“DAMN.” Rony wowed at the scene as he sat up on his bed. He quickly ran to the door, peeking his head out of it.

“Huh, what happened? What are you looking at?” Tyrone ran to join him, and his eyes widened.

It was nighttime, and they were preparing to sleep in the guest house they were staying at. They had one small room given to them, while the young master was granted a large royal bedroom in the center of the guest house.

Currently, someone was bringing dinner to the young master. Pushing a service cart, served with many kinds of food, the Baroness walked towards the young master's room.

“No way,” Tyrone was stunned. “How could a noblewoman visit a man's room so late at night?! Even if it's to give dinner, where's her decency?”

Rony shook his head, “If you care about decency so much, be sure to plug your ears with cotton soon.” Although he joked that, no sound would probably leave the other room since the walls were pretty thick.

Truly, the young master's luck is insane with ladies. Rony noted, a sense of odd pride in his heart knowing that the master he served was skillful where it counted.

Rony had no idea that the same young master he was praising in his head, was sitting in his room, fearing his death tonight.

****

Two knocks fell on the door. I looked out the window, at the full moon outside. I could guess who it was. Taking a deep breath and preparing myself mentally to engage in battle if necessary, I walked toward the door and opened it.

“Young master,” a soft, melodic voice greeted me as I opened the door. The Baroness smiled at me gently, as she pushed in the service cart and walked inside.

I reached out to close the door, and she stopped my hand, giggling. “Why, aren't you impatient in closing the door on a married woman?”

I'm quite certain that's what she wanted; privacy. That's why I was about to close the door. I pulled my hand back, and she moved her own hand to my chin. “Why aren't you talking?”

Ah yes, I didn't even greet her. I smiled, “Forgive me, I was mesmerized.”

“Mhm,” she slightly looked back without turning her head. Her hand ran down my chest, and she slowly muttered, “It's okay to close the door now.”

Huh.

Was someone watching us from the darkness? My Demonic Sphere wasn't big enough to encompass a large area, so I couldn't tell.

I reached out a hand and closed the door. I walked over to the windows and pulled the curtains too.

When I turned back towards the Baroness again, I wasn't surprised when she stared at me with a serious expression. Her smile was gone.

“So you're finally going to show your real self now, Baroness?” I asked and she blinked.

“Oh my, I thought you'd be surprised,” she said, and then her smile returned. I guess not all of her flirty attitude was acting. “But yes, it's time to drop the acting. I need your help, young master.”

“In what?” I asked. “In covering your murder of the Baroness, or something of that sort?” I said which made her blink. “What did you do to the real Baroness?”

“My…” she tilted her head, bringing out a hand fan from her side, and tapping it against her chin. “I've said this before, but I mean it this time. It's unwise to trust rumors about you, young master. You are a lot more observant than I thought you were. Did you meet the Baroness before?”

“No. I just happened to look at your picture in the hallway. Your eyes weren't purple,” I said.

“Maybe it was just the lighting of the photo, how could you be sure I'm not her just from that little detail?” She asked.

“Is gut feeling an acceptable answer?”

She giggled, “Sure, I'll take it. Many of my students have secrets that they don't share, too.” She suddenly began to walk, heading toward the bed as she sat down. I followed behind her.

By showing me her back, and sitting down while I stood, she was trying to imply that she didn't mean any harm to me. Or maybe she was just trying to make me lower my guard and trust her more?

“Are you a Demi-Human? Wolf-Human?” I asked and she shook her head.

“You must have noticed the situation at the villa by now if you're asking me that, but no. I’m a human. It's true that I'm not the Baroness, but I'm not a part of those Demi-Humans either. Well to be precise, only a few of them are Demi Humans, most of them are Werewolves. Their tribe is complicated.”

That explained why the other servants didn't have ears and tails. “If you're not a part of them, how did you become a part of this situation?”

“It was a coincidence that I mingled into this,” she said, which I found ludicrous.

“....”

“You don't look very convinced. Then allow me to explain myself,” she said. “The Baroness is not dead, she's out of Lockdarn. She left this city a month ago to visit her hometown, and that’s when the situation here grew worse. Around the same time, I reached this city after some tracks led me here.”

“Tracks?”

