Chapter 249

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I already figured out what I needed to do at the celebration party. There was only one thing I needed to keep in mind. I shouldn’t appear conceited, I needed to appear humble in front of everyone so they would assume I was beneath them.

The greatest enemy is complacency. 

Just like as the saying went, becoming arrogant was the beginning of your downfall. That proverb held true no matter when or where you were. 

Argh… This is so annoying…

I tried to suppress the loud inner heart of mine, to prevent it from escaping my lips and carefully observed my surroundings.

Well, I’ve prepared for this the moment when I decided to move into the town anyway. Now then, let’s see… Is there any suspicious person around?

People were coming to talk with me, one after another and I pretended that I didn’t understand what they were talking about (although I really didn’t understand, I didn’t actually need to ‘pretend’) when I spotted a fat guy who looked like the stereotypical mafia. He was smoking on a cigar, looking like Al Capone’s long lost twin.

The mafia guy was talking with an old man, who looked as suspicious as him. The old man looked like an Indian cobra tamer. Then there came a beautiful woman, who bore the same style as Fujiko Mine from Lupin series.

Those three are so suspicious. 

Sensing an unpleasant premonition from them, I asked Jill-san to prepare my silver tableware, which included a spoon, a fork and a knife. Of course I had prepared these silverware beforehand to anticipate the poisoning attempt. 

Furthermore, I had Chatra, a tiger beastman who was fast on his foot, to run back to my house and bring as many paruna detoxifying potions as he could possibly carry from the warehouse.

You couldn’t be over prepared when it came to defense against assassination attempts.

~*~

While holding a potion in one hand, I told Chatra and Maya.

“Listen here, in aristocratic society, sometimes you can be in danger of being poisoned. People will dare to slip the poison into your food. Which is why you need to drink the antidote potion beforehand. The potion will form a protective lining in your stomach and make you less likely to die. Remember that well, okay?!”

I chugged down the potion, giving a demonstration after sharing a passionate lecture like the host of a commercial. Chatra and Maya, who respected me as their teacher, took my lecture at face value. They held the vial with both of my hands before gulping it down in one go. Their faces looked pale from fear.

On the other side, Yurina-san watched the scene unfold with an exasperated expression on her face.

~*~

Back to the banquet. King Gernika had brought his personal orchestra group. The string ensemble started playing a wonderful classical peace and thus, the standing buffet celebration party began.

The shape of the string instrument in this world was slightly different from those in my original world but they were still categorized into different sizes like violin, viola, cello and double bass. So in a sense, they still held similar concepts  like the one in my original world.

Bavarian-sama served the champagne that I had sold to him to everyone in the venue. When I took a sip of it, the suspicious old man that gave off a similar vibe to an Indian cobra tamer approached me. He was carrying a plate of food on a silver tray and offered the food to me. 

“Ah, thank you.”

It was a plate of fresh sea urchin pasta, served in a sophisticated way to make it look like something from a high-end restaurant. 

Sea urchin pasta was something I was familiar with so I accepted it. However, just to be safe, I rolled the pasta with my silver fork and set it aside and waited, to see if there was any reaction from the silverware.

Then after a while, the silver fork began to change color. The fork was turning black. This was most likely the result of a chemical reaction between the poisonous ingredients in the food with silver.

“Donny-san, please look at this.” 

I showed Donny-san the blackened fork that was still on the plate and told him that my food was poisoned. I pointed at the suspicious old man who was panicking and trying to run away. Donny-san quickly ordered his solder with such efficiency that the old man failed to escape. They easily apprehended him.

It seemed they would put the suspicious old man in the dungeon and interrogate him later. I guess I could feel relieved for the time being. As for the mafia looking guy, he looked visibly upset at the failed assassination attempt. His cigar was left smashed between his chubby fingers.

“Jill-san, who is that guy?”

“He’s Baron Alpendre〇△×.”

I discreetly asked Jill-san, since he seemed to have a high knowledge regarding the aristocratic society. It turned out that the suspicious mafia guy was actually a baron. Since my opponent was a noble, I couldn’t have them investigate the matter even further without solid evidence yet, no matter how suspicious he looked. After all, we could risk having the tables turned against us if we didn’t plan our move well.

I think I’m getting a bit dizzy. 

“I’m sorry, Jill-san. I think I’m going to get some fresh air for a bit..”

My head was starting to ache so I excused myself and decided to take a small breather on the balcony.

As I walked away from everyone, I was left unaware that someone was stealthily approaching me from behind.

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T/N: This chapter kinda deep. So in the end, humans will always be humans no matter where or when.