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“This is most likely the Count’s doing.”

After Merc gave him the letter that Kena had discovered, Astard murmured, his expression sour.

“But it doesn’t make sense. He most likely discovered who you are and chose to write this letter, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Duke’s men are already on their way. Besides, how did he get past my barrier and take Tetem?”
“Now is not the time for this. If we don’t hurry up she could end up like the professor!”
“You’re right… But doesn’t it bother you? Why didn’t they take Tetem with the professor if they knew about her?”

Despite the urgency of the situation, Astard leisurely expressed his concerns. Perhaps it was just a terrible habit of scholars, but Merc couldn’t take it any longer and spoke up.

“The professor hid her, so they probably didn’t find her. They probably had somebody watching you and spotted her when we brought her back.”
“That’s plausible, but it still doesn’t make sense. To begin with, how could the Count have known you were my spy rather than the Duke’s?”
“I don’t know… But that’s not important. We’ll think about it later, let’s first head to the Count’s mansion. The letter says you shouldn’t do anything, but we can’t simply sit here. Let’s break in and rescue her.”
“Okay.”

Although Astard looked slightly dissatisfied, he realized that Tetem’s safety came first. He handed the letter to Kena and began preparing hurriedly.

“I have a bad feeling about this letter…”

Kena stated, glancing at the letter, just as Astard and Merc were ready to depart.

“A bad feeling?”
“It’s nothing… I’m probably just overthinking things…”
“I see. Let’s leave it for later. Tell us more about it when we get back.”
“Okay.”

After leaving Kena to watch over the house, Merc and Astard hurriedly left.

“M-Master! There are a lot of people standing around the house!”
“What?”

Count Fonan, who had been hiding the evidence of his misdeeds, gasped in astonishment as his servant entered his room.

“The Duke’s men? But it’s too soon…”

Count Fonan had hoped for a little more time, but it appeared that the Duke was serious this time. He reasoned that, in addition to Zera, the Duke had likely employed additional spies.

“This is bad. If they storm in, I’ll be done for. Damn it. I don’t have a choice. Hey! Bring Doctor Glodel’s research here, ASAP!”
“What? But…”
“Don’t dawdle! If the Duke sees the research, he’ll realize that I’ve been leaking information about the Falgaros to the Empire! I was planning on striking a deal with the Empire, but now it’s too late!”
“U-Understood.”
“Damn it. If Porto was here I wouldn’t have needed to explain such simple things…”

After being pressed by the Count’s outrage, the servant hurriedly delivered Doctor Glodel’s research.

“Are you sure this is all?”

The Count inquired, and the servant responded with a slight nod. The Count then began looking over the dozen pages of research documents.

“This seems to be all… It’s unfortunate, but it can’t be avoided. Hey! Burn all of th…”

When Count Fonan looked at the servant, he froze when he noticed that the servant’s head was missing. Only a fountain of blood remained where the servant’s head had been.

“What the…”

Count Fonan had only averted his gaze for a few seconds. Yet such a thing had happened.

The Count, overcome with horror, noticed something enter his sight for a brief instant. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to clearly see the wooden stick heading straight for his head, flattening it.

Count Fonan died without knowing anything.

“It seems like he already has guests.”
“He sure does… Are they Duke Lezau’s men?”
“Probably. They’re quite early.”

When Merc and Astard arrived at Count Fonan’s mansion, they found a dozen soldiers standing guard in front. Some of Count Fonan’s personal guards were also there, although they were heavily outnumbered. The most they could do was look.

“Excuse me, are you the Duke’s men?”
“Who do you think you are? Outsiders aren’t allowed here!”

One of the soldiers responded angrily to Astard’s query. Nonetheless, considering Astard’s suspicious attire, he couldn’t be blamed. Astard, on the other hand, calmly sighed and retrieved his Adventurer’s License from his robe.

“Check for yourself.”
“Huh? A-Astard? T-The Great Sage, Astard?”
“In the flesh.”

