Chapter 2517 The Traitor <TOC> Chapter 2519 The Painting Gallery or Specimen Room
Translator: SumTLMan
As the group emerged from the dungeon, they were immediately confronted with a brutal scene at the entrance.
Directly in front of them, on a corpse tree, hung two men, stripped of their clothing, dangling upside down.
With every gust of wind, they swung slightly.
Ms. Melo, evidently well-versed in witnessing such sights, remained unfazed, as if she saw nothing. Behind her, Sybil’s pupils momentarily narrowed, a scream almost escaping her throat, but she suppressed it, maintaining her composed demeanor.
As for Amesa, the third woman present, she showed little reaction, having grown up in a dump where she’d seen the worst of humanity. Still, her eyes clearly conveyed disgust.
Angel, like the other men, was largely indifferent, simply glancing at the knight’s armor discarded under the tree, before quietly contacting Daus.
“Did you do this to those two at the entrance?”
Soon, Daus replied: “You saw them? How artistic does it feel?”
Even through the mental connection, Angel could sense Daus’ smugness.
Angel: “Artistic? I only see vulgarity elevated by the wind.”
After a pause, Angel added: “You hung them upside down on a tree, mimicking that princess?”
Daus: “Though the princess’ methods are somewhat twisted, I must admit, they inspire a kind of perverse artistry. I just came from the castle and saw these two at the dungeon entrance, couldn’t resist…”
Angel cut off the conversation, knowing enough that it was Daus’ handiwork; the rest would be irrelevant.
“Ms. Melo, did the princess do this?” a cold voice asked softly.
Speaking was Sybil, who inquired with a tilt of her head towards Ms. Melo, tactfully avoiding the disturbing scene opposite them.
Ms. Melo was uncertain how to respond. While she had heard about the princess’ ruthless personality from fellow cellmates during her time in the fourth level dungeon, whether she was responsible for this act was unknown.
At that moment, Angel took over: “You might as well assume it was the princess’ doing. So, if you decide to follow me to Princess Castle, perhaps you’ll witness more of such scenes. Maybe even more brutal. At least, these two hanging from the tree are just unconscious, not dead.”
Of course, they were not far from death, as evidenced by their swollen, blood-engorged faces.
“So, are you still planning to follow?”
Angel’s question was a pretense at offering them a choice, but in reality, they had none. The only one who could make a decision was Ms. Melo, as Angel would not specifically take them away. Only Ms. Melo, once she regained her strength, could potentially lead them out of Princess Castle.
Without much hesitation, Ms. Melo nodded: “Let’s stick together and bring Gloshi and Blazer back.”
In Ms. Melo’s view, the scenes they were about to see were merely brutal, which seemed far more humane compared to the methods dark wizards used to select talents. Conveniently, if there indeed were more gruesome scenes inside the castle, it wouldn’t hurt for these talents to get a taste of reality first.
Angel remained silent for a moment before nodding in agreement: “Let’s go.”
Angel had actually given that option hoping Ms. Melo would take the group away first. However, Ms. Melo seemed to have misunderstood his intention.
The main reason he did not want to take this group over was that Daus had specifically mentioned that the ‘men hung upside down naked’ was an imitation of the princess’ methods. Prior to this, Daus had also mentioned to Angel that Blazer and Gloshi were currently hung upside down in the princess’ room.
Although they were both men and it wasn’t a big deal to be seen naked, it was particularly embarrassing to be seen in such a predicament by their future colleagues. If they managed to survive, they would likely go out of their way to avoid this group in the coming years.
Since Ms. Melo did not grasp his hint, Angel had no choice but to lead the group towards the castle.
Just as Daus had mentioned, they hardly encountered anyone along the way.
It was not until they neared the castle that they began to see more people around. Numerous guards were patrolling the area, and many servants were busy managing various attractions in the amusement park.
Under normal circumstances, it would be nearly impossible to remain unseen. However, under Angel’s illusion, they boldly entered the castle through the main entrance.
The main gate was conveniently open, and a group of people dressed in black puffy dresses and white headscarves, resembling nuns, were seen exiting the castle, heads bowed, each carrying a platter.
As Angel and his companions passed them, they could clearly see the cross-shaped knife scars on the faces of these women, giving them a ferocious appearance.
Apparently, these were the castle maids Daus had spoken of. The princess had ‘artistically’ disfigured all the maids’ faces, resulting in such a sight.
Initially, they did not know what the maids were carrying on their platters, as they were covered with cloches.
However, one of the maids stumbled slightly; she did not fall, but the cloche fell from the platter. Everyone clearly saw that the platter contained a severed human foot.
The maid quickly covered it again and, lowering her head, hurried off with the others.
Angel and his companions, meanwhile, brushed past them and entered deeper into the castle.
“A platter holding a human foot… Could the princess be a cannibal?” The ladies hadn’t even begun to speak when three men huddled together started discussing it shakily.
“I don’t know if she’s a cannibal, but if you don’t shut up, getting discovered is only a matter of time,” came the cold voice of Sybil.
Realizing the inappropriateness of the situation, the three men immediately fell silent.
However, they clearly underestimated Angel’s illusions, capable of blocking both perception and cognition, hence sounds could naturally be shielded as well. It wasn’t just their whispers that went unnoticed, had they burst into song, no outsider would have turned their head.
Angel, however, did not bother to explain; silence suited him, and he enjoyed the peace.
