My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 67

The communicator rang. Margarita let out a panicked scream, then quickly grabbed the buzzing communicator and pressed the button to accept the call.

She carefully placed the communicator to her ear, then spoke into the strange water sound coming from the other end, asking:

"Um...? Hello—"

"This is the first time I've truly heard your voice. You are indeed a young child, Miss Margarita."

A voice came from there that made Margarita feel terrible. It was the voice of Duke Kosiché.

"Um...you, what do you want from me?"

Although Margarita's mood was rapidly deteriorating, she didn't act childishly. She simply took a deep breath, and feeling the encouraging look in Mr. Northon's eyes, she firmly asked her question—whatever happened next, Margarita would bravely endure it.

"It's nothing. Just letting you know that this communicator is working properly now. Each call will only last five minutes, and you can only use it again at least two months after each call—also, I will not provide any compensation if it is lost. That's all."

"Huh? Ah—huh?"

that...

So you weren't here to show off to me after all?

Margarita blinked. The innocent little blood demon wondered if she had misunderstood Duke Koschche and thought too badly of her.

Before she could say anything, Duke Kosiché continued from the other end of the communication channel:

"In short, that's all I have to say. Here—darling, take this and talk to her."

"Huh?! Wait, wait a minute—"

Darling?! Could it be... Yang Hao—wait, I... I'm not ready yet!

Because of the sudden event, Margarita even completely ignored the Duke Kosiché's deeply affectionate "Darling." She just looked around frantically, and finally, after receiving a disappointed "I can't help you" look from Mr. Northon, she nervously heard the voice of the person she had been longing for day and night through the communicator.

"So the surprise you were talking about was... Sigh. Hey? Margarita? Margarita—are you still there?"

...

It was indeed his voice. Margarita blinked, feeling as if the world before her was a hazy gray.

Margarita had never realized how much she missed him. She stood there stunned for a long while, wiping away the tears welling in her eyes with her sleeve, before, with a sense of calm and peace that had inexplicably begun to settle, she smiled and said in a slightly tearful voice:

"Yes, I... I'm still here... Yang Hao, are you doing alright over there?"

"Don't cry... I'm fine now. Except for work being a bit—oh, Kosichek... never mind, it's just that I'm a little busy with work right now, nothing's wrong. How about you? Although I can see what's going on with you, if I don't actually ask... ugh... I'm still worried..." Yang Hao helplessly comforted Margarita on the other end of the communicator, explaining his current situation. But then again, Margarita thought she just heard a strange splashing sound? Was it her imagination?

'Kosichek, stop messing around...'

She blinked, still unaware of what was going on.

"Mmm, mmm! I, I'm doing great here..." Margarita ignored everything else. The joy of being able to speak with Yang Hao again had made her mind a jumbled mess, and she started stammering. "I, I'm with Minos now, learning life lessons from a senior Blood Demon... I, I should be able to come to you soon..."

"Oh? That's for the best. Is there anything you need? Have you been eating properly lately? And speaking of which, I've noticed you going to a strange place every night... ah..."

"That's a place for cultivation! Everything will be fine, and I'm eating well! Don't worry about me..."

Since transforming into a True Ancestor, Margarita's heightened senses seemed to detect a strange sound coming from the communicator. Was it the sound of someone sucking on something? Or was it simply static caused by the weakening signal as the Originium Arts reached their limits due to the distance between the communicators?

She blinked dryly, and when she noticed that more than two minutes had passed in the call, she became nervous—she still had so much to say!

“It’s impossible for me not to worry about you…” Yang Hao on the other end of the communicator seemed to have noticed the timing issue as well. “After all, you’ve always been someone I worry about. Sigh… Margarita, if you need anything, you must tell me, understand? I can’t just watch you all alone out there…”

"I have a teacher here, and I also have a pet crab, so I won't be all alone..."

"That would be best..."

Time is almost up. It seems the communicator is nearing its limit; the static coming from the other end is increasing...

I need to muster up my courage!

Margarita closed her eyes tightly, took a deep breath, and mustered her courage. Tensely, she spoke her request into the communicator:

"Yang Hao...can you wait for me...?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Didn't I already promise you? I'll wait for you, don't worry—who knows, by then I might have transformed into a living being myself." The man on the other end of the communicator sighed, his tone one of utter helplessness yet also one of restraint, indicating that he would definitely keep his promise.

