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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 197: The Poison Master

~side Miria~

On a quiet night without moonlight, Miria left the inn alone, headed to a tavern located a little away from the guild to fulfill the mission assigned by Lewis.

“Ahaha! We made a killing today!”

“Man, I seriously thought I was going to die back then!”

“Hey, lady! Bring some drinks over here!”

The tavern was bustling with adventurers who had finished their work. One man was drinking happily, apparently satisfied with his rewards, a young guy was grumbling to his friends about almost dying, and a woman was demanding for more drinks.

(I can’t believe there’s a clan base under this tavern. You never cease to amaze me, Lewis.)

In the corner of this lively tavern, however, was a single seat that no one dared approach. It seemed as if no one, not even the staff, noticed its presence.

(I was already good at hiding my presence, but thanks to the magical tool given by Lewis, no one even realizes I’m here.)

Having joined the Duke’s house intelligence division, Miria had learned how to mask her presence and manipulate the wind to conceal herself; however, her skills weren’t perfect. She could still be detected by stronger opponents or by beastmen, who were sensitive to presence.

But by using the bracelet imbued with presence-thinning and recognition-inhibiting magic from Lewis, she could not only hide herself but also mislead others into thinking she didn’t exist at all.

(Now then. There are… 13 members of the Poison Snake Claw here. The staff are likely part of them, making it 18. It’ll take some effort, but it’s manageable. Still, there seem to be unrelated adventurers around, so let’s save those for last. First, let’s deal with the main targets below.)

Lewis and Miria had realized that the members of the Poison Snake Claw, being quite prideful, all bore snake tattoos visibly on their bodies.

Thus, it was surprisingly easy to distinguish between clan members and outsiders. Among the 34 customers in this tavern, 13 bore snakes tattooed on their arms, shoulders, faces, and legs.

After surveying the tavern’s situation, Miria decided to start from the intended targets below rather than those above. She quietly disappeared from her spot and used wind detection magic to find a hidden door.

If it were Lewis, he would probably show no mercy and eliminate only the Poison Snake Claw members from above before heading down, but sadly, Miria didn’t possess his level of direct combat skills.

Consequently, if she were to attack from above, it could lead to a skirmish with other adventurers, and there was a possibility that her allies below would notice and prevent her escape.

As an intelligence officer, Miria accurately understood her own capabilities and decided it was best to take care of her assigned targets from below first before moving on to the ones above.

This mission wasn’t about a massacre that included innocent people; it required her to eliminate only the intended targets without being noticed.

(The layout matches exactly with Lewis’s prior investigation. There’s not a slight deviation in the structure either. I should be able to eliminate them without being caught.)

Thanks to Lewis’s pre-investigation, which utilized multiple detection-based spells, Miria had a complete understanding of the underground structure, the positions of the clan members, the hidden passages, and their exits stored in her mind.

Just to be safe, she used detection magic herself to double-check, confirming that everything aligned with her previous intel, prompting her to commence her actions.

(There are 47 people here in total. Of those, Lewis instructed me to take care of 27 weaklings, all of whom are gathered in a few rooms, waiting. This is proceeding as planned. In that case, let’s start by taking care of those nearest.)

It appeared that the executives were located at the farthest end of this underground facility, with low-ranking adventurers guarding them.

Miria, who silenced her footfalls with wind magic and perfectly masked her presence using the bracelet’s magic, moved to dispose of the clan members waiting in the closest room.

(There are 5 people inside.)

Reaching the door of the nearest room, Miria used detection magic to confirm the number of people inside and sensed 5 presences.

It seemed the weaklings were assigned near the entrance, likely acting as fodder for when the enemies launched an attack.

(Then, I’ll dispose of them swiftly. Silence.)

Using wind magic to create a sound barrier, she slightly opened the door and placed a small bottle into the gap.

“Go! Instant Death-chan No. 3.”

Miria said, using wind magic to lift the powder inside the bottle and slowly pour it into the room.

“W-what?!”

“Gah! I-I can’t breathe!”

“Ughhhh!”

The men inside suddenly began to writhe in agony and vomit, and just seconds later, they all collapsed to the ground, leaving no one alive to breathe.

Instant Death-chan No. 3 was a fast-acting poison, the third in Miria’s “Instant Death” series.

