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As soon as they left the royal palace, Sara asked.
"But Davian! Didn't Sumnia say that the magistrate was an accomplice? Then why were you..."
"I need to make him feel safe first, and then get the evidence."
"Ah... Then why did you assign Mons to Duke Espin? I heard Duke Espin has tremendous power."
"Because Sumnia might use poison again."
"Aha!"
"I also told him not to even think of betraying us. I ordered him to be careful because I instructed Mons to behead him if he tried to do anything suspicious."
Sara clenched her fist and hit it with her other hand.
"Davian, you have a plan for everything. So where are we going now?"
"The royal palace will soon be bustling with activity."
"Because you're using Sumnia to find spies and accomplices?"
"Yeah. In the meantime, we'll quietly investigate the administrative magistrate's house."
"Find the evidence and deal with it all at once?"
Davian nodded.
"He's the one who's been really pulling the strings in the kingdom. If we try to attack him openly, we might not even get our money's worth."
"Then how do we find the magistrate's house in this vast capital?"
"It's simple."
Davian raised his finger and pointed to a huge mansion in the distance.
"We just need to find the biggest mansion near the royal palace."
Sara looked where Davian was pointing.
"Over there?"
"Probably."
"The magistrate is not here at the moment."
"Would it be alright if I waited inside? I have something I must tell him today."
"What is your name and title?"
"I am Davian Nown, the third son of the Count Nown family. I'm a second-year student at Elton Academy."
"Please come in."
Davian and Sara followed the servant's guidance and arrived at the reception room inside the mansion.
"The magistrate must be someone high up, there are so many servants."
"Not all of them are servants."
"Then what are they?"
"More than half seem to be secret soldiers guarding the mansion."
"Ah... I thought some of them looked strange. More than half?"
Davian nodded.
After entering Publique Solus's mansion.
He could be even more certain.
'There's something here.'
Sara asked.
"So what's the plan now? We can't just wander around someone else's mansion."
"Wait here. I'll go take a look around."
"By yourself?"
Davian got up from the reception room chair and headed towards the shadow behind the pillar.
"Yeah. I'll be back. ...Shadow Assimilation."
The skill 'Shadow Assimilation' was activated.
The deepest part of Publique Solus's mansion.
Only three people are allowed to enter here.
Magistrate Publique Solus and two servants for cleaning and care.
One of them.
A male servant with particularly dark skin and a large physique inserted a complex-shaped key into the keyhole of the magistrate's secret office.
Clang, click.
The lock opened.
The servant pushed the thick iron door.
Squeak.
The female servant who was following closely behind coughed.
"This place is blocked on all sides, how can it always be so dusty?"
"Because we clean other places every day, but not here."
"Still, it's a good thing we do a thorough cleaning once a week. It would quickly become like a useless warehouse."
Thump.
The male servant lowered the large bucket of water he was holding in his left hand to the floor.
"You're really strong. It's always amazing."
"Stop talking nonsense and let's start cleaning. We don't know when the magistrate will be back."
"I know. He's been visiting this room more often lately, hasn't he? Whenever the magistrate comes here, something always happens. I wonder if it's going to be like that again...?"
The female servant, who had bent down to wet the rag, was startled.
Although it was a dark space.
She could feel the male servant's eyes shining sharply.
The female servant's legs trembled involuntarily.
But only for a moment.
The female servant laughed and lightly tapped the male servant's chest with her palm.
"Derek, why are you looking at me like that again? Oh, you're scary."
"Watch your mouth, Anna. People with loose lips have light lives."
"What, what... Don't scare me for no reason. You're usually nice, but you change strangely sometimes, you know? Let's start cleaning! Do you know that you're subtly being ostracized among the servants because of your strange attitude?"
"I don't care."
Anna and Derek began cleaning the magistrate's secret office.
They cleaned the large office quickly, according to their precisely divided roles, as if they had been working together for a long time.
Anna looked at Derek's back as he wiped the floor.
'He's really good at his job... and he doesn't seem like a bad guy.'
Derek, who was from another continent, was sold to the capital of the Arcancia Kingdom, Kanzar City, five years ago.
Thanks to his large physique, which made him look like he was good at his job, he quickly caught the eye and stayed at Publique Solus's mansion.
Usually, he was very taciturn and didn't enjoy socializing, and once in a while, he would emit a scary look that was hard to explain.
No servant in this mansion tried to get along with Derek.
Then Anna and Derek were assigned to this secret office.
After that, Anna became the only person in this mansion who spoke to Derek.
A little while later.
"I'm done! What about you, Derek?"
"I'm done here too."
Anna, who had wrung out the rag, approached Derek.
"We're really in sync. How do we always finish at the same time?"
"Because we divided the work well."
"Anyway, you're so stiff. Would it hurt you to just say that we're in sync or something?"
"In sync? You and me?"
"Why? Aren't we kind of like that?"
Derek's gaze reached Anna's bright face, who was particularly cheerful among the servants here.