As they walked through an unremarkable corridor, they reached the first floor hall. Upon entering the hall, they were greeted by a rich scent of buttercream.
This sweet fragrance instantly triggered everyone’s appetite.
The source of the aroma was a curtain on the left, from behind which, just then, a it was pushed aside, and a maid, head bowed, emerged pushing a cart.
Though the maid kept her gaze lowered, Angel could see a heavy sorrow swirling around her, likely due to the “dish” on the cart.
On the cart, instead of the expected buttercream dessert, was a dead body. The corpse, dressed just like the maid, presumably a fellow servant of the castle, had an axe embedded in their forehead, splitting open the skull; brain matter oozed into the crevices, smearing the front of the cart with a viscous substance.
Such a sight was rare, and the talents stared in stunned silence as the maid slowly pushed the cart away.
Only after she had disappeared behind another curtain did someone whisper: “Why was she killed?”
“Perhaps she was a traitor to the castle? Punished accordingly?”
The men’s discussion revolved around the cause of the maid’s death.
Meanwhile, Sybil did not interrupt them, as she too was softly speaking with Ms. Melo.
“I thought I saw a sticker on the body of the deceased maid…” Sybil murmured.
“It said, ‘buttercream cake,’” Lady Melo finished for her.
Buttercream cake? Why would that name be on it? They pondered if the previously smelled buttercream was somehow connected to the corpse.
While the group speculated, Angel did not join in. His mental tendrils followed the maid into another room where he saw a fat chef in cook’s attire skillfully chopping the dead maid into pieces with a cleaver, quickly separating the body into several large chunks, which he then plated and covered. Meanwhile, the chef ordered the maids waiting at the door to carry these plates to the feeding grounds.
Witnessing this scene, Angel roughly pieced together that the group of maids he had encountered at the entrance, carrying plates, must have come from this chef.
The so-called feeding grounds were actually the beast forest that Angel had passed through upon entering.
Angel had not previously considered why all the mythical beasts and monsters there were so well-fed; now, the disturbing truth was clear.
Angel retracted his mental tendrils and sighed inwardly.
He now somewhat understood why, even on foot, White Bear would take years to flee from the Guman Kingdom.
Here, in just a small domain of a minor princess, such dark deeds were routine.
The progeny of King Guman were numerous indeed, and those connected by blood or marriage were even more so. If they all behaved like the occupant of Princess Castle, one can imagine the chaos within the Guman Kingdom.
As for whether any of King Guman’s descendants and relatives could be good people, perhaps some were, but under King Guman’s tyrannical rule, they invariably fell into corruption. For instance, the phenomenon of secretly capturing transcendents was certainly commanded by King Guman; even the princess was involved, so why wouldn’t the other descendants and grandchildren do the same?
When Angel regained his composure, he found others still discussing the note about the buttercream cake.
There were various guesses, but no one guessed correctly.
After all, even among these talents, those with evil intentions were still normal people. And normal people cannot comprehend the logic of a madman.
“It’s a Human Roulette,” Angel revealed the answer bluntly.
When the princess dined, there would occasionally be some unusual ‘creative’ processes, such as the human roulette. Names of dishes were stuck on people, who were then attached to a roulette wheel. As the wheel spun, an axe was thrown blindfolded, and the person it hit determined the choice of food.
These were all things Daus had told Angel.
However, at that time, Daus had only seen the human roulette, but it had not yet been used.
Now, clearly, it was time for the princess’ meal, and from the current situation, at least two people had already died because of it.
After hearing Angel’s explanation, even Mrs. Melo gasped in shock.
Such a cruel practice was just a part of the princess’ dining process?!
“I remember the princess is only about twelve years old, right? Isn’t she still too young… to be this cruel?”
Angel clarified: “To be precise, she’s eleven years and eight months old.”
Because the princess was just a child, there was an amusement park here. Of course, while a small part of it was for the princess’ enjoyment, the rest appeared to be entertainment props but were actually various instruments of torture.
The others were also stunned; before entering the castle, Angel had mentioned there were more brutal situations here, but they had not expected to encounter such madness right away.
Angel glanced at the curtain that had been drawn back by the previous maid’s cart.
His mental power gently floated in, and he could faintly see a little girl with her back to him, eating a buttercream cake.
He guessed, she must be the princess.
Angel refrained from spying further, as Daus had previously warned him that a formal wizard was protecting the princess. Moreover, Daus had a vague sense that the princess herself might pose a threat, though he was unsure of the source of this threat.
Angel had already identified the formal wizard protecting the princess; he was sitting in a corner, facing a human roulette not far away, his face showing pity.
This formal wizard, known as the Gray Crow, was from the Wenlock family, which had controlled the wizard families in this market, formerly known as the Mer Landi Market, since its inception. Now renamed Princess Town, the Wenlock family’s wizard had become the princess’ bodyguard.
There might be some undisclosed history in between.
However, these were not important for the current situation. It was enough to know that the Gray Crow had been co-opted by the Guman Royal Family.
Given that the princess was dining on the first floor at this moment, including her protector Gray Crow being here, her room would likely not have much defense at the moment.
Angel decided not to confront the princess directly now; instead, he took the opportunity to rescue Gloshi and Blazer first… and then consider the next steps.
Chapter 2517 The Traitor <TOC> Chapter 2519 The Painting Gallery or Specimen Room