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"Kyaa! He just saw me, he saw me! Uhuhu, kahaha!"
"...Until just now, you were quietly smiling and maintaining some dignity in your own way, young lady. Do you really have to laugh like a crazy person every time?"
"But Jin looked at me!"
"It is natural to thoroughly check all directions during infiltration. He didn't look at you."
"Moreover, it's been so long since I saw him like this."
"Young lady, it hasn't been more than a month since your first and last meeting with Jin Runcandel. That can be considered a long time."
"Jin must be happy to see me, right?"
"Strictly speaking, you haven't really met him, except for the fact that you're secretly peeping at him. Jin Runcandel doesn't know that you're pressing your flushed face into the crystal ball, young lady."
"How much did he want to see me to come all the way here?"
"Young lady, Jin Runcandel came not to see you, but to harm your clan."
"Oh, my Jin has left the 6th section! Does this crystal ball show the next section? No, is that it!? I don't want to miss that handsome face for even a second. Hedo, Hedo!"
"The one behind is the crystal ball of the next section. And what face are you talking about exactly? All I can see is a black mask. Since we can't hear a voice, it's difficult to even identify who Jin Runcandel is."
"Hehe, but I can see it all with my eyes."
"Please, get yourself together, young lady..."
Hedo's gaze landed on Sandra's right arm.
To be exact, it was a prosthetic arm. She was wearing a golden prosthetic arm, never having truly recovered her maimed right arm from Jin.
Moreover, she had even engraved Jin's face on the inner side of her forearm, and the walls of Sandra's room were entirely filled with things related to Jin, such as advertising brochures and carefully cut-out newspaper articles.
As the 2nd-class butler and Sandra's personal butler, how could Hedo not sigh when seeing her like this?
"Huu."
In the end, Hedo once again smoked ten cigarettes in one go.
It had been like this ever since that day. Sandra had been constantly talking about Jin, completely setting aside all the affairs of the clan. It seemed like the stress was making his hair fall out.
"Young lady."
"Hush, be quiet. I need to concentrate because Jin is moving too fast."
"Young lady Sandra."
"Oh, what!"
"You need to report."
"What report?"
"Jin Runcandel has arrived at the shipyard, which means you need to report to the Patriarch. You're currently on duty."
Sandra widened her eyes and looked at Hedo for the first time.
Then she said.
"Hedo, then my husband will die. Or he will no longer be Jin."
"Well, that's probably true. But considering the survival skills 12th flagbearer have shown so far, you never know."
"So don't spew that nonsense again."
Hedo hadn't originally brought up this topic with any expectations. He knew that his young lady would naturally react this way.
He had simply mentioned it with a feeling of grasping at straws.
"And if you mention it again, even if you're Hedo, I'll tear your mouth apart. Not horizontally, but crosswise. Don't ruin my happiness. Got it?"
"Yes, yes. Do you want to try?"
"It probably won't work."
"Just don't let it happen. If you're not going to report, at least stay quiet. This time, I have nothing to say to the Patriarch either."
"I have to go meet Jin!"
The two of them were in the office of the 2nd Magic tower's tower master.
When Zipfels built the secret shipyard, they deliberately chose the Sota Desert near the 2nd Magic tower. This was to inspect the shipyard through the use of crystal balls. If they want to thoroughly monitor everything, including technology leakage, the vicinity of the tower was ideal.
Currently, as Jin had predicted, Zipfel had presented the shipyard as bait to external forces in order to assess their power and abilities. However, that was not its original purpose.
If Kinzelo hadn't revealed itself and if Joshua hadn't used his mysterious abilities, the shipyard wouldn't have been wasted in this way.
While Sandra was rummaging through the office closet, Hedo touched his forehead and carefully examined the scattered crystal balls.
Almost all sections were under attack at the same time. Kinzelo's beastmen and members were wreaking havoc, and Joshua and his group were also seen.
Hedo especially watched the movements of Jin and his group.
'... It doesn't seem like they are trying to search the four sections they deliberately let slip.'
The movements were excessively complex.
If their intention was to destroy the shipyard and only check the important section, they should have taken the shortest path from the moment Kinzelo initiated the attack.
'But Jin Runcandel seems to be moving as if he's trying to oversee the entire internal situation, like someone who doesn't know about the 4th, 11th, 17th, and 19th sections. Perhaps the 2nd flagbearer didn't share those fake pieces of information... No, wait.'
Something was strange.
This time, he was not thinking about Jin but Kinzelo.
'Not a single one of Kinzelo's top executives is visible among the people destroying the shipyard.'
Even after looking through the crystal balls of all sections, not a single top executive was visible. There were no figures like Berakt or Bishkel, and most of them were assault team leader level beastmen.
At that moment, Hedo fully understood the situation.