When he spotted Astard’s Adventurer’s License, the soldier’s expression shifted to one of disbelief. At the same time, his tone also softened.

“I sincerely apologize for my rude behavior. The Duke dispatched us to aid you, Great Sage. We’re at your service.”
“Great.”
“Excuse me. Do you intend to raid the Count’s mansion?”

Merc asked, standing next to Astard. In response, the soldier gave Merc a skeptical look, but knowing that she was Astard’s companion, he responded, moving his head sideways.

“No, we still don’t have permission. The Duke’s knights are soon to arrive. Until then we are to keep watch so that the Count doesn’t escape.”
“How long have you kept watch?”
“We encircled the mansion this morning, but we’ve been keeping an eye on it since last night.”
“Last night… Did you by any chance see a young girl being brought in?”

Astard inquired, leading the soldier to rummage through his thoughts. After a brief pause, the soldier once again shook his head.

“We haven’t. No one has left or entered the mansion since last night.”
“Is that certain?”
“Apart from keeping watch, we have also been observing the Mana inside the mansion. We’re continuously on the watch for Mana anomalies, but we’ve discovered nothing unusual.”
“I see…”

So the Count didn’t kidnap Tetem.

However, it was also likely that the Count’s man had slipped past the soldier’s surveillance. After all, he’d also managed to break through Astard’s barrier. It shouldn’t have been difficult to evade the soldier’s surveillance.

“What should we do, Merc?”
“What else? We’re going in. We don’t have the time to be…”

Merc was replying to Astard when she felt a fleeting Mana discharge coming from the mansion. Even though it was just for a moment, she had sensed a large quantity of Mana emanating from the mansion.

“I see it wasn’t just me. You also felt that, didn’t you?”
“What was that Mana… Although it vanished quickly, I could tell it wasn’t ordinary.”
“It felt like it resembled your Mana. We should hurry.”

Astard and Merc both approached the residence with serious eyes after sensing the odd Mana.

“Great Sage, what happened?!”

The soldier inquired, most likely because he hadn’t noticed the anomaly.

Even if the Mana had been tremendous, it had also vanished in an instant. It would have been impossible for the average person to notice. Merc and Astard were most likely the only ones who could sense it.

“Oh my…”

The soldier who had been following them both mumbled and came to a halt. When Merc turned around, she noticed that the soldier was staring at the mansion with his jaw hanging open.

“Hey! What happened?”
“It’s burning.”
“What?”
“The mansion is burning… EVERYONE! FIRE! THE MANSION IS BURNING!”

The soldier yelled after coming to his senses, alerting the other soldiers stationed outside the mansion. Both Merc and Astard gazed at the mansion at the same time, only to see fires raging here and there.

“Impossible. Was it the Mana that started this fire? Is the Count going to burn himself, along with the mansion and the evidence?”
“It’s entirely possible. Anyways, let’s hurry!”

After all, they were dealing with Count Fonan, who had gone to great lengths to conceal the evidence. It was very possible that he had devised a plan to dispose of it along with the entire mansion.

However, Merc and Astard didn’t have the time to think about this right now. Merc concentrated Mana to the soles of her feet and rushed for the mansion, leaving Astard behind.

“I’m going ahead! I need to get to Tetem before the flames do!”
“I’ll leave it to you!”

Merc zoomed through the mansion’s gardens after leaving Astard behind, heading towards the main building. Although she arrived quickly, it was already too late.

The outside was holding up, but the interior, which Merc could see through the entrance and windows, was nearly fully consumed by the fire. In no way did it appear to be a regular fire. It was clearly made with the help of magic.

“Tetem! TETEM!”

Merc yelled at the crumbling mansion but received no response. She hesitated for a moment before resolving to wrap her body with hardened Mana and go inside. Back in the elf village, she had successfully resisted even the Ghezo Velche’s flames in this manner. This much was a piece of cake she figured.

Despite being taken aback by the destruction in front of her, Merc chose to enter the blazing mansion, praying for the best.