Chapter 285 - Guarding the Mansion

Guarding the Mansion

I decided to let the gatekeeper know that I was there, just in case.

“Ah, Mister Asagi. What is it? Are you going somewhere?”

There was a mixture of curiosity and suspicion as he looked at my getup.

“I’m sure you noticed it when inspecting my status card this afternoon, but I’ve accepted a quest to help guard this mansion.”

“Yes, I did see that… I see. So this is about the strangers that have been seen lurking around the Carteraza house.”

Apparently, rumors of it had spread within the military as well. However, it seemed that as nothing had happened, no one was too concerned.

“The army has sent out more men and increased patrol shifts in the area, but…”

“They’re having difficulty?”

“Aye. As you can imagine, the best men would have their hands full on more important missions. The people they can spare are rather…”

He muttered something about training new recruits. I guess they weren’t going to use many resources into investigating a ‘suspicious person.’

“Well, that’s why I’m here.”

“I have a feeling that with you here, Mister Asagi, we’ll see an end to this business.”

The gatekeeper said with a laugh. I laughed too. But it was an awkward, embarrassed laugh. I had no idea how this would go. Of course, I did want to succeed and help Miss Camila find peace. If she thought of Adventurers as tools, then I should at least prove how valuable we were.

“Be careful, Mister Asagi.”

“Thank you. You too.”

I bowed and walked through the gate. Once I was about ten meters away, I activated Presence Block and Legs of the God Wolf and headed straight for the house.

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“I suppose I should tell her I’m here…”

Just let them know that I was about to start.

“Good evening. I’m here to guard the house.”

“Ahhh!?”

He was very surprised. Damn it, sometimes Presence Block worked too well. The doorkeeper wouldn’t have noticed me until he heard my voice. So I understood why he was scared…

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.”

“Ahh…ha…ha…hmm…*cough*…”

He was so shocked that he was coughing now. This equipment was incredible!

“Mmm…gg…haa. It’s you, Mister Asagi. …Please go inside…”

“Thank you. Uh, I really am sorry.”

“I’m quite fine…”

He didn’t look fine. But I could imagine that everyone had been nervous for the last few days. Who knows what was going through his mind when I showed up. Poor guy. But I had no magic to help him, and so I just bowed and went past him. It just took a single jump with Legs of the God Wolf to reach the door. There was no time to walk.

The butler from this afternoon was standing there. He bowed and opened the door, and so I stepped inside. I was then led to the same drawing-room as before. This time, Miss Camilla was already waiting there.

“There you are. Oh, that’s a rather intense change of equipment.”

“I brought it specifically for tonight. How is it?”

“I care not at all. Now, you will be guarding alone tonight.”

There was to be no compliments from her. Daniela had been nice, at least.

“There are no other servants or Adventurers then?”

“Well, there would have been, had anyone but you accepted the request. Of course, no normal person would accept one with the name of Carteraza stamped on it.”

Ignorance was horrifying. It meant even most people who came from the outside knew the eight Great Houses. As for me, I only knew of House Quingeria and House Carteraza. The former was the house that Alenbia Ef Quingeria was from. The noblewoman from the Imperial Sword Tournament.

“So, I shouldn’t expect to have any allies in the area.”

“Exactly. Don’t see this as purposeful sadism or worse, a show of my confidence in you. It just seemed the most logical to me. My servants would only get in your way.”

“You might be expecting a little too much from me.”

“An A-Rank Adventurer with an Alias who was first-runner up in the Imperial Sword Tournament. You may be attempting to be modest, but with such a status, it sounds more like sarcasm.”

Much of that was mere coincidence. Getting involved in a town we stopped by helped raise my level to A. And it was that damned redhead, Bordow, who named me Silvergreen. I had beaten Adlus because the circumstances were favorable to me. It was not the case against Daniela. There was no end to people who were above me.

“And so I am asking you alone. With your feet, you shouldn’t have any trouble moving over walls, I presume?”

“Yeah.”

“Then it’s settled.”

She said. And without waiting another second, she got up and left the room. The butler opened the door for me, and so I followed him to the entrance. It was just as I was about to step out that he called to me.

“Good luck, Mister Asagi.”

That was all. And it was much warmer than all that talk of tools. I was encouraged.

“Thank you. Leave it to me.”

I gave him a thumbs up and stepped outside. The cool winter air stimulated my brain as I sucked it in. I could feel my head clear.

“…Alright then.”

I turned around and used Legs of the God Wolf to jump up onto the roof of the mansion. Then I crouched and activated Presence Block. It was there that I widened the range of Presence Detection and used Eyes of the God Wolf to watch the area.

While I did have Night Eyes, I hadn’t said anything about using it. I had only muttered in reply to Daniela. Hehe!

I was just a guy who sat there all in black. But it took an intense amount of concentration.

I would probably need to take a break every hour.

And that was how my night of guarding began. It was almost nine o’clock. And I would have to stack up until morning.

But damn it. It was cold… Not having my ice dragon armor made it feel even colder. However, I was able to bear it, by just using a little dark blue magic. The night sky was clear and you could see the moon. The garden was particularly beautiful under the moonlight. Not that I could spend much time looking at it. I had other things to watch.

“Let’s do this…”

I was getting used to the cold now. And so I used Eyes of the God Wolf to scan the entire area.

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And so I sat and guarded for five hours. It was now just a little past three o’clock. About ninety percent of the mansion staff were motionless in bed. The few who were still moving were likely maids or the butler. The gatekeeper had also retired, and there was no one on the outskirts of the property.

And then, a single figure entered my wide detection range. Well, it had happened several times before. And whenever I had looked closer with Eyes of the God Wolf, it had always been a drunken soldier or servant. They’d sway from side to side in front of the house and then walk away. That was all.

However, this one was clearly different. First, this one wasn’t wobbling about. It was coming straight towards the Carteraza house. Then it seemed to stare hard, and move away. When it returned, there were other presences as well.

“Hah…surely this doesn’t mean a night raid…”

I muttered on top of the roof. I could see them talking with my now platinum eyes. But unfortunately, I couldn’t hear them. And my eyes were telling me that this wasn’t normal.

It was written all over their faces. They were going to sneak in and steal something.