“Yes. Tracks from my investigation.” She said, “I've been investigating a series of crimes lately, in the Waybound Magic School City. They all shared a similar pattern. After some weeks of headache-inducing investigation, I’ve been led to this particular group,” she paused, then hesitated for a moment.

I think she’s withdrawing some information from me, but I guess it’s natural if she’s really part of some profession of investigators. She couldn’t let an unrelated party know everything. So far the things she spoke of seemed to be true.

“Although they were hard to track, I found them. It’s a group who call themselves the Moon Wolf Tribe,” she said, “Just a few months ago, the tribe’s matriarch had battled against the Patriarch of a Vampire Family. There were massive casualties there, both parties were injured.”

According to what she said after that, she searched the area where the battle had taken place and then began to follow the tracks left behind by them. In the end, she ended up in Lockdarn Barony. The entire Moon Wolf Tribe, and their Matriarch, chose to settle in Lockdarn after the Matriarch’s condition grew worse and they needed a place with medical assistance. The forest wasn’t a viable option since it was out in the open the Vampires might easily find them, plus they didn’t have any experienced healers among them.

So they came in Lockdarn, disguised, and took over the underworld of the city. A member of them was already part of this city’s criminal group, and with his guidance, they easily defeated all the crime lords here and took the city under their control.

Before the Baron could learn about them and send Knights to take care of them, the tribe members moved during the nighttime to take over the mansion. The Baron was threatened to stay quiet, while the tribe settled in the mansion as if it was their own house. Dozens of tribe members were spread around the mansion, now, while the injured Matriarch rested in the inner chambers, being aided by the city’s healers to recover from her injuries.

“By the time I arrived here,” the fake Baroness continued. “The city was already under their control. I wanted to gauge their strength before making a move, but for that, I had to get inside the mansion. I knew that was easier said than done, but thankfully, I learned that the Baroness had been out of the city for a while. That made things easier.”

“How are you so relaxed, pretending to be the Baroness? What if she returned, and the tribe realized that you’re a fake?” I asked, which made her smile.

“The Baroness and I are childhood friends, we’re from the same hometown, distant relatives actually. That’s why we share similar features, too. The reason I had come to Lockdarn on my own without any force, was because this was her territory. When I realized she wasn’t here, I reached out to her via letters and told her to stay out for a while, as things could be dangerous for her and her husband otherwise. After that, I entered the mansion as the Baroness.”

That made sense. Things had lucked out for her, and she managed to enter the villa. But I still had a question. “And they didn't doubt you? The tribe members, I mean.”

“The wolves haven't met the Baroness in person. They didn't match the picture in the hallway with my eyes, unlike someone,” she smiled at me. “The Baron knows me from before so he's cooperating with this. So I've been stuck here for the last month, staying here as the Baroness.”

I stared at her while contemplating. So this wasn't my matter that she slipped inside, but her matter that I slipped inside. She said she was investigating the tribe, right? That made me curious. “What is your profession?” I asked.

She smiled, “I am a Professor. I've known your siblings, by the way. Especially your sister. Smart girl.”

I blinked in surprise. No way. “Professor at Waybound? I had no idea professors there were investigators too.”

“We have bulletin boards in our school that give out missions. S-Rank missions and above can be taken by professors too,” she explained, making me blink in realization. That wasn’t mentioned in the game, but since the game was played from a student’s point of view, that probably wasn’t important enough information to be mentioned.

“I need proof,” I said. “Anybody can say that they're a Professor in Waybound. Where is your Mana Insignia?”

“Oh, you know about that? Then again, your siblings are students, so they probably told you,” she reached her own conclusion, something I was fine with. I stared at her and she stared back. After a moment, she shrugged and raised her palm.

A complex, purple hologram of the identity page sizzled out of her hand. The border of the page was shining with energy circuits that surrounded the insignia of the Waybound School; a luminous Icon of eclipsed sun.

The intricacy of this whole thing was impossible to copy for normal a [Mage], and my knowledge of the game allowed me to realize its authenticity.

===

~ Waybound Professor Identification Card ~

Identity: Amelia Duskleaf, Senior Professor

Role: Professor of Dragon Tongue Magic

Rank: ## Ascension ##-mage

ID: AML240560970777

===

That seems legit. Why's her rank hidden? “Hey, why is your rank hidden? Suspicious woman.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“Hey, I don't know if you're on board with my plan yet or not. Revealing my danger level will ruin it all in case you snitch,” she crossed her arms and said.