"Ok!"

A huge weight was finally lifted from Margarita's shoulders.

Overjoyed, she watched as the communicator shut down due to depletion of her Originium Arts reserves. She felt she could finally focus entirely on her own growth! Really!

Watching the overjoyed Margarita, who had also been eavesdropping on their conversation for five minutes, Mr. Northon broke out in a cold sweat, unsure whether he should explain to Margarita that the noises he had just heard weren't actually noise, but rather...

'...That's still too far for that child.'

She muttered to herself, wiping the sweat from her face with her clothes, turning her flushed cheeks to the side, trying to recover quickly. 'That Koschke really did it?! Poor Margarita, she'd go crazy if she knew what they were doing there…'

Although Mr. Northrend is a single female blood demon who has lived for over 600 years, that doesn't mean she doesn't understand what's going on...

She decided to hold off on telling Margarita the "truth" about the noise she'd heard during their conversation earlier that day. But sooner or later, Margarita would have to face that truth. What should she do?

She swallowed hard, thinking she'd deal with it later.

...... ......

On the other side, in the bathroom next to the Duke of Kosice's bedroom in the Duke's residence.

"Koschke..."

"Hehe? You talk about your things, and I'll do mine. Isn't that great?"

"But this is too..."

"But I didn't tell you to move, did I? Hehe, look at your face, you seem quite comfortable, don't you?"

"Hiss... I can't argue with that... I can only hope that Margarita hasn't realized what's going on..."

Yang Hao sighed awkwardly. After using his hands, still sticky with hot water, to wipe the sticky residue from his wife's face as she lay in the bathtub, he felt as if his wife had awakened some rather unusual fetish...

Chapter 149

The period from April 6th to April 9th ​​will be the perfect time for Yang Hao and the Duke's capable men to carry out a "major purge".

On the one hand, the Imperial Guard had no intention of protecting the nobles and merchants suspected of "treason." They simply stated that they would "report the facts" and then quickly interrogated the prisoners handed over to them by Duke Kosiché, before turning their attention to Duke Nikolai to gather evidence.

On the other hand, many former unemployed workers and laborers in the Duchy of Coschiece regained their jobs through the "work relief" program, enabling them to support their families and even save money. They didn't care how the nobles were treated.

For this segment of the population, they were not part of the aristocracy, harbored widespread resentment towards the merchants who monopolized daily necessities, and most of them had some degree of conflict with the aristocracy. In short, aside from a very small number of minor nobles who maintained good relations with them, the deaths or imprisonments of the vast majority of nobles were irrelevant to them.

After the Duke of Cosice announced the charges against all the arrested nobles and merchants, the lower and middle classes of the four cities rejoiced, expressing their strong approval of the Duke's decision: these heinous nobles and merchants were dead, their houses would be demolished and rebuilt, and their lives as the lower classes would improve to some extent. It was something to celebrate.

Besides that... the most important reason is that those nobles and merchants did not have a real army, while they were facing the Duchy of Koschche, which had tens of thousands of troops.

"When I went to inspect the trial this morning, good heavens, a nobleman who trafficked people was still trying to deny that he was in the business of transporting meat and animals! I had the judge execute him on the spot, and now I feel much more relaxed."

On the afternoon of April 9th, as Yang Hao sat on the bed watching Monica fix Koschcher's hair, he uttered this complaint shortly after returning from an inspection of the court.

"Nobles have many excuses, it's normal. Ignore them, just follow our pace." Kosiché was unconcerned; she'd seen it all before.

“But Kosichek, last night when I asked you why you did that kind of thing while I was talking to Margarita, you made a lot of excuses, like saying I didn't hand over my documents—”

"...Do you have a problem with my excuse? Or is it that my dear husband wants to try again tonight?" Kosiché raised an eyebrow, thinking to herself, what's wrong with her being a little coquettish with her husband? Besides, the person her husband is talking to is his first love. If I can be willful a few times and you feel comfortable, is there a problem?

She turned her head and glared at Yang Hao. Monica, standing to the side, watched the two adults' very natural and intimate behavior, and while feeling envious, she shrugged helplessly.

