Chapter 282: The Puppet and the Strings
’The black pill!’
The guard instantly remembered the leader’s warning.
’B-But, I still-!’
Suddenly, his pupils stopped moving, becoming vacant and glassy.
With mechanical, puppet-like movements, he reached into his sleeve and produced a small black pill, bringing it toward his mouth at a fast speed.
But another hand shot out, catching his wrist before the pill could reach his lips.
"Sorry, but you can’t do this."
Vance and the other figure, the Baron Nusayel, turned at the sound of the voice, their attention drawn to the scene.
They saw Lumin snatching the black pill and distancing himself from the guard, whose eyes were slowly regaining clarity and awareness. For a brief moment, recognition and confusion flickered across the man’s face.
"!"
Then his expression twisted in agony. His eyes filled with blood, crimson streams spilling from his nose, ears, and mouth. He tried to speak, his mouth opening desperately, but only gurgling sounds emerged as pain overwhelmed him.
His body convulsed violently before going completely still.
"..."
The room descended into eerie silence.
The guard collapsed to the floor... dead.
All three witnesses stared at the scene, their eyes wide with shock at what they had just witnessed.
Lumin’s nose and eyes twitched involuntarily at the gruesome sight, his face a little pale as he struggled to maintain composure. In stark contrast, Vance continued to stare at the corpse with complete indifference, as if the guard’s death held no particular meaning for him.
The baron glanced at the two for a brief moment before squinting his eyes at the body.
"...How cruel."
Everyone present realized immediately that the black pill had nothing to do with the guard’s death - there was something far more sinister at work here.
And one person had a clearer idea of what it might be: Lumin.
"Clang!"
The next moment, the inn door burst open as Captain Draven entered, followed by a group of soldiers responding to the commotion. But they all froze mid-step at the sight of a blood-soaked corpse sprawled across the floor.
Draven’s eyes swept the scene before landing on the baron, his expression asking the unspoken question of what had transpired and what should be done.
The baron sighed heavily, the weight of leadership evident in his posture. "Call the head healer and have him examine the body to see if he can determine the cause of death. If not..." He paused, looking down at the dead man with a mixture of suspicion and pity. "We’ll give him a proper burial. That’s the least respect we can show to the dead."
Captain Draven nodded grimly and gestured to one of his soldiers. "Fetch master healer Avir immediately. Tell him it’s urgent."
The soldier saluted and rushed out of the inn.
"Clear the area," Draven ordered the remaining men. "Nobody else enters until the healer’s finished his examination."
As the soldiers began moving, the baron turned to Lumin.
"You tried to stop him, but it seems like whatever killed him was already in motion before he even reached that pill."
Lumin nodded, staring at the pill in his hand. "This must have been just a decoy. It wasn’t meant to kill him; it was probably a psychological failsafe. The truth is... Whoever controlled them wanted them to think they might have a chance to live, while in reality," he trailed off, his expression growing darker, "their lives had already been forfeited. They were always going to die once they got caught or decided to betray."
The baron clenched his fists. "I really hate this kind of disgusting people. The cruelty of giving someone false hope while they’re already marked for death. Just how sick can they be?"
He paused, studying Lumin’s face. "Can you tell me what you think that pill actually contains?"
Lumin rolled the small black sphere between his fingers, examining it closely. "It’s probably just poison, something that would cause a quick death to make the suicide look more convincing. Or it could be a sleeping draught, something to make them unconscious while the real curse takes effect." He looked up at the baron. "There’s also a chance it’s completely harmless, just a way to trigger the killing mechanism."
The baron’s expression grew even more grim. Lumin’s theories also matched with his own. "So no matter what choice he made, he was already dead."
"That’s right," Lumin confirmed, putting the pill into an empty vial. "But his eyes looked lost when he was trying to eat the pill. Like he wasn’t himself."
"You mean... Someone was controlling him?" Baron asked.
"Yes," Lumin replied. "Worse, they might even be listening to our conversation right now. The world is full of wonders and mysteries that most people don’t know exist after all."
The baron’s eyes immediately darted around the room, as if expecting to find invisible watches lurking in the shadows.
Lumin was also scanning the surroundings, his light blue eyes glowing faintly for a brief moment.
Vance did the same, his eyes flickering toward Lumin a few times in suspicion.
Captain Draven, who had been listening intently, stepped closer to their group.
"Should we move this conversation elsewhere?" Draven asked quietly.
Lumin shook his head. "If they have that level of reach, changing locations won’t help that much. Besides," he glanced down at the corpse, staring intently as if looking for something, "they had already shown their hand by killing him so brutally."
"Then we’re dealing with someone who has both the resources for advanced mind control and the ruthlessness to dispose of their own people without hesitation." The baron concluded.
"Exactly." Lumin’s voice carried a grudging acknowledgment. "This isn’t some amateur conspiracy. Whoever is behind this has been planning for a long time, and they’re prepared for every contingency."
The baron clenched his fists. "Which means every person in my territory could potentially be compromised. How are we supposed to fight an enemy that could be controlling anyone around us?"
"...Well, it might not be necessarily true," Lumin answered. "They’re probably controlling already marked people. I doubt they can control the others from a far distance. Unless..."
"...They are already here."