Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 345 - 57 Alliance?_1

Chapter 345: Chapter 57 Alliance?_1

"Uh, then what?" Indulgence and Passion, stunned by the sudden outburst from Madness, did not even consider that a trespasser had entered their territory. After a while, they finally processed what was said and asked in wonder, "What do you mean you aren’t?"

"The traitor, it’s not me." Madness wore a very calm expression, but the more calmly they behaved in abnormal ways, the greater the shock it caused to others. "I am just here to tell you that."

Even for Passion, who was known for their apathy, it was hard not to twitch at the corner of their mouth. He glanced sideways at Madness and asked, "You don’t think we’d believe you for saying that, do you?"

"Of course not." Madness gently smiled full of serenity and nodded. "But I am standing here, and that is evidence."

Passion and Indulgence understood Madness’ point. As one of the seven top managers, nobody would want to confront two other managers directly, especially in their own room.

A rule existed in Shadow Hand, everyone’s room can be regarded as their domain as long as they use it. Anyone who enters the room could be seen as invading. The host of the territory has unlimited defense rights, and the invaders can be countered without any rules in place. In other words, even if the leader of Shadow Hand entered Passion’s territory, Passion and Indulgence could legally kill him without being held accountable. So nobody would be foolish enough to enter the territory of others-- it would unquestionably provide the host with a perfect excuse to kill the entrant. But Madness was doing exactly that, despite their controversial vote against the management a day earlier.

"You really dared to come in." Indulgence expressed in disbelief. "What should we call you?"

"Do you ever wonder why I am named like this?" Madness subtly smiled, adjusting the glasses on the bridge of their nose. "Because I am truly mad, and what does a mad person fear?"

"But unfortunately, this evidence is not enough." Indulgence regrettably shook his head. "It isn’t convincing enough for us to believe."

"Of course, I anticipated that already." Madness maintained their composure and said lightly, "That’s why I’ve raised the stakes."

Madness’ hands sparked magically as two daggers simultaneously shot out, but they were aimed at their own body. Blood splashed as each dagger pierced one of their foot, deeply pinned into the ground, leaving only the handle tremble on the dorsal part of their foot. With a satisfied nod, Madness looked down at their bleeding feet and eventually turned their gaze to Passion and Indulgence as if seeking their opinion.

For a rogue, offensive and mobile abilities are crucial and equivalent to life itself. Madness’ act is equivalent to handing their life over to someone else, rendering oneself completely at the mercy of others. For the people in the City of Innocence, it seemed unimaginable. Being competitors, no one would hesitate to finish someone off if they willingly put themselves in such a vulnerable position, especially in such a delicate setting as Passion’s territory. They appeared to prove their innocence to Passion and Indulgence: that they were not the traitor.

However, for the inhabitants of the City of Innocence, this outlandish method of proof was indeed effective. Nothing could be more compelling than wilfully surrendering oneself defenselessly to an adversary.

"You are of course not the traitor, we knew it all along, because we are the real traitors." Indulgence emitted a sly smile. Suddenly, Indulgence’s figure vanished from Madness’ vision. An icy hand was on their neck, a chilling voice from behind asked, "Any last words?"

"If that’s the case, then I have lost my bet." Madness remained cool, their hands hanging by their side, not even their fingertips trembling. "So hurry up and show your trump card, let me see if I win or lose."

"Alright, you win." Indulgence exerted a slight pressure downwards, causing Madness to collapse weakly backwards onto a chair that magically appeared out of nowhere. "Now speak, what’s your real motive?"

"Out of the seven of us, I am the most unpredictable, Elegance is the most mysterious, Curiosity has the most strength, Suspicion is the cleverest, and Brutality is the most bloodthirsty. But everyone knows that the two of you are the most terrifying adversaries." Madness looked down at their bleeding feet without bothering to remove the daggers. "Even though none of you stand out in terms of ability, whenever the seven of us are at odds with one another, if the two of you cooperate, you will certainly be the last standing."

"Of course." Passion rested their chin on their hand and spoke coldly, "Because there are two of us."

"Exactly, that’s the key point-- there are two of you." Madness sighed, "Over the past ten years, more than one person has tried to break your alliance by creating dissent. But they all died. Ignoring distant examples, the most recent one was Lightning, who held Curiosity’s former position. Three years ago, the two of you cooperated to slit his throat, despite his many layers of protection."

"We didn’t do anything." Indulgence’s hand remained on Madness’ neck, gently caressing it. "You slander us like this, we could get angry."

