Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 810: Chapter 54

“You’re awake?”

It was the voice of Charlotte.

When Lucifer came back to his senses, he found himself inside a tent. The air was filled with the scent of earth and vegetation, and in one corner of the tent lay some men’s clothes.

Lucifer quickly deduced that this tent belonged to the woodcutter he saw before losing consciousness—as for why Charlotte was here, it wasn’t hard to figure out either.

Originally, after rolling down the slope and getting injured, she couldn’t have gone far. Charlotte had followed along and eventually found her, which wasn’t anything surprising.

At least she’d encountered a good person, Lucifer couldn’t help but mock herself—of course, as a nun in the monastery, if one wasn’t considered a good person, even the coffin lid of Holy Mother Maria wouldn’t stay down.

Lucifer didn’t speak up after waking, only turning her face slightly to observe Charlotte—undoubtedly, in her current state, it was hard to do anything.

Even informing Charlotte and asking her to send someone for her could be dangerous. If those demons, subdued by her power, found out that the queen of Hell had turned out like this…

Those guys would probably be very keen to discuss which method to use to devour her.

Even if, retreating a thousand steps, with Charlotte’s protection, she could be shielded from more threats posed by demons acting on instinct, Lucifer wouldn’t choose this moment to go back—because her pride wouldn’t allow her to appear in this state.

“I heard Uncle Amm say your name is Lucy, is that right? He said your home is in the village up ahead?” Charlotte looked at Lucifer with a puzzled expression.

Amm, presumably the name of the woodcutter.

Lucifer instinctively nodded, was just about to speak when her head suddenly felt like it was splitting—she quickly shook her head.

She couldn’t lie, nor admit to a lie. But it didn’t mean she couldn’t escape this predicament—by denying a lie already told, and then staying silent, she could handle the ‘Punishment’ cursed upon her.

Alternatively, by using vague statements, she could also avoid triggering this ‘Punishment.’

Lucifer almost immediately shook her head after nodding once—she planned to remain silent to all of Charlotte’s questions. As for how to communicate, she left it to the young nun to fret over.

After all, a pure-hearted nun like this would have enough patience and tolerance to put up with an uncooperative child… or so Lucifer thought.

“Not true? Then what was your original name? Where was your home?” Charlotte asked again, curiously.

Lucifer shook her head, contemplating whether it would be easier to pretend to be a child with memory loss—but her head suddenly started pounding painfully again.

How could this be… not answering should not constitute lying.

But why did the ‘Punishment’ still trigger?

Could it be… Lucifer’s eyes widened in shock and anger—because she thought of something horrible.

The condition for this ‘Punishment’ curse to activate might not just be lying, but another more complex condition.

For example.

[Must answer the other’s question truthfully].

Non-lying, answering… two simultaneous activation conditions!

“Damn, such heavy-handedness!” Lucifer gritted her teeth: “I didn’t participate in the siege a hundred years ago! It’s not fair!”

“Siege? Fairness? What are you talking about?” Charlotte listened in confusion: “What were you just saying?”

“Don’t ask, even if I tell you, you wouldn’t know.” Lucifer stared coldly at Charlotte, sweating in her palms—because she didn’t know if the ‘Punishment’ on her had other conditions beyond her guess.

Fortunately, this kind of response didn’t seem to trigger the launch of the ‘Punishment.’

Lucifer couldn’t help but breathe a silent sigh of relief… as if!

The damned headache began to assault her mind once more, driving her to the verge of wanting to smash her head into pieces!

[Must straightforwardly answer the other’s question truthfully]!

“What’s wrong, child?”

Lucifer’s painful appearance immediately made Charlotte frantic; she clumsily took Lucifer into her arms. Delan Mammy had once said that a hug could offer hope and strength.

“Listen… I’m only saying this once…” At this point, Lucifer weakly said: “I’m the queen of Hell, Lucifer. The so-called siege a hundred years ago was an attack on a magical shop, led mostly by descendants of the Divine Race from Western Europe!”

“What?” Charlotte blinked with puzzled eyes.

She moved back, leaned her forehead against Lucifer’s, and mumbled to herself: “No fever?”

Lucifer suddenly felt like demolishing something for relief, but judged that in her current state, she could at most trample the weeds outside.

“So, you’re called Lucifer, right?”

Lucifer nodded, utterly dejected.

“How did you get to the monastery?” Charlotte continued to ask.

Lucifer replied: “I fell from the sky, didn’t expect to land at the monastery.”

“And the collar around your neck?” Charlotte blinked her eyes again.

Lucifer said: “It should be restraining my power. I encountered an exceedingly strong opponent and ended up defeated by them.”

Charlotte suddenly sighed, looked at Lucifer with loving eyes, then shook her head, saying, “Child, you rest for a bit, I’ll bring you something to eat.”

“Wait, I’m telling the truth…” watching Charlotte exit the tent, Lucifer eventually swallowed her words back… utterly dejected.

…

“Is the child awake?”

Outside the tent, the woodcutter Amm had built a fire and was cooking a pot of meat stew using simple utensils he carried. For a woodcutter like Amm, once deep in the forest for chopping trees, he’d have to stay for several days, so carrying cooking utensils wasn’t unusual.

“Awake, yes.” Charlotte sighed: “But I’m not sure if she hit her head, I feel this child is a bit strange.”

Charlotte briefly recounted what she heard in the tent. The woodcutter Amm gaped, then burst out laughing: “My kids sometimes say they’re Superman; children at this age tend to have quite the imaginations.”

“That’s true, but if we can’t find out where she lives, it’s hard to manage,” Charlotte said worriedly.

