In this crossover anime, many ruthless and powerful figures reside in my territory.

Liszt listened and nodded.

"Yes, that's very true, but there are still some omissions."

At this moment, Lister squatted down in front of a wall and picked up some hairs from the ground.

Prie immediately came over and hugged Lister from behind, observing him closely.

"This...is not gnoll fur, it looks more like bear fur!"

"Correct."

Lister looked at the hair in his hand, a strange light flashing in his eyes.

"It looks like a bear among the orcs. No wonder it's so big and easily killed so many gnolls."

Bear-like beastmen are recognized as one of the most powerful human races in terms of combat strength.

Lena and her guards were all bear-like orcs, naturally tall, muscular, and incredibly strong.

The male bear-like orcs are even more exaggerated; they can contend with low-level blood knights with their physical strength alone, and after cultivating blood energy, they can directly crush humans of the same level.

Therefore, trade in male bear-like orcs is prohibited in the United States, and they are mostly under the direct jurisdiction of the Empire.

The discovery of clues about a bear-like beastman race here indicates...

Further north in the Frostwinter Mountains, there may be tribes of bear-like orcs!

The human empire once destroyed the empires of other races, but it probably didn't kill them all, otherwise it wouldn't have left behind orcs and elves.

It makes perfect sense that these alien races fled to the Arctic.

So, is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Lister grasped the hair in his hand and shook his head.

“Primy, it seems we need to intensify our exploration of the Winter Mountains.”

"We must not only keep an eye on the movements of the gnolls, but also be wary of these undiscovered orc tribes."

"Leave the internal exploration to the newly trained genin. You can use shadow clones to enhance the external exploration in your spare time."

"I have a bad feeling."

Prie nodded; the safety of Red Maple Territory was of utmost importance.

"I'm going back. Remember to only use shadow clones. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Yes! Master!"

At this moment, Muzan had already moved closer and grabbed Lister's shoulder, and the two instantly returned to their office in Red Maple Territory.

Just as Liszt was about to say something, a white owl peeked out from a small window on the side of the room.

"Snowy Owl! Any news?!"

The snowy owl flew onto Liszt's desk, and the letter it was carrying in its beak fell to the ground.

Lister quickly picked up the letter and began to read it.

Muzan sat back down on the sofa, somewhat impatiently.

The most painful time for her was waiting and not being able to move the progress bar forward.

When she saw Lister's furrowed brow, she asked instinctively.

"Is there a problem with White Moon City?"

"Do not……"

Lister rubbed his temples.

"Do you remember what I told you about the Dark Court before?"

"Before I left, I found someone from the Dark Court and wanted to find out what role the Dark Court played in the Kingdom's turmoil."

“I got the answer, and then used illusion magic to erase the memory of me interrogating her from that person’s mind.”

"Although I concealed some of my information, our Eller family won that Duchy war so smoothly, didn't the higher-ups of the Dark Court suspect me at all?"

"Why haven't they sent anyone over in the past two months?!"

Lister realized that he seemed to have overestimated the Dark Court's higher-ups.

That incident revealed many clues and details. I thought there would be trouble soon, but it turned out there wasn't!

Muzan glanced at his fingernails, which were adorned with blood-red spider lilies, and said indifferently.

"Isn't this a good thing? It would be troublesome if the enemy discovered our hiding place."

Lister shook his head.

"It depends on the situation. I can only rely on my family to get general information about the Kingdom of Rennes. I'm completely clueless about other places."

"Although the Dark Court is weak, their influence is spread across many parts of the United States, and their shadow forces are extremely well-suited for intelligence gathering, so they must have some understanding of the United States."

“The messenger my sister sent to deliver a message to the emperor has died on the way, which means my family has come under scrutiny.”

“I urgently need a reliable intelligence channel to understand the situation, and I don’t have a direct conflict with the Dark Court, so we should be able to cooperate.”

What Liszt is most anxious about now is the situation in the United States.

His territory was on the border of the United States, and his family—his father, mother, sister, and many uncles and aunts he had hardly ever met—worked for the United States.

Any incident in the Kingdom of Rennes will inevitably affect the family.

He stopped the investigation because continuing would only attract unnecessary attention, and Madara and Aizen wouldn't help him easily. When one's own strength is insufficient, knowing less is actually safer.

However, this does not mean that he does not need to pay attention to the situation in the kingdom.

Opportunities are always fleeting; if you don't seize them, you'll miss out on many things.

"Then why don't you just send one of your maids over?"

"Although White Moon City is far away, we can get there quickly by using Flying Thunder God a few more times."

Lister coughed.

His main concern was that he didn't want any of the maids to leave him, so he never sent them far away.

But it seems like we have no choice but to consider it.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

On the vast snow-covered plain, two figures, one tall and one short, dressed in cloaks and all in black, were braving the heavy snow to move forward.

"Hey! Are you sure there's something wrong with that Red Maple Baron?"

"Stop calling me 'hey, hey, hey,' I have a name!"

The shorter figure pulled down his hood, revealing two large, white, rat-like ears; it was the female rodent-like half-orc that Lister had previously intimidated.

"You heard the leader's orders too, didn't you?"

"If the leader hadn't helped me remove the effects of the forgetting magic, we wouldn't have known that Lister was so wicked."

"Yes Yes Yes."

The tall, cloaked man was clearly very impatient.

"When will this damn snow finally stop?!"

"Where exactly is that guy's territory?!"

Lister had no idea that the Dark Court's people had been sent to scout his territory more than a month ago, but...

Both of them got lost.

Chapter 54 Isn't this just a small town?

"Finally found!"

The two people, one tall and one short, wearing cloaks, breathed a sigh of relief as they looked at the sturdy earthen wall that stretched for over two hundred meters in the distance and the massive fortress in the center.

Once again, they walked from day to night, and finally found the territory of that guy named Lister.

It was hidden so deep in the woods; if I hadn't been lucky enough to get through the woods ahead, I might not have been able to find it.

“Achille, let’s sneak in and check the situation before we go find Lister.”

The tall Archie snorted dismissively.

"Why go through all that trouble?"

"Isn't this just a small town? What powerful figures could there be besides Lister?"

"Besides, it's already dark. This is our territory as assassins. Are we afraid of being discovered?"

"That's what the shorter man retorted."

“You underestimate Lister. Even though it was daytime, he was able to easily suppress me…”

"Pauline, that's because you're too weak!"

Archie interrupted her, looking at the diminutive Pauline with his dark face hidden by his hood.

"It's because you're too weak that Lister's magic has clouded your memory."

"And I am the captain of the Dark Court. In terms of strength, you are no match for me."

You can only listen to me!

Tsk!

Pauline gritted her teeth in extreme displeasure.

The Dark Court's rule was that the most capable should be in charge, and those who were weak could only listen to those who were strong, so she had no way to refute it.

"Those disgusting nobles live in the highest place; it's just too conspicuous."

"Rest for a while, then get moving."

"Of course, you don't have to come along. You'll only be in the way anyway."

As soon as he finished speaking, Archie took a step forward, as if he had stepped into the shadows and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

Tsk!