Well, she's probably not above 6th grade, I guess. “Anyhow. Professor Amelia, is it? No wonder you felt so strong from the get-go, as a professor and all,” I said.

To be a professor in Waybound, one had to be at least 5th Ascension or above. Since she was at least at 6th Ascension and a Senior Professor, she must hold considerable influence in the school.

“Oh?” She blinked, and her form vanished. I was startled; her breath fell on my neck. She was behind me now. “You felt how strong I am?”

“....”

“I'm wearing a magic ring,” she said, “My Level and Mana are completely suppressed from any measuring artifacts. How did you know I'm strong?”

“I was joking, trying to appear mysterious. Please step back.” I said, and she leaned in even further. She did not buy my excuse. I grumbled, “...Is gut feeling still an acceptable answer?”

Miss Amelia hummed. “You’ve used it twice. Fine, I’ll take it.”

She withdrew from behind me and walked around me, returning to the bed. I looked at her with a frown this time. Weird woman. My [Insight] Skill was a Player-exclusive Skill, it was special. There were some similar skills to this that some NPCs used to have, but they couldn’t match up to it properly.

I should be careful about it in the future. I opened my mouth, “What does someone like you need from me? What kind of help?”

“Sweetheart, no matter the Level, I'm still a single person. I've entered this mansion thinking I'll gauge the situation and deal with it then, but it seems I’ve underestimated them. I've seen some real powerful monsters here. If it was just one or two, I wouldn't have been worried, but there are too many.” She said, and I couldn’t help but think of that dark-skinned wolf lady. She’s probably here too.

“You should have been more cautious,” I looked at her disapprovingly, taking the chance to get back at her. “Amateurish for a Professor.”

Still, it was frightening. There were people here that she couldn't deal with by herself.

“We need backup here to drive these wolves away since I’m not enough,” she outright ignored me and said. “Plus, things might grow worse than they are right now. If that Vampire Family finds them and comes here, a big fight will break out. This city will be a goner. Too many people will die.”

I frowned. “Isn't that good enough reason to summon your fellow Waybound professors?”

“It is, but I can't contact anyone. I'm pretending to be the Baroness right now, and both me and the Baron aren't allowed to contact anyone outside. That's why they didn't want to allow you inside when you first came to the city gate,” Amelia said. “They fear that we might ask you for help. That’s why they’ve been observing all of our actions so far.”

“Didn't you contact the Baroness, though?”

“I did that when I was yet to enter the mansion as the Baroness. I was staying at an inn, and from there I contacted her after I sniffed rumors about wolves in the mansion,” she said, making me nod.

“I see. You want me to send a messenger bird to ask for help?” I asked.

She nodded. “Precisely. Unfortunately, it'll take too long for the messenger bird to go to Waybound and for the reinforcements to return. So you should send a message to your father instead. Ask him to send better knights, and add that: otherwise, your life might end. They'll get here faster.”

“I can do that,” I said with a nod. To begin with, Father sent us here to observe. If the situation was beyond what we could deal with, he had advised us to send messenger birds to alert him.

It's just good luck that we had an unexpected ally in the mansion in the form of an undercover Waybound Professor. This sped up things.

“Do that tomorrow morning,” she advised me. “When you meet with your knights, do it then.”

“Sure.” Now that the main topic of our talk was taken care of, I was curious about the minor details. “By the way, wouldn't they be suspicious of you? Would they really buy it if you're in my room to enjoy some young flesh?”

That earned a peal of laughter from Amelia. “You really want to know? Well, I've been preparing for this for a while now. The Baron and I had expected you to come here, and that's why the Baron hadn't been eating dinner for a while. Remember the excuse I used, that since he won't be eating dinner tonight too, I should come and eat with you? The wolves wouldn't have bought me to have dinner with you suddenly if it wasn't a usual routine.”

“Whoa.”

“The Baron expected the Count to send some people to investigate soon. It only made sense that he would send you along since the Knights wouldn’t be allowed in the guest house. So I've been preparing myself for your arrival. I've been going around flirting with any young man that came to the villa, even the Werewolves themselves. So they know my character is loose.”

