"What do you want with us?" The noblewoman with dirty blond hair questioned once she stood in front of Alex.
"Did I say I wanted something from you?" Alex replied in a cold tone, devoid of the warmth it had when he interacted with the young Ariana.
The intimidating attire and cold tone made the noblewoman and her followers shiver in fear.
Gritting her teeth to dispel her fear, the noblewoman asked, "Are you trying to convince us that you didn't come to rescue us?"
'Tsk, arrogant fools, always thinking the world revolves around them,' Alex clicked his tongue in displeasure.
"No, we didn't come here to specifically rescue you," Alex responded.
What he said wasn't entirely accurate. While their primary goal was rescuing Anita and not specifically the nobles, they didn't leave immediately after saving her. Instead, they chose to free all the captives, with the nobles being a significant part of the reason behind this decision.
A wave of shock seemed to pass through the group of nobles when Alex denied the claim that they had come to rescue them.
"Then why did you come here if not to rescue us?" the noblewoman inquired.
"None of your business," Alex replied calmly. "All you need to know is that you've been freed, and the one who rescued you is from an organization named 'Arcane.' Oh, and don't bother thanking us," he added with evident sarcasm in his voice.
The noblewoman murmured the name "Arcane," contemplating it for a moment.
After what felt like several minutes, she nodded her head to Alex and motioned for the other nobles to follow her.
Following behind her like ducklings behind their mother, the group of nobles left without a word.
'Ungrateful pricks,' Alex thought as he observed their departing backs.
Turning to the hundreds of remaining captives, he said, "You are also free to go, just bear in mind that the ones who kidnapped you might come back and find you if you don't hurry."
With that, Alex walked to the door of the second chamber, which was already open thanks to Amelia, who had moved the instant the nobles approached.
After sending the clouds of smoke carrying Lilia and the others forward, Alex stepped through the door, followed shortly by Anita and Amelia.
Once the door to the chamber was closed, and they found themselves in the narrow corridor beyond, Amelia spoke, "I don't understand something. Wasn't the reason we rescued those nobles so that they might feel grateful to us? So why did you say that we didn't come to rescue them specifically?"
"Because that's true; we indeed didn't come here specifically to rescue the nobles," Alex explained. "But I understand what you mean. From your perspective, acknowledging that we came here to rescue them might make them feel more grateful to us, right?" Alex glanced back just in time to see Amelia nodding.
"That's where you're mistaken. Don't forget that nobles are arrogant. If I had claimed we came here specifically to rescue them, they'd assume it's because they are nobles, and it's normal for us to rescue them. Even if they initially feel grateful, it won't last. Soon, they'd start questioning our motives. Nobles are arrogant, but not complete fools, well, some of them aren't. Once we start selling our goods, they'll connect the dots and realize we rescued their children to get closer to them."
As Alex explained, he continued walking through the corridor, leading the way to their next destination.
"From that point onwards, they'll fall into two categories. The first, likely where most nobles will land, is those wary of us. Imagine someone approaching you, claiming they want to be your friend – most people's initial reaction would be wariness."
"The second category involves nobles looking beyond their initial wariness, seeing the opportunities our organization offers. Sounds good, but remember: nobles are arrogant. They'll assume we want something from them, that it's because of that that we rescued their children, which means we need them. Once they come to this conclusion, their next goal would be to try to control us. Dealing with that would be a hassle. It's better to clarify that we didn't rescue their children specifically; we rescued everyone, and their kids happened to be among them."
Alex paused, then continued, "Of course, this approach has its own set of problems, but they're easier to handle compared to the issues arising from the alternative route."
Amelia didn't respond for a long while, thinking about what he said.
On the other hand, Anita was glancing from Alex to Amelia, curious about what they were speaking about.
'Organization? Selling goods? Nobles? What the hell are they talking about? I also want to know!' she pouted behind her mask.
Several minutes later, she nodded her head in understanding, "let's hope your plan won't backfire."
