Chapter 35: The Hidden Chamber of the City Lord’s Mansion

“Haha, with your help this time, a significant burden has been lifted from us. Thank you, Eve.”

“You speak too highly, Lord Serol. This is a commission from the association, and it is merely my duty.”

Even when facing the City Lord, Eve maintained her characteristic expressionless, ‘three-no’ face. It seemed she had long grown accustomed to keeping such a stoic demeanor.

“It’s about actions, not intentions. You are too modest, Eve.”

Serol chuckled softly.

“But truthfully, the city has been quite busy lately. Rona even told me a few days ago that some unidentified individuals had infiltrated the city. I was honestly a bit worried that we might not have enough manpower for this autumn’s beast culling.”

“After all, misfortunes never come singly. It seems there are more magical beasts in the south this year than in previous years.”

As a border city, Kana City’s southern flank was adjacent to a vast forest, teeming with magical beasts. To prevent an overpopulation that could endanger citizens venturing outside the city, the City Lord organized an annual culling each autumn, eliminating a portion of the forest’s beasts to control their numbers.

“Indeed, the situation in the Southern War doesn’t seem optimistic either.”

Eve nodded, agreeing with Serol’s assessment. Beyond the vast forest lay several southern nations, yet their wars had raged ceaselessly in recent years. This year, the situation was even more tense, forcing magical beasts near those nations to migrate northward into the forest—towards Kana City.

Eve wasn’t overly concerned by this. Serol’s annual cullings were always meticulously planned, and no major issues had ever arisen.

However, speaking of which, Xiluo’er, that child, had seemingly wandered to Kana City from the south, hadn’t she?

She wondered what the child had endured before arriving here.

Xiluo’er, on the other hand, was already growing restless.

The conversation between the two was merely a normal discussion about the commission, offering nothing particularly interesting to her. She had no intention of listening any further.

“Big Sister Eve, can I go out and play for a while?”

Xiluo’er looked up, blinking her eyes at Eve.

Eve instinctively ruffled Xiluo’er’s hair.

“My apologies, Xiluo’er. Our conversation is a bit boring, isn’t it?”

Serol, seated opposite, chuckled.

“Yes, you may go explore the City Lord’s Mansion garden. The scenery there is quite lovely.”

“If you can’t find your way, I’ll have someone escort you.”

Xiluo’er shook her head, speaking obediently, “No need, I can go by myself.”

Xiluo’er hopped off the large sofa and, under their watchful eyes, skipped out of the reception room—just like a child genuinely excited to go play.

****

The City Lord’s Mansion garden was vast and mostly deserted. Gazing at the lush flora before her, Xiluo’er took a deep breath.

Not bad. At least the first step was proceeding without a hitch.

Though her appearance was indeed childlike, Xiluo’er was absolutely not a child, absolutely not!

While she hadn’t particularly wanted to come to the City Lord’s Mansion, Xiluo’er had already formed a plan in her mind the moment Eve mentioned bringing her along.

After all, an opportunity to openly enter the City Lord’s Mansion to search for what she desired wasn’t something that came by often.

Xiluo’er vividly remembered the scene from the retrospective magic she had witnessed that night—a carriage heading towards the City Lord’s Mansion. If that carriage had indeed transported the kidnapped person to the mansion, then for Rona to hide someone under the noses of Serol and so many others within the City Lord’s Mansion, she would absolutely need a secret, unknown space.

Coincidentally, Xiluo’er had some ideas on how to find such a place within the mansion.

It was similar to how she had found the black market in Kana City before—the City Lord’s Mansion also had places akin to hidden maps.

As a location for a boss battle, the City Lord’s Mansion naturally contained hidden rooms.

Xiluo’er recalled the game guide’s walkthrough: after the protagonist defeated the monstrous Rona and plundered her spoils, repeatedly searching the deformed monster’s corpse would yield a brass key. Taking this key to the depths of the garden would allow the player to unlock an underground room.

As a hidden room—an unknown basement—and combined with the currently available clues, Xiluo’er found the location highly suspicious.

Drawing on her experience from finding the black market in the city, Xiluo’er began searching the garden, all while deep in thought.

The garden’s area was significantly smaller compared to the entire city. Before long, Xiluo’er’s gaze fell upon a low-lying shack nestled deep within the garden.

If her guess was correct, that should be it.

Creeping stealthily into the shack, Xiluo’er found it empty. This seemed to be just an ordinary room for storing miscellaneous items, with all sorts of clutter haphazardly strewn about.

Xiluo’er frowned. The room was terribly messy, and it looked so ordinary that finding anything specific here would be quite difficult.

‘Let me think,’ she mused, ‘a basement… the hidden room in the game was a basement, hmm…’

‘Aha!’

Xiluo’er’s eyes lit up, and she quickly sprang into action.

Pressing her ear to the base of the walls and the ground, she grabbed a hammer from the pile of junk and began tapping it against the floor.

Before long, Xiluo’er found the spot she was looking for.

‘This is it! The sound from this area is distinctly off!’

Xiluo’er smiled. She hadn’t expected her assassin knowledge to be so useful at a time like this.

Scanning her surroundings, Xiluo’er quickly determined where to look for an entrance.

After clearing away some of the clutter, Xiluo’er stood beside a large, dust-covered metal cabinet.

‘Well, let’s try pushing it first.’

Although she said this, once she actually tried, Xiluo’er realized it wasn’t so simple.

The large metal cabinet was already one and a half times her height, and it seemed to be filled with many items. Xiluo’er grunted and strained for a long time, her small face turning crimson, yet the cabinet didn’t seem to budge an inch.

‘This can’t be, can it? I’ve come all this way, I can’t stumble on something like this!’

Breathing heavily, Xiluo’er looked up at the massive metal cabinet, a flicker of defiance in her eyes.

The sun gradually climbed higher and higher in the sky. In the City Lord’s Mansion garden, birds chirped, flowers bloomed, and time seemed to stand still in peaceful tranquility…

Xiluo’er knelt on the floor of the utility room, her face flushed, panting incessantly. She appeared to have lost even the strength to stand.

This was only natural; pushing such a large metal cabinet was, of course, an incredibly strenuous task. It was perfectly normal to be too exhausted to stand. However, the effort was worth it. At the very least, Xiluo’er had indeed found what she was looking for.