Tonight, the Britannia Imperial Capital was destined to be restless.
Dark clouds covered the night sky, obscuring the stars and moon. The pitch-black night made the fog-shrouded City even more hazy, with only the faint glow of kerosene streetlights illuminating the streets, flickering in the gentle breeze.
Across the street, young Ebus peered curiously through his window at the Villa opposite. A two to three-meter high wall stretched from the gate outwards.
The surrounding area, including the house he lived in, was all property of the Villa's Master. His mother worked inside the Villa as a maid.
Ebus's room offered just the right angle to see inside the wall.
Of course, behind the wall lay vast grasslands, and the actual Villa was far from him, but from here, he could still vaguely see the courtyard's banquet.
His mother said it was the hundred-day banquet for Panacea's son, and many nobles would be attending.
He had already seen it; he had never seen so many beautiful clothes and magnificent carriages.
"Drip-drop ~"
The rain, which had paused, began to fall again, as if its previous rest was to gather strength for the next downpour.
Large raindrops fell from the sky, spreading like black blood. In the rain, the presence of a man caught his attention.
He was tall and slender, wearing a black overcoat and holding a black umbrella. He strolled slowly along the sidewalk, his face obscured by the umbrella. In the hazy fog and darkness, he seemed so unreal.
Late at night, there were few people out in the Britannia Imperial Capital itself, and it was even stranger to see someone on Panacea's private street.
"Beep beep beep!"
A piercing Police siren wailed, and a team of Police, wearing special uniforms and carrying rifles on their backs, jogged orderly from the other end of the street. It seemed something had happened.
They brushed past the man and ran directly into the Villa behind him.
It seemed they hadn't noticed the presence of another person there at all.
Ebus frowned. Even as young as he was, he sensed something was amiss.
But then, when he looked away from the secret Police and back at the man in black, their eyes met.
He stood across the street, facing him, his black umbrella slightly raised, revealing the face it had obscured. It was an East Asian man with short black hair, but in the shroud of darkness and fog, his appearance was hazy.
What impressed him most were his brown-black eyes; even in the dark night, they were still bright.
Under Ebus's gaze, the man's lips curved into an imperceptible smile, then he raised his index finger to his lips, making a shushing gesture.
An inexplicable fear suddenly crept into his heart, and he excitedly called out.
"Father! Father!"
Not long after, the door was quickly opened, and a man walked in.
"What's wrong, Ebus?"
"Just now…"
Ebus turned his head, only to find that the man in black had completely disappeared. He tried to recall the man's appearance, but his mind was blank, without a single detail.
"What's wrong?" the man asked softly.
Ebus was about to say something when the man's shushing gesture appeared in his mind.
"Nothing, nothing. I just had a nightmare."
As they conversed, Merlin stood on the roof of their house, holding an umbrella, quietly overlooking the Villa not far away.
"This child's spiritual perception is very strong," Calcifer said.
Merlin did not deny it. He lowered his eyes, "Although it's just a magic trick that doesn't consume magic power, being able to see through it indeed shows some talent."
He paused, then said, "But unfortunately, he was born in the wrong era."
"You can teach him."
Merlin did not answer, but looked around. Not only the Police, but even some military forces were rushing over.
In this era, a Marquis was a frontier governor, responsible for guarding the national border. Compared to the other four noble titles – Duke, Earl, Viscount, and Baron – the number of Marquises was the fewest, so their importance was unquestionable, mainly because it was suspected that an enemy country had other motives.
Soon, the entire Imperial Capital should be sealed off.
And all of this had nothing to do with Merlin. Anyway, he didn't use his own face to attend the banquet, so this Fire wouldn't burn him. Besides, he wasn't the one who took Duke Os away.
He silently lifted his feet and flew several hundred meters north, landing in a more secluded alley, then stopped in front of an old timber-framed house.
The alley was narrow, barely allowing a carriage to pass. Rain Water streamed down the tiled eaves, forming a curtain of rain.
This was not the main entrance, but the back door. Merlin walked to the old, damp-darkened carved wooden door of the building. The wooden door was locked and could not be opened from the outside.
He waved his hand lightly, and with a click, the wooden door opened towards him, revealing the downward steps behind it. As Merlin entered, the door closed behind him.
This should lead to the Underground Room.
Herbert had just led Duke Os in here. He must have attended university in the Imperial Capital, so he naturally had a place to live there.
The Underground Room was probably used for storing potatoes, so the decor was simple. It was surrounded by stone bricks, giving it a dungeon-like feel.
Since a place for storing potatoes needed to be dry, the drainage here was good. Even with the heavy rain outside, it wasn't very damp here, apart from being cold.
"Where is my sister!?"
