“Thank you for shopping at Whispering Pages!” Bella said with a smile that brightened up the room like a beacon of happiness.
“T-thanks.” The male customer bashfully said, and he left the store with a bag of books and a blush on his cheeks.
“Mm.” Bella hummed a gentle tune while taking a box of new books from under the counter, and then walked to one of the shelves.
She began filling the empty shelves with the scent of new books lingering in the air. It was a smell she loved.
“Bella, why are you smiling so much?” Emma laid flat on her stomach on the nearby couch, looking at her with a suspicious gaze.
“I am always smiling.” Bella replied with a cheeky smile and glanced at the little girl, who was doing nothing but laze around. “Miss Emma, mind giving me a hand?”
“No!” Emma shook her head in rejection. “I am tired…”
Bella wryly smiled and then heard the bell above the door jingle, signaling the entrance of new customers.
“Welcome to Whispering Pages; I’ll be with you shortly!”
“Okay!” A chirpy-sounding young woman said, and browsed the shelves in search of a new book to spend her evening with.
She was lovely-looking with cute features, resembling those of a cat, and radiated innocence as if she had just entered adulthood.
As she removed one of the books from the shelf, through the gap between the books on the shelf, she saw a wanted poster nailed to the wall.
It was a red-wanted poster with a detailed picture of a purple-eyed man with a devilishly charming smile. It was clear that he was not a person to mess with.
“That man…” She put the book back on the shelf and walked over to the counter, almost leaning over it as she tried to catch a proper glimpse of the wanted poster.
“Hey, who is he?” She asked, pointing towards the red wanted poster.
Bella and Emma looked over, seeing her pointing at a very familiar poster. They wondered why she wanted to know.
“He goes by the name of Ambrose.” Bella put the box down and walked over to her.
“Aha.” She let out a short laugh and looked at the beautiful red-eyed woman with a curious eyebrow raise. “You must be close to him. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have his poster nailed on the wall.”
Bella walked to the other side of the counter. She then started placing pamphlets on the advertising shelf.
“Oh, we don’t know him.” Bella said with a calm smile. “I just like the way he looks.”
She didn’t know, but she had a slight bad feeling about this chirpy-sounding girl.
She indeed sounded innocent, looked cute, and acted like she was here just for a new book. However, something was odd about her round, gray eyes, but she couldn’t tell what.
“Are you sure?” The chirpy-sounding girl asked and pointed at the other posters. “Those have the same name. Ambrose. Yet, in those images, he doesn’t look that attractive.”
“I don’t know, but I do like his previous look as well.” Bella smiled brightly. “Those pictures radiate mysteriousness, doesn’t it? I find that attractive.”
“Hmm, aha, I see.” She laughed innocently, but it sounded a little fake.
She then shrugged her shoulders, took one of the pamphlets, and browsed through it with a nonchalant look.
“Does this Ambrose visit this place often?” She asked nonchalantly. “I know he is from Amaterasu.”
“Never seen him,” Bella replied. “It’s very unlikely for a person with status as high as his to visit my measly store.”
“I am not too sure about that…” She looked around the store and caught the gaze of Emma, who immediately hid behind the bookstore.
“I think he was here. Only recently.” She tapped her finger against the counter and coldly smiled at Bella. “Are you protecting a criminal?”
“A wild accusation.” Bella looked surprised and touched her chest firmly. “I hope you have some proof to back up your accusation!”
“Ah, I don’t have any.” She smiled innocently. “I can’t also report to the Sanctorioum of Inqusitors without a proper proof.”
“You are… Inquisitor?” Bella’s smile slightly faded away.
As she lowered one of her arms, the chat interface appeared out of sight, and she quickly wrote a quick, messy message without looking away from the chirpy girl.
“Ah, yes.” The chirpy-sounding girl smiled and snapped her long-nailed fingers.
In an instant, her clothes changed into a pure red color, her sundress changed into a high-collared robe, and a tophat appeared on top of her brunette hair.
“My name is Red Inquisitor, Coraline Bridger.” Coraline tipped her tophat and bowed. “A few spies of mine said that they saw a person resembling a famous criminal, Ambrose, near here.
“And now, I saw those posters on the wall. It got my mind running. Perhaps this is the place where he is hiding.”
“I can assure you that I don’t know of him, and he hasn’t visited this place.” Bella said firmly while pressing “send” on the message. “However, if I do see him, I will be sure to send a message to the Sanctorioum.”
“Hmm, that is not good enough, you see.” Coraline grabbed her by the hand and pulled her closer, their faces almost touching. “I can smell a scent of man from you.”
Bella’s eyes widened, and she yanked her hand back. “That is extremely rude. I thought Inquisitors had manners.”
“Ah, you have a sharp tongue.” Coraline’s eyes squinted with a cold light, and she raised her hand, then slapped Bella across the face.
lightsnοvεl Thud—Bella fell to the ground with a stunned look, a little bit of blue blood dripping down from her nose.
“Bella!” Emma screamed and ran towards her, but then Coraline grabbed her by the arm.
“Ah!”
“Mind telling me where he is?” Coraline pulled Emma closer without caring whether she hurt her and whispered venomously. “Well, little girl? Have you seen that man visit this place?”
“N-no!” Emma screamed and tried to pull her arm back, but it was being held by a firm grip, as if her hand were stuck.
“Hands off her!”
Swoosh—a sharp sword cut through the air.
“Oh.” Coraline grabbed the blade with her bare hand and looked at the red-eyed woman with a smirk. “You are attacking an Inquisitor. That is a criminal offense. I’ll be taking you with me.”
“Mortal Style, Nachbilder!” Bella vanished from her current spot and smashed her fist across Coraline’s face.
Smack—Coraline barely flinched, and instead smiled with a sickening look.
However, Bella had no intention to injure her.
In that small time frame, she quickly rescued Emma from her clutches and escaped with her to the upstairs.
“Ah, you are running?” Coraline picked up the sword, which Bella used to attack her, and tapped it against her hand while slowly approaching the stairs.
“You cannot escape. I have already scouted every possible escape route. If you try to leave through the window, my spies will catch you~
“Come with me willingly, stupid bitch!”
Crack—at that moment, the windows shattered behind her with a loud boom.action
“?!” Coraline snapped her head around, and panic flashed across her face.
“Who is the bitch?!” A demonic scream reverberated across the bookstore.
A purple-eyed man with an enraged look on his face flew through the shattered windows and grabbed her by the throat, then flew through several concrete walls, using her body as a wrecking ball.
Coraline coughed blood and landed a punch on her assailant’s face, but he didn’t flinch.
He simply looked at her coldly in the face and smashed her body down on the concrete pavement. The pavement cracked like a vase, and she coughed up blood, looking like her spine might have shattered from the impact.
“So, Inquisitors have come knocking. A big mistake!”