transcendent.

Or, it was some powerful sealed artifact, yet undiscovered, possibly even possessing the ability to alter rules to some extent...

Oppold didn’t know if he was the only one aware of this information, nor did he know if anyone else was restricted by the same misfortune rules as him.

But he had to find the truth before anyone else.

“Gurgle...” Suddenly, a faint sound caught Oppold’s attention. He looked up towards the dining table.

What happened?

He quickly stood up, walked towards the dining table, and saw the “Evil Eye” on the table slowly absorbing his blood that had already seeped into the paper.

The azure eyeball mixed with the dark red blood. Faint purple blood vessels spread within the eyeball, converging in the center to form a pupil-like core.

The core slowly rotated within the crystal, scanned the paper once, then slowly looked up, locking onto the direction of the door.

Wait, I wrote a whole circle on that paper, at least fifty or sixty types of misfortune, why did the “Evil Eye”...

Knock, knock, knock—

A knock sounded at the door. Oppold’s heart skipped a beat.

Was it his guards, finally tracked him down?

“Open up, Judicator’s Court.” The cold voice from the doorway made the veins on Oppold’s forehead throb.

Damn it, it wasn’t misfortune arriving.

It was fucking Death arriving.

Oppold put away the “Evil Eye,” placed it in the cloth pouch, carefully walked towards the door, unlocked it, and slowly pushed the door open a crack, saying:

“Hello, Your Excellency.”

-

The wooden door slowly opened before Ciel, but only opened a crack wide enough for an arm to slip through, then stopped.

And from inside came the voice of a somewhat weary, tired man.

“Hello, Your Excellency.”

“May I ask what you need?”

It was clear the person inside basically didn’t want to interact with her.

Only out of respect for the name of the Judicator’s Court did he open the door this tiny crack.

“Oppold Thaddeus, correct?” Ciel said slowly. “I learned your address from Avena. Can we talk?”

Ciel directly used Avena’s name. Since Avena knew his address, they should know each other. Using Avena’s name might facilitate communication.

“Damn it... she clearly received the letter...” The man’s low curse came from inside the door. After a moment, the door slowly closed, and the man’s voice came from within: “I have nothing to talk about. This is my private time. If you have any questions, please contact my lawyer first.”

Before the wooden door could close, a hand made of shadow burning with black flames pressed against it, preventing Oppold from closing it completely.

Bang—!

The wooden door was violently pulled open by Oppold, slamming against the adjacent wooden frame. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared deadly at Ciel by the door and said, “What the hell do you want?”

At that moment, palpable killing intent emanated from Oppold.

Ciel looked at Oppold before her, her brow slowly furrowing.

A dirty, torn white undershirt smelling sour clung to him. His short blond hair was greasy, looking like it hadn’t been washed in half a week. His face was covered in stubble, and the room reeked of cheap alcohol.

This person... was the Prince’s son from Ansu? Top nobility?

He looked exactly like an ordinary alcoholic worker—if one ignored his iron-armored right hand.

Perhaps this jolt caused the already precarious dining table to collapse. The white candle fell onto the wooden floor, instantly igniting the alcohol that had soaked into the wood.

Noticing this, Oppold abruptly turned back, quickly grabbed a nearby rug, rushed towards the fire, and directly smothered the flames before they could spread.

After a clumsy struggle, the kitchen and dining table area were a mess. Oppold slowly stood up from the floor, clenching his fists.

“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!!” He repeatedly cursed, anger burning fiercely in his chest.

He had never been so pathetic in front of others. The feeling of humiliation tormented his self-esteem immensely. This small, unlucky misfortune felt like the last straw breaking his back.

Oppold’s fists slowly clenched, the metal armor on his right fist emitting an unpleasant grinding sound. He slowly stood up, turning back to look at Ciel by the door.

But he saw that Ciel was currently holding something and reading it. Looking closely, it was his spiritual notebook.

“Courting death!!!” Oppold’s right hand clenched tight, black steel claws emerging from his fingertips. A black throwing knife condensed in his palm, which he violently hurled towards Ciel.

However, in his vision, the girl, who was only second-tier, didn’t even use transcendent abilities. She merely took half a step back, tilted her head slightly back. The throwing knife passed between the girl and the spiritual notebook, embedding itself fiercely into the doorframe.

The girl’s effortless dodge fueled his rage. The iron armor on his right arm melted as if half-molten, forming a tower shield nearly as tall as a person on his right arm, adorned with molten fire, black plates, and spikes.

He held the tower shield horizontally before him. At this moment, he seemed to disregard everything. Even if he had to die, he would use the tower shield in his hand to completely crush the girl before him.

“You too encountered the ‘misfortune rule’?” The girl’s cold voice was like a bucket of ice water poured over his head, instantly snapping him out of his rage.

Oppold panted heavily, the tower shield in his hand dissolving like melting metal, reabsorbing into his right arm.

How did she know?

She... was the same as him?

“Lucy Silva, Oppold Thaddeus...” Ciel closed the spiritual notebook in her hand, tossed it towards the man, and continued:

“Your rules are different, not even connected... but both involve some random, inexplicable, severe calamitous events...”

“Lucy almost died just now. Be careful in the time ahead.”

After reading the spiritual notebook, Ciel was convinced Oppold wasn’t the one causing these calamities.

Although Oppold seemed easily angered, he meticulously recorded all misfortunes, large and small, and even set over thirty rules for himself, preferring to over-comply rather than err.

Considering her own misfortunes, some of which were completely unpredictable... and recalling that shortly after she left Berren City, Lucy suffered a sudden disaster.

Their misfortunes were likely linked... One person errs, everyone bears the consequence collectively.

Next, she just needed to observe if this Oppold would die from misfortune to verify this conjecture.

“Hey! Who the hell are you?! You’re definitely not from the Judicator’s Court!”

“What do you mean be careful?!”

Oppold watched helplessly as the girl’s figure dissolved into black shadow and vanished. When he ran outside to look, the girl was completely gone from the street.