Uncle Amm, who was about forty years old and had children himself, seemed to have some understanding of this matter. He comforted Charlotte, saying, “Don’t worry. From what you told me about how you found this child, she must have encountered something frightening; otherwise, why would she be collared by someone. Oh, I wonder what she went through before. Poor child… Maybe she said those things just to protect herself.”

“Hopefully.” Charlotte nodded.

Uncle Amm said, “However, if you want to send her to the village, it’s not possible right now.”

Charlotte was taken aback, “Why?”

Uncle Amm said, “Wasn’t there a fierce storm yesterday? The road out of the village suffered a landslide and is now impassable.”

“How could this be…” Charlotte was stunned.

At this moment, Uncle Amm suddenly looked behind Charlotte—towards the tent—and exclaimed in surprise, “The child, the child!”

Charlotte quickly turned around and saw Lucifer’s small silhouette running swiftly into the forest, and with the darkening sky, the figure soon disappeared.

“This is bad, the forest is dangerous at night because of beasts!” Uncle Amm panicked immediately.

Without a word, he grabbed an axe and chased after the child, while Charlotte lifted her skirt and followed him.

…

…

Qata Clubhouse.

The citywide blackout also affected this rich enclave, so the security guards at the clubhouse appeared somewhat lackluster.

When Arno and Carol arrived at the front of Qata Clubhouse, they could see a bit of light inside, but the surroundings were mostly in darkness, likely due to the clubhouse’s small generator providing power.

“How should we get in?” Arno pulled Caroline back in front of the clubhouse door, afraid she might rush in like she had done earlier at ‘White Hell’ Bar.

Evidently, a place like Qata Clubhouse which offers enjoyment for the rich cannot really be compared to an unremarkable bar, and he was afraid Caroline would be thrown out.

Caroline suddenly glanced at Arno and said, “Can’t you go in?”

Arno was taken aback and then shook his head, “How could I enter such a place? The expenses are too high.”

Caroline also shook her head, “Who said anything about spending? I mean, you should walk right in. Remember, just earlier in front of the bar, that guy totally mistook you for Harry.”

With that, Caroline directly took off Arno’s glasses and tousled his nerd-like hair, “Hmm, like this, you still have some potential of being mistaken for someone else.”

“But I…” Arno anxiously wanted to say more.

Caroline was already pushing him towards the clubhouse door, “Since Harry works inside, the people here must know him. Maybe we’ll find out about Harry’s whereabouts. Perhaps Harry is in the clubhouse right now.”

“But I… I really can’t!” Arno frantically tried to assert something.

At this moment, the security guards at the clubhouse had already noticed the two sneaky characters approaching. One guard directly took a flashlight and walked over, “You two, what are you up to? The place is closed today, no business, off you go… Oh, it’s Harry.”

With the light source behind, the two couldn’t clearly see the guard’s face, but evidently the guard could… Having heard him, Arno could only sigh and glare at Caroline, saying hesitantly, “Uh… Yes, it’s me.”

The guard quickly approached and pressed the flashlight, “Harry, where the hell have you been this past month, not showing up for work. The manager told me to clear out your locker if you don’t show up next week.”

“I… had some stuff to handle, went back to my hometown,” Arno turned his face away as much as possible, seeming afraid to meet the guard’s gaze.

The guard paused, then looked at Caroline curiously, “And this young lady is?”

“She… she’s…” Arno began.

Caroline calmly said, “I’m his employer. I heard this place is fun, so I asked him to bring me here. Who knew… it’s really closed?”

Upon hearing this, the guard smiled cooperatively at Arno and courteously said, “Yes, ma’am, the power’s out today, can’t operate. Even the air conditioning in the security booth is off, I’m sweating buckets.”

“That’s really unfortunate.” Caroline shook her head, looking unimpressed, “Seems this place isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

The guard didn’t say anything—the security’s creed is not to offend customers.

In fact, this eye-catching girl, compared to some grumpy-aged women at the clubhouse, is really nothing.

“Sorry for the inconvenience.” The guard chuckled.

Caroline suddenly said, “Harry, since it’s closed, go inside and get your stuff. Later we’ll drive to blow some wind, I want to take a spin around Bread Mountain.”

“Get… my stuff?” Arno practically bit Caroline’s ear, “I don’t have anything to get!”

“Just go get it… Check the locker for clues!” Caroline whispered.

Their ear-whispering in the guard’s eyes resembled a flirty couple, so he didn’t pay much attention—in fact, in Qata Clubhouse, the charming boys are skilled at pleasing women.

“But… I don’t have the key, how am I supposed to get anything…” Arno’s face tightened further.

Unexpectedly, Caroline suddenly shouted, “What! You forgot the key? Are you an idiot? I’ve wasted my time coming here with you, and now you say no key? I could spend my money on a trained dog instead!”

Watching the woman swing her purse at Arno, the guard sighed quietly… These male dancers may enjoy good food and clothing, but eventually, they’re just for the women’s amusement, barely different from dogs.

“No problem, there are spare keys in the security booth, I’ll get you in.” The guard said quickly, “Don’t let these little things ruin your mood.”

“Didn’t you hear her? Why are you still standing there like a log?” Caroline swung her purse again at Arno’s shoulder, taking on a commanding tone.

“Harry, come. Don’t waste your time.” The guard grabbed Arno’s arm and led him into the clubhouse.

“Go, I’ll wait for you here, be quick!”

Caroline’s voice came from behind.

Security Guard looked at Arno with a sympathetic gaze, sighing, “Buddy, what you said was right, being in your line of work is indeed tough.”

“Ha… Yeah, is it…” Arno laughed awkwardly and glanced back at Caroline.

That woman, at this moment, secretly gave him an OK sign with a proud look on her face.