Miss Wang Weina, even your cousin won't do!

Count Vincent, with his small mustache, frowned, patted his elderly butler beside him, gestured with his chin towards the direction from which the roar came, and said:

"Go, send someone to see what happened."

The old butler frowned, but without hesitation after receiving the order, he connected the walkie-talkie and instructed the guard who was supposed to be on duty at the gate:

"Come with me to the Northwest Garden District to check it out. I just heard some strange noises."

The signal at the gate seemed to be weak; it took nearly ten seconds for a faint, intermittent echo to come through the walkie-talkie.

"Understood, I'll go right away."

........

The Earl of Vincent's estate, gatekeeper.

Kal'tsit easily took down two seemingly burly Lupo guards with clean and swift movements, without even summoning mon3tr.

Standing in the glass pavilion at the gate, she gazed at the bustling Earl Vincent's estate in the distance, and couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy.

It's been about eight years, hasn't it?

The last time she visited this place at Count Vincent's invitation, as a Lateran friar, was on a snowy night. Here, she received messages from the nobles of the "Northern Royalists" and a letter from Theresa summoning her back to Kazdel. The little Heidi who braved the snow to deliver that letter was only fourteen years old back then. Now, eight years later, she returns to this land, but this time by infiltration. She is destined never to meet and reminisce with the grown-up Heidi.

But that's alright, there's plenty of time to catch up; time is never an obstacle for Kal'tsit. Her visit to the Earl of Vincent in Dorronshire has a far more important purpose.

Observe which "Prince Wayne Bruce" is.

She earned Theresa's trust, astonished Theresis, and was one of the few legendary figures on this land whose judgments were completely wrong, even leading them astray. As Theresa's subject and friend, Kal'tsit had to keep a close eye on her.

—Make sure he's not some old codger's puppet in disguise.

This land is not lacking in such spells. The immortal black serpent of Ursus can use "seeds" to weave a net, thereby taking over the body of others to move. It is possible that there are other people who also know this nauseating spell.

If Wayne Bruce is indeed a puppet of some immortal being, then his purpose in approaching the Demon King becomes questionable.

Theresa is far superior to Kal'tsit in discerning lies, but when it comes to dealing with the immortals, few on the entire land can claim to have more authority than Kal'tsit, so this task can only be undertaken by her.

However, before she could even head towards the mansion, the walkie-talkie in the guardhouse suddenly went off.

Not answering might arouse suspicion, so Kal'tsit quickly pressed the answer button but didn't speak immediately.

The old butler's stern voice came from the other end of the walkie-talkie:

"Come with me to the Northwest Garden to check it out; I heard strange noises there."

A strange sound?

Kal'tsit frowned slightly, gazing towards the northwest of Earl Vincent's territory. She knew that area all too well. Eight years ago, it was there that she fought a fierce battle against the Ursus "Emperor's Blade," paying a heavy price to drive the kingdom out of Victoria and save her own life.

There were strange noises coming from that area?

Kal'tsit couldn't help but recall the chaotic aura of the Northern Plains aliens that inevitably leaked from beneath the shattered masks of the inner guards. That stuff was like the radiation of Originium; any ordinary creature that came into contact with it would be driven mad and mutated.

Is it related to that?

Although eight years have passed, the infection of the alien species has never decreased with the passage of time; it has only continued to intensify.

If it really is because of that...

Kal'tsit summoned mon3tr, picked up the walkie-talkie, deliberately covered the microphone, adjusted her voice, and replied in a broken voice:

"Understood, I'll go right away."

We can put Wayne's matter aside for now, since he can't escape anyway, but the threat from the Wasteland Species is very real.

Moreover, whether it was a cause you planted yourself or not, you'll only know after you've seen it for yourself.

After putting down the walkie-talkie, Kal'tsit directed mon3tr to head towards the northwest garden.

Chapter Thirty-Three: Are all the doormen in Victoria this fierce?

The Duke of Normandy stood atop a makeshift tower outside the Count of Vincent's estate, gazing at the bustling estate in the distance as he took a puff of his pipe.

Judging from the commotion in the count's territory, the students from the Royal Military Academy must have all arrived. The next step is to lure them out.

