52. Chris—The Maid Is A Hidden Boss

After leaving the Dark Guild, Chris was thinking for a moment. 

Of course, it was about the mission failure he had just learned earlier. Despite teasing the leader earlier with "You are scared?" Chris himself was still surprised by the outcome of this mission.

(It was supposed to be a trip for just two students.)

Together with the Dark Guild's leader, he had reviewed the information on Randy. 

Yet there didn't seem to be anything alarming enough to justify their concern, at least that was what he thought. 

While in reality, the details were full of red flags information, but Chris had only skimmed through them, so he missed their significance.

This left him with one likely conclusion: the mission was thwarted by a highly skilled bodyguard.

(An excellent guard… Did the Marquis send someone all the way to Riverford?)

At the academy, no such individual had been seen. 

This suggested that the bodyguard was likely hired just for this occasion. 

Even so, Chris couldn't dismiss the possibility of future encounters. 

If Randy and Liz returned to the capital with such a bodyguard in tow, it would be imperative to increase caution. At this point, they needed to be wary of Cedric and Miranda as well, but the whole situation might be difficult for the Dark Guild to handle it alone.

(If only I could find some kind of weakness…)

As Chris pondered, he realized something. Right now, both Randy and Liz were out. And the bodyguard who had wiped out the Dark Guild's surveillance team was also near them.

(In other words, their house is unguarded right now.)

Chris's lips curled into a smirk at the thought. He already knew that Randy and Liz were living in a rented residence, along with a maid and a knight. 

Of course, he had been keeping an eye on the place, but until now, breaking into a house prepared by the Marquis had seemed too difficult.

But now, the targets of the protection were absent.

(The knight might be troublesome, but kidnapping the maid to extract information…)

This idea made Chris stop in his tracks and turn back. He considered going straight to the Dark Guild to issue a new request but hesitated. After all, they had already failed twice in a row.

If another request came in immediately, they might putting too much pressure to themselves again and fail yet another time.

(I should go myself. Fortunately, I'm wearing my school uniform under this robe. I might be able to lower their guard. At worst, I'll just pretend to be a student and ask around.)

A sinister grin spread across Chris's face. Wasting no time, he quickened his pace, heading toward Randy and Liz's residence.

Without knowing who was waiting for him there…

Breathing heavily and wiping away sweat, Chris's eyes fell upon a small mansion and the figure of a maid cleaning around its area.

(So that's their house… And the one cleaning in front of the gate is the maid, huh.)

For a residence of four, the house seemed slightly spacious, but with its two-story building, one maid should be enough to manage it.

While calming his breath, Chris surveyed the surroundings. Though the sun was still high, the street in front of the house was deserted.

Taking a deep breath, he focused his senses. He carefully searched not only for visible movement but also for any hidden presences. The faint traces he felt came from neighboring houses—nothing unusual.

The only significant presence was inside the mansion, which Chris assumed belonged to the knight guarding it.

(In that case, maybe the school uniform isn't the best choice.)

With no one on the street and the maid by the gate completely off guard, it was a perfect opportunity to abduct her swiftly.

The only person to worry about, the knight, was inside the mansion, beyond the gate. In Chris's mind, the distance between the mansion and the gate was too far for the knight to intervene effectively.

(Well, the maid isn't their primary target for protection anyway.)

Considering the possibility of being seen by the knight or neighbors, Chris decided it would be safer to don a black robe to hide his identity.

(They never would've guessed they'd be targeted like this.)

Chris quickly pulled on the robe and began moving slowly toward the maid—Rita.

On a quiet afternoon in a serene residential area, the only sound was that of Rita's broom sweeping the ground.

(Too easy! I should've just done this from the start.)

Chris closed the remaining distance to Rita. As he made one last check, he glanced toward the house and noticed a figure briefly appear at a second-floor window.

(This will work. Even if I grab the maid, I can use magic to create a diversion and escape.)

Having maid that decision, Chris rushed toward Rita and reached out to grab her—

Only to suddenly collapse with a "Guhh!", blood and drool spilling from his mouth as he hit the ground.

With a heavy thud behind her, Rita turned around in surprise and saw the figure in a black robe lying on the ground.

"Eh? Are you alright? Are you hungry or something?"

Rita shook the collapsed figure, but before she could get a response, a voice called out from the house.

"Rita, what's wrong?" Harrison jogged over from the house.

"I don't know. This person just collapsed out of nowhere—"

As Rita turned to explain, the figure in the black robe staggered to his feet and began fleeing unsteadily.

"Ah, wait!"

Rita moved to chase after them, but Harrison grabbed her arm and said, "Stop right there." He scanned their surroundings.

(It's just him, huh.)

The area was devoid of any other people or suspicious presences, aside from the figure in the black robe disappearing into an alley.

"Mr. Harrison?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Probably just a drunkard or something."

