“Even so, isn’t this too dangerous?”


  “Wouldn’t it have been better to send a letter and negotiate our stance instead?”


  “They look like a group that we could negotiate with.”


  Complaints, the only thing that came out of their mouths were complaints

  Looking at the executives of the Janis information agency, Hooke exhaled a short sigh.

  ‘Cowardly bastards.’


  They were satisfied with the current size of the Janis information agency.

  However, Hooke was different.

  ‘It must not only control Miller Castle’s information, but also the entire Rinse Kingdom, no, the entirety of the continent beyond this kingdom.

  Expanding the Janis information agency to be the greatest information group in the continent was his goal and his dream.

  Truly a grand ambition.

  ‘And they’re telling me to back off simply because they’re scared of a countryside baron, moreover a guy who just became a noble?’


  He shook his head.

  If the agency becomes too protective of itself and backs off, it won’t be able to progress onto wider roads and higher places.

  Now that he saw them like this, Baba once again looked much better.

  ‘Even though he was soft and weak, he never questioned any of my orders.’


  On the other hand, the other executives of the Janis information agency wanted to hold hands with Roan and reconcile with him, saying that it wasn’t too late.

  ‘Cowardly bas……’


  When he was about to curse again from his rage.

  Boom!

  Suddenly, the meeting room’s door abruptly opened.

  A distressed looking young man pushed his face into the room and shouted aloud.

  “We failed! We failed!”


  They were abrupt words, but Hooke as well as everyone in the room was well aware of the meaning behind the man’s words.

  Viscount Anthony Holten’s hunting competition scheme had failed.

  “Damn it. I knew this would happen!”


  “In the end, we made an enemy out of a kingdom’s noble!”


  “Cht! If only we moved more carefully.”


  Once again, complaints, and only complains came pouring out of their mouths.

  Boom!

  Hooke couldn’t hold back and slammed his fist down on the table.

  “Khmm.”


  Flinching, the executives backed down.

  While they echoed each other’s words and heated up the room, they had completely forgotten about Hooke’s existence.

  With a cold look in his eyes, Hooke glared at the executives.

  “Let’s stop here.”


  “Ye, yes. Understood.”


  The executives quickly nodded their heads.

  Hooke stood up and cleaned up the papers on top of the table.

  ‘As expected, Viscount Holten wasn’t good enough.’


  He let out a short sigh.

  ‘If Baron Tale interrogates Viscount Holten……’


  As the ones who schemed together from the backlines, their identity would be revealed.

  ‘Just to be safe, we should move our base.’


  Of course, there was something that needed to be done before that.

  “Baba.”


  “Yes. Master.”


  Baba quickly stood up from his chair and lowered his head.

  “Destroy all the documents related to Viscount Holten.”


  “Yes. Understood.”


  In the first place, all the documents were already organized.

  Although Anthony’s scheme had failed, there was no reason to hurry.

  ‘Viscount Holten doesn’t know the location of our headquarters.’


  If Roan tries to locate the base, it would take a significant amount of time.

  In that time, they simply needed to organize all the documents and goods and move the headquarters in a casual manner.

  But that leisure didn’t last as long as he believed it would.

  Boom!

  Once again, the meeting room’s door violently opened.

  Hooke, who was already forcefully holding back his aggravated mood, couldn’t restrain himself and yelled.

  “What is it this time?!”


  A cold voice.

  The young man who pushed his head into the meeting room urgently shouted.

  “It, it’s the enemy! The Amaranth troop is attacking our headquarters.”


  Immediately, Hooker and the executives’ eyes enlarged.

  “What?!”


  “What did you just say?!”


  Looks of disbelief.

  The young man once again shouted his report out loud.

  “The Amaranth troop is attacking our headquarters! Baron Roan Tale has invaded!”


  Hooke frowned.

  ‘Impossible!’


  It was impossible.

  It had been slightly over an year since they had set up their headquarters in the wooden warehouse.

  And during that time, they had worked extra hard to conceal its location.

  Thanks to that, there was not a single information agency located in the same Miller Castle that knew of the Janis information agency’s headquarters.

  ‘But just how did Baron Tale find out?’


  Hooke’s head was spinning.

  Several possibilities immediately passed through his head.