The students of the Royal Military Academy are the rising stars of Victoria, backed by either Victorian nobles and wealthy conglomerates, or children of foreign officials and royalty. If Earl Vincent hadn't lost his mind, he would never allow them to investigate problems that arose in his own residence, unless he wanted to be reported to the General Staff in Londinium for mishandling matters.

The Sarkaz officer's plan was simple: create chaos. By releasing some captured infected creatures into the courtyard, Count Vincent would naturally come out to investigate. Once Count Vincent left his mansion and away from those students he couldn't afford to offend, dealing with him would be much easier.

Once the Earl of Vincent is dealt with, Heidi Thomson, who has lost the protection of the nobility, is nothing more than the "daughter of the former president of the Toronshire Literary Society." She has no ability to protect herself in front of the Duke of Normandy. The Duke can easily enter the unclaimed Duchy of Vincent by using the pretext of "investigating the death of the Earl of Vincent" and "comforting the frightened students of the Royal Military Academy."

After that, whether it was to cleanly and efficiently find an opportunity to kill Heidi Thomson, or to go through the trouble of framing her and labeling her as the "mastermind behind the assassination of the nobles," and then taking her away for execution as a matter of course, it was not difficult for the Duke of Normandy.

The only concern is that this scheme undoubtedly uses the students of the Royal Military Academy as a shield to force Earl Vincent to come forward. Once the students discover this, it's hard to guarantee that those passionate young men and women won't cause some unexpected disruption to the plan.

But as the saying goes, every gain comes with a risk. Rather than leaving evidence of his execution in the hands of a completely unreliable person to die, the Duke of Normandy was willing to take such a reasonable risk to eliminate the threat.

Moreover, it must be said that although the Sarkaz's strategy was simple and brutal, it was by no means weak. It got straight to the point, without any hesitation, and it was very difficult to make mistakes.

Given the Duke of Vincent's cowardly nature, the likelihood of him getting the students involved was virtually nonexistent.

There's just one more thing to worry about...

The Duke of Normandy put down his pipe, looked at the Sarkaz officer beside him, and asked:

"Are the infected creatures you've brought enough? Don't let them end up getting dealt with by the manor guards instead of luring Vincent and that little girl out."

The Sarkaz officer seemed somewhat displeased with the Duke of Normandy's unfounded concern; he confidently patted his chest and declared:

“These beasts were captured by my men with great effort. It took my mercenary squad a lot of time to subdue them, let alone the guards of the manor.”

He glanced at the garden, pointed to a woman with short, light green hair who was walking towards it in a black security guard uniform, and smiled:

"They're like those gatekeepers, all they're good-looking for is their appearance. My beasts can kill them one by one without any problem."

"Roar--"

Before the words were finished, a roar came from the edge of the garden.

............

Kelsey pulled down the brim of her security helmet, carefully examining the roaring beast before her. Only after confirming that it did not possess the evil aura of a wasteland monster did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, it wasn't one of those weird things.

Although infected creatures contaminated by fragments of the Wasteland Species' aura pose no threat to Kelsey, dealing with them is still quite troublesome. Those creatures are like ink on a blank sheet of paper; wiping them off is easy, but erasing the traces of their existence is extremely difficult.

Kal'tsit didn't want to attract Victoria's secret investigation team, or even the unicorns' involvement, because of an infected creature contaminated by the Wasteland Xenomorph. This would undoubtedly be a huge problem for her to observe Vayne's situation, and could even pose a significant threat to her.

After all, to the unicorns, no matter what Wayne's true nature is, he is still Prince Victoria and a member of the Aslan royal family. Even if they want to investigate, it's not Kal'tsit's place to meddle and cause trouble.

Fortunately, they are just a few ordinary fanged beasts. These infected creatures, which are a size larger than wild boars, may be a problem for Vincent's guards, but for Kal'tsit, they are nothing more than a flick of her finger.

"Hurry up and resolve this, lest Vincent be brought here."

Kal'tsit muttered to herself, took off the white glove on her right hand, glanced around, and after confirming that she was the first to arrive, she waved her hand and summoned mon3tr, who had been hiding and waiting for a long time.

mon3tr: "(Roar)!"

