Wilmar sat inside a restaurant located closest to the mayor’s mansion. He took a seat by the window, which gave him a clear view in the direction of the mansion.
The restaurant stood right beside the main road connecting his current district to the mansion’s area.
He was already wearing a different robe and a mask to cover his face. He had received both after asking a guard in town to provide them before he entered Catiras. He knew his usual white robe was far too conspicuous and would continue to draw unwanted attention. He couldn’t afford to underestimate Catiras, it was Aldrian’s main base.
He also worried soone might recognize him and spread the word, so he chose to wear a mask. It wasn’t too unusual anyway, as many others sotis wore masks in the city to conceal their identities.
He kept looking at the road that passed through a small forest leading to the estate. From his position, he could see a few people exiting the area. He recognized them as the mansion’s maids, likely heading out to purchase supplies.
He had been there for more than half an hour and had already gathered so information about the mansion’s daily activity from nearby residents. Now, he was just waiting for an opening, an opportunity to infiltrate the mansion.
His plan was simple.
Infiltrate the mansion and take a hostage to use as a bargaining chip for his escape. He would bring the hostage with him wherever he went, and even if Aldrian caught him, he could use the hostage as leverage.
That was the only plan he could co up with to escape his situation. Aldrian was too powerful—he needed sothing to keep him in check.
Unbeknownst to him, a food stall owner outside the restaurant kept glancing in his direction. His actions were natural, not raising any suspicion. He was one of the people Wilmar had approached earlier to gather information about the mansion’s activity, and Wilmar had paid him with a few energy stones.
After a brief glance at Wilmar, the stall owner sent a voice transmission to soone.
"He’s still there, watching the mansion. I can still sense a faint killing intent from him. That man is a threat."
After sending the ssage, he calmly resud his work. Not long after, another man approached the stall and placed an order.
"That man, sir, behind the window of Family’s Taste Restaurant, wearing a brown robe that covers his head. Although he tries to keep his aura in check, I sensed a brief flicker of low emperor-stage energy from him." The stall owner sent another voice transmission, this ti contacting the man who had ordered food.
The man who bought the food glanced at Wilmar for a split second before sitting at an empty table that the stall owner had prepared for him. In fact, he was actually First Finger in disguise. He went about his daily routine, appearing as a commoner, but in truth, he was acting as eyes and ears for Arson Vuran.
He and the other mbers of the Thunderous Shadow Pavilion had moved their entire operation here. Under Aldrian’s command, they now served as guardians of the city. Their role had evolved beyond that of re assassins—they acted as a secret group working in the shadows to keep the city in order.
That was why they had already built an extensive information network in the city, ensuring that nothing suspicious went unnoticed and that everything remained in order.
The only event they failed to counter was the gu outbreak. They had no knowledge of its source or how it had managed to enter the city, which infuriated Arson. To make matters worse, they had to rely on Aldrian, their true master, to act on his own, outing them in sha.
The stall owner then handed the ordered food to First Finger, but his gaze lingered on the robed figure from ti to ti.
"Why do I sense sothing familiar about him?" he thought to himself.
He didn’t take any action against the robed figure because he wanted to see what the figure would do and why he harbored killing intent. Was this man here for Aldrian? However, the familiar feeling he got from the robed figure made him question the man’s identity.
He continued to eat, waiting for another hour, until finally, he saw the robed man move in the direction of the mansion along the main road. He appeared to be approaching the four carriages bringing supplies to the mansion.
However, First Finger’s eyebrows slightly raised when he noticed sothing he hadn’t missed while the robed figure walked. It was the man’s shoes, which were special footwear that only the imperial family wore.
Alarm bells went off in his mind, and he quickly retrieved a communication artifact.
"We have an unknown person from the imperial family. Although he covered himself with a robe and mask, I saw the imperial family’s shoes he was wearing. He also seems to have bad intentions toward master, as he appears to want to enter the mansion’s area." He waited for a response from the other side, but there was no answer. After a few seconds, a voice finally resounded—it was Arson Vuran’s voice.