  ‘Perhaps?’


  Hooke’s gaze turned towards Baba.

  ‘Did he learn the identities of the spies we attached to him?’


  If it wasn’t that they didn’t know but merely pretended and attached their own spies in turn, not only the identity of the spies, even the location of the headquarters would have been revealed.

  ‘Damn it.’


  Hooke finally spat out a curse.

  “Everyone take only the most special and highest level documents and escape.

  “Yes! Understood!”


  The executives answered as one and rapidly moved.

  Hooke also did the same.

  Quickly exiting the meeting room, he gritted his teeth.

  ‘Roan Tale……’


  Feelings of regret surged up, but it was too late at this point.

  ‘Did I underestimate him too much?’


  It felt as if he had pulled a sleeping lion’s whiskers.

  But the deed was already done.

  ‘For now, I have to safely escape from the base.’


  Hooke’s footsteps moved towards a different direction than that of the other executives.

  A strange light shined in his eyes.

  ‘It doesn’t matter even if the headquarters falls down and all the agents die.’


  He gritted his teeth.

  ‘I. If only I can survive, it’s possible to rebuild the Janis information agency whenever I want.’


  It was a cold and heartless thought.

  Hooke inhaled deeply.

  He quickly navigated through a complicated maze and stopped in front of a solid wall.

  Glancing around his vicinity and after seeing that the coast was clear, he tapped on the wall with a peculiar hand movement.

  Kugung.

  Slightly, the wall moved inwards.

  Hooke quickly stepped into the inner space.

  Kugung.

  The wall returned to its original position once again.

  And just like that, Hooke disappeared.

  *****

  “Don’t let a single one escape!”


  “Maintain the formation!”


  A tall troop flag.

  Below, the members of the Amaranth troop moved systematically.

  After piercing through the warehouse’s door, the Amaranth troop positioned themselves in a giant circle with a ten-man group as the base.

  A sight as if they were surrounding the wooden warehouse and slowly closing in on it.

  “Stop them!”


  “Buy as much time as possible.”


  With the warehouse behind them, agents of the Janis information agency desperately resisted.

  At first, they pretended to be innocent warehouse workers, but when the Amaranth troop attempted to forcefully enter the warehouse without being fooled, they revealed their true colors.

  “They are the ones who attempted to harm our lord! Do not hesitate your hands!”


  Austin ordered the men as he dashed around on his horse.

  “Yes sir!”


  Hundreds of Amaranth troop members answered together at the same time and boosted their morale.

  Looking at that sight, Viscount Tio Ruin and his knights quietly exclaimed.

  ‘I think it whenever I see it, but the Amaranth troop truly is a strange group.’


  Each individual’s strength were definitely far below that of a knight, but together, they displayed an incredible might and spirit.

  Ping! Piing! Ping!

  With sharp sounds, tens of arrows cut through the air.

  The archers, with Harrison at the lead, had begun to attack with their arrows.

  Pbuk! Pbuk! Pbububuk!

  “Kuaak!

  “Kuk!”


  The agents who were resisting had been riddled with arrows and started falling down one by one.

  Instantly, their defensive line was torn apart.

  And towards that gap, Roan and the cavalry charged in.

  Ssskuk! Sssukuk!

  “Kkrrg”.

  Every time the tip of the spear danced, multiple agents lost their necks and fell down.

  Although the agents of the Janis information agency were agile and had quick hands, their overall might wasn’t very great.

  They were no match for Roan, no the Amaranth troop.

  “Forwards!”


  When Roan pointed at the warehouse’s entrance, two horsemen ran up and slammed on the door with hooves.

  Boom!

  The tightly closed door splintered into pieces and flew open. 1

  Now, the door was wide open.

  The inside of the large warehouse appeared before their eyes.

  Dududududu!

  The sound of horse hooves shaking the ground echoed.

  The cavalry entered the warehouse.

  “S, stop!”


  “Stop them!”


  Agents of the Janis information agency, who were spread out all over the place, tried to slow them down but weren’t enough to stop the Amaranth troop.

  Sskuk! Sssukuk! Boom! Kugung!

  Swords and spears cut through the air and the war horses violently ran amok.

