The rain was pouring down.

Bits and pieces hit the gray dirt floor of the afternoon courtyard.

Mira stared quietly at the rain curtain through the large floor-to-ceiling glass window with a brown-black window frame taller than she could stand on, in a daze.

It was the second time in 12 years that she had seen such a thing as glass, and even though the Church had made it public more than a century ago, it was still a luxury reserved for a few large families.

The windows of the commoners' houses, chamber of commerce, and inns were mostly made of solid wood, and the vertical planks were arranged neatly and then fixed with nails on the horizontal planks, which was similar to the thick windows of the shields, and was used even by the branches of the mercenary guilds - no.

It's not that they can't afford glass windows, but in fact, when it comes to money alone, glass can't compare to precious metals such as gold and silver. After the church revealed how to make it, this unique gem-like material that can transmit light has been reduced from a top-notch treasure to a high-priced item that can be purchased by those with a little money.

-- Its meaning of luxury is not measured by money alone, fragile and translucent glass does not have the good defensive power of thick wood, and choosing it to obtain light and beauty also means to reveal the secrets of the house.

Therefore, those who can afford to use glass windows either live in a peaceful and prosperous city with extremely good law and order, or they have the absolute position of a monopoly and are not afraid of any provocation. The former reflects the extremely high degree of civilization of the country in which it exists. The people have a developed country that can be proud of the other countries around them. The latter, on the other hand, is the unfazed by the powerful -- no matter which one it is. It is all a "luxury" on the spiritual level with full confidence.

And this is somewhat ironic to outsiders.

-- The more developed it is, the more civilized it becomes. The more I like it. Fragile things.

Dresses that were inconvenient to move around, delicate but heavy and fragile gold and silver ornaments, dazzling precious stones, delicate silk folding fans, marble floors and animal skin carpets that had been transported from nowhere.

The nobles liked these things, and while Mira could understand that they chose them because they were capable of doing it, she couldn't understand the way they thought about it.

At least not yet.

The rain was still falling, and Mira turned around, and there were three people, including her, Henry, and Ferry, in the large room. And why they're here, we have to start from the beginning.

After discovering the deceased yesterday afternoon, Henry deduced that there were two "magicians" in the city who used interference spells to kill people, and then returned to the security post to look through the scrolls, and sure enough, they found several details that they had never noticed before.

While the vast majority of the dead are still believed to have been the work of the duke's eldest son, the more skilled one, there are a few bodies that show obvious signs of scrawled violence and look like the modus operandi of a second murderer.

After solving a key problem, going back to the dusty scroll, and distinguishing the two categories through murderous methods, everyone easily discovered the regular characteristics of the second "magician".

Mixed in with the many cases in which the former person indiscriminately killed people in cold blood, from children to the elderly, from civilians to soldiers, the second magician chose to attack. But they have a lot in common.

Prostitutes, drunkards, vagabonds, bandits, unscrupulous mercenaries.

When all the dead were mixed together, because the area covered was too extensive, everyone was not able to find out about this fact, and after the separation, the sheriff uncle scratched his head and sighed helplessly, and then said.

"This thing is not so much a magician who kills people with secret methods, but rather a security officer. ”

The bottleneck that had been stuck for a long time was solved after Henry's arrival. After repeated decisions, everyone decided to divide the army into two ways.

Vega led a group of temporary workers to start an investigation based on the location where the bodies were found a year ago, but the North City has long been in ruins due to the sabotage of those mercenaries. Even if the name of the resident who found the body was known, it is likely that the other party has already moved out of the North Side or left Monroe directly.

The search was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but things progressed, and there was hope that the dead air in the city would be swept away, and the residents would be given an account. Vega seemed to be suddenly more than ten years younger, and not only did he lead his subordinates to launch another investigation. An application was also made to the Duke's Palace.

His desperate Henry looked at it, causing the sage to think a little. No matter how good a person is, how good his character is, and how he still maintains this enthusiasm despite lack of funds and many obstacles, then most of the time this matter is mixed with his personal feelings.

The suspicion that the sheriff's erased sword was more plausible, but Vega wasn't going to say it, and Henry, who had always disliked getting to the bottom of things, remained silent.

- Returning to the original point, Vega's application to the Duke's Palace, except for the formal polite language that prescribes, is roughly as follows: Recently, the murderer named "The Magician" has reappeared, and because of his proximity to the Duke's Palace, in order to check whether the precautions are perfect, he has requested that three mercenaries with a certain strength be sent to the Duke's Palace for two days and one night to make rounds.