That was why they wouldn't be too suspicious of her coming here. She had demonstrated herself as a whore in front of them already. “You're, uh, quite flexible for a professor,” I commented.

“That sounded like an insult just now, young man,” she smiled at me.

“Insulting an Archmage? I could never,” I joked and then looked out the window. It was growing darker outside, it’s been half an hour since she’s been here. I turned back to her, “When are you leaving? The night is growing.”

“My, wouldn't they be suspicious if I left this early? Unless you have a reputation around these parts as a quicky?” She said, which annoyed me quite a bit. Did she really just say quicky?

“Should a professor truly be so vulgar?”

“Come on, learn to take a joke.” She giggled, “No, actually, I’m serious. I'll leave if you do have such a reputation, then they wouldn't doubt the situation. But if you don't have such a reputation, I'll have to stay here for a bit longer.”

“If you want to match the rumors, you should stay the entire night then,” I said challengingly.

“No, thank you. What if unfortunate things happen between us if I stay that long? The fact that I like young men is simply a rumor, you see. Try that line again in ten years or so,” she put me down, and I shook my head at the silliness of this exchange.

“Whatever. I'll have dinner, you can keep waiting,” I said and walked over to the dishes she had bought. At least they looked tasty.

“Want me to feed you again?”

“No, thank you.” I wasn't going to give her any chances for cheap teases any longer.

…..

Professor Amelia ended up showering in the attached washroom of my bedroom. Since the werewolves had a good sense of smell, if they didn't smell any sign of mingling from her body, they'd be suspicious. However, if she went out after showering, it wouldn't surprise them that she smelled clean.

It was a good plan.

“I'm done,” she walked out of the shower, drying her hair with a towel, already fully dressed.

“Miss Amelia, I still think we should have been more organic with this, just to make sure there are no loopholes,” I yawned out, which made her scoff.

“Organic? And you were calling me vulgar, young man,” she said with a raised eyebrow, followed by a shake of her head.

A minute later, she left the room with the empty plates.

Since I had eaten a good meal, I too decided to call it a night. The softness of the pillow embraced me.

****

I was honestly half expecting a werewolf to barge into my room during my sleep. No such thing happened. There was nothing odd that happened during my sleep, and morning soon came.

I met up with my two escort guards, with one of them giving me a proud look, while the other glared, making me confused. Then the three of us chose to leave the mansion for the city outside.

“Where are you going, young master?” The guard at the gate asked me. I looked at him. His eyes were a tint of reddish brown. If I didn't know about the existence of werewolves here, I'd have just thought he was sleep-deprived.

“Outside, of course. I've come here on a mission, I can't be wasting my time in the villa. I'll meet up with my knights and discuss the subjugation I've come here for.” I told him and he nodded.

The three of us left the villa for good and headed towards the city. I kept my senses on alert, and as I expected, some people were trailing behind us. Amelia had warned me of this, although I could have guessed it on my own.

No matter how slutty Amelia acted these past few weeks to plan her meeting with me, one could never be too careful. The werewolves had to make sure that the two of us had only slept together, and that she hadn’t revealed anything she shouldn’t have.

Since asking Amelia was pointless, they planned to eavesdrop on what I would discuss with the Knight Order. If they heard me converse about something they didn’t want me to know, they'd stop me, and they'd also take care of Amelia, the fake Baroness, for leaking information. I'll have to be careful.

We were notified about the inn my knights were staying at. It wasn’t hard to find, after asking around for a bit. Upon entering the inn, I was greeted by a busy morning crowd, enjoying their breakfast.

“Welcome to- eek!” A girl working in the inn came running to greet me before her eyes fell on the family emblem attached to my clothes. She did not recognize my face, but she could recognize my name. Not the Romani part, but the Iskandaar part, I guessed the way it sent shivers down her spine as she looked away. “…W-welcome, young master.”

Wow.

What’s up with my reputation? In a whole other city, too.

I nodded at her, which startled her as she flinched, so I decided to ignore her and approach the table I noticed Sir Carlos at. He was enjoying a decent meal, with three empty chairs surrounding the table. He waved at me, chewing on a piece of meat, as I approached him.

