"Everyone's rooms have been arranged. It's getting late, so you should all rest early."
"Tomorrow, I will take you to the academy for the assessment. Even if you fail, there's no need to be discouraged. You are all outstanding talents who have formed your first soul contract before the age of twenty. I believe the military will also open its doors to you."
The noblewoman named Annelina spoke in a gentle voice, which put the originally somewhat anxious young people at ease.
Suddenly, someone stood up, his face flushed as he spoke, "Please forgive my presumption, Miss Annelina. May I ask if your estate is in need of any servants?"
Annelina was slightly taken aback but quickly recovered, covering her smile with a fair hand, "We aren't short on servants for the time being. However, if you are willing, I do happen to be in need of a personal guard."
"It would be my honor to be your guard."
The young man's face reddened as he spoke loudly, attracting the envious gazes of those around him.
They all came from poor, remote areas on the border. They were sent to the great metropolis of Resa with funds raised by their clansmen only because they had been tested and found to have excellent soul aptitude and the potential to become Beast Tamers, all for the sake of a better future.
Whether it was passing the assessment to become a student at a Beast Tamer academy or joining the military to be trained by them, these were all among their goals.
Of course, being taken in and given an important position in a noble's household was also a good option.
And—
Many of the young people on the scene couldn't help but gaze fervently at Annelina's graceful figure, secretly swallowing a mouthful of saliva. Their hearts were filled with jealousy and envy for the lucky man who had spoken first.
That was a personal guard, someone who could be with Miss Annelina day and night. If he was lucky, it wasn't just a fantasy to think he might even win the beauty's heart.
Unfortunately, someone had already spoken up and secured the only vacant position, so these eager young people had no choice but to suppress their impulses.
Annelina didn't seem angered by those undisguised, fiery gazes. Instead, she smiled and looked around, gently raising the wine glass in her hand.
"Then, allow me to toast everyone with one last drink."
Her voice was soft and pleasant, as if imbued with some unknown magic that calmed the restlessness in people's hearts. They all followed her words and raised their glasses.
I feel like I'm seeing a large group of vibrant leeks, all lined up waiting to be cut by the sickle.
Looking at the fervent gazes directed at Annelina from all around the hall, Shaya looked back at them with a hint of pity.
Although pet beasts and magitech existed, the level of public enlightenment in this world was still stuck at a medieval level. It was clear they had never experienced the harsh lessons of "heavy gold for a son" scams or the "-8000" ruse. They were completely oblivious to such an obvious pig-butchering scam.
Thinking about it, developing an anti-fraud app in this world might have some potential.
As his mind wandered, Shaya's spirit stirred slightly.
The next moment, a delicate, silver-white figure silently appeared on his shoulder.
The small silver-white form quietly faded, merging with the night outside the window, unnoticed by anyone.
After completing this, Shaya also raised the glass vessel in his hand, and the crimson liquid flowed down his throat.
Although he had used his transmigrator's mind over the years to plagiarize works and use success-oriented marketing to swindle and deceive his way to a small fortune, even secretly controlling some industries.
But in order to complete that damned mission, most of the money Shaya earned had been poured into it. Just to excavate the site of the Azure Court Duchy, he had hired an archaeological expedition team of nearly a hundred people multiple times, which had left him in a state of perpetually empty pockets.
For this reason, although it wasn't his main objective, Shaya naturally wouldn't miss out on a wanted bounty that he could handle along the way.
There was no helping it. Once you fall into the money pit of archaeology, even a landlord's house has no surplus grain.
"It's getting late. Allow me to show you to your rooms to rest."
Looking around the hall and witnessing everyone drink the wine, Annelina spoke again in her gentle voice.
Despite her words, her figure didn't move an inch, and her soft voice seemed to carry a hint of forcibly suppressed, heated emotion.
A few breaths later.
Thud—
Thud—
These were the dull sounds of flesh hitting the floor.
It wasn't an isolated incident. In an instant, the chaotic sound of tables and chairs crashing and scattering echoed throughout the hall.
"There's a paralyzing toxin in the wine, Miss Annelina. Someone has ill intentions towards you."
A dry voice came from the lucky man who had spoken first and secured the position. He was now lying motionless on the ground, yet he still spoke out to warn her, disregarding his own safety, clearly already seeing himself as her personal guard.
His only response was a pair of indifferent and cold eyes.
And a steel dagger that tore through the skin of his neck, freezing all his expressions in place.
Flesh and blood splattered, adding an unnatural blush to Annelina's once gentle face.
She pulled the dagger from the collapsed corpse and looked down at the people scattered across the hall, a crazed look flashing in her eyes.
"To have opened your first soul contract at such a young age, you must all be geniuses and elites with high hopes placed upon you back in your hometowns, right."
"How enviable. To think that a group of lowly commoners could possess such jealousy-inducing talent."
Behind her, a black mist quietly spread, converging into a shape resembling a butterfly.
The wings, formed from black smoke, bore terrifying patterns like white bone skeletons, a stark contrast to the butterflies people remembered fluttering among flowers.
"However, the more talented you are, the more delicious your unwillingness and despair will be as you struggle on the verge of death, isn't that right?"
The entire hall fell silent. The paralyzing poison in the wine had spread, and they had now lost control of even their vocal cords.
All they could do was watch with terrified and desperate eyes as the noble lady, once benevolent and kind in their minds, walked towards them step by step, steel dagger in hand.
The black butterfly with the withered bone pattern behind Annelina flapped its wings. Wisps of black mist drifted from the collapsed figures and were all absorbed into the butterfly behind her, bringing a look of intoxication to Annelina's pretty face, whose soul was connected to her pet.
Nightmare Butterfly, a creature that feeds on the souls, fear, despair, and other negative emotions of others.
Such an evil pet was naturally not tolerated by the world.
But in the face of the pleasure of gaining power, worldly laws, or the honor of a noble, had long been cast aside by Annelina.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone to such lengths to feign a kind appearance, taking in batch after batch of untraceable yet exceptionally talented and pure-souled apprentice Beast Tamers.
During this time, she had been forcibly suppressing her true nature, striving to maintain a benevolent facade.
And now, it was finally time to reap the harvest.
They were just a bunch of peasants from remote villages. Even if they went missing, no one in Resa would care.
With this thought, Annelina, no longer suppressing her true nature, began to walk with an increasingly unrestrained gait.
She came to another collapsed figure, the raised dagger just about to do something.
But then, a glimpse from the corner of her eye made her freeze her action in mid-air.
Annelina silently turned her head and looked towards the corner, at the black-haired young man who was leaning against the dining table, cracking melon seeds out of boredom.
"Who are you?"
Among this batch of prey, this black-haired youth was not conspicuous. He had only left a vague impression of being silent and reserved.
However, he had undoubtedly drunk the wine along with everyone else; this was a fact she had confirmed with her own eyes.
Even a high-level Beast Tamer, without summoning a pet for physical enhancement, could never withstand that drug.
But at this moment, the other party was indeed cracking melon seeds at an unhurried pace, his movements graceful, seemingly unaffected by the shocking turn of events.
"Looking like you drank a lot but not touching a drop, this is a basic skill for nobles. It's clear you've never been through the ordeal of drinking culture."
"In our era, if you didn't master this skill, you'd become a diabetic before you turned thirty."
As if seeing through Annelina's thoughts, Shaya stopped his movements.
He straightened his clothes, then pinned a badge to his chest.
"Sorry, I'm a cop."