World's Best Protagonist [BL]-Chapter 96: Lead The Way

"We know where they are! Please, don’t kill me!" the man cried out.

"Fool! Don’t speak—"

The other man, who was huddled in the corner, shouted, but his voice trailed off when Claude shot him a deadly glare.

Claude turned to the whistleblower again. "Where?"

"I—In...in the Red House..." the man stammered.

Claude’s eyes flickered dangerously. The name of the house sounded ominous in his ears. In his world, there was a district called Red Pavilion, and it was a street full of brothels and whorehouses.

"Where is that place? What kind of place is it?" he asked to confirm his suspicion.

The man looked away.

Claude was irked.

He drove his fist into his gut—once, twice—until the man choked on his own spit. The pain wasn’t enough to kill, but it stole the strength from his limbs.

Then Claude whispered, low and deadly, "You will tell me where and what that place is."

The man whimpered. The other two held their breath.

"...i—it...it’s a warehouse," he coughed. "A place where we keep the products and check them, before they are delivered in the affiliated brothels..."

Claude released him with a shove. The man collapsed, heaving.

"Take me there," Claude said.

The man blinked up at him. "What?"

"You’ll lead the way," Claude repeated. "You want to live, don’t you?"

The man nodded fervently. "Y-Yes. I’ll take you. I will—I swear—just... don’t kill me."

Claude didn’t answer. He turned to the other two, still conscious and watching from opposite corners of the hut. They breathed out as if the storm had passed.

Unbeknownst to them, the glow in Claude’s eyes doesn’t only mean satisfaction from getting answers for his questions, but another thing.

The mist that seeped from between the floorboards was faint at first—nearly unnoticeable. It hissed like steam, too quiet to draw attention.

Claude stepped through the broken door, dragging the man by the collar. He didn’t look back.

"W—Where are you taking me?!" the guy yelled nervously.

He looked back at his two comrades, who pitifully looked at him, assuming that he’d be killed after he accompanied the mysterious knight to the Red House.

"I need to inform my companions first," Claude replied nonchalantly.

"You said you won’t kill me!"

"That’s why I took you out."

The guy’s brow furrowed in confusion.

Inside the hut, the air thickened. Mist finally evaporated from the ground, filling the small house with poisonous gas.

The other two coughed, their eyes widening as they realized too late. Their hands reached for the door, but the poison was swift. It burned their lungs before they could scream. Their vision blurred. They fell to the floor, twitching.

Then, a few minutes later, they all became motionless. Dead.

Outside, Claude didn’t pause. He didn’t even glance behind him. There was no mercy in his eyes. His grip on the man’s collar tightened as they began their trek back toward the mountains.

"He—hey...s—sir, you’re going the wrong way. This path leads to the monsters’ lair! We can—"

"Shut up before I shove a rock in your mouth. Speak only when asked," Claude coldly interrupted the guy.

He pushed the man after he got tired of dragging him, and then pointed his sword at his neck. "Walk on your own."

"B–But sir, this path is—argh!"

The man hurriedly walked forward, clutching his bleeding neck. The wound was shallow, but his fear was immense. The mysterious man had no hesitation to kill, therefore, he followed the path the man pointed at without any more complaints.

- - - - -

[Jade’s POV]

"Maybe I should try to look for something to eat."

Lexie shook her head in response to Allen. She dramatically opened her arms wide and exclaimed, "What else are you going to hunt in these rocks? Centipedes? Scorpions? Ew, no. Even a bird won’t fly over this mountain because of the monsters!"

I blew one of the hot potatoes I grilled on fire. It kept bouncing on my palm because it was too hot, but then, suddenly, my hands turned cold, and so was the potato.

Glancing to my side, Terrius’s lips were protruding, caught in the act of helping me with the blowing.

How did I forget I have a friend who can literally shit ice if he wants to?

"Can you blow on this too? With some ice cubes?" I brought him my mug filled with water.

Terrius obediently obeyed. The water cooled and with a swift motion of his fingers, ice cubes fell in the water.

I bumped my shoulders to his arm while grinning, "Thanks!"

Terrius beamed. I laughed. He looked proud of his power. I continued to peel the potato when Lexie grumbled.

"Sweet potatoes taste better when they’re hot."

"I’m hungry. And I care for my taste buds."

"Speaking of taste buds, have you tried the captain’s cooking, Jade?"

My eyes widened a bit. It was like a friend brought up something worthy of gossip, so now my ears perked and my head bobbed in response.

"Yeah. It’s so...so out of this world! It’s like he suddenly became illiterate and doesn’t know how to measure! How can he eat something boiled in salt with a straight face?!"

Lexie and Allen laughed.

"Boiled in salt is exaggerating it, Jade," Terrius commented, but he was grinning.

"Have you tasted his cooking?"

The three nodded.

Allen sipped on his mug and remarked, "He did once when you hadn’t joined the team yet, but then all of us reacted strongly and, ehem, a bit negatively—"

"I think he’s still hurt to this day," Lexie chimed in.

"—and he never cooked for us after that," Allen continued.

Terrius added, "He also stopped receiving us in his Sanctum."

"Because he’s still hurt."

I chuckled at Lexie insisting that. I couldn’t imagine Claude getting hurt over a few comments about his cooking. Besides, these guys were just telling the truth.

"So, why does he cook like that?"

I fired what I’ve been meaning to ask ever since I tasted that soup that can rearrange someone’s face once they taste it.

"Maybe the lack of seasoning in his world? Shouldn’t you know more about it? You’re the Keeper, aren’t you?" Lexie even quoted with her hands in the air when she mentioned the word ’Keeper’.

I almost rolled my eyes at her.

"I only found Noir’s. Honestly, I don’t know about Terrius, Etienne, or the captain’s world yet."

Terrius turned to me. His eyes were serious. "So, then, do you know where Noir can find his mother?"

I shook my head. "I didn’t even know his mother was still around. But if she’s his mother, then she must be locked up or hidden inside the royal palace?"

Their jaws fell as they stared at me in shock. Wait, they didn’t know Noir is a prince?