Chapter 010: Night Raid on the Lord’s Mansion

Under the cover of night, the lord’s mansion was so luxurious that it exceeded Du Fan’s expectations. During the day, he had only visited the hall and hadn’t paid attention to other areas. Now, looking down from above, he could see the entire mansion at a glance, and he couldn’t help but gasp in awe.

Like most buildings in Odinburg, this mansion was constructed from huge rocks, covered in gilded paint that gave it a brilliant shine even in the darkness. After taking a few glances, Du Fan was certain that this kind of gold paint must have been applied by people from the Lani Empire. Such a color, representing the royal family, could only be used by those with some connection to the royal household. Even the Southern Legion, who had previously been stationed here, wouldn’t dare to do such a thing despite their boldness.

After observing for a while from above, Du Fan shook his head and sighed, “These royals always make things so complicated… A place they won’t be staying in for even a few days, yet they turn it into something like a palace. Are they here to fight or to show off?”

Margaret, who was ahead, heard this and turned to glare at Du Fan, shouting softly, “Shut up!”

Du Fan smiled bitterly inwardly, but under these circumstances, he didn’t argue with Margaret and simply kept quiet. The two floated in the air for a while before descending into the mansion’s garden. As soon as they landed, Du Fan noticed that there seemed to be no guards around…

But after looking around, he realized that as long as one stood on the highest attic of the mansion, they could see everything inside. In other words, if a few skilled observers were placed there…

Moreover, the garden in the mansion was filled only with short flowers, with no trees at all—practically no places to hide. If it weren’t for Du Fan and Margaret’s exceptional skills and their nightwear, it would have been impossible to enter the mansion.

“Not simple at all,” Du Fan muttered, hiding in the shadow of a cluster of flowers, bent in a difficult posture, sighing repeatedly. “Who designed this mansion? They must be a military genius… If it were me, I’d never think of such a trick!”

Margaret snorted and said, “Every military fortress in your Gavin Empire has mansions of this standard. You can’t possibly not know that? Hmph, so-called Wu Yun family? Nothing special!”

Du Fan’s face turned slightly red. To be honest, though he had dabbled in many fields throughout his life, he really had no interest in architecture. Naturally, he wasn’t familiar with it, and it was awkward when Margaret pointed this out.

He coughed lightly and said, “So what should we do in this situation? Go and kill Garfield?”

Margaret showed no expression at all and simply replied, “If I wanted to kill someone, would I need to go through such trouble?”

After saying that, she made a gesture, then floated away to the side.

Du Fan didn’t dare to be careless either and quickly followed her. Their figures moved around the lord’s mansion like shadows—almost like phantoms. Unless one was a high-level expert near level nine, it would be extremely difficult to spot them.

Finally, they arrived near a rather exquisite attic. Only then did Margaret make another gesture and whisper, “This is it!”

With that, she shot up to the top of the attic like lightning, perching there right under the roof’s shadow.

Du Fan followed her, and they lay there, their bodies almost touching each other to ensure neither of them would be exposed.

Du Fan was about to say something when Margaret raised her hand in a shushing gesture. Then she tapped on the roof tiles, and instantly, a small hole appeared silently.

Sounds of music, singing, and drinking came through immediately. After listening for a moment, Du Fan’s expression changed drastically. With his memory, he quickly recognized that one of them was Prince Garfield… but the other one was… Randy!?

Seeing Du Fan’s sudden change in expression, Margaret frowned. But it wasn’t the right time to talk. She then stretched out a finger and wrote on Du Fan’s palm for a while. It took Du Fan a moment to realize what she had written: With Randy’s skills, it would be strange if those useless people from Divine Prison could even figure out when he left…

Du Fan frowned again and grabbed Margaret’s hand, writing on it: Is he that strong?

With just that light touch and writing, Du Fan immediately felt Margaret’s skin was incredibly soft, like cream. His hand felt extremely comfortable as it moved across it, and even when he pulled his finger back, it seemed to carry a faint fragrance…

Who would have thought that this barbaric woman could also be so feminine! Margaret, however, didn’t notice Du Fan’s strange expression. Instead, she grabbed his hand and continued, “Enough nonsense—just listen carefully…” Du Fan knew well that this peculiar Margaret had brought him here to eavesdrop for a reason. Besides, he was also curious about what Randy had come here to talk to Garfield about. Ignoring everything else, he focused on listening. All the chaotic noises around him faded away, leaving only a few voices. He heard Randy seem to laugh softly before saying calmly, “Your Highness Garfield, today in front of that little rascal Du Fan, I had to put on a show. I didn’t use enough force and accidentally hurt one of your subordinates. Please forgive me!” Garfield’s voice followed, calm as well: “What are you talking about, Young Master Randy? It’s their own fault for being incompetent. How can you blame Young Master Randy? As for having you watch from the side at today’s banquet, I truly feel guilty. Please don’t take it to heart!” Du Fan’s heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t expected Garfield to already know Randy. In that case, sending Randy here today might indeed be a case of wrong for wrong? But he had originally planned to use this to damage the relationship between the Lionheart Family and Garfield. It seemed his plan would indeed fail. “How can we blame Your Highness Garfield?” Randy seemed to laugh. “After all, that little rascal Du Fan may be small, but he’s quite cunning. If I didn’t put on a show in front of him, wouldn’t he suspect my purpose for coming here? Even if that were the case, he might not think we have nothing to do with each other… But it’s always better to put on a show!” Garfield seemed to laugh as well and said, “Since Young Master Randy says so, then I won’t be polite either. If there are any offenses in the future due to such matters, please forgive me, Young Master Randy! The Lionheart Family and I, Garfield, still have many areas of cooperation!” After that, the two laughed heartily again. Then, there were sounds of clinking cups, mixed with girls’ coquettish giggles and breathy sounds. Although Du Fan couldn’t see what was going on inside, he could guess most of it just from the sounds.

He glanced sideways at Margaret beside him again. Though she still appeared cold and aloof, her face was clearly a bit flushed, probably because this Holy Knight had never encountered such a situation before. Du Fan secretly chuckled to himself—Margaret might be formidable, but after all, she was still a girl at heart! After another moment, just when Du Fan thought nothing more interesting would happen, he suddenly heard Garfield clapping his hands and saying, “Enough, it’s getting late. Lord Randy and I still have matters to discuss. You all may go back first.” A short while later, most of the outsiders had left, and then Du Fan heard footsteps. Garfield spoke in a thoughtful tone, “Lord Randy, we received news earlier that Du Fan and that scoundrel Leoport joined forces to ambush Uncle Quested along the way, right?” Randy seemed to sneer and say, “It’s absolutely true. Didn’t I already send someone to bring back Prince Quested’s body? We planted several spies around Du Fan. According to him, Prince Quested died in utter humiliation. If you, Lord Garfield, don’t avenge him, it won’t be acceptable at all.” Garfield snorted and said, “Lord Randy, you don’t need to provoke me… Even if you hadn’t said that, I wouldn’t let him leave unscathed this time. But given Du Fan’s cunning, his bold entrance into Odinburg this time surely means he’s prepared for something. Besides, that scoundrel Leoport must be closely allied with him. If we don’t have a 100% chance of winning, it’s better not to take action. Otherwise, it’ll end like last time—losing more than we gain, which would be bad…” Randy seemed to smile and continued, “Lord Garfield, as long as we have a 60-70% chance of success, we should act. If we wait until we’re 100% sure for everything, how many opportunities will we miss? Moreover, in my opinion, Du Fan isn’t as difficult to deal with as we thought. As long as we find the right method, why worry about failure?”