“No, no objection.” Yang Hao chuckled dryly, intending to change the subject: “But speaking of which, Kosic, I have to go see Mr. Groivazier this afternoon—I need to see if he can offer any good suggestions. Then later I have to go to the Gauls; they seem to have made some new discoveries.”

"I understand about Mr. Groivazel's situation. What about the Gauls?"

"In short, they seem to have found a way for a mischievous kid to transport weapons into our city, and they've also captured a few prisoners who may still be alive—although the way they discovered that route was a bit...exciting."

"What happened? I heard from the snake scales that a noble building was demolished?"

"This is what happened..."

Basically, earlier this morning, when the Gauls were ordered to take civil servants to recover the ill-gotten gains of a high-ranking nobleman (who had already been executed), they unexpectedly discovered a secret passage beneath the nobleman's mansion.

However, because there were many sounds coming from behind the secret passage that should be from those hiding, and waiting for the police and engineering experts to arrive would be too slow! So the Templar commander on the scene made a snap decision: the civil servants would move the gold, money, artwork, and anything of value that could be recycled into the national treasury, and then they would plant bombs at the entrance of the underground passage, at the secret passage protected by the metal door, to blow it up.

Because they already had experience, the Gauls gave them countless instructions and carefully calculated the bomb's yield. They calculated the yield of a bomb that could penetrate the gate without damaging the building structure, then set a timer to detonate the bomb. After that, everyone immediately evacuated the area, preparing to rush in for a thorough search only after the bomb had detonated: this was just in case.

As it turned out, this "just in case" approach actually worked.

Amidst the pallor of the Templar commander on the scene, the stunned gazes of the onlookers, and the hushed calculations of the property damage by the civil servants... a deafening explosion reduced the entire noble mansion to ruins.

And it wasn't just reduced to ruins. After the explosion, everyone present saw that a spot had unnaturally sunken several meters, almost ten meters deep... right where the secret passage was located.

"Shortly after the Serpent Scales, the civil servants who rushed over with the city plans, and the Kazimierz pony arrived at the scene, they all came to the same conclusion: the rascal had bribed a mid-level official in the administration office, and then? Then they dug a smuggling tunnel under their house. It was used to transport their weapons—but because it was both a tunnel and a storage area, the Gauls' bombs blew open the door and detonated the unstable Originium bombs inside."

"Originium bomb? Did you go to the contaminated area?" Kosichä's heart leaped into her throat: She knew her meddlesome husband would definitely go to check what was going on, and what if he had entered the contaminated area...

"No, no." Fortunately, Yang Hao was well aware of his importance and did not step into the contaminated area—he didn't even go near the buildings to inspect them. "I just had the workers put on protective suits and clean up the pollutants and the building debris before I came back."

"...Phew, that's good. Monica, keep an eye on him, don't let him go to dangerous places."

“I’ve already tried to persuade him, but Lord Koschche, only you can manage Lord Yang Hao,” Monica said with a wry smile. “I’m just the head maid, after all, I don’t have that authority—or perhaps Lord Yang Hao, after reflecting on your actions, could you listen to my opinions more?”

"Ah ha ha..."

Yang Hao succumbed to the two women's complaints. But to be honest, it wasn't that he was unwilling to listen to Monica, the head maid; it was simply that the reward was too tempting, making Yang Hao feel it necessary to take the risk and give it a try.

for example.

If Head Maid Monica keeps Yang Hao in a safe place and can guarantee that his territory has 100% work efficiency every day, then Yang Hao could potentially increase that 100% work efficiency to 200% by taking risks to seek opportunities. And the risks he needs to take are likely to be nothing more than a trivial matter that can be resolved by having diarrhea for one night, or he could even simply avoid it altogether.

Compared to the risks, the rewards were simply too great. Yang Hao could now understand why some capitalists would be willing to risk being beheaded to pursue a 500% profit—it was just too tempting!

However, he wouldn't just tell his head maid and wife that. So after a few dry laughs, the couple had lunch together, rested for a bit, and then planned to go about their respective work in the afternoon.

In the afternoon, Kosichrie had to handle her usual business, and recently she also had to shield Yang Hao from scrutiny from above, so she was quite busy.

