Abyssal Chronicles

Chapter 416 - 417: Trials and Tribulations1/2 [13/16]

"Following the Duke’s instructions, I’ve kept six spies from other groups. They probably think they’ve successfully snuck into our Black Rose family by now."

"Nice," Wanya replied, smiling a little as she gave the maid an approving nod.

"Keep tabs on them; we might need them down the line. Where did most of these brave guys come from?"

"Like always, some are from Red Leaf, some from the Holy Tower, some from Asumos Church. There’s even a few elves. But they were so bad at disguising themselves that I had to send them back to the Elf Forest."

"..." Wanya’s eyes twitched at this revelation.

"These...elves..."

"But Miss Wanya, about half of them this time are actually from the aristocrats of Sadik Empire."

"Really? Them?"

"Yes. It seems like the pro-monarchy crowd sees our family as a threat. They’re looking to gather evidence and rat us out to the Emperor."

Wanya couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the maid’s words.

"Really? These pro-monarchy folks, who still think the late Emperor died from being too indulgent, are daring to mess with us?"

"Yeah, funny right? But the young Emperor Lord Duke picked is actually pretty level-headed. He’s been sending us lots of apologies and gifts via some rare magic stones lately."

"Well, at least he’s got some sense."

"So, Miss Wanya, how should we handle these aristocrats?"

"Let’s wait for Lady Xizhi to come back, then she can go talk to these aristocrats. A ’good’ chat usually solves most problems."

With that, Wanya stopped fretting over these nobodies and turned her attention to carefully reviewing the files of the new recruits. Although the Nightingale group had already done their own background checks, Wanya, always cautious from years of working with Xiao, decided to look through their profiles herself.

You never know; some might have slipped through the cracks.

Thinking this way, Wanya began carefully going through the information provided by Nightingale members. However, before she got too far, her eyebrows tightened slightly.

In that moment, the report of a new recruit caught her eye, and it puzzled her.

"Hmm? This kid... came back to life from the Mass Grave?"

At this moment,

Standing in the square, Asar, the newly appointed "Son of Destiny," was ecstatic beyond words.

The reason was very clear. After what felt like life-or-death trials, poor Asar had finally left that barren, freezing wasteland to arrive in the blossoming kingdom of Sadik.

’At last... I’ve made it,’ he thought, overwhelmed with emotion.

He began to shake uncontrollably, catching some weird glances from the bystanders.

Yes, to the local orphans, members of the Black Rose family, and soldiers of the Autumn Fall troop, Asar now appeared to be dressed as a young woman, showing no trace of masculinity.

Despite his disheveled appearance and ragged clothes, Asar’s long, beautiful blue hair and slender physique still radiated a unique beauty.

Everybody appreciates beauty, but Asar’s display made those around him feel a pang of sympathy

Looking at this oddly trembling ’young lady’ with blue hair, people sighed inwardly, thinking, ’Such a pretty girl, yet something seems off mentally...’

Asar had a good sense of what people were thinking, but he couldn’t help his overflowing emotions.

After all, he was extremely excited.

Over these past days,

In order to reach the Black Rose territory, Asar had faced innumerable hardships.

He even had to cross-dress to board a ship going to the southern Sadik Empire. Taking a huge risk, he successfully seduced the first mate, securing a place on the high-speed cargo ship sailing toward Sadik along the central canal.

Though he had to use seduction, Asar used his wits to lock both the first mate and the brawny second mate in a room, avoiding any further complications. Fearing backlash, he hid in the ship’s garbage hold for a few days to dodge the mate’s potential ’revenge.’

However,

Strictly speaking, ’revenge’ might not be the best word.

Because,

Upon sneaking off the ship later, Asar discovered that the first mate he had fooled wasn’t even looking for him. Instead, the first and second mates seemed chummy, arm in arm.

Seeing this bizarre camaraderie between the two men, Asar found himself questioning the meaning of it all.

Nevertheless,

With his intelligence and determination, Asar traveled thousands of miles from the northern continent to reach the southern Sadik Empire.

From there, to get to the Black Rose family’s domain—Sabelius—hundreds of kilometers away, Asar resorted to roughing it and doing odd jobs, steadily making his way towards the Black Rose family’s land.

However,

On this journey,

Within just a few weeks,

In just a short span of time, Asar had been robbed six times, sexually assaulted four times, scammed five times, and even almost sold into human trafficking.

"As pure as the people of the Sadik Empire claim to be, this place might as well be Gotham City," Asar thought, feeling like crying but unable to shed a tear. Despite all this mistreatment, he had barely survived, but felt as if he had lost half his life. His hard-earned travel money was completely gone.

He thought bitterly about how Xue Tianao got to start as an imperial prince.

"Am I being messed with? Both of us are supposed to be ’Chosen Ones,’ right? Why does he get to be this amazing prince while I’m just a no-name beggar who’s already died once? No strength, no influence, no money—what kind of ’Chosen One’ is this?"

Many other ’Chosen Ones’ were pondering how to save the world, but all Asar could think about was how to avoid starving to death, or being accosted by shady characters with bad intentions.

"Forget it. Whoever wants to be the ’Chosen One’ can go ahead; I’m done with this nonsense"

However, despite his inner grievances, life had to go on. Feeling deeply wronged but left with no other options, Asar had no choice but to keep pushing forward. He had initially hoped that joining the Black Rose family would give him a chance to grow and improve his life, but now, he was just grateful to get a meal from them.