Chapter 339: The True Identity of Seraphim "Ah, the Golden Tail Kitsune?" Twig laughed. "Ohohoho. Of course, I know where it is!"
Seraphim was stunned, her mouth hanging wide open.
Did the NPC just claim to know?
. She shook her head, trying to regain her bearings. It must be related to some kind of quest for the Golden Tail Kitsune, she speculated.
Seraphim was certain that Twig would either beat around the bush, present riddles, or, worse, refuse to provide any information to trick them.
"It would be impossible to reach the Golden Tail Kitsune without a map. I have here the map to the Kitsune village, known as Yamamura village. If youâre looking for the Golden Tail Kitsune, they have a lot of them there," Twig explained, transferring the map to Lord Scrooge.
"This is the complete path to the village, but be warned: the Yokais donât welcome other creatures like you, and they might kill you on sight."
"I think we will manage," Xin replied confidently. He just hoped that the villagers were all NPCs so he could talk to them.
Twig nodded, his scrawny, shaking hands gripping his staff that served as his cane. "Good. Good. Iâm sure that youâd be just fine because youâre a fine young man. Ohohohoho."
Hilda beamed, expressing her relief. "Isnât it nice that we would finally be able to locate that Golden Tail Kitsune? Now we donât have to search for days."
"Wait," Seraphim interjected, still grappling with this unexpected situation. "Youâre just going to give us the map without asking for anything in return?"
Twig nodded. "Thatâs right."
"But why?"
"Because heâs a fine young man. Ohohoho. And weâre friends."
At that, Seraphim retaliated by drawing her knife, her eyes narrowed to slits. "Are you tricking us?"
Twigâs head bobbed to the side. "Trick? Iâm too old for that, donât you think? Ohohohoho. And I donât lie. That map is authentic and true. Youâll get to Yamamura much faster with that in your hands. However, whether the Yokai Kitsunes welcome you is another thing entirely. Ohohoho."
Twig then turned and walked back into the forest, laughing all the while.
"What a strange old man," Hilda remarked when Twig completely disappeared.
"Now that weâve got the map, we can finally speed things up," Xin said, but he felt a tinge of disappointment when he noticed that they were still a bit far from Yamamura, the Kitsuneâs village.
"Wait, are we just going to follow that map blindly?" Seraphim questioned. "What if itâs a trap?"
Xin doubted that since he had already MAXed his relationship level with Twig. "I trust the old guy. Besides, this is the only map we have in the uncharted woodlands. We should at least try and test it out to see what happens."
Seraphim caught her tongue. Lord Scrooge was right. It was the only map they had.
However, she still couldnât shake the feeling that everything was too good to be true, especially how they acquired a portion of the map in the uncharted woodlands so easily that not even top guilds could do.
Was it luck that they encountered Twig? Or did they trigger something they werenât aware of? Maybe they were the first to reach this area?
There were hundreds of paths they could take, and perhaps they were lucky enough to reach this location, a one-in-a-thousand chance. Not even the best hunters with tracking pets could map the uncharted woodlands, after all.
There were too many variables to consider on how this thing came to be, and yet, for some reason, they had acquired the map to the Kitsune village just like that.
Was it really just luck? Seraphim pondered while eyeing Lord Scrooge.
Just like before, Lord Scrooge seemed to have extreme luck on his side, emerging unscathed from every difficult situation he encountered.
Was he hiding something? Seraphim couldnât help but ask herself that question.
Because once or twice, she could understand, but multiple times already . . .
"Something feels off about him . . . ," Seraphim muttered.
Xin looked behind him when he didnât feel Seraphim following them. "What is it?"
Seraphim decided to confront him and asked, "How did you acquire the map from the old man? When you spoke to him, his demeanor suddenly changed. Did you do something?"
"I think thatâs none of your business," Xin replied, hiding his surprised that she could discern the tiny detail such as a slight change of mood.
However, Seraphim continued, "Once or twice I might have considered that luck was on your side, but it seems that youâve gotten out of difficult situations multiple times now."
Xin blinked and then faced her. "Where did you base your questions from? You speak like you know me even from before. We have just met yesterday, and youâre saying that I have cheated the game multiple times?"
Seraphim didnât comment. With all the carefulness she was doing, she blundered in the end just because she was surprised about a silly map.
Xin looked seriously at Seraphim and explained. "Unless, of course, you know me, you wouldnât say those words."
"What are you talking about?" Seraphim feigned ignorance.
"Iâm talking about the fact that I know your real identity now, Seraphim, or should I call you . . . Midnight Duchess?"
Seraphim didnât comment, and there was tense silence settling between them.
Hilda readied her massive hammer, prepared to defend Lord Scrooge at any moment.
Xin also readied his gun in case Seraphim would suddenly attack him, his golems and mannequins were at the ready on the side as well.
Contrary to his expectations, Seraphim only laughed. She removed her cloak, revealing the beautiful face of Midnight Duchess.
"So I was right," Xin uttered.
"You are, but how did you know it was me?" Midnight Duchess asked. "I thought I had hidden my identity well. But, I guess itâs because of my blunder just now, right?"
"Thatâs right, and coupled with that, your moves and abilities reminded me of Midnight Duchess," Xin lied.
It was only through Hildaâs [See through Scope] that he had discovered the [Loveâs Enduring Sacrifice] in her inventory.