Chapter 2 – translated by Doza

The two humans and dragon who had been swallowed by the black hole would have rather gone back to accept Barbalis’s cruelty, especially when a kitchen knife suddenly spiraled toward them. Even Liola, who merely tilted his head, had a few strands of his black hair chopped off by the kitchen knife before it pierced into the wall beside his ear.

“My G.o.d! A kitchen knife?”

Kaiser turned his head and his mouth dropped open when he saw the solid hilt of the knife and the grayish-silver blade. No matter which angle you looked at it from, the kitchen knife was definitely a kitchen knife. The only difference it had from a normal kitchen knife was that… A normal kitchen knife shouldn’t be able to pierce a wall, right? Baolilong inquisitively used both hands to pull at the knife while its pair of small, chubby legs braced against the wall. Finally, it managed to pull out the kitchen knife, but as a result of its excessive force, Baolilong also spun circles in the air before it was caught by Liola.

Ignoring Baolilong’s protests, Kaiser immediately s.n.a.t.c.hed the kitchen knife and studied it. Kaiser’s eyes widened as he carefully scrutinized the knife in his hand. Although this kitchen knife felt heavier than normal kitchen knives, it was still a kitchen knife! Kaiser doubtfully plucked a strand of hair.

“Ah! Ouch!” Baolilong cried as it clutched its head.

Kaiser paid no heed to Baolilong’s cries of pain and leaned the white strand of hair in his hand against the blade. He blew gently and the white strand of hair became two strands.

Kaiser stared at the kitchen knife. “My G.o.d! Nowadays, even kitchen knives can cut through steel as if it were mud! How can swords possibly compete?”

A slender wrist appeared in front of Kaiser’s eyes and with unmatched ease, flipped the kitchen knife in Kaiser’s hand into the air and s.n.a.t.c.hed it. The arrival of a person who was proficient in kitchen knives put Kaiser on his guard, and he instantly pulled out his gun, afraid that a tall and muscular guy who was an expert at wielding kitchen knives had appeared in front of him.

Liola, on the other hand, did not react as much. He only stared blankly at the owner of the kitchen knife, and with one look, knew that there was no mistaking the owner of it. After all, was there anyone more suited to wielding a kitchen knife than a housewife with an ap.r.o.n tied around her waist?

At this moment, Kaiser pointed his gun at the housewife in front of him. However, he looked more stunned than Liola. Kaiser unconsciously turned back to look at the deep gouge left in the wall by the kitchen knife… Eh, how strange, there are multiple knife marks on the wall.Kaiser looked around blankly and only then did he realize that the wall he and Liola were standing against had numerous similar gouges.Could it be?! Is this a place for practicing throwing kitchen knives?

Kaiser observed the place, but no matter how he looked at it, this place seemed like a normal residence… other than the wall full of kitchen knife marks. The place they were currently in was clearly the living room, and there was even a table with chairs in the living room. The handsome men sitting in the chairs looked like aristocrats and were drinking tea, but were now holding their teacups as they looked at Kaiser and Liola. In a corner was a red-haired servant cleaning the place.

Liola was certainly a person who had experienced traveling to a different world before. He guessed that he had probably arrived in yet another new world. However, the moment he appeared, someone threw a knife at him. He didn’t have his Kung Fu skills either. Liola privately thought that this time, maybe nothing would go their way…

“You…” The housewife who held the kitchen knife in her hand widened her eyes as she asked, “Are you alright? I’m sorry, I didn’t know you guys would suddenly appear. Luckily I didn’t hit any of you.”

Seeing Liola and Kaiser staring at her blankly, the housewife could only scratch her face as if she was unsure of what to do. However, the smell of something burning helped to break up the awkward atmosphere among the three of them. The housewife exclaimed, “Oh no, my soup!” and then she ran off in a panic. Along the way, she somersaulted in the air twice as she leaped over the sofa, the table, and the chairs.

In the living room, other than the three of them, were the two men drinking tea and the servant who was cleaning. Oddly enough, the people drinking tea had already shifted their gazes away from the three of them, and the servant did not even spare them a single glance… No, there was still one more man. He appeared from behind the potted plants beside Kaiser and looked as if he had just escaped from a life or death situation.

The man who had appeared from behind the potted plants was clearly friendlier. A smile spread across his cultured and handsome face as he greeted Kaiser and the rest. “h.e.l.lo guests, welcome to our house. I’m Min Gui Wen. Would you like a cup of tea?”

“Baolilong wants meat meat!” Baolilong declared loudly as it rubbed its rumbling stomach.

This man named Min Gui Wen was clearly a very good-tempered man and very used to looking after kids. In a single motion, he swung Baolilong into his arms and then walked off in the direction that the housewife had just left in, yelling, “My beloved wife, there’s a little kid who wants to eat meat.”

