Defying the Fate of Beheading

When I woke up again, it was the knocking on the door that disturbed me.

"Who is it?" he said.

"It's me, Caesar. Don't sleep, open the door." The person speaking was Alice.

Louis said with a bit of annoyance:

"Didn't I say not to disturb me today?"

Alice said carelessly:

"Are you going to open the door or not? If not, I'll kick it open."

"No, no, no, wait for me to get up."

Knowing Alice, Louis understood that she was quite capable of doing such a thing.

Crazy Alice, never lets a chance for revenge slip overnight.

In the past, he wondered what such a beautiful woman like Alice could have done to leave a legend of a 'red mad dog' in Saint Louis Academy.

Later, after learning from the students about some of her past deeds, Louis had to admit that the nickname was indeed fitting.

If conflicts between boys are often resolved in a straightforward manner, sometimes with fist-to-flesh brutality.

Then conflicts between girls are often more subtle.

Back in his past life, when Louis studied liberal arts, he was quite familiar with the girls in his class.

Guys who are not familiar with girls can hardly imagine how genteel or not conflicts within normal small groups of girls can be...

Conflicts between girls usually evolve into clashes of gossip and rumors.

And the internal chat atmosphere is indeed more gossip-oriented than among boys.

From small matters during school days to larger behavioral issues at work, these often carry strong personal biases, turning into rumors.

Of course, if you really rile up a girl, you might see what it means to throw a fit or a hair-pulling fight.

But can you imagine Alice working with other girls like a gossiping girl?

Impossible, absolutely impossible.

If she has a conflict with someone and feels displeased, she might gently tie you up and hang you on the rooftop.

Then she would gently trace the curved saber on your main artery, licking her lips and saying:

"Coloring the disobedient artwork red is also a good option."

If she is really pissed off, being splattered with blood is not impossible.

Not to mention girls, even ordinary boys have not seen this set!

If this happens four, five, six, seven, or eight times, it would be strange not to be called a red mad dog.

Not to mention, her combat style is wild.

Even Louis, when fighting her, feels a bit uncomfortable.

It's not that Alice's skills overpower his.

But when sparring with her, there's always an illusion of battling a beast.

That almost instinctive combat method, paired with high-level skills, creates a very distinct personal style.

This unique situation makes her stand out among Louis' opponents so far.

She is one of those rare opponents whose unique style he simply cannot forget.

Even if some people have superior skills compared to Alice, they don't give Louis this kind of feeling.

Later, Louis realized that the feeling is called "a unique talent."

"Stop knocking, you're going to break down the door."

Upon opening the door, Alice came in with a displeased face.

With a bang, she closed the door behind her.

"Why are you so slow? I've been waiting forever."

"I was sleeping!"

Louis rubbed his messy hair, speechless:

"Why come looking for me at this time?"

Alice leaned forward, her awe-inspiring figure swaying a bit, and poked Louis with her finger with a face full of dissatisfaction:

"Where is it? Give it to me!"

"Huh?"

"The Red Lover's Dream, that's a treasure passed down in the Ashford Family. You wouldn't want to keep it for yourself, would you?"

Alice said unhappily.

Louis slapped his forehead:

"Sorry, I meant to give it to you earlier, but forgot after rescuing Olivia."

"But your big treasure sure is useful. Where can I get one too?"

Alice gritted her teeth and said:

"If it were easy to get, it wouldn't be called a family heirloom of the Ashford Family, would it?"

"True."

"Did you just have a bath?"

"Yeah, just had eternal training twice, feeling a bit tired."

Alice shook her head and said, "In your situation, eternal training is actually something that can deplete your vitality, so resting a bit is good."

"Grip of Greed is indeed handy in this regard."

"It's not just about Grip of Greed."

"It's about Grip of Greed. Without it, learning martial arts wouldn't be so easy for me like it is for you."

Alice knows this man in front of her very well.

Perhaps, as Louis said, in pure learning ability, Louis can't beat her.

But that doesn't mean the learning ability that Louis acquired through the Grip of Greed has nothing to do with him personally.

As the mad dogs of the emperor, the Ashford Family, there's speculation that if the emperor didn't watch over them, they might fall under the lure of the Abyss' Four Gods and become champions of Khorne.

In fact, there was a Khorne champion in Ashford's history.

So some of the rumors aren't really just rumors.

Due to the Ashford Family's special nature, the children of the family know more relevant intel than others.

Previously, Alice didn't pay much attention to Louis and didn't understand his peculiar abilities until she knew he was the Sin of Greed.

But knowing he is the Sin of Greed made her even more perplexed.

Only a few trusted individuals know what the extension of the sin's abilities signifies.

The skills of a sin are a reflection of the individual's personality traits of that sin.

She knows that one of the emperor's sin abilities is called "King of Arrogance."

The effect is brutally simple: when facing multiple enemies or stronger enemies, it directly increases the emperor's destructive power.

Her father described the emperor like this:

"The authority of a sin is an extension of the individual's personality, and the emperor is so arrogant that he wants to deal with all problems himself."

"This is the absolute embodiment of the emperor's domineering, where in the face of desperation, an endless power is unearthed."

"But this power is, in fact, very lonely."

So after knowing Louis' several skills, Alice felt a bit odd.

Greed for Knowledge.

Greed Dominator.

Mask of Greed.

Grip of Greed.

Louis never hides these from those he is well-acquainted with.

From Alice's perspective, if what her father had told her was true, then the depiction of Louis' personality by these four authorities is quite strange.

She can understand Greed for Knowledge, as a test subject of the White Tower, after leaving it, the entire world is incredibly unfamiliar to Louis.

This unfamiliarity gives him a strong greed for all knowledge.

The more he knows, the more at peace he feels.

Greed Dominator... she can't really understand.

She can only explain it as him having a huge surge in desire for power after suddenly transforming from a slave to a Prince of the Empire.

But she feels this hypothesis doesn't quite align with reality.

She has interacted with Louis for a while and can see he doesn't truly aspire for power.

Otherwise, during his time traveling around as Mayer, he could have easily taken that opportunity to form a new circle among the nobility.

This opportunity could create an influence directly under him.

But Louis doesn't seem very interested in mingling with new nobles.

She couldn't understand Mask of Greed even more.

What kind of strong desire could make him need to 'wear a mask' on himself?

Grip of Greed, on the other hand, is the most normal one.

To have power in one's own hands, the more you grasp, the more at peace you feel.

This skill, like the emperor's 'King of Arrogance,' is a form of supreme confidence in one's own power.

—Yet, no one knows where their confidence comes from.

If Louis knew about Alice's thoughts, he would likely pat her shoulder and give her two hints.

The wandering traveler from a distant land.

The future diary that records the future.

These two factors are the true key factors that induced the authority of Sin of Greed.

Unfortunately, Louis may never have the chance to reveal this secret.