The house had clearly been searched, with the front door kicked in, but fortunately, there weren't many valuable items inside. After inspecting, Charlotte found that while some property was lost, the damage wasn't severe, totaling less than one Egier. Being on Elysée Garden Street, Charlotte quickly found someone to repair the door and hired some middle-aged maids to clean up the rooms. He also sent two messenger boys to deliver letters of safety to Miss Anne Brittany and Miss Sylvie Martin.
In Strasbourg, Charlotte had only two social connections left—apart from his senior, Menierman, he only had these two ladies. That evening, both Anne and Sylvie sent replies, but since it was late, they didn't visit, promising instead to come by in the morning.
Charlotte didn't even return to his room upstairs; he fell asleep in the small study on the first floor. This time, the escape wasn't long, but it left Charlotte mentally exhausted, an experience he didn't wish to repeat.
Early the next morning, as soon as he woke up, Charlotte remembered something he'd forgotten—he'd left the adventurers in Machu Picchu. The fortress had now fully transformed into a maze, meaning that without his permission, almost no one could enter this ancient Orc kingdom's fortress again. The people, monsters, spirits, and eerie beings inside wouldn't be able to leave either.
"Should I find time to go back to Machu Picchu?"
"I still don't know what a fully transformed ancient fortress maze would be like!"
"Since I have a three-day break, I'll head to Machu Picchu after meeting Anne and Sylvie."
Miss Anne Brittany arrived very early, even slightly out of breath as she knocked on the door, having clearly run part of the way despite having a carriage. When she saw Charlotte, Anne nearly threw herself into his arms, her eyes filled with emotion, choking out, "Why didn't you tell me? A mere warden doesn't have the power to do as they please—I could have helped you."
As a transmigrator, Charlotte didn't dare place his fate in the hands of a noble lady he hadn't even truly been involved with yet. While Anne might be pure, her family was filled with political animals who cared more about interests than sentiment. He wasn't familiar with the high-level politics of the Falce Empire and didn't know who was allied with whom or who was enemies with whom. What if the Brittany and Sumei families were enemies?
But he didn't want to spoil the moment, so Charlotte, feeling moved, hugged her back, changing the subject instead of following Anne's lead. "Miss Anne, these past few days, I've been in constant fear, thinking I might never see you again."
Anne was deeply moved by this, and as they embraced, it was clear they'd crossed the line of friendship into something more...
Before they could go any further, Sylvie's energetic voice rang out, "Charlotte! Are you really okay?"
Startled, Anne quickly pulled away from Charlotte, taking out a handkerchief to wipe her tears, then handed it to Charlotte. Charlotte, going along with the act, managed to squeeze out a few tears of his own, though they were far less genuine than Anne's.
Sylvie Martin and Vinnie Ayerlesar walked in together, with the cat detective agency's head casting Charlotte a look of admiration, saying, "Mr. Mecklenburg, I must admit I underestimated you."
"To think you could kill eight Red Horse detectives, including three superhumans, while on the run is truly impressive. What kind of combat ability is that?"
"I've been in the detective business for years and have only seen one or two ruthless criminals with such formidable fighting skills."
"Oh, oh! Sorry, I know Mr. Mecklenburg is innocent and can't be compared to those criminals."
Anne was startled and asked, "How did you get involved with the Red Horse Society?"
Feigning nonchalance, Charlotte pocketed the handkerchief and replied, "Mr. Magluth Trell wanted me to report on Senior Menierman, but I refused to go along with his schemes and escaped with my life. Afraid I'd expose his dirty dealings, he falsely accused me of stealing superhuman weapons confiscated by the prison and hired the Red Horse Detective Agency to hunt me down."
"I actually wanted to explain things to those detectives, but they didn't give me a chance."
Anne was shocked, "You managed to kill eight Red Horse detectives while they were chasing you?"
Even Sylvie Martin, who already knew about this, couldn't help but look at Charlotte with newfound respect, seeing her former fiancé in a new light and finding him more heroic than she remembered.
Vinnie Ayerlesar added in a lively tone, "Wells is a diviner who can supposedly predict bullet trajectories and cut bullets with a sword. Addison and Winterburn practice the Red Horse Detective Agency's Flame Dragon Breath technique, one a third-tier Flame Dragon Knight and the other a fourth-tier. Even if I were to face them, I'm not sure I could easily win."
"Mr. Charlotte, may I ask if you practice the Dark Breath technique?"
"What tier of knight are you now?"
Charlotte felt a bit awkward and quietly replied, "My path as a knight hasn't been smooth. Sylvie knows that I once studied the Lamia Breath technique at the Behemoth National Academy, but by the time I graduated, I had only barely condensed a power seed, unable to break through."
"During my time at university, I gave up on the Dark Breath technique and chose the Blood Glory technique instead. I've only just managed to break through to the fourth tier."
Turning to Anne, Charlotte added, "I'm sorry for deceiving you the other day, Miss Anne."
Anne Brittany still remembered their first meeting, where Charlotte had claimed to be a first-tier superhuman, but she didn't seem to hold it against him. Instead, she covered her mouth with a small hand and softly said, "I don't blame you."
Charlotte had no choice; he hadn't known Anne for long, and no matter how much he boasted, there was no way to explain how he could jump from the first tier to the fourth in such a short time. Everyone knew that achieving such a drastic power breakthrough in so little time was only possible by summoning a dark god.
That was something he definitely couldn't admit to—that would be a crime punishable by being burned alive.
Charlotte's image in the minds of the three ladies had undergone a dramatic transformation, and in a positive way. He invited the three of them into the small study, where Vinnie Ayerlesar sent her tricolored fat cat to buy some fruit wine and pastries. The four of them spent a pleasant morning chatting until the three ladies left together.
Anne didn't really want to leave but couldn't be too obvious about it. After all, she was a girl from the Brittany family, and as a noble lady, she had to maintain some level of decorum.