While Shui was walking away from the inn, Alia decided to have a little fun with him.
"What a sinful man you are. I can't believe you're pushing her away to go on a date with your fox friend."
Normally, he would just ignore her, but this time he was in a good enough mood to join her in the chatter.
"Oh please, you know as well as I do that it's not like that."
"Well, of course. No mortal capable of peeking on the secrets of the heavens could be that simple. But even if she doesn't long for your seed, do you plan on denying her pure feelings as well?"
"...Tch, either way, I'm not making a move on her. Besides, I have other business to attend to right now."
They probably thought that they were hiding themselves rather well, but Shui had noticed those following him from shadows the entire time. They had split off from those watching the Myriad Flower Pavilion, likely thinking about using him as a hostage to draw out Emily. Little did they know, they picked the worst person to target. Shui had almost completely mastered the art of controlling his presence and aura, so if he wanted to, he could have shaken off these people long ago, but he could no longer overlook those targeting Emily so he used himself as bait.
They thought that they were the hunters, but Shui was the one who inconspicuously led them into a relatively sparse area that could serve as the hunting ground. The assassins didn't suspect a thing, after all, the route that Shui took wasn't strange, so they simply thought that they were lucky. It was hard to kill in Paraj, but for the professionals here, it was the human eyes they had to be wary of rather than the array's, but it was the same for Shui.
While the assassins prepared to pounce on him, he decided to pick them off one by one. After leaving behind an illusion of himself, wrapped in his aura, Shui swiftly went behind each of the assassins and incinerated them with his evolving heart flame. It would have been more difficult if they were of a higher cultivation, but mere Earth Realm cultivators weren't on his level at all. In under a minute, Shui burnt ten men and women to their deaths and then continued on his trip. Those going after Emily would surely attempt to finish her off before she could reach the amphitheater tomorrow, so he had to reduce their number tonight.
Considering how popular Emily was, there was no way he would be able to find people openly admitting that they were going to kill her, but he was now familiar enough with the city to deduce where such a request would be posted.
He went to the red-light district, but to the less sophisticated places that would only be frequented by the poor and abnormal. After a glance, he picked a small bar to enter and looked at the wall opposite to the bartender. There were many dirty papers pinned to the wall, but he focused on the most recent one.
'Puzzle Girl - 1000 HG'
Even though this was his first time here, it was easy to interpret the notice; it was a bounty of 1000 high-quality spirit gems for Emily. Under ordinary circumstances, it would be ridiculous to put such a price on a tier 3 array master, but Shui could rationally argue that she was worth more than that because of her talent. That many spirit gems might be enough for more than one tesora-rank artifact, but Emily had the potential to become a tier 6 array grandmaster which could confront True Masters.
'With a reward this high, it'll be difficult to intimidate them, but it's not like I didn't expect that.'
The young duke was a perfect example. People in power or those who enjoyed their fragile authority, didn't like it when someone appeared that could be threaten them. Emily was a stunning talent that should be protected without question, but he couldn't rule out elders from the Array Association as possible enemies because he was sure that some of them didn't like watching a star rise above.
Subsequent to checking the bounty, Shui left the bar and vanished amidst the crowd. He didn't have a list to rely on, but the auras of every single person that had stalked Emily since the first round were committed to memory. The plan he had in mind was very heavy-handed and rough, but for any assassin, it should be obvious that revenge could come at any time. Even if it was revenge for a target that they hadn't killed yet.
To find the potential enemies, Shui relied on his impressive spiritual sense to track the auras that he remembered. If they hadn't left the city and were staying in any location that could inspire suspicion, then that was enough. If he had the leeway then he would search their memory first before he passed judgement, but otherwise,
'If they attack first then it's just self-defense. It's not my fault that they threw away their lives.'
Unlike when he erased the ones who were following him, there would be benefits to leaving corpses behind so Shui held back on his use of his heart flame. After all, the entire point of his plan was to spread fear by mercilessly killing anyone who was targeting Emily, so it was necessary for word of the 'props' to go around. He might not be able to find all the hidden snakes, but as long as they could see the fire he started, then he could deter most of them.
"Well now, I better hurry up so I can catch that concert."
While Emil was reducing the number of enemies directly, the young duke's guardian was hoping to do something similar. With one of the latest communication terminals in the form of a metal lid that even allowed for them to see the face of the one they were talking to, the guardian bowed as he reported the details of the past two days to his master.
"My Lord, please persuade your child against offending Grandmaster Astar over this small matter."
The guardian had also been moved by Emily's most recent performance, so much so that he wanted to ask his lord for permission to recruit her, but he knew not to be greedy. As he waited anxiously, Duke Eclair remained silent, seemingly pondering this matter. The guardian was left patiently in agony, but there was not a hint of resentment for his master; all he could do was have faith.
"It's a shame, but follow through with my son's order."
"...Yes, my Lord."
It would be a lie if he said that he wasn't disappointed, but that was only on the outcome, and not his master. He had been with Duke Eclair since they were kids, so even though he wanted to help Emily, the bond between servant and master was too strong to be broken by the girl. It would be hypocritical if he tried to apologize before the act, so he could only make her death as painless as possible.