The residence had clearly been searched; even the front door had been kicked in. Fortunately, there wasn’t anything particurly valuable in the house. After iing the premises, Charlot firmed that although some property had been lost, it wasn’t severe—amounting to less than a single gold écu.

  Luckily, this was Elysée Avenue, so it didn’t take him long to find someoo repair the door. At the same time, he hired a few middle-aged maids to the rooms and also employed two errand boys to deliver letters of reassurao Miss Annie Bretagne and Miss Sylvie Martin.

  Charlot’s social circle in Strasb was small. He had severed ties pletely with “a certain person’s past.” Other than his senior, Menielman, there were only these two dies left.

  That evening, both Annie and Sylvie sent replies. Because it was already te, her came over in person, but both expressed that they would visit early the m.

  Charlot didn’t bother returning to his room upstairs. He simply fell asleep in the small study on the first floor.

  This ret escape, though not lengthy, had left him utterly exhausted. It was an experience he had no desire to repeat.

  The m, as soon as Charlot opened his eyes, he remembered something he’d fotten.

  He had abahose adventurers in Machubi.

  By now, Machubi had bee a plete byrinth. In other words, without his permission, almost no one could ehe fortress of this a Orgdom, aher the people, monsters, evil spirits, nor other straies inside could leave.

  “Should I find some time to return to Machubi?”

  “I don’t even know what it looks like when an a fortress bees byrinthized!”

  “Fortunately, I have three days of vacation. After hosting Annie and Sylvie, I’ll head over to Machubi.”

  Miss Annie Bretagne arrived very early. When she knocked on the door, she was even a bit out of breath. Clearly, though she had ridden in a carriage, she had also hurried some distan foot.

  Seeing Charlot, Miss Annie practically threw herself into his arms, her eyes brimming with affe. With a slightly choked voice, she said, “Why didn’t you tell me? A mere warden isn’t qualified to act with such impunity—I could have helped you.”

  As a transmigrator, Charlot didn’t dare entrust his life and future to a noble dy he hadn’t even had a real retionship with yet. Annie might be pure-hearted, but the family behind her were political animals. They wouldn’t care about se; they would only care about is.

  He didn’t know the upper echelons of the Fars Empire well enough. He had no idea who was allied with whom or who harbrudges.

  What if the Bretagne family was enemies with the Soumet family?

  But he wouldn’t ruin the mood with such thoughts. Touched, Charlot returhe hug aly ged the topic: “Miss Annie, I’ve spent these days in stant fear, thinking I might never see you again.”

  Annie was deeply moved. The two embraced tightly, their retionship clearly surpassing mere friendship and stepping into...

  Before anything further could happen, Sylvie’s lively voice rang out: “Charlot! Are you really okay?”

  Startled, Annie quickly pulled herself from Charlot’s arms, grabbed a handkerchief to wipe her tears, and even ha to Charlot afterward.

  Charlot pyed along dramatically, squeezing out a few tears of his own—though his tears were far less gehan Miss Annie’s.

  Sylvie Martin and Venie Arsenault eogether. The president of the Cat Detective Agency fixed her bright gaze on Charlot and said, “Mr. Meburg, I must admit that I uimated you.”

  “To think that during your escape, you mao kill eight detectives from the Fierce Horse Detective Agency, including three Transdents. That’s truly astonishing bat ability.”“I’ve been iective business for years, and I’ve only seen one or two ruthless criminals capable of such feats.”

  “Oh! Oh! My apologies—I know Mr. Meburg is i and ot be pared to those criminals.”

  Annie was startled. “How did this get ected to the Fierce Horse Detective Agency?”

  Charlot casually folded the handkerchief away and replied, “Mr. Magru Trell wanted me to inform on Senior Menielman. I refused to stoop to such dirty dealings and fled with all my might. Fearing exposure of his disgraceful duct, he falsely accused me of stealing fiscated Transdent ons from the prison and paid a hefty sum to hire detectives from the Fierce Horse Agency to hunt me down.”

  “I did want to expin myself to those detectives, but they gave me no ce.”

  Annie excimed in shock, “You escaped from eight Fierce Horse detectives and even killed them?”

  Not only A even Sylvie Martin, who already khe story, couldn’t help but regard Charlot with newfound respect. She suddenly felt that this former fiancé of hers did possess some heroic qualities—qualities she had never noticed before.

  Venie Arsenault added animatedly, “Wells is a diviner; it’s said he could divine bullet trajectories and cut bullets with a rapier. Addison and Winterburn both practiced the Fme Dragon’s Breath teique from the Fierce Horse Agency. One was a Third-Tier Fme Dragon Knight, and the other was a Fourth-Tier. Even if I faced them together, I couldn’t say I’d win easily.”

  “Mr. Charlot, are you practig the Dark Breathing Teique?”

  “What Tier Knight are you now?”

  Charlot looked slightly embarrassed and said quietly, “My knightly path has been far from smooth. Sylvie knows—I studied the Lamia Breathing Teique at Behemoth National Academy, but by graduation, I had barely densed a power seed and failed to break through.”

  “During uy, I gave up on the Dark Breathing Teique and switched to Blood Glory. I’ve only retly mao break through to Tier Four.”

  Charlot then turo Annie and said, “I’m sorry, Miss Annie. I lied to you that day.”

  Annie Bretagill remembered that during their first meeting, Charlot had cimed to be a First-Tier Transdent. Yet she bore ment and, c her mouth with her hand, replied softly, “I don’t bme you.”

  Charlot had no choice. He hadn’t known Annie for long, and no matter how boastful he might be, he couldn’t expin how he had advanced from First Tier to Fourth Tier in such a short time.

  Everyone khat such a massive leap in strength in so little time was only possible through ohod—summoning an Evil God.

  That was something he absolutely couldn’t admit. It was a crime punishable by being burned alive!

  Charlot’s image in the minds of the three dies had undergone a dramatic transformation—and it was a very positive o that.

  He ihe three of them into the small study. Venie Arsenault sehree-colored chubby cat to buy some fruit wine and pastries. The four of them chatted happily for the entire m before the three dies finally took their leave.

  Annie hadn’t wao leave, but she couldn’t make it too obvious. After all, she was a girl of the Bretagne family—a noble dy whose reserved nature couldn’t simply be cast aside.