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촤라락.
A sword of ice appeared in Davian's hand.
"What?"
The fat man guarding the fifth floor of the prisoner holding facility felt a presence and turned his head.
The iron bars were clouded with sleep vapor.
"Just tossing and turning, I guess..."
The moment the fat man was about to turn his back.
Scratch. Scratch.
The thick iron bars were cut away as if they were grass.
"Wh-what!"
The fat man hurriedly picked up the axe hanging on the wall.
In the meantime.
From inside the iron bars, Bonita's body shot out, leaving a red trail.
She wrapped her legs around the shoulders of the fat man holding the axe with both hands.
Then, she crossed her arms and grabbed the fat man's wrists.
Crack.
As Bonita bent backward, the fat man's elbows folded in reverse.
"Kghaaa!"
This time, Bonita's legs wrapped around the fat man's neck.
"Sell me off? Or are you gonna cherish me before that? You crazy bastard."
Crack.
This time, the neck bone was twisted.
Thud.
The fat man's body with the twisted neck was slammed to the floor.
"Ugh, brutal."
"What? Davian, didn't you hear? What this bastard was saying."
"Alright, alright. Don't glare at me like that."
Bonita went to the window, pressed her body close to the wall, and surveyed the outside.
"Where is this?"
"It's not a typical criminal organization's base. There are more ordinary people than those who know how to fight."
"You sensed it too."
"And this smell..."
Bonita took several short breaths and looked at Davian.
"The smell of money, right? That smell you get when you go to a bank full of gold and silver coins."
"I think you're right."
"A place full of the smell of money all around... And the surroundings are blocked by walls."
"I'll take a look around first. You stay here."
"Davian, by yourself?"
"I got an amazing skill recently."
"Skill?"
Rare skill 'Shadow Assimilation'.
Even with the advanced skill 'Shadow Movement', there was a limit where you could be detected by opponents with high inner power even when hiding and moving in shadows.
But as it evolved into a rare skill, you could move undetected by anyone within the shadows.
It had finally become a true stealth skill.
As the level continued to increase, the duration became a whopping 54 minutes.
"Watch closely. Shadow Assimilation."
After Davian shouted the skill name, he hid in the shadows.
"Huh? What? Davian, you disappeared!"
"This is the new skill. I'll be right back, so stay here."
"Okay, I got it."
It happened to be nighttime when they were dragged here.
Shadows were everywhere.
Davian chose a wall where the moonlight didn't reach and jumped down.
'Skill Release.'
The Shadow Assimilation skill time wasn't even fully needed to adequately scout the inside of the fortress.
"Davian!"
"Wear this."
"What is this?"
"We can't go around wearing school uniforms. And here. Your sword."
"You found my sword too?"
"It was on the first floor."
Davian and Bonita put on gray robes that reached their ankles.
"Did you look all around? What is this place?"
"Loan sharking."
"What?"
"It's a loan shark base. It's huge. They seem to be making a real business out of lending money."
Bonita's expression turned cold.
"So these guys...?"
"Probably."
"Let's go down."
No one stopped Davian and Bonita as they came out from the 5th floor to the 1st floor.
Everyone had been beaten and knocked unconscious by Davian.
"It's really huge."
"It feels like they're dealing with the entire continent."
Davian pointed west.
"That side is the private army's base. In terms of numbers alone, they put most knight orders to shame. I don't know about their skills, though."
"And they dared to occupy our Count's castle with faith in something like that, loan sharks as they are? No. You said there would be someone backing them, right?"
Davian nodded.
"Like you said, if they just touched the Count's castle with only a small private army, the royal guards could be dispatched."
"Come to think of it. Whether it's someone backing them or not, that means the royal family is turning a blind eye to this matter? The Count's castle, bestowed by the royal family, has been illegally occupied by thugs?"
"We can't know whether they're knowingly turning a blind eye or they don't know at all."
"Either way, they're both turning a blind eye. Whether they knowingly closed them or closed them and didn't know."
"Oh. You're talking a lot more, Bonita Portis."
In the meantime.
The two arrived at the center of the base.
"That's the building."
"The boss of this place is in there?"
"Yeah."
"Let's go in. I need to see what kind of guy he is. I need to check out his face."
In the office of the loan shark Douglas.
Douglas couldn't help but smile as he read the report.
"Is this really possible?"
One month of illegal occupation of the Count's castle.
The Marquis had pulled some strings in advance.
The royal guards really showed no signs of moving at all.
"Is the Count's castle, bestowed by the royal family, about to become mine...? Living in a castle bestowed by the royal family, wouldn't that be the same as being a noble?"
He had more than enough money.
Now, even the Count's castle located on a secluded beach was about to fall into his hands.
What did it matter if he didn't have a noble title?
Wasn't this the life of a noble?
"The Marquis is amazing too... What's so special about one woman? Or is that woman more amazing? If I were her, I would have long since played the role of a concubine or lover to protect even the last remaining Count's castle."
It was also the Marquis who had informed him that the daughter of the Portis Count's family was coming this way.
It was also the Marquis who instructed him to lock her up well until the matter was settled.
Douglas leaned back in his chair.