'Kinzelo didn't come to destroy the shipyard alone. They used the shipyard attack to divert attention, and the top executives are targeting other places. Somewhere with the real information.'
Right here, the Tower of the White Night.
As long as Kinzelo isn't insane, they won't target Drakka.
After being convinced of Kinzelo's intentions, he once again watched Jin and understood his movements.
'Jin Runcandel is aiming for here too. And he's calculating when to enter the 2nd Magic tower to make the best use of Kinzelo!'
Having read the intruders' objectives and moves, it was now time to respond.
"Hedo, how about this shirt and coat? I specially ordered them for the Golden Pengi's upper echelons, and they say that this is exactly his taste. They even went into great detail explaining how close they are to him. I was even jealous, and I almost killed them."
"Young lady, how many reinforcements did you send earlier?"
"How do you like the clothes!"
"They're beautiful. But could you please let me know how many Magic tower mages you dispatched to the shipyard?"
"I sent them all."
"....I must have misheard. Could you please tell me again?"
"I thought the Magic Tower mages would make a fuss and disturb my enjoyment with my husband, so I just told them to go away."
"The emergency standby personnel?"
"Yes!"
"And the spatial-time device..."
"The bastard used it in the Gaifa Archipelago and broke it to pieces."
"Oh, I see."
"What a fool!"
Ping! Hedo's muscles bulged further, popping the buttons on his shirt. When he felt intense stress or anger, his muscles tended to swell.
However, what made him so angry was not Sandra's cheerful response. The first reason was the broken spatial-time device, and the second reason was the actions of the Spectre corps.
'Are those spectres fools? Even if young lady ordered them, how can they just leave?'
It was highly unlikely.
The Spectre corps had shown contempt for Sandra. Sandra's orders would have been irrational and bizarre to anyone who heard them, so at the very least, they should have come to receive confirmation from him.
"Octavia Zipfel looked down on the young lady, so her subordinates will regard her as a brat and treat her like this.'
Trrddung, thud! Tshak!
His shirt completely tore apart, revealing his "enormous" physique.
The incredibly powerful muscles, which no one could forget once they saw them, had repeatedly surpassed their limits. They combined remarkable strength with an indescribable beauty.
'I guess I should give them a warning.'
Hedo ground his teeth, and Sandra hummed.
"Anyway, isn't this outfit beautiful? Hedo praising it is a first since I was five, isn't it? Shall I pick this one? Haha, what if Jin falls head over heels for me!? Here I come, Jin! Just a little while longer... Ah!"
As Sandra was about to rush out, Hedo grabbed her by the back of her neck.
"What are you trying to do?"
"....young lady, your outfit looks great, but it has too many wrinkles. And your hair is all over the place."
"Really?"
"It's better to have a well-dressed appearance, especially when you're about to meet someone you admire. You should take a bath; I'll lay out your clothes in the meantime. I'll also select some appropriate jewelry for you."
Hedo carefully dusted off the dirt from Sandra's shoulders.
"What if I can't meet my husband? Jin has to escape soon. Reinforcements will swarm from Drakka like cockroaches."
"Don't worry, young lady. Jin Runcandel will come here."
"What did you say? Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"And if he doesn't come?"
"If by any chance my assumptions are wrong, I will personally capture him and bring him here."
Hedo had never disappointed her before, so Sandra nodded immediately.
"Alright! It's a good thing I sent everyone out. A second meeting in this empty tower is so romantic. Hedo, you will also leave when Jin comes, understood? I want to spend some time alone with him."
To avoid lying (since Kinzelo and Joshua would arrive too), Hedo changed the topic with a smile.
"And, young lady, before you go for a bath, please give me the key."
He was referring to the key to the vault that stored the most important items of the Second Magic Tower, including the ship blueprints.
In such a situation, it was safer to keep them in his possession than leaving them in the vault.
"Here, take it."
Sandra handed over the key she was wearing around her neck.
Then as she was about to turn around, she remembered something and said to Hedo.
"Oh, Hedo, before you tell me to dress properly, you should put on some clothes yourself. What's with that? Everything is torn to shreds, and you're barely wearing bits of cloth and fabric. Even your glasses are crooked."
Sandra jumped up and adjusted Hedo's glasses. They were still crooked, but Hedo chuckled.
"I never thought I would be serving someone as shameless and crazy as you."
"I also didn't know I would fall in love with Jin."
The two of them left the room together. Sandra went to the bathroom, and Hedo headed to the vault.
'By the way, Runcandel and Kinzelo really have potential. I thought they would only focus on the shipyard, but it seems they're conscious of this place as well.'
As Hedo was putting the key into the vault, he paused and raised an eyebrow.
This was because the sensation of the key entering the lock felt strange. It was as if someone else had already opened the vault today. An unsettling feeling, like the key entering too smoothly.
Click!
He quickly opened the vault.
The inside was empty, and Hedo could only touch his forehead once again.