Top Tier Perversion: Dual Cultivate Secretly

"Old Copper, those bandits shouldn’t have killed themselves."

A young man turned to the white-beared man beside him and said.

In front of the two was a crowd of men in gas masks and men with swords, creating a wall between a pile of corpses and townsfolk.

The white-bearded man nodded his head lightly.

"They could’ve just had some poison and died painlessly. Why must they disfigure each other so badly and die?"

The man’s copper canine shone under the afternoon sun as he spoke.

The young man rubbed his arms and trembled. "I am still having nightmares about it."

Old Copper stared at the corpses ahead and said while clicking his tongue, "They treated us well. Let the women and children sleep in their houses at night, allowed frequent toilet breaks, and even ensured we ate. I’m sure the authorities wouldn’t have killed them had they surrendered."

The young man looked at the white-bearded man.

"Old Copper, we were hostages. They had weapons. Machetes and rifles, ya hear? They were no good people."

The man waved his hand. "They did not seem like bad people and I’m sure they wouldn’t have used it."

"Is that copper spreading to your brain? What nonsense ya spouting right now."

The old man smacked the young man’s butt with his cane.

"Respect ya elders."

The young man showed his middle finger while rubbing his butt and stared at the corpses ahead, wondering where this investigation would lead to.

Past the crowd of Railguards and knights, beautiful tall ladies and a short young man in refined clothing stood near the pile of sacks containing disfigured body parts.

Vanessa, Felicia, Anastasia, and Leona stood side by side behind Vincent while staring at Railguards investigating the corpses.

Vincent was hidden from the eyes of the townsfolk and the residents did not know that two-third of House D’Arc was here.

"What exactly happened here?" Vincent asked a guard in a gas mask nearby.

The guard held reports and his gloves were clean and not bloodied unlike his colleagues.

"The residents state the bandits stopped threatening them early in the morning and gathered around the slums to kill themselves. There was no fight or struggle as per the witnesses."

Vincent frowned. "You’re saying... a bunch of bandits... killed each other and did not even fight back or struggle?"

"That seems to be the case as per the residents, yes." The Railguard nodded.

Vincent turned to Anastasia. "Are bandits not a group of loosely connected thugs here? Can they discard their lives at command without any struggle?"

"They are not bandits."

Before Anastasia replied, Vanessa stepped forward and spoke.

She pointed her spear’s tip at a bloodied muscular arm.

"Bandits don’t have the discipline to build such physiques."

Her attendant stepped forward and squatted near the arm.

She drew an arrow from her quiver and nudged at the arm, making it turn.

"It’s too wasteful to let such strength rot."

Vincent, Vanessa, Anastasia, and Leona glanced at the maid.

"But without dying before us, how else could they have proved they weren’t bandits?"

"You’re implying?" Vanessa asked.

"They want us to believe these aren’t bandit of the north."

Rapid connections formed inside Anastasia’s mind as he heard the conversation.

’Duke Brunelle is excellent at retreating when the odds are not in favor. If a plan fails, he retries later. He isn’t the type to leave his men in the open. It’s too easy to point at him with this.’

Vincent glanced up at Vanessa.

"Whether someone wants us to believe they’re bandits or someone’s men... is it really necessary? Think about it. They attacked. They failed. Then they escaped. Their men died and they shouldn’t be attacking anytime soon. Can’t we focus on other stuff for now?"

One problem was over and another two came up.

First was the rat infestation and the second was the summon to the Royal Court.

The corpses were badly disfigured and could not be used as proof to target Duke Brunelle.

Something more concrete was needed.

Vanessa looked at her little brother.

"We can afford to investigate it. Capturing our town is a blow to our house’s honor."

Vincent knitted his brows.

"Honor doesn’t serve food on plates, Vanessa. There’s pests infesting our grains. If we don’t act on that, our people will either die of starvation or the plague."

Vanessa raised her eyebrows.

Her little brother was arguing with her again. His tone was slightly raised.

However, this time around, he wasn’t insulting her or making personal attacks or projected his insecurity.

He seemed inconvenienced and there was an underlying tiredness in his statements.

"There’s a second infestation?"

"There is. Look."

Vincent showed her the report.

As those words left his mouth, a few thoughts popped inside Anastasia’s head.

’The second chain of problematic events has begun. I don’t exactly know everything in detail but I do know Duke Brunelle was fighting beasts and monsters to defend his region.’

Anastasia tried to recall more information.