Its effect caused those who ingested it to hyperventilate violently, leading to repeated bouts of intense vomiting, and eventually, the poison would circulate throughout their bodies, causing their lungs to cease functioning, resulting in death.

Even more impressive, this poison left no trace in the air or even within the body; anyone witnessing a death by this poison would likely misinterpret it as food poisoning or an allergic reaction.

(Well, since I will be taking out multiple targets at once, that doesn’t matter. Now, onto the next.)

After that, Miria continued to dispatch 27 clan members without anyone noticing, often putting them to sleep with drugs beforehand and then finishing them off with various short swords or other poisons; she never forgot to perform careful disguises.

(It’s better if it appears to be the work of multiple assailants. If they realize it’s our doing and retaliate in the dead of night, Lewis’s sleeping time will be compromised. I need to ensure we can strike back at his tempo.)

Once all the weak clan members in the underground facility were dealt with, Miria emerged from the hidden passage to take care of the members in the tavern above, touching each one using presence-inhibiting and presence-thinning magic, along with recognition-inhibiting magic.

Because the clan members were drunken, none of them noticed when Miria touched them. After touching all 18, she stood near the tavern’s entrance and clapped her hands.

“Gah!”

“Gack!”

Those adventurers touched by Miria suddenly coughed, expelling their breaths as they collapsed one by one onto tables and the floor.

“Hey! What happened?!”

“What’s going on?!”

“Hey, lady! What’s wrong with you? Stay with us!”

The tavern that had been lively like a festival turned into chaos filled with screams and confusion.

This was one of the special poisons made by Miria, which entered the body of those she had touched at the moment she clapped her hands, resulting in instant death—an extremely dangerous poison.

The specific sound that activated this poison was the sound of clapping hands, which required a precise pitch and wave width, allowing only Miria, who understood the sound, to produce it.

As a wind mage, Miria could manipulate the special sound waves accurately with her magic, transmitting the vibrational sound from when it was created to when it dissipated, without a hitch over hundreds of meters.

Consequently, she could deliver the initial special sound waves regardless of distance, prolonging the sound waves until they faded completely.

If there was a flaw, it was that it was weak against barriers, and if counter-sound waves hit, it would lose its effect. If the sound waves hit a barrier, they would vanish completely, and soundproofing would prevent the sound from reaching at all.

Additionally, if another sound canceled out the sound waves she emitted, they would negate each other, meaning the poison’s effect wouldn’t reach the target.

However, since Miria was currently the only one aware of that sound frequency, the only real flaw was the barriers.

“Mission accomplished.”

Whispering softly while observing the chaos in the tavern, Miria departed without anyone noticing.

“Hehe. I wonder if Lewis will praise me for this. If I continue proving my worth, he’ll let me stay by his side, right? I long to attend to him forever and ever. Ah, dearest Lewis, I’ll be back soon.”

Emerging from the tavern, Miria smiled with an ecstatic expression as she quietly faded into the darkness to return to her beloved Lewis.

By the way, Miria was unaffected by her own poisons even if she touched them.

During the poison-making process, she tested every poison’s effects on her own body, so as a result, she developed a resistance that made her immune to any poison.

In terms of poison resistance, she exceeded even Lewis, as if Lewis ingested her finest poison, he would suffer organ failure or loss of limb functionality, while Miria would remain unharmed.

Thanks to the Hydra’s toxin, Lewis also held above-average resistance to toxins, but Miria’s resistance surpassed even that.

This was because while Lewis had mitigated the Hydra’s poison with barrier magic and abnormal status recovery, Miria had ingested her own poison without any countermeasures.

As a result, Miria had a better resistance to poison, and if one were to point out why Lewis couldn’t beat her, it would precisely be due to this poison resistance.

Two years ago, after Lewis left Miria behind mercilessly on his journey, her heart shattered and was rebuilt, leading her to develop a severe dependency on Lewis and becoming the master of poison, no one else could replicate.

Strangely, the image she projected bore a slight resemblance to how she had poisoned Lewis in her fifth life.

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I’m sorry. I originally planned to write about both Miria and Iris equally, but I ended up enjoying writing about Miria too much.

Next time, the story will side with Iris.

By the way, I’m also serializing “The Former Hero, Now a Demon Emperor Offering the World,” so please check that out too!

https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330663836544021

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