NOVEL NEXT Chapter 139: Regina
"You know her?" Leonard raised an eyebrow when he saw Shirley's reaction.
"Yes, Master." Shirley nodded her head and explained, "She's Regina, someone who had rescued me in the past."
"Regina, eh." Hearing the name, he turned to Naomi, or Regina in this case.
"Which is your real name? Naomi or Regina?" He questioned.
With the cat out of the bag, Regina no longer pretended to be someone else.
"I'm Regina." She confirmed the matter. "Naomi was merely the identity I've assumed after she was used as a test subject."
"T-Test subject?" Shirley's pupils constricted, her gaze subtly glancing at the passage she had taken.
Needless to say, she had gone through the experiment site. Despite the horror taking place, she was concerned and worried for Leonard's safety. Hence, she rushed forward through the secret door.
It was only when she was relieved Leonard was safe and sound that she came back to her senses.
And once she did, she dreaded the supposed test subjects terminology.
"In the end, we were still a bit late," Shirley muttered, having realized Naomi had long been sacrificed.
"Seriously, what is with you people and fake names?" Leonard stared at Regina and frowned.
"Only cowardly people use fake names!"
"Um…" Shirley wanted to say something about it, but ultimately decided against it.
She couldn't possibly call the Crown Prince a coward.
She just found it to be somewhat awkward, granted that Leonard was calling himself a coward with that remark.
Though it didn't matter much because Regina gladly took the lead and raised the question.
"Aren't you using a fake name as well?" She sneered coldly. "I have never heard of the name Vincent Bond, much less a gold ranked merchant capable of having an eighth circle barrier around them at all times."
Leonard shrugged in response. There was no need to clarify anything to her.
"I've answered so many of your questions, but you answered none of mine." Regina hissed coldly.
"I didn't answer because what you get in return is your life." Leonard scoffed.
"I'll pretend that I didn't see you here, so take your exit."
Stunned, Regina didn't expect to be freed.
The reason why she even pretended to be a captive was a security measure. She had witnessed the outbreak occurring outside and chose to flee to the experiment site through another secret passage.
With the outbreak in progress and knowing the danger of the Wrathbane Extract's effect, she chose to lock herself in the cage.
Unfortunately, she miscalculated something. Even though she knew how to unlock the cage, it was impossible to do it from inside.
Still, she didn't panic and knew someone was bound to come here to clean things up.
Moreover, she had enough food in her magic pouch.
She was going to bide her time and wait for rescue until she stumbled across Leonard intruding.
Leonard's data had long been given to her as an assignment to eliminate.
The arrival of a new gold ranked merchant in the City of Velastra was anything but great news.
Not a single merchant was willing to have their head stepped over by another high ranked merchant, much less a complete newcomer who had no idea of the muddy water in the city. Regina also reckoned that eliminating him would help free herself from this kind of lifestyle.
Yet who could have imagined it to be another miscalculation–this time even worse than the previous?
The new gold ranked merchant had a backing of an eighth circle mage.
That was something nobody would dare to offend!
Having realized all these, Regina thought she would have a bitter fight to the death.
Therefore, when Leonard suddenly said she was free to leave, she became stunned.
"You're lying, right?" Regina remained vigilant and sneered.
"I have no enmity with you." Leonard coolly said. "Besides, from my servant's words, you rescued her before. Consider this as her Master repaying the favor. But afterward, if we were to encounter each other again, don't blame me for wanting your life."
Regina hesitated briefly. She felt like it was another trick, but when she slowly retreated to the exit path, she noticed Leonard was motionless.
"Hmph, you're going to regret letting me leave!" She sneered and unleashed a smokescreen to cover her retreat.
With the smoke piling up, Shirley cast a gust of wind to blow away the smoke from approaching them.
"Are we really letting her go?" She then asked Leonard in a curious tone.
"Have you ever seen a fisher go fishing without using any bait?" Leonard mused.
Realization quickly dawned upon Shirley.
She instantly understood that Leonard wasn't letting Regina go because of her past deed in saving her. Instead, he wanted to use the latter as bait to uncover more secrets.
'The Master is indeed unfathomable.' She didn't think Leonard cared about the gender aspect. When she arrived here, she could discern that Regina was somewhat injured.
And in this crammed space, where one was already dead, the only possible culprit for Regina's injury was Leonard.
"Do you know who this person is?" Leonard's question quickly jolted Shirley awake from her thought process.
She snapped out of her state and approached the deceased man. Soon, her eyes turned cold, and she explained, "He's one of the people in charge of our daily necessities. He would force us to undergo a body check daily under the guise of inspecting if there was some hidden illness or not."
Another one perverted fuck!
Leonard immediately lost interest in the corpse and instead asked another question, "Do you know about Edwin Baldwin?"
"Edwin Baldwin?" Shirley was startled slightly by a random name drop.
But she soon recalled hearing the name when she was staying at the Rosalia Troupe.
"I remember the name. He was a pestering, lustrous bastard who kept trying to get his hands on us. But we were protected by Lord Wesley's authority, so he never got his way with us." She gnashed her teeth in anger.
"Why? Is he involved in the experiment?"
"I'm not sure about the experiment, but he was definitely a person involved in the Slave Coop."