Herbert's roar, suppressing his anger, came from downstairs.
Merlin slowly walked to the door of the storage room. The dim glow of burning torches was the only illumination in the storage room.
The storage room was not large, with only two people. Herbert, dressed in a stealth suit, was grabbing Duke Os by his collar. At this moment, the Duke had lost his former glory, looking disheveled, with bruises on his face and blood at the corners of his mouth.
Neither of them noticed Merlin's arrival.
However, there was not much fear in Duke Os's eyes. He grinned.
"I remember now. You are Hei Lang Monique, the second son of the Monique family, who studied in the Imperial Capital. When I sent people to look for you, you had already gone to the snow plains.
I really should have sent more people back then, to nip the problem in the bud."
"I don't have time to waste with you!" Herbert roared, "Tell me, where is she!?"
"Do you think I'm as foolish as those idiots?" Duke Os sneered, "I killed your whole family and told you your sister's location. Would you let me live?"
Herbert suddenly calmed down. He released his grip on the Duke's collar and walked around the storage room anxiously.
Duke Os calmly straightened his disheveled collar and continued, "I can tell you responsibly that in this World, I am the only one who knows your sister's whereabouts.
I was kidnapped at a grand banquet in the Imperial Capital. This is no small matter; the entire Imperial Capital will be in turmoil because of it. All the secret Police, and even the army, will be dispatched to search for me.
This place of yours isn't exactly hidden, so it's only a matter of time before you're found.
This is not good for either of us. I think we can make a deal."
Herbert turned his head, watching him silently, his face shrouded by his hood, making his expression unreadable.
"You hand me over to the people of the Imperial Capital, and then I'll tell you where your sister is."
"Do you think I'm a fool?" Herbert retorted.
"You have no choice," Os said.
"No, I have a choice."
Herbert turned to look at Os. He kicked an iron barrel placed on the ground to one side, and some dense squeaking sounds came from inside.
"I studied medicine in the Imperial Capital, so I raised quite a few White mice for dissections."
Herbert picked up the iron barrel and placed it at Duke Os's feet.
"Centuries ago, there was a form of torture. Have you heard of it?"
Herbert gazed at Os.
"Several rats are placed in an iron cage. Inside the cage, there is only one exit, which is the rats' only escape route. The executioner uses the victim's abdomen to block this opening, and then heats the cage.
No matter the method, the ultimate result is the same: hungry rats, increasingly excited by the open flame, can only try to escape through the sole exit: they must bite through the victim's abdomen to get away."
Os slowly lowered his head. Inside the iron barrel, about a dozen rats were huddled together, climbing over each other, trying to climb out of the barrel. However, the barrel wall was too smooth. The squeaking sound of their claws scraping against the wall, their chirping, and their dangling tails made his hair stand on end, giving him goosebumps.
The composure he once held vanished from his face. He swallowed hard, his voice trembling as he said, "No, no, you wouldn't do that. Your sister is still in my hands."
"But you don't plan to tell me, do you?" Herbert stared at Os, looking into his eyes, "My time is limited. If you don't tell me, I will kill you and then go find my sister myself.
I can guarantee, your death will certainly not be easy."
Os gritted his teeth, staring fixedly at him.
Herbert said nothing. He directly grabbed Os and pressed him onto a platform on one side, laying him flat, and then bound him tightly with ropes so he couldn't struggle at all.
Seeing his actions, Os also panicked a little. He immediately spoke.
"What are you doing? Wait! We can talk some more."
"Where is my sister?" Herbert asked.
"She… she's in…"
Seeing Os's obvious attempt to stall for time, Herbert's anger was completely ignited. He lifted the Duke's clothes, picked up the iron barrel from the side, and inverted it directly onto his stomach.
Feeling the dozen or so rats drop onto his belly, making intimate contact with him, Duke Os's body instantly tensed. He struggled as if his soul was exploding, letting out a piercing scream.
"No! Take them away! Quickly, take them away!"
"Tell me!" There was no emotion in Herbert's eyes.
"I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" Os shouted hoarsely.
Most nobles like him, who lived in luxury, had some degree of mysophobia. Not to mention heating the iron barrel, just coming into contact with these rats was an enormous psychological shock.
Herbert tilted the iron barrel with a clever move, shifting it off his stomach without letting the rats escape.
Os gasped for a moment, then looked at Herbert with hateful eyes. He paused, then slowly began to speak.
"Your sister is not with me."
Herbert frowned, but fortunately, before he could react, Os continued.
"A few months ago, a group of You-Know-Who, claiming to be from the Rhine River, found me and asked me to help them find some 'Burgundy' people."
Merlin, who had been quietly listening to all this from the side, showed a hint of interest in his eyes.