Harrison laughed it off with a grin and picked up a leather ball lying near where the black-robed figure had fallen. The palm-sized ball was soft but quite heavy.

It was a training tool for throwing techniques—an essential skill for physical fighters like Harrison and Randy, particularly for long-range attacks. 

While they usually used stones, Harrison had opted to throw the practice ball at Chris instead.

　There were a few reasons Harrison used the training ball.

First, there wasn't anything else convenient in the house.

Second, it was meant as a warning.

Why just a warning? Because he hadn't seriously thought the intruder would actually launch an attack.

(With skills that low… is he an idiot?)

As Harrison gripped the ball, Rita tilted her head and asked, "Is he okay?"

"He can move, so he'll be fine," Harrison replied with a shrug. Under his breath, where Rita couldn't hear, he added, "Not sure about how long he'll live, though."

Harrison had been aware of Chris's approach. He also knew Chris must have realized Harrison had noticed him. 

Based on that alone, Harrison had already formed his judgment: "A weakling." 

Chris's attempt at concealing his presence was so amateurish that Harrison decided that Chris was a weakling.

Assuming Chris's intent was likely just surveillance, Harrison had planned to lure him into a false sense of security and capture him if possible. 

That's why he'd remained inside the house, keeping a deliberate distance from Rita.

Still, he grabbed the training ball just to be safe even if he thought that it was a bit excessive.

To his surprise, Chris actually attacked Rita. 

Did he made an error in judgement?

Did he underestimate Chris's abilities?

Could there be additional attackers?

So in panic, Harrison thrown the ball with real killing intent.

But the result confirmed his initial assessment: he hadn't misjudged. 

Chris was far weaker than expected—so weak, in fact, that the training ball alone was enough to knock him out, even only momentarily.

Harrison couldn't help but marvel at the audacity of someone so inept to even attempt this.

(They couldn't even sense the killing intent in that throw?)

For anyone constantly engaged in combat, the ability to sense presences and killing intent is essential. 

This is especially true for Victor, a group of muscle brained. They needed this ability the most.

In the Demon Forest, where even monsters can suppress their presence to near nothingness, being able to sense them is a matter of life and death. 

Vice versa, the ability to suppress one's own presence is equally important—it reduces the likelihood of unwanted battles.

This skill can even be used to disguise oneself as a harmless civilian in certain situations, making it an essential tactic in human confrontations.

However, even this skill has limits. Against a seasoned master, even a suppressed presence can be detected. 

Harrison considered such experts—those at the pinnacle of martial skill—to be inhuman monsters. Even he, with all his training, respected their terrifying power.

By the way, Harrison knew someone stupid enough to use their presence suppression to lure monsters by pretending to be prey. 

Thinking that person might one day become his master left him feeling a bit of headache.

In any case, for someone who aspires to be a fighter, these skills are a must. 

That's why Chris's reckless assault, combined with his failure to even evade Harrison's warning throw, left Harrison more bewildered than anything.

(There's no way he can take on the Young Master.)

At this point, Harrison could only feel pity for Chris. A complete amateur lacking even the basic skills Victor knights drilled into their recruits had no chance against someone like Randy. The outcome was obvious.

(Well, when the Young Master gets back, I'll ask him to go easy on the kid.)

"Alright, enough about drunkards. Let's start preparing dinner."

"Sounds good!"

With that, Harrison and Rita returned to the house, chatting as if nothing had happened, leaving behind a faint trace of sympathy for their future attacker.

——

"Damn it… What's with that maid? What on earth did she do?"

Staggering through an alley, Chris muttered to himself, still unable to process what had happened to him.

"That was too dangerous… I believe that when Elizabeth was exiled, the Marquis forced a maid to follow her…"

His mind replayed the event: the maid, who had managed to knock him down without even looking his way. 

Of course, the truth was far from that, but Chris's ego filled in the blanks.

Her strength, capable of momentarily knocking him unconscious with a single blow….

(So the marquis forced her in for a reason, huh.) 

Chris convinced himself. He should have been suspicious from the moment Elizabeth had managed to survive in the Demon Forest—surely, the maid was the key.

(Forget the knight; the maid was the real guardian all along…)

If he consider that perhaps they had anticipated a situation like this and left the maid at the residence, then everything would make sense

"As expected of the Silver Prince. This time I lost."

Leaning against a wall, Chris looked up with a strange smile on his face despite his battered body.

"Next time… I'll stage the ambush at the academy…"

But before he could finish his thought, his vision blurred from the pain. 

His foot slipped on an empty bottle in the alley, and he stumbled straight into a trash pile, landing on his head first .

The impact and the pain caused him to lose consciousness once again.

Some time later, a passerby discovered Chris. Wearing his school uniform, surrounded by empty bottles, and face planted in the garbage, he was mistaken for a drunkard. 

He was subsequently suspended for a week on suspicion of underage drinking.

—

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