"That is Prince Wilmar," ca the reply.
Hearing the response, First Finger widened his eyes. "How...?"
"There is no one from the imperial family who can move here unless it’s Prince Wilmar. We don’t know what happened in the capital, but it looks like whatever master did there forced him to co to Caritas."
"From your description, it seems he intends to infiltrate the mansion and target master’s group. Where is he right now?"
"He is on the main road, and right now he’s trying to sneak in behind the supply carriages toward the mansion. It seems he wants to take advantage of the carriages to enter," First Finger replied.
"Good. Let him in. We’ll catch him after he enters the inner area." With that, the connection was cut off.
First Finger watched as Wilmar slipped into the last carriage without anyone noticing, then saw the carriages continue their journey toward the mansion.
Finally, First Finger left the table and began walking, following the carriages at a distance.
-------------------------------
Inside the last carriage, Wilmar sat, concealed behind the cover of the supplies. Fortunately, his infiltration had faced no hindrances.
"Good thing there’s no tight security for entering the mansion’s area," he thought.
He waited for more than 15 minutes before finally feeling the carriage co to a stop. Sensing that he had arrived, he tried to peek between the cover of the carriage to see if he had entered the mansion area.
However, what he saw stunned him. He was in the middle of a desolate field like a training ground. It was then that he sensed sothing was wrong. His danger sense kicked in as he felt a sudden presence above the carriage. Before he could react, sothing broke through the roof and attacked him from above.
Wilmar, with his speed and agility, instantly dodged by leaping outside of the carriage, landing in the open area. He gritted his teeth in frustration. He hadn’t sensed the person until they decided to strike, which ant their stealth technique was advanced. This person was an assassin.
Wilmar saw the black-robed assassin, and from what he sensed, this man was a low emperor stage cultivator, like himself. He realized that his plan had already failed, his infiltration compromised by this figure.
Then, the figure vanished again without a trace, as if he had simply disappeared from the spot where he stood.
Wilmar’s senses heightened as he grew wary of his surroundings. Suddenly, he detected another threat behind him. Without hesitation, he used his movent technique to dodge, but he imdiately felt sothing strike his gut, sending him flying through the air.
Wilmar rolled several tis before managing to steady himself and stand. He turned to face the attacker, his eyes widening in shock. He imdiately recognized the person, as the attacker hadn’t bothered to conceal his face like most assassins, allowing Wilmar to see his face clearly.
"Arson!" Wilmar exclaid, his voice filled with shock.
"Your High—no, Wilmar, it’s been a long ti," Arson replied calmly.
"You’re truly impressive, to have sensed First Finger’s attack. I applaud you for it."
Seeing that Arson wasn’t afraid of him and Arson was in this place, sothing finally clicked inside Wilmar’s mind. He suddenly began giggling, then threw his head back and covered his face with his hand, laughing uncontrollably.
Arson Vuran didn’t mind Wilmar’s behavior. It was clear that Wilmar had finally figured out the truth, but it no longer mattered.
"I see, I see. To think that you and the entire Thunderous Shadow Pavilion have been hiding here. To think you’ve beco a dog for Aldrian... no wonder you kept your distance from and avoided the civil war. I’ve truly been fooled," Wilmar said after his laughter subsided.
At that mont, all the strangeness he had sensed from this group of assassins beca clear. To think that they had been working with Aldrian all along—and it seed they had known each other for a long ti, with Arson even guarding this place.
Arson Vuran showed no change in expression as he watched the prince break down.
"Whatever your plan is, you will fail. Give it up. Resisting will only bring more pain," he said.
Hearing this, Wilmar’s face turned fierce.
"Not a chance!"
Suddenly, he pulled out a ball-shaped object and threw it toward Arson.
Boom!
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