Chapter 110: Someone Who Self-Indoctrinates Is Truly Terrifying!

In this deadly struggle shrouded in darkness, eight of the ten assassins had already fallen. Ruby did not rush to find the remaining two but instead wandered around the villa a few times. When he reappeared, he held several transparent crystals in his hand. Based on the intelligence he had extracted from Assassin Six, there was no doubt these crystals were extremely dangerous. After some thought, he slipped them into his pocket.

However, when he returned to the hall, he unexpectedly caught sight of a splash of pink—surprisingly vivid under the faint moonlight. As Ruby took a closer look, he wished he could just turn and leave. The pink-haired girl lay on the ground, bound hand and foot, unable to move. Upon seeing him, she struggled wildly like a fish flapping out of water.

"Ruby, don’t come any closer!" Eve pleaded desperately.

Eve tried to stop Ruby from advancing because beside her stood a silent man calmly wiping his weapon with a cloth—a scythe entwined with chains. The inverted cross tattoo on his face gave him the chilling aura of a grim reaper.

"Eva Edel Starnight, care to explain why you’re here?" Ruby naturally recognized the man known as Number One, but at that moment, his curiosity was piqued more by how Number One had dragged Eve out from the safe cellar.

"I—I wasn’t following them to the refuge," she stammered.

Ruby’s tone betrayed a trace of anger, and Eve, knowing she was at fault, lowered her voice in response.

"Why not?"

"I remembered there was some gunpowder in the room. I took it out to experiment with it, hoping to give it to you. Didn’t you say it could be used as a weapon..."

Since the anti-magic space prevented the use of items, anything taken out beforehand could still have an effect. Eve had been foolishly wandering around with the gunpowder in hand looking for Ruby when she was captured.

"At such a critical moment, you disobey the teacher’s orders and leave to seek refuge on your own, conduct experiments in your room, and now you’re a hostage holding me back? Are you out of your mind?" Ruby’s veins bulged with frustration upon hearing this. She had secretly conducted experiments again! If conditions allowed, he would have pinched Eve’s cheeks until they turned blue. She was too stubborn, and if things continued like this, he would be doomed by his own disciple sooner or later.

"What? Are you blaming me? I was just trying to help!" Eve snapped back, furious. After all, she was a young girl in her prime, and Ruby had called her brainless. Although Sairan once said that comparing her to a pig was an insult to pigs, Eve refused to accept that.

"Actually, you haven’t helped me at all. Please, try using your brain once in a while and consider whether what you’re doing is right."

"Then just leave me alone. I might as well die."

Eve pouted, burying her face in the ground as she pretended to be dead.

"How can I leave you alone? You’re still being stubborn in this situation."

"You care about me so much. Does that mean you like me?" The pink-haired girl lifted her face toward Ruby again, a happy smile playing on her lips.

"Care? You’re a student. It’s my duty to protect you."

"No, I mean the kind of care that comes from liking someone. Tell me—I won’t laugh."

"Wait, when did you get the idea that I like you?" Ruby was certain there had been some misunderstanding. He had never shown even the slightest hint of affection toward Eve. If anything, he was always scolding her for making mistakes.

"You’re always so eager to teach me things. When I do dangerous experiments, you get angry. You even secretly changed your name to match mine."

The pink-haired girl responded shyly. In her eyes, Ruby’s tireless patience in teaching her physics meant he liked her immensely. His anger at her dangerous experiments was because he worried she might never come back if something happened to her. As for the name, who in the academy didn’t know Ruby’s surname was Starnight? He was practically preparing to marry into her family.

"That’s only because you love learning, so I taught you. Any normal person would stop you from doing experiments. And the name was randomly assigned by the vice principal!"

Ruby rubbed his forehead, feeling there must be some misconception between him and Eve. Why had she been so easily convinced she had his affection when he hadn’t done anything to suggest it?

"Ah, don’t be shy. I won’t tell anyone."

Excuses. To Eve, all of these were just flimsy excuses to cover Ruby’s thin skin. Whether or not she would respond to his feelings depended on how he behaved in the future. Miss Eve would not give her answer so easily.

"Done talking?"

Number One, who had been silently observing, realized he hadn’t had a chance to speak. The cloth he used to wipe his scythe was already worn thin. Only when Ruby, exasperated, spoke did he rasp, "Yes."

"Sorry for making you listen to so much nonsense from this idiot," Ruby nodded apologetically to Number One. Eve's meddling had almost made him forget they were still in battle mode. He had to be serious.

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Number One: A whiff of sour stench, ugh.