  And in each and every time, the agents fell with cries of death.

  “Find the entrance!”


  At Roan’s shout, the cavalry, which had infiltrated the warehouse like a long string, jumped off their saddles and into the air.

  Running through the lumber blocks stacked high and the white wood shavings that carpeted the floor, each one of them began to search for the secret entrance into the headquarters.

  The hands and feet moved around tirelessly.

  At that moment.

  “We found it!”


  They found the door skillfully hidden between two highly stacked lumbers blocks.

  ‘Mister Clay’s words were true.’


  The reason the Amaranth troop could quickly find the secret door was thanks to Clay’s advice.

  Because he had told them the approximate location, they could find the entrance without much trouble even within the similar looking layouts.

  “Infiltrate and capture the agents!”


  “Sir yes sir!”


  As soon as he gave the order, the troop members each raised their weapons and entered into the passage.

  “Keep!”


  Roan then called Keep, who was in charge of the information squad.

  “Yes!”


  Keep quickly ran up and gave a short salute.

  “You will lead the information squad and secure the documents and papers that the Janis information agency has stored.”


  “Yes! Understood.”


  Keep immediately answered and gestured toward the back with his hand.

  Soon, tens of agile and quick-footed soldiers entered the door with Keep.

  Following that, Roan ordered the rest of the troops to capture the enemies that were left and to restrict access in and out of the warehouse and the surrounding area.

  ‘Then, should I move as well?’


  Roan, who had given out all the necessary orders, kicked off the ground and entered the secret passage behind everyone else.

  The lanterns lining the walls were pushing away the pitch-black darkness.

  The view wasn’t very bright, but Roan was able to clearly see even a point far away thanks to Kalian’s Tears.

  Cutting down the agents running towards him, Roan stepped deep into the base.

  ‘Incredible.’


  Roan inwardly exclaimed.

  The size of the Janis information agency’s underground headquarters was truly colossal.

  Furthermore, the twisting and turning maze-like space posed a likely danger of getting lost and being trapped within the maze.

  At that moment.

  ‘Un?’


  He saw a man hurriedly running at the end of the maze.

  ‘A simple looking face that doesn’t fit his large build.’


  Roan was mentally going through Keep’s reports.

  ‘He’s Baba, the executive of the Janis information agency.’


  He was different than the small fries that Roan had cut down until now.

  ‘I have to catch him.’


  Roan kicked off the ground right away and threw his body forward.

  A wisp of mana flew out of the mana hole and into his feet.

  Paat!

  Suddenly, Roan’s movement sped up like a flying tiger.

  Even when he came to the end of the maze, he didn’t reduce his speed.

  Tat!

  Instead, he kicked off the floor and placed his two feet on the opposite wall, letting him turn his body.

  It was a smooth and rapid movement.

  The movement was chaotic enough to make it look like the world was spinning, but Roan was able to focus on Baba and chase him thanks to Kalian’s Tears.

  “Get out of my way!”


  Puuk! Sskuk!

  The spear and his fist danced towards the agents that blocked his way.

  “Kuk!’


  “Kuuk!”


  And each and every time, the agents couldn’t even offer proper resistance and were blown away to the sides.

  “Uuhuk!”


  Baba, who was running ahead, screamed when he saw Roan chasing him.

  His face turned utterly white as his eyes opened wide.

  Baba was completely horrified.

  ‘I, I don’t want to die!’


  To Roan, who was now directly behind him, Baba waved his hand.

  Paat!

  Suddenly, the stacks of paper in his hand scattered all over the place.

  Roan frowned as he looked at the bundles of paper that densely covered up what was in front of him.

  Ssssssk!

  Once he focused his eyes, Kalian’s Tears activated.

  Immediately, the bundles of paper that were flying all over the place began to move slowly.

  He could even read each and every word within the chaotically scattering papers.

  At that moment.

  ‘Hm? This is?’


  Reading the contents of the paper that blocked his sight, Roan made unique kind of smile.

  ‘It’s a document recording the secret deal with Viscount Holten.’


  To save his one and only life, Baba had thrown away the most important documents in the Janis information agency and ran.

  Roan stopped his feet and extended his hands toward the papers.

  The hands looked frustratingly slow due to Kalian’s Tears.