Now that the smiling man had left, Kaiser felt that the atmosphere had turned even more awkward. Liola too became warier. Even though Baolilong was not very dependable, in this situation where Liola didn’t have his Kung Fu skills, Baolilong’s dragon form was an important addition to their strength. Yet, just now, Baolilong had actually been taken away? And for some reason, he himself had made no attempt at having Baolilong stay behind just now. It seemed that that man’s smiling face made him relax too easily! Liola’s face turned gloomier.

At this moment, one of the men who was drinking tea suddenly raised his head and shot a chilly stare at Liola. Liola responded with the same cold gaze. Deep down, these two simultaneously understood that the man before his eyes was an a.s.sa.s.sin!

The man drinking tea put down the tea cup in his hand and slowly stood up. With his eyes fixated on Liola, he spoke, “Cold-Masked Quick Fox.”1

Liola knew this a.s.sa.s.sin was stating his t.i.tle. He replied in the same icy manner, “Liola.” Liola did not have a t.i.tle. In the world he originally came from, the name Liola was synonymous with the number one a.s.sa.s.sin. He did not need any extra t.i.tles.

A light full of eagerness to duel glittered in Cold-Masked Quick Fox’s icy gaze, but Liola frowned slightly. Having lost his Kung Fu skills, he did not want to fight another person at all.

“I’m cleaning.”

A voice even more emotionless than Cold-Masked Quick Fox’s rang out. It was the red-haired servant who, all this while, had been using a broom and dustpan to clean the place. On closer inspection, there was an odd cross-shaped scar on the servant’s face. Even stranger than that, the moment the servant uttered those simple words, Cold-Masked Quick Fox silently sat back down.

“Husband!”

With a loud cry, a slim figure jumped down from the second story. To his surprise, it was a girl with a huge smile on her face. She skipped over to the other man drinking tea, who had remained silent through all this. When he saw the girl, his calm and cold face became helpless, but the gaze in his eyes was full of love. “Xiao Xiao Lan, we haven’t gotten married yet.”

“Why does that matter? Sooner or later, we will get married!” Xiao Xiao Lan gave a charming smile and then obstinately stole a few kisses from her future husband, Zhuo Lin Bin. Only after that did she notice that there were unexpected visitors in her home.

Xiao Xiao Lan stood in front of Liola and Kaiser. Curious, she kept examining the two of them from head to toe. Cold Fox, whose expression would not change even if the sky fell in front of him, uncharacteristically opened his mouth and said, “The black haired one is an a.s.sa.s.sin.”

Nothing would have happened if he had not spoken, but the moment his words came out, Xiao Xiao Lan immediately moved closer to Liola, just short of sticking herself onto him. However, Liola did not mind. Even though he had lost his Ki, he was confident that he could defeat this slim girl in front of him.

“a.s.sa.s.sin?” Zhuo Lin Bin frowned. Even though someone would attempt a robbery every three days, a kidnapping every five days, at least one large explosion each month, and definitely a major world crisis every year, Zhuo Lin Bin still instinctively felt that a.s.sa.s.sins were dangerous… with the exception of the one drinking tea beside him.

“He’s really just an a.s.sa.s.sin?” Xiao Xiao Lan’s expression was filled with disappointment. At first, she had thought that something interesting had happened. In the end, he was only an a.s.sa.s.sin. In the Ice Emperor Syndicate, she had seen far too many a.s.sa.s.sins, so another one did not intrigue her.

Just an a.s.sa.s.sin… Liola felt a sudden urge to ma.s.sage his temple.

“Hey, you shouldn’t underestimate Liola. He’s not only an a.s.sa.s.sin, he’s the number one a.s.sa.s.sin!” Kaiser felt that if he did not retort, he would not be able to rest in peace.

“The number one a.s.sa.s.sin? Isn’t that the same as Cold Fox?” Xiao Xiao Lan tilted her head as she thought aloud. Then, she turned her head to ask Cold Fox, “Teacher, didn’t you say that you are this world’s number one a.s.sa.s.sin? How did the t.i.tle get s.n.a.t.c.hed away by someone else?”

Both Cold Fox’s and Liola’s expressions changed. They both actually had the same t.i.tle of number one a.s.sa.s.sin.

Footnotes

1 “Cold-Masked Quick Fox”: Cold Fox’s t.i.tle is given as “Cold-Masked Quick Fox” in this story (the meaning is closer to “Grim Quick Fox”) instead of Silver-Masked Quick Fox. In the original ½ Prince novels, it is given as Silver-Masked Quick Fox. We kept the translation as “Cold-Masked Quick Fox” here because if Cold Fox had given his name as Silver-Masked Quick Fox, Liola or Kaiser would probably have made some sort of comment on how similar that is to Liola’s alias as Silver Mask, which they didn’t.