"This child, no wonder you were so intelligent," came a voice from a distance.

When Bowen turned, he saw the sneering face of the baron's butler, who had caught him red-handed. It could be said that Bowen was a little surprised by the unexpected appearance of the butler, but he had already prepared countermeasures in case he faced such a situation. He slowly backed off, raising his hands as if he had been caught, and descended the stairs, creating the illusion that the butler had apprehended him. As he reached the last stair, Bowen suddenly used a quick dash and closed in on the butler in a second. Before the butler could recover from the shock and raise an alarm, Bowen's bone dagger made a simple cut to the butler's throat with a swift "slash." The butler never anticipated such an outcome, as he didn't expect Bowen to be strong. Unable to voice his thoughts, with his carotid artery damaged, the butler quickly succumbed, falling to the ground while clutching his throat, struggling to breathe. Bowen, without much care, put the butler in his space bracelet, as the butler was rendered defenseless and almost unconscious. Wiping his dagger with a rag, Bowen uttered, "Seems like this blunt blade can really cut," with a smile, and casually made his way upstairs, humming a tune in his mind.

"We cannot leave him like that, my lady. He may disrupt our plans for the future," Bowen heard someone speaking in the room. He could easily guess that it was Gram's voice.

"SHUT UP GRAM! Don't waste our lady's time," shouted Perrin.

"But... it's true. Believe me, Xander is neither clever nor that brave. There must be someone helping him. Lady Sasha, please investigate him. It would be better if we get rid of him now," said Gram.

"I SAID SHUT UP!" shouted Perrin again, sounding like a madman. "It's because of you that people laugh behind my back for not quitting my job yet. All of this happened because I believed your words."

"That... that's something unexpected..." But before Gram could finish, the baroness interrupted.

"It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if that measly guard is strong or if he has someone behind him. I am not here to hear your opinions either. All I want are results. Listen carefully, all three of you. I have been concealing my identity as the baroness for one reason only—to make the Raven Gang the most powerful gang of them all. And we have a golden opportunity at hand. If we can fulfill their two conditions, we can become part of the underworld. No one will dare to mess with us then. Even those damn nobles will have to think twice before laying a hand on us."

"Yes, my lady. Our boys are working hard. We have already accumulated 18 gold pieces. We will do our best," said the rough-voiced Deborah.

"Good. I don't care what you do. Rob Aswalt, the nearby towns, villages, merchants, caravans, boats—anything. Deborah, you will present me with 50 gold pieces. Make sure to show me the results within 4 months. Am I clear?"

"Four months... my lady, that is a little..." Gram hesitated. "My lady, then the gang's activities must become more frequent. We guards cannot pretend to turn a blind eye in front of the populace. Moreover, that chief of the guard is an honest person working for the baron. He will definitely order action against the Raven Gang."

"So what?" Perrin laughed. "Hehe... Then all we have to do is kill some guards to reinstate the fear for the Raven Gang. So none of the guards will come forward, just like how I let my colleagues die and came to the position of Knight Captain."

" Also, kill any eyewitnesses along the way. Murders are a really good way to keep people quiet," said the Baroness. "Oh, and for the second condition, is everything prepared?"

"Yes, my lady. The knights are on watch day and night at the harbor. We won't be missing him. I am a hundred percent confident in catching the prey," said Perrin.

"And don't try to contact me often. Let's not alert the Baron. I must soon kill that annoying fatso to become a widow," said the Baroness.

Then, in a short time, the three of them exited the room separately and quietly went in different directions after double-checking for any prying eyes. As for how Bowen didn't get caught, he used the rare-grade Robe of Invisibility. It was the same robe Bale used to enter Dale's house and kidnap Renault, becoming invisible. The robe can only function for 10 minutes and then has a cooling period of 10 days, so he couldn't use it often. Nonetheless, it was a useful loot he got when he killed Bale.

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Bowen quickly walked out of the building and found that Renault was still hiding in the garden bushes, taking the play so seriously. Poor Renault still believed Bowen and his games. Anyway, now it was time to teach Renault a lesson in discipline. Bowen thought for some time and suddenly remembered an animal he had with him. He brought it out of the space bracelet—a white rat with two little pointed horns on its head and red eyes. The rat fell from the bracelet with a small thud. It was none other than the rat that evolved by luck when Bowen experimented with his concocted potions using herbs from the Elu Mountains. The rat looked around wearily, and when its eyes met Bowen's, it squeaked and made a pose akin to bowing.

