Chapter 121: Act alone
Even though she didn’t understand what was happening, she quickly followed him. He led her out of the room and took her to the girls’ dorms.
"Trust me," he said.
Edward turned around and, without further delay, left the academy for the Underground City. But that wasn’t all—he boarded a train and traveled out to Lor City.
He moved quickly because he knew the situation called for it.
In less than an hour, he had already rented a house in the upper district. The house was quite discreet. Although it was a mansion with a high rent, it would serve his current purpose.
He was finally able to sit down and process what had happened.
Count Ashford had been accused of treason, and his mansion was raided by Count Hazzard and Duke Vire.
’With a Duke in the picture, things have gotten more complicated. It’s almost impossible to fight one,’ he thought.
Edward had realized one thing. It wasn’t new; he’d been thinking about it for a long time.
He was the target.
There was a large group behind him, with immense power, that had him in their sights. He knew it from the moment the undead missions began to appear. Coincidentally, almost all the missions Mervan sent him were related to the undead.
’They’re after my fire,’ he thought. ’Or perhaps, in some unknown way, they discovered my title.’
’It must be the former,’ he concluded.
’If I consider that Lander might be a traitor, I can’t rule out the possibility that he witnessed my Fire Butterfly’s ability firsthand at that moment. Disintegrating such a high-level undead, while barely a low-level myself, isn’t something you see every day.’
He stood up from his seat and began pacing around the office of the mansion he had just rented.
’Maybe they saw that and connected the situation to the death of the Death Knight of the Cursed Land that I attacked months ago. That would explain why they’re trying to kill me, and it also explains why General Lawyer turned out to be a traitor.’
Although there were a couple of holes in his reasoning, he considered it quite likely and plausible that this was the case.
That meant he was being hunted. Given everything he had seen and experienced so far, it made perfect sense.
’It’s not far-fetched that they’re after a Lux. But are they after me because I’m a Lux? Is my magic proof that I’m a descendant of Lux?’
’If I had more information, I might understand a little better. But the academy’s most important library is only open to 5-star students. So I can’t go in there to investigate.’
’For now, I’ll have to make do with what I know.’
’And I can’t keep thinking that the academy will protect me anymore. I’m pretty sure that if the count himself killed me, no one would say a word. That’s how this academy and this city work... This world.’
’In the end, I depend on nothing but myself. But I do have some information for now.’
After processing what was happening, Edward decided to move to gather the information he currently had.
Traitors attacking... nothing new to him.
But the most important thing was that he had information about possible traitors.
Alric Dorne as a confirmed traitor and Count Hazzard as a possible traitor.
’One who could become the next Elder when Elder Jacob retires, and another who could grow as powerful as a Duke if he gains enough power to control the Ashfords...’ Edward frowned.
The situation was dangerous. Alric Dorne, though he was an "instructor," was worlds apart from Mervan.
If you become an Elder, you practically have a status on par with that of a Duke.
And you’re completely independent!
And the Dornes aren’t exactly a weak family. They’re the Morrises of their respective province.
The danger was palpable, but Edward felt no fear.
’The problem is how I’ll make this information I have sound plausible in the eyes of the powerful, like Elder Owen.’ Edward sat back down and leaned back in a comfortable chair.
PII!
Just then, the sound of a black bird came from his window, and he turned to look.
The bird pecked at the window once. Its little eyes stared intently at him.
It held a small note in one of its little feet.
’A non-magical raven to send a message? How old-fashioned.’ Edward stood up and took the little note in his hand.
The bird didn’t fly away. It stayed there, staring at him.
Edward read the note.
-I am Harry, Young Lord Edward. I would like to meet with you. I am in Lor City right now. Please, can you send me an address? I have important things for you and for the young lady.
"Harry?" Edward’s eyes lit up immediately.
The Smiths were notorious assassins and spies in the Ashford territories. If only he could use them...
Edward quickly wrote down his current address and then handed the note back to the bird.
He hadn’t understood why the bird hadn’t flown away, but now he understood. This little creature was smarter than he’d thought.
