Chapter 345

News of the Demon King getting chased away reached King Haydn’s office early the next morning. The Hero and the Demon King had a fierce encounter in a mountain range outside Icarus City last night. The scale of the battle was so massive that just the detected residual mana was enough to show how exaggerated the extent of that battle was.

According to the investigation and analysis of the Rhine Kingdom’s professionals, the area originally home to several small peaks had now transformed into a flatland, and dense residual mana filled a radius of several dozen kilometers. The professionals analyzed this residual mana and estimated that more than ten taboos had bombarded the area.

Moreover, this was not counting the support-type taboos that hardly leaked mana into the surrounding environment.

In general, it was safe to assume this was a battle between the Hero and the Demon King. This was because nobody else could toss out taboos as casually as the Hero and the Demon King. Even peak existences like Catherine would be drained after casting one or two taboos.

Most importantly, the residual mana at the scene contained obvious traces of light and dark mana. This was solid evidence that the Hero and the Demon King had fought in this place.

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After learning about this news, King Haydn personally called Alice and asked about this matter. Upon receiving Alice’s positive reply, King Haydn’s mood obviously brightened. Then, he ended the call after exchanging some light pleasantries with Alice. Before hanging up, he even mentioned that he would be providing some more funds for the Hero. Through this behavior, one could see just how worried he was about the Demon King’s presence in Icarus City.

For the Rhine Kingdom’s king to be worried to such an extent… The Demon King’s reputation in the human realm sure is terrible… Alice thought as she put her phone down. She never thought it would bring King Haydn so much joy just to learn about the Demon King’s removal from the Rhine Kingdom. The other party had gone as far as to offer Alice additional remuneration. It should be known that when King Haydn had first contacted Alice for help, he had already sent her a sum of money.

Although Alice knew that kings wouldn’t be short of money, the amount King Haydn had sent her was so much that it was starting to scare her a little. At the same time, this incident allowed her to realize just how terrible of a reputation the Demon King possessed in the human realm. Even though the “Demon King” hadn’t caused any particular trouble in the Rhine Kingdom thus far, it was still enough to frighten King Haydn to such an extent.

However, Alice didn’t think too deeply into this matter. She simply shrugged it off as King Haydn having a timid personality. At the end of the day, she did manage to earn some more money, so her efforts weren’t a total loss. Although the identities she bore in this world meant that she would never be short of money, it still brought her joy to see the numbers in her bank account increase.

After putting her phone aside, Alice resumed drinking her coffee while waiting for her Dark Guard to come and report back to her. Although it was strange for someone with a child-like body like Alice to be drinking coffee at a coffee shop, nobody in the cafe paid any particular attention to her.

A short moment later, the cafe’s door opened, and another person with a child-like figure walked into the shop. This second “child” wore a black magician’s robe and a black magician’s hat. The skin he revealed was also pitch-black, so many of the cafe’s patrons couldn’t help but take a closer look at this “child.”

However, when the cafe’s patrons saw this “child” walking up to the only other “child” in the shop, they couldn’t help but find the sight amusing. In their eyes, these two children were most likely kids trying to experience “adult life.”

“Well? How many bodyguards are there?” Alice asked in a muted voice. No customers were sitting at the tables next to her, so she wasn’t worried that others would overhear their conversation.

Collins’s house was situated in the apartment building directly opposite this cafe, and Alice had tasked the shota magician with the job of investigating how many bodyguards remained stationed around Collins’s house.

Through this past week of observation, the shota magician had already become a familiar face among Collins’s bodyguards. In the eyes of Collins’s bodyguards, the shota magician was an extraordinarily dutiful “bodyguard” despite his young age. So, even those big and tough bodyguards had come to acknowledge him. Of course, what Collins’s bodyguards didn’t know was that the shota magician’s body was made entirely of mana. Hence, he did not need any rest.

Anyway, because the shota magician had already become a familiar sight among Collins’ bodyguards, he had managed to quickly discern how many bodyguards were stationed around Collins’s house without attracting any suspicions. Although the majority of the bodyguards would follow Collins to his company, a few would remain at Collins’s house as a precaution.

“Three. Their abilities are average,” the shota magician answered.

The Dark Guards summoned using Chaos General were capable of speech. However, unless explicitly requested by Alice, they would never take the initiative to speak. As a result, the shota magician never spoke when he was on “duty” protecting Collins, which led to Collins’s bodyguards guessing that he was a mute.

“Should I kill him?”

The Dark Guards also possessed a certain degree of intelligence. Only, this intelligence sometimes did not work very well. Take the sledgehammer loli, for example. Her brain malfunctioned when she faced Kurse, and she failed to decide whether she should flee or fight. In the shota magician’s case, the idea he proposed was clearly a terrible one.

“What’s the point of killing them? They’ve never offended us. If we kill them, it is only going to work against us and attract attention to us,” Alice said as she looked at the shota magician helplessly. Originally, she thought that his brain might work better because she had kept him materialized and let him experience life these past few days.

Unfortunately, it would seem that she had been hoping for too much. The Dark Guards she summoned didn’t seem to have the ability to learn. They couldn’t actually be considered artificial intelligence. At best, they could be equated to Siri; they could only make some simple responses and nothing more.

At this time, Alice couldn’t help but think of Andusia. Although Andusia was unreliable at times, Alice could still consult her plans with Andusia in many cases. After realizing the difference between Andusia and the Dark Guards, Alice felt she should get her hands on some Living Wood and return Andusia to her side as soon as possible.

“Just knock those three bodyguards unconscious. Do you know what abilities they have? And where are they located now?”

Alice had mostly finished her coffee already. However, she didn’t order a cup for the shota magician. After all, the Dark Guards did not have any internal organs or digestive functions. Even if the shota magician drank a cup of coffee, it would only be kept in his stomach and poured out afterward.

“One swordsman, one boxer, and one magician. The magician is an ordinary elemental magician specialized in fire magic,” the shota magician answered indifferently. If the shota magician could express emotions, a look of disdain would have most likely appeared on his face when he spoke about the elemental magician. After all, the shota magician was an all-rounded magician with great strength. “One is by the window of the opposite building. Two are in the house next to the target’s house.”

“It doesn’t seem like they are adept at detection.”

Alice nodded. Since none of the three bodyguards were spirit magicians that possessed great perception, she felt that she wouldn’t even need to take any action against them. It was enough to sneak into Collins’s house with the help of her magic robe’s Mana Concealment.