Bowen didn't understand what the rat was saying, so he asked Casper for help.

"Oh! Master, I think he is scared of you and pleading for you to leave him alone. Poor thing, he was imprisoned all alone in the bracelet," said Casper.

Squeak... Squeek... (No! No! That bird is lying, Master. Please take me in, Master. Don't abandon me), the rat exclaimed.

Chip chip chip chip... (Idiot. Don't even think about it).

Squeekkk? Squeak squeak... (Bird, you are doing this on purpose).

"Master, he says he is really in a hurry. He would like to join his family," said Casper, giving a mocking look at the rat. Bowen could only communicate with Casper as he is his familiar. He didn't plan to take the rat as his pet; he just kept him, thinking he might be useful one day.

"Ok, I will leave you, and you can go home. But before that, look at the boy over there. You must scare him. And just remember, he is strong. You can only go home if you escape from him alive," said Bowen, pointing to Renault.

"Squeaaak, sqeek, squeak! Don't worry, Master. I will fulfill this mission and scare the enemy!" The rat made a salute and ran towards Renault in the bushes. It made a high jump from a meter distance and suddenly landed on Renault's face, making a loud squeaking sound. Renault got scared by the sudden attack and shouted, "Aaaa! Help!" Before he could catch the animal on his face, the rat jumped quickly and started attacking Renault from various directions with its claws.

Soon, Renault recovered and realized that it was just a measly rat that had attacked him. He quickly conjured a mana ball and threw it towards the rat. Just when Bowen thought this might be the end of the rat, it maneuvered gracefully, escaping the hit, and attacked Renault's leg.

"Ah!" Both Renault and Bowen were shocked. Normally, even a non-awakened person could easily hit field rats with some effort. Renault, being an F rank in lightning magic, couldn't understand how he could miss a hit.

Again, Renault made a mana ball and threw it faster than before, but the rat cleverly dodged it as ever. Renault became too angered and started hitting the rat with lightning balls. This time, the rat had a tough time dodging, but it still evaded all the hits by a hair's breadth. Suddenly, Renault lost track of the rat, only to be greeted by a warm stream of liquid flowing over his head.

"[That rat peed on top of his head? How daring]," wondered Bowen.

Renault became furious and shouted, "Aaaaaah! He won't be satisfied until he kills the rat." He used all the power within him and conjured a big lightning ball, taking aim at the escaping rat. Bowen knew that it would surely kill the rat this time.

"Young Master Renault!" Bowen called suddenly, distracting Renault for a moment. When he searched again, there was no trace of the rat left. "Shit!" Renault cursed.

"Young Master, what is this? My, my, you are drenched. But there is no rain. What happened here?" asked Bowen innocently.

How could Renault, being a noble, come clean and tell the truth? Wouldn't he be ridiculed to death if others knew he bathed in the urine of a field rat? "It's just nothing... It rained only here, right only here. What about you? Why didn't you come earlier? It's all because I was waiting for you."

"Umm... but I was searching on the other side. Young Master is very good at hiding. It took me a lot of time to find you," said Bowen, praising Renault.

"Yes, yes. I am," said Renault, adorning a boastful look.

"Okay, then shall we continue, Young Master?" said Bowen.

"No, this is enough. Let's say this match was a draw. Unlike you, I have other important work," said Renault, hurriedly running off.

Bowen was satisfied that Renault would realize his own limits from now on. He might work hard, seeing his incapability of catching even a rat. Anyway, as a teacher, Bowen would soon have to help him become more powerful.

Bowen's trip to the feast was satisfactory. He influenced Xander and Renault, as well as discovered the secret of the Baroness being involved with the Raven Gang. Moreover, he now had a captive, the Baron's butler. Soon, he contemplated his next plans and decided to execute them soon.

"Haha... Here you are, little kid. I thought you had already gone home," Bowen turned to see the third prince himself coming, searching for him. Behind the prince stood Farah, his personal guard, with her usual stoic expression.

[Why is he searching for me? What business does he have with me?] thought Bowen, puzzled by the prince's unexpected appearance.