The reason seemed high-sounding, but the scheming Duke must have understood that it was the drunkard's intention not to drink, so everyone was prepared to be rejected. Vega took this as a first move, and was ready to send security guards to ambush near the Duke's Palace after being refused, on the pretext of security patrols, hoping to wait for the Duke's eldest son to go out again to catch him.

The rhetoric and action plan have been prepared, and all that awaits is the rejection of the other party. But just a moment later, two soldiers dressed in the same large-shouldered half-body armor as the guards at the gates of the North City brought another piece of news.

- The Duke agreed.

What the other party's idea is, even Henry can't guess and understand. Are you so confident that you won't reveal any illusions when you go in, or will you take some obstructive measures to obstruct the investigation or give the wrong direction?

Once again, the situation in the game has become confusing. The sage and the sheriff looked at each other, then nodded. The decision was to take it in its composure - and that was already this morning.

After being ushered into the ducal palace, the soldiers who saw them off left on their own. Instead, a maid dressed in elaborate black and white costumes led the trio directly to the room assigned to them.

The interior of the mansion is wide and luxurious, and the T-shaped corridor on the right is where the guest rooms are located, and the wealth of the wealthy Duke of Monroe can be seen in this, even the rooms that have been vacant all the year round have rich floors and lamp holders made of crystal, and all the teak furniture - the maid led the three of them to arrive and brought a drink made of fruit, and then told the atrium on the left side if there was anything to do, and then retreated, leaving the three of them to move freely.

The sweet smell of mango juice and lemon leaf tea in fine glassware attracted the wary glances of Ferry and Mira, but the sage took a big sip of one without hesitation. Then he gave the two of them a "stay here and don't run around" look, and walked out of the room on his own.

He didn't unload his broadsword, and just marched through the interior of the Duke's Palace, fully armed.

The maids and the more junior male servants who passed by "......" with all sorts of cleaning tools and clothes and sheets stopped and bowed slightly when they saw Henry, as if he were some kind of distinguished guest.

In other words, I can go wherever I want. This detail made the sage's eyes narrow slightly—he became more and more curious about what the Grand Duke of Monroe was up to, so without doing anything, Henry just wandered around the mansion.

The overall shape of Monroe's Ducal Palace can be seen as a large circle wrapped around a small circle, and the ends of the T-shaped horizontal lines are the guest rooms and the servants' rooms. At the end of the straight line is a large atrium with a wide staircase that can be walked up by ten people at the same time, leading to the second floor of the mansion.

At the back of the staircase is the gate to the backyard, which is enclosed by the outer "big circle" - that is, the fence and the firewood storehouse and the like - and this vast backyard also contains some training equipment. If you go to the right side of the backyard, you can see Mira and them in the interior of the room through the glass window.

Several soldiers who had just finished training walked by on the right side wearing standard large-shouldered half-body armor, and they noticed the sage's presence, but they only walked indifferently.

"Do you really want to let me investigate at will? Aren't you afraid that I'll really find out something? Henry muttered to himself, and he took the initiative to come to the conclusion that the other party did not intend to restrict his actions. The significance of this move was unknown, so he decided to take it for a moment and not rush it.

"Forget it. It's no problem to come first from that side. After savoring the sweet taste of the juice in his mouth, as if to hide something, Henry turned and began to walk back.

Ferry, who stayed in the room, seemed a little frizzy, after all, the whole thing was quite personal to him. A young and impulsive boy, it is obviously impossible for him to control his emotions. So he didn't do anything, just paced back and forth, sat up and got up from the chair, holding his arms for a while, scratching his short hair for a while, and looking so irritable.

Mila next to her took a sip of lemon leaf tea and continued to read, she tried to make small talk with Ferry at first, but since arriving at the Duke's mansion, the young mercenary seemed to be restless, so the girl sat silently on the side.

After Henry's return, the two naturally asked him about the results of the investigation, but the sage shook his head and just said, "Just wait for the rabbit." ”

Fee, who had just met Ferry and was not familiar with Henry's style of doing things, was obviously unconvinced by this answer, and he angrily picked up a glass of juice and drank it down, and then sat down on the chair with his arms crossed and began to sullen.

Mira glanced at him, then shook her head, and then read quietly, and then, as if tired of reading, she went to the window again and looked at the heavy rain and began to think about something.