’On the first day of my first iteration, the young master was already dead when I brought in toiletries in the morning. The second, third, and fourth too were the same and I couldn’t change it.’

She stared at Vincent.

’In this iteration, I went inside the room as usual, but the young master was alive. I was shocked but tried to stay calm and professional and relayed the breakfast call.’

Anastasia’s eyes scrutinized Vincent’s short frame.

’I was ready to inform Lady Vivienne that he would die. I didn’t have proof and I was ready to accept the consequences. She’s done a lot for me and I could never repay it even if I wanted to. Helping her save her son was just a rightful duty.’

Vincent began arguing with Vanessa over the investigation.

Anastasia absentmindedly watched.

’Who would’ve thought he would instead display such extreme changes in one day? I was put to act as his attendant and the whole time I was on edge. What if someone killed him or what if he died mysteriously by the end of the day?’

’I even went to check the outside when he was dancing with Leona. But by the time I came back, he wasn’t in the ballroom. I saw him in the courtyard and there was a strange irritation building up inside me.’

’I don’t remember what transpired. I only know I suddenly got irritated, angry, and wanted to kill the young master. Everything was a blur. I’m still trying to figure out what caused that.’

’Regardless, my state of mind was normal after that and I conversed with the young master and protected him from an ambush. The Royal Hounds wanted him dead. I’m not sure why.’

Anastasia’s focus dimmed as she kept spiraling into thoughts. Vincent was not in her vision anymore.

’Why am I thinking so much today?’

’Ah right. I was thinking of what I did after the first day passed.’

’On the second morning, Lady Vivienne and Lady Vanessa would always disappear. D’Arc House would be no more and the servants had to flee for their lives. I was on a train to Aldorp, the neighboring Theocracy.’

’I had enough money to buy decent equipment and live for a few months without doing anything. This helped me travel faster and procure the treasures that came up later.’

’Right. I am thinking all of this not for Duke Brunelle but for myself. I am a Second Realm cultivator and my fastest growth was in the previous iteration. I reached the Third Realm in two months and if I had been in Aldorp again, I am sure I can shorten the time further.’

’The question now is, how do I go to Aldorp?’

Clarity returned to her eyes and she saw Vincent again.

’I am not the young master’s personal attendant like Felicia or Linda. I’ve been one unofficially for the past few days but he doesn’t have a personal attendant due to his reckless behavior. Maybe I can apply for a leave? Will Madam approve?’

"Are we dropping the investigation or not?"

"We can’t."

"Let’s postpone it if we can’t. There’s bigger problems to solve."

"I hear you. But..."

Vincent and Vanessa were still arguing.

’He’s changed for the good, but I can’t stay around him forever. I have to take the paths I took in my previous iterations and grow as fast as I could. Maybe then, maybe then I’d have a chance to survive the apocalypse.’

Anastasia sighed internally.

"Was the conclusion satisfactory?" A seductive voice rang in her ears.

Turning to the source, she saw Leona.

Leona wasn’t smiling or close to her or making any seductive gestures.

Yet her voice was enough to incite inappropriate thoughts.

Anastasia couldn’t understand why.

Leona calmly stared at the blonde maid with her red eyes.

"Everyone is staring at the corpses."

She pointed at the corpses and then upwards.

"But you’ve been staring at tomorrow."

Anastasia was not shocked or surprised.

Leona was very observant and straightforward.

None but her could’ve figured out that she was thinking of the future just based on a few body gestures.

Anastasia was just glad this girl’s knowledge was limited to the current reality.

"Just some irrelevant thoughts."

"I see." Leona did not press further and turned away.

’That’s it?’ Anastasia felt slightly uncomfortable when Leona shifted her attention.

"I think..." she continued.

Leona turned to her.

"I think it’s better to drop the matter."

"It is." Leona calmly responded.

"We can be more prepared and try again when the enemy makes a move. We had a lot of problems and couldn’t go around solving everything."

Anastasia’s response attracted Vincent and Vanessa’s attention.

Vincent took the letter from Vanessa’s hands and began folding it.

"You were assuming we have a lot of time."

"Count."

Vanessa gave him a puzzled look.

"Count the number of problems we had in just the past few days."

Vincent stepped toward her.

Amidst the stench of corpses was Vanessa’s piercing cedar and pine, as if someone just ate a mouthful of winter.

It was oddly soothing.

He looked up.

"We are leaving for Copper Town. And I want you."

Silence.

Vincent suddenly realized what he just said.

He cleared his throat.

"...I want you to come too."

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