"Anna."
"Yeah?"
"If something happens to this mansion..."
"Yeah?"
"Never mind."
Derek snatched the rag from Anna's hand and plunged it into the bucket of water.
"Let's go."
"What? You're so boring."
Squeak, bang.
The thick iron door closed.
Clang, click.
He locked the lock and pulled out the complex-shaped key.
"......"
Anna looked back at Derek, who was standing tall in front of the door.
"What are you doing? Aren't you coming?"
"Go ahead. I left something behind."
"Really? Then I'll wait here, so hurry up and get it... Again! That look again! You're scary!"
"Go. Don't look back, just go."
"What, what? What's wrong?"
"Just go ahead, I'll get what I left behind and catch up."
Phew.
Anna sighed deeply and shook her head.
"Anyway, you're weird... Okay. Don't be late. It's almost dinner time."
"Okay."
"As punishment, you have to carry everything!"
Anna left all the cleaning tools she was carrying in front of Derek and started walking down the long corridor with a light step.
A little while later.
Derek opened his mouth.
"Who is it, come out."
"......"
"Don't play games, come out."
"...Impressive?"
A person suddenly popped out of the shadow behind the statue.
Black hair, young age, momentum that didn't match his age, Elton Academy uniform.
He was someone he knew well.
"You must be that Davian Nown."
"You know me?"
"Seeing as you've sneaked all the way here, there's no need to hide it anymore."
"So you're also a spy from the Marino Empire."
Davian looked at the dark-skinned servant with surprised eyes.
'He has amazing senses.'
Having used the 'Shadow Assimilation' skill, which was enhanced with a rare skill, until now.
That servant was the first to notice Davian's existence.
"I wanted to meet you. How strong are you that you're so famous?"
"You received the official document too, huh? But you didn't read it carefully, did you? It should have said to be careful if you meet me in the Arcancia Kingdom."
"That's just a story for the weak."
"So you're saying you're strong."
Derek looked around for a moment.
"Even if we fight here, if you win, you'll go into the office behind me, right?"
Davian raised both arms and nodded lightly.
Derek took out the key he had put in his pocket again.
"Then let's go in. Even if we make a lot of noise inside, the sound and vibration won't spread outside."
Ding.
A notification sound that only Davian could hear.
=====
[Quest: Win the one-on-one duel against the spy Derek and defeat Derek.]
―Reward: 20K Mana Points (x2)
―Failure: Death
=====
Failure penalty: death.
That means if he loses this duel, there's nowhere to run.
A duel that ends only when one of them dies.
Davian spread his right palm and showed it towards the door.
Meaning to open it.
Clang, click.
Squeak.
Derek opened the thick iron door and entered the secret office.
Davian immediately followed Derek.
It was his first time meeting his opponent.
He couldn't be sure, but he didn't seem like someone who would use cheap tricks.
Clang.
As Davian entered, the iron door with an automatic locking device closed on its own.
A large office.
A long desk was placed in front of the innermost wall, and various books were placed on the remaining walls.
'Even a quick glance tells me that this is an important room.'
Davian asked.
"What is this place?"
"You don't need to know."
"You're being stingy. Isn't it true that one of us has to die to get out of here?"
"......"
After thinking for a moment, Derek opened his mouth.
"This is where Publique Solus communicates with the Marino Empire. I think there's some kind of magic tool, but I don't know more than that."
"Weren't you a spy from the Marino Empire? You're talking like it's someone else's country."
"Where is the homeland for a slave? Well, if your purpose isn't to waste time, come in now."
If he takes care of that slave named Derek.
If he takes the communication magic tool and gets out of here, Publique Solus is finished.
That spy was probably dispatched here to protect the communication magic tool.
'He's probably not an ordinary strongman. It's no wonder he noticed my presence.'
In the past, Davian's shadow movement skill could be detected simply by a high internal energy value.
Now that it's a rare skill, he can't find Davian in the shadow regardless of the size of his internal energy.
Derek can only be seen as having noticed his existence with his excellent senses.
'Is he a type of warrior who relies on animalistic senses...?'
At that time.
"Then I'll go in first."
Whoosh!
Derek started running straight towards Davian.
He planted his hands on the ground, as if his two feet weren't enough, and spurred his speed.
His movements were truly like a leopard.
It was an incredible speed.
'A hand-to-hand fighter!'
Derek's right hand was swung towards Davian's side.
Swish!
Davian, who had summoned the ice sword, blocked Derek's attack.
Clang!
'Clang?'
He clearly defended with the blade.
The ice sword didn't cut Derek's bare hand.
'How strong is his body?'
To create a body this strong, one must train only external force for life.
Then, naturally, there will be a lack of internal energy training, making it impossible to have quick movements.
That means one has to give up one or the other.
However.
This was only true for the Pax continent, where the Arcancia Kingdom is located.
Clang!
This time, Derek's back foot, or rather, his leg attack, collided with the ice sword.
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