NOVEL WEB Chapter 218: Framed
"Is that so? Did you see anyone suspicious?" O asked after observing him for a while.
"Not really, oh right— I did hear some face or something guy from the Nine Pacts was seen around this city. Maybe it is his work. You know how annoying the Nine Pacts could be," Vritra said with a shake of his head.
"…" The three men looked at one another. They had heard rumors about Faceless too. A few people saw him running into the city the previous day, but they were surprised that even Vritra knew about it.
"Hmm, that seems to be the case. Anyway, since when were you staying in this hotel?" O asked, while J and K were busy observing the surroundings.
"I arrived here not too long ago— wait, don't tell me you suspect me of those explosions? Ha! What would I even gain? Would I do it just to call you out or something? Sigh... do you three have some sort of grudge against me? Even the last time you were suspecting me," Vritra said, shaking his head sadly.
"No, it's nothing like that. We were just surprised to see you here. You are one of the king's guests, so just enjoy your time here," J spoke, flashing a smile.
The three men turned around and began walking away while discussing the explosions. Vritra also turned and began to walk into the hotel building like many others.
In the sky, a stone wrapped in a paper was floating. With a thought from Vritra, it began to fall toward the men from the Golden Moon.
THUD
"Ow!!" J rubbed his head as the stone hit him. Of course, it didn't cause him any pain, but he was surprised that he didn't sense it in time.
"Oh my God!!"
Vritra heard J's surprised voice from behind and heaved a sigh of relief that this part was also done rather easily. But then J spoke: "I can't believe someone dares to hit me with a stone. Who is it?"
Vritra glanced back and saw J holding the stone, but the paper was on the ground.
"What?!! Someone really dares to hit you?" Vritra exclaimed as he walked back. Then, as if he had noticed something, he spoke in surprise: "Huh? There is something written on the paper."
The three men finally saw it. K quickly picked it up and began reading it, and a shocked expression appeared on his face. Then he showed it to the other two.
"What is written on it?" Vritra asked while trying to take a peek.
"Nothing, it is confidential." K put the paper away. Then, glancing at the other two, he walked away.
'And it is done. Now I just need to spend some time in the hotel to avoid any suspicion. I hope they can take care of the Grieves and even the Nine Pacts,' Vritra thought.
He watched the three men fly away in the direction of the First City, where the temple was located.
People had started to calm down after the initial panic. They returned to their rooms and continued with their activities. When Vritra arrived near his room, he found the same rat-faced servant standing with a large tray in his hand.
There was a stench coming from the tray, its top covered by a cloth. Vritra tried to be calm as he stopped beside the servant and asked, "What are you doing here?"
{Sin Point Gained: Mocked +1}
"Sir, I have brought food for you. Don't worry, it is free, but I would be happy if you could give me a small tip in return— nothing much, just 1 million gold coins." While speaking, he removed the cloth and revealed the contents of the tray.
There was a rotten fish that was half eaten, dirty water in a glass, and all the dishes were spoiled and looked really disgusting. Vritra's brows knitted together as he barely managed to stop himself from cracking open the rat's face. He spoke in a calm tone:
"Get this away right now."
{Sin Point Gained: Taunted +1}
"Why? Is it because you don't want to give me my small tip? Ha! So shameless. Now that I have brought it here, you have to eat it." In the next moment, the rat-faced man threw the entire contents of the tray toward Vritra.
"…" Vritra easily sidestepped and dodged it all. It was as clear as day that the staff of the hotel was targeting him, and since this restaurant belonged to the royal family, it wasn't hard to guess who must be behind it.
{Sin Point Gained: Watched +12}
There were even people who were secretly looking at the two of them right now, so it was all staged.
Vritra could still control his anger because he didn't want to start another round of trouble. But Yasmine got really pissed. She had tolerated him long enough, even though he had been disrespecting her husband— but now…
BOOM
A strong wave of energy was suddenly released as the rat-faced man was blasted away. He smashed against the wall and coughed blood; a couple of his bones might have broken, but the attack wasn't strong enough to kill him.
'Sigh… now you've done it…' Vritra shook his head. This was clearly the situation he was trying to avoid, and just as he had expected, the rat-faced man clutched his head and began to scream with all his might.
"Aaaaah! M- My head! Ugghhhh! I was just delivering food! Uwaaaah! Why did you attack me—sob sbo—suddenly? H-Help me! He is trying to—sob sob—kill me! Haa haa! When I asked him to pay his bills—aaaaah it hurts—sob sob!"
In the next second, the people that were secretly watching until now ran out into the open with exaggerated expressions. They looked at the bloodied rat and then accusingly at Vritra.
{Sin Point Gained: Watched +35}
Within a minute, lots of people had gathered— the people staying in the hotel, the servants, the guards, and lots more.
The hallway outside the room was completely crowded. The fat manager pushed the crowd aside as he made his way to the center. Then, seeing the rat, he showed an angry expression.
"What happened here?" the manager asked.
{Sin Point Gained: Framed +1}
"S-Sir, I just came to deliver him—haa haa—some food, and when—ughh—I asked him to pay for his bills, he suddenly a-attacked me—sob sob—please help me! Aaah! He is a criminal…" the rat said before fainting.
Vritra already understood the entire situation. This was definitely a setup by the young prince— that spoiled rotten bastard.
There were many ways he could deal with such a situation. The easiest would obviously be with the use of Natural Hypnosis. But since the prince wanted to play like this, then he would get a hundredfold in return.
The youngest prince loved to play pranks? Then he would certainly love the pranks that would be coming his way.
{Sin Point Gained: Glared at +1}
"You!! Is that true?" the fat manager asked, his overly chubby face scrunched in rage. He was certainly putting up a great show.
"Of course not, he is lying," Vritra said, playing along. If he wasn't wrong about this cliché prince situation, then very soon they would try to get him arrested, bring up lots of guards, lock him up— where they could probably even torture him.
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