  But their movements were much faster than that of the papers that flew all around him.

  If others had seen that sight, their jaws would had fallen off from their stupefied faces.

  To anyone else that was watching him, it would have looked as if Roan was rapidly catching the scattering papers one by one while standing in the passageway

  “Huu.”


  After he caught all of the papers, Roan exhaled deeply.

  When he blinked once, the movements around him returned to normal.

  Although Baba had escaped while he organized the papers, he didn’t chase after him.

  ‘However much those fools run, they’ll still be within my grasp.’


  The tip of his mouth slightly went up.

  At that moment, he heard Austin’s voice from behind him.

  “Sir! We have killed and or captured most of the average agents. But we cannot find the executive level agents. It seems that they have escaped through a secret passageway.’


  Although the content of the report was urgent, his voice and appearance were in fact relaxed.

  Austin slowly walked up to Roan’s side.

  “About that man named Clay.”


  His voice was slightly mixed with wonder.

  Looking around at the maze’s complicated and twisted paths, he continued to speak.

  “Just how do you think he knew that there were secret exits? And not only one or two, but four of them.”


  At those words, Roan pocketed the papers he was holding and shrugged.

  “Who knows. We cannot be sure of it yet. But one thing is for sure……”


  Roan looked at Austin and made a faint smile.

  “It’s that mister Clay isn’t an ordinary person.”


  Austin nodded his head.

  Somehow, his expression turned dark.

  “Is he someone who can help us?”


  Roan nodded immediately when Austin asked.

  “Of course. But……”


  His words drifted off.

  With a quiet voice, Roan whispered.

  “We’ll have to wait and see if he’s a good person.”


  ******

  “Damn it. Master’s ambition is just too grand.”


  “You said it. Even though there’s no problem with eating and living even with the current size of the organization.”


  “I knew something like this would happen.”


  In the pitch-black passage without a single light, complaints pouring out of their mouths.

  The owners of the voices were the executives of the Janis information agency, who had used the common agents as shields and were attempting to escape through one of the secret exits.

  “What about the other guys?”


  “They probably chose a different escape route.”


  “And master?”


  “Let’s not worry about master. He probably escaped even earlier than we did.”


  Talking in a quiet voice, they rapidly moved their feet.

  At that moment, the one who was walking in the lead stopped and groped around with his hands.

  “We’re here. Everyone be quiet.”


  As soon as he finished his words, the complaint-filled passage fell into silence.

  Druk. Druk.

  The sound of a lock turning echoed.

  Kkiiiig.

  When he put strength into his shoulder and pushed, the tightly closed exit slowly opened up.

  Immediately, an incredible stench pierced their noses.

  “Damn it. Even if being secretive was important, just why did they have to build the exit in the feces dump?”


  “Don’t complain about it. It’s because that it’s built here that no one would ever come here to find us.”


  “Right. Just what insane bastard would even think that this place would be connected to the secret exit?”


  Giggling amongst themselves, the executives exited through the doorway one by one.

  Around the door, a ridiculously amount of feces was piled around.

  “Uck. The smell.”


  “For now let’s get out of here.”


  Plugging up their nose, the executives quickly moved their feet.

  No, they were about to move their feet.

  “Uh?!”


  But with eyes like that of a surprised rabbit, they were soon petrified like stones.

  Common soldiers stood in a long line along the feces dump.

  A familiar insignia was carved on their breastplates.

  “Ju, just how did the Amaranth troop……”


  The soldiers of the Amaranth troop that had attacked the information agency’s base also appeared at the end of the secret passageway.

  At that moment, the soldiers move to the sides and the only young man who wore a different outfit appeared.

  He was an imposing man with very small and thin eyes.

  “Executives of the Janis information agency. You’ve had quite the trouble in this feces pile.”


  A confident and bold attitude.

  “My name is Clay. One soon to be serving Sir Baron Tale, I am……”


  A weird smile formed on his mouth.

  “A Druid.”


  End.

  Translator: CSV

  Proofreader: st8_lupe.

  1. Yes, I know they already destroyed this door in the last chapter, but that’s what the raw says. Either the author made a mistake, this is another door on the warehouse, or Roan and co. destroyed the poor door twice!