After I died, my personal maid rebelled.

The three were indeed well-informed. Although the Duke's mansion was luxurious, compared to an ordinary noble's residence, it only had a few hundred more elite guards.

The young lady's personal guards are all veterans of countless battles; their mere presence forms a blood-soaked wall of killing intent.

The gates of the Duke's mansion were open to them, and children were playing and laughing in the garden. The Duchess, standing in the shade, glanced over indifferently, which made Catherine, who was unaware of the reason, feel a sudden flutter in her heart.

She began to regret coming here.

The Duke's mansion was clean and spacious, with maids leisurely cleaning and laughter occasionally drifting down the corridors.

As if standing on the edge of an abyss, Dane took a deep breath before climbing the stairs, then held his breath and embraced the increasingly silent space as he ascended to the second floor.

Before he could get close, Luna, who was carrying a stack of documents, opened the door and nodded to him.

"Your elder brother is waiting for you." Luna left without looking back, leaving Dane with only his trembling reply.

"Yes, Miss..."

Robert, who wanted to greet Luna, wisely refrained from speaking. He just couldn't understand why everyone was so nervous. He could clearly see that Dane had been wiping the sweat from his palms the whole way.

These are S-class adventurers, whom even the king has met. What kind of scene could possibly frighten them?

With a snap, just three seconds after Robert entered the office, his knees made intimate contact with the floor.

Robert, who didn't dare to lift his head, could only hear Catherine's rapid breathing and the sound of the pen tip quickly slicing across the paper.

His pupils trembled, as if he had suddenly arrived at a battlefield where ancient behemoths were fighting.

What is that? What on earth is that?! Such terrifying magical fluctuations and an aura of immortality, along with the surging natural power like an eternal storm—just how powerful is Duke Oswald before them?

It's completely beyond human understanding of what power is!

"Your Grace, your subordinate Dane greets you."

Seeing the two kneeling motionless on the ground, Dane, who had solemnly finished his bow, had cold sweat streaming down his face, so he simply knelt down as well.

"Get up. Kneeling here is bad luck."

Hearing the sound of the document closing, the Duke's somewhat mocking words made Dane look up. According to a certain young lady's idle statistics, there was an 86% chance that the people who knelt in the Duke's mansion would be completely baffled.

Before Dane could explain, Oswald interrupted him in his usual tone.

"It's just a small matter. Family matters, national affairs, and world affairs—there's nothing that's completely untainted." Oswald's calm gaze fixed on Catherine, and in just two seconds, she trembled uncontrollably.

"Take a look at this report; it was just submitted by Arian."

Oswald lit his pipe and pushed the document over. Dane quickly stood up and respectfully accepted the document.

Surprisingly, there was no information about Catherine inside, or perhaps, as the Duke said, it was just a minor matter.

After carefully reviewing the documents, Dane held them and fell into deep thought without saying a word.

Aerion's report mainly mentioned two things. The first was that they encountered a group of suspicious mages, but they did not choose to get entangled with the Northern Army and quickly escaped the pursuit by using magic.

The second thing was that the nuns, under the guise of salvation, were quite brave; they actually instigated their believers to launch an attack on the Northern army.

"No matter how much a doctrine tries to persuade people to do good, it cannot change the inherent folly of religion itself." Oswald exhaled a smoke ring and spoke slowly, a hint of expectation in his eyes.

Dane understood; the Duke wanted to use the adventurers' power to eliminate the Guild's magicians and the Church's nuns.

Moreover, the report clearly states that the magician and the nun appeared not in the newly liberated territories, but from the rear.

"What should we do?" Dane swallowed hard, trying to control his trembling legs.

"I can't let the wolves catch the mice."

In short, Duke Oswald defined the matter: he needed a cat that could catch the mouse, and for that purpose, he would assist Dane and others in rebuilding the Adventurers' Guild.

However, the Adventurers' Guild is just the official name. Dane guessed they would become some kind of intelligence agency. He never expected that the adventurer profession would be passed down in this way.

Having understood his mission, Dane put down the documents and bowed again. "Your Grace, we may not be able to complete the reorganization in the short term."

Oswald's response was simple: "If you have any difficulties, you can raise them. If you don't have enough manpower, you can choose from the veterans. I will also set up a special organization to train new people for you. As for weapons, I can guarantee that you will get the best."

Dane was tempted. Rebuilding the glory of adventurers was our duty! The key point was that we could take down those damned charlatans from the Mage Guild!

"Yes, Your Grace, we will eliminate these threats for you."