Yang Hao, on the other hand, took the head maid to find Mr. Grovazl. He planned to improve his relationship with Grovazl and ask the Wendigo scholars if they could help the Duchy of Kosiché find a few more scientists.

Then, barring any unforeseen circumstances, after finishing his work at the Duke's mansion, he'd have to go find the Gauls to inquire about the prisoners' condition, and incidentally explain their peculiar talent for destroying buildings—if they didn't limit the frequency of their bomb use, they'd probably blow up almost all the noble residences with other uses and values...

Finally, after the Gauls finished their work, Yang Hao had to go find the little pony.

"Lord Yang Hao, may I ask why you went to see the Kazimierz?" Monica suddenly became wary. This serious and meticulous head maid paid close attention to the Kazimierz's movements, not for any other reason than that she was worried that her Lord Yang Hao might have gone astray.

“...Miss Theresa said that I left something out there last time, but I've thought about it for a long time and still can't figure out what I left out—and she also said that the Deep Sea Hunters who entered the city a few days ago have already been given some information, so I have to go and take a look.”

“...So you have already—” Monica looked at Yang Hao with disgust. She probably knew that Yang Hao must have done something strange over there, which was why he said that he had “missed something.”

“Monica, you’ve misunderstood. Really, I didn’t do anything, except work—”

"Yes Yes."

...The master and servant moved towards the research department within the Duke's mansion, and soon they found Mr. Großwazel...

...... ......

For the Duchy of Koschei, the economic downturn is gradually subsiding. However, for the deep-sea hunters who have only recently arrived in the Duchy of Koschei, their stay in this city is limited.

The coastal materials they carried were only enough to exchange for enough money for ten of them to live on for two months. Moreover, considering that finding the puppeteer who Sonia prophesied could save the Deepsea Hunters would take a considerable amount of time, Rabi was somewhat pessimistic, thinking that two months would not be enough.

However, Sonia remained optimistic. She discovered that while the powerful figure's aura wasn't constant, he was definitely in this city, and likely held a very important position within it.

“But then again, Sonia, you say he can save us… but how can we get him to save us?”

Accompanying Sonia in her search of the places where the puppeteer had appeared, without carrying any weapons but still dressed in her hometown clothing, Rabbi felt both impressed by the safety of the city and puzzled by Sonia's plans.

After all, according to Sonia's prophecy, that great being could save their people—although it certainly couldn't be the entire Agor race fighting against the deep sea, but at the very least, their people should be able to be saved.

But even if we take her prophecy as true, how can Sonia guarantee that the great one will be willing to save them? There's no such thing as a free lunch, and the rabbi knows this very well.

Therefore, Rabi was skeptical about whether he could easily obtain the puppeteer's help. However, Sonia had already made preparations.

“He’s a puppeteer, Rabi,” Sonia murmured as she surveyed the entrance to the courthouse. “He needs puppets to do his bidding—and I don’t mind being his puppet. And it’s clear that the Deepsea Hunter is a powerful puppet; he won’t refuse us.”

“…You make a good point. After all, what puppeteer doesn’t need puppets? But the problem is, I can accept it, but what about the younger generation? You promised me a bright future for the young people in our group, which is why I came here. If they also become puppeteers of that puppeteer, do we really have a future?” Rabbi frowned. She noticed that someone had been following them for the past few days. “And someone is following us.”

"Yes, the ones following us are the puppeteer's subordinates. Perhaps he is carefully observing us, or perhaps this is an action taken by his subordinates on their own initiative—the former proves that he is very capable, while the latter proves that even if we become his puppets, we still retain a certain degree of freedom."

"You still haven't answered my question. Do we really have a future?"

"...I can't guarantee what will happen to you and the younger generation who came with me now. But the others from our hometown will."

"...I hope so."

The deep-sea hunters hope to preserve the future of their race with the help of the puppeteers, and for this reason, Sonia and others do not mind becoming puppets under the puppeteers' control.

Meanwhile, while Yang Hao was discussing matters of knowledge about the administrative department with Mr. Grovazel, he also didn't forget to consider the issue of collecting materials related to his path to ascension.

Both sides may be able to get what they need.