After the banquet ended, Anke arranged for Hannah and the other two messengers to rest in the castle’s guest rooms for a while to recover from the exhaustion of their long journey.
Hannah was curious about how Anke had managed to govern Border City into the state she saw today.
After staying in her guest room for a short while, she took her personal maid to find Anke to continue the conversation that had been interrupted before the banquet.
Hote was extremely curious about the Alchemy Workshop Anke had mentioned.
However, because his family already stood in opposition to Anke, it was difficult for him to ask directly.
He could only order his assistant and guards to go out and gather information about it.
While his assistants were out investigating, Hote paced back and forth restlessly inside his room.
Caw! Caw!
The noisy cries of crows came from outside the window, making it impossible for Hote to settle down and think.
“Go drive those annoying, damned birds away! Drive them away! They’re noisy as hell!” Hote ordered the guard beside him.
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Shoo! Shoo! Get lost! You lowly feathered beasts!” The guard immediately walked to the window and shouted at the black crows hopping back and forth on the branches.
Caw—! Caw—!
The startled flock of crows flapped their wings and took flight. Amidst a chorus of startled cries, they left the branches and flew elsewhere.
“Young Master, the crows are gone.” The guard leaned out, looked around, and confirmed that no more crows remained before turning back to report to Hote.
“Mm, finally some peace.”
Hote sat down. However, the interruption from the crows earlier had sapped his desire to continue thinking.
He decided to wait for his subordinates to return with information before making a judgment.
The guard closed the window, but he did not notice another crow gliding down from the sky.
It landed steadily on a branch directly facing the window, staring intently at the people inside the room with eyes that seemed almost human.
About one hour later, the assistant and guards Hote had sent out returned one after another.
“Young Master, we’ve gathered some information. The Alchemy Workshop was commissioned as soon as the new Lord took office. It cost a massive amount of money and materials, and he even hired the only few disabled old craftsmen in Border City to work inside. However, the new Lord’s security regarding the Alchemy Workshop is very strict. We couldn’t find out exactly what is being produced or refined inside. Please forgive us, Young Master,” the assistant reported, half-kneeling as he synthesized the information gathered by the guards.
“It is fine. It is not a failure of duty that you couldn’t scout information on the Alchemy Workshop. Still, the Fourth Prince building an Alchemy Workshop was unexpected. He will take me to visit it later anyway. Once I have thoroughly understood his secrets, I will inform my father and the First Prince as quickly as possible.”
Hote told the two of them to rise and then revealed his plan.
“Then, Young Master, do you need us to do anything?”
“Go continue gathering more information. I want to know exactly what the Fourth Prince has been doing in Border City since he took office!”
“Yes, Young Master!”
Just as Hote finished assigning tasks to his subordinates, he heard a strange sound from outside. Alert, he immediately sent a guard to check outside the window.
“What is that sound outside?”
“Reporting to the Young Master, it’s a bird,” the guard said, squinting his eyes at a black shape receding into the sky.
“There are so many damn birds here.” Hote waved his hand and said no more.
The room gradually fell silent.
Outside the window, a crow blinked its eyes, which held a shimmer of human-like intelligence.
It flapped its wings and took flight from the branch.
It flew through a castle window and soared silently along the corridor ceiling, avoiding the gazes of busy maids and servants.
Finally, it landed steadily on Vera’s extended right hand.
Then, the crow rapidly faded to white and melted like grease, merging into Vera’s hand.
By absorbing the Mimic Minion split from her body, Vera obtained all the information the minion had just heard and seen.
‘So Earl Oca is already the First Prince’s man? I must tell Anke this information immediately.’
Vera turned and headed toward the upper floors of the castle.
In the long corridor outside Anke’s Lord’s office, Vera encountered Sola.
A maid followed behind her, carrying a gift box. Sola also seemed prepared to have a private audience with Anke.
“You are the Lord’s Chief Knight, right? Truly a beautiful female knight.” Sola nodded in praise toward Vera, woman to woman.
“Thank you for the high praise, Lady Rohark. Your beauty is far more dazzling than mine.”
Vera knew that even though she was Anke’s Chief Knight, her background was that of a commoner.
There was a natural gap between her and a local high noble like Sola.
Knowing that Earl Oca was already an enemy, Vera did not want to push Earl Rohark to the opposing side as well.
That would be disadvantageous to Anke and to her own mission.
Therefore, during the exchange, Vera leaned toward being more considerate of Sola’s feelings.
“High praise? Ahaha… Knight, you are truly adorable.”
Sola used the folding fan in her hand to cover the lower half of her face and let out a soft laugh.
She then asked Vera, “I wonder what your name is, Knight, and which family you come from? To think they could raise such a beautiful and polite female knight.”
“Lady Rohark, my name is Vera. I am an… orphan.”
Vera gave Sola her answer and then manipulated her eyes to squeeze out a few drops of tears, pretending to be sad.
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Sola and noticed a momentary stiffness in her gaze upon learning that Vera was not of noble birth.
“That… that is truly a shame. I have made you think of something sad, Vera. But don’t worry, with your outstanding appearance, your biological parents must not have been ordinary people.”
Because of Vera’s exceptional looks, Sola did not look down on her orphan status but instead comforted her.
“It’s fine, it’s all in the past. Lady Rohark, are you planning to present a gift to His Highness?”
Vera wiped away the “tears” from the corners of her eyes and looked at the gift box in the maid’s hands.
“Yes, this is a token of Earl Rohark’s regards for His Highness.”
“I apologize for delaying your time, Lady Rohark. Would you like to go see His Highness first?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Let’s go together. It’s not anything that needs to be kept secret.”
“Then I shall announce you, My Lady.”
“Very well.” Sola nodded in agreement.
Vera walked to the door and knocked, speaking to the person inside.
“His Highness, Lady Rohark wishes to see you.”
“Lady Rohark? Vera, you two come right in.” As soon as the voice spoke from inside, Anke allowed them to enter.
Inside the room, Hannah was holding a manuscript drawing of a strange building.
She was scratching her light brown hair under her tricorne hat while asking Anke a question.
“Fourth Prince, I still don’t quite understand. Why would a ‘toilet’ improve the city’s environment?”
“If you really don’t understand, just try building one when you get back.”
Anke didn’t know how else to explain it to Hannah because even simple logic was a brand-new concept in this era.
“Oh—”
“Lady Rohark, what do you need from me? To ask about urban management issues?”
After dealing with Hannah, Anke immediately turned to Sola, who had just entered.
“We will have many opportunities to discuss those matters. This time, I am here to present a gift from Earl Rohark to the Lord.”
Sola clapped her hands, signaling the maid to place the gift box on the table before opening it.
‘A gift?’ Anke wondered inwardly. ‘Is it some rare treasure that can be exchanged for a lot of money?’
“Wha—what is this thing?!”
“Gah! Sola, what did you bring?!”
However, when the gift box was completely opened, both Anke and Hannah were startled.
It wasn’t gems, gold, silk, or any other precious treasure.
It was a mass of writhing flesh trapped in an iron cage!
“!”
That was! Vera looked at the flesh in the cage, her pupils instantly switching to the solid black of her true form.
“This is the Mimic Beast’s Residual Flesh. It is a rarity that only circulates among a small number of noble families with long lineages. It’s normal for the Lord to be startled seeing it for the first time.”
Sola calmly introduced the horrifying, writhing flesh in the cage to Anke as if she were merely describing a common piece of merchandise.
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