Holding several appointment letters, Dane walked out of the Duke's mansion seemingly out of nowhere. The two who had been kneeling on the ground the whole time, not daring to utter a word, were also unaware of when they had been freed from that terrifying pressure.

Ordinary people might marvel at Duke Oswald's imposing stature, but to these S-rank adventurers, Duke Oswald was far more terrifying than the Undying Calamity.

Dane carefully put away the letter of appointment and led them back to the tavern. He wanted to celebrate properly and, incidentally, help these two pale-faced guys calm down and recover their nerves.

Catherine was still ignorant; she didn't even consider that the world was now teeming with monsters, the older generation of powerful figures had fallen one after another, and even the human capital had been destroyed several times over.

In such a dangerous situation, Oswald was still able to build an army and continuously expand his sphere of influence. Can't you tell what's going on?

After taking a big gulp of wine, Catherine, having regained her senses, let out a long sigh.

"It seems that I can only soothe his wounded heart with my warm embrace."

"Yes, it's as warm as a branding iron," Dane said irritably. "Bring their whole family to Ice City as soon as possible, don't disappoint the Duke."

Unable to resist punching Dane to vent her unease, Catherine turned her head, looked at him seriously, and said softly, "The adventurer Dane I remember has never shown loyalty to anyone."

Dane slammed his glass down, his expression solemn, his tone resolute: "Because Duke Oswald is the true ruler of mankind, and many of us have placed our hopes in him."

Catherine, oblivious to the world around her, had no idea how many times Dane had gone through despair in just a few years.

Bone Dragon, Giant Slime, Blood-Clad Saintess, Undead Legion, Undead Giant Insect, Eye of Heaven, Cursed Princess, Human Civil War, Calamity Transfer, Light's Imprisonment, Fall of the Hero, Elf Catastrophe, Spiral of Desire, Lustful Monster...

The dragon slayer is dead, the great mage is dead, the archbishop is dead, the king is dead, the dukes of the Eastern Territory and the Southern Territory, the leaders of the royal guard, the commanders of the Imperial Guard, the grandmasters of the Knights, and ordinary civilians whose numbers are estimated to be over three million, have all died in recent years.

Dane dared not imagine how far this turbulent world was from destruction if something else were to happen to Duke Oswald.

Robert, standing nearby, nodded heavily. He had participated in the Northern Army's battles in the Elven Kingdom, and frankly, he said that without absolute courage and loyalty, humanity could never have won such a fierce battle.

Catherine looked left and right, then resigned herself to her fate.

"You two... Sigh, alright, since it's the Lord of Humanity's order, what's our next step?"

"Of course, it's about understanding our opponents."

Dane laid out twelve copper coins in a row on the bar, then led the two men quickly out of the tavern, and they walked in silence to the heavily guarded underground prison.

The ground was heavily guarded, and the first underground level was the soldiers' rest room. After showing the Duke's letter, the soldiers opened the cell door made of heavy steel plates.

The three of them went up the stairs to the second basement level, which was basically the private space of their loyal client, Annie. Various personal items were placed in different cells. When the three of them looked at Annie, she was standing in the prison corridor, carefully drawing the Duke's portrait with a paintbrush.

Life is like a giant cage, and now Annie enjoys her life in prison, where it's quiet and she doesn't have to worry about the outside world.

Oswald wanted to study the power within her, and Annie did not refuse, but she was still angry that Oswald did not believe her memories.

So she refused Oswald's offer to let her go home, asked the old housekeeper for a set of painting tools, and locked herself up.

"Don't worry about anything, don't ask anything," Dane reminded the two in a low voice, then opened another door and entered the third basement level.

From here on, it started to feel like a prison. Catherine knew without guessing that this place must be holding extremely vicious criminals.

In one of the narrow cells, Falkov, who was happily eating a bowl of noodles, twitched his ears.

Is there... an extra meal today?

When Catherine came over, the two looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

Marquis Falkov, an upper-class nobleman from Catherine's family, and the former marshal of the royal city's garrison, had spoken with Catherine several times at banquets.

Felix, who was in the cell next door, also peeked out in silence. Well, although they weren't familiar with each other, they had all met before.

"Falkov, Felix, one of you is a nobleman of the Central District and the commander of the Royal City Army, and the other is a teacher at the World Tree Academy and a goddess apostle passed down through generations."

Dane's face was cold, and his tone was firm: "I am here on the orders of His Excellency the Duke to interrogate you two. You are to immediately disclose all information concerning the Mage's Guild and the nuns of the Holy See."