chapter 78
In the middle of the night, shadows danced quietly around a villa.
Theodore looked around.
All of the available faculty force was here right now.
"I thought you said you were arriving tomorrow morning."
Helen chuckled lightly.
"To deceive your enemy, you have to deceive your companions first."
She said it with a nonchalant attitude, but her expression told otherwise.
"And you can't say that to me. Look at the number of people you summoned. Quite prepared, huh??"
"Well, the world is changing, and we have to keep up and adapt ourselves. Don't you think so?"
Theodore repeated the same words she had told him while discussing the Soran family yesterday.
Helen stayed silent for a few seconds, then her eyes turned sharp.
"If you hadn't prepared, I would drag each and every professor out of the academy by force—including you—even if I had to use drastic measures. Luckily, you are a smart fellow."
Theodore suddenly felt chills at her cold tone.
She is angry.
Master Helen was angry.
And the last time he had seen her this angry was when she was investigating the Ronian border villages.
At that time, Ronian had decided to abandon its territory, and the army had fled.
The Magic Tower launched an investigation, and Helen was also part of the dispatched squad.
When they reached the border and started their work, they found out Ronian had abandoned villages, leaving people to fend for themselves amidst a monster outbreak.
At that time, she was so angry that she blew monsters apart with her fire spells within hundreds of meters.
She went and rescued the villagers and then made that village their base after clearing a full kilometer area of monsters in the vicinity.
And now, the Soran family had messed up.
A flicker of light flashed from the top of a pillar of the villa, only for a millisecond.
Theodore's expression turned somber.
It was an orange signal.
It meant they couldn't gauge the exact situation.
Helen's fists tightened.
Bastards.
She was in charge of this mission.
And before Theodore could ask for the next course of action—
BOOOOOOM
She leapt into the air and crossed hundreds of meters in an instant, disappearing into the horizon.
Theodore shook his head and gave the command.
"Left wing, follow her. Right wing, full attack."
A spell shot out and delivered his command to his people.
Shadows leapt over the walls.
Ziiiiiiing
An isolation barrier completed outside the villa.
Flares kept shooting as mages secured the inside area.
Theodore watched this and made his way toward the front gate.
"There are traps inside."
A communication came.
He put his hand on the gate, and it was blown to pieces. Inside was completely silent, devoid of any signs of life.
Traps were dismantled here and there.
He kept moving forward.
"Urgent report. Reconnaissance complete. There are no signs of the target."
A report came as soon as he stood inside the guest room, which was spacious enough to hold a small party.
"There are no people inside as well?" he asked.
"Yes. And everything related has been burned completely. Memory magic also traced no record," Selvian reported.
"And it looks like it has been abandoned for a long time, but some traces reveal recent activity up to last night."
"Hmmm… most likely they got rid of it in a hurry. But haste leaves something behind—
like this…."
A spell was conjured, and the floor of the guest room blew apart.
All of the mansion had traps and magic circles, but rooms and living areas didn't.
The reason was that no one would pay attention to these areas.
But smell only needed a tiny hole to escape, and that didn't slip past Theodore.
What was underneath made the mages retch in disgust.
A horrid smell lingered, still trickling into their noses, but there was nothing left inside.
Some smoke traces were still there, and it looked like it had been cleaned in a hurry.
"Selvian."
He called Professor Selvian.
Selvian started immediately.
Mages wore masks and leapt inside.
A whole new mansion was underneath the building.
Some areas looked like they had tried to bury them but simply didn't have enough time to do it.
Mages started searching.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Master Helen."
A middle-aged man smiled politely and spoke to Helen.
"The Soran family has no need to—"
Helen gestured, and he stopped mid-sentence. A young mage started reporting something into her ear.
They were inside the main mansion of the Soran family. Helen had come straight to the mansion in the middle of the night to catch them off guard, while Theodore was busy attacking the villa.
The patriarch welcomed Helen warmly, and it looked almost like they had no idea what could have warranted her arrival.
They are prepared.
That was Helen's first thought.
Much too prepared.
So instead of confronting him directly, she took a submissive attitude to lower their guard and invited herself in while she was at it.
Tuck.
The mage's report finished, and Helen placed the cup on the table.
Her gaze narrowed.
What to do… this is a bit troublesome.
She thought for a few seconds, and just as she was about to grab the patriarch by the neck and interrogate him directly, a communication came.
She smiled after hearing it.
"Disrupt it."
That was her response.
She gestured for the patriarch to continue. Even his nonsense sounded pleasant right now.
After half an hour, she stood up and said,
"I understand. Sorry for the miscommunication. The Magic Tower has no grudge against you. It's just that monster attacks have become so frequent that we are a bit sensitive right now. You won't take offense, right?"
She said it in a tone that made it clear he had no choice but to agree.
The patriarch got the message clearly and remained pleasant while escorting them out.
Grrrrrrrr
Helen took a step out of the building and heard a noise.
Grrrrrr
A monster was running inside the garden while some people chased it.
"What is that noise?"
She looked in that direction and asked the patriarch innocently.
The patriarch looked like he would have a heart attack any moment.
"Nothing—it's a pet our family kept for—"
AHHHHHHHHH
A deafening shriek resounded behind him.
He turned back—but Helen was faster.
She had already crossed the gate and leapt into the garden toward the source of the noise.
AHHHHHH
Another shriek.
Helen waved her hand midair, and a bow appeared in her grasp.
A monster came into her view, with several people trying to capture it.
An injured person lay in the corner, dragged aside.
His leg was missing, and he bled nonstop.
Ting.
She sensed something rushing toward her back and looked behind.
The patriarch of the Soran family—Limanoff Soran—
had shed his pretense and taken out a bow.
A black arrow raced toward her.
She smiled triumphantly.
So, you are showing your true colors now...
let's see how long you can last.