Long dissatisfied with these swine that were swaggering in front of him, mon3tr flashed out of the grass, his black scythe-like feet, gleaming with metallic light, swung wildly like a meat grinder. In the blink of an eye, the swarm of fanged beasts that had been roaring and showing off were reduced to shattered skeletons.

"It's solved."

Kal'tsit glanced around, gently patted mon3tr's head, and gave the order:

"It's too messy, clean it up."

mon3tr: "(A helpless lament)"

The enormous Originium creature swayed its legs, which resembled the scythe of death, as if lamenting to its master: "I only kill, I don't bury." But Kal'tsit simply stared at it calmly. After a long while, mon3tr finally couldn't withstand the deathly gaze of the thousand-year-old lynx. It let out a mournful cry and obediently flew towards the ravaged scene. It swung its tail and scythe, plowing the ravaged land once more, turning over all the blood-soaked soil to the lower layers.

"The flowers here will bloom beautifully next year."

Kal'tsit surveyed the messy ground with satisfaction, tamped the soil beneath her feet, then connected to the walkie-talkie, changed her voice, and reported in a low tone:

"Report: It was just some wild animals that had wandered into the garden by mistake; they have been driven away."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the walkie-talkie, seemingly the old butler reporting to Earl Vincent. A few seconds later, a soft sigh came from behind the black receiver:

"Has the beast tide spread all the way here? Even the earldom is in turmoil."

Immediately, the butler replied:

"The task was completed on time. Remember to go to the finance department to collect your bonus later."

Then he hung up the call.

Do you want to claim the prize money?

Kal'tsit smiled slightly. Things were going more smoothly than she had expected. Now, she could use her identity as the "awarded doorman" to enter Vincent's mansion and observe Wayne up close.

In a good mood, Kal'tsit retrieved her Mon3Tr, put on her gloves, turned around, and left the scene.

.........

Highlands in the distance.

The Duke of Normandy turned his head, gave the Sarkaz officer a cold smile, and said:

"Repeat what you just said: you're only somewhat attractive?"

The Sarkaz officer's face flushed red as he recalled the gruesome scenes of slaughter that even a veteran like himself found nauseating. After a long pause, he awkwardly uttered a few words:

"Are all the doormen at Victoria this aggressive?"

Chapter Thirty-Four: We are cultivators from the Holy Duke Sect

"As you can see, sir, my count's territory is not entirely peaceful either. Even my residence has been invaded by a beast tide. I truly hope these students can help me solve this troublesome problem."

With a helpless grumble, Count Vincent gazed at the six people in priestly robes before him. The blue-haired woman at the head of the group wore a hood, seemingly deliberately concealing something. Her pale blue eyes, hidden in the shadows, met his gaze with neither servility nor arrogance, and she spoke with utmost sincerity:

"Yes, the students of the Royal Military Academy of Victoria are all the cream of the crop. With them around, they will surely be able to deal with a mere wave of beasts."

Count Vincent scrutinized the Sakota girl for a long time, but still couldn't see anything wrong with her. However, the sense of unease in his heart just wouldn't go away.

Why would the Sakorta of the Lateran Catholic Church suddenly visit his godforsaken earldom? Let alone the fact that Earl Vincent was just a border earl with no influence in Victorian politics, even if he were a famous grand duke, he wouldn't openly accept the Lateran's goodwill.

Her Majesty the Queen's purpose in suppressing the Catholic Church and supporting the Anglican Church is very clear. Who would be foolish enough to provoke such a reaction?

However, it was not gentlemanly to openly drive away a Sakota who had come to visit, so Count Vincent had no choice but to issue a subtle warning:

"Actually, I think it's a bit difficult to rely on students to solve problems. The most important thing is the organization that carried out this extermination operation, their college and the Victoria General Staff. They are currently inspecting the test sites on the outskirts of Toronto."

Count Vincent decisively invoked the names of the Royal Military Academy and the General Staff, intending to intimidate the strange guests before him. However, the blue-haired girl smiled in bewilderment, then, as if suddenly realizing something, gave a helpless smile.