"No, that wouldn't do. She has to keep her integrity to the end. That's the only way the Count's castle will become mine."
Hehehe.
Leaning back in his chair, he couldn't help but laugh.
When he went to meet her, she was pretty, but...
The Marquis, who was so busy playing tricks on her, what was so good about a woman who was already old?
And the Countess, who was about to lose the castle bestowed by the royal family for what was just a little bit of her body.
In Douglas's view, both of them were foolish.
'Come to think of it...'
When Count Carter Portis was assassinated.
The royal investigation was done haphazardly, as if they were doing it or not.
At the time, he wondered if the Count had done something wrong to the royal family.
Looking at it now.
'Marquis Harrington. He's a really scary man...'
Douglas was sure that the assassination back then was also the work of Marquis Harrington.
To get Alice Portis Countess.
He had been playing tricks since then.
Cruel and scary tricks...
Bang!
The office door was violently opened.
"Hey! You! What kind of tricks are you playing!"
Douglas looked up.
A red-haired girl had just thrown off her hood.
He had never seen red hair before.
But the face was somehow familiar.
'The Countess!'
It was a face that was the spitting image of Alice Portis Countess.
Come to think of it.
The late Count Carter Portis was famous for his red hair.
"You're the daughter of the Portis Count's family."
"So you knew all along and tried to lock us up! You despicable loan shark!"
Sreung.
Bonita drew her sword.
Anyway, it was a matter of the Portis Count's family.
Davian entrusted the matters inside the office to Bonita and surveyed the situation outside the door.
"A despicable loan shark? It's your mother who borrowed money and didn't pay it back."
"Does that justify occupying the Count's castle bestowed by the royal family? If even a single hair on our mother's head is harmed, you'll die by my hands."
"So you have to pay back the money you borrowed. Don't you think?"
Douglas pressed the button under the desk.
It was a magic tool connected to the private army commander's office, and the private army would soon be dispatched to this place.
At the same time.
Portis Count's Castle.
"I have nothing more to say, so please leave, Marquis."
The mistress of the Portis Count's family and Bonita's mother, Alice Portis, turned away with a cold expression.
"Can't you see that thugs have occupied the castle? Even the royal family has given up. At this rate, you'll lose even the one remaining castle. For the sake of Carter, who was my friend, I'll lend you money."
Alice Portis's head snapped back.
Alice, her eyes sharpened, glared at Marquis Harrington.
"Don't speak my husband's name with those lips."
"Do you still think I did it?"
Alice's tightly clenched fists trembled.
"Those... lips... shut up, you murderer."
"Oh, you shouldn't say such harsh words with those delicate lips."
"..."
Marquis Harrington dragged a chair from the drawing room and sat down.
"Since it's come to this, let's talk honestly. What do you hate so much about me?"
"Why are you doing this to me?"
"Well. I, Harrington, have never failed to get what I wanted. Except for you."
"I know you killed my husband and had people steal all our family's property..."
Marquis Harrington smirked.
"That's why I told you to come to me. If you had, none of those things would have happened."
"Crazy... You're crazy."
Marquis Harrington stood up.
"Think carefully, Countess Alice. Perhaps by next week, the loan shark will seize this castle and kick you out. Then, you'll go from being a Countess to a beggar. You might as well sell your body somewhere then, so why not come to me now..."
Slap!
Alice's hand slapped Harrington's cheek.
Harrington raised his hand, and Alice's shoulders flinched.
Harrington grabbed Alice's chin and said.
"Don't do anything you'll regret anymore. I'll come back before the end of this week, so make up your mind."
Harrington tapped Alice's lips with his thumb, turned around, and slowly left the drawing room.
"Son of a bitch..."
Thak!
Bonita spread out a newly written promissory note on the desk.
"You son of a bitch. Here's a new promissory note. Write here. How much our family borrowed. Add all the interest and put it in my name. I'll pay it back somehow."
"Why are you doing this... Why would I trust a student like you? With no collateral."
Tooduk.
Bonita tore off the 2nd-year emblem of Elton Academy from her chest and threw it in front of Douglas.
"Here's the collateral. It's an Elton Academy emblem. When I graduate, whether I join the knights or the guard, I'll give you all the salary I receive. So..."
Tears welled up in Bonita's eyes.
"So don't bully our mom... You son of a bitch..."
Tears.
Flowing tears can never reveal strength in any case.
Weakness, vulnerability, emotional upheaval.
This is the reality of tears.
Douglas, who had been rolling around in the back alleys since he was young, knew the reality of these tears better than anyone.
'A punk. Alright, I'll take you along with the Count's castle as a bonus.'
He thought that Countess Alice Portis was beautiful for her age.
The girl who appeared before him inherited that beauty as it was, and she was young.
Marquis Harrington ordered him to keep the daughter of the Portis family locked up well until the matter was over.
Bonita's tears lit a fire in Douglas's greed and desire.
'She's only rough with her mouth. The Marquis must not know that all that punk does is show up and appeal with tears. Anyway, nobles only know one thing and don't know the other.'
At this moment.
There was one thing that Douglas was greatly mistaken about.
What was flowing from Bonita's eyes.
Were by no means tears of appeal.
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