NOVPUB"What in the hell happened here…?" 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝔲𝔟.𝔠𝖔𝖒
Zarak, who had returned to the Gasta Slave Building, muttered as he stared at the state of his guards with a dumbfounded look on his face.
It wasn't just him—the rest of his subordinates who had returned with him wore similar expressions.
"How long do you think you can keep running away! Give up! I will chase you to the end of Nerathis!"
"Hahaha~ I finally understand it now! The Princess does not exist! This is why she keeps disappearing every time I catch her! She is a ghost! My imagination!"
"Catch her!!"
"Haaahh! I am tired… I want to go home…"
One of his guards was laughing like a maniac. Another was running wildly down a hallway.
One seemed to be... walking on an invisible rope? He looked exhausted and was breathing heavily.
And one...
He was sitting on top of a table with an arrogant look on his face and—
"Amenial, my son, from this day forth, I declare you the King of Sharks. Let the Coronation begin."
"…"
"…"
Zarak and his subordinates stayed silent for a moment. They needed a few seconds to process whatever was happening.
Zarak's eyes then fell on his unconscious guards. His face darkened as he turned to the rest.
"Follow me," he ordered.
He and his subordinates rushed toward the end of the hall.
The path to the underground chamber was opened; Zarak narrowed his eyes.
He walked in, and the moment he got there, he saw it—the cage the Princess had been kept in was destroyed.
The iron bars were bent as if made from the weakest material. The chains were melted, clearly subjected to intense heat.
"…"
Zarak's face grew solemn.
In his heart, he had known it would happen.
But now that he was seeing it with his own eyes, it was clear.
The Princess had escaped.
"Send the message. Tell our spies to keep an eye on every single being. If you find anyone suspicious, capture them.
Inns, Gates, Shops, brothels—send men everywhere. I want the entire district covered.
Every single spy, even the ones who haven't been active for a while, needs to join the operation.
Also, contact the spies at the district borders. Tell them to be alert.
I want hourly reports of the entire operation until we capture the Princess."
Zarak passed the order.
Currently, they weren't in the Drakthar Kingdom, but in the Council of Gold's territory.
They didn't have complete control over this place. They couldn't "seal" the district like they usually would—they simply didn't have enough power here.
The good thing, however, was that the Council of Gold didn't care much about power.
As long as they earned money, people had quite a bit of freedom.
This was also the reason Zarak had spread his men all over the district from the start.
His information network was so strong that, if he wanted, he could get detailed reports on every man or woman who came to the district and what they did here—from start to finish—with very little effort.
He had thousands of spies here.
Just that...
Right now, the one his information network was up against was...
The greatest Information Network that could possibly exist in this world.
'Father, Zarak is back and has ordered his spies to search for you. His spies are hidden all over the district.'
Imperia spoke, her ants following Zarak and relaying real-time information.
"He has spies all over the district?"
Kael raised an eyebrow, surprised.
'Yes. I have already located them. Three of them are nearby.'
"And you... located them? Already?"
Kael smiled wryly. Honestly, he wasn't even surprised at this point.
'Mhm. They are quite bad at this. They are told to send hourly reports.
It's easy to track them when they all write reports on the whispering sigil scrolls. I can even read what they write.
They need a better method to report their findings, one that wouldn't give them away.
Right now, it's almost like they're trying to announce that they are the spies.'
"...Right."
Kael had no words.
"So how do we deal with the spies?" he asked.
'You don't have to do anything.
Vitaria and I will take care of them.'
"You will?"
'Vitaria has already put the three nearby spies under an illusion that nothing is wrong.
Even if you remove your cloak and reveal your face—and that girl's—they wouldn't notice anything.'
"Fufufu~"
"…"
Kael stared at Vitaria, who was now hiding in his arms under his cloak and laughing menacingly.
Honestly, it was really tempting to scare one of the spies sitting on the roof and make him fall flat on his face...
But she, as the adorable and disciplined daughter she was, decided to hold back and do as she was told.
"Are you... talking to your Bonds again?"
Lavinia, who was walking beside him wearing a similar black cloak, questioned suspiciously.
She still had a LOT of questions.
Questions Kael knew he would have to answer eventually.
"I am."
Kael nodded.
"Your Bonds... does every single one of them speak?"
"Mhm."
Kael nodded again.
"I thought only Mythical Ranked Beasts were capable of speaking."
"My Bonds are better."
"Better than Mythical Ranked Beasts. Right."
Lavinia nodded, clearly not believing Kael's words.
Kael didn't mind. No sane person would believe him anyway.
"So? Who are you?"
Lavinia questioned directly.
"I told you already. I'm Kael Carter."
"You know that's not what I'm asking."
"I don't know what else you're asking."
Kael didn't give in.
"Are you doing this purposefully?"
Lavinia frowned.
Kael was about to laugh, but then—
'Father, she's buying time,'
Igni warned.
Kael kept a straight face, waiting for Igni to continue.
'She's recovering her Mana Reserves while walking. She's doing it slowly and carefully, possibly to hide it from you.'
"All right then, I'll play your game.
Kael Carter, why did you help me?
No—first tell me how you knew where I was."
Lavinia, oblivious to the fact that her little trick had been caught, questioned directly, hoping to keep Kael distracted.
