Beatrice’s logic wasn’t hard to understand. She had taken a night off to drink with her sister, and it just so happened that on that very night, the tavern exploded. The culprit turned out to be an acquaintance of Lyle’s, and it occurred after they had consumed Lyle’s famished flesh. Beatrice, already dissatisfied with Lyle, naturally connected all these coincidences into a straight line.

"Those bones in the box are theirs, I demand an explanation now!"

Alianna was soothing the aggressive Beatrice while Lyle went to inquire about the situation from the troublesome trio at the literary society.

"Another accident?" Lyle looked at these notorious troublemakers with a mocking gaze. "Mr. Delusion, so you’re a Lich now?" At this point, Mr. Delusion’s head was a complete human skull, which had nothing to do with his usual robotic appearance.

"Spiritual transmission device, I transferred my data soul into this body, I also wanted to savor the taste of a fine wine."

Mr. Gentleman chimed in from the side, "That’s right, Plague Doctor. We meant no harm. It’s just that after experiencing hunger, instead of dining on food, we desired to relish the sweetness of wine even more. Before reaching Bloody Rose, we had already visited many restaurants. We did not realize there was a limit to how much the hunger flesh could consume."

No wonder the explosive filth was so hard to clean, turns out it was sponsored by multiple restaurants.

"So, why did you choose Bloody Rose then? The City of Wandering should have more than just one tavern, right?"

Mr. Journalist chuckled. "Isn’t Beatrice Alianna’s sister? We’re all colleagues of Andrey; that makes us almost like a support group. Patronizing a friend’s place to help their business is normal, isn’t it? Maybe we could even get a discount."

Hearing Mr. Journalist’s chuckle, Beatrice, leaning against Alianna’s arm, nearly charged at them, blood red in her eyes. "I don’t need your damned ’support’!" Well, Beatrice indeed gave you three a discount; a discount on your bones.

Alianna calmed Beatrice down and exchanged a helpless glance with Lyle. Essentially, this was an accident, but all accidents involving the trio from the literary society were disasters.

Clearing her throat gently, Alianna tenderly stroked Beatrice’s hair, "Benny, your sister will do you justice on this matter, but can you please return the bodies of Mr. Gentleman and the others?"

Beatrice buried her head in Alianna’s chest for a moment, then looked up at her, "Okay, but Alianna has to be fair."

That’s more like it, with the calmer Alianna serving justice, things wouldn’t be as embarrassing for both sides. After all, Alianna was now a mature adult.

Alianna looked at the skulls of Mr. Gentleman and the rest, her face stern.

"Mr. Gentleman, Mr. Journalist, Mr. Delusion. As Benny’s sister, I am very upset about the damage you did to Benny’s tavern! Beatrice is Naslan family’s treasure, and no one has ever hurt my family like this! To hurt Beatrice is to make an enemy of Naslan! Letting my lovely sister suffer both emotionally and financially, you must pay for your actions!" Lyle understood Alianna’s approach; she was verbally favoring Beatrice, allowing the vampire sister to feel her elder’s love. Once Beatrice was happy, her pursuit of the literary society trio would naturally weaken.

Alianna’s upcoming punishment would certainly raise high expectations but be gently executed, acceptable to both parties and saving face for everyone.

True to Alianna’s character!

"First of all, for the losses suffered by Bloody Rose after the explosion, you three must bear all the costs." Perfectly reasonable.

The three skulls nodded in agreement.

The first punishment was cheerfully agreed upon, and Alianna’s face also showed a tender smile, as comforting as the warm sun melting snow.

"Then there’s the matter of repairing the tavern. Benny, has the filth in the tavern been cleared up yet?"

"No, sister, it’s too much, who knows what they ate. That damned stuff had some terrible reaction on my counter and the floor, now it’s like a big, stinking rock! My staff fainted from the stench while cleaning it! They were sent to the Healer Center for emergency treatment, diagnosed with third-degree corrosive poisoning!"

Alianna smiled, eyes narrowed as she looked at the three skulls. "So, gentlemen, you will also assist in cleaning up the aftermath at the tavern." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Of course, Lyle silently nodded in agreement. With this, the dispute should be over, Alianna truly is an angel.

"Well then, please gentlemen, lick the filth in Benny’s tavern clean," Alianna said gently.

Lick? I must have heard wrong—it’s supposed to be clean up, right? Lyle looked at Anna’s sunny smile and suddenly remembered, "As warmth returns to chill, tis hardest to be still. After the snow ceases, comes the deepest freeze."

"Gentlemen, use your tongues to lick Benny’s tavern spotless. The mess you caused with your greedy appetites should teach the source of the sin a lesson, shouldn’t it?"

Lyle looked at Alianna and asked softly, "Anna, you heard it too, didn’t you? That stuff is now as hard as stone, and moreover, it’s poisonous and corrosive."

Alianna smiled as she tenderly stroked the happy Beatrice’s head. "That’s right, but isn’t Lyle here? For Sir Lyle, replacing tongues is an easy task, isn’t it? As long as you’re here, we can have as many licking tongues as we want."

Lyle was mistaken; Alianna was one of the Naslan sisters—Alianna of Naslan—who would cast aside everything for her family’s sake. What is face? That’s something you find on the face of one’s beloved little sister.

In the face of Alianna’s punishment, the three skulls didn’t object, but instead turned their heads to look at Lyle, their soul fires flickering through the eye sockets.

"Oh, brave warriors~"

The nightmare-like voice of Alianna echoed once more.

"Gentlemen, I will have my sister Helena plant soul marks on your bodies. If you run away, your bodies will ’die’ in the field of soul studies, and henceforth, you can only live on as a skull."

Mr. Reporter and Sir Gentleman, along with Lyle, all made the same swallow. This time, the trio was truly going to suffer.

"Mr. Delusion, where do you think you’re going?" Lyle noticed that Mr. Delusion had already broken away from the group and was rolling towards the door.

"I’m slipping away."

Mr. Reporter and Sir Gentleman instantly followed suit, not to escape, but to give chase.

"Catch Delusion; he has a data soul! He doesn’t need a body at all, as long as he connects to metal machinery, he’s absolutely fine!!" Mr. Reporter screamed, increasing the speed of his skull rotation.

Sir Gentleman rolled and suddenly his jaw dropped open; his skull shot out, accurately striking Mr. Delusion on the forehead, bringing his rolling to a halt!

"That’s low, Delusion! Good brothers share their blessings and face hardships together! And here you are, sneaking off!!!"

"Damn gentleman! As if I don’t know what you’re thinking! You’re in the same boat; you’d definitely run too!"

"That’s all your assumption; now we die together!"

In the end, the three skulls were still brought together by their sincere friendship.