The raven took flight immediately.
After waiting about 15 minutes, a figure leaped nimbly across the rooftops and landed gracefully in the garden.
Edward opened the mansion’s door and, without revealing his face, said, "Come in."
Once inside, they both walked up to the second floor and were finally able to speak.
Harry took off the black hood he was wearing. "Young Lord Edward, I didn’t expect you to have such a beautiful house in such an expensive neighborhood." He was amazed.
Edward laughed. It would be great if he could buy a mansion like this. "It’s not mine. I’m just renting it. You’ve come just in time, to tell you the truth. It hasn’t even been three hours since I rented it."
"Why rent a mansion when you could live at the academy? Wasting precious resources on trivial matters..."
"I think it’s for the same reason you came all this way."
Harry finally fell silent and nodded.
"I can see you know things. Can you tell me?" Edward asked. "Aurora is in an unprecedented state of agitation. I fear she might fall into despair and do something reckless. So I have to move fast."
Harry sighed. "Young Master, I know a few things. But I want to tell you that it won’t be possible to get Lord Ashford out of the cell. At least not while you’re all so weak."
Edward stared at him intently for a long moment. "I can see you know quite a bit."
"To tell you the truth, we Smiths have always worked for the Ashfords since our creation."
"I understand that. It’s just that you have to hide, don’t you?"
"Yes, Young Master. We are assassins and spies. We generally do not reveal who we work for, and we usually maintain a neutral stance because it benefits us in our work. But from childhood, we are taught to defend and watch over the Ashfords from the shadows. I, too, received that training."
"We had many men stationed around the Ashford mansion." Finally, Harry looked up. "This isn’t just external treachery, which we suspected; it’s likely that the Ashfords’ new leader has betrayed them."
"The new leader?" Edward frowned.
Since Theodore didn’t expect to be attacked in that way, he left no written instructions naming Aurora as his heir. So the heir and current leader following Theodore’s forced removal is his eldest son.
"Lance Ashford," Edward said.
Harry nodded. "Yes. Mr. Lance. Before what happened, he met with some men. They were members of the Hazzard family, and there was even a vampire among them. This whole thing is a plot against Lord Ashford, orchestrated from within."
Since this was something Edward had expected, it didn’t surprise him. "Do you have any way to identify those who met with Lance Ashford?"
"Some are marked with spy tags. They won’t be able to remove them for a while. But we don’t have much time. A month at most."
Edward nodded and took something out of his storage ring to place it on the table. "Just out of curiosity, do you have any idea about this organization? Apparently, it’s called..."
"The Red Moon Cave." Harry interrupted him and snatched the token from Edward’s hands. He examined it carefully for a long time and nodded. "Where did you find it?"
"I took it from someone." Edward frowned. "Do you know anything about it?" he asked.
"Of course..." Harry nodded quickly. "It’s one of the most dangerous organizations in the underworld. No one knows who leads it, but they have vast resources and wealth. According to our sources, it was likely founded by someone from the Varhat Empire."
’Varhat again.’ Edward frowned. He’d almost forgotten that some of the events unfolding had started with Varhat.
"So it’s a target, right?"
"Among those sent to speak with Mr. Lance was a man wearing the robes of the Red Moon Cave," Harry replied affirmatively.
"Very well. Tell me the rest without interruption."
Harry immediately began speaking on many different topics. Some were incomprehensible to Edward, as they dealt with espionage, but even so, the information was very important.
It gave him all the clues he needed.
"Why don’t you work for me instead, Harry?" Edward asked with a chuckle. "At least for this month. We’ll have a lot to do, and I’ll need the help of a spy as good as you."
Harry sighed. He wanted to say no, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. "I’ll make sure to serve you well. I’m not that good, but I have men under my command. We’ll be able to do an excellent job."
"Very well. Then let’s get started. First of all, counterintelligence is the art of spies to deceive the enemy, right?"
Harry’s eyes widened in shock. "I’m surprised you know that."
"Hehe. Then let’s play a little chess."