“Morning, young master,” he greeted me before blinking. Clearing his throat, he stood up and bowed. That made me laugh.

“It’s okay to relax, it’s just us around,” I said and took a seat opposite him. The two trainees sat on either side of us. “Did you sleep well, Sir Carlos?”

“I did,” he cleared his throat again, slightly embarrassed, as he sat down. “The inn’s not bad at all. I hope the Baron’s guest house is to your taste?”

“It does its work,” I said. It wasn’t better than my room in the Count’s villa, but it was certainly leagues better than my apartment back in my old world. I was living like a rat before, I could manage with anything.

For some reason, Rony giggled like a little girl who’s barely holding himself back from gossiping, when I said those words. What’s up with him, for real?

More food was soon served as we went through some small talk. The breakfast was an enjoyable escape from the flying bullcrap of a situation in the mansion. After eating, we left the inn and headed toward the stable where the horses were kept. It was mostly to get some personal space than any real reason.

It was just Sir Carlos and me this time. We approached the large grassy land located in one corner of the city, where the horses were kept. We approached the wooden houses in the distance, and I could see horses chewing on grass from here.

The area around us was decently open, and if not for my Demonic Sphere, I’d have missed the people who were following us. They jumped from one tree to another, observing us from there. Since Sir Carlos didn’t notice them, they must have some stealth class. More [Thief] classes?

We were carrying a messenger bird with us, it sat on Sir Carlos’ head as we walked toward the stable. “So you’ve readied a report, young master?” he finally asked, when he thought we were alone.

“I did. I don’t think there’s anything suspicious in the Baron’s mansion. Except for the Baroness, she was quite flirty,” I said, to which he raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment anything. I added, “Oh, and there was a Wolf Demi-Human maid there.”

Immediately, the air around the trees changed. My Demonic Sphere caught figures reaching out to their waist and pulling out daggers. Damn, they sure were scared.

“Seems like the Baron has quite the perverted taste, nothing that should be mentioned in the letter,” I said with a shrug, and the figures sheathed their daggers.

We approached the stable, walked into our carriage, and sat face to face. I wrote a letter, stamped it with the family emblem, and then rolled the paper to tie it to the bird's talons. “Sorry, birdy.” I rubbed his head as he made bird sounds.

I released him out of the window, and he flapped into the sky, toward the County.

Immediately, the figures hiding around the stable vanished. They rushed toward the little dove, sure to bring it down from the sky and hold it down. They had to make sure that I had only written what I was saying, they didn’t want the letter to reach the Baron.

Unfortunately for them, I’ve expected them to act just like that.

“They’re gone, young master,” Sir Carlos said.

“So you noticed them?”

“Your eyes kept looking around subtly, I figured something was going on,” I had already proven my higher sense of perception to him before, that must be why he trusted it. “When we reached the stable, even I managed to sense them since they were so bold as to eavesdrop. The Baron’s mansion isn’t as uneventful as you said, is it?”

“I’m glad you’re on board, and no, it’s not.” I reached my hand above, on the ceiling, where a bird cage rested. I opened it, greeting the other dove that was given to me and not the knights. “You’ll have to take a detour, okay?” I said to the bird, but she just tilted her head.

“Ah, young master, I’ll explain. You just focus on writing the letter,” Sir Carlos said and I blinked. So I had to take a course on bird language before I could communicate with them? Dammit.

I sat down and started doing my job instead. This time, the report was far shorter than the fake one.

[Werewolves. Vampires. Danger. Need immediate support from all Romani Knights, otherwise, I and half of Lockdarn might end up dying.]

“This…!” Sir Carlos’ eyes widened when he saw my letter. He opened his mouth, and I gestured with a finger over my lips to him to stay silent.

“Shh,” What if there was still someone around that my Demonic Sphere couldn’t notice?

However, he didn’t have to say anything. His eyes did a wonderful job of portraying his emotions.

Both the Vampires and the Werewolves were mythical species who’ve been enemies of one another for millennia; in a city where both might be present, doom was inevitable. Thankfully, the Vampires weren’t here yet, so if the Knight Order was quick enough, we might be able to drive away these Werewolves before the Vampires came to find them.

As the dove went flying in the sky, taking a different route than the previous one, I realized that this was a battle with time.

The loss of which would cause the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocents.