Beatrix POV:

I rested my fist against my cheek as I sat down on the chair. Christina brought me to a room that was never used, and coupled with the fact that she was also on her break right now, we had a lot to discuss.

I watched her twiddle her thumbs, refusing to make eye contact with me. A small sigh escaped my lips as I began to question her.

“Why are you here? After I took you away from that Viscount, what did I tell you?”

She bit her lip and looked down.

“Uh...You said to never get involved with those types of people again... B-but... Beatrix, the situation was different this time!”

“Explain.”

Her eyes darted around as she fumbled over her words. I knew what she was going to say, but things had to play out this way for her to really understand.

“W-well, you see... It turns out I had more debt...”

“I already paid off all your debt thoroughly.”

“T-They kidnapped my little brother...”

“You don’t have a little brother.”

“...”

She pouted like a child as tears swelled at the corner of her eyes.

“Now stop with the petty lies. Tell me what happened, or do you want me to guess?”

She shook her head while wiping the tears away. Christina took a deep breath and began to explain.

“I’m sorry, Beatrix... A well-dressed man, who seemed compassionate and caring and lovely, approached me. He told me I was the most beautiful w-woman he had ever seen... I-I thought... This time, surely it’d be different...!”

‘...’

I clicked my tongue as she looked down ashamed of herself. Christina was what you would call an airhead. Never taking the time to consider situations from multiple angles and quick to believe whatever someone tells her. It was a mistake leaving her to her own devices.

“B-Beatrix..., I’m really sorry...But, uhh, I have a question...”

“...Christina, don’t test my patience.”

She poked her fingers together while mumbling a few words.

“...Do you know any good guys?”

I placed my hand over the rose eyepatch and rubbed it gently. It was hard to be angry at her when you understood the household she had come from. What Christina wanted most was a family—people she could love unconditionally.

“We can discuss this another time. Does the Baron keep his documents in his office?”

She placed a finger to her chin as she pondered over my question for a while.

“I think so, but this place is kind of weird.”

“Weird? How so?”

I raised an eyebrow slightly at Christina's evaluation. The good news was that the Baron indeed kept his documents in the office.

“Well..., Every now and then, I see some masked men wearing cloaks visit the Baron... After they leave, he always refuses to see me for at least a day or two...”

“!”

‘Masked men wearing cloaks? That meant... Enigma!’

I leaned forward slightly as I realized the grave oversight I had made. The running theory I had was that the Baron moved here of his own free will in order to appraise the goods before they reached their respective sellers. I assumed he took on the role of the middleman instead of the buyer to make it easier for him to get what he wanted.

“...Have you seen any women enter the estate frequently?”

“Hmm... Sometimes, but it’s weird. I've been here for two years, but they only stay for a couple of days, and the Baron doesn’t even see them... He locks himself in his office whenever that happens...”

My eyes widened with surprise. Christina's words confirmed it. The Baron was being blackmailed most likely due to his disgusting tastes not only being discovered but also being provable.

Enigma must have obtained solid evidence that they could use against him at any time, which would strip him of his nobility. If word got out about his actions, the scale would be too big to ignore.

They shifted him to a secure location where they could regularly keep checks on him while simultaneously using his position to boost their own influence. The Baron wasn’t appraising anything; he was simply a puppet doing whatever his master wished in order to save his own skin.

With his promotion to Viscount coming up, Enigma’s network would further widen. From what I could tell, they had chosen not to leave any of their members here—probably to ensure maximum secrecy.

That left the Ki enhanced walls. It was likely they contained away to, rather than block detection, alter it instead, which would explain the reports the spies gave me. A feat possible since Enigma is involved.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

‘...This is more dangerous than I accounted for.’

I had been too hasty in building up parts of the case against the Baron that I overlooked such a glaring issue. If we had gone with my original plan, forget about running into the Knight's Apprentice, we would have ran into Enigma themselves.

“Oh yeah! I’m not sure how important this is... But the Baron doesn’t touch any of the maids here—I’m glad about that... A-anyway, every time he gets super excited, he runs away like a madman... It’s scary...”

‘To his sister...’

My eyebrows quivered slightly. Christina would have become mentally unstable if she saw everything the Baron had done, so I could conclude that for the past two years, her life had been somewhat normal here, which was a relief.

“You have been very helpful, Christina. You will be leaving with me tonight.”

“Really?!”

Her eyes sparkled with such intensity it was blinding.

“Yes. This place is extremely dangerous. You have been unintentionally playing with fire as usual.”

“Oh, oh, can I call you Milady then?”

“No.”

“Aw...”

I stood up from my seat and rubbed her shoulder lightly. I planned to have Roy drill into her some basic common sense by having her go through multiple scenarios daily. At the very least, Christina would be able to assess situations with more care than before.

“It sure gets dark quick nowadays...”

Christina moved towards the window and gazed outside. The sounds of battle had finally reached all the way here, causing her to jump back in a fright.

The two strongest Ki's didn’t move an inch. I could only assume that they weren’t threatened by everything that was going on? Or maybe they were interested to see how far he could go before stepping in?

“Christina, continue your work here as normal. When you’ve finished, wait beside the storage entrance in the west wing.”

