Chapter 242

“Why are you here?
Ming Hu tried to figure out why John had come to see him, what he had said he needed to see him for, but he couldn’t figure it out.
“Let’s stop by the parlor first.”
Eventually, Myung-Hoo decided to stop by the parlor to see John before heading to prison, and told the butler who was waiting to hear from him.
“Yes.”
The chamberlain replied to Ming Hu’s words, and turned his steps toward the prison to the parlor. Ming Hu followed the chamberlain and soon reached the parlor, where he found John nervously pondering something.
“Oops, Count.”
John was deep in thought, and as Ming Hu approached, he snapped out of it.
“You found me?”
Ming Hu sat down in the chair in front of John and looked at him. John sat back down as Myung-Hoo took his seat, a serious expression on his face.
“Yes, I have something urgent to say to the Count.”
“Tell me.”
“It’s…”
John stuttered at Minghu’s words and turned to look at the chamberlain and Rafid standing behind him.
“I’ll be out.”
The chancellor sensed John’s gaze and mood and said to Ming Hu.
“Oh, yeah.”
“Let’s go, Master.”
Ming Hu nodded, and the butler left the parlor with Rafid. With the butler and Rafid gone, Ming Hu and John were alone in the parlor. Ming Hu looked at John and said
“What’s wrong?”
“Well… The peacocks are starting to move.”
“…?”
The dukes are on the move? John’s words made Ming Hu look at him in disbelief.
“Wait…
Then a thought occurred to Ming Hu, and he looked at John with a slightly furrowed brow and a questioning expression.
“Do you think the peacocks are moving to…? me?”
At first, I didn’t think much of it when I heard that the dukes were moving, but then I thought about it for a while and realized that it was strange. There was no way John would come to me and say this when I had nothing to do with it.
“Yes.”
John nodded at Myung-Hoo’s question.
“…”
John’s answer left Ming Hu speechless for a moment. When Myung-Hoo said nothing, John remained silent and waited for Myung-Hoo to respond. After a while, Ming Hu opened his mouth.
“Who are you?”
“…?”
John looked puzzled by Ming Hu’s sudden words. Ming Hu realized that John had not understood his words, so he opened his mouth to speak again.
“Who are the peacocks that moved.”
“Ah.”
John let out a short gasp as he realized what she meant. Then he continued.
“The Dukes of Radun and Hiden.”
“…Really?”
Ming Hu nodded in understanding.
“For what purpose?”
He nods, but Ming Hu, who knows nothing about the two dukes, asks John again what their purpose is.
“I don’t know their exact purpose, but… As for Duke Radun, he’s just getting information about you from the nobles around him, so I don’t think you need to worry about him just yet. The problem is Duke Hiden.”
With that, John looked around, then back at Ming Hu, and continued.
“The Duke of Hiden has an assassin’s guild of similar caliber to ours. From what we’ve been able to find out, most of their top assassins have made their way here to Asren. Of course, their target is the Count. If they realize that’s impossible, it’s possible they’ll target your people instead.”
“…Hmmm.”
John’s words made Ming Hu gulp.
“Wait…
Ming Hu frowned slightly as a thought occurred to him.
‘I can’t believe those spies in jail…’
Currently, the mansion’s prison holds the spies that Rafid captured. I’m not sure, but I have a feeling that the spies Rafid captured are the assassins John is talking about.
“Is it possible that…”
“Yes.”
“Do you recognize those assassins?”
“Yes?”
John asked, “What does that mean?
“So, I caught some guys hiding in the mansion this time, and I’ve got them in jail for now, just in case they’re the assassins you were talking about.”
“Ah! Not all of them, but…”
John’s words trailed off. He paused for a moment, as if considering something, then continued with a bitter smile.
“I recognize a few of them.”
At John’s words, Ming Hu opened his mouth to ask to come with him.
“Then let’s…”
That was the moment.
Boom!
-Ahem!
There was a loud crash outside the parlor, followed by someone screaming.
“…”
“…”
Ming Hu stopped what he was about to say and looked toward the door. John did the same. There was a moment of silence.
Sigh
As if by appointment, Myung-Hoo and John rose from their seats and walked to the door. Soon arriving at the door, Myung-Hoo opened it.
“…”
Opening the door, Ming Hu was speechless at the sight he saw. Outside the parlor stood Lapid and the butler. The problem was, they weren’t the only ones there.
“Hehe.”
“Ugh…”
In front of the smiling Lafydd, a man lay on his back, moaning in pain.
“Total…”
“Well, he’s…”
Ming Hu was about to call for the butler to ask what had happened when he heard John’s voice next to him. Apparently, by his reaction, John knew the man on the ground.
“Do you know him?”
Ming Hu asked.
“Oh. That’s…”
John looked at the man in disbelief at Ming’s words.
“He’s the leader of the assassins that have entered Asren this time.”
“…Really?”
Ming Hu turned his gaze from John to the fallen man and smiled at the smirking Lafydd in front of him.
John, meanwhile, muttered to himself as he looked at the man on the ground, still in disbelief.
“How the hell did he…”
John knew the man. He knew the man so well that he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Sigh
John looked at the man, then back at the butler, and thought.
“…What is it?
At first, I didn’t even pay attention. I thought it was the ubiquitous butler, but not anymore.
‘No scars. How much skill does he have?
The butler’s body showed no wounds. The man was not to be trifled with so easily; he was a man of his own caliber, if not two. John looked away from the butler in bewilderment, back to Rafid, and continued to think.
“I don’t need to paste it.
To prevent the assassins from harming those around him, especially his son, Rafid, John had thought of posting his guild members, but the Archdeacon saw no need to do so. It seemed to be more of a distraction. John turned his gaze back to Ming Hu.
Jumbled
Ming Hu smiled and walked over to Rapid.
“Hehe.”
Lafydd smirked as Ming Hu approached, sticking his head up to be petted.
Sigh
At Lapid’s behavior, Ming Hu smiled and patted Lapid on the head. Then he looked at the chief butler and said
“How many of them did Rafid catch in total?”
Now that I think about it, I had only heard that there were spies in the prison, but not how many. The butler looked puzzled by Ming’s question and quickly opened his mouth to answer.
“Nine people. Oh, with interest, it’s now 10.”
“I see…”
Ming Hu nodded in understanding. Then the chief butler continued.
“Are you done talking?”
“Oh, yeah, I’ll be right there.”
In response to the butler’s words, Ming Hu turned his head to look at John.
“Like now…”
Ming Hu was about to ask John to go with him to the prison when he saw John’s expression and stopped himself. John had a very serious look on his face.
“…?”
Ming Hu looked at John with a puzzled expression.
“What’s wrong with him?
When John looked at the man on the ground, he didn’t look as serious as he did now, but for a moment he wondered what could have caused him to look so serious.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh.”
John, who had been wearing a serious expression, sobered up at Ming Hu’s words and shook his head in confusion.
“Just in case I didn’t hear correctly, the man who captured him and those hiding in the mansion…”
John stuttered and looked at Rafid, and then Rafid burst out laughing.
“Me! Me! I got it, hehe.”
“…”
John said nothing at Rafid’s shout. He just stared at Rafid with a blank expression.