Madness laughed nonchalantly, continuing, "Now, due to the existence of a mole, the atmosphere in the entire City of Innocence is quite delicate. Elegance has gone missing, Curiosity has secretly returned. Brutality is stirring up conflict to profit from the chaos, and Suspicion has shut themselves in with unknown intentions at your request. Everyone has their own plans. In this situation, any misstep could lead to being dismissed under the pretext of eliminating the mole. Whilst I’m trying to expand my power amidst all this, I don’t want to become a target for others who are expanding their power. Hence, I had to come up with a response to weather this crisis."

"So this is your method of dealing with it?" Passion looked at Madness with an odd gaze. "What makes you think we are not the real traitors?"

"Does it matter?" Madness kept their eyes on Passion and retorted, "What does it have to do with me whether or not you are the traitors?"

"That’s a good question, one I can’t quite rebut." Indulgence paused, a bitter smile tracing his lips. "Indeed, as long as we don’t plan on leaving the Shadow Hand, it doesn’t matter to you whether we’re traitors or not, as long as we can be the victorious side."

"Yes, and I believe you two can make it to the end." Madness said, half-lidded eyes blinking under the gentle strokes of Indulgence. "That’s why I’m here."

"So what do you want to do?" Passion asked, "Seeking help?"

"An alliance." Madness affirmed. "I’m looking to forge an alliance."

"An alliance is easy to form." Indulgence whispered into Madness’s ear, "We’ve allied before, there’s no need for you to go this far."

Madness opened her eyes, revealing an incredulous look. She scoffed, "You should know, I’m not talking about some shoddy alliance that’s worth less than scrap paper. I’m after a real alliance."

"A real alliance?" Passion and Indulgence exchanged glances. "An alliance like ours?"

"Yes, like yours." Madness laughed mockingly. "Honestly, I’ve had enough of this life full of betrayal and deception. It’s turning me into a lunatic. Neither of you will ever understand how I feel. If things keep going this way, I fear that in a few years I’ll be stripped of my humanity, just like the Ruthless. Rather than becoming a total slave to my instincts, I prefer trying to save myself."

"Do you think it’s possible?" Indulgence asked, amusement tinging his voice as it whispered into Madness’s ear, "It’s taken countless deaths for the two of us to build this much trust and intimacy. Do you think you can earn the same trust with just this kind of performance?"

"Not likely." Madness admitted with a shake of her head, "But as long as it can garner a bit of trust, even if it’s just a sliver, I’m willing to try."

"Even if it involves swearing an oath before Famira?" Passion asked, glancing down at her blood-red nails, a sarcastic smirk on her face. "Swearing that you’ll never betray us?"

"Even before the god of assassins, Mage Famira." Madness confidently replied, "Anytime."

Indulgence licked his lips, his fingers strumming along Madness’ spine, popping every joint in a rapid succession. For an upper-rank professional who possesses Aggression, this kind of full-body manipulation would be impossible without consent, let alone moving a single joint. Yet Madness complied with Indulgence, wilfully paralysing herself to the point of collapsing onto the chair, completely defenseless.

"Sadly, swearing before deities doesn’t completely eliminate chances of evasion or punishment, so there’s no way we can trust you." Indulgence softly stroked Madness’ neck once more, his fingers moving along the collarbone, biting lightly on her ear as he spoke, "However, though we can’t ally with you, we are in need of a personal slave. Would you be interested?"

"I..." Madness gasped, her speech interrupted by a strange silk cloth being shoved into her mouth. In her last waking moment, she caught sight of Passion’s strange grin and the hands slowly creeping up her immobile legs.

An hour went by before the door opened again. The wound on Madness’ foot had been treated and she left the center of the guild’s territory looking refreshed. Inside the room, Passion and Indulgence sat across from each other, a cup of tea for each of them. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"Do you trust her?" Indulgence asked in a low voice.

"You just used that one." Passion rolled her eyes disparagingly at the repetitive jest. "If you’re going to tell a joke, try a different one."

"Fine. I wouldn’t be surprised if she breaches our agreement tomorrow." Indulgence set down his tea cup, staring up at the ceiling as he spoke, "I just can’t figure it out. What did she come here for this time? Just to present us this gift? Well, I must admit, it’s certainly a nice gift."

"You’re becoming more perverted by the day." Passion scowled, "Stay away from me."

"As if you weren’t enjoying yourself just now." Indulgence chortled, although he was still bothered by Madness’ intentions, "Looking at the information we have now, she has no reason to go this far, not even for a performance."

"That just means there’s information we don’t have yet." Passion poured another cup of tea for herself, savoring its taste before speaking, "Regardless, as long as we stay vigilant and maintain a healthy amount of skepticism towards her actions and words, whatever her intentions, they’ll be moot."

"Makes sense." Indulgence put down his tea cup, pulling Passion up on his feet, "Let’s go out for a bit. I need to clear my head. I’m scared someone else will jump out with some new revelation. We should make a quick escape."