“Got it!”

She looked at me seriously while nodding her head. I turned around and left the room. I navigated through the hallways according to the extra information Christina had given me prior to our conversation about how she ended up here.

“I just saw the Baron rush in that direction again...”

“Oh dear... Oh! He won’t do anything because he’s here, remember?”

“Ah right, you’re right. Phew...That's a relief.”

I overheard a conversation between two maids passing by; this was a perfect opportunity to get what I needed. I bolted down the hallway, covering the remaining distance to the Baron's Office in no time.

The door was left ajar, probably due to the frenzy he was in. I slipped inside and closed it behind me while examining the papers out on the desk.

‘Request for an increase in exported goods?’

I flipped the paper around and examined it closely. My eyes widened as I read the contents of the request.

‘Enigma... They’re insane.’

I committed the details to memory and moved on. I pulled out the drawers while scanning through the documents that had been filed away neatly.

Drawer after drawer yielded nothing but blanks. Was the intel I received wrong? I was positive that the documents somehow ended up in his possession.

I moved over to the other side and searched from top to bottom but still found nothing. I sighed inwardly as I placed my hand on my hip.

I observed the dry trail of ink that ran down one of the papers on the desk. Following it with my eyes, I abruptly crouched down and ran my hand along the side of the desk. My finger eventually sunk in slightly once I had reached the end of the ledge.

*Clunk*

The sound of a hidden mechanism unlocking itself entered my ear as a compartment popped out behind the desk. I circled around and flipped through the stacks of paper bundled together within the small drawer.

I glanced through the titles rapidly when my finger abruptly came to a stop. It hovered over the report heading.

‘Tragedy: The Truth of the “Suicide Bombings” 12 Years Ago.’

My lips pulled backwards as I clenched my teeth tightly. I pulled out the paper and briefly scanned over it. I saw the names of my parents, but before I could examine the contents closely, I sensed someone walking down the corridor.

This report had been erased from existence bar one copy, and now I finally had it. I slipped the paper into my pocket and finished scanning through the rest, just in case I missed something. I closed the compartment back before making my way to the door.

The person making their way here was most likely the Baron. I nudged the door open slightly and manipulated the air within the corridor. A blast of wind smashed against a door behind the person causing them to run away frantically.

I took advantage of this opening and bolted down the corridor when I suddenly skidded to a halt. I had been so engrossed in finding the report that I belatedly noticed the two powerful Ki's engaging in battle with him.

“You...! Who are you?!”

The Baron stepped out of the shadows. He glared at me while licking his lips like a starved dog looking at a piece of meat.

“...”

I waved my hand as his face kissed the wall beside him. The compression of air blasted him through to the other side while I turned my attention back towards the battle outside.

‘I need to help him now.’

***

Brunaulf POV:

The evening sky had already turned dark by the time I finished cleaning up all of the mercenaries in the 5th and 6th layers.

My clothes were burnt in several places along with several patches of blood—mostly not my own. Unavoidably, the wounds had piled up on my body, but I had made it this far without using my ability which was a necessary measure to take as I stared across the garden.

I walked through puddles of blood caused by the hundreds of bodies scattered across the area and stood in front of what remained of the shrubbery that had been mostly burnt away.

A young man wearing light armour leaned against the fountain while another muscular man wearing gauntlets stood further behind him.

“Finally, something exciting is happening around here.”

The muscular man jumped forward, landing a few meters in front of me. He smashed the gauntlets together as he released his Ki.

“Stand down, Leonard.”

His face contorted while he spun around.

“Percival, did we not agree that I would handle him?”

The young man flickered in front of Leonard and lightly pushed him backwards. Leonard clicked his tongue while folding his arms.

“We agreed that you would go and help your comrades, but look at the state of them. You stood by watching them be crushed and trampled on. If not for my mission, I would have moved out myself.”

“Yeah, yeah. Do your thing, ‘Knight’s Apprentice.’”

He grumbled to himself while backing away. Percival wore swords on both sides of his waist, and the Ki he emitted was on the cusp of breaking through to Monzen.

“So it is you, Mad Wolf.”

“...I don’t go by that name anymore.”

His eyes shifted to the wake of destruction I had left behind me before looking back at me.

“Clearly, your actions say otherwise. More importantly, I’m well acquainted with how evil you are. On the honour of the Knights from the Cotis Empire, I will cut you down where you stand.”

He released a portion of his Ki while drawing a rapier from its sheath. Cold sweat dripped down my back as I faced him; I still needed to stall for time—just for a little longer.

My Ki exploded as I kicked off the ground. Percival stepped forward, and his rapier left visible afterimages as he struck me in quick succession.

“Keuk!!”

I slid back across the grass, overwhelmed in the very first exchange. Blood poured out of the spots I had failed to dodge while I wondered if Beatrix had found what she needed.

I watched him flick his rapier down, removing any blood that coated the thin blade. He narrowed his eyes as he placed his bent arm behind his straight back and moved slightly sideways. The blade was raised directly upwards, cutting through the space between his eyebrows while he glared at me.

“Whether you fight seriously or not, the outcome will be the same.”

He dashed forward, and the battle began.