"It won't, especially with what will happen in a few hours or days," Alex said mysteriously.
Amelia tilted her head in confusion, 'What is he thinking of doing now?'
Soon, the three of them reached the end of the narrow corridor and entered the vast, circular room beyond.
"That's the heiress there?" Alex inquired when he witnessed an unconscious woman tied to a table in the center of the room.
"Yes, she should be about to wake up about now," Amelia answered as she approached the table.
Meanwhile, Anita glanced at the corpse of the monster on the ground and felt a shiver run down her spine. 'W-What the hell are those things?' she wondered as she distanced herself from them, fearful that one of them wasn't truly dead and would pounce on her if she got closer.
"Here, sit down," Alex materialized two chairs made of smoke in front of Anita.
"T-Thanks," Anita quickly bowed her head and sat on the chair with a hesitant expression behind her mask. 'Is this multicolored stuff smoke? How can he make it solid?' Anita wondered as she comfortably sat on the chair once she saw that it didn't crumble.
Alex materialized a chair behind Amelia, who was checking on the heiress's condition, and started walking, touring, and scanning the circular chamber with an attentive gaze.
He checked the cells where the creatures were detained, the uneven and slightly cracked walls of the chamber, even the metallic ground of the chamber.
"What are you looking for?" Amelia questioned once she finished checking on the heiress and asserted that she was fine.
"For a treasury," Alex answered as he checked the last cell.
"Treasury?" Anita repeated Alex's words with a confused expression.
"Not sure if you are aware, but the ones who kidnapped you specialize in kidnapping nobles, like the ones you have seen minutes ago, and ask ransom from their families. We are currently in the base of such an organization, there is no way that there isn't a sort of treasury where they hide their valuables," Alex explained as he returned to stand in his initial position.
"Ah, I see!" Anita exclaimed in understanding. "Did you find something?" she wondered after a moment.
"No, there doesn't seem to be anything here," Alex replied. "But there's still the corridor to check."
"I didn't see anything there, though," Anita held her chin in contemplation.
"That's normal; something like a treasury wouldn't be left in the open for anyone to see," Alex chuckled. 'Considering the fact that everything is under an illusion here, I'm certain that there is an illusion protecting the treasury.'
"Wait here," Alex told the two women as he returned inside the corridor.
'Okay, here we go,' Alex thought as he began scanning the narrow corridor.
Since he was dealing with illusions, he focused on thinking that something was amiss inside this corridor while scrutinizing it from up and down, right and left.
It did not take long before multiple black metallic doors that weren't there before began appearing one after another along the corridor.
"Bingo!" Alex grinned and approached one of the doors.
However, just as he was about to open it, he had a thought.
Stopping in his tracks, Alex focused on the corridor and concentrated on the feeling that something was amiss once again, particularly thinking that the majority of those doors didn't exist.
It was just a random thought that popped up in his mind, and he wanted to verify it. Yet, the instant he had this thought, all of the doors disappeared, leaving only two black doors behind.
'Sneaky bastards, they went as far as shrouding an illusion with another one,' Alex shook his head. Just in case, he wasted a few minutes trying to dispel another illusion if it existed, but seeing that nothing changed, he decided that he would try to enter these doors, hoping that there would be something valuable in there.
Coming in front of one, Alex studied its black and lusterless metal for a moment.
'It seems different from the door at the entrance of this chamber, so I guess its password must also be different,' he concluded.
'Let's see if I can brute force them.'
Hoping that it was indeed treasure inside and not monsters on the other side of the door, Alex took a punching position.
Sending a surge of mana into his arm to empower it, he punched forth.
Boom.
The instant his fist collided with the black and lusterless door, it was sent flying off its frame.
'Oh, it was easier than I thought-' Alex froze, his thought process coming to a stop.
Seconds passed with him still in a frozen state, his eyes wide as they focused on what was inside.
After what felt like several minutes, a wide and excited grin appeared on Alex's face.