Time passed smoothly, and the only person who had contact with them for a whole day was the maid who delivered the meal, and the lunch and dinner were very rich, and several maids brought it. And Ferry, who had been furrizzy all day, lay down on the carpet and began to doze off when he had eaten and drunk enough. Mira was still reading, and Henry was sitting leisurely, as if waiting for something.

"Buckle up. "About seven o'clock. There was a knock on the door, and Mira staggered to her feet. But Henry raised his hand to stop her. The sage himself stepped forward and opened the door, this time it was not the maid, but the one who was waiting for Henry.

"I'm Medlo Miller, the knight of Monroe. The man with brown hair, who was still wearing long sleeves in the hot and humid weather, said this, and then forced the group of three with sharp eyes.

"The Duchess wants me to have a fight with you mercenaries who have come to investigate to confirm your strength. His tone was calm, but the expression on his face was not at all like he was just going to pass it.

"Well, sure enough, you nobles will only do this. The sage cupped his forehead in disappointment. The other party's intentions did not exceed his expectations, and there was a little expectation of speculating whether they had any deep meaning or would play a special hand or two, but in the end, no matter where the nobles were, they would only make the same choice.

If you want to figure out what they want to do, it can't be easier to understand the thinking patterns of the aristocracy.

These guys, who were born with golden keys and were taught from an early age to be born to rule, do not regard mercenaries or civilians as equals to themselves at all. In their eyes, they are "noble", just like human beings looking down on the insects and ants under their feet, ordinary people are humble things that are not even necessary to raise their strength to deal with seriously.

When they're in a good mood, they might give a little bit to make each other weep with gratitude to themselves, and when these lowly bugs dare to offend themselves.

Guards, conspiracies, misdirection - no, these things are reserved for equal nobles.

There is only one choice for dealing with the mortal nobles who threaten them, no matter where they are, from ancient times to the present. That is to crush the other party.

Two blue-card mercenaries and one green-card mercenary were accidentally killed while practicing fighting, and the Duke's family paid monetary compensation to the Mercenary Guild, and stated that they would severely punish their elite soldiers who killed people.

And then there was no then.

"Whew......," Henry let out a sigh of relief, and then took the great sword that was leaning against the chair next to him.

Mira, who was sitting in a chair reading a book, had her neck crooked. and Ferry, who was lying on the carpet, let out an even breathing sound.

"You are really unlucky, if you also fall asleep obediently, there will be no pain. Medlo pulled away to reveal a group of heavily armed soldiers behind him, and a "click" sounded. The glass windows on the side of the room leading to the backyard were opened from the outside, and the night breeze blew in to make the candles flicker. Three soldiers walked in through the window and walked around behind Henry.

"Qiang—" They drew their weapons, and the sage gripped the hilt of his sword.

"Ahh Wait a minute. ”

"I know what you're thinking. He was surrounded by three soldiers in half-armor in front of him, and there were many more people in the corridor outside the door, so it could be said that he was heavily surrounded, but the sage spoke calmly as always.

"You're thinking that you have the numerical advantage that this man has to protect two sleeping companions. And now most of them are using willpower to hold on, and I don't know if I can swing a sword. ”

"That's right. Henry slowly drew his broadsword, the space inside the room was extremely cramped, there were wolves in front and tigers in the back, the situation was not optimistic, but he was as leisurely as if he was chatting with his friends.

"I'll be honest with you, I don't know. Henry shrugged, "Because as you secretly observed, I also ate those drugged things." ”

"But this—"

"It's a Kramer that can perfectly split a person in half from scratch. ”

"And you're right within its range. ”

"So you should ask yourselves a question, young man!" one of the soldiers in the back did not intend to listen to his nonsense any longer, and directly raised his sword and stabbed at Ferry who fell to the ground, and Henry did not look at it, and turned around with his sword in both hands and lightning away.

"Bang-bang!!" The severed half of the steel sword spun and flew out, piercing deep into the back of the teak chair, and the arm with residual warmth pulled a trail of blood into the sky, and the soldier's distorted face and mouth were wide open, but before the wail could be uttered, it stopped forever with Henry's next action.

"Boom-Boom-Boom-T

The lightning-fast blow of "Woo ......" caused the remaining five to immediately stop and widen the distance, and Medlo at the door withdrew a little back, allowing the elite soldiers of the reserve team to move forward. The tip of the lowering sword was still warm with blood, and Henry was breathless, turned his head to look at Medlow, and then finished his warning.

"Would you like to try your luck? (To be continued.) )