Chapter 7

Duke Hazell's Mansion slowly returned to its original state after all the damage was quickly repaired. Duke Hazell ordered his subordinates to immediately dispose of the corpses of the intruders and repair the magic damage from their battle. Moreover, many small craters were formed in front of his residence, and the fire was raging in that area because of Beatrix's magic.

After giving orders to his men, Duke Hazell was currently sitting inside his study. He is with his wife Eleanor and his daughter's magic teacher, Beatrix Artvika. They were sitting down to discuss the incident that had just happened at Duke Hazell's residence.

"Duke Hazell, what exactly happened? Why are there so many master-level assassins, even Grandmaster attacking your mansion?" Beatrix asked Duke Hazell the crux of the matter with a serious face.

"I didn't know it would end like this either. No, to be more precise, it wasn't over yet. They might send another assassin to this place." Duke Hazell sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair.

"Honey, wouldn't it be better if we told Beatrix about this?" Eleanor was worried when she saw her husband's exhausted face.

"Yes, honey. I think so too." Duke Hazell then straightened his back and looked at Beatrix.

"This started a few months ago when I met King Jonathan..." Duke Hazell began to tell the cause of all the attempted assassinations to his family.

Several months ago, Jonathan Neigal, the king of the Neigal Kingdom and Duke Hazell's superior, summoned him to the castle. He had a one-on-one conversation with the king. Duke Hazell explained a matter that King Jonathan wanted him to deal with. Why was this matter left to Duke Hazell? The city under his current jurisdiction was Moissan City, the capital of the Neigal Kingdom. The city closest to Moissan city is Dugald city. Although not as sophisticated as Moissan City, Dugald City was a city with good management.

But that's just the skin. The man who runs Dugald City right now is Marquis Jacobe Remington. He is indicated to increase taxes at will without the king's approval. The king suspects that Marquis Jacobe is collaborating with a large criminal organization and is also indicated for other crimes such as murder and human experiments. In addition, Marquis Jacobe is also suspected of human trafficking. But the king still had no proof.

The king has sent spies to look for evidence of Marquis Jacobe's involvement with these crimes. But they all disappeared and never came back. The king asked Duke Hazell to look for evidence through the inter-city lord approaches. Duke Hazell became more frequent in visiting Dugald city for business and political reasons. But it seemed that Marquis Jacobe had suspected him from the first time they met.

Duke Hazell searched for evidence of Marquis Jacobe's involvement for quite a long time until he finally found a bright spot. He discovers what criminal organization marquis Jacobe is collaborating with and its true purpose.

Marquis Jacobe cooperates with the criminal organization 'Dark Legacy', which is indicated to commit human experiments and murder crimes. The goal of Marquis Jacobe is money and power. 'Dark Legacy' will help Marquis Jacobe get what he wants, but he had to help the 'Dark Legacy' by providing humans for their experiments.

Even if Duke Hazel knew, he still didn't have concrete evidence to prove Marquis Jacobe's crimes. But before getting that evidence, Marquis Jacobe already knew that Duke Hazell had exposed his crimes to the king. Then he asked 'Dark Legacy' to kill Duke Hazell immediately. That is the origin of this incident.

"That's the story. Since then, I've always been targeted by the 'Dark Legacy' assassins. I have reported this matter to His Majesty. However, it is difficult to predict when the 'Dark Legacy' will move, and I still have no concrete evidence of their organizational involvement." Duke Hazell sighed heavily, and his face darkened.

"This is getting more and more dangerous. The criminal organization 'Dark Legacy' is a dangerous organization filled with powerful people. They must have people with power on par with me or maybe on the level of a Sage." Beatrix's expression became serious after hearing Duke Hazell's explanation.

"Yes, I understand. That's why I don't know what to do right now. It's not just me being targeted, but my entire family!" Duke Hazell gritted his teeth in anger.

"Calm down, honey. I'm sure we'll be able to find a solution to this problem." Eleanor held Duke Hazell's hand to calm him down

"Yes. Thank you, honey. I am feeling better. I will also report this attempted assassination to His Majesty." Duke Hazell sighed and grabbed his wife's hand back. The previously gloomy atmosphere in the room turned romantic.

"Cough! Then how about Clara?" Beatrix quickly cut off their romantic moment.

"Hehehe...I'm sorry. I got too carried away. Clara's condition is fine. Even better than we thought." Eleanor answered Beatrix while laughing shyly.

"Yes. Luckily, Ken was there. Otherwise, I can't imagine what would have happened to Clara." Duke Hazell's face suddenly turned gloomy again.

"Duke Hazell, what is the origin of Clara's new butler? His family or where he lived before?" Beatrix is ​​still curious about her feelings when she first meets Ziel. That suspicion grew stronger after the incident at Duke Hazell's mansion. So she must know Ziel's true origin and purpose.

"He was the one who saved me when I was attacked by assassins from 'Dark Legacy' in the middle of the forest. He told me that he lives in a village on the outskirts of the forest, and his family is the former servant of certain noble. That's all I know." Duke Hazell explains where he met Ziel and his background that he knows.

"Hmm...isn't this weird? Do you know how strong the assassin that attacked you was?" Beatrix thought as she caressed her little lips with her slender fingertips and her movements looked so sexy.

"I think their strength is at the level of a master." Duke Hazell recalled when a group of assassins in black attacked him and his party.

"And how strong Clara's new butler?" Beatrix kept asking Duke Hazell question after question.

"He's just a senior knight, and he showed it right in front of Raven and me. You can ask him later. Ahh, and he said he was able to defeat them because he used a single-use magic tool that temporarily doubled his power." Duke Hazell re-explained what had happened back then.

"So he used a disposable magic tool to help you? Isn't this weird for you?" Beatrix finally shows his suspicions on Ziel.

"I thought so at first. But I feel I can trust him, and if he wants to do evil to us, he's done it from the start and wouldn't bother to help Clara." Duke Hazell smiled widely and looked like he trusted Ziel a lot.

"But if you think about it..." Beatrix tried to convince Duke Hazell of her suspicions, but someone's voice cut her off.

"Beatrix..." Eleanor shook her head at Beatrix. He motioned for Beatrix to stop trying to convince her husband. Beatrix immediately understood what Eleanor meant.

"Haaa... Alright, let's hope everything will be fine." Beatrix couldn't help but smile bitterly and don't discuss the matter any further.

Beatrix suddenly felt a chill run down her spine, and she looked around Duke Hazell's room restlessly. Sweat dripped from his forehead.

"Beatrix, what's wrong?" Eleanor asked worriedly when she saw her friend suddenly agitated.

"No...nothing." Beatrix stammered because she felt someone watching them in the room and releasing tremendous pressure on her.

***

Ziel suddenly opened his eyes and woke up from his sleep. He got up from his bed and put on a robe to cover his body. Then he took out a plain white mask from his space storage.

"If this matter drags on, then I will never find peace in this place. Tonight I will finish them all at once. This problem bothers me." Zel sighed. He made his clone sleep on the bed in his stead. This was to prevent the possibility of someone suddenly entering his room and knowing he wasn't there. Then Ziel put a mask on his face and disappeared from the room.